"Congratulations, young master!"
Hearing a large group of people shouting these six words in unison, and then raising their cups to drink, Zhang Shou, who was already in a good mood, also happily raised his wine bowl and drank it all. The fragrant rice wine spread in his mouth, with a soft taste. At first glance, it seemed to have no strength at all, but when the sound of Qianqiu rang in his ears again, he seemed to be drunk and couldn't help but feel a little dazed.
Unlike "Wansui", "Qianqiu" has never been used exclusively by the royal family, and its rich meanings are simply jaw-dropping for any foreigner who has come into contact with Chinese. "Qianqiu" can refer to passing away, or a long time, or even to a person's birthday, or even to congratulating someone on his birthday. In addition to this, this polysemous word has many other meanings.
But he was very happy to hear the voices of "Long Live the Young Master" at this moment, not because he was self-indulgent and thought he could really live forever, but because he could truly feel that the voices were full of joy and excitement, without much reluctance. Even if this joy was not necessarily because of his birthday, maybe it was also for food and drink, he didn't mind.
But soon, Zhang Shou couldn't be happy anymore. Because when Ah Liu, who had just taken the lead in drinking to celebrate his birthday, came up to toast again, the little guys lined up in a long queue as if they had discussed it beforehand, with their hands full of wine bowls without exception, and they shouted auspicious words like "May you be as blessed as the East Sea and live as long as the South Mountain". He drank three bowls in a row, and then he couldn't take it anymore.
When he saw the fourth kid after Ah Liu come up with wine, shouting something like "Sun and Moon are Prosperous, and Pine and Crane are Long-lived", he could no longer hold back, snatched the wine bowl with his left hand, clasped the five fingers of his right hand and hit the kid on the head with a knife, scolding him angrily: "Do you know what pine and crane are long-lived? That's for celebrating the birthdays of people at your grandfather's level!"
Seeing that the teenagers waiting in line behind him were obviously stunned, he said unhappily: "The same goes for the blessing as vast as the East Sea and a life as long as the South Mountain! You can toast me, but think about the poems or idioms you have learned and find a few words to suit the situation, otherwise..."
Zhang Shou glanced at the guys who were talking to each other with ill intent, and was about to add a few threatening suffixes at the end, when the guy who had just been stabbed suddenly said loudly as if he had an idea: "I wish the young master a speedy wedding and a baby soon!"
Almost as soon as he finished speaking, there was a burst of laughter all around, but it stopped abruptly in a moment.
Zhang Shou, who was so amused that he couldn't help crying and laughing, gave the little guy another knife blow, but then he saw a bowl of wine was delivered to his mouth. He looked again and saw that the boy who was delivering the wine steadily with one hand was none other than Ah Liu. Although the wine was almost full to the brim of the bowl, it miraculously didn't spill a drop, and Zhang Shou doubted whether Ah Liu would pour it for him if he didn't drink it.
Helplessly, he could only reach out to take it, but after just two sips, he was thinking about whether to find a way to cheat and spill it on the ground, or something else, he only heard Ah Liu say: "Master, the rice wine was brewed by the villagers using spring water, and the yellow wine was brewed two years ago and buried in the ground."