Liu Ming'an watched as Jiang Ning entered the third round, feeling relieved.
"My goodness, young man, your wife is truly a case of not judging a book by its cover!" exclaimed two elderly men beside him, surprised by Jiang Ning's performance. They had thought she was just there to join in the fun, not expecting her to have such an impressive drinking capacity.
Liu Ming'an smiled, overhearing others discussing nearby: "Whose daughter is that? She's such a good drinker! And so pretty too..."
"She's mine!" Liu Ming'an answered in his heart, his gaze fixed on Jiang Ning with focused tenderness.
Meanwhile, several participants had vomited halfway through and were escorted away. Only about a dozen people remained to attempt threading a needle. Many of them were dizzy, their vision blurred, completely unable to see where the needle's eye was. They fumbled with the thread, squinting as they jabbed at the needle repeatedly without success, getting eliminated from the competition.
However, the audience found great amusement in watching these drunken attempts at needle threading. Laughter filled the air, creating a joyous atmosphere.
"There should be less than ten people left for the third round," the man muttered to himself. Perhaps feeling bored from the wait and with only Jiang Ning beside him, he turned to ask her, "Miss, where are you from? How did you train your alcohol tolerance? You've already surpassed 99.9% of men."
Jiang Ning felt a rare moment of self-consciousness and simply replied, "It's natural," before pretending to watch others thread needles and walking away.
The man's guess was accurate. After two rounds, only six people entered the third round. Apart from the two of them, the other four had very red faces and seemed close to getting drunk.
"For the third round, each person drinks one bowl in turns. If you vomit or can't stand steady, you're eliminated. You can quit anytime. After each person drinks three bowls, use chopsticks to pick out red beans from a mix of green and red beans. Those who finish within half a cup of tea's time pass!"
Jiang Ning and the man from earlier stepped forward, each downing a bowl in one go. The other four drank in turn without incident. By the second bowl, one person couldn't hold it and vomited with a loud "Urgh!"
Jiang Ning frowned and moved away from that person.
After three bowls, the five remaining contestants took turns picking beans. A small bowl of mixed red and green beans was placed before each of them. Jiang Ning picked up her chopsticks and steadily plucked out the red beans one by one, placing them in another bowl. When she finished, she saw that one person had knocked over their bowl, spilling beans everywhere, while another was randomly jabbing with chopsticks, unable to pick up a single bean.
Only three people remained on the stage, the top three of this drinking contest. Besides Jiang Ning and the Scruffy-faced Bearded Man, the third was a short, middle-aged man with a bright red face. Jiang Ning noticed his steps were already unsteady.
The three still needed to determine their rankings. Back at the table, after two more bowls, the middle-aged man let out a loud burp, the alcohol churning in his stomach. His face contorted in discomfort.
"I'm done, I'm done," the middle-aged man waved his hands repeatedly, then said, "I'll take third place. I quit. Let these two battle it out. I concede."
Now only Jiang Ning and the Scruffy-faced Bearded Man remained. They continued matching each other bowl for bowl, drinking three bowls and then picking beans, repeating this twice without determining a winner.
"This girl is really something, to drink with Wang Mengzi for so long."
"It looks like Wang Mengzi is getting drunk, but she hasn't even blushed. Her alcohol tolerance is terrifying!"
Listening to the discussions around him, Liu Ming'an couldn't help but worry more. Even if it were water, wouldn't drinking bowl after bowl make one's stomach uncomfortable?
Jiang Ning downed another bowl of wine. Beside her, the Scruffy-faced Bearded Man picked up his bowl, managed to swallow a few mouthfuls, but finally resigned himself to putting it down.
"I give up!" the Scruffy-faced Bearded Man shouted.
The drinking contest was over!
The crowd erupted in amazement. In all these years, Wine Selling Town had never seen a female drinking champion! And this female champion wasn't even a local!
The two men on stage immediately began beating their drums, the increasingly intense rhythm stirring up the emotions of everyone present.
The top three winners were invited onto the stage. Each was given a double-handled lotus-patterned celadon wine cup containing their prize money.
Jiang Ning said "Thank you," hugged the wine cup, and walked off the stage back to Liu Ming'an's side, handing him the money: "Keep it safe."
Onlookers cast envious glances, admiring both the over nine taels of silver and the deep affection between the couple.
Liu Ming'an smiled as he accepted it: "Thank you, Ning."
After the prize money was distributed came the part the common folk enjoyed most. Two young men carried the wine jar that had previously held the registration copper coins onto the stage, while other workers brought out several thousand copper coins, arranging them on the stage.
At this point, the crowd began to push towards the stage. Liu Ming'an, worried Jiang Ning might get squeezed, held the wine cup in one hand and put his other arm around her waist, retreating to stand far outside the crowd.
"Why are they pushing and shoving for no reason?" Liu Ming'an asked, quite puzzled.
"To catch the money being thrown," Jiang Ning replied with a slight smirk.
As soon as she finished speaking, amidst the thunderous drumbeats, the winery owners on stage began grabbing handfuls of copper coins and throwing them to the crowd below. This small amount of money was insignificant to them; they mainly did it for the festive atmosphere.
Seeing the smiles on the faces of those who caught the coins, Liu Ming'an found himself smiling too, infected by the joy: "No wonder the waiter said this was the most interesting event."
"It really is quite fun!" Jiang Ning agreed, looking at the money they had earned.
When they returned to the inn, Jiang Ning noticed Liu Ming'an kept glancing at her stomach, intentionally or not.
"What are you looking at?" Jiang Ning couldn't help but ask. What was there on her stomach worth Liu Ming'an's constant stares?
"I'm just curious," Liu Ming'an replied.
"I'm curious why, after drinking so much wine, your stomach isn't bloated at all. Don't you feel uncomfortably full?" Liu Ming'an asked with genuine concern.
Jiang Ning couldn't answer this question. After pondering for a moment, she simply said, "I don't feel uncomfortable. You don't need to worry."
Seeing that Liu Ming'an wanted to ask more, Jiang Ning quickly added, "I'm hungry."
Without another word, Liu Ming'an went downstairs to order food.
The next few times Liu Ming'an tried to ask, Jiang Ning always found an excuse to change the subject subtly. Gradually, Liu Ming'an forgot about the matter.
Now that they had ample money, and the inn's boss was planning to deliver wine to Maozhu County three days after the wine festival, Liu Ming'an and Jiang Ning spent those three days exploring every corner of Wine Selling Town. They bought several new outfits, visited various restaurants and taverns to taste local specialties, and thoroughly immersed themselves in the local customs and culture.
On the day of their departure, the couple went downstairs to check out. Their meals and lodging for the past few days had cost four taels of silver in total.
The horse-drawn cart for delivering wine was parked at the entrance, already loaded with large boxes filled with straw to cushion the wine jars.
The boss had specially reserved a space near the cart door, laying out straw mats for Liu Ming'an and Jiang Ning to sit on, offering them a ride to Maozhu County.
Because the cart was fully loaded with goods, the horse moved slowly. They traveled with frequent stops, finally reaching their destination after six days.
"Wine Selling Town is famous for its wine. I wonder if Maozhu County is famous for its bamboo?" Liu Ming'an pondered this question.
"Haha... Young master, you've hit the nail on the head!" the cart driver laughed upon hearing this. "Our Wine Selling Town has wine everywhere, and this Maozhu County has bamboo everywhere. But once you've seen enough of it, it's not as interesting as our Wine Selling Town..."
Liu Ming'an wasn't sure if this was true and didn't comment either way. After all, they weren't on this journey for sightseeing.
They would rest a bit in Maozhu County, and once refreshed, they needed to find a way to get to Qushui City.