My village can't be like this

Chapter 693 Bull Head

In the evening, Yang Laosan came over again and said, "Come on, Zhang An, come to my place for another drink."

"We've already eaten lunch, so we won't go. Let your sister-in-law and aunt take a rest. They've been busy all day. Besides, if we go again, we'll bankrupt your family."

When Zhang An heard this, he was stunned and had no idea what Yang Laosan was planning.

Logically speaking, even if you invite someone home for dinner, it is only one meal, unless they are helping with work, in which case you have to provide meals for both the morning and the evening.

"If you guys go there every day, I'd be happy for you. Let's go, everything is ready. I was going to give the ox head to the Second Master at noon, but he didn't want it, so I asked Zhou Yang to help take care of it. I'll call everyone over for a drink in the evening."

Yang Laosan smiled and explained why he treated everyone to a meal again.

"Since Boss Lu is here too, let's go and try the beef brains we have here."

In addition to Zhang An, Yang Laosan also invited Lu Cheng who was standing nearby.

In the past few years, Lu Cheng has been purchasing kiwis from Changqing Village, which is considered a guarantee of sales for everyone.

Yang Laosan and his brothers also own several acres of kiwi fruit, so they are familiar with the big boss Lu Cheng.

"Then let's go to Third Brother's house for another meal. Brother Cheng, let's go. Let's not be polite to Third Brother."

Seeing that Yang Laosan was determined to get someone, Zhang An finally agreed and called Lu Cheng along.

"Then I am sorry to bother you so much."

Lu Cheng originally just wanted to be polite, but since Zhang An had spoken, he couldn't refuse.

"What's the point of disturbing us? If you guys come here more often, we'll be happier."

Seeing that even Lu Cheng was invited, Yang Laosan was immediately very happy.

Anyone who comes across a financial sponsor like this would want to build a good relationship with him.

"Wait, we can't eat this meal for free, wait for me to go back and get a jar of wine."

Since you have already celebrated the first day, you have to be responsible for the fifteenth day. Since you are going to drink, you must have wine.

But in Zhang An's house, there may not be anything else, but there is no shortage of wine.

"That's great. Everyone in our village knows that the wine Zhang An brewed himself is a treasure. We can enjoy it today."

When Yang Laosan heard that Zhang An wanted to bring his own wine, he did not refuse. Instead, he looked very expectant.

After all, Zhang An's wine is now famous in the village. Even children know that it can be sold for 500 yuan per catty. It is simply made of gold.

In the past, no one knew about this, so they felt at ease when they drank it.

Every time when everyone got together to drink, they would urge Zhang An to bring the wine.

But later, after they knew the price of the wine, they completely restrained themselves and no one asked Zhang An to get the wine again.

Although Zhang An would always generously bring a jar of wine for everyone to drink, they couldn't let go when they thought about the price of the wine and that they could spend dozens or even hundreds of dollars in a single sip.

But after a long time, everyone began to miss the taste of Zhang An's wine.

So occasionally when Zhang An said he wanted to take out a jar, no one would refuse. Instead, they were looking forward to it, just wanting to satisfy their cravings occasionally.

When we arrived at Yang Laosan's house, we could see that Mr. Huang Er, the old village chief Zhang Jianwen and others had been invited.

Of course, Zhou Yang is also indispensable to help clean up the cow's head.

"Zhang An is here. Looks like we're in for a treat today."

When Zhang Jianwen saw Zhang An, he immediately greeted him with a smile.

Especially when he saw the jar of wine that Zhang An was holding, he immediately realized that he would have good wine to drink tonight.

"Oh, Boss Lu is here too. You're a rare guest."

Then Zhang Jianwen saw Lu Cheng following Zhang An in, and immediately stood up and shook hands with him.

He has always welcomed bosses like Lu Cheng who never cheated the villagers.

In the past, he and the villagers had invited Lu Cheng and his men to their homes for dinner many times.

Unfortunately, Lu Cheng never thought of asking for money from anyone, so he just went to Zhang An's house to deal with him.

Even his men were not allowed to disturb the villagers. Instead, they had to eat at the village restaurant and he would reimburse them later.

So today when Yang Laosan invited Lu Cheng over, he also stood up to show his welcome.

"The old village chief is an elder, this is really embarrassing for me."

Lu Cheng's tutor was extraordinary. He stretched out his hands and shook hands with Zhang Jianwen.

"Okay, now that everyone is here, let's take our seats and chat while we eat."

Yang Laosan looked at everyone and suggested with a smile.

"Let's get started. Anyway, we don't have any rules here. And I'm craving the wine Zhang An brought."

Everyone immediately agreed that there were really no rules to follow when drinking in the village.

"Boss Lu, please take a seat. If you hadn't been here these past few years, we wouldn't know what a hard life so many people in our village would have to live."

Zhang Jianwen and several others invited Lu Cheng to sit in the seat to thank him for his help to Changqing Village over the years.

"No, no, no, uncles, please go first. I am just a junior, you can just treat me like Zhang An. Old man, you still have to come."

Of course Lu Cheng would not agree. The family education he received since childhood did not allow it. After all, there were many people present who could be considered Zhang An's elders. He then spoke to Mr. Huang, who was the oldest and had the highest seniority.

"Alright, alright, everyone, just sit down. We are not outsiders, so there is no need to go through all this trouble."

Seeing that they were still making excuses to each other, Zhang An spoke directly and then found a seat to sit down.

"Hahaha, let's sit down then. If we dawdle any longer, we won't be able to drink Zhang An's good wine."

With Zhang An's shout, everyone stopped pushing and shoving and sat down at their seats directly.

In fact, they are not like this usually, but this time there is a distinguished guest like Lu Cheng, so they are actually being polite.

“I never thought this ox head could be cooked so deliciously. Master Zhou’s cooking skills are still as amazing as ever.”

The main dish on the table was a bowl of ox brains. Lu Chengguang knew it must taste good just by smelling it.

Before coming, Yang Laosan said that it was Zhou Yang who dealt with this bull head.

Lu Cheng was also familiar with Zhou Yang. After all, he was the chef when Zhang An got married.

So even though it was a big pot meal, he had already tasted Zhou Yang's cooking skills.

"Haha, I don't deserve such praise from Boss Lu. This ox brain is considered a specialty dish here. However, not many people can make it, and I'm just a beginner." Although Zhou Yang was smiling, he still waved his hand modestly.

"Oh? Then I must try it carefully."

Lu Cheng had no doubt about Zhou Yang's words.

After all, he had come here so many times, but had never seen this dish before.

I guess it’s just like what Zhou Yang said, it’s not easy to do.

In fact, what Zhou Yang said was absolutely true. This ox brain is indeed a specialty dish that has been popular in the nearby mountainous area for a long time.

You should know that in this mountain area, there are many Miao villages of all sizes, especially in ancient times, there were only Miao villages.

The ethnic minorities in the mountains have always had their own customs passed down from generation to generation, such as sacrifice, which is particularly important.

It is so important that to this day, in many Miao villages, sacrificial ceremonies are more important than the Miao New Year.

When they performed sacrifices, they usually used cattle and pigs. Even sheep were inferior and rarely appeared on the table.

You have to know that in ancient times, cows were very important livestock. There was even a saying that killing cows was illegal and that people were inferior to cows.

But in the Miao village, sacrifice has always been more important than anything else, and no one cares whether there are rules or not, as long as cattle are used for sacrifice.

However, at that time, the local government had no way to deal with the Miao villages in the mountains, and even if they fought, they would not be able to gain any advantage.

Until the end, it was necessary to use a conciliatory approach to pacify the Miao people in the mountains.

Therefore, they seem to respect the traditional customs of the Miao village. If they want to use cattle for sacrifice, then go ahead and do so as long as it doesn't cause trouble.

The cattle after the sacrifice became food for the Miao people.

Therefore, this mountainous area has a long history of eating beef.

Combined with the lack of oil and salt in mountainous areas, many local practices have been born.

There are many specialties such as sour soup beef, spicy beef, and even beef stomach hotpot, which are rich and varied, and all parts of the cow are utilized.

The ox head, as an important part of the cow's body, was naturally not wasted, so the specialty dish of roasted ox brain appeared.

But compared to other dishes, ox brain is more troublesome to prepare, so although it is a specialty dish, it is not common.

"Zhang An, don't just stand there, hurry up and pour the wine, I'm already so hungry."

After everyone sat at the table, the Yang family sisters-in-law did not bring the steamer directly over because they wanted to drink.

The wine they drank was naturally the one that Zhang An brought. After all, he brought it with him, so he had to drink it first. If it was not enough, he could drink the wine from Yang Laosan's house.

"My, my, I forgot about it. I'll pour everyone some wine right now."

Zhang An apologized to everyone and laughed it off, then began to open the mud seal and prepare to pour wine for everyone.

As soon as the mud seal was opened, the strong aroma of wine in the jar immediately spread throughout the main hall of Yang Laosan's house.

Just by smelling the strong aroma of alcohol, all the drunkards' eyes widened.

"Hiss, this jar of wine is probably from the first batch. Zhang An has invested a lot of money this time."

As soon as Mr. Huang smelled the aroma of the wine, he immediately knew that this jar must be a treasure that had been stored in the cellar for many years. It was definitely not new wine because new wine would not be so fragrant.

Because he already had a jar of thirty-year-old wine, and the aroma of that wine was incomparable to that of newly brewed wine.

The wine from Zhang An's family has always been quite fragrant, but this one is particularly strong. He is sure that it was definitely stored in the cellar.

"Yes, Second Master's nose is still as good as ever. This jar is from the first batch of wine brewed. It was produced under your supervision. It has been stored in the cellar for several years now."

Zhang An immediately smiled and explained that he had specially brought a jar of slightly better tea. After all, Lu Cheng was also here, so he should treat him well.

In fact, he had better ones in his space, but if he moved those wines out, according to the time outside, they would probably have been aged for decades, so he didn't dare to take them out directly, for fear that he would not be able to explain it clearly.

As for the outside, the best wine in their family is the first batch that he stored in the cellar right after it was brewed. It can definitely be called good wine when it is taken out.

"Haha, no wonder it smells so good. Just smelling it makes you drunk. But even though this wine is good, don't be too hasty when drinking it. If you take two gulps, you will definitely get drunk right away."

Mr. Huang picked up the wine glass, took a sniff with great enjoyment, and then spoke to everyone.

Even though Zhang An often sent wine to Mr. Huang Erye, he still missed this batch of wine very much.

Because later on, the wine Zhang An brewed was blended in order to make it less strong and to make it more adaptable to more people.

Even if there were any that had not been mixed, he hid them all.

Therefore, Mr. Huang always thought that only the first batch of wine had such a strong taste.

Several people who were about to raise their glasses to try the wine slowed down their actions immediately after hearing what Mr. Huang said, and just wanted to take a sip.

But the strength of the alcohol is there, even with just a small sip, it feels stronger than drinking half a pound of alcohol normally.

"This wine is amazing. As soon as I drank it, I felt warm all over and full of energy. It didn't feel like I was drunk on a normal day at all."

Although they are all from the countryside, they can tell the good from the bad with their many years of drinking experience.

And with such a big difference, it is easier to distinguish.

"That's true. Zhang An's jars used to sell for 500 yuan per catty. If we take this jar out, I'm afraid it wouldn't be too much to sell it for 2,000 yuan per catty."

Zhang Jianwen had just finished speaking when he realized that his cup of wine was only worth several hundred yuan, and he suddenly felt reluctant to drink it.

"Hey, forget about that. Since it's out, it's for drinking. Don't just focus on the wine. The protagonist today is Niu Nao Ke."

If there was only one jar like this one, just like the jar of thirty-year-old wine that Mr. Huang dug out, Zhang An would definitely be reluctant to take a sip.

But now, there is a full cellar of better wine in the space, so he doesn't feel any regret at all.

After being reminded by Zhang Anyi, everyone put down their wine glasses and started eating to suppress the strong effect of the alcohol.

After enjoying the food and drinks, Lu Cheng was no longer as reserved as before and became more talkative.

"In the past two years, our kiwi fruit has become famous. If you want to expand the scale, you can start thinking about it. I can handle it all."

Although the village's kiwifruit production has increased a lot in the past two years, it is still far from Lu Cheng's expected goal.

Therefore, now that he sees that the villagers' management is becoming more mature, he wants the villagers to start expanding the scale.

"Okay, I'll find a time and call everyone together to talk about this."

The expansion of the orchard is related to the increase in villagers' income, so Zhang Jianwen also nodded and said.

(End of this chapter)