Back to 1978

Chapter 76 Practice
On a night when the autumn wind was getting colder, a dining table was set up in the courtyard. Xie Hushan, Yang Liming, Han Hongbing, Chen Daxi, Ma Mengqi and other young men sat around the table. The dishes were relatively simple, just a large bowl of chopped braised offal and some young onions and radishes as pickled vegetables.

There were two large barrels of loose liquor next to it.

In addition to these people, there were also Daxiu and Lao Meng, who were sitting on the threshold of the main hall with large bowls in their arms, eating extra-large portions of braised pork and steamed buns.

"Commander Xie, are you going to ask us to go up to the mountains and live as bandits after this meal?" Chen Daxi looked at the pot of stewed offal in the middle of the table, then looked at Xie Hushan who was carrying a bucket to help everyone pour wine, and asked:
"I don't care about them. If you give me this pot of meat to eat every day, I will definitely fight you. Also, I think, this time I am the first to express my opinion, so you should give me a position as deputy commander, right? I have been a transport captain since I was six years old, and it's time for me to be promoted now!"

Han Hongbing and Ma San took advantage of the moment when the fellow was asking questions and quickly picked up their chopsticks and put a lot of offal from the basin facing Chen Daxixi into their own and Yang Liming's bowls. By the time Chen Daxixi had finished speaking, only a few pieces of offal were left on the side facing him.

Yang Liming watched the two men helping him grab the meat. Now he no longer felt embarrassed because he was used to it.

I've been hanging out with them all day long for some time, and I know there's a reason why Han Laoer and Ma Saner do what they do. They'd better hurry and grab some food before Daxi starts eating, otherwise they can't expect to beat him later.

Take today's example, when all the members heard about the river dredging work and the free meals, especially after hearing that Comrade Chen Daxixi would also be participating, Daxixi's father's eyes were filled with tears and his face was filled with joy.

All that was left was to beat the gongs and drums to send his son off overnight.

When the slack season comes, Daxi's parents would be on guard against their son as if he were on guard against the Japanese devils who might come to raid and steal food. If you aren't careful, you'd never know what edible thing Daxi would stuff into his mouth.

Lao Meng, who was sitting on the doorstep and concentrating on eating, heard Daxi's words, walked over with his bowl in hand and patted Chen Daxi on the shoulder: "Hey, you are the deputy commander, what am I?"

"You think I'm your dad!" Chen Daxi was so irritated by Lao Meng's serious look that he said unhappily.

Lao Meng stared at Chen Daxi, probably looking for a matching image in his mind from old movies he had seen. After a long while, he said, "I won't do it. My father, the deputy commander, doesn't have a gun."

"Let's go eat. You are willing, but Daxi's father is not." Xie Hushan finished pouring the wine and said to Lao Meng with a smile.

Lao Meng sat back down with his bowl in hand. Xie Hushan looked at the people who were looking at him:

"Old Yang will be back in the county tomorrow. I will take care of him tonight to show him how good his position is and practice his virtue."

When they heard that Yang Limin was leaving, everyone looked at him, which made him feel a little uncomfortable. He forced a smile and said:

"Didn't we agree not to tell them? Just say that you were satisfied with the blind date and everyone can have fun with you."

"They are not big-mouthed old women, they won't tell anyone." Xie Hushan said, "You have been rolling on the same land for so long, if you don't tell them, they will scold you for the rest of your life."

"I have to scold you now, Lao Yang. We brothers treat you as brothers, but you didn't tell us that you were going to withdraw. You are treating us as outsiders and standing against us, the proletarian masses?" Ma Saner picked up the wine bowl he brought from home:

"Come on, give me half a bowl first!"

Yang Limin was shocked: "This bowl of wine poured on the roadside weighs about 300 grams, and you drank half of it right away?"

"What are you afraid of? Commander Xie has diluted the wine he prepared for the stew stall with water," Han Hongbing reminded considerately.

After listening to Han Hongbing's words, Yang Liming thought about it and realized that it made sense. They had drunk it once before, and the barrel of wine that Xie Hushan brought might be only slightly higher in alcohol content than the well water.

Then he took a gulp and started coughing violently, breathing out the smell of alcohol with a painful expression: "I didn't add water this time...ha..."

"You left without telling us. I knew it wasn't diluted with water, but I just didn't tell you." Han Hongbing said with a sly smile, and then he also picked up the wine bowl:

"It's my turn this time, Lao Yang."

More than an hour later... Da Xi hugged Lao Meng's shoulders and sat on the doorstep, wiping away tears:

"We have been brothers for so many years. I don't know when I will be back after I leave this time. Lao Meng, please come and see me when you are free..."

Lao Meng looked confused and disgusted: "Let your father look after you. I've already told you that I'm not your father. Why are you blackmailing me?"

As for Ma Saner, he had already gone to the toilet half an hour ago. He kept his hands on the wall and his head lowered, concentrating on spitting out the wine he had drunk before.

Han Hongbing was still able to sit at the table, but his face was red from the wine and he could no longer speak. He stared with his eyes wide open, stirring the soup in the basin with a pair of chopsticks for more than ten minutes, and no one knew what he wanted to pick up.

Yang Limin was next to Xie Hushan at this time, the two of them were hugging each other with their arms around each other's shoulders. Yang Limin said with a drunken breath:

"Just tell me which brigade in Xishan is suitable for opening a kiln and saving costs. Even if Uncle Wu doesn't keep his word, I can definitely help you... Isn't that a good guy?"

Xie Hushan looked like he was drunk and his breath was full of alcohol, but in fact, he probably only drank about two taels of real liquor.

He was responsible for providing drinks to everyone and pouring the wine. Naturally, he had done all the preparations. There were two barrels of wine at his feet, one of which was diluted with water and the other was not.

When entertaining your brothers, you must be honest and give them wine without water.

As for the wine diluted with water, my family was poor, so I had to endure it and live a frugal life.

So after a round of drinking, he becomes more sober the more he drinks.

"Old Yang! I know you are loyal!" Xie Hushan, drunk, hugged Yang Limin with a look of loyalty.
"You helped me talk to Lao Wu today and let Ma Lao Wu take the blame for me. I knew you had nothing to say to me..."

Yang Limin lowered his head and shook it continuously, mumbling: "Needless to say..."

"Tell me what you said to Ma Laowu that made him so cowardly and willing to say that he would bear the consequences if there were any trouble." Seeing that Yang Liming was almost drunk, Xie Hushan pretended to be drunk and asked tentatively.

Yang Limin paused, then immediately said vaguely: "It has nothing to do with me, that's my fifth uncle..."

"Fuck you! You are pretending too, aren't you!" Xie Hushan knew something was wrong when he saw the pretty boy pause. He immediately let go of him and patted him on the back.
"I just said that I always felt something was wrong! When we were having a meal, you either asked me to help you pick an eggplant or pull up some onions. I asked Daxiu to help you pick it, but it didn't work. You even said that I had to help you pick it to show our friendship. After you found out, you didn't expose me. Instead, you sneakily replaced the wine in your bowl with the barrel of wine I was drinking while I was helping you pick vegetables?"

Yang Limin saw Xie Hushan's angry expression and could no longer pretend. He smiled and said:

"You're drinking watered-down wine, and you keep saying 'brothers' but you're actually trying to get me drunk to get me to talk!"

"Alright, I won't ask any more questions." Xie Hushan clasped his hands and saluted Yang Limin: "I surrender. You are the thief king of Zhongping. I am willing to bow down to you. Otherwise, you can be the leader!"

"Anyway, I'll help you with the early arrangements for the brick kiln. Is that good enough?" Yang Liming's body stopped shaking, and his head was no longer heavy. He sat at the table and said with a smile to Xie Hushan, who was also not drunk.

Xie Hushan looked at Yang Limin and said, "Are you sure? If you do what I told you before, you will really be sent to the grassroots level. There will be no one above you. If you want to go back, it will be difficult without outstanding political achievements."

"I've thought about this. If I can't even handle a troublemaker like you at the grassroots level, and can't even feed everyone in the team, then it means I'm incompetent. Isn't it normal that I can't go back? If the country really transfers an incompetent me back to the county, wouldn't that be even more fucked up for everyone?" Yang Liming picked up a cigarette from the table, lit it, and said to Xie Hushan.

Xie Hushan looked at Lao Yang's nonchalant smile, picked up the wine barrel that had not been diluted with water, filled it for the two of them, and raised his wine bowl:
"This time, our friendship is not watered down. Let's do it!"

(End of this chapter)