Chapter 29: Sharing Happiness Is Better Than Enjoying It Alone
After everyone was seated, Captain Yang looked at Jiang Lili and Chen Fan, frowned slightly, and turned his eyes, then turned his head and shouted into the room, "Lan Ying, come out and keep Xiao Jiang company."
Then he smiled at Chen Fan, "You'll have to squeeze a bit with Old Huang."
Chen Fan took his bowl and stood up, smiling, "It's an honor to learn from Keeper Huang."
Keeper Huang smiled so widely that his back teeth could be seen, "He is a scholar after all, he knows how to talk."
At this time, Aunt Yang also came out and sat down next to Jiang Lili, talking to her in a low voice.
The saying that rural women don't sit at the table also depends on the situation.
Usually, when there are no guests, of course the family eats together, and women and children all sit at the table. Only when guests come do they need to avoid it.
But it also depends on what kind of guests they are. If they are male guests, the hostess must avoid it, and only men are left at the table to eat and drink. If they are female guests, it's the opposite. The men need to avoid it and eat at a small table, and the hostess will accompany them.
If there are both men and women like today, then both the male and female hosts must come to the table to accompany the guests. Otherwise, it would be very impolite to have a table of men drinking and leaving only one female guest to be stunned.
As for whether there are other thoughts, you have to ask Captain Yang what he is thinking in his heart.
After everyone sat down again, the meal officially began.
For men, the first thing to do when eating is of course to pour wine.
Chen Fan looked at the palm-sized wine bowl and couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive. Not to mention that he was wondering if the quality of the wine met the standards, he wouldn't dare to drink it like this even if it was real Moutai.
Seeing Keeper Huang put a large bowl of wine in front of him, Chen Fan quickly said, "I really can't drink."
Captain Yang didn't even look up, "What man can't drink? If you can't drink, learn."
Chen Fan pondered for two seconds, "My stomach is not good, I can't drink cold things."
He remembered his grandfather saying that there were two ways to turn bad wine into good wine: first, cellar it, and second, warm it.
Later, he also specifically checked that both cellaring and warming wine were to allow the methanol in the wine to evaporate. However, wine that had been cellared had a more mellow taste, which warmed wine couldn't compare to. The advantage of warmed wine was that it took effect quickly. As long as the wine was heated thoroughly, the formaldehyde would naturally be gone.
If he wasn't afraid of revealing himself, he really wanted to say that he was allergic to alcohol.
Hearing Chen Fan's words, Captain Yang shouted, "Xiao Ju, get a bowl of hot water to warm Brother Chen's wine."
Yang Ju immediately ran out, and flew out like a gust of wind, then flew in like a gust of wind again. A large sea bowl appeared in front of Chen Fan, filled with steaming hot water. A small, crude porcelain wine pot was soaking in the hot water, and a small wine glass was also placed at his side.
Huh, where did my big bowl of wine go?
Keeper Huang had two bowls of wine in front of him, smiling so widely that his back teeth could be seen, "I heard that when Grandpa Lu was still around, he only drank warmed wine, saying that warmed wine was softer and protected the stomach. What a load of bull, drinking wine is bad for the stomach, does it mean it won't be wine if it's warmed?"
Chen Fan strongly agreed, "Then I'd better not drink it!"
Keeper Huang raised his wine to him, "I'm talking about other people, not you. You've made a great contribution today, come, let's have a toast."
Captain Yang grinned, "Hey, hey, if you're toasting, let's all toast together, what's the point of you toasting alone? Come on, everyone, raise your glasses, let's go."
Chen Fan touched the water bowl, estimating that it should be fifty or sixty degrees Celsius. It was best to warm wine with water around fifty degrees, but since the weather was cold now, and he was worried that there was methanol in the wine, it was better to have a higher temperature.
He picked up the wine pot and poured a small glass. A rich aroma of wine spread out, filling the room with the smell of wine.
Captain Yang's eyes lit up, "Hey, this wine is really fragrant after it's warmed. Grandpa Lu really knew how to enjoy life."
When Chen Fan heard this, he immediately picked up the wine pot and stood up, "Get a few more small wine glasses, let everyone taste it."
Yang Ju immediately ran out of the room and instantly conjured four small wine glasses, then floated back in.
After pouring four glasses of wine, the wine pot was half empty. If he poured another round, the pot would be empty. Unfortunately, the four old drinkers took a sip and thought that the warmed wine was too soft and not satisfying. After drinking it in one gulp, they continued to drink their own.
Chen Fan looked at it. The remaining half pot of wine was probably about two and a half ounces, which he could accept. Moreover, the alcohol content of warmed wine would be reduced, so there was even less of a problem.
After two sips of wine, Captain Yang and the others chatted about their own things, while Chen Fan was busy eating, while listening to some of the team's gossip.
That Huang Lao Si's family was going to build a house, and had hired Liu Ju Jiang to do the banquet. They had prepared a lot of things, enough for 6 tables, and had also gotten two jars of wine from Old Tang of Team 7 in the back. They were probably going to spend all the savings they had accumulated over the years.
Huang Lao Jiu at the entrance of the village had another fight last night, and the sound could be heard three houses away. No one had seen Huang Lao Jiu all morning. He had probably been scratched in the face by his wife and was hiding in the house, afraid to come out. Even his wife went to dig for soft-shelled turtles this morning.
Huang Lao Wu, who already had five daughters, was still not giving up. He went to the brigade headquarters to find Li Dezhu, who used to be a monk, and had brought a bag of eggs. He was really obsessed. That Monk Li was a bachelor himself, so how could he possibly help him?
...
As their drinking reached its peak, Captain Yang gestured grandly while holding his wine bowl, "Huang Lao Si's family is also struggling, with a lot of old and young people. That house was built in the year of liberation (1945), and it's been more than thirty years now. It has become a dangerous building, and if it's not rebuilt, there will probably be big problems.
Huang Lao Jiu is a useless guy. Which one of you Huang family members didn't advise him back then, not to be attracted to Zhang Yufeng's good looks, but he had to marry her. Their Zhang family has 8 brothers, and she's the only daughter in the house, how could her personality be good? It's all his own fault!
Huang Lao Wu is also confused. What's wrong with daughters? Daughters are just as good as sons. He just has old feudal ideas, and only wants a son to carry on the family. He even went to find Li the monk. That Monk Li is just a charlatan, what's the use of finding him..."
Keeper Huang nodded and drank while listening, occasionally adding a few words of agreement. After listening for a while, he suddenly felt something was wrong. Why were they only talking about the Huang family's affairs? What about your Liu family and Yang family?
Sharing happiness is better than enjoying it alone.
Then he took a sip of wine, breathed out a long breath, and said with a pained expression, "That's right, look at Huang Lao Wu, and Yang Zihong, and Liu Dequan, they are the famous 'son-obsessed' people in our team. It has made our 6th team a joke in Lujiawan, it's too wrong.
And there's Liu Dewu. Accountant Liu, it's not that I'm saying anything, but you really have to manage your cousin. Goodness, he was so infatuated with the female educated youth that he even ran to the commune. Is that female educated youth someone he can think about? She's going back to work and become a worker sooner or later, who would be stupid enough to marry in the production team, unless there's a problem with her background."
Goodness, with one output, he directly silenced everyone.
Captain Yang smacked his lips, "Old Huang, you're usually like a dumb gourd, I didn't know you had such good eloquence."
Accountant Liu looked askance at him, "Why don't you go to the production team's report meeting this year instead of the team captain? I guarantee that you'll make the other 11 teams in Lujiawan unable to raise their heads."
Even Jiang Lili, who had already finished eating and was sitting there stiffly, not daring to move, lowered her head. Aunt Yang felt sorry for her and pulled her into the house to drink tea.
When Keeper Huang saw that he had angered everyone, he quickly raised his wine bowl and gave a dry laugh, "We're drinking, just saying a few nonsense words, there's no such thing as eloquence. I definitely can't compare to you and the team captain. Come, come, let's drink, let's drink."
(End of Chapter)
Comments
Post a Comment