Police officer Chen Shu

Chapter 127 Celebrating Drinking
On a weekend night, at the Dongzhou Sijiqing Hotel, in VIP room 888.

The timing was chosen based on the new regulations of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security, which state that "police officers are prohibited from drinking alcohol on weekdays and holidays."

The large private room, measuring over a hundred square meters, was decorated in an extremely luxurious manner. A similarly huge round table was fully occupied, with about twenty people seated and still room to spare.

"Thank you brothers for your support over the years!" Ma Suo stood in the main seat facing the door of the private room, holding a wine glass half-filled with Jiannanchun liquor, his face flushed as he spoke loudly.

Half-drunk, he rambled on for a long time, starting with the inappropriateness of joining the police force as a contract officer seventeen or eighteen years ago, and continuing all the way to the present, finally shouting:
"Done!"

Cheers! May Ma Suo be free to drink from now on! Haha, hope you don't have to stay up all night! Goodbye for your shift!

After drinking too much, he started talking more.

The people sitting below also raised their glasses and stood up, pouring all the wine in their glasses into their bellies. Then they sat down and began the second round of toasting each other.

When drinking beer, one toast is a full glass; when drinking red wine, one takes a big gulp, about one-third of the glass's height; when drinking baijiu (Chinese liquor), one takes a small sip, with a noticeable downward movement.

Chen Shu sat at the last VIP seat near the door, next to the serving area. This seat had its pros and cons; it was good because it was affordable, but bad because it was a loss of face.

Hot dishes are first placed in this position. Except for the first few main dishes which are moved to the vicinity of the main seat by someone who is thoughtful, the subsequent dishes are basically given to the people next to the serving position.

Secondly, after all the guests arrived, everyone began toasting, mostly starting with the person in the host's seat. The last guest, sitting opposite the host, would take quite a while to be toasted. Having eaten first made the drinking much more comfortable.

Finally, the location is inconspicuous. Once everyone is quite drunk, the person sitting at the end of the table can simply leave without anyone noticing. This doesn't disrupt the lively atmosphere of the dinner table, and it also leaves some room for those who can't hold their liquor.

After the second round of toasts, Chen Shu felt his tongue was getting thicker. He pulled up Li Chaoyang, who was slumped on the table, and walked to the door, handing him a cigarette.

"Chaoyang, how's the drink?"

Li Chaoyang's fair skin flushed crimson, and he struggled several times before finally managing to put the cigarette away: "I drank a bit too much today. Cough~"

"You drank too fast, and you didn't eat anything to line your stomach beforehand. That's enough, you shouldn't drink anymore." Chen Shu lit a cigarette and exhaled smoke rings.

Li Chaoyang nodded.

Zhu Chaoran suddenly darted out of the room, grinning as he took two cigarettes from Chen Shu and then handed them to Xiao Qiang, the community assistant who had come out of the private room with him.

Xiao Qiang, a retired reconnaissance soldier, is a policeman with a quick temper but a willingness to work diligently. Ever since Chen Shu transferred him from community police officer Yu Yu to make two arrests, he went back to instructor Zeng Hong and insisted on joining the plainclothes team.

Zeng Hong didn't know the reason, and since the plainclothes team, which always had to work overtime, was indeed not as good as community assistants and it was easier to recruit people from the community, he agreed to Xiao Qiang's application.

Just because Zeng Hong didn't know about this doesn't mean Yu Yu didn't.

Chen Shu was definitely not capable of poaching someone's partner, so in the end, he had to step in and send Xiao Qiang back to the community.

Although the stubborn Xiaoqiang couldn't beat Chen Shu, he was quick-witted. Since he was single anyway, he would often go to the plainclothes team. Over time, he also became mixed up with the people in the security team.

The plainclothes team is a squad under the public security group, and its main duty is to cooperate with the public security group police in combating crime and illegal activities.

When Ma was transferred to a new post, the security team, which had originally planned to have a dinner together, surprisingly included him as a member.

Xiao Qiang, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, said in a tone of a respected elder, "I'm telling you, our security team should all pay a respect to Chief Ma later."

Well, they're really taking us in as part of the security team now.
Chen Shu smiled: "Xiao Qiang, you're a retired reconnaissance soldier, so you're already better than the average soldier. Your drinking capacity is definitely not an issue. When we toast Commander Ma later, you start, and we'll all follow." Xiao Qiang, a former soldier, was proud. Whenever anything related to the military came up, even if the connection was as muddy as a quagmire, he would always readily agree.
"Cheers! Officer Chen, no doubt about it! I'll chug a whole bottle, and you guys just need to finish your drinks! We need to make sure Chief Ma remembers us from the Zhongshan Police Station's security team before he leaves!"

He spoke with righteous indignation and great momentum.

"Don't knock yourself out yet," Zhu Chaoran interjected slyly.

"Cheers! You have a problem with that?" Xiaoqiang glared at him. "Come on! Let's have another drink! Full glasses!"

Zhu Chaoran shrank back and quickly admitted defeat.

The four men stood at the doorway, chatting casually to ease the effects of the alcohol they had drunk.

At this moment, Zeng Hong, the instructor of Zhongshan Police Station, arrived with Wu, the deputy director in charge of community affairs and patrols, and Xu Lei, who was sent by the police academy to Zhongshan Police Station for an internship.

Wait, isn't that old man at the front... Director Zhang?!
I originally thought it was just a dinner gathering of colleagues from the security team, but I didn't expect that a few more people would arrive, one of whom was Director Zhang, the executive deputy director of the branch office!

Chen Shu thought he was hallucinating because he had drunk too much, but when he saw Xu Lei running over with a grin to greet him, he realized that they had really come.

The newcomers greeted Chen Shu and the others at the door before entering the private room. Xu Lei, who was at the very back, quietly revealed their reason for coming.

It turns out that Ma's transfer from the police force was entirely due to Director Zhang's strong support; Ma had originally planned to host a private banquet for Director Zhang.

Coincidentally, this afternoon Director Zhang accompanied teachers from the Provincial Police Academy to visit the cadets who were interning at several police stations under the branch bureau.

When they arrived at Zhongshan Police Station, it happened to be the last police station they visited. Zeng Hong, who knew the truth, told them about the dinner that Chief Ma was hosting that evening.

Upon hearing this, Director Zhang immediately decided that the separate banquet for Director Ma must be cancelled; there was no need to waste money on it. Then, the group headed straight to the Sijiqing Hotel, casually bringing Xu Lei, who had been accompanying them, along as well.

Standing to the side, Chen Shu watched Xu Lei speaking animatedly in front of everyone. He wondered how a trainee police officer could know such a secret matter, and he also planned to talk to him about how to conduct oneself within the system when he had time.

Cheers suddenly erupted inside the private room.

"Since we're here, we have to drink!"

"Yes!" "Yes, yes!" "Let's drink!"

A shout came from inside the private room.

Extremely popular!

Through the crack in the door, Chen Shu saw that Director Zhang, who had just arrived, downed a full glass of Jiannanchun liquor in one gulp!

Zeng Hong then drank a cup as well.

He shook his head helplessly. With the leader's arrival, the chances of everyone getting drunk were only increased!

I guess I'll have to postpone my return home for a while longer.

(End of this chapter)