[Urban] Drunken Laughter in the Countryside (Hongtu Ji) Complete - 31

Chapter 119: The Charm of the Wine Country

"It's definitely Bai Datong. He likes you, so of course he'd tell you first if he had any inside information." Xu Wen finally found an opportunity to tease her.

"Nonsense, I don't like him at all!" Yu Qing shook her head, looking into my eyes in the rearview mirror.

"Who is Bai Datong?" My heart sank. Although I knew from Yu Qing's eyes that she hadn't betrayed me, I still couldn't help but ask.

“Baidatong is nicknamed Li, his real name is Li Meng. He’s a professional paparazzi and gossipmonger; it’s said that no information escapes his notice,” Yan Dandan laughed. “He pursued Yuqing relentlessly for a while, which really bothered her. After being clearly rejected, he toned it down a bit, but now it seems like he’s starting to rekindle his interest.”

I felt a little relieved and glanced at Yuqing in the rearview mirror, saying with a smile, “Pretty girls are naturally attractive; it’s no surprise that guys like them.

You two beauties must have been pursued by guys before, right?”

Yuqing’s face flushed, her heart pounding. She secretly glanced at me, and seeing that my reaction was alright, she felt a little relieved.

“No, no,” Xu Wen and Yan Dandan denied almost in unison.

At this moment, Yuqing seized the opportunity to scold the two girls for revealing her embarrassing moments in front of me, and immediately retaliated, "Who said there weren't any! The day before yesterday, a boy from the next class gave Xiaowen flowers. Dandan is even more outrageous; two boys fought over her, one of whom was..." Before she could finish, Yan Dandan covered her mouth.

"You brat, I'll teach you to gossip!" Yan Dandan tickled Yuqing's armpit, making the sensitive girl giggle breathlessly. Xu Wen's beautiful face flushed red, and she glanced at me shyly before turning back to vent her anger on Yuqing.

In an instant, the three girls were fighting, bursting into hearty laughter.

Youth is wonderful! I felt happy in my heart that I had once been that age.

The car wheels spun, and soon we arrived at our destination.

As soon as the car stopped, a waiter came to open the door.

The three girls stood in front of the tallest building in the city, and couldn't help but hesitate.

"Jin Feng Lou!" Yan Dandan exclaimed in surprise, "How did we get here?"

I handed the keys to the waiter so he could drive the car away, and smiled slightly, "Is there something wrong with this place?"

"I heard that the prices here are easily over two thousand!" Yan Dandan said solemnly.

Xu Wen also nodded, "Yes, I've also heard that it's quite expensive here. Maybe we should go somewhere else!"

Yu Qing looked at me without saying anything, believing that she shared the same opinion.

I laughed heartily and said generously, "It's just a place to eat, nothing special. Since we're here, let's make the best of it. Let's go." With that, I didn't give them a chance to speak and went inside first.

The three women exchanged glances and helplessly hurried a few steps to follow.

"Welcome!" In front of the magnificent restaurant entrance were two golden phoenixes with outstretched wings, and below the phoenixes stood two handsome male waiters, both over 180 centimeters tall, who were politely bowing to us. Their humble and respectful demeanor always made me uncomfortable, especially the two golden phoenixes high above them, their haughty attitude as if they cared nothing for anything else, which only fueled my unease and gave me a desire to conquer them. This reminded me of someone.

"Good afternoon, sir/madam! Welcome!" Eight beautiful waitresses, each with a lovely face, greeted me politely with smiles.

"Do you have a reservation, sir?" The tall, slender woman at the front on the left stepped forward and asked politely.

"No," I shook my head. "Find us a quiet room."

"Very well. Please follow me!" The tall woman gestured and led the way.

Three women accompanied me, glancing around as if we were in a magnificent palace, breathtakingly beautiful.

The restaurant was doing good business; it was peak dining time, and while not packed, there were few empty tables.

We took the elevator directly to the third floor, where a beautiful waitress led us to a room called "Qingya Xuan" (Refined Elegance Pavilion). "Sir," she said, "is this room suitable?"

Simple, clean, and tidy, it was a world completely different from the opulent splendor of the downstairs room. Yet, the antique decor and tranquil environment were uniquely crafted and distinctive.

I nodded, somewhat satisfied, and said, "It's nice, quite tasteful. This is the place."

"Yes, sir, please have

a seat." The beautiful waitress pulled out chairs for us one by one.

"Sir, this is the menu. Please choose one." The waitress handed me an exquisitely printed menu.

The menu was printed with great care. On the right side of the cover, two golden phoenixes with outstretched wings were printed in color. On the left side, eight lines of dishes were written in ink.

The first line was: Almond Pearl Tofu Soup. Next up are: braised yellow croaker with vinegar, braised fish fins, stir-fried veal, ham and shredded chicken dumplings, steamed duck, stir-fried rapeseed flowers, stir-fried broccoli, braised peas, stir-fried bok choy, braised bamboo shoots with mushrooms and dried shrimp, as well as desserts like jujube paste pies and almond yogurt, along with fruits and coffee. Opening the menu reveals a comprehensive collection of cuisines from the four major regional cuisines of China: Shandong, Sichuan, Cantonese, and Huaiyang; the eight major regional cuisines: Shandong, Sichuan, Hunan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Guangdong, and Fujian; and even the seemingly insurmountable Beijing cuisine, which blends flavors from all over the country. It's a veritable who's who of famous dishes, yet clearly categorized. Just this menu alone demonstrates the restaurant's extravagant spending!

I randomly picked a few dishes from the menu, such as pearl tofu soup, braised yellow croaker in vinegar, stir-fried veal, and steamed duck, then handed the menu to Yan Dandan, saying, "Order whatever you like, feel free."

Yan Dandan opened the menu and was astonished by the huge numbers next to each dish. She flipped through it several times before finally ordering two dishes: stewed pigeon from Huangshan and stir-fried bok choy. Next was Xu Wen, and then Yu Qing. They were no different from Yan Dandan; after their initial astonishment, they also chose two dishes. However, unlike Yan Dandan, they chose vegetarian dishes: braised eggplant, tomato and tofu stew, stir-fried asparagus with ginkgo and lily bulbs, and winter melon soup.

The beautiful waitress noted them down one by one. I took the order and glanced at it, then smiled at the three women, saying, "You're all trying to save me money." I casually ordered two more dishes, making a total of twelve, and said, "Okay, that's all for now. Also, bring us two bottles of 2000 vintage red wine."

"Yes, sir. Please wait a moment, the food will be served shortly." The beautiful waitress politely withdrew.

"Brother-in-law, we just need to enjoy our meal properly, you're spending too much!" Xu Wen said embarrassedly.

"Yeah, brother-in-law, at this rate, we'll never dare to eat with you again," Yan Dandan said.

"What, are you afraid of eating me out of house and home?" I laughed.

At this moment, Yuqing was no longer hesitant as she had been before entering. She put her arms around her two friends' shoulders and said, "Don't worry, our brother-in-law isn't a tycoon, but he still has some money. A few meals won't bankrupt him."

"Yuqing is right," one of them replied. "Brother-in-law may not have a lot of money, but he does have some. If you need his help in the future, just ask." Although they said this, children like Xu Wen and Yan Dandan, who grew up in the city, were certainly not short of money. It was just a polite way of joking.

“We knew you were a big shot, brother-in-law. It would be pretentious for us to be polite.” Yan Dandan was more forthright than Xu Wen, giggling, “Brother-in-law, you have to keep your word, don’t go back on your word later.” Xu Wen, hearing Yan Dandan’s words, knew it was just casual politeness and found it amusing, so he loosened up, saying, “Dandan and I call you brother-in-law just like Yuqing, so you have to treat us equally and not help Yuqing bully us.”

I laughed heartily, saying, “Since you all call me brother-in-law like Yuqing, of course I have to treat you equally and not favor one over the other.” As I spoke, I winked at Yuqing, whose beautiful face immediately turned fiery red, and she shyly gave me a sidelong glance.

“Knock knock!”

At that moment, a knock sounded at the door.

“Come in.”

“Sir, may we serve the food now?” the beautiful waitress asked as she entered.

“Yes.”

The beautiful waitress turned around, and a pretty waitress pushed in a food cart.

In no time, the table was laden with delicious food.

A beautiful waitress brought over a plate of fruit and said, "This is a fruit platter from our restaurant for our distinguished guests. We hope you enjoy it."

"Thank you." The service at this restaurant was indeed excellent. I nodded and said, "Your restaurant's general manager is very shrewd in business. May I ask your name?"

"The general manager's surname is Jin, and her given name is Buyao," the beautiful waitress replied.

"Oh, so it really is her! No wonder!" When I saw that golden phoenix soaring high above, I had a feeling of déjà vu. I was quite excited to find out that it was indeed the person I was thinking of.

"Sir, you know our general manager?" the beautiful waitress asked, surprised.

"It's nothing, I just heard her name before," I shook my head and said.

"Sir, is this your first time at our restaurant? I haven't seen you before."

"Yes. I haven't been to the county town for eight or nine years; I hardly recognize you."

"Hehe, the country is expanding and developing everywhere now; things are changing fast." The beautiful waitress smiled. "Sir, is there anything else you need?"

"No, for now. You can go ahead and attend to your work."

The beautiful waitress politely greeted us and then left.

I filled the three women's glasses with red wine, picked up my glass, gently swirled it, and smelled it. "Come on, let's toast to our acquaintance!"

"Cheers!" The three women giggled and raised their glasses to clink with mine.

I tilted my head back and gulped down the entire glass, while the three women took small sips, held them in their mouths, and slowly swallowed.

After finishing their drinks, they licked their lips, still wanting more. Seeing that the three women's glasses were still more than half full, I couldn't help but say, "This wine has a low alcohol content, why don't you just finish it all in one go?"

"(*^__^*) Hehe..." the three women laughed.

Yuqing said, "Brother-in-law, you don't even know the general steps for tasting red wine , do you?"

"Of course I know, it's just three steps." I poured more wine into the glass, held it up to the light, and said, "The first step is: observation. Good red wine has a clear, pure color, like the wine clinging to the glass; this phenomenon is called 'legs'." I gently swirled the glass in my hand, then held it to my nose. "Gently swirl the glass to release the aroma slowly, then hold the glass to your nose and smell the fragrance. This is the second step: smelling." Then I put the glass to my lips, gently tasted a small sip of the wine, and held it in my mouth... He put it in his mouth, then swallowed, and said, "This is the third step of tasting. Take a small sip of the wine, hold it in the rounded part of your lower jaw, and swallow slowly. Let your throat judge whether the wine is strong or weak, and let your tongue feel its aroma and sweetness. However, this is just how foreigners drink wine; it's child's play. It's not very suitable for Chinese people, especially for someone like me who is used to drinking Chinese wine."

Yan Dandan laughed and said, "I didn't expect my brother-in-law to be so cultured. I wonder how much you know about Chinese wine culture? Could you tell us three wine novices about it and let us see the charm of our wine country?"

"Of course I can. But..." I paused, swirling the wine in my glass, and smiled at the three women.

"But what?" Yan Dandan was puzzled as to why I was keeping them in suspense.

"But wouldn't it be like talking to a brick wall to talk about the wine culture of our country with three women who can't even finish a glass of red wine?"

"Tch!" The three women exclaimed in unison.

Yan Dandan downed her drink in one gulp, licking her lips with her tongue, and said boldly, "Is that alright now?"

"Yes, yes! Hehe..." I laughed, touched by her boldness, and also captivated by the sexy way she licked her lips; my body temperature rose slightly.

Seeing that Yan Dandan had drunk hers, Yu Qing and Xu Wen had no choice but to finish their drinks as well.

The three women wiped their mouths with tissues, their eyes fixed on me.

I raised my head, downed my drink again, then filled four clear glasses with blood-red wine, cleared my throat, and began my sermon on the culture of wine.

"Wine, as an objective material existence in the world, is a multifaceted spirit. It is as fiery as fire and as cold as ice; as lingering as a dream and as vicious as a demon; as soft as brocade and as sharp as a steel knife; it is omnipresent and infinitely powerful; it is both admirable and pitiful, deserving of death and slaughter; it can make people transcend and become magnanimous, overflowing with talent and unpredictable; it can make people forget the pain, sorrow, and troubles of the world and soar freely in a space of absolute freedom; it can also make people act recklessly, bravely sinking to the bottom of the abyss, making people throw off their masks, reveal their true nature, and speak the truth..."

"In the long history of human culture, wine has become more than just an objective material existence; it is a cultural symbol, a symbol of the Dionysian spirit. In China, the Dionysian spirit originates from Taoist philosophy. Zhuangzi advocated the unity of self and things, the unity of heaven and man, and the equality of life and death. Zhuangzi sang the song of absolute freedom, advocating 'riding on things and wandering,' 'wandering beyond the four seas,' and 'the land of nothingness.' Zhuangzi preferred to be a free turtle wagging its tail in a muddy pond rather than a bound, proud steed. The pursuit of absolute freedom, forgetting life, death, gain, loss, honor, and disgrace, is the essence of the Chinese Dionysian spirit…"

"In the realm of literature and art, the spirit of Dionysus is omnipresent, exerting a profound and far-reaching influence on literary artists and their masterpieces. This is because freedom, art, and beauty are a trinity; art arises from freedom, and beauty arises from art.

Legend has it that when Du Kang was making wine, he collected the blood of a scholar, a strongman, and a madman, and mixed these three drops together at the hour of You (5-7 PM), creating an extremely delicious liquid, which Du Kang called 'wine.' Therefore, wine is inextricably linked to these three types of people.

Discreet and unrestrained, this is the character of wine!

Thus, the anecdotes about wine culture are naturally numerous and interesting.

The Wine Immortal: 'A dappled horse, a thousand pieces of gold, call out to exchange them for fine wine.' This describes the drinking scene of the famous 'Wine Immortal' Li Bai. Du Fu wrote in 'Song of the Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup': 'Li Bai drinks a bucket of wine and writes a hundred poems, sleeps in a tavern in Chang'an, the emperor summons him but he won't board the boat, he calls himself a wine immortal.'"

Li Bai's drunken madness. In ancient times, when drunk, people would become arrogant and unruly, dissolute and disregarding etiquette. In the early spring of the Tang Dynasty's Tianbao era, Emperor Xuanzong and his concubine were admiring peonies by the Chenxiang Pavilion in Xingqing Palace when they suddenly heard Li Bai, drunk and singing wildly upstairs: "Three cups lead to the Great Way, half in harmony with nature. Enjoy the pleasure of wine, but don't tell the sober ones." A eunuch rushed upstairs, shouting, "By imperial decree, summon Scholar Li to see the Emperor!" But Li Bai ignored him completely, muttering, "I'm drunk and want to sleep, you may leave." The eunuch had no choice but to help him into Xingqing Palace. Seeing Li Bai completely drunk, Xuanzong quickly ordered a palace maid to spray water on his face and personally brought him a hangover soup. Li Bai opened his eyes and immediately asked Xuanzong for wine. Xuanzong said with concern, "You've just sobered up, what if you get drunk again?" Li Bai replied, "I can write a hundred poems after a jug of wine, and when drunk, my poems flow like a spring." This

is the essence of wine. Xu Shen's *Shuowen Jiezi* states that wine can bring both good fortune and misfortune. The *Strategies of the Warring States* (specifically the *Wei Strategies*) records: "In the past, the emperor's daughter ordered Yi Di to make wine, which was delicious. She presented it to Yu, who drank it and found it sweet. He then distanced himself from Yi Di and abstained from fine wine." It also says: "In later generations, there will surely be those who lose their kingdoms because of wine." Indeed, his descendants indulged in wine, drinking excessively day and night, forgetting themselves, and bringing about the destruction of their kingdoms.

Wine-related schemes abound. Emperor Taizu of Song's "releasing military power over a cup of wine"; Cao Pi's victory over General Deng Zhan with a sugarcane sword at a banquet; King Zhaoxiang of Qin's "Ten Days of Drinking at Pingyuan"; Xiang Yu's "Feast at Hongmen"; Cao Cao's "discussing heroes over green plums and wine"; and Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng's "Meeting of Two Heroes"—all these involved using wine to carry out schemes. These schemes are still imitated today, and many have succeeded.

Wine-related warfare. During the Warring States period, when the State of Chu convened the feudal lords, both the States of Lu and Zhao presented wine to the King of Chu. Zhao's wine was rich and strong, while Lu's was weak and thin. The Chu official in charge of wine secretly demanded more wine from Zhao, but Zhao refused. Enraged, the official switched the wine presented by the two states, claiming that Zhao was not offering its best wine to the King of Chu. The King of Chu was furious and ordered an attack on Zhao, besieging the city of Handan. This "Wine War" of 'Lu's weak wine and Handan's siege' is truly unique in Chinese history. …

After saying so much, my lips were a little dry. I picked up my wine cup, drank it all, and looked at the three women; their cups were empty.

I opened the second bottle and refilled them all.

"Eat, eat! Don't waste so much delicious food," I urged.

Xu Wen felt his face burning, touched his cheek, picked up his chopsticks, and laughed, "Oh, it's like listening to a story; I almost got me mesmerized." "

Of course! Look, I've finished all the red wine in my glass!" Yuqing exclaimed in surprise.

"Oh dear, me too!" The other two girls also noticed the wine glasses in front of them, looking quite astonished.

Xu Wen touched her rosy cheeks and said, "No wonder my face felt a little hot earlier. Is my face very red?"

"Yes, like a red apple." Yuqing nodded, touching her slightly hot cheeks, and asked, "What about mine?"

"Yours is okay, just a little red, not too obvious." Xu Wen looked at Yan Dandan and said with a troubled expression, "Dandan's is okay too, only mine is quite red."

I laughed and said, "That means you can drink more than the other two."

"Is that really true?" Xu Wen cutely stuck out her little tongue.

"Of course." "I picked up a bite of food and put it in my mouth, chewing slowly as I said, 'The blood vessels in the human body are controlled by two types of nerves: the sympathetic nervous system, which causes blood vessels to dilate when excited, and the parasympathetic nervous system, which causes blood vessels to constrict when excited and dilate when inhibited. Normally, these two nerves coordinate to control the contraction and dilation of blood vessels. Alcohol can excite the sympathetic nervous system and inhibit the parasympathetic nervous system, causing blood vessels to dilate much more than usual. Facial skin is thin and has many capillaries, so people's faces turn red after drinking alcohol. Many people think that the redness is caused by alcohol, but that's not the case; it's caused by acetaldehyde. Acetaldehyde has the function of dilating capillaries, and the dilation of facial capillaries is the reason for the redness. So, people who get red when they drink alcohol can quickly convert ethanol into acetaldehyde, which means they have highly efficient alcohol dehydrogenase. You should have learned about this in biology class; alcohol dehydrogenase, the English name is alcohol dehydrogenase.'

'Brother-in-law, you're amazing! You know all this! '" The three girls looked at me with surprise.

"What's so special about that? I spent all my time memorizing things in high school, just like you. Although my memory isn't particularly good, and I don't have the ability to remember everything I read, I still memorized a lot over the years. Back then, I was preparing for the college entrance exam, and scientists predicted that the 21st century would be the century of biological sciences, so I spent relatively more time on biology. But when I filled out my college application, I chose a different major." I helped them pick up some food and advised, "Eat your food, eat your food, don't just look at it. Senior year is a heavy workload, and you've been studying hard. You need to eat more and get more nutrition. Don't worry about gaining weight; now is not the time to maintain your figure." “

(*^__^*) Hehe…” Yan Dandan glanced at Yu Qing and Xu Wen, picked up a piece of duck meat, put it in her mouth and chewed slowly, teasingly saying, “Brother-in-law is right, I’m not like those two, eating like a chick pecking at food, like an ascetic monk all day long, eating nothing but radishes and bean sprouts for every meal.

It’s not like I’m practicing Taoism or Buddhism and need to eat vegetarian food, do I need to torture myself like that?” This remark angered everyone.

Yu Qing laughed and scolded, “I wonder who it is that always complains about being fat and makes a fuss about wanting to lose weight.”

“I didn’t?” Yan Dandan denied it immediately.

“Dandan, don’t lie, you bought Da Yinxiang slimming tea a week ago, I saw it in your backpack.”

“I bought it for my sister.”

“Your sister’s figure could enter a model competition, and she’s a fitness club instructor, does she need that stuff?”

“I bought it for my mom.” "

You're stubborn as a mule! Your mother's figure is practically overflowing with fat, how could you possibly give her that stuff?"

Xu Wen's testimony rendered Yan Dandan's words sound weak.

"You brat, watch out, my mom'll tear your mouth apart."

Yu Qing wrapped her arms around Yan Dandan's neck from behind, saying, "Stop making excuses. The people's eyes are sharp. Resisting will be punished severely, confessing will be treated leniently. Now hurry up and confess honestly."

"Confess to what?" Yan Dandan feigned confusion.

"Stop playing dumb with me." Yu Qing hugged Yan Dandan's neck, her lips close to her ear, and chuckled, "Girl, if you don't tell me, I'm going to tell you the 'insect story'."

"I confess. I confess." Yan Dandan glanced at me shyly, lowered her head like a timid wife, and said with a flushed face, "I bought the Big Impression slimming tea, but I haven't used it yet." “

Hehe…” Xu Wen and Yu Qing laughed triumphantly, “We knew you wouldn’t dare try.”

“You two bad guys, you just know how to bully me.” Yan Dandan pouted at me, “Brother-in-law, look how bad they are, they just know how to bully me, and you don’t even do anything about it.”

“Hehe.” How could I care about the banter between the young girls? I chuckled and raised my glass, “I really envy your relationship. It’s perfectly fine for three good sisters to joke around, but you must never get angry. In this day and age, it’s rare to see such pure friendship as yours. I hope you can continue like this. Come on, let’s drink to your pure sisterly bond!”

“Thank you, brother-in-law, cheers!”

This time, all four glasses were emptied in one go.

Yan Dandan blinked and said, “Brother-in-law, you didn’t seem to finish speaking.”

“Really?” I scooped a spoonful of pearl tofu soup into my mouth and said, “What else? You’ve said too much, I don’t even know what I’ve said anymore.”

"We just talked about why drinking causes our faces to turn red, but we haven't talked about other reasons, like how some people's faces turn white when they drink, while others' faces don't change color at all." "

Okay, let's talk about it while we eat. Actually, this is a skill in itself; the exam questions these days are ever-changing, and you never know when you might encounter one."

The three women nodded in agreement.

"We just talked about alcohol dehydrogenase. Actually, the human body also has another enzyme called aldehyde dehydrogenase. People who blush when drinking only have the former enzyme but lack the latter. Acetaldehyde accumulates rapidly in their bodies and cannot be metabolized quickly, resulting in a prolonged flushed face. However, the redness usually fades after one to two hours because the liver's P450 enzyme slowly converts acetaldehyde into acetic acid, which then enters the TCA cycle and is metabolized. On the other hand, people whose faces turn paler the more they drink often suddenly become completely drunk at a certain point. This is because such people lack both highly active alcohol dehydrogenase and aldehyde dehydrogenase, relying mainly on the liver's P450 enzyme for slow oxidation. These people are often perceived as having a high tolerance for alcohol." The feeling of alcohol is that they are actually using body fluids to dilute the alcohol. Under normal circumstances, the alcohol concentration must exceed 0.1% to cause coma. For most southerners, this is half a kilo of liquor, while northerners can drink 8 taels to a kilo of liquor due to their large size. But no matter who you are, if your face becomes paler the more you drink, it is best not to exceed half a catty, otherwise there is the possibility of acute alcohol poisoning. The kind of people who drink without changing their expression are the legendary wine baskets. How to judge whether a person is a drunkard? The main thing is to see if he sweats a lot when he drinks. Because such people have both highly active alcohol dehydrogenase and highly active acetaldehyde dehydrogenase in their bodies, alcohol will quickly turn into acetic acid and enter the TCA cycle to generate heat, so they will generate a lot of heat and sweat. When you meet such a person, you can only admit that you are unlucky. Even ten or eight normal people cannot defeat him.

"Oh, that's it!" Yan Dandan took a breath and said, "Are there many wine baskets like this?"

"Not much, probably one in 100,000."

"Brother-in-law, I know TCA is the tricarboxylic acid cycle, but what is p450?" "Yu Qing asked.

"P450 refers to cytochromes, a superfamily of enzymes containing heme. It belongs to the cytochrome B group and is named for the special affinity of reduced P450 for carbon monoxide, and the fact that the resulting heme-containing single-chain protein has a peak absorption at 450 nm on a spectrophotometer. P450 is mainly found in the liver, and its activity varies significantly by race and tissue. Its function is to catalyze the first-stage oxidation reaction of foreign compounds entering the body. The increasing number of cancer patients is largely related to P450. For chemical carcinogens, P450 can activate inactive procarcinogens into electron-dependent compounds. These electrophilic compounds can attack intracellular macromolecules, forming adducts with DNA or proteins, ultimately causing changes in oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes, leading to cancer."

"Truly, your words are more valuable than ten years of study, brother-in-law! You are truly knowledgeable!" Yuqing looked at me with admiration in her expressive eyes, her dark eyes sparkling.

"Hmm. You know such obscure knowledge, the kind you wouldn't find in books. Brother-in-law, you're truly amazing!" Xu Wen looked at me with admiration, a slight nervousness in his heart, his apple-like face glowing.

"Amazing? Or something else entirely?" I chuckled, recalling a funny incident. "Would you like to hear an interesting story?"

"Sure, brother-in-law's stories are sure to be exciting," Yan Dandan clapped her hands in agreement.

"This happened when I was in my second year of high school. The English teacher in the next class had only graduated a couple of years ago. I'd observed a few of his classes; he was quite good, very serious and practical. You know, young teachers all want to make a difference in teaching methods. To make them easier to remember, he organized the sixteen verb tenses into four categories: present, past, future, and past future. He then further simplified these categories into simple cases: general, second, third, and fourth. For example, when teaching the 'continuous tense,' he'd say 'present continuous tense' as 'general,' 'past continuous tense' as 'second,' and so on. 'Future continuous tense' was 'third,' and 'past future continuous tense' was 'fourth.' This didn't seem inconvenient for students accustomed to his teaching style, and they didn't find this new way of remembering problematic at all; in fact, they thought it sounded quite natural." It was a way of referring to the classes: "Class One," "Class Two," "Class Three," and "Class Four." He thought it was fun, adding a bit of joy to the otherwise monotonous school life.

No one objected; he felt the students accepted it, so he used it every time he taught. But after saying it so often, it became a habit, and changing it later would be difficult. Perhaps it was because he hadn't consulted God when giving nicknames to the four brothers—"Present," "Past," "Future," and "Past Future"—that God was angry and played a little joke on him. The city held a teaching observation event, and he was one of the English teachers selected. He had put in a lot of effort, practicing several times with his students. On the day of his observation, the classroom he chose was ours. Of course, our English teacher had informed us beforehand and selected several students to answer questions. The lesson was going smoothly. The students had finished asking their questions, and the observation lesson, crucial for every teacher, was about to conclude perfectly. Just as the experienced teachers were smiling with satisfaction, an unexpected and inevitable mishap occurred. Perhaps due to nervousness, after finishing his prepared presentation, with more than ten minutes remaining, he stepped down from the podium to answer students' questions. At that moment, a student asked a question about verb tenses. This was a problem. It wasn't that he didn't know the answer; he answered it quickly. But that wasn't the problem. The problem was that he wasn't satisfied with just answering; he took a student's book and wrote the question on the blackboard. I still remember the sentence: "on the first of next month, all have studied in this school..." "I've been studying for three years." This was a situational multiple-choice question, where the correct answer was "shall have studied." He then began explaining verb tenses, naturally moving on to the differences between present, past, future, and past future. As class was about to end, he relaxed and blurted out his own nicknames for the four tenses, not realizing his mistake for a moment. The students stared at each other, dumbfounded. It was only when a kind student in the front row reminded him that he realized his error, his face turning bright red. This anecdote quickly spread throughout the school, becoming a popular topic of conversation. "

I finished my story, but the three girls didn't laugh as I expected. Only Yuqing smiled slightly, while the other two looked at me with wide, suspicious eyes.

'Not exciting enough? Not interesting?'

The three girls shook their heads.

I couldn't help but doubt my storytelling skills and said uncertainly, 'Was my expression not clear enough?'

The three girls still shook their heads. "

"Is it that my language isn't expressive enough?"

The three girls shook their heads again.

"Why aren't you laughing?" I couldn't help but get impatient. "Do you have to wait until I lose my temper before you speak?"

"Hehe..."

The three girls finally laughed when they saw my anxious look.

"You're finally laughing!" I said sullenly. "Why didn't you laugh earlier?"

"Brother-in-law, your story may be new to others, but it's all old news to us." Xu Wen laughed.

"What do you mean?" I wondered if they had heard it too.

"The teacher you mentioned is our current English teacher. We experience the story you told every day." After Xu Wen finished speaking, the three girls laughed heartily.

"So it's an outsider meeting an insider, a storyteller meeting the protagonist!" I laughed heartily to cover my embarrassment.

"Brother-in-law, I didn't expect you to be a witness to this funny story. You're really lucky!" Yan Dandan placed a piece of Huangshan stewed pigeon on the plate in front of me and smiled teasingly.

"Thank you." I smiled, put the tender pigeon meat in my mouth, it was fresh, crispy, and melted in my mouth. "Your English teacher must be a senior teacher by now, right?"

"Yes. She was just promoted this year." Xu Wen added a piece of braised yellow croaker with vinegar to his mouth and savored it slowly.

"This shows that gold will eventually shine. Although it's a bit late, it's finally here." I nodded and pointed to the plate of ginkgo and lily bulbs with asparagus, saying, "This dish is good, ginkgo and lily bulbs stir-fried with asparagus, the colors are vibrant, and it's very nutritious. Eating more asparagus is very good for the heart."

"Almond pearl tofu soup, it helps with digestion, moisturizes the intestines, and whitens the skin, it's a favorite of you girls."

"This braised yellow croaker with vinegar, the yellow croaker is golden red all over, crispy and fragrant, the sauce is deep yellow, sour, salty, and savory, with both 'crispy' and 'smooth' flavors, it's the best for stimulating the appetite and cutting through the greasiness, come and try it."

"Duck meat is cool in nature and sweet in taste. It's early autumn now, and the summer dryness hasn't completely dissipated. Improper nourishment can cause internal heat, but duck meat, being both cooling and nourishing, has high medicinal value. Medically, duck meat is sweet and slightly salty, with a cooling nature, entering the spleen, stomach, lung, and kidney meridians. It has the effects of 'nourishing the yin of the five internal organs, clearing heat from deficiency, replenishing blood and promoting water metabolism, nourishing the stomach and generating fluids, stopping coughs and calming the nerves.' Therefore, duck meat is best consumed in late summer and early autumn. This steamed duck, with its light flavor, tender meat, and fresh broth, is truly a rare delicacy. It nourishes yin and beautifies the skin without causing internal heat—what a wonderful food! Eat more, don't waste it. After the college entrance exam, if you have time, come to our place with Yuqing, and I'll treat you to our famous local boiled duck."

"And there's this winter melon soup. Don't underestimate this soup." I gently scooped a spoonful of the soup into my mouth and slowly savored it. "It contains more than ten ingredients, including winter melon, lotus seeds, lily bulbs, barley, shiitake mushrooms, gluten, bamboo shoot pieces, tofu pieces, ginger, loofah pieces, and night-blooming jasmine. Of course, the most important ingredient is the winter melon. 'The yellow flowers bloom in autumn and spring, the frosty skin and dewy leaves protect its growing body. Don't laugh at its seemingly simple appearance, for its belly can hold hundreds of people.' Winter melon is sweet and bland in taste, and slightly cold in nature. It has the functions of clearing heat and detoxifying, promoting diuresis and resolving phlegm, relieving irritability and quenching thirst, and dispelling dampness and relieving summer heat. It can also help with weight loss and beauty."

...

I explained the characteristics of each dish to them one by one. Seeing their hesitant and difficult expressions as they picked up their chopsticks, I couldn't help but laugh and say, "Hehe, you're all so concerned about beauty, weight loss, and not getting a sore throat. There are so many delicious things, but you only pick tofu soup, duck, and winter melon soup. You should eat a little bit of everything to avoid waste. It's hard for the waiters to clean up if there's too much left over."

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[Urban] Drunken Laughter in the Countryside (Hongtu Ji) Complete - 31

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