Gu Jiangang was taken aback, not expecting Zhou Xuan's initial estimate to differ so greatly from his current one, but he still asked with a smile, "Little Zhou, I'm curious, you clearly estimated the price before. But why is there such a big difference between your second estimate and the one you gave?"
"Mr. Gu, haha, I won't lie to you. I actually got a good deal!" Zhou Xuan replied with a smile. "I really don't know anything about wine. I'm not afraid of being laughed at by you, Mr. Gu, but if you asked me to spend 100,000 or 200,000 yuan to buy wine, I definitely wouldn't agree. A few days ago, I saw a program on TV auctioning 30-year-old Wuliangye. The buyer spent 790,000 yuan to buy it. I estimate that's how much Moutai you're selling now, Mr. Gu!"
"Oh!" Gu Jiangang nodded. Zhou Xuan didn't pretend to know what he didn't, nor did he act pretentiously, which won him even more favor. This young man was sincere and generous. He wore inexpensive clothes, but didn't have the inferiority complex of ordinary people. He gave him a jade carving worth hundreds of millions, but didn't have the wasteful and extravagant air of a wealthy family. Yet, when Gu Jiangang offered him shares worth seven or eight hundred million, Zhou Xuan refused without hesitation. This resistance to money made Gu Jiangang like him more and more. "Brother Zhou, your guess wasn't far off," Gu Jiangang said happily. "I spent 260,000 on that 21-year-old Moutai, 720,000 on the 31-year-old, and this 41-year-old Moutai, hehe, cost me 1.36 million!"
Seeing Zhou Xuan's surprised expression, Gu Jiangang smiled and said, "Alcohol has its good and bad aspects. Drinking in moderation is beneficial to health, but drinking too much can lead to many bad things, just like a great person. There are merits and demerits, and right and wrong will be judged in due time. In our country, alcohol has a cultural history of thousands of years. In fact, alcohol is a health drink that can invigorate blood circulation, relieve rheumatism, and promote blood flow. The storage of alcohol is different from other things. For most species, the longer the storage time, the faster they deteriorate. But alcohol is different. The longer it is stored, the more mellow and fragrant it becomes. But of course, there are some necessary conditions involved."
Although Zhou Xuan didn't understand wine, he was interested in everything he didn't understand, including the wine culture that Old Man Gu talked about. He listened with great interest.
Gu Jiangang had indeed fallen for Zhou Xuan. Of course, Zhou Xuan's status was a major reason, but even disregarding that, Gu Jiangang genuinely liked Zhou Xuan. He didn't have the bad habits of the young people he had seen these days. At his age, Zhou Xuan always seemed to him to be on the same level as him, not in his twenties. This was what Gu Jiangang found most strange.
"Put some secret ingredients into the wine, seal it in a wine jar, and finally put it in a wine cellar for aging. The longer this process takes, the better the quality of the wine and the higher its value."
"
Gu Jiangang sighed and said, "Even if the wine is stored for just one or two more years, its value will be different. The value of a 40-year-old wine compared to a 30-year-old wine is not calculated by the difference of just ten years, but by multiples of the difference. That's why my 41-year-old Moutai cost much more than a 31-year-old Moutai. Hehe, enough said, let's try the wine!"
Gu Jiangang talked for a while before remembering that the wine had been in the glass for a while, and quickly invited Zhou Xuan to drink.
Zhou Xuan drank in the countryside, where people used large glasses that could hold half a jin (250ml), though more often they used bowls. Corn liquor in the countryside was cheap, so you could drink as much as you wanted, but it still had a strong aftereffect. However, the corn liquor nowadays wasn't nearly as smooth as it was in Zhou Xuan's childhood. It was heavily diluted with water, and the taste was somewhat bitter.
After Old Man Gu gestured for him to drink, Zhou Xuan picked up the small cup, brought it to his lips, and smelled the intoxicating aroma. He thought that even if he didn't drink the wine, just smelling the aroma was good enough; it seemed that just smelling the aroma made him feel a little drunk!
After pausing for a moment, Zhou Xuan poured the wine into his mouth in one gulp. He didn't intend to drink it in several sips. As soon as the wine entered his mouth, he felt a mellow taste on his tongue, which then traveled along his taste buds into his brain, making his whole body feel relaxed and giving him a lightheaded feeling!
This feeling immediately reminded Zhou Xuan of two words: immortals!
No wonder drug addicts can't resist the temptation of drugs. Of course, alcohol can't be compared to drugs, but Zhou Xuan felt that they were similar in one aspect: both numb the nerves, only differing in degree and harm. Moderate alcohol consumption is not addictive, while drugs are very easy to become addicted to.
One million three hundred and sixty thousand! Just this one bottle—perhaps the tiny sip Zhou Xuan just took could feed an ordinary family for a year!
Having more money certainly makes a difference. With just a small sip, Zhou Xuan felt the allure of the wine and didn't refuse Old Man Gu's offer to refill his glass.
As Gu Jiangang poured the wine, he explained, "From its production to storage, and even its drinking, there are specific techniques involved. Wine is made from grains, and grains are grown from the earth. What is the earth? It's soil. Grains cannot grow well without soil, so the storage of wine is also inseparable from the earth. The jars used to hold the wine are made from carefully selected clay. There are also many techniques involved in storing it in the cellar. The longer the wine is stored, the stronger the earth's energy it absorbs, and the more mellow and fragrant it becomes. Even when drinking it, the cup should ideally be made of fine clay, not glass or metal, as these will cause the flavor to be off and the wine's mellowness to be lost!"
Zhou Xuan found it amusing. He never expected that there were so many rules to drinking. It was similar to when he entered the antique business. He never thought that something that looked extremely ordinary might be worth hundreds of millions!
After another cup, Zhou Xuan felt warm all over; the mellowness of the wine, accumulated over forty years, had taken effect.
Zhou Xuan wiped the slight sweat from his forehead, then noticed Gu Jiangang sitting in his wheelchair, twisting his body as he poured wine from a bottle. He said, "Old Gu, I know a little about medicine. Let me treat your leg. You look uncomfortable and it's inconvenient for you!" (To be continued)
Volume 1, Chapter 296: Curing Illness with Alcohol
Ying Jiangang chuckled as he poured the wine. "Little Zhou, you're quite the little devil!" he said. "I don't usually drink because these old bones can't take it anymore, and my son and grandson are very strict with me. But I told them, today is my ninetieth birthday. Living to this age is enough; who knows if there will be a tomorrow? Maybe early tomorrow I'll be a cold corpse, haha. So, today we have to drink! Come on, little brother!"
Zhou Xuan liked Gu Jiangang's easygoing and straightforward personality, so he raised his glass to toast him. Firstly, the 41-year-old Moutai tasted really good, and secondly, the wine was so expensive that it would be a waste to waste it. This time was not like the previous times when he was drinking with his rivals, and he could not afford to make any mistakes.
Now, Zhou Xuan was completely relaxed. With Gu Jiangang, there were no rivals or enemies, no need to fight for power, and the wine was delicious. After a few drinks, Zhou Xuan felt lightheaded and dizzy.
There was absolutely no need for any more ice energy, and Zhou Xuan didn't want to use it either. Drinking such expensive and good wine required a real physical and mental experience!
A sense of goodwill towards Old Man Gu welled up within Xiao Zhouxuan. He drank another cup of wine, placed the cup on the table, waved to Gu Jianwang, and said, "Old Man Gu, I learned internal energy cultivation from a Taoist priest since I was a child, and I also learned some folk remedies. They're not exactly high-level medical techniques, but they're still quite effective for some ailments. Your rheumatism, let me take a look, let me see..."
Gu Jiangang was much more sober than Zhou Xuan. Although he was older and not in the best of health, his family had the means to provide him with the finest food and supplies, and he took good care of himself. He also had a much higher alcohol tolerance than Zhou Xuan, who had virtually no capacity for alcohol.
"Then take a look." Gu Jiangang chuckled and extended his hand. Seeing Zhou Xuan's slightly drunken expression, he didn't object. He thought to himself that he might as well take advantage of his son's good mood. This young man got along very well with him. It seemed that his eldest son's trip to the capital might not be as good as his chance encounter with Zhou Xuan. An old general like him could really be worth three men!
Zhou Xuan was half drunk, and he also had a good impression of Old Gu. Although Old Gu wanted to befriend him, he was biased towards Zhou Xuan because of Gu Ailin's arrogance and willfulness. Zhou Xuan knew that this was not because Old Gu was blindly siding with him, but because Old Gu knew that Gu Ailin was definitely in the wrong.
Zhou Xuan extended two of his left fingers and gently placed them on Gu Jiangang's right wrist pulse point. It seemed like he was taking his pulse, but in reality, he was channeling his icy energy directly into the old man's body.
This is something that cannot be seen, and Gu Jiangang did not know it either. He thought that Zhou Xuan was just pretending to take his pulse and listen to him talk about some common medical principles.
Gu Jiangang's body was severely depleted, mainly due to his advanced age. How many people could live to that age? The parts of his body were nearing their limit. Some parts were completely ineffective, and he was only kept afloat by the effects of the current medicinal herbs. Given this condition, Zhou Xuan estimated that Gu Jiangang's lifespan was at most one to three years!
Gu Jiangang's rheumatism in his legs, if taken for a young person, wouldn't be a big deal; at most, it would cause some pain, not a serious illness. But Gu Jiangang was too old. His body could no longer withstand it, his immune system had severely declined, and decades of accumulation had turned it into a chronic condition. Several years ago, he became unable to move his legs.
Due to insufficient exercise and prolonged periods of inactivity, Gu Jiangang's legs have atrophied. Parts of them have even died, like dried-up twigs cut off from nutrients and water.
As Zhou Xuan's icy aura spread, Gu Jianwang's symptoms became clearly visible in his mind. The old man's health was very poor, especially his legs. He was only managing to hold on with the best medicine he could afford.
Zhou Xuan had never encountered such symptoms before: gunshots, emaciation, broken bones from falls, leukemia, and shrapnel in Old Li's body. But he had never seen Gu Jiangang's paralysis caused by rheumatism. However, his aging body was similar to that of Old Li and Old Master Wei.
Zhou Xuan didn't think much of it and used his ice energy to restore Old Man Gu's bodily functions. Gu Jiangang didn't know that in just a short while, his body had recovered to the level it was ten or twenty years ago. Even if his leg rheumatism couldn't be cured, he could at least live a more stable life for another ten years.
Zhou Xuan restored Old Man Gu's physical condition to about 50-60%, then channeled the icy energy to his legs. The rheumatism and coldness were accumulated since his youth, not something that suddenly appeared overnight; it's different from a cold. It doesn't just appear out of nowhere.
But precisely because of this, after six or seven decades of accumulation, his chronic rheumatism has penetrated deep into his bone marrow and become intertwined with his leg bones. It's like a piece of glutinous rice cake covered in sesame seeds. If you knead it again, how can you separate the rice cake from the sesame seeds?
Zhou Xuan's icy aura permeated the area, revealing that Gu Jiangang's old leg bones had severely degenerated, even their hematopoietic function was severely impaired, and the bone marrow was dry and ineffective. Moreover, this rheumatism was not like lean cells or white blood cells; it didn't exist as a cellular component. Therefore, Zhou Xuan couldn't detect its presence, yet he could clearly feel that the old man's leg was damaged by it.
Zhou Xuan felt somewhat at a loss for what to do, thinking that he should ignore the rheumatism for now and focus on restoring the aging bone marrow first. These visible and achievable issues should be treated first.
The ability to restore ice energy is undeniable. Old Gu was laughing and saying he was about to tell Zhou Xuan that he didn't need to look anymore, since he had lived long enough at his age.
Of course, in this life, unless there is no other choice and one is extremely heartbroken, it is better to live a miserable life than to die. Who wants to die? Gu Jiangang is no exception, but whether he sees through it or not, he understands that living to his age is actually his natural limit. Every day he lives is a gift from God. No one knows how many more days he has left to live.
Just as Gu Jiangang was thinking this, he suddenly felt an itch in the bones of his legs. At first, it felt like an ant crawling inside the bones, then gradually more and more, until it was almost like swarms of ants crawling and biting inside the bones. The itchy and uncomfortable feeling was like scratching an itch through a boot. You couldn't feel anything, but it was still unbearably itchy.
Gu Jiangang looked extremely surprised. He reached out and scratched his leg, but he couldn't feel anything. He felt like tearing the flesh off his leg and digging out the bone to scratch it hard!
Seeing Gu Jiangang's pained expression, Zhou Xuan said, "Old Gu, this is the bone marrow in your leg regenerating blood and essence. Just bear with it and don't move!"
Gu Jiangang was taken aback, then surprised: Could it be that this young man had really cured him? Strange, he just placed two fingers on his pulse point, and he could cure him like that?
It's really strange. It's unbelievable that even with today's advanced technology, Xiao Nanjun couldn't cure his illness in the hospital because he's too old for medication. This guy, however, can be cured without injections or pills, just by feeling his pulse with his fingers?
It was hard to believe, but Gu Jiangang had no choice but to accept it. Because it was his own leg, and the sensations there were real. And the tingling, itchy feeling was growing stronger and stronger!