There was wine on the table, but Han Songlin did not pour it because he did not know the brand. Generally speaking, Han Songlin would not casually try something.
'Boss, bring over that Leshui wine!' Han Songlin called out to the boss lady, who was serving the food. This boss lady was quite good at doing business.
To do business, you need to be generous and have a good personality.
'Oh, there's that wine!'
'What's wrong?'
The boss's wife looked both sad and angry: 'Now that Leshui Winery has collapsed, where will the wine come from?'
Collapsed?
Han Songlin really didn't know about this.
Deng Yingxiu said from the side, 'You weren't in the house, so you don't know; Leshui Distillery has collapsed.'
Han Songlin looked really sorry, 'That's a pity. I think their wine was quite good.'
'The wine was good, otherwise the county wouldn't have said it would support it strongly. Exactly, the owner of the distillery had too big an ambition!'
Han Songlin knew at once that Deng Yingxiu must have some insider information.
The water plant is a public institution with a hierarchical structure.
Han Songlin poured a glass of wine for Deng Yingxiu, and then another for everyone. This is especially true of the elders, those sitting here now, none of whom are young.
As Han Songlin remembers it, they all passed away within the past two thousand years.
'Oh, Brother Deng, tell us!'
Seeing that Han Songlin was willing to listen, Deng Yingxiu naturally was willing to chat about some of the things he knew.
Anyway, these things are not secrets.
Anyway, the county can't keep any secrets. After a meeting in the county ends today, the whole county will know the situation the next day, and within a week, the whole county will basically know.
'Our Lechi is not an agricultural county, and now the emphasis is on the economy, so the county also wants to do well. They are going to start brewing wine.'
Han Songlin nodded in understanding. The raw materials for brewing wine are all produced here in Lechi.
And Lechi is not far from the Chengdu Plain, which is a major granary.
'Leshui Winery is a private winery. It has been making wine for a long time. In 1983, Yang Yixiang established the winery, and the white wine produced was sold well in Lechi and several nearby counties. It seems that in 1984, it sold more than 300,000 bottles.'
'At the time, it caused a sensation in the county.'
'Yang Yixiang was also capable and bold. He borrowed 800,000 yuan from the bank to expand the distillery.'
'In 1987, Yang Yixiang paid 500,000 yuan in taxes. The county government saw that and wanted to strongly support Leshui Distillery. At that time, Yang Yixiang also wanted to continue to expand the distillery, so the county government helped Yang Yixiang borrow another 5 million yuan from the bank.'
Han Songlin listened quietly. Everything sounded pretty good.
'However, in 1990, it seemed as if there were problems within Leshui Distillery.'
Han Songlin asked curiously, 'What kind of problems?'
'It seems that Yang Yixiang's younger brother kept taking money out of the factory. Rumour has it that Yang Yixiang's younger brother lost money gambling!'
Han Songlin: 'Rumour has it that the accountant at Leshui Distillery ran off with the money. The accountant had an unclear relationship with Yang Yixiang.'
'It was Yang Yixiang's brother, not Yang Yixiang! Otherwise, how could Yang Yixiang's brother keep withdrawing money from the factory?'
Everyone was captivated by Deng Yingxiu's storytelling, and for everyone, this was indeed a story.
'This is what happens when you're betrayed by your own brother.'
Han Songlin, however, felt that in the whole matter, Yang Yixiang himself also had a problem.
He trusted his own brother too much!
'So now that Leshui Distillery has gone bankrupt, what is the county going to do?'
'What can the county do? I heard that the distillery owes the bank 7 or 8 million yuan and more than a million yuan in grain purchase money. Now no one dares to take it over even if they want to!'
'I don't think it owed that much,'
Deng Yingxiu whispered, 'Moreover, there are people in the county with unclear relationships with the distillery. Now that the distillery has gone bankrupt, it has dragged a group of people down with it. Recently, the county has been quite chaotic.'
Han Songlin: 'What about Yang Yixiang?'
'Right now, he's running around trying to find a solution!'
Han Songlin knew that he couldn't get involved in this matter, so after asking curiously, he didn't care anymore.
They talked about the situation in the county again.
Han Songlin really didn't know much about these things.
After all, if nothing happened, who would care about these things.
In the days following the Spring Festival, Han Songlin was also quite busy.
Not that there was anything to do in the shop, but before the Spring Festival, Han Songlin went to the countryside to visit the graves.
After visiting the graves, Han Shunyuan insisted on taking Han Songlin and the others out for lunch before they went back.
Han Songlin didn't mind, so they went to eat!
As for the offerings and other things, Han Shunyuan just left them behind.
At the same time, Han Songlin also met Han Shunyuan's daughter and son-in-law.
However, in the future, Han Shunyuan's later life was not as smooth as he had hoped.
But when it comes to family matters, Han Songlin can't say anything; even an honest official would have trouble deciding on family matters. Wasn't Han Shunyuan responsible for any of it?
In the next few days, Han Songlin went to Deng Yingxiu's place again for the reunion dinner.
Deng Yingxiu's two sons are both currently studying at university. Han Songlin knows that after they graduate, one will take over Deng Yingxiu's job at the water plant, and after the water plant is restructured, he will become the general manager of the water supply company.
The other will join a department in the county, and will become the head of a department. Then he will lose his public position due to corruption, and his wife will divorce him.
There are some rules regarding divorce, so I won't go into detail now.
After that, for a period of time, Han Songlin and Liu Yuyan often went to the countryside to play.
The countryside was now bustling with activity. Many people had not yet gone out to work, so during the Chinese New Year holiday, they naturally played cards and mahjong.
They didn't play for big stakes, at most fifty cents.
In the future, they would play one yuan, and then it would rise to five yuan, ten yuan.
Han Songlin didn't go to the mahjong table. He was past the age of being interested in mahjong.
Let's put it this way: Han Songlin sat at the mahjong table and found it quite interesting for an hour or two.
But after a while, he felt that it was no fun at all and just started playing randomly. In the end, he lost all the money he had won earlier.
What Han Songlin never expected was that Liu Yuyan would play mahjong.
Han Songlin sat next to Liu Yuyan and watched her play.
As for Han Ting, she was now playing firecrackers in the field with a group of friends!
Playing with firecrackers!
Many people remember this from their childhood.
You take a stick of incense and stick it in the mud, and when it explodes, it makes a hole.
You keep exploding them, and a deep hole appears.
In the countryside, this is called 'cow dung'.
Han Songlin couldn't help but watch them play.
When they returned, Han Songlin bought Han Ting a bag of firecrackers.
It felt like something he hadn't done enough of as a child, and today he finally got to enjoy it.