Chapter 54: I am here to have a cup of wedding wine!

Su Dingping leaned toward Sun Yongguo and said in a low voice, "Dean, I have a poor tolerance for alcohol. In case I get drunk, tomorrow's lecture..."

Clearly, Su Dingping was still trying to find a way out.

"It's fine, we've got you covered," Sun Yongguo replied with a calm expression.

Zhang Gongnong chimed in, "Dingping, everyone is waiting for you."

Turning his head to look at the 295 naval officers standing there holding wine glasses, Su Dingping knew he wouldn't be able to dodge this drink.

Thank goodness they all came together; if it had been one by one... he didn't even dare to imagine it.

Since there was no escaping it, Su Dingping stopped hesitating.

He directly picked up his glass and looked at Zhou Qinglei and the others, "Comrades, you've all worked hard recently."

Scanning his gaze across everyone, Su Dingping continued.

"I know the 956E will be delivered to the South Sea Fleet tomorrow morning. Let me leave you all with this promise: give me some time, and I will build you an even more advanced warship! It will definitely be more powerful than the 956E!"

"Did you hear that, brothers?" Zhou Qinglei shouted loudly, "This toast has to start at three drinks minimum!"

Su Dingping was left completely dumbfounded.

I treat my brothers as my own, but my brothers are playing mind games with me.

"Comrade Su Dingping, we'll finish this drink, take it at your own pace!"

With that, Zhou Qinglei took the lead and downed his drink in one gulp.

The naval officers across the twenty-six tables all downed theirs in one gulp as well.

Immediately afterward, Zhou Qinglei poured another full glass and downed it once more.

With three consecutive glasses of Erguotou down his stomach, Zhou Qinglei didn't even blush.

After everyone finished drinking, they all fixed their gaze uniformly on Su Dingping.

Su Dingping looked at the alcohol in his bowl, then looked at the crowd waiting for him. Hardening his heart, he downed it in a single breath.

In an instant, a fiery sensation rushed from his mouth straight to his chest.

Enduring the burning feeling, Su Dingping turned his bowl upside down in front of everyone to show that he had finished it all.

Seeing this, those naval officers immediately sat down with expressions of great satisfaction.

"Dingping, you're a straight shooter!" Zhou Qinglei said excitedly.

Su Dingping managed a strained smile. Before he could even take two bites of food, Sun Yongguo took the lead in raising his bowl.

"Dingping, come on, let's clink glasses."

Su Dingping looked at Sun Yongguo with an incredulous expression, his eyes seemingly saying: Dean, no way, you too?

"Dingping, this time we truly owe it all to you. Otherwise, nobody knows when the restart of the 956E project would have been dragged out to. I won't say too much more; bottoms up, take it at your own pace."

With that, Sun Yongguo also downed his drink with considerable boldness.

Before Su Dingping could even say a word, Zhang Gongnong quickly and deftly poured him a full glass.

Staring at the liquor in his bowl, Su Dingping had no choice left but to down it with a helpless heart. With two bowls of Erguotou in his belly, his stomach felt like it was on fire.

"Dingping."

Zhang Gongnong, who had been eager to try his hand, hurriedly filled another glass to the brim.

"As your former teacher, I am very proud to be able to attend your lecture now. No matter how fast you run, we old fellows will definitely strive to keep up with your pace!"

"Come on, bottoms up!"

"Professor Zhang, please don't..."

Before Su Dingping could finish his sentence, Zhang Gongnong had already drained his glass in one go.

Looking at the table full of dishes, Su Dingping sighed inwardly, thinking he probably wouldn't get to eat many warm bites of food today.

With the third glass of liquor down, he suddenly felt his whole body grow warm.

Gradually, everyone's spirits rose higher and higher, and the atmosphere at the scene became more and more lively.

Perhaps because Su Dingping had downed three consecutive glasses of Erguotou earlier, the people who came to toast him afterward kept it moderate, which allowed him to breathe a sigh of relief and quickly grab a few bites of instant-boiled mutton.

Halfway through the drinking, Zhang Gongnong, sitting beside Su Dingping, grew increasingly emotional.

"Back in the day, I went to study abroad in the Bear Country. From not knowing a single Russian word to ranking first in the entire school, why? Because back then, their 956E had just been launched for testing, and the top student in the school had the chance to board and take a look!"

"So I studied and studied like my life depended on it. And the result? Heh, they said I was Chinese and wouldn't let me on the ship."

"I told myself right then and there, damn it, I don't care for it!"

Sun Yongguo and the others gradually fell silent. They had heard these past experiences mentioned by Zhang Gongnong whenever he was drunk before.

Su Dingping put down his chopsticks and looked at Zhang Gongnong.

To go from not knowing a single Russian word to ranking first in the entire school, one could easily imagine how much effort Zhang Gongnong had poured in during those years.

"The Americans thought we couldn't build it, the Bear Country people thought we couldn't build it, and even the tiny little neighboring island nation thought we couldn't build it."

"Three years, five years, twenty years... We are making progress, but they are making progress too! The gap hasn't narrowed; instead, it's gotten even wider."

"I refuse to accept this! I just want to win this breath of pride, I just want to let them know that whatever they can do, we Chinese can do just as well!"

Zhang Gongnong pointed in the direction of Harbin and said.

"Not long ago, I ran into that Turgenev. That old bastard actually tried to persuade me to give up! Give up my foot! What a dog, and to think I even taught him Chinese back then."

Li Mingrui patted Zhang Gongnong on the shoulder and comforted him, "Didn't we figure out the 956E now! Gongnong, it's all in the past."

"Yes, it's all in the past. From now on, we're going to follow Dingping to build even more advanced warships! Allowing our navy to finally hold its head high in the Asian waters, no, across the entire world!"

Mid-sentence, Zhang Gongnong looked at Su Dingping with reddened eye rims, thrust his bowl forward, and said.

"Dingping, I'm counting on you!"

Looking at Zhang Gongnong, Su Dingping saw in him the epitome of countless defense industry experts striving on the front lines.

Those individuals usually looked so dull and unremarkable on ordinary days, but only when they had a bit of alcohol in them would they pour out the bitterness locked away in their hearts.

"We'll do it together, with all our might!" With that, Su Dingping raised his bowl and clinked it against the other man's.

Just as the two of them drained their bowls in one gulp, a familiar voice came from outside.

"Quite lively, aren't we?"

Hearing the sound, Su Dingping and the others looked over and saw Xu Dongguo walking over briskly.

The moment they saw Xu Dongguo, everyone stood up in unison.

"Hello, Chief."

"Chief, why didn't you give us advance notice when coming over?"

Seeing everyone scrambling in a flurry, Xu Dongguo waved his hand hurriedly.

"I heard today is your celebration banquet, so I specifically came over to share a cup of celebratory wine. What, am not I welcome?"

"Chief, please take a seat." Sun Yongguo quickly cleared the seat next to Su Dingping.

"I won't sit down. I just came to take a look and will be leaving."

Xu Dongguo smiled and waved his hand.

Noticing that Xu Dongguo was wearing casual clothes, Sun Yongguo and the others instantly understood.

"Comrades, sit down, all of you, sit down."

"First, to check in on you; second, to bring you some good wine. Guard?"

"Chief, I'm here."

Right after, a few guards walked over carrying boxes of white liquor.

After the liquor boxes were set down, everyone was astonished to discover that these were none other than specially supplied Moutai.

"Open the liquor!"

"Yes, Chief!"

"Fill the glasses for the comrades!"

"Chief, we really shouldn't." Sun Yongguo and the others grew anxious. How could they let the guards pour drinks for them? Wouldn't that compromise their standing?

"I specifically wore casual clothes today!" Xu Dongguo said with an exceptionally firm tone, "Fill them up!"

The guards moved nimbly and swiftly filled everyone's glass to the brim.

"This first cup of wine is dedicated to all the heroes who contributed to the 956E research breakthrough! Come on, bottoms up!"

All 279 people in the room raised their glasses and drained them in one go.

"This second cup of wine," Xu Dongguo looked at Su Dingping, "is dedicated to our greatest contributor—Comrade Su Dingping!"

In an instant, everyone's gaze converged on Su Dingping.

"Come on, bottoms up!"

Glug—

Glug—

Having drunk so much wine consecutively, Su Dingping's face flushed heavily.

"This third cup of wine is dedicated to the future of our navy!"

After draining three cups of liquor, Xu Dongguo did not linger.

He knew that with him around, these people wouldn't be able to eat in peace, so he found an excuse and quickly departed.

Xu Dongguo's sudden arrival and sudden departure pushed the atmosphere at the scene straight to its climax.

Early the next morning, Sun Yongguo, who was still asleep, suddenly heard a series of knocks on his door, followed immediately by Su Dingping shouting from outside.

"Dean Sun, class is starting! Hurry, hurry, hurry!"

Not long after, he heard another series of knocks, accompanied by a succession of calls...

"Professor Zhang, hurry up and get up for class, the early bird catches the worm!"

"Professor Li, the sun is almost fully up, how can you still manage to sleep?"