The autumn night sky is extraordinarily high. A round moon hung in the sky, and the moon was like a waterfall, sprinkled between heaven and earth.

Du Zhongxiao walked alone on the street, looking at the pedestrians coming and going, and felt lonely. The shuttle between the two worlds always makes him feel alienated from everything around him. The people around him look very close, but they are far away in the sky.

When he arrived at the door of Han's foot shop, Du Zhongxiao snorted, lifted the curtain and walked in.

The newly hired little servant Shun'er saw Du Zhongxiao coming in and hurriedly saluted and said hello.

Du Zhongxiao agreed, and asked casually, "Is the business good?" ”

Shun'er said happily: "Okay, good." The petty officials are naturally very good to see so many customers in the store. ”

Du Zhongxiao looked at the seat in the store and sat nine times out of ten, knowing that what Shun'er said was true. Today is the third day of selling spirits, and the reputation is gradually spreading, and the number of customers is increasing, and the popularity is beyond Du Zhongxiao's expectations.

The bad liquor is not mellow enough, strong and choking, and it is not a good liquor. To make good liquor, you still need to use sorghum. Sorghum contains tannic acid, which is toxic to humans, but after brewing, it not only loses its toxicity, but also produces a special aroma. This kind of strong and choking wine is mostly liked by manual laborers. After a busy day's work, with backache and leg pain, drink a cup to relieve fatigue and invigorate blood. But I didn't expect that when I started selling it, drunkards from near and far came to try this powerful new wine after hearing about it.

The final price of the spirits was 20 wen a catty, which was slightly lower than the original expected price, mainly for easy selling. Spending three or five pennies to drink a bowl and eat a snack casually is also a pleasure between being half drunk and half awake.

Han Lian, who was standing in front of the counter chatting with people, saw Du Zhongxiao coming in, and hurriedly greeted, "The virtuous nephew is here, come close and talk." ”

When I arrived at the counter, I saw three middle-aged people standing there, each with a bowl of wine, a few sheep's hooves and a bowl of broad beans in front of them, talking there.

This is a new custom that has arisen since the sale of spirits, and only the really good ones will do so. I don't want any food, just to drink and enjoy that dizzy feeling. If it's water wine, you can't drink it like this, you need a few snacks and taste it slowly.

After saluting Han Lian, Du Zhongxiao said: "Daddy, it's still early, the store is almost full, and business is okay?" ”

"Good, good!" Han Lian nodded repeatedly. "Since I sold the spirits, the business has been going on day by day. In the past, we could greet our family of three in the store, but now we can't, so we have to recruit a small servant to help. ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded. The newly recruited guy is Shun'er, who is only eleven years old this year. There are many such half-grown children in the city, and in this era, education is not universal, so they are hired everywhere to work, and there is no such thing as child labor in this era.

After saying two words, a middle-aged man in his fifties next to him said to Du Zhongxiao: "You are the little official of Du Ju's family?" ”

Du Zhongxiao hurriedly crossed his hands and saluted: "It's exactly under it." I don't know what to call my husband? ”

The middle-aged man smiled and said, "I am He Dalang, who sells pens on the street in front of the county ya." A few years ago, your father passed the liberation test, and it was my family's pen that was used. ”

Du Zhongxiao sighed secretly in his heart, but it was a pity that his father did not pass the provincial palace test in the end, otherwise he would have given this family a good advertisement. All those who participate in the imperial examination will be specially remembered by the shops that sell paper and pencils. Once in high school, it was their living advertisement.

After a few words of greeting, He Dalang said: "The wine you make at home is really good, and there is some wine in the stomach after a bowl." In the past, I drank water and wine, but I had eight bowls out of ten. This wine is good, I don't know how you came up with it. ”

After a few days, Du Zhongxiao had already thought of what to say, and said: "A few months ago, I met a down-and-out sloppy Taoist in a ruined temple outside the city. Seeing that he was pitiful, I bought him some bread, and the Taoist taught me this way of making wine, but he did not say where it came from. ”

He Dalang nodded again and again: "Virtuous nephew, you may meet someone who is outside the world." The flow of Buddhism and Taoism has many miraculous methods, which are unimaginable to us ordinary people. They are monks, but they are not allowed to look at them with the eyes of the world. ”

Du Zhongxiao said yes again and again. This is a deceitful rhetoric that he discussed with his family, so as not to be questioned by others. In this era, as long as it is a secret method that is related to Buddhism, it will raise its value because of mystery.

The three drinkers standing here are all the same as He Dalang, and they are small owners in the county. They are similar to Han Lian's identity, they empathize with what happened to him, and they are all dissatisfied with the Wu family's bullying. As soon as Han Lian turned over with Du Zhongxiao's spirits, they rushed over to support.

At this moment, a servant came in with a wine jar, and when he came to the cabinet, he said, "Master's house, this is a three-pound wine jar, and it is full." ”

Han Lian agreed, hurriedly took the wine and picked up the wine, and asked, "Buy so much today, is your master feasting?" ”

The little guy said: "Exactly." The in-laws came from the country, and the master should entertain them with this wine. It is said that this wine is only sold in the county seat, and it is a rare thing. ”

Han Lian hurriedly said: "This wine is not only rare, but it is also extremely powerful to drink. ”

Full of wine, watching the little guy go out, Han Lian said to Du Zhongxiao: "From today onwards, there will be more people who come to drink with wine barrels from wine jars, but dozens of catties of wine every day are not enough to sell. Tomorrow we will make more, and I will borrow a car to go to the 'Yao Jia Zheng Store' to buy sake lees. ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded in agreement. More sake lees is nothing more than steaming for more time, and firewood is not valuable.

After standing for a while, Du Zhongxiao saw the store coming in and out, and the business of the Han family's foot shop was much better than before. Linying County is not big, and once the spirits are sold here, it will spread all over the city in a day or two, and many people come to taste the novelty. There are even those who really love wine, since they drank the spirits here, they couldn't swallow the water and wine anymore, and became a loyal customer of the Han family's foot shop.

One to ten, ten to hundred, now the whole city knows that the Han Hotel sells a powerful and good wine.

When he was busy in the store, a man wearing a hat came in from outside, came to the counter quite mysteriously, took out a gourd and put it on the counter, and said in a low voice: "Master, there are two catties of wine in the gourd." ”

After saying that, he pressed a large handful of copper coins on the counter.

Han Lian agreed, and took the gourd to fill the wine.

When Han Lian turned around, he heard a person at the table next to him: "Hey, isn't this Liu Gan on Wu Yuanwaizhuang outside the city?" The owner of your family runs a restaurant as big as 'Qixiangju', how can you come to another house to buy wine? ”

Liu Ganban didn't want to be recognized, so he had to say vaguely: "I heard that the wine here is strong, so I called to try it." ”

The speaker laughed and said, "Don't sell the master's family to him!" This guy is a cadre in the Wu family's Zhuangzi, and I am afraid that I will not have a good intention to buy wine. Besides, a few days ago, his restaurant didn't give you wine on credit, so why did you sell him wine? ”

Liu Ganban blushed and said, "I bought wine at my own expense, what are you talking about there!" ”

Hearing this, Han Lian, who was drinking, hesitated a little and said, "You are really a member of the 'Qixiangju' Wu family?" But if so, I cannot sell wine to you. A few days ago, your family was very embarrassed about my family, how can I do business with your family! ”

Liu Gan said: "The small staff is a small member's business, I use my own money to buy wine, why don't you sell it to me?" ”

Du Zhongxiao watched coldly, seeing that Liu Ganban's expression was wrong, and he knew that things were not as simple as buying wine. Thinking about it, it may be that Wu Kejiu heard the news of the sale of wine in the Han family restaurant, and specially sent someone to investigate. In this era, it is inconvenient to disseminate information, and in Wu Kejiu's circle, there is always a lag when hearing the news here. Don't look at the lively rumors in the store now, in fact, the news that Hanjiajiao store sells spirits is only limited to people in the middle and lower classes of the county. How could those big people in the county care about what a small foot shop sells.

What if you know that spirits are sold here? The wine is made from waste distiller's lees, can Wu Kejiu still let the Yao family not even sell the distiller's lees to himself? The wine lees were originally thrown away in vain, but now that there is money in the account, and if there is money and no bastards, the Yao family will cut off their wealth when they are crazy.

Thinking about it and not knowing the essentials, Du Zhongxiao didn't speak, and watched coldly from the side.

Han Lian has been doing business all year round and is the best at checking his face. Seeing Liu Gan's appearance, he knew that it was not the road. put down the wine mention, pushed the gourd on the counter outward, and said, "Do it, but I can't sell wine to you today." ”

Liu Ganban glared and said, "I took the money to buy wine, why don't I sell it?" ”

Han Lian shook his head: "I also take the money to buy wine from 'Qixiangju', why don't your family sell it, I have the same here." ”

The people around laughed and said in unison: "The master's words are right!" The Wu family does not give wine here on credit, and the people who do not sell wine to the Wu family here, this is called having contacts and contacts! Liu Ganban, I see that you are a thief and a thief, it must not be a good way, how can the master sell you! ”

Today, there happened to be a few people from the countryside who went to the city to do errands, and they lived not far from Zhuangzi outside the Wu family's city, and they were bullied by them on weekdays, so they happened to take this opportunity to vent their evil anger. The hundred years of turmoil of the five dynasties have basically swept away the power of the family, and the Great Song Dynasty has abolished the personal dependency relationship in law, and the master and servant have been a simple employment relationship in name. Without economic dependence, no one is afraid of the Wu family anymore.

Han Lian insisted on refusing to sell wine, and Liu Ganban was a little anxious. Look left and right, they are all people who are happy and angry.

Who doesn't flatter themselves when they're in the village? The livelihood of those bankers is in their own hands, and when they usually see each other, they are closer to themselves than their own fathers. is used to that kind of commanding life, where can Liu Ganban stand this kind of idleness.

Taking the wine gourd on the counter, Liu Gan said angrily: "Lao'er, don't sell wine with me, I have written down today's account!" ”

Han Lian said coldly: "Let's go slowly!" Take your copper coins with you! If the money stays here, it is really accountable! ”

Seeing Liu Ganban go out, Du Zhongxiao whispered to Han Lian: "This guy is not the way, I'll follow him to see where he goes." ”