Return to 1983 Hunting Xing'an Mountains

Chapter 486 The living are guilty of the death of the brothers and must drink thoroughly

Inside the house, smoke was floating in the air. Everyone took their seats, almost filling up the entire east room. Only Guan Mei, Guan Hua and Sun Lianfang were playing with the children in the west room.

As soon as Liu Zhu sat down, Sun Jiwei personally poured him a cup of tea. He took it with a smile and said, "Uncle, I'll pour it myself."

"Hey, drink it quickly, and call your wife and your grandfather over later to have a bite together."

Liu Zhu shook his head: "The children haven't recovered from their cold yet, don't let them suffer, I'll eat here at noon."

Er Niang said: "Then you can bring some donkey meat home later..."

"Keep it for yourself. We haven't been without meat these days. Before Wang Ye got into trouble, we were still trapping roe deer in the mountains."

Sun Jiwei said, "Your brother-in-law brought half a donkey's meat. We have to eat it for a while. You can take some back, or I will send you some in two days."

Liu Zhu smiled and nodded, and replied: "Okay, then I won't be polite."

"What are you being polite about, kid?"

Xu Ning sat on a stool leaning against the cabinet, listening to what Sun Jiwei and Er Niang said. He could clearly feel an emotion - self-blame. He was quite gentle when speaking to Liu Zhu, fearing that he would hurt his feelings. After all, Liu Zhu's father died because he saved Sun Jiwei, and it was normal for them to feel guilty.

Liu Zhu glanced at Guan Lei. He had just greeted Guan Lei and knew that he was the 'Ma Chunming' who was pointed at Sun Lianfang's back waist by the snail shell. He also knew Wu Zhouquan, Wu Hailong and others. However, he called Wu Hailong brother-in-law and Wu Zhouquan uncle...

He turned his head and asked, "Uncle Xu, what are you doing with Master Xu?"

Xu Ning smiled and said, "We'll leave after breakfast tomorrow morning."

"Oh, I can't take you there. I have to go up the mountain to bury the dead tomorrow morning."

"Just do your thing. Besides, it's not like I won't come to Sandaohe anymore. Wait for me to come back sometime and we'll have a good drink together."

"Of course! We didn't drink enough the other day in the mountains, so we'll drink it thoroughly next time."

Sun Jiwei said, "What are you going to do next time? You have to drink a lot this afternoon! I have never seen Erning get drunk and act crazy. I have to take a look."

"Hahaha, Uncle Er, I really won't act crazy when I'm drunk. If I really get drunk, I'll just find a place to sleep."

Sun Jiye turned around, took out a cigarette and handed it to him, saying, "Want a cigarette? I've already picked up the wine, what else do you need?"

"Oh, forget it. Smoking is not easy to quit. Now that I have quit, I will never pick it up again. As my eldest brother said: A person must have a hobby in life. It's okay for me to quit drinking, but you want me to quit smoking? Just kill me!"

"Hahaha... Qiangzi's two sentences are quite clear. I'll tease him next time."

Third Aunt smiled and said, "Why are you kidding me? It's not easy for me to quit."

Xu Laonian said: "When Qiangzi was trying to quit drinking, he asked me several times whether his brother had quit drinking and whether he had been drinking secretly. I said at the time that if a man spoke, he would definitely not drink. This time, the kid picked up the wine, and I thought Qiangzi was doomed too."

Sun Jiwei asked: "Why are you so afraid of Qiangzi drinking?"

"Didn't I say it last time? My elder brother is a drunkard and keeps repeating the same things over and over again. To put it nicely, he's annoying. To put it bluntly, he's blind. But there's nothing wrong with my elder brother..."

"Of course! If he was sick, would he follow you into the mountains to chase Li Quan and Lao Ba? What's the relationship? If you call him comrades more than ten years ago, you would give your life to each other!"

"It's not that bad..."

Everyone started talking about brotherhood unconsciously. Liu Zhu sat on the edge of the kang, feeling very uncomfortable. He recalled the past when he and Wang Ye went hiking in the mountains. The two brothers had a life-long friendship and could entrust their wives and children to each other. However, everything became a thing of the past that evening.

As time goes by, after Wang Yumin's death, Wang Ye will disappear from everyone's mind and will not be easily remembered unless someone mentions Hong Sao and Wang Qiang, the uncle and sister-in-law.

Xu Ning was a sensitive person, and he was very careful, so he sensed Liu Zhu's abnormality and asked, "Have you ever seen a big pig in the mountains?"

"I've seen one weighing more than 600 kilograms, but I've never seen one weighing 700 or 800 kilograms, but I've heard about it from others. What's the matter, Uncle Xu?"

"The city is planning to build a specimen exhibition hall. I was thinking if I could come across a pig weighing 700 to 800 kilograms, or a big cat or a calico cat, I would send it to the city after I shoot it down."

Sun Jiye continued, "I know about this, Zhuzi. Your uncle helped build this exhibition hall. The person who planned this was Erning's third uncle. When you go hiking in the mountains, if you encounter a large animal that you can't beat, come and tell me. I will tell Erning to come and beat it."

"Okay!"

Xu Ning said: "If you can kill a large animal, then send it to the city. Then go directly to the Forestry Bureau to find my brother Xu Long. We will charge you the price of the meat and the hide according to the price per pound. We can't let us suffer a loss."

Liu Zhu nodded: "Yeah! I'll pay more attention when I get into the mountains."

At this time, Er Niang lifted the door curtain and said, "Zhu Zi, take the donkey meat home first, tell your wife and come here quickly."

"Okay, okay, Uncle Xu, Grandpa Xu, and Grandma Liu...just sit down, I'll be back soon."

"Well, I won't send you off."

Liu Zhu stood up and walked out of the house. Sun Jiwei followed him to the outer room and saw that Er Niang had cut off the meat from the front legs and chest, which was estimated to be more than 20 kilograms. There were also two boxes of biscuits, malted milk, and a bag of soy milk powder next to it.

Sun Jiwei was quite satisfied. He knew that his wife was sensible. Guan Lei had sent them a lot of things these days. After they left, there would be only the old couple left at home. They would definitely not be able to finish the food, so it would be better to give it to people who were closer to them.

“Is this all for me?”

"Well, take them all home, and in a couple of days I'll catch some crucian carp for your wife to help her produce milk..."

Liu Zhu said with a smile: "Why are you catching crucian carp? My great uncle's second brother used to bring crucian carp to my house whenever he caught them. He provided enough for my wife. Now he vomits when he sees fish."

"Hahaha, if your wife doesn't want to eat it, let your mom and grandpa eat it. If that doesn't work, just fry it and eat it."

"Yes, I fried them a few days ago. So I took them all?"

"Take them all away, send them home and come back quickly. We'll have dinner right away."

Liu Zhu put the things on the cart and pushed the cart out of Old Sun's house.

Third Aunt and Sun Lianfang put the washed vegetables on plates and placed them on the large round table. Sun Jiye scraped the charcoal from the stove pit, put it into the hole on the top of the copper pot with tongs, and then poured the soup base into the copper pot.

However, the round table was larger, so two copper pots were placed on it, one with dried chilies and the other without. There was only one copper pot on the kang table, so the old woman could just reach out and pick up the meat.

The plate of donkey meat is covered with a large plate to prevent it from drying out and becoming hard. This is all based on experience. It can be seen that the Sun family often eats hot pot, otherwise how could they prepare three pots.

Not long after, Liu Zhu hurried over. Xu Ning pulled Liu Zhu to sit next to him, with two taels of wine already filled in front of him.

With the way Liu Zhu behaved, the Sun family members all admired him. Even Sun Lianfang called him Brother Zhu. When Sun Lianfang was studying at school, she had a conflict with someone else. When she shouted at the school gate, more than a dozen Sun family members would come running out, and Liu Zhu was among them. However, he was not very tough in his dealings, so he was not that important in the girl's heart.

Later, when the older people like Sun Lianhong and Yu graduated, only Liu Zhu, Wang Ye, Jun, Xu, and a few younger brothers were left in the school. There was no backbone at all. What should they do? Liu Zhu stood up to help Sun Lianfang and took two knives. Instead, he led a few younger brothers to beat all the people on the opposite side.

"Third brother...oh, my mouth is bald, well...Lianfang, go to the kitchen and get the tofu sauce." Sun Lianfang rolled her eyes at Sun Jiye, then walked to the outer room.

Guan Lei narrowed his eyes when he heard the name 'Old Third', and leaned over to Xu Ning and muttered, "Brother, I remember when we first met Uncle San and his friends, Uncle San called Lianfang the Third and Jun called her Third Sister. Why don't they call her that now?"

Xu Ning frowned and looked at Liu Zhu, and asked: "Zhu Zi, do you know?"

"Uncle Xu, I dare not tell you about this. I'm afraid Lianfang will tickle me."

Sun Jiye laughed when he heard this, "Hahaha, it's over! There's nothing to hide about this. This is what happened. After we came back from the snail shell, Lianfang asked us in front of her not to call her the Third Brother, let alone Third Sister, or else she would get mad."

"Why?" Guan Lei asked directly.

Xu Ning pushed him, and Lianfang happened to come in with tofu stew. He smiled and said, "Why else? I fell in love with you when I saw the snail shell."

"Hey! Brother! I only chose him later, not because of the snail shell!"

Sun Jiye teased, "If you didn't meet me at the snail shell, then why did you follow me to Qing'an? Oh my god, your parents asked me secretly at that time, and I kept it a secret for you."

"Oh...it's not the case anyway." Sun Lianfang pouted, her face full of disapproval.

But in the relationship between her and Guan Lei, she has always taken the initiative, so even if she doesn't admit it, no one will believe it.

Sun Jiwei said with a smile: "Hurry up and get on the bed, Hailong. You have to do more today. Your brother-in-law is getting engaged. How can you be unhappy as his husband?"

Wu Hailong grinned: "I definitely need to do more. I'm afraid Jinbao will make a fuss."

"Oh, nothing happened. It's normal for children to be noisy. We love children. Jinbao is a very adventurous child. He can be held and coaxed by anyone since he came here. He will definitely be successful when he grows up!"

Wu Zhouquan said: "Hahaha, he was trained by his grandmother. Normally in our village, his grandmother would carry him around the streets, and everyone who saw him would laugh..."

Xu Laonian threw away his cigarette butt and said, "The child needs to see more people. If he is always locked up at home, he will get sick."

"OK……"

After this topic came to an end, Sun Jiwei waved his hand and said, "Hurry up and sit down. Let's not be too formal. We are just having a meal together as a family. The wine has been filled, right? Then let's take a sip first and then pick up the chopsticks after we are done. How about that?"

"Second brother, please say a few words."

Sun Jiwei raised his glass and said with a smile: "I still say the same thing. Lei Zi and his mother are very satisfied with this child. He has such a good brother and two uncles and aunts. We are all very happy. We are a family and we should not have any differences. Let's get together often in the future! Now the road is wide and easy to walk. We have a car at home, so it is more convenient to go anywhere... Come on, let's have a drink."

"Got it!"

Everyone raised their glasses and drank together, then started to cook. The soup base was made from Feilong stew. The donkey meat was cooked in less than 30 seconds. With some sauce, it tasted fresh and sweet! What was the sauce?
The main ingredients are sesame paste, sesame oil, farmer's sauce, tofu stew, sugar, salt and MSG. If you like spicy food, just add some chili oil, and nothing else.

Someone may ask, isn't the seasoning dry? You must bring out some soup when you put the meat and vegetables in, and this amount of soup is enough.

We were having hotpot at the end of June and the house quickly became hot. We opened the windows to let in some air, took off our coats, and only then did we feel a little cooler by wearing short sleeves. However, everyone was still sweating and their faces were red while eating.

Xu Ning, Liu Zhu, Sun Jiye and others clinked glasses and drank together. After two glasses of wine, Xu Ning could clearly feel a little dizzy. His body had been without alcohol for more than eight months, but he felt a little uncomfortable and his alcohol tolerance dropped a lot.

But he was not playing tricks today. If someone offered to drink with him, he would just take a few sips. If no one invited them to drink, he would eat more donkey meat. Ten plates of donkey meat were not enough for the group, so Sun Jiye went to cut three more plates. In the end, the women had left the table, but the men were still drinking. Their arms were shaking as they stretched out their chopsticks, but they still accepted everyone's drink.

If you say drink thoroughly, then you must drink thoroughly! Why are you hiding your intentions from your family? You drank so much that you fell asleep on the kang. Who can laugh at you?
At around four o'clock, Xu Laonian, Wu Zhouquan and Sun Jiwei fell on the kang at the same time. As the kang was cold without any fire, Second Mother and Third Aunt pulled two mattresses and quilts for them to cover them with to prevent them from catching cold.

Xu Ning was still sober. He had only drunk less than a pound of liquor from beginning to end, so he was just dizzy. When he was chatting with Liu Zhu and Sun Jiye, he was clear and logical, but his speech was a bit slurred...

After clearing the table, Xu Ning staggered Liu Zhu out of the courtyard. Liu Zhu could drink a lot, he drank more than a pound, and his steps were only slightly unsteady.

"Uncle Xu, come over next time and we'll drink again!"

"Okay! Be careful when walking in the aisle!"

"I'm fine, you can go back with Huzi."

Wang Hu held onto the door frame and nodded with a smile: "Yes, Brother Liu, go slower."

Liu Zhu waved goodbye and left.

Then, Xu Ning turned around and walked into the house. Wang Hu followed him tremblingly, but he was also confused. Seeing Xu Ning sitting on the ground, he was about to jump forward, but he fell to the ground headfirst, with his face covered with dirt!

"Fuck... Tiger?"

Xu Ning was sitting on the ground and turned around to see Wang Hu looking up, grinning with a face full of dirt: "Second brother..."

In the outer room, Liu Lizhen, Han Fang and Third Aunt slapped their thighs and cried "Oh my God!" and rushed out, quickly helping Xu Ning and Wang Hu up.

Liu Lizhen said helplessly: "You two are exactly the same as your fathers!"

"It's good, there's no wound. Xu, come over here and help your brother Tiger."

Sun Lianxu had only drunk two taels of wine. He ran out as if nothing had happened, carrying Wang Hu to the second east room. Liu Lizhen and her third aunt supported Xu Ning.

"Has Erning ever drunk so much before?"

Liu Lizhen said: "They drank more than this. He hadn't touched alcohol for nearly a year, but he got drunk the moment he touched alcohol. The three of us in my family were fine after drinking, but we were not as noisy as others."

"That's fine. My kid isn't noisy. He cried after drinking a little and my second brother slapped him in the face. He's been fine since then."

"Why are you crying?"

"It's just a trivial matter. He said he treated my eldest brother's two children badly. It has nothing to do with him. Oh, I was so angry with my eldest brother at that time. How could he take it upon himself?"

"Ah, he was thinking of going hunting in the mountains as soon as possible, so that he wouldn't starve to death..."

"Yeah, that's right. That's exactly what he thought. He's obsessed with it."

"All gentlemen are like this..."

After the three men sent Xu Ning and Wang Hu to the second east room, they laid mattresses on them and covered them with quilts, then went back to the outer room to clean up the stove. However, they did not remove the vegetables and meat on the large round table, in case they woke up and made a fuss about being hungry.

Later, Sun Lianxu sent Guan Lei and Wu Hailong over. Although Sun Lianjun's mind was clear, he said that his heart was beating very fast and he dared not move. The second mother was so scared that she quickly made him a bowl of salt water.

When Guan Hua heard that Wang Hu had fallen, she went to the second east room to take a look, fetched a basin of water and wiped his face with a towel, pouting her lips and looking distressed...

(End of this chapter)