HPDBC Chapter 8: Fenjiu
Chapter 8: Fenjiu
It was nearly evening when Tang Zhenghong returned to the city. After tidying up for a while, a fragrant aroma filled the house.
The sight caused Old Man Yan in the west wing to unconsciously sniff the air. He looked out the window and saw that it wasn't the Nan Yi family's house. He went out of the room to take a look and saw Xu Damao carrying a bottle of wine as he passed by.
"Hey, Da Mao, who are you drinking with?"
"Oh, Uncle San, I'm going to find Zheng Hong for a drink. Have you eaten yet?"
Yan Bugui waved his hand, looking expectantly at Xu Damao, waiting for his invitation: "You know my family, we don't have the habit of eating dinner. Oh, I just noticed this is Red Star Brand Xinghuacun Wine, you even have this wine?"
The Red Star Medal Xinghuacun Wine is a type of Fenjiu. The medal is printed with the first-class award that Fenjiu won at the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition.
"You know your stuff. I managed to get half a bottle of this wine after showing movies to people. Ren Zhenghong is treating, so I can't just show up empty-handed and freeload. Alright, since you don't usually eat dinner, I won't bother you. We'll talk later."
Yan Bugui was speechless for a long time after being choked by Xu Damao's words. He couldn't help but slap himself in the face. Why did he say he wouldn't eat dinner? He wasted a good meal and wine.
Yan Bugui sighed and went back into the house. He picked up his enamel mug, took a sip, spat out the tea leaves, and muttered angrily, "They invited Xu Damao, but not me. I'm the third-in-command of the front yard, for goodness' sake."
"What are you muttering about?"
The third aunt fed Xiao Jiedi some porridge and told her to go play by herself. She was curious to see the head of the household sitting at the table, sulking.
"I have to say, Zheng Hong is so inconsiderate. He invited Xu Damao for drinks without even inviting me."
The third aunt knew her boss's personality all too well, and she pouted, "And then you brought that bottle of watered-down wine with you? Didn't you notice that Nan Yi isn't as enthusiastic towards us as he was when he first arrived? Isn't it all because of you taking advantage of us?"
"You don't understand. You won't go poor from eating or dressing, but you will if you don't plan ahead."
Seeing that his wife was no longer paying attention to him, Yan Bugui remembered Tang Zhenghong's treat: "Hey, didn't you hear anything in the yard today? It's not a holiday, when did those two get together for drinks?"
"This morning I heard from Xu Damao that Tang Zhenghong is now a railway policeman. Don't you know Xu Damao's personality? He's probably trying to build connections."
Yan Bugui stood up abruptly, his eyes wide: "When did this happen? Why didn't you tell me about something so important?"
"This is someone else's business, what's there to say? You'd be better off thinking about how to feed them. I just fed Jie Di some porridge, but Jie Kuang wasn't happy about it and kept complaining that he was hungry."
The Yan family's tradition is to be diligent and thrifty in managing the household.
These days, most ordinary people eat two meals a day, while those who do heavy physical labor eat three meals a day.
For example, in Liu Haizhong's family, if they were really strict with their son, they wouldn't get any dinner, and they wouldn't have to do any work. Hitting children is a common occurrence in every household.
Tang Zhenghong was pampered and spoiled by his grandfather when he was a child, and he was also beaten when he made mistakes.
"I'll go find Lao Yi."
"Why are you looking for him?"
"About the toilet, don't let our child fall in later."
After dinner, Yi Zhonghai, like Liu Haizhong in the backyard, drank some wine and ate fried peanuts.
An older woman busily tidied up the house: "Honey, have you heard? Zheng Hong from the front yard has made something of himself; he's a railway policeman now."
"Who told you that?"
"I believe what Xu Damao said is true."
"Looks like we'll have to get Dongxu to build a good relationship with him from now on. It seems like this kid doesn't interact much with people in our compound after he transferred back. Have you heard anything from around here every day? Has anyone offended anyone?"
"I haven't heard of it. But I can guess a bit. Now that he's all alone, we have to be careful. Look at Zhu Zi back then, he was like that, covered in thorns, afraid that someone would try to take advantage of him."
"What my wife said makes some sense," Yi Zhonghai said, stroking his chin and nodding as he pondered.
"Hey, Lao Yi, having a drink?"
Yi Zhonghai snapped out of his daze and saw Yan Bugui peeking around. He could only invite him, "Old Yan's here. Let's have a drink."
"Alright, then I won't stand on ceremony. I just ran into Xu Damao, and guess what he was up to? He took a bottle of good wine to the West Corner Courtyard. That's Xinghua Village, don't laugh at me, it really whetted my appetite."
"How did those two end up together? Xu Damao's got a wicked streak; don't let him corrupt Zheng Hong. You're the third uncle in the front yard, so you need to keep a close eye on him. Old Yan, you didn't come to see me so late at night just to have a drink, did you?"
Yan Bugui quickly ate two bites with his chopsticks: "I almost forgot the important matter. This morning, someone's child made a mess in the toilet outside. Zheng Hong said that the hole is getting bigger and bigger, and if a child falls in, it will be a big problem. I wanted to talk to you about whether we should talk to the neighborhood committee to fix it for us."
"Yes, that's true. There are quite a few children in the compound, so we need to take it seriously. But the thing you said about the neighborhood committee fixing things for us is probably unreliable. We'll have to figure it out ourselves."
"It would be good if we could get some materials approved. Let's do it right the first time, build some sturdy brickwork, and it will be easier to clean in the summer."
Yan Bugui had originally thought that Yi Zhonghai could step forward and see if Tang Zhenghong could bring back some things for the poor families in the courtyard in the future, but he really couldn't bring himself to say it. Scheming against the younger generation, especially the orphans of martyrs, would damage his reputation, so he decided against it.
On the other side, Xu Damao was already quite drunk.
"Zhenghong, I didn't expect your cooking skills to be so good. This is the most enjoyable meal I've ever had."
"Thanks to Brother Da Mao's bicycle today, I don't know how long I would have had to walk. I parked the bike for you at the door, remember to put it inside when you get back, so no kid can mess it up."
Xu Damao, holding the wine, swayed unsteadily: "This...this toast is for you, brother. Your job is great. Who knows, I might need your help someday. Don't turn me away then!"
"Okay, let's call it a day. I need to be at the team by 5 a.m. tomorrow. Let's get together again when I get back."
"Okay, let's get together again when we get back. Zheng Hong, you need to watch out in the compound from now on. There are no good people in this compound, let me tell you. My brother went on a blind date with a saleswoman, but some scoundrel in the compound spread the news about the last meeting, and it fell through..."
Then Xu Damao staggered to his feet and walked towards the door: "Anyway, I guess who it is. It's no one but the Central Court. Just wait and see, hmph, see... see how I deal with them later."
As they left Tang Zhenghong's courtyard, they ran into Liang Ladi. The weather was getting warmer, and since it was evening, she was only wearing a coat for convenience. She went out to get water, and with the movement, she swayed, which made Xu Damao's eyes water.
When Liang Ladi first came to the courtyard, Xu Damao had tried it and suffered a loss. However, after drinking some wine today, he was itching to try it again.
"If you keep looking around like that, I'll gouge your eyes out. Or I'll talk to that old man and get you an extra month cleaning the yard."
Xu Damao was startled and sobered up a bit: "Sister Liang, you're my own sister, don't tease your little brother like that. I wouldn't dare do it even if you gave me two lives. Take this and give it to Damao and the others to have as an extra meal tomorrow morning."
There was a lot of leftover food after the meal, so Tang Zhenghong gave some to Xu Damao to have for breakfast the next morning.
"Oh, it's meat dishes again, isn't it? Projectionist Xu, what mischief are you up to now?"
"Look at what you're saying. My brother was ignorant and made a mistake once, but Sister Liang, you have to give him a chance to correct it. We're neighbors now, it's not that serious. Besides, I didn't gain any advantage at all."
Liang Ladi, holding a bowl, stared wide-eyed: "Not even a thought! Forget about the vegetables, even if my child is pitiful, he wouldn't steal someone else's leftovers. Hey, let me ask you something, is my next-door neighbor easy to get along with?"
"You've come to the right person. Let me put it this way: if someone like Zheng Hong in our department is difficult to get along with, then there's no one else who's easy to get along with."
Liang Ladi glanced at Xu Damao with some suspicion, then turned and muttered, "Hey, these neighbors separated by a wall haven't even exchanged a word in all this time. Are they really that easy to get along with? Well, what kind of good person would someone like you, Xu Damao, be drinking with?"
Hearing this, Xu Damao's face darkened with anger. He pointed at Liang Ladi's retreating figure and muttered, "Hey, who are you talking about! Humph, I'm too lazy to argue with you."
Seeing Liang Ladi turn around, he quickly ran away.
Passing by the Intermediate People's Court, I ran into Sha Zhu, who was on his way to use the restroom outside the court.
Xu Damao, head held high and reeking of alcohol, said, "Get out of the way."
Sha Zhu originally didn't want to talk to Xu Damao, but he never expected that a drunk rat would dare to cause trouble for a cat. Seeing the other party carrying vegetables and empty wine bottles made him even angrier.
"Hey, are you looking for trouble or what? Can't you even get through this wide road?"
"Silly Zhu, do you know what kind of wine this is? You've probably never seen it before in your life."
Sha Zhu was very sarcastic, always aiming to stab Xu Damao in the heart: "You act like you've never had a drink before. If it were that good, would you be able to get a wife after drinking? That's right, your boyfriend broke up with you, so you didn't work out like me."
"Idiot Zhu, I knew it was you! You finally admitted it! You bastard, just you wait!"
Sha Zhu only heard from people in the compound that Xu Damao's relationship had broken up when he got home from get off work, and he wanted to use this to put Xu Damao down. He never expected that he would end up taking the blame.
"Hey kid, make this clear. This isn't me. I'm glad your girlfriend broke up with you, so you won't ruin other women's lives, but don't try to pin this on me. Do you think I have that much free time?"
"Then how did you know? And you still say it wasn't you?"
"How novel! Everyone in the courtyard knows now. Go find someone else you want. You can't find a wife and you're blaming me? You should really reflect on yourself. Did you do something bad outside that people found out about? Oh, right, and about the movies we showed in the countryside about those widows—we're not allowed to talk about that with you. Get out of the way!"
Seeing how confidently Sha Zhu spoke, Xu Damao's momentum weakened a bit.
"Hmph, even if it's not you, you can't just laugh at me like that. Just you wait and see!"
Xu Damao always felt that there was a mastermind targeting him, but who else could it be but Sha Zhu?
Who the hell would do such a despicable thing as cutting off one's lineage?
Yi Zhonghai watched as Xu Damao staggered back to the backyard before lowering the curtains and replying to the old woman, "It's nothing. Xu Damao drank too much and ran into Zhuzi, and the two of them got into a bit of a fight."
Why is Xu Damao always arguing with Zhu Zi?
"He's been like this since he was a child. You know how temperamental Zhu Zi is. He can't stand people like Xu Damao. Over time, their fighting and bickering have led to a feud."
"When I delivered food to the old lady today, she praised us, saying that we now have two cooks in this courtyard, and the courtyard smells delicious all day long."
Yi Zhonghai guessed what the old lady was thinking; she was craving something sweet: "I'll buy some meat later and see if I can ask Zhuzi to help cook a meal for her."
"Will it work? Last time I contacted him, he said he was too busy."
"He's a pushover. I'll go talk to him. The old lady is the oldest person in our compound now. I don't think he'll lose anything by helping out with cooking a meal. He can even get a meal out of it. Why wouldn't he be happy about such a good thing?"