Xiao Hechuan specially bought some wine before returning to the academy and went to Guangxian Hall to pay a visit to his teacher.
Zhong Yun already knew that he was rated as the top grade. Now, seeing his good student bringing wine to honor him, he was very satisfied.
"Teacher, this is the Yu Nan Chun that I just brought back from Chun Jiang Lou. Please accept it!"
Mr. Zhong Yun took it with a chuckle, picked up the wine jug, opened the cork, put it under his nose and took a deep sip.
Well, it still tastes the same as I remember, but it seems different.
He started drinking right away, taking a big gulp, and the old memories slowly replayed in his mind.
Yunanchun is not as poetic as its name suggests. You might think that it is mild and sweet, but in fact it is very strong, especially when the aftertaste is unforgettable.
At this moment, Mr. Zhong Yun's expression is full of stories.
Xiao Hechuan knew that he was thinking of his old friend again.
When Mr. Zhongyun was young, he had an unforgettable love affair. At that time, he was a poor student, but he fell in love with the daughter of the owner of a winery in Jeju.
The owner of the winery despised the teacher's poor family background and felt that he was not worthy of his daughter, so he tried to stop him in every way.
She also declared that unless he passed the imperial examination, he would never be able to marry her daughter.
Therefore, Mr. Zhongyun at that time had to study even harder, hoping to pass the imperial examination one day, so that he could be with his beloved girl openly.
They made a promise to each other, promising to be together for the rest of their lives, and she said she would wait for him to come back and marry her.
The teacher went to Beijing and stayed there for a year. At first, the two of them would communicate with each other, but later, for some unknown reason, the letters stopped.
He couldn't contact his beloved girl, but he had to shoot the arrow on the string and there was no turning back.
He had a vague feeling that something must have happened, but he was just one step away from success and couldn't give up.
Because of his worries, he performed poorly in the last palace examination and failed to make it into the top three, only getting the fourth place in the Jinshi exam.
The fourth place in the imperial examination is enough to fulfill the promise, and maybe he can be assigned to be a local official by then.
After the results are announced, there will be a fixed time to return home, which will last for one month.
Zhongyun returned to Jeju with a beautiful future and the promise he had kept in mind.
Only to find that everything has changed.
During the year he was away, the winery underwent tremendous changes. A fire burned down the entire winery and also destroyed several nearby houses.
The owner of the winery, who was also the father of his sweetheart, used up his life savings, but still could not repay the debts. All the savings accumulated over half a lifetime ended up with nothing.
He could not bear the blow and fell ill. The family debts had not been paid off, and her father needed money for medical treatment. His sweetheart was forced to marry a landlord in the city and became his second wife.
Not only was the landlord 20 years older than her, but he also had a bunch of concubines vying for his favor in the backyard.
When he came back, he saw her already pregnant.
She was too ashamed to face him and kept avoiding him, but she could not escape his persistence.
The former lovers met again, but could not embrace each other with peace of mind.
That year, she gave a jar of wine that she brewed herself and named it Yu Nanchun.
In the early years, there was a very famous opera troupe in Jeju called Nanyuan. It was in Nanyuan that the two of them met in spring.
She met Nanchun with a pot of tea, which brought an end to her story with him. It was a love that ended without success, full of regrets and sadness.
Mr. Zhong Yun was completely desperate and only regretted why he couldn't come back earlier to save her.
He was depressed for a long time, but finally set out on the journey back to Beijing. He was lucky and met a noble man who was also his teacher, the former chief academic officer of the Imperial College. He kept him in Kyoto and started as an unknown minor official.
It was also the following year that he received news from her again. She had died in childbirth and gave birth to a stillborn baby.
Logically speaking, she is in good health and as long as she takes good care of herself during pregnancy, how could she have a difficult delivery?
But he overlooked that his girl was so innocent and kind, how could she fight against those concubines who were full of evil intentions in that dirty backyard?
The spirit is worn out day by day, I feel depressed and uneasy, and I see no hope, and my body is getting worse day by day.
Upon hearing the sad news, he fell seriously ill and almost died with her.
It was his teacher who went to great lengths to keep him.
It was spring again, and he rushed back to Jeju to visit her at her grave and brought her a branch of her favorite peach blossom.
The recipe for the Yu Nanchun she gave herself was sold to Chunjianglou by the landlord after her death, and it became a famous wine in Chunjianglou.
The owner of Chunjianglou thought that the word "Yu" was not a good word, as it means "encountering the south" and "encountering a disaster", so he changed it to "Yu". Since then, it has been called "Yunanchun".
Fortunately, this recipe has never changed, so it is also Zhong Yun’s obsession.
In his early years in Kyoto, he had a wife with the help of his teacher, but he could never find the feeling he had at the beginning.
But he didn't want to hurt an innocent woman's heart, and he had always treated his wife with respect. However, fate played a trick on them, and they had no children after two years of marriage. His wife was also in poor health, and she passed away after an acute illness.
Perhaps, people like him should live out their lives alone. In the end, he didn't even have any children.
In the years that followed, his positions in the Imperial College became higher and higher, and he eventually became the director of the fifth rank.
That year, Kyoto was in chaos and the battle for succession was intense. It seemed that every dynasty had to go through this.
His teacher was old and passed away, and he was eventually tired of the life in Kyoto, which was luxurious but full of intrigue and deception, and few people had clean minds.
Fortunately, he was just an insignificant director of the Imperial College and could not help anyone, and no one needed his support.
He resigned from his official position and returned to his hometown of Jeju, where he taught at Baiyun Academy.
Baiyun Academy was the former residence of a winery owner, and was built by connecting several houses.
He chose to come here, perhaps because part of the land here was where she once lived.
He came back here many years later and did not forget to visit her. The funny thing was that he couldn't find the place after searching for a long time and thought it was because of his bad memory.
Finally, he found out that it was because she had been forgotten for too long. Over the years, no one had come to her grave to sweep the tomb or burn incense, so that the grass on the grave had covered her grave. That was why he couldn't find her.
Fortunately, now that he is back, she will no longer be alone underground, waiting for someone to remember her.
Since then, every spring, a beautiful peach blossom would bloom in front of her tombstone.
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