128. Eat wine

A few days ago, Sun Gang received a senior high school classmate Yuan Xiao. This classmate was very close to Sun Gang in high school and had never been in contact. When he got married, Sun Gang was in Shenzhen and had not yet finished his journey, so he asked Sun Dad to make up for the gift. This time he added one and invited Sun Gang to his house for a drink on the second day of the seventh lunar month. Sun Gang was very happy and promised to go for a drink.

Nowadays, there are more and more banquets held in the countryside, such as getting married, going to school, building a house, adding children, serving in the army, celebrating a birthday. In Sun Gang's impression, there were at least several times before the New Year.[]

In fact, every summer or autumn in the countryside, there is less farming work and is in the slack season, but rural people start to do things and hold banquets frequently. It is also at this time that not only do things and banquets are relatively sufficient, but also have a relatively fulfilling income at home. When doing things, you have to hold banquets. In fact, what needs to be done was planned and agreed upon as early as the beginning of the year. The main reason is that relatives have time to have time during this slack season.

When doing things, rural people plan and prepare for banquets ten days in advance. First, choose good days, such as the second day of the lunar month, the sixth day of the lunar month, the eighth day of the lunar month, etc., which are usually even days. To invite relatives and friends one by one, either to notify or come to the door in person. Especially for those who have children, they basically invite them to the door, and have to bring ten red eggs. Now, there are usually invitations nearby, and notifications are made in the distance.

The day before the banquet, you should hire a good chef and a good neighbor to help, and borrow enough tables, stools, plates and bowls. Now some use disposable plastic bowls and chopsticks. Of course, as long as your invitation arrives, everyone is happy to help.

The chefs invited by Yuan Xiao’s family are from the village. Their cooking skills may not be very good, but the various dishes cooked are still very authentic and delicious. The chef was originally a bricklayer but also a rural chef praised by everyone. During the busy farming period, he worked outside, but now he was invited to be a chef but his schedule was full. In fact, if he did not have a monthly salary for a chef like him, the master gave him a cigarette and a red envelope to express his gratitude. But after the matter, the master had to arrange for the chef and the helping neighbors to come and drink seriously to show his gratitude.

Unless there are weddings and weddings, you usually have a day to hold a banquet. It should be said that the quality of the wine and the grade of the cigarette are slightly worse. The wine is wholesale, simple, and it costs about twenty yuan per bottle, and the cigarette is basically no more than ten yuan per pack. The banquet is actually a flowing table. When there are many people, it is just a walk. It is basically a 12 o'clock at noon and six o'clock in the evening. The food and drink speed of the first or second trip is relatively fast. Everyone knows in their hearts how many people are waiting to take it. Noon is embarrassed to occupy it, and they leave the table after eating, so as to make room for the next person to sit for the next trip. A few years ago, a local winery registered a wine name: flowing table wine. It was indeed very popular for a while.

Whether it is a banquet of nature, the host will arrange for someone who specializes in collecting gifts to be responsible for accounting. The person who comes first registers and sends the gifts, and will also receive a pack of cigarettes or a towel symbolically returned. Red paper is used for weddings, and white paper is used for funerals.

However, the visitor seems to have a legitimate meaning of participating as promised. With the improvement of living standards, the level of gifts has also changed. Ten years ago, it was basically ten yuan, twenty yuan, and the closest one was fifty yuan, but now it is one hundred yuan, two hundred yuan.

This is human favor. Human favor is to repay it as a debt.

Some families have to do such a big thing several times a year, while others don’t do it for many years. Just like a family in Sungang Village, who built a house after the Spring Festival a few years ago, invited someone to have a drink; they got married and still wanted someone to have a drink; after this period, they had a grandson, and they still invited someone to have a drink again, which was not satisfactory, but everyone didn’t care and they all said that these were all happy events worth celebrating.

"Sun Gang, here you come." Yuan Xiao saw that Sun Gang was familiar with it. Many of Sun Gang came to his house in high school.

"Well, congratulations." Sun Gang stepped forward to congratulate his classmates. It is a big deal and a happy event to add children in the countryside.

"When will you and Zhao Han do your business?" He, Sun Gang and Zhao Han are both classmates, and they are now both partners.

"Look, it's either this year or next year." Sun Gang was not sure.

"I'll give you a letter then."

"Okay, it's indispensable."

"You go to the room first..." Yuan Xiao could only chat with Sun Gang for a few words. There were many customers and he had to greet others, so he arranged for a relative to lead Sun Gang into the yard.

The yard was filled with people, and many people gathered around the gift table and paid the money.

Sun Gang will accompany you for 200 yuan. In rural areas, it will be no more or less, neither far or near. When Sun Gang gets married and has a child, Yuan Xiao will also follow you for 200 yuan.

After searching for a while, I had no acquaintances and had good relationships with high school classmates usually worked outside, so Sun Gang had to find a corner to sit down first.

There are many rules to follow at the banquet. This is the qualities of rural people and a kind of folk custom. They are all eight immortal tables, square, with two people sitting on each side, eight people sitting on the table. First, snacks such as melon seeds and peanuts are placed, which makes people feel pounding while chatting.

The seat will start to take a while, but the person who "shoulder" must first sit down so that other people can sit down.

The seat is an important position for a table, and it also means the door of a table. It is a glorious thing to be able to sit on the seat. This seat is usually located in the south and facing the north and facing the gate.

Before you go to the table, everyone always politely advises you, and then the person with the highest seniority of this table will first sit at the table. Even if you are not an official, you don’t want to show off your makeup or make a move. You will consciously give the person with the highest seniority of this table.

He didn't even recognize Sun Gang's table, but he had a wink. He took a look at the seat and sat down. He was asked to change it several times. In the end, his table looked a little older and sat on the table.

Each dish on the table is placed first on the top of the table, and other people on the table will definitely ask the table to pick up chopsticks first so that they can get the chopsticks.

Toasts come from the top. Because of the high seniority, the toasts must stand up respectfully and give you a glass. For us, toast twice, and finally return. At the beginning of the banquet, after the toasts, the next step is to find a partner.

It is not all familiar to everyone. Since you can come to the banquet, you are not outsiders, so you naturally have a sense of intimacy. Therefore, even if you don’t know each other, the stranger will actively introduce himself and be a relative of the master’s family, etc.

The person who is responsible for pouring wine at the banquet is called the wine commander. Under normal circumstances, people who drink a lot of alcohol and have good eloquence will be invited to serve as the person. The wine commander has a relatively large power and is absolutely powerful. The amount you pour is as much as you want. Moreover, the strong and dull alcohol smell on this table is also achieved by the level of the wine commander.

Of course, at the banquet, you must not touch the bottle of wine, otherwise you will be willing to be punished with a large glass of wine. When you encounter a wine fighter and annoy the wine commander, then you will be miserable. He said that if you put it down, you will be down. You will be unreliable.

Sun Gang was caught and drank a few glasses. Fortunately, he had a good alcohol tolerance, but he drove a car and didn't dare to drink too much. Others did not let him drink too much.

There is another characteristic of rural banquets, that is, when everyone sits on the table, they become very gentle. Whether it is more than ten years ago when material poverty is poor or when material rich, chicken, fish, meat and eggs are indispensable at the banquet. Although it is not rare, it is not necessarily everyone can afford it every day. Strangely, when it comes to the banquet, everyone is always very subtle. Many dishes are eaten half and left half. It seems that it is very impolite to eat them all.

When the banquet is coming to an end, at this time, the wine in the glass is killed by consciously, otherwise they will be reminded or urged. At that time, someone shouts loudly to serve the soup and eat. "There are rules for eating. If someone wants to pour some soup, they have to ask you if you serve the soup?" They don't skip. Others must say politely or politely, "You go to you."

The rice is to be eaten without a grain of rice, especially when attending a funeral banquet. If you have left it, you will mean that you will come and eat it. This is not allowed or should not be allowed. Generally speaking, those who come to the banquet have these rules, and the adults will clean up the leftovers for those children who cannot finish their meals.

After eating, you should place the chopsticks on the right side of the bowl, not on the bowl. No matter the banquet, everyone would drink and chat and laugh, and the scene was lively.

Rural banquets are also a good place to test whether the attendees understand etiquette. They have to put food in front of them. There are naturally no good dishes at the table, and they are usually cold dishes and green vegetables. Sun Gang was embarrassed to stand up and pick up dishes.

You can't "chew in your mouth, sweep your eyes, move chopsticks, pile in your bowls", you can't seem impatient, otherwise it will be called "greedy" as the country people call it.

After dinner, Sun Gang drank a cup of tea, chatted with Yuan Xiao for a few words, looked at him, happily sent his blessings, and then said goodbye and went home.

In rural areas, relatives usually have fewer contacts. By holding a banquet, the relationship between the two has been deepened. Everyone has an opportunity to communicate deeply and have enough heart-to-heart chat. There are also sudden events, which are nothing more than because they are in a car accident and are in an emergency. However, this is to see people first, you can't go empty-handed, and you have to give them money to express your condolences and concerns. Although they will keep you enthusiastically for dinner, you know in your heart that you will wait for the day when he will pay the guests.

Holding banquets in rural areas is a recognition and continuation of folk customs. But it is undeniable that the frequent banquets and frequent invitations to eat have also brought great burdens to some families who are still in poverty. However, no matter how big or too many difficulties there are, they will go there sincerely, send a heart and express a kind of friendship.

128. Eat wine

128. Eat wine
Chapter completed!