Chapter 217: The First Jar of Wine for Your Dowry
The menu for this Yunwu Milk Tea was also unique. Not only did it have names written on it, but it was also drawn with beautiful illustrations. Crucially, these drawings made one’s mouth water at a mere glance. Aside from the beverages, there were also various kinds of small pastries, each drawn with vivid, lifelike precision. Quite a few people who understood a bit of painting couldn’t help but praise the superb artistry of the person who had created the menu.
Even Qiu Rongrong fell in love with this menu at very first sight, constantly pestering Wen Yao to find out who had drawn it, intending to hire this artist to redraw all of their menus in the future.
Wen Yao patted her chest. “Me, of course.” Realistic watercolor painting—a piece of cake.
Qiu Rongrong merely assumed she was teasing her, suspecting that the mysterious artist was unwilling to disclose their name, so she didn’t ask further.
With the previous foundation laid by Yunwu Roast Duck, the level of popularity on the milk tea shop’s side naturally did not diminish.
“Waiter, what is this Jasmine Milky Aroma? Get one for this young master.”
“I want this Mung Bean Milk Ice.”
“What kind of thing is this Mango Pomelo Sago? Bring me a cup of that, then.”
Orders rang out in the main hall one after another, and the waiters wished they could split themselves into multiple people. The staff in the preparation room were so busy that smoke was practically rising from them, and even more so for the two chefs in the back kitchen responsible for making pastries—their hands were nearly friction-heating to the point of smoking from rolling dough.
In the end, having no other choice, they could only temporarily transfer people from the roast duck shop and Zui Xian Tower to help out.
As for Wen Yao and Qiu Rongrong, after watching the grand opening spectacle, the two quietly departed through the back door and entered through the back door of Zui Xian Tower, going straight up to a private room on the third floor.
The rest of the crowd who had come to scrounge a grand opening meal had already gathered here.
“It’s a pity Yao’er’s wine hasn’t come out yet; otherwise, we would be even happier today.” Doctor Jin felt it was rather a pity, though it didn’t matter; they would be able to drink it in another half a month anyway.
Li Fu, however, felt a bit anxious. There was still half a month until the winery’s wine would be ready. Could he really stay here for another half a month?
After some thought, Li Fu looked toward his son, his eyes darting around. He stroked his chin, heaven knows what he was plotting.
As if sensing something, Li Yi looked over at him. Being caught red-handed, Li Fu blanked for a second, then smiled slightly and casually went back to chatting with the person next to him as if nothing had happened.
Li Yi was utterly bewildered. What on earth was his old dad thinking about all day long?
The group enjoyed a sumptuous meal at Zui Xian Tower. By now, Old Madam Luo no longer complained about the food at Zui Xian Tower being expensive. At any rate, they didn’t have to shell out money themselves, and even if they did, Qiu Rongrong wouldn’t accept it. Consequently, the whole family just gave up caring together—too many debts don’t weigh a person down, so let it be whatever it wanted to be.
Just like that, another half a month passed. The capital had already sent letters urging Li Fu and Li Yi to return three or four times, but every time, this father and son just huddled together to murmur a few words, and in the end, neither of them left.
Li Yi claimed that the items hadn’t been delivered to Wen Yao yet, so he couldn’t leave.
Li Fu claimed that he hadn’t waited until the crops were harvested yet, so he couldn’t leave.
Of course, the Wen family didn’t know about this either; their entire attention had already been thoroughly drawn away by the winery.
Because the sorghum fermenting in the warehouse was about to begin the actual distillation of the wine.
Over the span of a month, Uncle Qin had recorded the sealing time of every single jar with absolutely zero error. The moment the time was up, he immediately began mobilizing hands to prepare for distillation.
He didn’t even know how he had survived this past month.
When he walked into the warehouse and broke open a sealed jar, Uncle Qin was nearly intoxicated to death by the overwhelming fragrance of wine. Before the wine was even distilled out, just smelling this aroma told Uncle Qin that this wine would bound to be extraordinary.
At this moment, everyone from the winery, the Wen family, and the father-and-son duo of Li Fu were all waiting beside the large stove equipped with the still. They watched Uncle Qin carefully have the fermented sorghum loaded into the still, while down below at the hearth, Yanyan had already prepared to kindle the fire.
Once everything was ready, the large iron pot atop the still was also filled to the brim with cold water. Following Uncle Qin’s command, Yanyan lit the fire to begin steaming.
Time passed minute by minute, and no one left the spot. Until the steam surged out from the crevices of the still, the billowing fragrance of wine flushed everyone’s faces a slight red.
“Uncle Qin, the wine is coming out, it’s coming out!” Following a scream from a winery worker, everyone saw wine slowly dripping out from the receiving tube attached to the still.
A bowl had been placed underneath, slowly accumulating the liquid.
Uncle Qin raised his hand to steady everyone, “Wait, don’t rush.”
Once the wine in the bowl had accumulated to a certain level, Uncle Qin immediately stepped forward and shouted, “Wine jar!”
A worker immediately handed over a prepared wine jar. Uncle Qin placed the wine jar underneath the spout, picked up the bowl, and prepared to discard the first cut of wine.
Uncle Qin explained, “This is the foreshot. It cannot be drunk; it will harm people, so it must be discarded.”
Wen Yao asked Wen Jun in a low voice beside her, “What is the foreshot?”
Wen Jun replied, “Methanol.”
Wen Yao gave an “oh.” If it were back in the modern era, it could still be utilized, but now without the hardware conditions to process it, forget it. Discarded was discarded.
Although the spout dripped very slowly, no one was in a rush, everyone waiting right here until the first jar of wine was filled to the brim. Uncle Qin quickly replaced the jar, carefully sealed the mouth, and held the wine jar up before Wen Xiuyi and Wen Yao with trembling hands.
“Master, Young Mistress, this is the very first jar of wine from our family’s winery.” Uncle Qin was thrilled; he wanted to taste it badly, but this first jar had to be handed over to the master of the house.
Wen Xiuyi took it with utmost care, never expecting that one day his own family would also start brewing wine.
Casting a glance at his daughter, Wen Xiuyi held the wine jar securely. Under the eager, watchful gazes of the other few alcohol-craving ghosts, he said, “This jar of wine, your dad is going to find a good place to bury it properly. It will serve as your dowry when you get married in the future.”
Wen Yao nearly failed to suppress a laugh. Married? She didn’t even know if she would get married in this lifetime. But with such a wonderful atmosphere, Wen Yao didn’t want to ruin it, so she feigned embarrassment, stomped her foot, and cried out, “Dad…”
“Hahaha…” Wen Xiuyi held the wine jar and laughed heartily, “This girl is actually embarrassed.”
The crowd laughed along with him.
Very soon, the second jar of wine was also filled to the brim, and Uncle Qin carried it over.
“Master, this is the second jar.”
Seeing that everyone’s drool was practically leaking from the corners of their mouths, Wen Xiuyi caught the hint. Crucially, he wanted to taste for himself what the wine from his own family tasted like.
“Uncle Qin, have them bring bowls. Today, we shall all have a taste.”
Although Uncle Qin was excited, he still said with a smile, “Master, this freshly distilled wine cannot be drunk casually; the texture isn’t actually that good. It has to be placed in the wine cellar to age for a period of time before it’s ready. However, taking a small sip to taste is perfectly fine.”
After speaking, Uncle Qin instructed the idle workers to fetch bowls, “Hurry and get bowls, hurry and get bowls.”
Seeing how happy they all were, Old Madam Luo just let them be.
Once the workers brought the small bowls, Uncle Qin carefully poured some into each bowl. Unable to contain themselves, Old Man Wen and Li Fu had already rushed up in three steps down to two, picking up their bowls and placing them beneath their noses to sniff forcefully.
Too fragrant, this wine was truly far too fragrant.
Just smelling the fragrance of the wine was already enough to leave a person thoroughly enchanted.
Once the wine entered the mouth, even Li Fu, who was thoroughly accustomed to drinking imperial nectar in the palace, couldn’t help but praise loudly, “Good wine!” Fragrant enough, mellow enough, and sharp enough! So this was the taste of freshly brewed wine.
Uncle Qin stood smiling by the side, his eyes entirely filled with excitement. “Master Li, this wine will taste even better after being aged for a period of time. You gentlemen will just have to endure a little bit.”
