"Yes, yes, Old Wang's sorghum wine isn't much, and it tastes very mellow." The village accountant also echoed, which successfully aroused Cao Zheng's curiosity. "Then I must taste it carefully."
Village chief Wang laughed and called his wife to bring a few bowls of wine, vowing not to go home until he was drunk.
The food and drinks were served, and Village Chief Wang invited everyone to sit down and eat. "Mr. Cao, please sit down. Old Qin, you should sit down too. Don't stand anymore."
"We won't be polite to you at your house." The village secretary laughed heartily. "Today, we're going to favor your fine wine. Tell me, wouldn't it be better if you could brew more sorghum wine every year? We only make so little in a year, how can it be enough?"
After all the guests were seated, Village Chief Wang sat down last and half a bowl of wine was placed in front of each person.
"Come on, let's have a drink first. Welcome Mr. Cao to settle down in our Red Star Village."
"Welcome, Mr. Cao."
"drink."
There were five people at the table, but they drank with the energy of eight people.
Cao Zheng returned the favor, savoring the farmer's sorghum liquor. Unfiltered, it was a bit cloudy, not as good as the ones you buy outside, but the taste was still good. It was a bit inferior to fine wines like Moutai, but not by much.
Therefore, not all expensive wines are good. The wine that farmers drink themselves may be brewed with inferior technology, but the wine is still mellow.
"How is it? Mr. Cao, the sorghum wine from Lao Wang's family is good, right?" the village accountant asked with a smile, putting down the bowl in his hand.
"It's very good, but it's a pity that there is not enough and I can't buy some back." Cao Zheng said sincerely, with a hint of regret in his tone.
The village secretary asked, "Isn't the wine in your city better than this?"
"The wine in the city is divided into several grades. Only cadres can drink the real good wine. Although I have enough wine to drink, this sorghum wine tastes good too." This is really true. The good wine is given as a welfare to the cadres, and most of them are senior cadres.
"Really? We haven't even tasted the wine the cadres drink yet." The village accountant was greedy. The more a wine lover heard about good wine, the more greedy he became. "What a pity! I'm afraid I won't be able to drink it in this lifetime. Come on, let's have another drink. Mr. Cao, have some more. We can't buy or take away, so just drink up all Old Wang's stock."
Village Chief Wang shook his head and laughed, not taking it seriously. "If you can really drink it all, I'll admire you."
"Dry."
Everyone was drinking happily, and Cao Zheng was tempted by the wine and started drinking.
They were told that the sorghum liquor was too strong. After only two and a half bowls, and before half the dishes on the table were even finished, Cao Zheng was already drunk. He was really drunk, so drunk that he couldn't even move his tongue straight. Village Chief Wang and the others, with the exception of Village Chief Wang, were all drunk to varying degrees.
The most seriously ill person was the village secretary, followed by the village accountant and two others; Village Chief Wang could often drink and could handle it, so he didn't get drunk that quickly.
"Dad, this, this, he's drunk, what should I do?"
When the village chief's wife came in, she saw four people lying on the table. She was suddenly at a loss. She wished she had known not to send them a second batch of wine.
Village Chief Wang sat at the top of the table and waved his hand. "Send Mr. Cao to the youngest's room. It's clean and rarely slept in there. As for the other three, have their families come and take them back."
"Okay." The village chief's wife didn't bother to get Cao Zheng away first, so she turned around and ran out.
He came back a while later, followed by the village accountant and other family members. There was another flurry, and they finally sent the three away. The only ones left in the room were Cao Zheng, the village chief Wang, and the village chief's wife, who were unaware of the situation.
"Dad, Mom, we are back; but we are starving. Is there anything to eat?" The eldest and second sons of the village chief were the first to complain of being hungry when they entered the house, followed by the driver and Cao Zheng's assistant.
"There is food in the kitchen. It's been left for you. You can take your two guests and eat first." said the village chief's wife.
Village Chief Wang hurriedly called out to the residents, "Send Mr. Cao to the youngest son's room first. People who have been drinking can easily catch a cold if exposed to the wind."
"Okay." The two sons felt that their father was too nervous, but since there were outsiders present, they still sent the person to the room of the youngest son of the Wang family first.
The driver and the assistant wanted to help, but the two men declined. Helping someone is physical work; they are used to doing physical work and are not afraid of the weight. Besides, it is unreasonable for the host to let the guests do it themselves.
What's more, these are the guests they want to win over.
"Let's go eat." Village chief Wang's face was flushed from drinking, and he was a little drunk. He waved his hand to let his two sons go quickly, and he also wanted to go back and lie down for a while.
There was no other way, the two sons of the Wang family could only take the driver and assistant to dinner first, and then entertain the guests.
By the evening, Cao Zheng was still drunk and had not yet woken up, so the driver and assistant had to stay at Wang's house for one night.
However, the Wang family's house was too small to accommodate two grown men. Finally, the assistant suggested that they sleep on the floor in the room where Cao Zheng slept. Fortunately, the weather was hot, so they didn't have to worry about catching a cold. At most, they could just put a thick layer of grass underneath.
The next morning, the driver and the assistant woke up early and cleaned the house. They had breakfast with the Wang family and returned to the house, only to see Cao Zheng sitting up with his head covered.
"Mr. Cao, you're awake." said the driver.
The assistant asked, "Mr. Cao, you have a severe headache, don't you want to eat something to fill your stomach?"
"No, I'm not hungry." Cao Zheng shook his head and sighed, "I drank too much. I'm afraid I can't stay here today. We'll go back later."
"Okay, let's go now? You can still have a good sleep when you go back." The feeling of a drunken headache is not pleasant, anyone who has tried it will know.
Cao Zheng nodded in agreement, "There's one thing I need to do before I leave."
"You say."
“How many people came to help yesterday?”
"Thirteen people, all young and middle-aged." said the assistant.
Cao Zheng thought for a moment, fumbled around and took out some money from his pocket and handed it to his assistant. "Give this hundred yuan to the village chief. Give five yuan to each person who helped yesterday. The rest of the money is for meals. Just say it's an advance payment from the boss."
"Okay." The assistant took the money and turned to walk out.
"etc."
The assistant turned around and asked, "Boss Cao, is there anything else you want to tell me?"
"Give another hundred yuan to the village chief and ask him to help hire people to clean up the wasteland I bought. Five yuan per person per day, and try to clean it up within five days. We don't need many people, but they need to be hardworking and capable, and not cunning." Cao Zheng took out a hundred yuan and gave it to his assistant, and then left it alone.
The assistant took the money outside, found Village Chief Wang, and handed it to him. "Village Chief Wang, this is what Mr. Cao asked us to give you. One hundred yuan of it is for the families who came up the mountain to help us yesterday. Each person will get five yuan, regardless of how many people are in each household. The rest is for our food. The other hundred yuan is for Mr. Cao, who wants to ask the village chief for help. He wants to hire villagers to help reclaim the wasteland. Those who come to work must be diligent and capable. The same five yuan a day is paid. We hope to reclaim the land within five days."
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