"Esteemed colleagues, I, on behalf of the Korean Association of Oriental Medicine, raise my glass to all the chairmen and presidents."
Zheng Minji, seated at the head of the table, lifted his glass of soju and toasted Wan Yunting, Kilmihan, Ishihara Taro, and others. Everyone naturally raised their glasses and courteously toasted each other. Wan Yunting found the bland, watery Korean soju to be quite unpalatable.
As specially arranged servers brought out the dishes, Zheng Minji gestured for everyone to begin eating.
Wan Yunting and Li Tiangui did not hesitate, examining the dishes and tasting them with their chopsticks. Although they didn't look particularly appealing, the taste was acceptable.
"Chairman Wan, I'll toast you."
Ishihara Taro, the president of the Japanese Association of Kampo Medicine, seated opposite, raised his glass and smiled, "I was not well-acquainted with Chairman Wan before and may have spoken out of turn. I hope Chairman Wan will forgive me."
Since the other party had spoken so, Wan Yunting also raised his glass and smiled, "President Ishihara is too kind."
The two clinked glasses and drank. Ishihara Taro then raised his glass again and smiled, "Chairman Wan is so young to hold the position of Chairman of the Chinese Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Your future is boundless. This toast is from me personally to you."
Wan Yunting also filled his glass, offered a polite word to Ishihara Taro, and they drank again.
Chen Jiadong and Yuan Jingguo, seated beside them, raised their eyebrows. Seeming to sense something, they turned to Li Tiangui and whispered, "Elder Li, please advise Chairman Wan. These people are clearly trying to get him drunk!"
Li Tiangui's old face stiffened. Seeing their worried expressions, he smiled and waved his hand at Chen Jiadong and Yuan Jingguo, whispering, "Don't worry, our Chairman Wan can drink a thousand cups without getting drunk!"
This remark left Chen Jiadong and Yuan Jingguo bewildered. Although they had drunk with Wan Yunting once before, they hadn't truly witnessed his drinking capacity. However, Li Tiangui had personally seen his ability to remain sober after a thousand cups.
"Will Chairman Wan be attending the election for the chairman of the alliance himself, or will he send a representative?" Kim Jae-won, the vice president of the Korean Association of Oriental Medicine, asked on behalf of the chairmen and presidents of the medical associations from various countries present.
All eyes turned to Wan Yunting. He exchanged glances with Li Tiangui and the others before nodding and smiling at everyone, "Yes, I will be attending personally to exchange and spar medical skills with all of you!"
Immediately, Ishihara Taro and Ruan Wenshi became animated. Holding their glasses, they smiled at Wan Yunting and said, "Chairman Wan attending personally will surely be spectacular. Come, Chairman Wan, let's have a drink."
How could Wan Yunting not see through Ishihara Taro's scheme? He smiled, raised his glass to him, and drank it dry. Before he could even put down his glass, Ruan Wenshi smiled again, "Chairman Wan, our medical association should hold exchange activities frequently in the future. Come, I'll toast you..."
Wan Yunting looked at Ruan Wenshi, the president of the Southern Medical Association of Vietnam, and immediately poured himself more wine, smiling, "That is natural..."
With that, they drank another glass. Zheng Minji, at the head of the table, seemed to notice that the chairmen and presidents of the medical associations from other countries were intentionally trying to get Wan Yunting drunk.
Following this, the chairmen and presidents of the medical associations from various countries found various excuses to toast Wan Yunting. In less than five minutes, he had downed more than a dozen glasses of soju, finishing two 500ml bottles. Yet, Wan Yunting's face showed no sign of flushing, and he seemed completely unfazed.
"Chairman Zheng, do you have any other alcohol here?"
Wan Yunting feigned being drunk and, holding a bottle of soju, said to Zheng Minji, "Your country's soju has too low an alcohol content. It's not enjoyable."
Kim Hak-woo, seated next to his grandfather Kim Byung-guk, his eyes lit up. He stood up and said, "Since Chairman Wan wishes to switch drinks, I will go and get some for you now."
"Hurry and go."
Wan Yunting, pretending to be tipsy, made Ishihara Taro and Ruan Wenshi secretly gleeful. As long as they got him drunk, they wondered how he would participate in the election for the chairman of the alliance that afternoon.
Chen Jiadong and Yuan Jingguo watched as Wan Yunting began to take the initiative, drinking with Ishihara Taro, Ruan Wenshi, Kilmihan, and others.
At the same time, Kim Hak-woo actually brought a case of high-proof liquor. Upon inspection, it was 56% proof baijiu produced in China, along with several bottles of high-proof foreign liquor. Wan Yunting stood up and handed a bottle of the high-proof baijiu to Ishihara Taro, "Here, President Ishihara, this is the kind of drink that's truly exhilarating. Let me toast you again..."
Ishihara Taro, seeing Wan Yunting's flushed cheeks and unsteady gait, believed he was already drunk and did not refuse the offered drink. He smiled and said, "Chairman Wan truly has a remarkable capacity for alcohol. Let us all toast Chairman Wan again together."
"Come, come..."
Everyone else present switched to high-proof baijiu and began drinking with Wan Yunting again. Professors Chen Jiadong and Yuan Jingguo, sitting beside them, watched Wan Yunting continuously drinking with great concern, fearing he would truly get drunk and disrupt the medical skill exchange competition for the chairman of the alliance that afternoon.
However, Li Tiangui signaled them with his eyes to remain calm. Chen Jiadong and Yuan Jingguo could only suppress their urge to stop Wan Yunting.
"President Ishihara, President Ruan, our gathering is fate. I must toast you with this drink."
Wan Yunting, feigning being extremely drunk, got up and went over. He placed one hand on Ishihara Taro's shoulder and the other holding the liquor bottle on Ruan Wenshi's shoulder, his face a picture of drunkenness, exhaling alcohol fumes, "Come, let's finish this bottle together!"
Although Ishihara Taro and Ruan Wenshi had encouraged everyone to toast Wan Yunting, they themselves had also drunk quite a bit, their faces flushed with alcohol, but they hadn't fallen yet.
Seeing Wan Yunting holding a bottle of high-proof baijiu, both Ishihara Taro and Ruan Wenshi's expressions turned grim. They quickly waved their hands and smiled, "Chairman Wan, we've had enough. Please drink this bottle yourself. May we accompany you with tea instead?"
"Yes, yes, tea instead of wine..."
Ruan Wenshi also quickly picked up his teacup, wiping sweat from his forehead as he prepared to clink glasses with Wan Yunting. However, Wan Yunting pushed his hand away, acting as if he was getting rowdy, "President Ishihara, President Ruan, you are not being friendly. You toasted me so much at the beginning, and now I'm offering to toast you, but you want to substitute tea? Are you looking down on our Chinese Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine?"
"If you play games like this, I'll have to consider whether to raise the prices of the medicinal materials we sell to your countries in the future!"
Upon hearing Wan Yunting's words, the presidents Ishihara Taro and Ruan Wenshi were thoroughly frightened, their faces turning pale.
After all, countries close to China, such as Japan, Vietnam, and Korea, used a lot of precious medicinal materials, most of which were exported from China. If Wan Yunting were to intervene and raise prices, they would be in dire straits.
After all, Wan Yunting was now the chairman of the Chinese Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine. As long as he made a statement, the merchants exporting medicinal materials to those countries would surely follow his orders.
"No, no, no, Chairman Wan, you can't play like this."
Ishihara Taro and Ruan Wenshi were somewhat panicked, truly worried that Wan Yunting would, under the influence of alcohol, cause the Chinese medicinal material merchants to increase prices for the materials exported to them, which would be a huge loss.
"If you don't want me to raise prices, then the two of you finish this bottle!"
With that, Wan Yunting placed the bottle of high-proof baijiu he was holding heavily on the table and shouted at Ishihara Taro and Ruan Wenshi, "Please."
"This..."
Ishihara Taro and Ruan Wenshi's faces were extremely ugly. They exchanged glances. When they were toasting Wan Yunting earlier, these two were the most vocal.
But now, it was Wan Yunting who was turning the tables on them.
"I say, are the two presidents hesitating? Can't you be more straightforward?"
Wan Yunting urged them impatiently, his face showing annoyance. Ishihara Taro and Ruan Wenshi looked at each other helplessly. They could only divide the bottle of liquor equally into their glasses and then, under Wan Yunting's instigation and the watchful eyes of the chairmen and presidents of the medical associations from other countries, Ishihara Taro and Ruan Wenshi actually finished the entire bottle of high-proof baijiu.
"Good, good, good..."
Wan Yunting cheered and applauded them. After drinking, Ishihara Taro and Ruan Wenshi immediately turned and, with a "wah," vomited.
"President..."
Sakada Takumi and the others quickly supported their respective presidents. Seeing this, Zheng Minji immediately instructed someone to take Ishihara Taro and Ruan Wenshi to find a place to rest.
"Chairman Zheng, shall we continue drinking?"
Wan Yunting, holding another bottle of high-proof baijiu, began to proactively challenge Zheng Minji, Kilmihan from India, and President Pasong Charoenpong of Thailand. They repeatedly waved their hands and said, "Chairman Wan's capacity for alcohol is like the sea; we are truly impressed..."
Seeing that they dared not continue drinking, Wan Yunting stopped pretending. He put down his glass and smiled at Zheng Minji, "Chairman Zheng, if there's nothing else, we'll go down to rest. See you this afternoon."
"Okay."
Zheng Minji nodded and immediately stood up, smiling, "Chairman Wan, I'll escort you down to rest."
"Thank you for your trouble."
Wan Yunting smiled and nodded, beckoning Li Tiangui and Chen Jiadong, and then left the table with Zheng Minji.
Kim Hak-woo watched them leave, looking at the pile of empty liquor bottles on the table, and sighed, "That fellow can really drink..."
Wan Yunting led Li Tiangui and the Chinese Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine delegation out of the dining hall with Zheng Minji. They went to the student dormitories specially converted by the Korean Institute of Oriental Medicine for everyone to rest. After a temporary midday break, the exchange meeting would continue in the afternoon.
"Chairman Wan, I haven't formally thanked you for the incident involving my daughter last night."
Zheng Minji walked alongside Wan Yunting, turned his head, and said sincerely, "Thank you, Chairman Wan, for helping my daughter."
At this moment, Wan Yunting's face was not flushed, nor did he feel unwell. He waved his hand and smiled, "Chairman Zheng is too kind. What happened last night was merely a small effort. There's no need for thanks."
Zheng Minji shook his head slightly and smiled, "It may be a small effort for Chairman Wan, but for me, in the situation last night, even if I had intervened, it's unlikely that Cha Soo-hyun, the young master of the chairman of Doosan Group, would have given me face and released my daughter. So, I must thank Chairman Wan."
Hearing these words, Wan Yunting narrowed his eyes and looked askance at Zheng Minji, smiling, "Chairman Zheng, aren't you underestimating yourself? Even if that Cha Soo-hyun didn't give you face, wouldn't he still give the Sima family face?"
"The Sima family!"
Upon mentioning the Sima family, Zheng Minji stopped walking and turned to look at Wan Yunting with surprise. As if realizing something, he said, "Chairman Wan suspects that I have a connection with the Sima family in China?"
"Otherwise?"
Wan Yunting continued walking, smiling, "If there were no connection, would your Vice President Kim Jae-won personally visit China and specifically invite me to attend your exchange meeting?"
Zheng Minji followed him, shaking his head, "Chairman Wan might be mistaken. It wasn't I who sent Kim Jae-won to China to invite you. He proactively applied to visit China and invite you to our exchange meeting."
"Of course, I only learned about your feud with the Sima family later!"
This was something Zheng Minji had specifically investigated the night before – how Wan Yunting had become the new chairman of the Chinese Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine!
Since the Sima family was involved, Zheng Minji now understood why Wan Yunting mentioned the Sima family. He suspected that Zheng Minji had a connection with the Sima family.