Chapter 6 What Can Be Served with Wine (I)

  What is wine? What can be made into wine and what is wine? What can be used to go with wine?

  Wine reaches the mouth, wine enters the throat, wine enters the intestines, wine enters the blood, and wine also enters the heart.

  What is wine? Is wine just wine?

  Wine is by our side, we savor it together, search for it, and even miss it.

  Everything is wine, everything can be paired with wine, the difference lies in one's own sense of smell and taste buds, unfortunately this is just our lonely beauty, can only be savored alone.

  About ten days after the collective intoxication incident at Longbiao's house, which was also around the time when school was about to start summer vacation, Shi Wei bothered Longbiao again, pulling him to explain once more what exactly was going on with the curse of the heavens. Longbiao repeatedly said that he himself didn't understand why this curse had occurred, and as a result, Shi Wei cursed: "Damn it! Is God really so bored? With so many things in the world not being taken care of, why spend thousands of years tormenting the Long family?"

  Long Wan heard Shi Wei scolding God and said, "This has nothing to do with God! It's the curse of the heavens! Not the curse of God! God and the heavens are two different concepts."

  Shi Wei insists that God is the same as the Supreme, and that they are essentially the same thing, only with different names due to cultural differences between East and West. Long Bao, on the other hand, says that the concept of the Supreme in Chinese thought is more profound than that of God, with a broader extension and deeper meaning. Our ancestors were filled with reverence for the Supreme, and when making sacrifices, they would say "the blue sky above and the earth below", this blue sky and earth is the Supreme, the Supreme is the past and present, the four directions, it is right next to us, on our heads, it is all things, it makes you feel that it is everywhere, at all times.

  "Is God and the heavens really different? According to you, the power of the heavens is even higher than that of God. Only the heavens have the ability to cast this curse on you, so you're only afraid of the heavens and not afraid of God, right?"

  The dragon scale that had just been passed through had become much more cheerful, and he chuckled and said: "Afraid? What's the use of being afraid! My ancestors have been afraid for thousands of years, but the curse still came!"

  This conversation made Longpo's several brothers meditate for a long time. Although Marxism and modern scientific theories teach us that there is no God or gods in this world, they ask themselves: Is there really a God? Is there a heaven? Are there ghosts and spirits? Is there hell? Does a person's life have a predetermined fate?

  Liao Ye thought more deeply: Is this curse really true? If it is, will I be implicated?

  During the summer vacation, Long Bao still didn't go back home. Instead, he asked Wen Li to bring a big package back for him, which was full of Changhan specialties. He wanted her to take some trouble to help deliver them to Old Man Liu and some teacher friends from his hometown. When Wen Li first saw Long Bao, she still felt a bit uneasy in her heart, but Long Bao was very calm and composed, without any unusual expression. After Wen Li agreed to do it, Long Bao politely wished her a smooth journey and bid farewell.

  Wen Li's emotions were mixed, and she returned to her dormitory. Several girls surrounded her and said: "Quickly tell us, who was that handsome guy just now? We all saw him! If you don't say, we'll tell Zheng Xue!"

  "Wen Li said strangely: 'He? Don't you know him?'"

  "Acquaintances? Who says we're acquaintances?"

  Wen Li suddenly asked: "Isn't he Long Bao, the one you accompanied me to see?"

  "Huang Qiuya was startled: 'Is that the black, tattered and worn-out bad boy? Wow! How did he transform from an ugly duckling to a white swan like he's had super plastic surgery and height enhancement? It's strange! Too strange!'"

  She saw the bag Wenli was carrying and asked: "What's this?"

  "Oh, it's what he asked me to bring back for some fellow villagers as a specialty. It's so heavy! I don't even know how I'm going to get it back!" Wen Li was somewhat annoyed at the large package. No wonder, Long Bao didn't think about it either - with so many things, dozens of packages of sesame balls, sesame candies, and lantern-shaped pastries, how could a girl possibly bring them all back?"

  Are there snacks to eat? After a moment of hesitation, the girls immediately swarmed up and started dividing them. Several dormitories nearby also smelled and heard the noise, and the situation was out of control - the Eight-Nation Alliance marched into Beijing!

  Wen Li stood up intending to stop them, but seeing so many people coming, she sat back down motionless. Huang Qiuya also didn't move.

  The sweltering summer heat is hard to describe, its unique sultriness and high temperatures unabated.

  Apart from tutoring and working in restaurants, I usually go to the library. However, I have added a few sports activities: swimming, running, and cycling. I often swim at Donghu Lake near my school gate, and I've also swum across the Yangtze River twice, wanting to experience the feeling of crossing the river, with its turbulent waters and many boats.

  Before I knew it, the summer vacation of 2000 was about to end. Shi Wei ran from home and asked me to go to his house for lunch again. I felt a bit embarrassed: "Third brother, you see, I've had several meals at your house already. Your parents are so good to me, but every time I go there empty-handed, without even buying a gift. I'm really ashamed."

  Shi Wei pretended to be angry and said, "You silly! You're still growing, how can you not supplement your nutrition?! Besides, today isn't me treating you, it's my uncle and those parents of your classmates who want to treat you to a good meal. I'm just tagging along, I'm riding on your coattails!"

  He looked at me with a strange expression and said, "Old Six, my god, I really admire you. You've only been here for two months, but you've managed to turn those naughty kids into good ones! How did you do it? You don't know how happy their parents are! They're so grateful to you. It was just one meal, but they have a lot of money and can afford it." He thought for a moment and then said, "Right, I need to ask them to reimburse me for the taxi fare later, several hundred yuan!"

  I looked at Shi Wei's sly face and couldn't help but laugh, saying: "You wouldn't be so despicable, would you? Actually, I'll tell you, your nephew Jin Bao and those other kids are very smart, maybe they just didn't like studying before! Besides, I'm not like you, always yelling at him for being stupid and foolish, yet when playing games online, you're always fooling around with him. Even though you can't beat Jin Bao, you still refuse to admit defeat and try to cheat, that's how you are! If Jin Bao still respects you after all this, that would be strange! I'm different from you, I often tell them stories about our hometown and talk to them about their feelings, helping them solve their problems. (I intentionally squinted my eyes like Shi Wei) Oh, right, Jin Bao told me that when you were in middle school, you once pooped the bed! Hahaha!"

  Shi Wei looked at me with a stinky expression, unable to help but laugh and cry. He really wanted to scold me severely, but didn't know how to start. Moreover, the fact that he had diarrhea in bed during middle school was also true. He coughed heavily several times, pretending to be very serious, saying: "Old Six, if you dare tell Hai Tao and the others about this matter, I'll cut ties with you!" After speaking, he secretly vowed in his heart: "You just wait and see, you little brat! I won't let you off easy!"

  At the dinner table, Longbiao's ears were filled with words of gratitude from these parents. In fact, Longbiao thought he should be thanking them instead. If they hadn't trusted him so much to tutor their children and paid him a relatively high fee, he wouldn't have been able to raise enough money for his sophomore year tuition and living expenses before the start of school. Longbiao was delighted that the few children he had taught were now obedient. With a heart full of joy, Longbiao agreed to the parents' request to continue tutoring their children.

  It's actually quite interesting, Longbiao is not much older than them, in the eyes of these children, Longbiao is simply a god-like figure. Longbiao has extensive knowledge, no matter what they ask him, he can answer offhand, they regard Longbiao as their own brother, as their own big brother. These city-bred kids have no idea what rural life is like, when Longbiao tells them about his experiences hunting and fishing with his dog in the countryside of Xiongshan, all the kids will show a look of yearning on their faces, sighing: "I wish I was born in the countryside."

  But Long Bao's English oral Putonghua computer level is simply laughable: Ha! This is the level? Still a university student!

  Another batch of freshmen have arrived, and Long Bao saw groups of two or three new students accompanied by their parents wandering around the campus on his way to the library. Shi Wei had promised to go to the library with him today, but he stayed up all night at the internet cafe and is now sleeping soundly, dreaming of dominating the online game world.

  Actually, Shi Wei hasn't been playing games much lately. He just found out that he has a great killing power in chat rooms and QQ. Unbeknownst to him, he has already gained some fame among his chat friends. He was surprised to discover that he had such high natural talent, which can be described as "dominating the world with a smile". Many MM have secretly expressed their admiration for him! Now, he thinks about it, and feels a bit regretful that he wasted his time playing games in the past. However, as the ancient saying goes, "it's not too late to mend the fold after the sheep has escaped", there are plenty of opportunities, who knows, maybe he can find his long-awaited love on the internet.

  Haitao specially brought two big bags of delicious food from home, and he really remembered Longbiao and these brothers this summer vacation. He prepared to use these delicious foods to let several brothers have a good time, eating and drinking to their heart's content! Being at home for so long was quite boring, although there were also old classmates together having fun, but somehow he missed his sworn brothers, of course the one he missed most was his girlfriend Baobei Fen, just thinking about her gentle eyes made him feel sentimental.

  Almost all of my classmates have arrived.

  Shi Wei has been quite busy these two days, like a well-trained hunting dog. Whenever he sees an acquaintance, he greets them with a fake smile and then jokingly asks: "Is the summer vacation enjoyable? What delicious food have you brought this time?" He looks like the biggest glutton in the world, but actually, he is just curious and likes to snoop around, broadening his knowledge of China's rich local specialties. When his classmates really give him something to eat, he only takes a little bit, but he enjoys going from dormitory to dormitory, causing trouble.

  Long Bao was different, his appetite was great, now sitting in the dormitory with several other brothers, wolfing down the things brought by each brother. He found that there were so many delicious things in this world, and every kind was a top-notch product! Under everyone's encouragement and indulgence, he let go of his stomach to eat, making Shi Wei stare blankly and envy him so much that he wished he could replace him.

  "Is it really that delicious, Old Six? Didn't you eat the same thing as me?" Shi Wei asked in doubt, turning his head to Hai Tao, "Your grandma's cooking is just average level, no matter how you put it, it can't compare to what's sold on the streets! How come he eats like he's swallowed his tongue!"

  Haitao worried that Shiwei's words would stimulate Longbiao, who was eating a lot, and make him feel embarrassed to eat again. So he pretended to be angry and said: "Old six, you're not like me, eating things picky! Others are grown up in hardship! Look at you, look at you! What did you do for the whole summer vacation? Playing games all night, thin and pale, yellow skin and white eyes, and then look at old six, a summer vacation is enough to make him strong like an ox!" Haitao didn't know that Shiwei's situation had changed. Shiwei felt that his brothers were wronging him, and he was unhappy. He liked to argue, so he immediately shouted: "Stop! I'm telling you, as a brother, I haven't played games at all now! When I go online, it's all about searching for literature data, browsing foreign confidential files, and grasping world news! I even represent our great six brothers in various forums, posting posts everywhere to establish a network empire for us! You don't know how famous we six brothers are now!"

  It's better not to mention it, but as soon as Haitao brought it up, he became angry: "Great! You dare to bring this up again! Now, I'll give you a good scolding in front of all our brothers here. Listen up, everyone! Didn't we agree not to mention nicknames anymore? But this little brat, this rascal, do you know what kind of names he registered for us online under our flag?" Haitao's eyes widened as he glanced around at us with a look of great resentment, while Longbiao suppressed his laughter and pretended to be serious.

  Haitao saw that all the brothers were eagerly looking at him, so he said: "Look at what this kid has named us! Speak! Why did you give Erge the name 'I am a urination hero bird (Liao) Erge'? Speak! Why did you give Si the name 'Do you see my earthworm (Qiuqin)'? And again! Why did you call Wu 'Five Stocks Fengdeng'?"

  He thought for a moment, suddenly becoming even angrier, stood up and said: "Tell me! What did I do to offend you? Why did you give me the nickname 'Old Master uses Dove condoms'!! Tell me! When have I ever used Dove condoms?! You're a despicable person!"

  Shi Wei looked at Long Bao with a pitiful and resentful expression, knowing that it was definitely Long Bao who had leaked the information. He saw Lao Liu still secretly smiling to himself, and thought: "Heavens! How could this kind and honest person suddenly become someone who leaks network secrets?"

  Haitao's anger is no joke, so Shi Wei had to plead: "Boss, I also call myself 'only bones left is not my fault', and even Lao Liu I call him 'laughing paste six pots collision'! I still think for you, called Baobei Fen 'boss come to open (fen) my legs'! And also...

  "Hey, you little brat! You're not satisfied with messing with me, and now you dare to make fun of my girlfriend!" Haitao walked towards Shiwei with a fierce expression. In fact, everyone was already laughing uncontrollably!

  ……

  Happy days passed like this, Longbiao's dormitory was filled with laughter, and more and more classmates liked to chat and have fun here.

  The weather is gradually getting cooler and it's already autumn again, many classmates have started wearing sweaters.

  On Sunday afternoon, Shi Wei and I came out of the school library. "Whoosh", a gust of autumn wind blew towards us, blowing a withered yellow paulownia leaf onto me. Before it fell off, I caught it with my hand, gently pinching its stem with my fingers, and looked at it.

  This is the first time I've carefully examined a fallen leaf. The color of the leaf has withered to yellow, leaving only a few deep brown veins that resemble an old net scattered on the surface of the leaf. The stem has turned slightly black, and there are still some irregularly distributed spots on the surface of the leaf. As I look up, the ground is covered with this kind of leaves, some of which have been trampled by passersby and broken into pieces. In this early autumn scene, there is a hint of desolation and bleakness.

  I turned to Shi Wei and asked: "Do you remember that poem 'Su Mu Zhe · Huai Jiu' written by Fan Zhongyan?"

  Shi Wei stared intently at the two girls walking towards them from a distance, not responding to my words. Suddenly, Shi Wei lowered his voice and said: "Lao Liu, there's something going on ahead. I've found your nemesis - the shrew..."

  I took a glance forward, oh, it was Wenli's two roommates, that Huang Qiuya who had taught me a lesson twice before was staring at me.

  I didn't have a good impression of this girl, and I walked past them with indifference. Shi Wei's eyes were still rolling around non-stop, and he deliberately exaggeratedly sniffed the fragrance they brought, shouting: "Wow! So fragrant! Strange? Why isn't it spicy today? Hehehe!"

  Shi Wei called out while intentionally turning his head towards them, and coincidentally met Huang Qiuya's eyes straight on.

  "Speak up, why stop now? Go on and praise some more!" Huang Qiuya said with a gloomy tone.

  "Haha, good wine doesn't need to be drunk, good words don't need to be many, one sentence is enough." Shi Wei still had a cheerful and smiling face.

  "I'm telling you, Auntie has something on today and won't bother with you," Huang Qiuya's face didn't show any anger or sharpness, I turned around too, coldly staring at her. She moved her eyes away from Shi Wei's face, which was as thick as anyone knew, and stared into my eyes, "Just now when I went to your dormitory, you weren't there. Wen Li asked me to come find you, she has something to tell you, and she's waiting for you right now."

  Within less than two hundred meters ahead, Yunli was standing under that big tree, her face somewhat pale and thin, as if there were still tear stains that had just flowed out.

  I walked up to her with Shi Wei. Shi Wei's expression was strange, looking at me and then at her.

  Huang Qiuya said: "Wenli, I've brought the person to you, what do you want to say just say it!" She turned her head and said to Shi Wei, "What are you still doing here? Want to be a light bulb and shine?"

  I couldn't refuse Wenli's request to accompany her to find a place to sit and chat, I don't know why she was crying, why tears were falling, I'm a bit curious about the reason. This is a relatively quiet lawn, she and I sat apart by one or two meters.

  "What's wrong? You seem to have cried." As I said this, I thought of the girl who had accompanied me in front of my grandfather's bed, crying and grieving with me, the girl who had knelt down with me on the ground to beg someone to lend us a coffin. Was it her? Was it Wen Li?

  Wen Li sobbed as she told me that she used to like me, but it wasn't love. She just treated me like a little brother. She's four years older than me, and there was no way anything could have come of it anyway. Besides, after her parents found out about the family curse on me, they forbade her from having any further contact with me.

  Time passed minute by minute in Wenli's narrative, and my memories, my thoughts, and my former doubts all became clear step by step. Yes, the pressure of public opinion, the fear of being cursed, the coercion of family, etc., how could a girl who had never been independent bear it? The ambiguous emotions were already fragile, let alone the extreme incompatibility of personality, thought, and background. In this relationship of mine, actually from the very beginning it was doomed to end, from the very beginning it was doomed to be a beautiful mistake. I couldn't blame Wenli at all.

  Wen Li also said that her boyfriend Zheng Xue is a guy who is irresponsible to emotions, and even shamelessly and despicably hot with other girls while dating Wen Li, openly and unscrupulously having multiple relationships at the same time!

  I want to help Wenli a bit, but I don't know how to help her. Maybe Wenli thinks I'm the person she's closest to or trusts most in this city, and she came to tell me about the unspeakable hardships in her heart. Or maybe Wenli is drawing a frank line with our past. I couldn't say anything comforting, only saying somewhat sadly: "Take good care of yourself, take good care of yourself."

  I walked with Shi Wei to send them back to their apartment, then turned around and headed towards our dormitory. Along the way, my feet were covered in fallen autumn leaves, the scenery was endless, and far away, I could see a scene that truly had some "azure clouds in the sky, yellow leaves on the ground, autumn colors stretching across the waves, and cold mist rising from the surface of the water". I murmured to myself, "The mountain reflects the slanted sun, the sky meets the water. The fragrant grass is heartless, even more so under the slanted sun. My hometown soul, chasing after traveling thoughts, night after night, except for good dreams that remain with people while they sleep..."

  "Who would have thought, this dragon scale instantly transformed the ugly duckling into a swan!" Huang Qiuya said to the girls in the dormitory while sitting at her desk, using a small clip to tidy up her eyebrows.

  As soon as she heard this, the girl with short hair who had just been sent back by Long Bao and others along with Wen Li and Huang Qiuya walked over with a smile and leaned in front of Huang Qiuya's desk, analyzing her expression with ill intentions and said: "Qiuya, are you a little moved? Want to take advantage of it?"

  "Am I moved? You're dead, you owe me a beating for daring to say that to me!" Huang Qiuya slammed her eyebrow clip on the table, her expression very serious, somewhat like she was angry.

  "Alright, alright, I won't say it anymore! Are you satisfied now?!" This girl is Du Ci, and she and Huang Qiuya are fellow Jiangsu natives.

  "Dead girl, is it you? You have this idea but don't dare say it and instead say I do?"

  "I? I dare not, I'm afraid you and Wen Li will give me a torment of living worse than death! I want to live for a few more days!" Du Ci said while trying to hide behind Wen Li who was sitting on the bed.

  Wen Li seemed to be unaware of what was happening around her, lost in her own thoughts: Alas, I've finally made things clear with Long Bao and settled this matter. But what about Zheng Xue in the future? He's so flirtatious, can he be relied on?

  The girls made a fuss for a while and then went about their own business.

  Longbiao no longer goes to the small restaurant to work, but every Saturday and Sunday morning he specifically goes to a wholesale department opened by his relatives who are also his students' parents to help out. Longbiao has great strength and never complains about being tired or exhausted. Plus, because of his relationship with the boss, who is also his student's parent, he gets paid more than usual. Just from this job alone, he earns over 300 yuan per month. Adding that to his Saturday night tutoring sessions, his monthly income now exceeds 1,000 yuan, and he no longer has any financial pressure.

  Shi Wei had always been puzzled by Long Bao's cold resistance. He had noticed that Long Bao would often take a cold shower, but he never complained about the cold, unlike many people who would shiver and hurry through it, singing loudly to distract themselves from the chill. Long Bao, on the other hand, would always take exactly ten minutes, even in snowy weather. On this particular day, Shi Wei was wearing four layers of clothing, while Long Bao wore only two, without even a sweater. When he pinched Long Bao's arm, it felt as hard as iron, making him feel envious.

  He had never had the opportunity to observe Long Bao's cold water bath up close, today, he decided to take a tracking tactic, rush to the front line for firepower reconnaissance, grasp all the on-site data of Long Bao's cold water bath, and explore this kid's anti-cold secret.

  It was already early winter, and at around 10 o'clock in the evening, Longbiao rode his bicycle back from a student's home, sweating slightly as he rushed along. Longbiao was particular about hygiene and disliked having sticky things on him. He greeted several of his brothers before picking up a bucket, soap, towel, and clean clothes to head to the bathhouse. Shi Wei quickly threw a few pairs of socks into his own water bucket, pretending to go wash them as he followed Longbiao.

  Long Bao liked to use water to flush his body quickly, he liked cold water, which could make him cool down the hot feeling in his body. However, during this period, Long Bao also felt strange, the more he used cold water to flush his body, the redder the dragon-shaped birthmark on his chest would become, and he didn't know what was going on.

  Long Bao washed under the faucet for a while before turning off the water, applying soap to his hair and face, and rubbing it in. Every day he came back like this, his hair was very dirty, his face was all oily and dusty, very uncomfortable, had to use force to wash clean. He didn't notice at all that Shi Wei, who was washing socks under the pretext, was using those cunning eyes to scan his entire body up and down!

  "Is this guy's flesh still called flesh?! Is this butt still called a butt?!" Shi Wei muttered to himself as he admired Long Baojian's **.

  Look! A typical inverted triangular physique, with a slightly bronzed skin tone and not an ounce of excess fat, only bulging muscles, especially those two buttocks, which are rough and primitive in color, highlighting modernist curves, full of masculine vitality. Of course, what caught Shi Wei's eye was the small thing that kept swinging back and forth to the rhythm of washing with a dragon-shaped loofah!

  No! Such a monster, such a big guy can still be called small? Shi Wei immediately denied the judgment in his heart. This is simply the kind of thing that only oxen and horses have!

  Damn it! Soaked in such icy cold water, and so big, so terrifying! Shi Wei hated his own gutlessness at this time. Why did my baby not even mention washing with cold water, as soon as winter arrived, shrink into a ball and become timid like a mouse, no longer doing sit-ups or stretching exercises?

  "What a shameful thing!" Shi Wei exclaimed in extreme pain and resentment.

  Long Bang had just finished washing his hair and heard a noise. He looked outside and saw Shi Wei gritting his teeth.

  Shi Wei's distress and discontent only lasted for a moment, he immediately focused his attention on appreciating Long Bao with modern aesthetic views, and this time he discovered the fetal mark of Long Bao.

  "He was shocked: 'Good kid! You dare to get a tattoo! The school has repeatedly and firmly prohibited tattoos, yet you got one?'"

  Long Bao looked at this kid's curious expression and wanted to laugh: "This isn't a tattoo, it's a birthmark, born with it, inherited."

  "Is it a birthmark? Born with it? Or inherited? Wow! Old Six! Don't mess with me, okay? I'm begging you, is that alright? You've already messed with me enough!...... How did you become this kind of person?! You should keep your own characteristics, don't become like Hai Lao Da!" Shi Wei thought he was an adult, of course he wouldn't believe Long Bao's nonsense.

  Long Bao wiped his body dry and let him touch his birthmark.

  Shi Wei touched it with his finger, pressed it down, and then carefully examined it under the light. He even rubbed it hard with his fingers before he had to believe that this was a birthmark. However, no matter what, he refused to believe that this thing was hereditary. His reason was simple: this wasn't a genetic trait, so how could it be inherited?

  Back in the dormitory, under Shi Wei's instigation, the brothers carefully examined Long Bao's birthmark one by one. At this time, Liao Ye really began to believe that this curse might be real after all.