The story of father and wine
Lu Xiu
My father's life was full of legends. He broke into the world with an axe, a saw, and an ink bucket box, and raised eight children. His father had a straightforward personality, made friends widely, and had a fondness for alcohol.
For as long as I can remember, my father was drunk and unhappy.
Before the age of sixty, my father was a craftsman, and as a famous sawmill in our area, he often took a few apprentices through the lofty mountains of Dong'an and Shaoyang counties. Especially in Dong'an, my father practiced the skill of drinking, and the amount of alcohol was exceptionally good, and he never really got drunk. Because almost all the people there love to drink, and drinking likes to punch and order, it takes several hours to drink a meal.
At that time, my father came back at least once every six months, sometimes once every six months. Every time he came back, his close friends who wanted to be good to him would make an appointment to come to my house to drink and beat the tooth festival, including the secretary of the commune and the brigade.
At the age of sixty, when the fields were co-produced, my father officially sealed the knife, stopped working, and replanted the land at home. At this time, my father still had wine at every meal, and his former friends and apprentices rarely interacted with each other, and only when they were over the New Year's Festival would they carry wine to drink a few drinks with their father. The rest of the time is often self-conscious, and when he has drunk to the fullest, he will turn over the old sayings and relive the beautiful years when he was a master...
What he missed most was the story of drinking and arguing with his mother and drinking wine and meeting the "silver fairy ghost" and roasting the "fairy wine".
I still remember these two stories vividly.
One
At that time, in the corner of the door of our house, there was usually a large wine tank, covered with wooden planks, containing freshly brewed rice wine, and inserting a basket woven with pieces of rice, and the wine flowed into the basket from the gap, and the wine in the basket we called "water wine". There is also a wine jar specially used to hold shochu, the opening is small, with a large cloth wrapped a piece of log, the size of the jar has just coincided, covered with a few hands to press a few times on the tight, the wine is sealed, the longer it is put, the more mellow the wine.
This large vat and shochu jar were never empty, so whoever came to my house was greeted by the strong aroma of wine.
Before going out to work, my father always had to open the shochu jar to see how much wine was left, and if there was not much wine left, he would repeatedly tell his mother to help him brew the wine in advance. If you come back without a drink, or if you bring a few friends to drink, you will be unhappy. Therefore, the mother always had to worry about brewing at home, and sometimes she was impatient and scolded her father. Scolding, the action is getting sharper and sharper, and the wine is getting better and better.
That day, My father returned.
I was six or seven years old. My family fed ten geese, my sisters were busy earning work, and it was my business to pull grass to feed the geese. When my father returned, the geese had also grown up, one at least ten pounds, ten geese standing together, stretching their necks "Gaga... Quacking..." the cry was so majestic that the children in the village did not dare to approach them.
Father saw that the goose was fat and strong, the coat was shiny and shiny, and the face showed joy. At noon, my father drank a few bowls of wine, his face was flushed, and while he was picking vegetables for his mother, he told him what he had seen outside, and the family was happy and harmonious.
After eating he said to his mother, "Slaughter a goose, the secretary of the commune, the secretary of the brigade, and a few apprentices who have come to my house at night to drink wine and make a tooth sacrifice." The mother was a little upset and said, "Every time I come back, I go to my house to make a tooth sacrifice, and I haven't seen you go to their house to drink." These geese I can't bear, the baby pulls the grass every day, the fingers are torn and fed, I keep selling money for the baby to do tuition. The father, with his eyes wide open, said, "You mother-in-law is unreasonable!" Others can afford to come to our family, look down, please can't come! ”
The mother reluctantly got up to clean up the dishes and chopsticks, deliberately making a loud noise. My father pretended not to hear him and told me to boil water. He got up and picked up the basket, went to the hall to catch a goose, covered the goose body, only exposed the goose's head, asked his mother to bring a bowl, fill it with water, and then brought a kitchen knife, and clamped the basket between his legs, one hand pinched the goose's head, one hand pointed a kitchen knife at the neck of the goose, and the blood gushed out, and the mother used the bowl to continue...
I went to the stove room to boil water, although I was reluctant to kill the goose, but I thought that there was goose meat to eat at night, and my heart was suddenly happy and excited, and I even felt that my mother was too stingy. To know that usually my father is not at home, we rarely open meat, our sisters are looking forward to my father's early return, so that there are delicious meals to eat...
My parents worked all afternoon, and by about 7:30 p.m., all the dishes were on the table. The guests also arrived one after another, a total of six people, and their father beckoned them to sit down, asked the third sister and the fourth sister to help them prepare the dishes and chopsticks, and poured the wine one by one.
At that time, the guests came to the house, our sisters were not allowed to go to the table, we added a bowl of rice clips to sit on the stone pier or stool at the corner door to eat, my sister and I were small, generally after eating, we went out to play, the third sister and the fourth sister could not go out, they had to help the guests pour wine at any time, add rice, which guest had to hand over a hot towel to wipe the guest's face after eating.
I didn't go out that night, and my mother took out a sack and took out a pod and played with it next to her after eating, and I sat in front of her while watching my mother's pod while watching my father drink.
In addition to the secretaries of the commune and the brigade, three of them were his father's apprentices and one was his father's dry son.
During the banquet, they talked and laughed while drinking, and really had the demeanor of a good man in Liangshan: drinking wine, eating vegetables in a big mouth, and laughing loudly! In the middle of the drink, my father used the drinking customs of the fist-drawing order learned in Dong'an County, and the two secretaries were also knowledgeable and knew a little. So the seven people were excited to drink while punching, and the lost bowl of wine was drunk one by one, and half a drop was not allowed. The atmosphere of the whole evening reached a climax, and the sound of fist strokes was higher than one. What "a little bit, two good, three stars, four happy fortune, five songs, six six six, seven coincidences, eight horse running, fast drinking (nine), all arrived. drink! And "Six sixes!" Brother two good! Who's afraid of whom! The turtle is afraid of the hammer! drink! ”......
One by one, they danced with their hands and feet, their mouths were splashed, and their faces were crimson...
From more than seven o'clock to eleven o'clock, there is no intention of stopping, the mother strongly suppressed a wave of anger did not come out, from time to time to remind the father: "Mo drink Mo noisy, the time is very late, wait will be drunk and can not go back, trouble!" The father, with a flushed face, said loudly: "I am not a braggart, I have been drinking for decades, I have never been drunk, I only drink three points of drunkenness, and I only eat seven points of fullness when I eat." come! come! come! Another bowl! Eat vegetables! Eat vegetables..." The secretary of the commune and the secretary of the big pair drank confusedly, and one echoed his father: "Master Lu drinks and walks all over the world without invincible hands, he is a friend from all over the world, in the future you Master Lu will have difficulties, although look for me!" See which one dares to embarrass you?! One stood up and grabbed his father's shoulder and said, "I recognize your family with you, and from now on, your family's affairs will be my family's affairs!" Whoever can't live with you is unable to live with me... Hey hey hey... come! drink! Eating vegetables..." Those few apprentices and brothers were a little afraid of their mother, looking at their mother's face was not good, did not dare to drink more, and respectfully sat there with the three of them. Bitter my two sisters, angry with my mother!
Finally, four young people helped the two secretaries to leave the scene, and the table was full of wine and dishes. Father burped heavily, and although his mouth was full of alcohol, he was indeed not drunk. The mother waited for the guests to go far and began to lose her temper, pointing at her father and scolding: "Drink your brain shell, drink your bones!" Ho Ga does not drunk you, drink Ga does not swell you to death! The father stared at the blood-red eyes and scolded his mother loudly: "You, the mother-in-law who does not accept talents, brought a few people back to eat and drink a drink, and cut your flesh, huh?" You are so heartbroken! "The two of you quarreled with each other, and my sister hurriedly packed up the dishes and chopsticks, ignored them, and went into the room to rest."
My sister and I watched my parents argue next to each other, at first I thought they would stop arguing for a while as usual, who knew that the more the two people quarreled, the more severe, the mother quarreled and cried, while crying and angrily rebuking my father's not: "Chop brain shell fruit, you have good wine and good dishes outside every day, I don't know how bitter we are, desperately trying to hold on, it is rare to eat meat once a month, the chicken has an egg to help you keep, reluctant to give the baby to eat." Raise a few geese, we are reluctant to eat, you will kill as soon as you come back, please come so many people. Everyone was drunk and crazy, and the people in the courtyard were restless! After a pause, he squeezed a handful of snot to the ground and continued: "You are risking the conscience fruit, and you are very reasonable!" Please take a time or two to be tight, which time to come back is not to bring a table of people to eat and drink for free? Is it easy for us to have a few in the house? Whew..." The more the mother spoke, the more sad she became, and the tears and snot flowed all the way.
The father was scolded to the point of spewing dog blood, the blood veins were stretched, and the blood-red eyes were also scolded to the mother for being useless. The mother was even more angry, picked up the low wooden stool next to her and smashed it at the father, the father moved very fast, reached out and caught the stool, fell to the side, rushed over and slapped the mother twice! My mother got up and picked up a piece of firewood from the corner of the firewood and threw herself at my father, and my sister and I cried in fright.
The father panicked and hid from his mother, scolding while hiding. The mother did not beat the father, was angry, picked up a hoe from the corner of the door and walked toward the retreat house, the father thought that he was going to hit him with a hoe, and he was frightened and ran outside. My mother cried and shouted, "I'll let you drink, I'll let you drink!" I'm going to break your wine jar!" Then I heard the sound of the wine tank cracking, and then a strong smell of wine rushed out of the room, choking on the nose and throat... The wine jar was smashed in an instant, the wine soaked the ground, and the sister also came out, looking at her crying mother in a daze...
This time, because of the drinking and fighting, the chicken dog was restless, and finally the father had to confess to the mother. Seeing the broken pieces of porcelain on the ground, and the wine that penetrated the ground, I felt infinite chagrin in my heart...
My sister and I watched our parents fight helplessly, crying. Seeing the father scolding the mother, hating the father. Later, I heard my father whispering to my mother in bed, and I felt that my mother was too much and too stingy. I have been thinking in my heart: there is no wine tank, there is no wine, what will my father drink in the future?
The next morning, during dinner, I secretly observed my father, only to see him scoop a bowl of water from a bowl, drinking like a drink, drinking a mouthful of water and a mouthful of vegetables, and his mouth also made a "rattling" sound... It seems to be more powerful than drinking real wine. As he drank, he squinted his eyes at his mother, who pretended not to see her with her rice bowl. At this time, the three-year-old sister suddenly shouted to her father: "Abba, what you drink is not wine, it is water, I see you scooping from the water tank..." The father was frightened, and then he laughed loudly, and his mother laughed and spewed out a mouthful of rice grains...
After two days, my father went out to work again, and I think my mother would never make wine for my father again.
One day at noon, I and a few friends were playing a game of jumping fields under the pear tree, and suddenly heard someone shouting: "Sell the jar Oh, buy a wine tank, the best wine tank, the wine is fragrant..." The mother immediately came out, shouting that the jumping burden went to the gate, the mother turned over and looked at a large wine tank, one would knock on this and knock on that with her hand, and then she would listen with her ear... The man who bought the vat desperately boasted how good his vat was. The mother was not at ease, and called for an uncle who knew the goods to help look at it, and finally the two people took a fancy to an open large wine tank. The two men looked at the jar again, saw a jar that could hold thirty pounds of shochu, and finally bargained to buy it. The uncle joked with his mother: "It's so easy to break the wine tank, and then come to buy it, it's not worth it, the next time Master Lu comes back and argues with you, don't break it again!" "Mother is very uncomfortable.
Two days later, my mother was busy making wine for my father again.
However, since that time after breaking the wine tank, although my father still brought people back to drink, he never drank until late at night, did not draw a fist or persuade the wine, and stopped at the right time, drinking civilized wine.
Two
Winemaking requires technology, and toast requires technology. The heat, the time is not well mastered, and the wine that is baked is either dull and tasteless, or with a bitter throat. In general, my mother took me to do the winemaking, which I could do by myself, and most of the toast was made by my father himself.
I often listen to the old man in the courtyard tell the story of roasting "fairy wine", saying that someone in a certain village toasted wine, roasted until dawn, and the wine continued to flow out... He also said that on the same day, so-and-so in another yard baked for one night, and all that flowed out was water... Haha, the toast met the "silver fairy ghost"! This "silver fairy ghost" specializes in tricking people, often unexpectedly moving the rice of one family to the rice tank of another family, making the family happy and the family sad...
These stories are fascinating to tell from the mouths of the old people. I often pray: "Silver fairy ghost, silver fairy ghost, you also bring something delicious to my house one day, especially the paper bag sugar to move more, and chicken and duck, pork, beef..." Sometimes I really dream that my own dinner cabinet is full of all kinds of meat...
Unexpectedly, my father really met the "Silver Fairy Ghost".
That night, my mother went to bed early with our sisters, leaving my father alone to toast in the hall. The father told his mother privately that the toast should not be too lively, the cleaner the better, so that the toasted wine is fragrant and mellow. And there is a chance to meet the "silver fairy ghost" and roast the "fairy wine".
I heard my father say this, although I was lying on the bed, I kept listening to the movement outside: the sound of my father opening the door to fetch water and pour water, the sound of chopping firewood, the sound of coughing, the sound of iron clamping wood...
My father was busy most of the night before he finished, and my mother was rolling over on the bed in the outside room and couldn't sleep. I heard the sound of her getting up several times to get dressed and then take off again.
My father was silently toasting wine in the hall, and my mother and I listened to the movement outside with our eyes open, and once my father crept into the room, poured wine into the wine jar, and quietly withdrew.
After another hour or so, the rooster in the chicken coop suddenly "whined" and cried. The mother couldn't help it, and shouted to her father: "Why hasn't it finished baking?" It's getting dark! The father quickly ran in, walked to the bedside and said softly to his mother: "Mother-in-law, Mo made a sound, met the 'silver fairy ghost', roasted more than ten pots of water, and wine... hehe! "After saying that, I went out again.
I heard my father's words with ecstasy, and I was eager to get up immediately to see what was going on. I heard my mother say that a vat of wine is generally only baked in four pots of water, and more than five pots of wine are faded. And my father baked more than ten pots of water, still baking. Haha, no wonder the father poured wine into the big wine tank, it turned out that the wine jar was full. I thought ecstatically: Bake more, and fill the jar with wine, and there will be sixty pounds of wine. Fathers can drink good wine, and mothers can also not worry about making wine.
I was thinking about it beautifully, and my father ran in again, a little angry and said to my mother, "You are a mother-in-law!" I want you not to shout when I toast, you have to shout at me, so that the 'silver fairy ghost' is scared away, and this pot of water will not be finished without toasting! The mother climbed up and said, "Really run? No wine out? Go and see if you took the toasted wine with you? The father sighed and said, "That was not taken away, I poured this wine jar into a jar, where there are at least twenty pounds." The mother said, "Okay, don't be overwhelmed." Look which unlucky one has white toast tonight, don't go out tomorrow and say, saying that you are afraid that others will come to the door. Father was still muttering: "We have encountered something rare in a hundred years, if you don't call me, there is wine, hehehehe..."
Then I heard my father and mother busy dismantling the toast together, and finally moved the wine jar in and put it in the corner of the door. I heard my father say, "I'll try the 'fairy wine' first." Then I heard the sound of him scooping the wine with a wine lift. After a while, he whispered excitedly, "Mother-in-law! The old people said, 'If you meet a silver fairy ghost, you will get delicious fairy wine', which is true! Yummy! Good alcohol! Soft and powerful! Not bitter, not spicy! Never drunk such a delicious wine! After drinking this wine, I will become a happy god! Sigh..." After saying that, I couldn't help but hum the popular song of the TV series at that time: "One four seven, three six nine, nine nine to one follow me!" Good wine, good wine, good wine..." Father conveyed his ecstatic mood in his unique tone, swirling around in my mud hut...
The next morning, everyone still got up early and went to the door to listen to if there was anything new, and the parents were uneasy to hear the news that last night's toast had baked a jar of water. Nothing was found, and there was no movement until the evening. So I have been happy with this secret.
Since that fight, my father has not baked more than five pots of water in a vat of wine, and the "Silver Fairy Ghost" has never patronized our house again.
I've been pretending to be this story, and I still haven't figured it out, what the hell is going on? Legends about "silver fairy ghosts" and "fairy wine" are indeed popular in the countryside...
My father has been dead for seven years, and every time I think of my father, I think of wine, and when I think of wine, I think of these two stories.
Therefore, when we pay tribute to our father, we always do not forget to put good wine and good dishes: I wish my father a happy and fairy over there!