What really drains you is usually not the drinking itself, but being forced to perform hierarchy on cue. Li Bai's practical answer is to complete the minimum social script, separate the dinner from your self-worth, and use templated lines plus physical cost reduction to keep the whole event cheap.
What many people hate about team dinners is not the food or the drinking. It is the requirement to perform hierarchy, read the room, and act out respect on command. You came for a meal and got pulled into a staged ritual of power.
For some teams, the dinner table is an informal management tool. Who stands first, who toasts whom, who says the right line. All of it repeats the same question: are you willing to cooperate with the hierarchy? That is why the real discomfort is not the gesture itself, but being forced to perform a script you do not respect.
Li Bai is useful here because he does not tell you to flip the table every time. He reminds you to protect spiritual ownership. If you cannot leave immediately, the highest-leverage move is often to complete the minimum required performance while keeping your real self outside the exchange.
Li Bai: “They want the illusion of being honored. You want to preserve your spirit. If you cannot leave the banquet yet, borrow their vanity as your exit route.”
People who cannot exit this environment immediately but want to reduce team-dinner stress and preserve some personal boundary.
If the event involves humiliation, harassment, coercive drinking, or safety risk, evidence, support, and exit options matter more than mindset tactics alone.