Chapter 52: Chapter 52: Yiping gets drunk
Finally, a group of four or five people arrived at Grandpa's house. The host came to propose a toast, and everyone at the table stood up.
There were five people coming in, all the son and son-in-law of the birthday boy. The eldest son was holding a cup in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other. The one behind him was carrying a box of white wine, the next one was carrying an aluminium pot with rice wine inside, the remaining one was carrying a basket with cigarettes inside, and the last one was also carrying a basket with a short firecracker.
The last person lit a firecracker, and the eldest son of the birthday person filled the glasses of everyone at the table one by one. When it came to Feng Yiping, this Feng Yiping, who was also called uncle, patted him on the shoulder and told him not to be polite, to eat and drink to his heart's content, and also asked Feng Zhenchang if they had called recently and how business was going in the provincial capital. Usually, they would ask when they met, but today they were especially polite at the table. Feng Yiping was very comfortable with these kinds of conversations and responded with a few relaxed words, and also gave the old man his blessings in passing.
Meanwhile, the person carrying the wine followed up by adding two bottles of white wine to the table. These two bottles of wine were the best from the county winery. The person carrying the cigarettes distributed a pack of cigarettes to each person, still the Swimming brand.
Third uncle and the others removed the lids from the bowls, revealing two dishes: one was a square stack of steamed meat patties, layered one on top of the other; the other was meat, fat pork, cut into thumb-thick squares, also stacked into a square stack.
Then, the eldest uncle at the head of the table raised his wine glass and, on behalf of the guests at the table, wished the host a happy birthday – an obligation of the person sitting at the head of each table. It's all a bit of a cliché, with the usual wishes of happiness and long life, and praise for the children, who are all talented and promising. The host thanks everyone, and then everyone drinks up.
At this point, the toasting comes to an end, and the table starts eating. The five of them go to another table in the room to toast.
Feng Yiping doesn't really like the two dishes on the table. He never really liked meat puddings, and as for the meat, it's very fatty pork belly, chunks as thick as chopsticks, and it's really too fat.
Over the years, life has gradually improved, and everyone has a little bit of fat in their stomachs. Not many people at the table are using their chopsticks. The meat cake is fine, and the meat is in small cubes, so only the top layer or two is gone. There is no rush to remove these two dishes, they will stay on the table.
The adults at the table say that it was only two years ago that everyone was not well off. At every banquet, even these two dishes would be eaten up in no time, unlike now, when so much is left.
After the two dishes in covered bowls are served, and the host has made a toast, guests who want to go home can leave the table.
Although Feng Yiping is the youngest, he is the one who eats the most at this table. This is not satisfying; he is still only half full. He wants to eat, so his third uncle tells him to go find the third aunt, who is the kitchen helper.
The front yard of the grandfather's house where the birthday celebration is taking place is also the kitchen. It is easy to find, following the smell of fireworks and the fragrance, and following the waiters.
Everything was open-air, with two stoves made of adobe bricks in the middle, with a roaring fire and two large pots sitting on top. The pots looked like sea pots. The two cooks, in this weather, were wearing just a singlet and frying the food vigorously with spatulas that looked like small shovels.
Next to them were two long wooden boards, on which three or four housewives were cutting vegetables at the same time. Even the eldest auntie was among them. The sound of knives clashing against the boards was very loud, so loud that they had to shout to be heard.
Next to the boards were several large basins, and several people were gathered around them, busily washing dishes.
Along the outer wall of his house, there were seven or eight coal stoves lined up in a row, on which they were either stir-frying or stewing. There was no rest for any of the pots. In short, the whole scene was truly a flurry of activity.
Auntie San looked at the three stoves, all of which were simmering dishes. Hearing that Feng Yiping wanted to eat, she gave him a bowl of rice, from a jar on one of the stoves, and a big spoonful of braised pork, which made the rice in the bowl look like it was about to tip over. She found him a small stool and let him eat there.
The braised pork was cooked to perfection, not too fatty, and Feng Yiping had a good appetite. He devoured the hearty bowl in a few minutes, and when his aunt saw that, she was about to serve him another. Feng Yiping really couldn't eat any more. If he wasn't going to eat, then he could have some soup. His aunt served him another bowl of stewed chicken with chestnuts. There wasn't really much soup, just the chestnuts and the chicken. He finished that much more slowly.
After finishing this, he really couldn't eat anything else. He asked where the little ones were, and his third aunt said they were at his eldest uncle's house.
Feng Yiping went to his eldest uncle's house first to have a look. Boy, there were three tables set up in the main room, all with children and grandchildren. However, the children had already eaten almost everything, and they were running around with fish fries in their hands and soy beans fried at home.
Feng Yiping thought, it's better to go to his table and say hello before coming over, otherwise once he goes in, he will definitely be kept busy and won't be able to leave.
At this time, what was served was also braised pork and spare ribs with winter melon soup. Having eaten until now, and having eaten several dishes in a row, the pace of eating slowed down, and everyone kept urging him to drink. Feng Yiping said he would take his leave first, but his cousin-in-law wouldn't let him go, saying that he had to drink with him no matter what.
In our rural area, at this time, there was no such thing as saying that children were underage and could not drink. Feng Yiping knew that it was useless for his third uncle to persuade him, and seeing how red in the face his cousin was, Feng Yiping also knew that he could not reason with him at this time.
Anyway, there was sweet rice wine on the table, so he poured himself a full glass. 'Cousin, I'm still young and can't drink white wine yet, so I'll toast you with this rice wine. How about I have a glass of rice wine and you have a glass of white wine?'
His uncle's brother-in-law said, 'That won't do, he should have three glasses of white wine.'
The whole table followed suit, and the cousin-in-law drank a little too much, so he couldn't speak very smoothly. He said that there was no difference in size at the table, and one glass of wine was equal to one glass, and that he had heard about Feng Yiping and knew that he would have a bright future. This was a rare opportunity, so he had to drink with him today.
So in the end, it was a cup for a cup. Feng Yiping gulped it down in one go. The old rice wine was very tasty, sweet, soft and mellow. He drank one cup and wanted a second. So he filled up another cup and toasted everyone at the table, having done the proper thing in terms of etiquette.
Third uncle tried to stop him, but it was too late. Feng Yiping didn't know that this was the first cup of sweet rice wine brewed after the New Year at his grandfather's house for a birthday celebration, and that it had been mixed with grain wine to give it a strong aftertaste.
Feng Yiping realised something was wrong only when he got up to leave the table. His head was clear, but his hands and feet were not quite obedient, and he immediately understood that he had drunk too much. The house of his eldest uncle and his grandfather's house were very noisy. He went to the back room, found the key, opened the door of his second uncle's house next door, went to the guest room, covered the quilt haphazardly, and fell asleep. The noise around him had no effect at all, and as soon as his head touched the pillow, he started snoring.
It wasn't until after 3:00 p.m. that the guests finally dispersed. After eating, Mei Jianzhong stayed to chat with some old friends over tea and a few games of dominoes. Then he went home with a net of apples and some fried fish, fried soybeans, and other dishes that would keep.
Inside the house, the waiter had already cleaned up. He looked inside and out, but Feng Yiping wasn't there, so he didn't care too much. He assumed that he had gone to Wang Changning's house.
Dinner was ready, but Wang Changning had not returned yet. He thought that Feng Yiping was having dinner at Wang Changning's house. When it was past seven o'clock and he still hadn't returned, he made a special trip to Wangjiawan. Only then did he find out that Feng Yiping had not even come in the afternoon.
Wang Changning accompanied him to his third uncle's house, but of course he wasn't there either. Mei Jianzhong was a little panicked. He also knew that his great-nephew could not have been abducted, otherwise he would have mobilised the whole village to find him.
Then his uncle followed, and the three of them set off to find Feng Yiping. When they left his uncle's house and reached the main road, Mei Jianzhong gave Mei Guoxing a severe dressing-down. He did it as a favour to Mei Guoxing, and didn't do it in front of Mei Guoxing's wife and children.
At this time, Mei Guoxing had nothing to say, so he could only bow his head and take it. Wang Changning tried to comfort him by saying that Feng Yiping would be fine, but he couldn't think of where Feng Yiping was or what he was doing. There was nothing they could do, so the three of them had to shout Feng Yiping's name back and forth in Meijiawan.
Feng Yiping slept soundly. He didn't know how long it had been, but he could vaguely hear someone calling his name. He opened his eyes with difficulty. It was dark, and he was a little disoriented from sleep. For a moment, he couldn't remember if it was night or morning and if he had woken up too early.
He didn't want to think about it, since it was vacation. He rolled over and was about to go back to sleep when he heard several people calling his name. He listened carefully and sure enough, it was! Only then did he realise that something was wrong. He sat up abruptly and tried to figure it out. Oh no, he had slept from the afternoon until now. His grandparents and the others must be looking for him everywhere because they didn't know he was hiding here.freёwebnoѵel.com