The game of power begins with the police officers at the local police station.

Wu Guang downed nine cups of baijiu in one go, then turned to Chen Shi, his breath reeking of alcohol: "Now it's your turn."

Chen Shi and Xiao Wu stepped forward, and Xiao Wu said, "I'll drink ten cups."

He picked up a beer glass and drank ten glasses in one go, letting out a few burps. He could drink ten bottles of beer; after drinking too much, his stomach couldn't take it.

Zhou Hua stepped forward and looked at Chen Shi: "We'll drink the rest."

Chen Shi and Zhou Hua were half-drunk, having drunk nine glasses of beer.

Upon arriving at the house, three tables were set up outside the bride's room, each table laden with wine.

Despite drinking so much liquor, Wu Guang remained unfazed and exclaimed, "You guys want to kill us? How can we possibly drink this much?"

The bride smiled and said, "If you want to marry a Miao girl, this is the final test: twenty-nine cups of baijiu and sixty-nine cups of beer. If you finish them all, you'll be a Miao son-in-law. You can bring in outside help, but as long as you finish the drinks, you'll pass the test. Of course, you can also invite people to drink on the spot—one red envelope and one cup of beer."

Zhou Hua whispered to Xiao Wu, "Where's the bag?"

"The bag is in the car"

"Go get it quickly, and put some extra red envelopes inside. We need to invite outside help. There's so much wine, we can't possibly finish it all."

Chen Shi said to Zhou Hua, "Let's eat first, then we can have a drink."

Wu Guang chimed in, "Yes, let's slow down, eat first, then drink."

Zhou Hua said to the bridesmaids, "Let's eat first, and then we'll drink."

The bridesmaid smiled and said, "You can arrange the time, just make sure you drink the wine."

The wedding procession sat at several tables, and the food was served quickly. The group ate and chatted.

Xiao Wu said, "I can still drink twenty more beers. The rest is up to you guys."

Wu Guang said, "If you don't drink a single one of these twenty-nine cups of baijiu, no matter how much I can drink, I can't finish all twenty-nine cups by myself. I can only drink ten more at most, that's my limit."

After finishing his meal, Chen Shi put down his chopsticks and said to Zhou Hua, "The bridesmaid said we can ask for help. Bring some red envelopes and we'll invite some Miao villagers who can drink. There's no need to force them to drink."

Wu Guang chimed in, "That's right, let's get some outside help. Let's see who can drink, find a few people who can, one drink and one red envelope."

Zhou Hua said to Xiao Wu, "There are a few red envelopes in the bag."

"There are quite a lot, but we haven't counted them. Go count them quickly."

Xiao Wu stood up, went to the car to get a bag to count the red envelopes, and came back a moment later: "There are sixty-six."

Zhou Hua said, "That's not enough. Let's give each of them a red envelope, and then no one will stop us."

The four returned to the car and started making red envelopes. Each envelope contained 66 yuan, and they made more than 30. When they ran out of change, Zhou Hua said, "Let's make 100-yuan envelopes."

The four men prepared one hundred red envelopes. Xiao Wu carried the envelopes, and the four men split up and found four men who could drink. When they arrived at the bride's room, Zhou Hua said, "We've invited outside helpers. One red envelope for each drink."

The bridesmaid said, "As long as they finish drinking, that's fine, as long as they want to drink."

Then four or five more people ran out and shouted, "We'll drink too! Two red envelopes for baijiu, one red envelope for beer!"

Zhou Hua exclaimed, "Okay, I'll give you a red envelope if you drink it."

Chen Shi and his two companions took red envelopes and handed them out to the drinkers. Everyone accepted the good news, and many young men joined in the drinking.

The wine was all finished in about ten minutes.

The three tables were removed, and the bride's room door remained tightly shut. Xiao Wu called out, "The wine's all gone, why isn't the door open?"

The bridesmaid said, "There's a door blocking the way inside. If you give enough red envelopes, the door will open naturally."

Wu Guang shouted, "I'll climb in through the back window!"

The bridesmaid laughed and said, "This is the sixth floor. Unless you grow wings, you can't fly in."

Zhou Hua said, "Send red envelopes."

Chen Shi and his two companions took the red envelopes and started stuffing money into them, but the person inside cried out, "Not enough!"

The red envelopes were almost all stuffed in, but the person inside still said it wasn't enough.

Chen Shi, holding five red envelopes, exclaimed, "I have a bunch of red envelopes in my hand. The crack in the door is too small, so you have to widen the crack a bit so we can slip them in."

Chen Shi and the other three exchanged glances, opened the door a little wider, and rushed forward together, smashing the door open.

Finally seeing the bride, Chen Shi glanced at Su Lin. She must have been alright when she was young, but now that she's older, she's just average.

The bridesmaid said, "We need to find new shoes. Only after we find them can we take him away."

The four searched high and low but couldn't find it. Chen Shi noticed that one of the bridesmaids remained seated while the others watched the commotion.

Chen Shi went over, gave Zhou Hua a look, and then picked up the bridesmaid. One of the bride's shoes was hidden under the bridesmaid's bottom.

Zhou Hua picked up the shoes and put them on Su Lin.

There was one more. The four of them searched for a while. The room was only so big, so where could it be hidden? Chen Shi glanced at Su Lin's wedding dress and whispered to Zhou Hua, "The other one might be hidden under the wedding dress."

Zhou Hua went over, lifted Su Lin's wedding dress, and sure enough, it was underneath.

Zhou Hua put shoes on Su Lin, and finally took Su Lin away from home as his wife.

The wedding started at 4:30. At Su Lin's home, relatives and friends from her hometown were being entertained. More than half of the guests at the wedding banquet were from Huahai Hospital.

Chen Shi said to Zhou Hua, "Looking at all these people who came to the wedding, they are all experts and directors, each one of them very knowledgeable. Your wife is more than just a surgeon, isn't she?"

Zhou Hua said with a smug look on his face, "She's the deputy director of the department."

Chen Shi nodded. No wonder there were so many people at the hospital.

After the wedding ceremony was completed, it was 5:40 PM when dinner began. Chen Shi was tired of standing and didn't care at all about the extravagance of the wedding.

No matter how lavish the wedding, arguments will still happen in daily life. Whether a couple is happy or not has absolutely nothing to do with the extravagance of their wedding.

After the wedding, Su Lin changed into his suit and toasted with Zhou Hua. Chen Shi and the other two sat down to eat. They were exhausted and vowed never to be best men again.

Chen Shi prepared a red envelope for Zhou Hua and handed it to him, saying, "Congratulations, old classmate! I wish you a long and happy marriage and many children."

Su Lin stood to the side and said, "Director Chen, you need to hurry up too. We're waiting to drink your wedding wine."

When Wu Guang heard Su Lin call Chen Shi "Director Chen," he thought to himself, "He's definitely a leader. He finds a way to get a phone number when there are fewer people around."

Chen Shi smiled and said, "I still have a long way to go."

Wu Guang chimed in, "Dr. Su, your hospital has so many young and beautiful doctors, could you introduce me to one?"

Su Lin smiled and said, "Mr. Wu, with your status as a big boss, are you still looking for a girlfriend?"

"Of course we need one, Dr. Su! You absolutely have to introduce me to one."

Xiao Wu chimed in, "Dr. Su, just introduce me to a nurse, doctors don't want me."

The group burst into laughter.

Wu Guang drank quite a bit of alcohol and kept looking for an opportunity to chat with Chen Shi. He had dealt with leaders quite a bit. If you want someone to think highly of you, you have to make the leader feel that you are useful to them.

With a broad smile, Wu Guang raised his glass: "Director Chen, let me toast you."

Chen Shi smiled and said, "Mr. Wu, you've had enough to drink today. Your stomach is full of alcohol. Take a break before drinking more."

Wu Guang wasn't angry. He put down his wine glass, smiled, and said, "Director Chen, I'm in the tile business. I have a company registered in Guangdong and a production base in Yizhou. The company wants to expand and build another production base in another county. Could you give me your phone number so I can introduce you to your place to inspect and build a production base?"

Chen Shi knew that Wu Guang just wanted his phone number. But then he thought that Chunyang County needed to develop and attract investment, so getting to know more business people might come in handy someday.

"Welcome Mr. Wu to Chunyang to inspect and build a production base."

The two exchanged phone numbers.