Return To 1977 Chapter 559: The League of Losers

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Food shop? Can you still drink in a place like that?

Of course you can.

It is also used as a public consumption place for the general public. Most people today are familiar with bars introduced from Western society. I'm afraid I don't know about the local pubs that were popular in our past.

To be honest, if we exclude the admiration for foreigners and look for factors that stimulate the pursuit of girls and petty bourgeoisie. Simply speaking from the perspective of drinking and chatting, our pubs are probably more affordable, more interesting, and more humane than Western-style pubs.

The evolution of taverns in Beijing is of course a long process. The history of brewing and drinking here can be traced back to the Qin Dynasty. The technology of rice wine was perfected in the Jin Dynasty, and it was also at that time that the wine industry released its monopoly rights to the private sector.

In the Yuan Dynasty, the king was most addicted to alcohol. Not only did he carve a "Dushan Jade Sea" that could store more than 30 stones of wine and placed it in the "Guanghan Palace", he also created a highly distilled liquor. This kind of wine was called "sweating wine" at that time, which means sweating, and it was also commonly known as "Shaodaozi" among the people.

In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the wine industry in the capital became more prosperous, and it has always been honored as "the hometown of wine, and the capital is the best". There are many famous wines with unique recipes in the palace and among the people. For example, the "mandianxiang" brewed by Yuntai is Ouchi Goshu.

Afterwards, during the Republic of China, all industries were withered, but drinking was still prevalent. At that time, the hotels in Peking were divided into three types: official hotel, yellow hotel and Beijing hotel.

Guan Hotel operates wholesale business.

Since the liquor here has been taxed, the quality is guaranteed. Among them, the shochu brewed by "Yuxing Shaoguo" (today's Daxing Distillery) in Haizijiao, known as "Nanlu Shaojiu", is famous and profitable. However, in the late Republic of China, due to food shortages, official hotels closed down one after another.

Yellow Hotel specializes in selling rice wine.

There are five types of Jingshi rice wine. Nanhuangjiu (Shaoxing rice wine), Neihuangjiu (brewed by the imperial palace of the Qing Dynasty), Jinghuangjiu (local rice wine), imitation rice wine (imitation Shaoxing wine), and Xihuangjiu (shanxi rice wine). Its business model is the same as that of Shaoxing's "Xianheng Hotel".

At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, the capital was once dominated by rice wine. Even "Maotai" and "Fenjiu" were squeezed out of the formal banquet by "Centennial Huadiao" and "Yuanni Privet".

However, after the capital moved south, the yellow hotels lost their main customer base and their business was sluggish. After the Japanese army invaded Peiping, they all closed down.

As for the Jing Hotel, it is a hotel that mainly sells liquor, as well as rice wine and dew wine.

This kind of hotel has flexible business, diverse and controllable business contents, and the most tenacious vitality. According to different scales and methods, they are divided into taverns, small hotels (wine shops), wine stalls (wine seats), large wine tanks, medicine shops, etc. Among them, the "Big Wine Tank" is the most representative, the most famous, and the most prosperous.

This kind of shop is affordable and often uses wine vats as wooden boards as tables, giving it a unique taste. It also has a wide variety of drinks, seasonal wines and dishes, and serves staple food. In winter, it also sells fried mutton and stewed yellow croaker. It can be described as a civilian paradise integrating eating, drinking and entertainment.

Customers are repeat customers all year round, and there are many from the upper class of society. Once the drinks are hot, you can still chat even if you don't eat. When the lights are on, it's much more lively than a Western-style bar.

But after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the supply of materials was always tight. Moreover, going to pubs every day has become a manifestation of bad living habits and backward thinking, and more and more people look down upon it. The hotel business in Beijing is naturally becoming increasingly sluggish. So starting from the shop owner, he took the initiative to start the process of changing from big to small, from complex to frugal.

During this period, in addition to some pubs being upgraded to well-known restaurants, the "big wine tanks" with the most comprehensive range of operations were gradually converted into "bistros" that only sold a few wines and vegetables, or turned into tobacco and alcohol grocery stores. There are manual laborers who barely make ends meet.

Although there was some relaxation in the 1950s and 1960s, it became increasingly fragmented with the advent of "public-private partnership", the "Three Years of Natural Disasters" and the "Movement". So far, the life of this kind of tavern is coming to an end. Near the Hong family, only one still exists on Nanheng Street.

To put it bluntly, in fact, the main reason for the demise of "taverns" is that in the hard and simple era, non-staple food stores can completely cover their entire business.

In large non-staple food stores, for the sake of convenience, there are often a few tables inside the store, and some well-managed specialty wines, wines and dishes are opened, so there is no need for anything else.

So, during this period, non-staple food shops were taverns where "you can drink whatever you want".

The drinkers who come here are rarely strangers passing by by chance. Most of them are nearby residents or people who work nearby. Most of them are over forty or fifty years old, and there are very few young people like Hong Yanwu.

The salesperson and the drinker, or the drinker and the drinker, are mostly familiar with each other, so the tavern is often filled with a relaxed and harmonious atmosphere.

The biggest difference from the old tavern is that the opening hours are no longer late, and there is no longer the bustling scene in the tavern after dark.

At about ten o'clock in the morning on February 14, 1980, Hong Yanwu and Song Guofu returned to Zixin Road together, stomped the snow under their feet separately, opened the heavy door curtain and got into the grocery store.

There were very few people in the grocery store at that time. On the table just by the window sat a figure drinking alone. There are not even many customers.

This is because everyone has already bought everything they need to buy for the holidays, otherwise they might be gone by now. As the festival approaches, every household is busy with trivial matters, and the regular drinkers naturally stop visiting.

This was exactly what Hong Yanwu and Song Guofu wanted. They entered the room and went straight to the counter. Because it was both the first time to drink here, out of the novelty, the two of them were thinking about which wine and dish to order through the glass, and asked the salesperson how to make loose wine.

But no one would have thought of it, at this moment. A hand suddenly patted Hong Yanwu's back, startling him. At the same time, there was a shout. "Ouch! Why did I meet you here?"

When he turned around, Hong Yanwu was stunned for a long time before he recognized Zhang Baocheng. Well, I bet it was him who was sitting there drinking just now.

Actually, it’s not Hong Yan’s fault. Zhang Baocheng didn’t wear a police uniform during his break today. In addition, this kid's face was already pale from drinking.

He walked over crookedly, smiling silly. No matter how you look at it, it's a bit abnormal, very different from his usual cleverness.

Before Hong Yanwu could ask questions, Zhang Baocheng had already revealed his worries.

"Just in time, you are here, we have to drink some more and have sex... Why? Because I am as unlucky as you. Don't mention it..."

Following Zhang Baocheng, he pulled Hong Yanwu closer and lowered his voice. "My partner, as you have seen, she clearly kicked me out! Hey, she thinks that my little film police officer has no future, no culture, and no future! What kind of ideological consciousness do you think she has! She thinks she is pretty good. . Don’t you just know Wu Xinpu? It was her uncle who was the director who transferred her to the Cultural Palace, so what..."

Okay, here’s another one for you! Isn't there such a clever way to talk about it? I'm so confused today!

Hong Yanwu raised his head and looked at Song Guofu. They wanted to laugh but couldn't. Nothing else, they could only pull Zhang Baocheng to sit back on the table.

Song Guofu and Zhang Baocheng met at Chang Xianzhang's wedding. Although they were not familiar with each other, the more they were like this, the less shameful they were. He took the initiative to talk about his own affairs and quietly cooked "twice-cooked pork" again.

This is really the right approach. Zhang Baocheng's mood is not only much better. In the same situation, the psychological distance between several people was easily shortened. The three of them really had to drink this meal together.

So soon, Hong Yanwu and Song Guofu bought wine and vegetables.

There are three levels of loose wine in grocery stores. Eight cents, 13 cents and 17 cents.

Of course Hong Yanwu wants the best, 17 cents, 2 taels per person. All served in a particularly thick white porcelain cup. Then you can put these glasses of wine in the iron box on the briquette heating stove in the center of the store to heat the wine.

The box surface is an empty circle, which can just fit the wine glass into it. There is hot water in the iron box. It only takes a moment for the hot water to float out, mixed with the aroma of wine. This was the unique smell in wine shops back then.

The other thing is wine and food. Of course, there won’t be cold dishes like vermicelli or cucumber that need to be processed in non-staple food stores. On sale now are a variety of sausages (from the cheapest rice rolls to Cantonese sausages), pork chops and a soy product called "vegetarian shrimp." There are plates on the counter, which contain marinated chicken, salted duck eggs, Cantonese sausage, etc. that have been placed in advance.

Hong Yanwu also ordered a little bit of everything, setting up a full table.

And that's not enough. As the saying goes, tobacco and alcohol do not separate families. Hong Yanwu ran out of cigarettes and had to buy a pack. He looked at it and fell in love with the domestic cigars with aluminum tubes on the counter.

When he was about to pay, he remembered Zhang Baocheng's stinky partner who forced him to quit smoking. I deliberately pointed at the cigar and asked him, "How about a strong one? Do you want to smoke it?"

Zhang Baogong answered without hesitation. "Small it. Who the **** can control me now? My brother is free!"

In this way, the meal ended up being so lively and novel that even the sales clerks were dumbfounded.

What is that scene like?

The salesperson has seen a shopkeeper who **** nails to drink, has seen a shopkeeper who can drink a salted duck egg for a week, and has seen a shopkeeper who carries around a half-cup of cold water to drink with others, but this is really rare. A master who wants so much food and wine.

And these guys later ordered a bottle of green plum wine and a bottle of rose wine, and actually mixed them with white wine to drink. What kind of foreign "cocktail" does it claim to be.

The most amazing thing is that everyone imitated the way in the movie and held cigars. The little smoke rushed, and the fingers were shot lightly. The level of luxury here is absolutely unprecedented.

Hey! Eat, drink, smoke, chat and watch the snow! It’s delicious enough!

Indeed, the three of them drank until two o'clock in the afternoon. Finally, they were too drunk and took the comfort of hugging each other to keep warm and returned home.

At this moment, the sunlight reflecting the snow makes it hard to open your eyes. Hong Yanwu was looking forward to one thing, so he went back to sleep and took a nap first. When he woke up, the day was almost over. Tomorrow is New Year's Eve and everything will be fine.

It's just a pity that there is evil everywhere today, and he still underestimated the determination and skill of Destiny to tease people.

As soon as he arrived at the gate of the west courtyard, he noticed a jeep parked outside the courtyard. Then as soon as he entered the house, as expected, Yang Weifan came. This guy was smoking, drinking tea and talking to Chen Liquan who was off work.

Seeing him this time was like meeting a relative. As soon as the cigarette was thrown away and the tea cup was put down, the person jumped up from the chair.

"Xiao Wu. Brother, this is a bad year, hurry up! Give me an idea!"

I didn't expect Yang Weifan to be so excited. Hong Yanwu followed the feeling and said something casually in his head.

"You? What's wrong with you? You won't let Zhou Manna kick you too..."

Unexpectedly, these words almost made Yang Weifan cry.

"If only that was the case! I...I'm in a big **** trouble...I and her...that..."