Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 71 Losing control
"Congratulations! Come on, let's celebrate with Lao Yan!" Lao Guo stepped on a bundle of wheat juice and held it up. "Congratulations to Lao Yan for successfully shedding his job as a porter and officially becoming Boss Yan!"

"Congratulations!" Old Song chuckled as he raised his cup.

"You're better than me, kid!" Old Wu took off his glasses. "You're both brave and resourceful!"

"You three, don't think that just because you're saying nice things, we won't split the meal money equally today!" Yan Hui's expression was somewhat wary.

"Look how scared you are!" Old Guo said unhappily. "How much money could it cost to eat this junk?"

"If you can't drink anymore, then pretend I didn't say anything. I've already made a deal with Uncle Glasses today, and we're going to get revenge!" Yan Hui raised his glass and drank it all in one gulp.

Last winter, everyone was clamoring to have a good drink, but the temperature was too low, so they gave up after each person only got one bottle. They were afraid the remaining beer would freeze and burst, so they went to Uncle Glasses to return it.

In the sweltering summer, everyone finally found an opportunity.

In the past six months, Yan Hui and the others have made some money, but they can't really be called rich. Everyone has earned their money through hard work. Apart from Lao Guo doing some small business, what the others are doing has basically nothing to do with the word "business".

"I guess I can't shake off the identity of a mover," Yan Hui said after everyone finished chatting. "When I go to my uncle's place in a while, I'll still have to move things."

"Huh? I didn't mean for you to be a manager?" Old Song asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Well, it's definitely much less busy than Uncle Li's place, but there's still a lot of moving things around," Yan Hui explained.

"That's true. He's still your uncle, so it's different."

"By the way, Lao Guo, how's it going at the forest farm? Did the people your dad sent there learn anything useful?"

"Definitely! We've invited him over, but he'll only stay here for a few months. When it gets cold, he'll still have to go back up the mountain. But this is already a good start."

"That's great, it made our trip worthwhile."

“Just tell them,” Old Song said, “we all risked our lives to go with you.”

When the conversation turned to going up the mountain, everyone mentioned their encounter with wolves, boasting about their contributions and how brave they were.

The boasts that weren't finished last year are all being carried over to today.

After discussing the forest farm, everyone started talking about Lao Guo's arrest last year for overturning the stall, and they drank quite a bit more because of it.

Soon, the three bundles of wheat juice they had gotten from Uncle Glasses were all gone. Everyone got up and went to get four more bundles, which amazed Uncle Glasses.

After talking about Lao Guo, the conversation turned to the timber market. By then, the four bundles of liquor had been finished, so everyone drank another four bundles.

Recently, Lao Song had nothing to do, so he worked as a middleman with Yan Hui for a while, but the results were mediocre, and Lao Song didn't make much money.

The two gradually discovered that there seemed to be similar competitors in the market, but this had not yet been confirmed.

With all sorts of certain and uncertain things piled up, the four brothers had more to say than they could possibly finish.

I can't remember how much we drank, I only know that the whole yard was full of bottles. Everyone drank more and more happily, and in the end we didn't even know how we swallowed it or how much we drank. It wasn't until late at night, when Uncle Glasses' shop had sold out of stock, that we stopped.
vomit.
vomit.
Yan Hui's remaining memories are of vomiting, constantly vomiting, being lifted up, and having his cheeks slapped.
He struggled to respond, but his body seemed to have a mind of its own and he couldn't do anything about it. He woke up in a daze and found himself lying in an unfamiliar bed. He struggled to stick his head out of the bed.

It seemed like someone was holding out a basin, but Yan Hui wasn't sure. He felt he had to vomit, and he still had to vomit.

He didn't know what he vomited, nor how much time had passed. Yan Hui only felt dizzy and then woke up in a daze, and then went back to sleep in a daze.

When he finally regained some energy and opened his eyes, he realized he was already in the hospital.

He fell asleep again, and woke up again. Yan Hui saw the IV drip in the back of his hand. It was already dark. Was it already the second night?
He was in pain all over his body, and his stomach felt like it was on fire. Yan Hui was the only one in the ward. He tried knocking on the table, but no one answered him.

After about ten minutes, Yan Hui managed to sit up, and finally someone came in.

"Brother, you're really something! You've finally woken up. If you hadn't been able to get up and vomit every now and then, I would have thought something had happened to you!" The woman who came over was probably a nurse, judging from her clothes.

"I'm sorry."

"Alright, your uncle brought you some millet porridge yesterday, I've kept it in the refrigerator. Wait a bit, I'll heat it up for you."

"Yesterday? How long did I sleep?"

"It's been two days. It was delivered early yesterday morning, and it's already dark now."

"Huh? It's been that long?"

"Yeah, what were you thinking, being such a young kid like you? All three of your friends went to the hospital. Two of them were fine yesterday, and the other was discharged this afternoon. You were the last one to be discharged."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't talk to me! If you don't pay attention in the future, you can just wait to die from this!" The nurse didn't hold back at all.

Half an hour later, Yan Hui had some hot porridge, and his fourth uncle also came over.

He gave Yan Hui a severe scolding and told him to come to his place at the end of next month and stop causing trouble at the market.

Yan Hui learned from his fourth uncle that the four boys had drunk more than 200 bottles of liquor between the night before last and the early hours of yesterday!

"Uncle, I was wrong. I feel like throwing up just thinking about that taste. I will never drink it again."

“I know you’re feeling down because of what happened with the second son, but he doesn’t owe you anything, so don’t think too much about it. However, you really acted very insensibly this time. I didn’t tell the family, do you know how much pressure I was under? If anything happened to you, my uncle would kill me!” Fourth Uncle was also very afraid of Grandpa.

"Uncle, I promise this is the last time."

"Okay, I mean what I say."

"Ah."

Uncle Si had other things to do that evening, so he stayed for a while before leaving, and even paid Yan Hui's medical bills in advance.

Lying on the hospital bed, Yan Hui still felt somewhat unsteady, his ability to control his body had greatly decreased, which made him genuinely regretful.

How come I'm usually quite low-key, but once I pick up a glass with my buddies, I turn into this? And, especially towards the end, we all became like lunatics, talking about face all the time, bragging about everything, completely out of control.

The thought of losing control of himself was terrifying. Yan Hui was actually quite happy to be scolded by his fourth uncle. He secretly vowed that from this day forward, he would never allow himself to be like this again.

He knew that when it came to drinking, countless people would forget the pain once the wound healed, but Yan Hui was determined to avoid it.

For many years afterward, Yan Hui remained teetotal. But that's another story.

(There will be a postscript at the end; the second chapter will be released later tonight.)

(End of this chapter)