“This is real mineral water! I went through a lot of trouble to get it from the mountain.”
Sun Sixin's quick wit kicked in again: "You can pour the water into this vat first, and after you finish hauling the liquor, you can fill it up in your truck and continue selling it. How about that?"
The villager was delighted and set up the hose to fill the vat with water. I went in to call Li Jingshui and Wei Tiezhu, and only then did I see the stage covered with jars and shallow celadon bowls. I was a little worried. What would Chen Kejiao's reaction be if she saw this? That woman is very proud of her bar; if she sees me messing it up like this, will she fight me?
Looking at Li Jingshui and the other guy, they couldn't eat or sleep well at the bar, and they looked much more haggard. I felt a little guilty and sorry for them, so I said, "How about I get you two a room? At least you can sleep on a Simmons mattress and watch 'Soldiers Sortie' on your way to the city." They both shook their heads, and I couldn't do anything about it.
By the time we left, our fellow villager had finished his business. A truckload of water had been poured to exactly four-fifths of the water tank's capacity. The water rippled gently at the rim, its shimmering light making the bar's sign flash – surprisingly, it had a certain elegance. The best thing about bars is that they can accommodate all sorts of things. Most people come to have fun; they don't care if you have any cultural refinement or if your decor matches theirs. You can have one wall covered in symbols of the mechanical age, and another wall adorned with a double-barreled shotgun and animal hides.
To put it simply, a successful bar is like taking a dump in a local setting and still making it feel perfectly natural.
Now that this vat has been installed in front of the bar, it looks much cooler than before.
I was quite hesitant about whether or not to prepare a stone—what if someone actually fell in? Who would play Sima Guang? I only gave up when Sun Sixin said that there were several bottles of foreign liquor that could be used as substitutes.
Upon arriving at Yao Village, I told Li Jingshui and the others to go back on their own, and then I went to find Song Qing. Li Jingshui and Wei Tiezhu ran excitedly towards the camp, seemingly untouched by the convenience and novelty of the city.
Song Qing led me to the place where Du Xing brewed wine. We rode in a tricycle and arrived in less than five minutes. As we got closer, the slightly sour aroma of the wine grew stronger. When we got there, we saw steam rising from a spacious courtyard. A man at the entrance had two plastic cups tied together with rope and was wearing them over his eyes. He was covering his mouth and nose with a large handkerchief, and was now lifting the handkerchief up to let himself breathe. I waved at him and shouted, "Ultraman!"
The man removed the plastic cup from his eyes and ripped off his handkerchief—making him look even more like Ultraman; it was none other than Du Xing, the Ghost Face. Seeing it was me, he laughed and said, "What brings you here?"
"I'm here to get some liquor, do you have any left over?"
Du Xing said, "That's great. This yeast will spoil if it's not used for three days, so we have to keep it running every day. My brothers can't drink that much, and I was worried about where to put the rest."
I glanced into the courtyard and immediately smelled an even stronger stench of alcohol. Several workers, wearing masks and shirtless, were sifting the lees. On the wooden planks of a small shed, there were blocks that looked like tofu. Taking a few more steps in, I understood why Du Xing was dressed that way. The alcohol smelled fragrant, but the smell was incredibly pungent up close, especially that "tofu shed"—it was impossible to get close, or you couldn't even open your eyes.
Du Xing then blindfolded himself and covered his face with a handkerchief before going inside to instruct several workers to carry the finished wine out, barrel by barrel. Pointing to a few jars of wine in the corner of the yard, he said, "Those are the ones I deliberately left behind. They'll taste just right after three months."
"Alright, those will be six-star juniper, we'll bottle them and sell them."
I saw that the stock had already been loaded, but judging from the sound, the water tank was only a little over half full. I told Du Xing that we could brew more in the future. The villager who was hauling water heard us talking and leaned over to say, "From now on, you can hire my truck to haul wine, okay?"
I said, "Then you can't continue selling water."
"What business is it of yours whether I sell water or not? As long as it doesn't interfere with your business, that's fine, isn't it?"
"I'm worried it might be inconvenient for you. Think about it, what if someone with an alcohol allergy drinks the water you sell and gets sick? Wouldn't they come after you?"
The fellow villager nodded listlessly: "That's true."
I said, "How about this, you'll be in charge of hauling alcohol from now on, and I'll give you 200 yuan for each trip."
The villager said happily, "If it can be done, then that's great!"
When we came back, Jin Dajian gave me the box containing the Listening Wind Bottle. Because I had other things to do, I didn't talk to him in detail. He just said that it was repaired.
Two million! I can't just throw it into the truck bed again this time. I was worrying about this when I suddenly saw Li Jingshui and Wei Tiezhu standing at attention in the sun next to my motorcycle. I went over and asked them what was wrong. Li Jingshui said with a long face, "Our Captain Xu thinks we've disgraced him and wants to expel us from the team for three days." Wei Tiezhu didn't say anything, but tears were welling up in his eyes.
I felt terrible too. "Losing face"—how so? Was it because they hadn't protected me, or because I felt their injuries tarnished the reputation of Yue Fei's army? Xu Delong seemed simple and honest, but I sensed he was very shrewd. An army that had traversed nearly a thousand years to reach a new environment, with not a single member deserting and showing no signs of rebellion—besides their high loyalty to Yue Fei, Xu Delong's command skills were also remarkable.
His punishment of the two young soldiers was probably based on a perspective that we "common people" would never understand. However, Li Jingshui and Wei Tiezhu were indeed a bit careless at the beginning of their fight, and almost got into serious trouble because of a moment of anger.
Thinking about this, I felt relieved and said to them, "Let's go back with me." After I got in the car, I gave the box to Li Jingshui to hold, which unintentionally solved one of my problems.
I returned to the bar with a carload of liquor, called Zhu Gui and Zhang Qing to come out and help, and poured all the liquor into the jars I had prepared beforehand and took them back. In the end, there still weren't enough jars, and there was still quite a bit of liquor left in the car. I said helplessly, "There's no other way, I'll just pour it into the vats."
The villager selling water said as he poured wine into the vat, "Others dilute wine with water, but you dilute wine with water."
I said, "We're not selling this for money, so why are you talking nonsense?"
The villager chuckled: "Those are all good stuff, are you just waiting for them to go bad?"
It made me so angry. How could a farmer be so picky?
This spring water was mixed with liquor and filled a whole vat. Drinking it as water would be too spicy, and selling it as liquor would definitely get me sued. Letting it grow worms would be a real waste. I was so desperate that I told Sun Sixin, "Go get a small ladder. Anyone who wants to drink this stuff in our vat can drink it for free!"
Sun Sixin had no choice but to move a step ladder and place it in front of the water tank, put a stack of disposable cups next to it, and stick a note on the water tank that read "Free to sample".
I stood at a distance with my hands behind my back and looked: This is fucking performance art!
No one expected that this unintentional mistake would become the biggest feature of the "Reverse Time" bar.
I put Li Jingshui and Wei Tiezhu down, then took a taxi with the box to Grandpa Gu's place. This "Listening to the Wind" thing really needs to be done—I'm a little short on cash lately.
When I arrived at Tingfenglou, there were only a handful of customers. To my amusement and exasperation, Master Gu was there again, wearing sunglasses and pretending to be blind, engrossed in playing his erhu. Occasionally, someone would leave him a few coins. When he saw me, he gestured with one finger towards the private room and continued playing his "Erquan Yingyue." Only after finishing the piece did he wipe his hands with a damp towel and come to greet me.
The old man came in with a smile and asked me, "What good stuff?"
"Just like I told you yesterday, 'Listening to the Wind Bottle.' It suits the name of your teahouse perfectly."
Old Master Gu's eyes lit up. He took the box, placed it upright, and slowly opened it, then froze. After a long while, he said in a deep voice, "This thing..." and then fell silent.
I stood up, puzzled, and went behind him. I glanced into the box and my blood almost froze!
Inside the box was indeed the Wind-Listening Bottle. However, its once delicate and smooth surface was now covered with countless wrinkles!
In other words, it's obvious at a glance that this bottle has been repaired.
The charm of an antique like the "Listening to the Wind Vase" lies in its delicate and fragile elegance; breaking it would be a major disappointment. A broken bowl or a wine cup can be repaired, but once broken, it becomes instantly worthless.
Now, this thing is sitting in a luxurious box—it's blatant disrespect to Master Gu! Jin Dajian has really gotten me into trouble this time. I really don't want to offend someone like Master Gu.
I gasped for breath as I closed the box, wondering if I'd ever be able to leave Gu Ye's little world unscathed.
Grandpa Gu slammed his hand on the box, his eyes flashing fiercely at me. I gave him an awkward smile and said, "Um... I..."
Grandpa Gu kept staring at me like that, and after a long while, he said in an unquestionable tone: