The ancestral hall of the Zhuang family in Qiyang Town is located in the northwest corner of the town, the terrain is higher, and you can overlook half of Qiyang Town by standing in front of the archway at the entrance of the ancestral hall. Relief of residual jaw boils

The ancestral hall of the dealer is built with the most courage, there is a hall in front of the courtyard, and the hall house is after it, the two sides are the wing rooms, very spacious, the courtyard is all paved with rectangular stone and is smooth and neat, all the buildings are the walls of the big green bricks, the small green tiles do the roof, the white ditch on the top of the eaves drips water, and the small green oriole flies out of the warp.

Zhuang Meiyan stepped into this courtyard and immediately felt its majesty. She was about to step into the hall, but heard someone scolding softly: "Women are not allowed to enter the ancestral hall for major events such as weddings and funerals, three girls, please take the side of the road, and the patriarchs are waiting for you to talk in the back hall,"

When she raised her eyes, she saw that it was an elder guarding the ancestral hall, with a solemn face and an awe-inspiring and inviolable authority.

Chunju was a little anxious and wanted to step forward to reason with him, but was stopped by Zhuang Meiyan.

The elder said to Chunju again: "Those who are not surnamed in my clan are not allowed to enter the ancestral shrine, please ask this girl to wait in front of the archway." ”

Chunju was reluctant, and under the advice of Zhuang Meiyan, she reluctantly left the courtyard of the Zhuang family's ancestral hall. At this time, a small servant came over, leading Zhuang Meiyan around the hall and going to the hall behind from the side wall path.

Bypassing the walled path, there is another courtyard, and the wings on both sides are still surrounded by a square, and two very thick poplar trees are planted, and the branches and leaves are lush to cover half of the sky in the courtyard. Although the hall is not as spacious and solemn as the hall house, it is also very carefully built. It is a place to receive a group of distinguished guests or people of high prestige in the clan to gather and discuss matters.

When Zhuang Meiyan arrived, the hall was already full of people, and there was an old man on crutches sitting on the seat, with bright eyebrows and a majestic face, looking seventy or eighty years old, with wrinkles on his face like a knife carving, looking like an old dragon clock. He is the patriarch of the dealer's house. There were several people sitting on both sides, Zhuang Meiyan didn't know them, but he had vaguely guessed that they should all be respected people in the clan or local squires.

Although there were many people in the room, everyone did not say a word, and they seemed very quiet.

Zhuang Meiyan entered the house and bowed, and met the patriarch and other elders. The patriarch briefly introduced her to the elders, and when she introduced a middle-aged man sitting in the second place, the man picked up the tea bowl and quietly blew the tea leaves in the bowl, not looking directly at Zhuang Meiyan.

The patriarch said: "This is Zhuang Zhiqi, the eldest son of the second family, you should call him Brother Qi." ”

Zhuang Meiyan bowed, she knew that the rules in the clan were very big, even if a figure like her father arrived at the ancestral shrine, she had to salute everyone according to her seniority, and she would never dare to take the official position, so she acted extra carefully.

I don't know that this person didn't look at Zhuang Meiyan at all, and still drank tea like no one, because he didn't answer, Zhuang Meiyan half-squatted and saluted, and he didn't get up, and it was uncomfortable to squat. The man in his thirties, who was sitting in the fifth place, was a little breathless, coughed lightly, and said, "Brother Qi, the third daughter has saluted you." ”

The middle-aged man glanced at him and said "um" from his nose, which was considered to know. Zhuang Meiyan was liberated. She glanced gratefully at the fifth man, who was the youngest in the hall and therefore sat at the very end, a man of good looks and an awe-inspiring look in his eyebrows, which was impossible to underestimate.

When the patriarch introduced him, Zhuang Meiyan paid special attention, bent down and saluted: "Little sister is young and ignorant, please take care of Brother Cheng." ”

This person's name is Zhuang Zhicheng, because his father can't come because he has something to do, so he was asked to replace him temporarily.

Zhuang Zhicheng returned the salute and said, "Sister Yan is polite." ”

And then one by one introduced the field of another local clan Hu clan patriarch, a member surnamed Liu, she didn't know most of the elders in the clan, only the fourth in the right hand Zhuang Zhihong She heard familiar, and suddenly remembered that this is not Hong's sister-in-law's father-in-law, Zhuang Zhihong is honest and duty, seeing her salute just a simple smile, and his wife is not all the way.

After some introduction, after about a meal, Zhuang Meiyan was finally introduced to these people, the old patriarch was tired enough, sitting in the seat and gasping for breath, he was old, and it was extremely difficult to do things, and he felt very hard to speak.

Zhuang Meiyan is a woman, and her seniority is too low, so she has no place to sit in the hall, so she can only stand next to Zhuang Zhicheng in the last position. Zhuang Zhicheng turned his head to look at her, and quietly raised his hand and pointed to a stool behind the door. Zhuang Meiyan smiled gratefully at him, still standing in place.

After more than half an hour, everyone waited a little anxiously, and a few younger people looked up and looked outside from time to time, because they wanted to notarize the gambling and drinking appointment between Liu Fatzi and Zhuang Meiyan, but Liu Fatzi was reluctant to come, so he couldn't start. Some people whispered, at first it was not loud, and then it became more and more complaining.

"Hahaha!"

People didn't come in, the laughter came in first, Liu Fat Zizhi appeared at the door of the hall with satisfaction, stepped into the threshold, scanned the audience with a smile, arched his hand and said: "Greetings to grandpa! You can't help it! This shop is too busy, and the restaurants are all coming to me to ask for wine, so I'm late, please bear with me!"

His gaze swept over Zhuang Zhicheng, who was sitting at the bottom, and a mocking smile flashed in the corner of his eyes, and said: "Shopkeeper Cheng has been doing good business recently? I have recently made a few new varieties of wine there, and if you need it, you can give a nine-percent discount." ”

Zhuang Zhicheng smiled slightly and said, "Thank you Shopkeeper Liu, I still have some stock in the restaurant, and I can't use it for the time being." ”

Liu Fatzi snorted, and said with something in his words: "The most important thing in opening a restaurant is that the wine is good, the wine is good and the business is prosperous, you have to take a good look at the wine, not everyone can brew it, if you are not careful, if you kill someone or something, it is not good." ”

Zhuang Zhicheng smiled and did not answer.

Zhuang Meiyan obviously knew that Liu Fatzi meant something, but she didn't bother to argue with him in public, so she was silent.

The patriarch coughed heavily, and said with displeasure on his face: "Shopkeeper Liu, let's get down to business first." ”

Fat Liu smiled, nodded and said, "Please grandpa call the shots!"

The patriarch said tremblingly: "The shopkeeper of the Liu family and Zhuang Meiyan, the daughter of the Zhuang family, have made a contract, and are willing to compete with the newly brewed wine in the 'Wine Festival' the day after tomorrow, and the one with excellent wine will win, and the loser will voluntarily take out 10,000 taels of silver to pay the winner, and everyone is willing to be a witness to this matter?"

Everyone nodded their heads and began to talk about each other. 10,000 taels of silver is by no means a small amount!

Seeing that everyone had no objections, the patriarch nodded with satisfaction, greeted the two parties, and said, "In this case, you two have come to sign and draw a pledge, which is an oath made in front of the ancestors, and no matter whether you win or lose, you will not go back." ”

Liu Fatzi picked up the brush and was about to write his name, but he heard Zhuang Meiyan shouting: "Slow!"

Since Zhuang Meiyan entered this room, he didn't say much, and his actions were cautious, giving people a feeling of docile temperament, and now he suddenly stopped Liu Fatzi from signing his name, and everyone couldn't help but be a little surprised.

Under the scrutiny of everyone's puzzled eyes, Zhuang Meiyan said calmly: "Grandpa, Meiyan has something to say." ”

The patriarch also looked at her suspiciously, frowned, and said, "Say it." ”

Liu Fat Man screamed and chattered: "What? Are you afraid? That's the best, if you hadn't asked someone to send me a challenge book, how could I, a dignified man, be so manly that I would compare wine with a yellow-haired girl?"

Zhuang Meiyan ignored his radical method, looked at the patriarch sincerely, and said: "Grandpa, there is a charm in this that boldly asks grandpa to modify it, and the loser takes out 10,000 taels of silver, and Meiyan has no objection, but it can't be given to the winner, but it has to be donated to the town to build a mountain road." ”

As soon as she finished speaking, the squires and elders in the seat immediately nodded their heads one after another, showing admiration. In order to repair the mountain road, they specially discussed last night that Liu Fatzi hoped to donate this year's "Wine Festival" gift money. Now according to Zhuang Meiyan's proposal, no matter whether the two of them win or lose, there will always be someone who will come up with the silver anyway, and it is 10,000 taels, and everyone is overjoyed.

Liu Fatzi couldn't help frowning, and the 10,000 taels of silver were naturally unhappy when he saw that he was in the water.

Zhuang Meiyan saw his hesitation, so he pursed his lips and smiled: "If Shopkeeper Liu feels that he is not sure, then it is okay not to gamble, he just needs to withdraw from the wine competition of the 'Wine Festival'." ”

Liu Fatzi scolded secretly in his heart, Zhuang Meiyan's words undoubtedly forced him into a corner, if he said he was unwilling, he would seem to be timid and incompetent, if he said that he was willing and distressed about the 10,000 taels of silver that was about to arrive, he was sure of victory, and he didn't put Zhuang Meiyan in his eyes at all.

In the end, after weighing the pros and cons, he still relented and said, "Okay! It's up to you, but since you added one, then I'll add one too." In addition, for the sake of fairness, I propose to stipulate the time and variety of winemaking, and we will all make the most ordinary rice wine, and tomorrow morning in this courtyard, under the witness of all the elders and fellow villagers, we will make wine. ”

This person is really vicious, as soon as this sentence comes out, he wants to put the other party to death, take away other people's property, and drive them out of town, and at the same time set the harsh rules of the game, which is obviously trying to calculate Zhuang Meiyan's assets.

Someone chuckled and said, "Shopkeeper Liu, you said that you added one more, but it turned out that there were two, which one do you want?"

Rao is fat man Liu is thick-skinned, and he couldn't help but blush, and then glanced at the person who spoke viciously, it turned out to be Zhuang Zhicheng who was sitting at the bottom. Zhuang Meiyan also hurriedly threw a grateful glance at him, and then said: "Since Shopkeeper Liu wants to add two rules, then according to Shopkeeper Liu, let's make a decision!"

Zhuang Zhihong, who was honest and honest on the side, couldn't help but speak: "Third girl, this is not trivial, you have to think about it, those who lose will be driven out of the town." ”

Zhuang Meiyan nodded to him and said, "Thank you Brother Hong for reminding me, how could Meiyan not know the stakes." It's just that Shopkeeper Liu has a pride in betting, if the charm is not accompanied to the end, wouldn't it have ruined the ambition of our Zhuang family?"

"Okay! What a person who doesn't fall into his ambition!" Zhuang Zhicheng was the first to applaud, stood up with a smile and said: "I am willing to take out a thousand taels of silver to add a color to Sister Yan, if Sister Yan loses, she will donate it to the town to repair the mountain road, which can be regarded as a good deed." ”

Driven by him, several people donated some silver taels one after another, and the patriarch couldn't help but smile.

Liu Fatzi saw that Zhuang Meiyan actually took this opportunity to win people's hearts and overshadow his limelight, and he was already angry in his heart, but after thinking about it, it just made her proud for a while, so what's the matter, whether she loses or wins, let's see!

Liu Fatzi suppressed his anger and hastily signed his name with a brush, pressed down his handprint, Zhuang Meiyan then also signed his name, pressed his handprint, and then the signatures of the witnesses, and the matter was over.

On the second day, Zhuang Meiyan and Liu Fatzi came to the backyard of the Zhuang family ancestral hall by appointment.

This time, Liu Fatzi did not deliberately arrive late as he did yesterday, and arrived at the scene in no particular order with Zhuang Meiyan. The two families each prepared glutinous rice and other materials, and in order to show justice, these materials were all seen by the people present.

Then, according to their respective process procedures, the two of them respectively steamed the wine, and then added the koji jar to seal, and the notary coated the outer layer of the sealed mud seal with a layer of red oil, which can ensure that no one can change the jar, let alone open the seal in advance to add other materials.

After doing so, the two jars of wine were placed in the ancestral hall to manage on their behalf. Zhuang Meiyan and Liu Fatzi walked out of the ancestral hall one after the other. Zhuang Meiyan walked a little in the front position, and when he was about to reach the door, Liu Fatzi shook his fat body and rushed over, squeezed Zhuang Meiyan aside with his shoulder, and snorted coldly from his nostrils.

"Women should stay in the house honestly and learn how to serve the masters, because they will only harm themselves. With your great ability, the tablet enshrined in the ancestral hall will never leave a place for a female streamer!"

Zhuang Meiyan was suddenly caught off guard, stumbled and almost fell, but fortunately, someone reached out and helped her behind her back, so she barely stood still. Liu Fatzi glanced at her, and his mouth was messy, and he immediately spit out these cool words. As he spoke, his fat body swayed and walked out of the ancestral hall gate.

Zhuang Meiyan gratefully glanced back at the person behind him, it was Zhuang Zhicheng, dressed in a green robe simple and generous, with a faint rhyme between his eyebrows. He stretched out his hand to support Zhuang Meiyan, and said in a deep voice, "Sister Yan is okay, right?"

Zhuang Meiyan thanked her gratefully, and then she remembered something, and said with a smile: "Meiyan let the tent check yesterday, a few days ago, the whole Qiyang Town was in an uproar, and they all said that Meiyan's wine was problematic, and everyone rushed to return the wine, but only one restaurant not only did not come to the door to return the wine, but instead booked the next batch of new wine varieties of Meiyan." ”

Zhuang Zhicheng smiled and said humbly: "My father taught that only the letter is the most important thing to be a man, how can Zhicheng break the contract for no reason." People do things, the sky is watching, right and wrong twists and turns in the world have their own clear judgments, and what Zhicheng follows is just the most basic thing to be a man!"

From yesterday's Zhuang Meiyan, I saw that this son was different from ordinary people, and I secretly admired it in my heart, because I heard Liu Fatzi talk about his restaurant, and I always remembered it. Back in the shop, Zhuang Meiyan hurriedly asked Yang Xiucai to check the accounts of the winery, and sure enough, he found that a restaurant not only did not return the goods, but in the early morning of the second day of Zhuang Meiyan's accident, everyone ordered the next batch of new wine varieties before everyone came to make trouble.

These days are busy, and the winery has been sealed and cannot officially make wine, so Zhuang Meiyan has looked carefully at the accounts, and almost missed such a like-minded companion.

"Brother Cheng is really a person with lofty ambitions. Zhuang Meiyan said with a smile and a pun, "Meiyan will live up to the trust of Brother Cheng, and will never let the younger generation succeed." ”

Zhuang Zhicheng said happily: "May Sister Yan win tomorrow and win the name of 'Wine Fairy'." ”

While talking, the two walked out of the gate of the Zhuang family's ancestral hall. Chunju, who was waiting at the door, didn't know how many times she stretched her neck to look inside, and when she saw the young lady coming out, she immediately smiled and stepped forward.

She said indignantly: "Miss, that fat man Liu is inevitably too rampant, are you okay?"

Her face was full of worry, and she looked at Zhuang Meiyan carefully, lest she make a mistake. The door of the ancestral hall was wide open, and all the situations where Liu Fatzi forcibly seized the road fell into her eyes, and her heart was very uneven.

Chunju couldn't help but anxiously ask her own young lady, "Miss, how is it?

Zhuang Meiyan smiled slightly, and said, "What are you anxious about, this girl! Our rice wine usually takes seven days to get out of the cellar, or how to call it 'seven days drunk'." ”

Zhuang Meiyan spoke unhurriedly, but Chunju was anxious, and shouted worriedly: "Alas, what should I do then? My good young lady, Liu Fatzi is a family heirloom of 'one day down', and everyone in the town knows that it is the mastery that their family relies on to become famous." No one in town can make wine as fast as he can. He is obviously deliberately making things difficult for people! No, miss, you have to talk to the patriarch and the grandfather, this rule is unfair. ”

Chunju shouted again and again, and her voice was also high, and she didn't shy away at all.

Zhuang Meiyan glared at her with disgust, and said, "You Nizi can't be quiet, so you don't believe in your young lady's methods?"

She suddenly lowered her voice and whispered mysteriously: "You forgot! I am the one who was saved by the mountain god, last night the mountain god gave me a dream, and said that he would help me and make the world's unparalleled immortal wine. ”

As she spoke, Zhuang Meiyan folded her hands reverently and muttered a prayer in the direction of Qilian Mountain. Chunju also seemed to realize something, smiled and nodded again and again with her mouth half-open, and at the same time looked left and right uneasily.

Zhuang Meiyan glanced at the corner of the small alley in front of him and saw a panicked figure flashing, and an imperceptible smile immediately appeared in the corner of his eyes, but he pretended to be panicked and blamed Chunju, and said: "Don't make a fuss about you, don't make a fuss, what are you doing, the mountain god said that this is a heavenly machine, if anyone breaks this heavenly opportunity, the mountain god can't spare him." ”

The last few words, Zhuang Meiyan deliberately shouted out loudly.

Chunju patted her chest with palpitations and said, "What Miss told me is that the slave maid wrote it down." ”

Zhuang Zhicheng glanced at their master and servant suspiciously, and saw that Zhuang Meiyan's eyes were a little naughty that could not be concealed, and he winked at himself proudly, and then said: "Sister Yan really got the guidance of the immortals, and the first piece of immortal wine brewed in the future can be remembered by my brother and me." ”

Zhuang Meiyan smiled: "That's nature, Meiyan will never dare to forget." ”

The three of them said goodbye to each other at the entrance of the ancestral hall and went home.

Watching their figures gradually fade away, in the alley not far from the ancestral hall, a sneaky figure cautiously looked left and right, making sure that no one was in front of him, and then walked out, muttering to himself: "What immortal wine? I have to tell Liu Ye and Hu Ye to go quickly." ”

Liu's wine shop.

Summer is quietly falling, and the air outside is hot like a fire, and the leaves are not moving. Liu Fatzi didn't have to be hot, he worked early in the morning, steaming wine and hurrying, and when he returned to the shop, he was already covered in sweat, and his back was soaked.

He hid under the grape trellis in the backyard to cool off, but in this weather, no matter how the fan was shaken, the wind from the fan was also hot, and he sweated more and more. was upset, the back door pushed open a small crack, and Hu Lao Er squeezed in in with a panicked face.

"Brother, brother just heard about something important, it's about that girl. ”

As he spoke, he put his mouth to Liu Fatzi's ear and whispered a word.

Liu Fatzi was stunned for a moment, he even forgot to shake the fan, wiped the sweat on his face vigorously, shook it off, and said, "Is this true?"

Hu Lao Er swore and said: "My guy swore that he heard the girl say it herself, I'm afraid it's a little weird, brother should be careful." ”

Liu Fatzi shook his fan, pondered for a moment, and said: "What kind of mountain god dreams? I don't believe it, it's just a white-haired beast, it is obvious that the girl is deliberately demagoguery, thinking of using this to suppress our limelight in order to save her reputation." I'm afraid that she deliberately let Ma Liuzi drill again!"

When it came to Ma Liuzi, Hu Lao Er couldn't help blushing, he took a sip and said, "Brother, don't mention that unproductive thing, let my brother drive it away." This time, he is a capable fellow, who has been with me for more than ten years, and he is doing things steadily. However, my brother's analysis is also reasonable, the girl said this sentence in front of the honest shopkeeper, and she probably said it deliberately to save her reputation. ”

Fat Liu nodded.

Hu Lao Er saw that Liu Fatzi agreed with his opinion, and continued: "But this girl is full of tricks, and she can't be unguarded." In this way, at night, a brother with quick hands and feet was asked to sneak into the wing of the ancestral hall of the Zhuang family, and put a hole the size of a wheat tube in the center of the seal paper of the girl's wine jar. In this way, tomorrow's brother's wine is the best to win the girl, in case it can't win, then let's insist that the seal is broken, and the girl has done tricks and feet in the wine at night, and you can turn defeat into victory. ”

Liu Fatzi's face suddenly became ugly, and he lowered his face and said: "Brother is so unconfident in his brother?" 'One day down' is my ancestral secret recipe, I dare not say anything else, except for our old Liu family, if there is still someone in this world who can make such a suitable taste of rice wine in one day, I would rather screw my head off and give him a ball to kick." ”

Hu Lao Er knew that he was a little troubled in his words, so he laughed and said: "Brother, I have absolute confidence in your wine, brother, aren't you afraid that girl will make a ghost?"

Liu Fatzi sneered, shook the fan, and said, "Then it's up to you, when it comes to the heart, how can that girl compare to your kid's ghost cleverness." After the deed is completed, the silk shop will belong to you, and my brother only needs the girl's winery. drove that girl out of Qiyang Town, no one made wine, and Old Man Xi couldn't hold on, so I was the only one left to make wine in Qiyang Town in the future. Hahaha!"

The more Liu Fat thought about it, the happier he became, and his eyes narrowed into a slit.

One day and one night, the time is not long, but it is not short.

The town has long heard that the Liu family wine shop and the "female wine fairy" are going to compete on the day of the "Wine Festival", and the loser will roll up the cover and leave Qiyang Town. Therefore, as soon as the day dawns, people come to the archway of the town one after another, waiting for the opening of the "Wine Festival".

At the entrance of the town is a tall archway, with three big characters "Qiyang Town" written on it, and entering the archway is a large spacious open space, where major gatherings in the town and daily markets are held.

Today is the annual "Wine Festival" again, the arrangement is extraordinarily grand, the red silk is hung everywhere, a big platform is set up in the center, a few tables of eight immortals are placed on the platform, the wine offered by each family is placed, the stage beats gongs and drums, plays dragon and lion dance, and is very lively.

Zhuang Meiyan and the others crowded close to the front of the stage to watch the excitement, Zhuang Meiyan didn't seem to be nervous at all, and Xi Ruolan raised her handkerchief and pointed, talking and laughing.

Father Xi silently took a puff of dry cigarettes, approached her and reminded in a low voice: "Third girl, there will be five respected elders in a while, who will come to the stage to personally unseal the wine of each family, taste it one by one, and judge the merits. ”

Zhuang Meiyan nodded, raised a pair of clever eyes and quickly swept the stage, only to see Liu Fatzi walking hand in hand with the patriarch and squires in the town talking and laughing. I don't know whether intentionally or unintentionally, when Fat Liu's eyes swept over her face, he deliberately stayed for a moment, the smile on his face was even stronger, the fat on his cheeks trembled hard, and his already small eyes narrowed into a thin slit, and he talked more energetically with the people around him.

After some greetings and humility, everyone sat down in order of generation, and the most prestigious patriarch of the Zhuang clan stood up tremblingly, and the audience fell silent, waiting for him to announce the beginning of the "Wine Festival".

The patriarch of the Zhuang clan coughed majestically and looked around. At this time, a voice sounded outside the crowd:

"The county lord has arrived!"

The crowd was suddenly in a commotion, and slowly made way under the shouts of the servants. When the squires on the stage heard that the local county magistrate was coming in person, they immediately felt that their faces were glorified and they stepped down to greet them.

Zhuang Meiyan had never seen the county lord's respectful face, so he couldn't help but look at it curiously. The county magistrate is not tall, he is a short and fat man, and his face is kind, his eyes are slightly narrowed, and he is full of smiles. The tall thin man with a black face followed behind him was his master, and both of them had a smile on their faces, and they were careful for three minutes. Although the county master walked in front, he turned sideways from time to time to explain something to a man next to him.

The man was wearing a pure white silk round-necked robe, a wide belt inlaid with white jade, and a paper fan in his hand. He looked left and right carelessly, as if he didn't care much about the county master's courtesy.

Everyone was not familiar with this strange man, but they just saw that the county master was very respectful to this person, and they didn't dare to slack off. After paying respects to each other, this lord will naturally be given up to the county lord. The county magistrate didn't dare to hold it up, and immediately humbled to the man.

"Lord Qin, please take a seat. ”

Chunju recognized this person after looking at the audience for a long time, and couldn't help but exclaim: "Isn't that Lord Qin from the capital?"

The audience was originally silent, but Chunju's unhindered exclamation immediately attracted people's attention, and Lord Qin on the stage cast his eyes on them. Chunju knew that she had caused trouble, stuck out her tongue, and stole a glance at Zhuang Meiyan, who didn't seem to care much, just looked at Lord Qin with a smile, and that Lord Qin actually nodded at her slightly.

The county magistrate hurriedly invited Qin Fengyang to sit on the throne again, Qin Fengyang smiled indifferently and said: "Lord Su doesn't have to be like this, we are guests from afar, how can we take the lead, and ask the patriarch to continue to preside, and all the neighbors should not be restrained." ”

The county magistrate saw that Qin Fengyang really didn't want to sit on the throne, so he said to the patriarch: "Lord Qin is from the capital, I heard that our Qiyang Town is the annual 'Wine Festival' today, and I specially came to have fun with the people, you don't have to be restrained, everything is fine as usual." ”

So, the little servants carried two Taishi chairs and set them on the side of the platform, and let the county master and Qin Fengyang sit down. This little episode finally came to an end, because with such an unexpected visitor, the patriarch felt very face-saving, so the opening remarks became more and more impassioned.

The wine tasting has finally begun. The crowd was excited, staring intently at every move on stage, and although it would be some time before the final results were announced, people were still whispering to each other about the possibilities.

The wine tasting on the stage was carried out in a tense and orderly manner, a jar of fine wine was carefully unsealed by the small servant, and the five elders watched, smelled, and finally tasted. Some wines will be eliminated after just passing through the two stages of seeing and smelling, some will be tasted once, and some will be tasted two or three times.

Anyone who was eliminated would be responsible for carrying the wine to the outermost part of the table, because the names of each family were pasted on the wine jar, so there were constant sighs of disappointment from the crowd, and of course, some people were secretly glad that their wine was still in the table waiting for the next round of screening.

As there were more and more wine jars on the outermost part of the stage, there were more and more sighs in the crowd, and the atmosphere became more and more tense. In the end, there were only two jars of wine left on the stage, but they were two jars of wine that had not yet been opened, and the mud of these two jars of wine was different from the wine next to it, and it was coated with a circle of bright red mud oil. The two big men lifted the wine jar over their shoulders and showed it to everyone in front of the stage, indicating that the seal had not been moved.

Then two elders in charge of wine tasting opened the seal of one of the jars with their own hands, and opened it very carefully, and after opening the seal, it was placed on the table of the Eight Immortals. As soon as the seal was opened, their faces immediately showed a look of satisfaction, the aroma of the wine had overflowed, because this wine had only been brewed for one day, and it was impossible to achieve the effect of overflowing the aroma of the wine.

Liu Fatzi's "one-day pouring" depends on the effectiveness of the secret koji, shortening the brewing time, the wine has a light aroma, lasts for a long time, the more it smells, the more fragrant it is, there is still a trace of sweetness in the mouth, and the taste in the mouth is slowly dispersed when it slides down the stomach. His wine is like this, so that people want to continue to drink the second sip after the first sip, cup after cup, pot after pot, and before they know it, they will get drunk, so it is called "pouring in a day".

After the five elders tasted it one by one, they couldn't help but nod their heads again and again.

Chunju was anxious to see it on the side, and couldn't help muttering in a low voice: "Why do they always taste endlessly, is it that this fat man Liu ordered them in advance? Let them deliberately say that their wine is good." ”

Zhuang Meiyan said angrily: "You Nizi is getting more and more uncontrollable, these are all respected elders, don't think that everyone is the same as a money fan." ”

The daughter-in-law of the Hong family, who was standing at the bottom of Chunju, turned her head and smiled: "What the third girl said is that these five people have an upright temperament, otherwise they would not be able to preside over such an important matter, in previous years, they also tasted wine like this, and the more it was in the end, the more cumbersome it was." ”

Chunju frowned and said, "But you see, they seem to be very satisfied with Liu Fatzi's wine, hey! They began to open the wine of the young lady." ”

So Zhuang Meiyan and the others looked up at the movements on the stage again. All the procedures are the same as before, but when the seal is halfway opened, the elder who is responsible for unsealing the paper can't help but be surprised "Huh", he turned his head and said something to the four people around him, and the four of them immediately surrounded him, opened the seal, and stepped forward one by one to smell and smell, his face was solemn.

Naturally, these people couldn't hear what they were talking about in the audience, but they were surprised when they saw that they must have found something unusual, so people couldn't help but be suspicious.

"Is the wine of the three girls too fragrant? They had never smelled such a strong fragrance, so they were surprised. ”

"Or they can't tell which kind of aroma it is?"

"No, no, they must have never smelled it. ”

Jiang Yutang couldn't help but ask Zhuang Meiyan, "Meiyan, what do you think?"

Zhuang Meiyan pursed her lips and smiled, "Because my wine has no aroma!"

As soon as this remark came out, the words shocked everyone.

Wine tasting must be full of color, aroma and flavor to be called a good product. Zhuang Meiyan's wine has no aroma, which greatly reduces the quality, if it is in the initial screening process, I am afraid that this first round will be eliminated, but because this is related to an important bet, the elders can not immediately make up their minds, after some discussion, they decided to continue tasting.

Zhuang Meiyan's wine was poured into a white porcelain cup, the color was brownish-yellow, the elders couldn't help but be taken aback again, it is said that this color can only be found in a long period of aging, but the wine that has been brewed for a day really should not have this color, they couldn't help but nod approvingly, and began to taste.

As soon as the wine entered the tip of the tongue, several of them were connoisseurs, and they couldn't help but be in awe, their faces were solemn at first, and then they became surprised, and they looked at each other, and when they saw the doubts on everyone's faces, they believed that it was not their tongues that were lying. So they got together and talked about it.

The change in their expressions made the people below even more excited, and they exchanged ears and whispered arguments over whose wine had a better chance of winning.

Seeing this situation, Jiang Yutang was also faintly worried. The people gathered around Zhuang Meiyan couldn't help but be disappointed when they heard that Zhuang Meiyan's wine had no aroma, and even some people concluded that Zhuang Meiyan had lost, and there were many people, and the news spread far and wide, and soon someone told Liu Fatzi the news with his ears, and he was sitting in a corner of the platform, with a more pampered expression on his face.

The tasting is finally over, and it's time to announce which one has the best quality wine to earn the title of "Wine Fairy". The eldest of the five elders stood in front of the stage, stretched out his hands to signal the big guy to be quiet, and people knew that the critical moment had come, so they all stopped talking, and thousands of pairs of eyes stared at the person in charge.

The elder said: "After tasting, the wine of the Liu family wine shop, both the color and fragrance are good; although the wine of the three girls of the dealer smells tasteless, the wine is yellow and clear in color, and the entrance is mellow, it is the first brew of the day but it is worthy of the taste of aging, it is a good wine that we have never drunk, and there is no little sourness when the rice wine is first brewed, but the taste is better." I waited for a long time to discuss, but I only felt that the wine of these two houses had its own merits, and it was really difficult to distinguish the winner from the loser, so I asked the county master to decide. ”

As the old man spoke, he suddenly pushed this big problem in front of the county master. The county lord was originally talking to Lord Qin with a smile, but when he heard this, he couldn't help but be slightly stunned.

In the end, he is a veteran official, full of oil, and immediately smiled and said: "The lower officials are not good at drinking, Lord Qin came from the capital, and he has heard a lot of things in this cup for a long time, so he must have studied the things in this cup, so it is better to present the wine of the two of them, and ask Lord Qin to taste it before making a decision." ”

The words were said without leakage, so that Qin Fengyang had no room to shirk. Qin Fengyang smiled slightly, closed the folding fan in his hand slightly, and nodded.

The little servant presented two blue and white porcelain wine glasses containing rice wine on a tray covered with red cloth, and respectfully sent them to Qin Fengyang. Qin Fengyang picked up the first cup, took a sip, frowned slightly, and shook his head imperceptibly.

Liu Fatzi and others secretly rejoiced, it turned out that the name was deliberately not written on the glass, and only marked at the bottom of the cup, in order to make the taster unable to distinguish whose wine it was, so as to ensure that the fairest judgment was made. And Liu Fatzi and the others looked carefully, and recognized that the first glass of wine Qin Fengyang drank was poured from Zhuang Meiyan's wine jar, although his movements were slight, how could he escape the careful observation of Liu Fatzi and others!

Qin Fengyang picked up the second glass again, sniffed it carefully, and then took a sip, after drinking the wine, his brows gradually relaxed, and there was a faint feeling of unbelievable confusion in his bright eyes, he blinked, picked up the wine glass and tasted it again, savoring it carefully, and finally drank it all as if he couldn't help himself.

Liu Fatzi saw it in his eyes, and he was happy in his heart, his round face bloomed into a brilliant chrysanthemum, and his eyes narrowed into two gaps, nodding frequently to his good brother Hu Laoer.

Although the people around Zhuang Meiyan in the audience did not see as clearly as Liu Fatzi and others, and they didn't know whose wine this Lord Qin tasted, they could guess a thing or two from Liu Fatzi's overjoyed expression, and some people even sighed sadly and looked at Zhuang Meiyan worriedly.

The conclusion is about to come out, is it possible that a good person like Miss Zhuang will be driven out of Qiyang Town from now on?

After drinking the wine, Qin Fengyang elegantly took out a handkerchief, gently wiped the wine stains on the corner of his mouth, beckoned to the little servant, and explained a few words in his ear.

The little guy looked stunned and glanced at him in disbelief, Qin Fengyang smiled and patted him on the shoulder, and said with a smile: "You can't be wrong, you just have to do it." ”

This sentence was said in a loud voice, the tone was affirmative, there was no room for discussion, this sentence can not only be heard by the people on the stage, but even the people who are close to the audience can hear it clearly. Everyone looked up, knowing that the victory and defeat had been divided, and watched the little guy come to the table of the Eight Immortals, picked up one of the jars of wine, slowly came to the outermost edge of the table, raised the jar and presented it to everyone, and then unceremoniously put it on the ground.

This means that this jar of wine has been eliminated, and the last jar left on the table of the Eight Immortals is the final winner of this year's "Wine Festival". People craned their necks to see whose name was written on the label on the table.

Zhuang Meiyan was silent, and Liu Fatzi on the stage jumped up excitedly and shouted.