In my memory, Ningbo people like to drink "walk around" and drink and punch. These two customs of hospitality used to scare me.

In the mid-1980s, I was developing new cosmetics products at Shangyu Zhenmei Daily Chemical Factory. For the first time, I followed my master Yan Ayao to the Hengjie Electrochemical Aluminum Factory in Yinxian County, Ningbo.

It must have been the autumn of 1986. We took a train from Shangyu to Ningbo, then transferred to a bus at Ningbo South Bus Station and went directly to Hengjie, Yinxian County. Master Yan Ayao and I, accompanied by Master Shi from the supply and marketing department of the anodized aluminum factory, went to the workshop to see the anodized aluminum packaging processed for our factory.

I had dinner in the cafeteria of the Electrochemical Aluminum Factory in the evening. At that time, township and village enterprises socialized and entertained each other's customers. Drinking at the wine table was an inevitable custom. For the first time, I experienced how Ningbo people drink. It was a great eye-opener that I still remember vividly.

At the wine table, Ningbo people like to drink "Ningbo Daqu" and old wine in jars. There are no less than 10 people on a "round table". When a large bowl of chicken, duck and fish is served, the opening ceremony begins. "Walking around", you have a drink, I have a drink, after three rounds of wine, a few cups down, the spirit is high, each other fights with each other, and after one round of drinking, it is incredible, must be drunk!

After drinking too much wine, the atmosphere became lively. Everyone called themselves brothers, and there was more talk at the wine table. From the international and domestic situation to the production and sales situation in the factory to what's happening at home, they talk about everything.

Talking, talking, when two people talk about "appetites" or things that coincide with each other, someone will bang the table and say hello. The host is always like a director, playing the role of exaggerating the atmosphere and adding fuel to the flames.

As usual, Ningbo people have to make punches when drinking. When they get excited about drinking, someone will shout "fist". First, they find a cup and put it in the middle of the bowl to sift the wine, and then the host gives it to the drinker. When everyone meets and exits, start with the farthest or oldest person among the banquet guests.

Then they raised their hands and clasped their fists and said to each other, "Give way, give way." Then they started to punch each other.

The referee is the one holding the pot and sifting the wine. He records the winning and losing ratios of the two and adds wine to the male cup. The loser pours the wine out of the male cup. "Fighting" Half a cup and a cup of noodles." "You have a red face and a thick neck, but you don't admit defeat when you punch. If you have a thick neck, your face is red, and the punches are different."

When punching, you have to shout, shouting out your authority and spitting out the alcohol, and sometimes you will shout so hard that the dishes will jump. , the table swayed, the momentum was simply earth-shattering.

The punch is even more generous and powerful. Whether it is drawn from top to bottom, from back to front, or turning the wrist in place, the arm will be straightened, and the palm will be curled, spread, and flash like rolling waves. , just stretch out a few fingers and make a sound, which is dazzling.

The punches are sometimes slow and sometimes fast. When they are slow, they are like picking flowers with fingers and whispering; when they are fast, they are like fighting in front of the formation, deafening. They beat each other to a soothing rhythm: "Brothers are so good... five leaders, six or six smooth, seven clever, eight horses..."

Sometimes I made three strokes. Even at level 50, it will still be hard to tell the winner.

When one party guesses the right punch, the sound will stop with a "click", and the loser will raise his cup and drink it all in one gulp, attracting cheers and laughter from the whole hall!

In just the blink of an eye, several bottles of "Ningbo Daqu" were drunk to a pulp, and everyone's face was red and drunk, and everyone was staggering around. Since ancient times, no matter they are dignitaries, businessmen, celebrities, literati, traffickers, woodcutters, or ordinary people, they are all happy to drink and fight at the wine table.

Every time after drinking for three rounds and everyone is red-faced, when someone proposes to do two strokes, someone will high-five and fight, and then both parties will happily call each other and start rolling their sleeves and making fists.

Amidst the joy and laughter, even though we drank a lot of wine, it was difficult to tell the winner. The Ningbo people’s punching left a deep memory in me.

I have loved drinking all my life, but I have never learned how to play boxing (also known as guessing), so I cannot use the "drinking order" at the wine table to make the atmosphere more lively. This must be said. It is a great regret in life...