Chapter 30: The Legendary Ginseng

After visiting the church, we decided to go to a movie. The cinema was showing the American comedy Home Alone, and we bought tickets for the most recent show. When it was time to enter, the ticket inspector apologized to us that the movie was cancelled and could refund our tickets. Tanya asks why? The ticket inspector said that this movie was only for us to buy two tickets, and the movie theater stipulates that there must be more than three people to show the movie, and I asked if I could show it if I bought two more tickets? The ticket inspector smiled and said, if you buy two more tickets, then you can watch a special show. After watching a movie, we laughed enough in the movie theater where there were just the two of us. Tanya said that it was the first time she had seen a special movie, and I said that I was the same. Tanya laughs and says that she and I have finally found a common ground.

I told SΓΉ Dania that for dinner we went to the old Caucasian Georgian restaurant to eat. Tanya was very excited when she heard this: "Wow! It was one of the most famous restaurants we had here, the only Georgian restaurant. Georgian cuisine is very distinctive, it is very famous throughout Russia and the former Soviet Union, I have never eaten Georgian food when I am so old, I heard that the food there is very expensive, Peng, how did you know about this restaurant? I replied, "Sasha arranged it for us, and his friend is the owner of this restaurant." "I was so lucky today that I was able to eat Georgian food after watching a special movie." Danya said happily.

Seeing that the time was about the same, we were ready to take a taxi to the old Caucasian Georgian restaurant. Standing on the side of the road, I didn't see a taxi, but Tanya raised her hand, and I felt a little strange. A red Lada stopped in front of us, and the young driver in the car rolled down the glass window and asked, "Where are the guys going." "Get in the car, 20,000 rubles." "Tanya later told me that there were very few official taxis in Novosibirsk, and many of them were private cars to make money by taking passengers along the way. After walking five or six kilometers, you will arrive at the old Caucasian Georgian restaurant. I thought to myself, 20,000 rubles is not expensive, and the police car taxi I took was really too expensive, but fortunately it was mentioned that Jima was half the price at that time.

The old Caucasian Georgian restaurant is a two-story red brick building, push open the heavy black iron door, put it into the medieval castle, the lobby inside is open up and down to the top of the second floor, the interior walls are all decorated with red bricks and granite, the walls are hung with bear skins and wolf skins, the ground is paved with large green bricks, all the tables and chairs are made of heavy solid wood, only a layer of varnish is brushed on the top, and the railings are made of natural solid wood and black flower branch shaped ironwork, In the middle of the lobby, a rectangular stage of more than one meter high and more than ten square meters in size was built with red bricks, and a huge multi-headed antique pure copper chandelier was hung in the middle of the roof.

The waiter mentioned Roman and Sasha, and the waiter told us to wait, and Tanya and I stored our clothes at the locker at the door. A tall, dark-haired, middle-aged Caucasian man came out of it, shook my hand hard at the sight of me, and then gave me a hug, "Peng, I'm Roman, Sasha's brother." "Hello! Nice to meet you, this is Tanya. Roman and Tanya greeted each other. I asked Tanya to take out the ginseng from the bag, I took it with both hands and handed it to Roman, who took it and looked at it carefully for a long time, "This is the legendary ginseng, Sasha told me that you gave him one, this is really a precious gift, how should I use it, it can be soaked in wine, right?" I replied, "You can soak in wine, preferably at 50 degrees or more." Roman said, "That's no problem, I have a 60-degree negotiation, how much wine do I brew?" How long to soak it? I replied: "1.5 liters of wine, it is better to soak it for three months, and drink 20-30 ml a day after soaking." I then asked curiously, "What is Qiaqia?" Roman laughed, "Qiaqia is a good thing, you'll know if you want to taste it later." Please come with me, I've arranged for you our best dish here. After speaking, Roman led us to a double dining table on the first floor facing the stage, the table was covered with a snow-white tablecloth, and the tableware and goblets were neatly arranged, and in the middle of the table was placed a colorful clay pot with the image of a Caucasian soldier painted on it like a handicraft. Danya looked at the clay pot carefully, and then asked Roman, "What a beautiful clay pot, Mr. Roman, can I take the clay pot with me after the wine is drunk?" Roman nodded and replied, "Beautiful lady, as long as you like, of course you can take it away." Danya said happily; Thank you, Mr. Roman! I took it back and put it in the dormitory to decorate. ”

"Let's arrange for the food to be served." Roman instructed the waiter next to him, and then said to us, "Please wait a few minutes, and I'll be back right away." With that, Roman turned to leave. The waiter served us broth, barbecue, a cold dish mixed with walnuts and vegetables, a food called khachapuri fried with flour and cheese, and finally a dish called Chinkali, which surprised me very much, exactly like the soup dumplings in our country. Danya and I were tasting Georgian food and drinking wine from clay pots, which were sweet and sour, and the grape aroma was very strong, and Danya liked to drink it and say it was delicious.

At this time, Roman came over with a glass container of liquor, and the waiter brought three small wine glasses on a tray, Roman poured three small wine glasses full of wine, and a smell of wine came to his nose, Roman raised his wine glass and motioned for me and Tanya to raise the wine glass together, "This is Qiaqia, a 60-degree strong wine made from grapes, come, my friend, a toast to our acquaintance!" I raised my glass and drank it, and after swallowing the wine, I suddenly felt a fire burning in my chest, and I felt a bit high. I give a thumbs up "Ochenhala less (very good)!" Later, I will send you to China for negotiation. "China Negotiation? Then I must taste it, now the Georgian dance performance will start soon, you enjoy the performance, I will go and get busy, I wish you all a good time here. With that, Roman turned and left.

At this moment, the lights in the hall suddenly dimmed, and low and melodious music sounded, along with which three tall Georgian youths dressed in black and white Caucasian national costumes took the stage, each with a saber in his hand. The music is sometimes low and sometimes high-pitched, and the three young men dance masculine and vigorous steps to the music, as if a group of warriors on horseback galloping and fighting in the mountains. Then the music suddenly became cheerful, the lights brightened, and three beautiful Georgian girls dressed in red Caucasian national costumes took the stage. Three teams of young men and women danced to the cheerful music, as if in celebration after victory.

After the dance performance, cheerful Georgian music continued to play, and the diners took to the stage to dance merrily. Tanya ran to the stage with me and joined the dancing crowd and danced to the fullest.

After the dance, I was about to settle the bill, and the waiter told me: "Mr. Roman has explained, you don't need to settle the bill, Mr. Roman invites you to go to his office and sit down after dinner." I said, "Thank you, then please take us to Mr. Roman's office." ”

In Roman's luxurious office, Roman made tea and was waiting for us. I said, "Thank you, Mr. Roman, for your hospitality!" I'm sorry to ask you to ask us. Roman said, "Peng, you don't have to be polite, Sasha's friend is my friend, and besides, you gave me such a precious gift today." I said, "It's just a small gift." Roman asked, "Peng, I have a question, I don't know if it's inconvenient for Fang to ask?" I replied, "Just say it." Roman said, "How many years have you been giving me ginseng?" How much does it cost? "This kind of fresh ginseng grown by ginseng farmers is sold for more than 100 yuan in pharmacies in the northeast region at the age of four or five, and it is relatively expensive in the south. After a moment's thought, I said what I thought was about the same price: "It's been five years, and it's worth about fifty dollars." "Wow! It's so cheap, can I buy some if I want? Roman said in surprise, and I said, "Mr. Roman, I don't have much, but I can give you one." Roman asked, "How many do you have?" I replied, "I have a dozen more." "I have brought twenty sticks, one each for Sasha and Roman, one for Denya, and now I have promised to give one to Roman, and sixteen are left.

Roman asked me, "Peng, I want all this ginseng, is it okay?" I thought for a moment and replied, "Yes, but I'll leave a few for free." Roman said, "I heard that Vanya is going back to China soon, and I want him to bring some more, and I want these ginseng to be sent to my parents and friends." I said, "Vanya will take the customer back to China by plane this time, and I will also take a plane when I come back, so I'm afraid I won't be able to bring a few, but since you say so, then I'll give it all to you." Roman took my hand and said, "Thank you, if you can get more of it, I can sell it in the restaurant, the people who come to eat here are rich people, everyone knows ginseng, but there is no place to buy it, there used to be Koreans who sold ginseng-brewed wine, a bottle sold for one or two hundred dollars, his kind of ginseng is much smaller than yours." I was shocked in my heart, it was so expensive, I knew that I had just said that the price was higher. "Mr. Roman, I want to find a way, I should be able to get some here." At this point, I thought of the International Column and Sveta. "Peng, I still have a question, does ginseng soaking wine have an effect on low back and leg pain? My parents often have lower back and leg pain, and my back hurts sometimes. "Ginseng soaking will be effective for lower back and leg pain, but I can help you treat it." Roman looked at me in surprise: "Peng, are you a doctor?" I replied, "I know acupuncture." Roman asked, "Did you go to medical school?" I replied, "My aunt is a Chinese medicine practitioner, I studied with her, and I also studied at the College of Traditional Chinese Medicine." Roman shook my hand hard, "Great, when is it convenient for you?" I can pick you up and go to my house for acupuncture for my parents. I looked at Danya and replied, "It should be fine at night." "I thought that I would not be able to do my Russian class again this evening. Roman said excitedly: "Great, let's settle it like this, I'll pick you up tomorrow night, do you need to prepare anything?" I replied: "Alcohol and tampons." ”

Roman wanted to drive us back to the youth apartment, and I declined. Tanya and I wanted to take a walk, and when we got out of the old Caucasian restaurant, I said to Tanya, "I'm sorry Tanya, I can't do the Russian class in the evening." Tanya looked at me affectionately and said, "It's okay, there is still time later, if you don't come back too late in the evening, I'll wait for you." "Thank you Tanya, you're so nice!" Tanya took my hand and said, "Peng, I'm very happy today!" ”