Chapter 200: This Is a Secret Trade Not to Be Shared with Outsiders
Yanyan stood up with a face full of gratitude, her eyes gleaming as she looked at the modest winery.
Having followed her grandfather to brew wine since childhood, she had tasted all kinds of liquor. It could be said that she had already learned seventy to eighty percent of her grandfather’s skills. Now that she had been given this opportunity, how could she not be delighted?
Old Man Wen led them along to continue touring. The more they walked around, the more astonished Uncle Qin became in his heart. He had originally thought the Wen family possessed absolutely no foundation in wine brewing and that there would be many shortcomings. Yet, after touring the entire site, he surprisingly discovered that this winery of the Wen family was not a single bit inferior to the one the Qiu family had previously owned.
Though the sparrow was small, it possessed all five internal organs; even the underground cellar for storing wine was constructed with extreme care.
He also followed Old Man Wen up the mountain to check the water source. Seeing the crisp, transparent spring water, Uncle Qin directly dropped to one knee on the ground, scooping up a mouthful with his hands to drink.
It tasted sweet upon entry—this was absolutely excellent water for wine brewing.
Wine brewed with such water would definitely not be too bad.
Uncle Qin looked excitedly at the desolation spreading across the mountains, completely unexpected that such a barren mountain would hold a mountain spring like this. Even a wealthy and affluent place like Jiangnan, filled with green hills and clear waters, could not produce such a wonderful water source.
“Uncle Qin, how is it?” Seeing him squatting there for a long time without uttering a word, Old Man Wen asked a question, his heart also feeling thoroughly anxious. Could it be that this wine cannot be brewed?
Uncle Qin hurriedly rose, clasping his hands and bowing deeply. “Old Master, this water is excellent! The wine brewed from it will absolutely not be lacking.”
Old Man Wen let out a sigh of relief. “That’s good, that’s good then. You see this winery is also almost built, so over these next few days, you come over more to keep an eye on things. Then, as for what items need to be prepared, you note them all down and hand them to…”
Old Man Wen stammered for a long while, unable to think of who to hand it to. Who else in this household could be put to use?
After thinking about it, Old Man Wen simply blurted out, “Hand it to that wretched girl, Wen Yao.” Let her carry her own pot.
Uncle Qin responded with an assent. Along the way here, he had also managed to see things clearly—in this household, the young miss called the shots.
Upon returning to the residence, Uncle Qin set to work writing the list, noting down every single item, tool, and necessity that would be used, before seeking out Wen Yao and handing it over to her.
“Miss, the Old Master said to have this old servant hand this list over to you. Please look it over; these are all items required by the winery.” Uncle Qin was entirely devoted to wine brewing, so these items he had noted down were all necessities, and ones that could not be substituted.
Wen Yao took it over to glance at it. It didn’t differ much from what was written in the books she had researched. In truth, these items could all be purchased inside her space, and the quality would even be a bit better; after all, compared to the items of this current era, modern goods were slightly superior in quality.
Looking back on it, she would have to make another trip to the prefectural city.
Right on the heels of that, Uncle Qin pulled out two more pieces of paper, respectfully presenting them to Wen Yao.
“Are these also items that need to be bought?” Wen Yao took them and asked.
Uncle Qin: “Replying to Miss, these are the deeds of sale for Yanyan and me.”
Wen Yao’s hand nearly shook.
“This… no… huh?” Deeds of sale? She had thought Uncle Qin was hired by the Qiu family; she hadn’t expected them to be domestic slaves?
Uncle Qin spoke respectfully, “Miss, before coming here, the Eldest Master instructed that from now on, we grandparent and grandchild belong to the Wen family. We ask Miss to keep the deeds safely; in the future, if there is any matter regarding the winery, Miss need only command this old servant.”
The corners of Wen Yao’s mouth twitched. Letting out a soft sigh, she tucked the deeds of sale away. Such was the environment, so she didn’t need to act uniquely; as long as Uncle Qin worked well in the future, she would definitely not treat him unfairly.
“Since that’s the case, I will accept them. Uncle Qin, in the future, you will be fully responsible for the affairs of the winery. Whatever you need, just come find me. In addition, let me know what kind of people still need to be hired for the winery and how many are needed, so I can make preparations.”
Uncle Qin gave an assent, then added, “Miss plans to hire people?” Not buy people?
“Uh, yes.”
Uncle Qin said, “Miss, forgive this old servant for speaking out of turn, but wine brewing is unlike other trades. There are too many crucial techniques involved in the process, and every single step of wine brewing is exceptionally critical. The reason the wine brewed by every household tastes different is precisely because the techniques within differ. If outsiders were to learn it, that would be a loss for the winery. This old servant feels it is still better for the workers in the winery to be Miss’s own people.”
Wen Yao: “…”
What “her own people”—isn’t this just asking her to go buy people again, and then hold their deeds of sale to make them work for her?
Fortunately, she had already experienced this sort of thing before, so Wen Yao didn’t have that large of a reaction. She merely asked, “Is that the only way?” Originally, her grandpa and grandma had wanted to recruit people from the village, but it seemed that wouldn’t work now.
Uncle Qin spoke plainly, “If it is miscellaneous chores in the outer courtyard, hiring some people to do them is no problem. But for the crucial steps of wine brewing, we must still ask Miss to be cautious.”
Wen Yao let out a sigh. “Alright, I understand. I will discuss it with my family later.” Day in and day out, Grandma is going to scold people again tonight.
Having finished explaining his matters, Uncle Qin withdrew, taking Yanyan along toward the winery.
After thinking about it, Wen Yao tucked the items away properly and headed toward the old residence. In the courtyard, the two old ladies were sitting comfortably soaking up the sun, though the smell of soybean paste in this courtyard was truly strong.
Wen Yao slipped forward, alternately kneading Old Madam Luo’s legs and pounding her shoulders.
Old Madam Luo got goosebumps all over and hurriedly dodged. “What are you doing? What do you want to do now?”
Wen Yao grinned, squatting beside her to explain what Uncle Qin had said to Old Madam Luo.
Expecting to be scolded again, Wen Yao instead heard Old Madam Luo say, “Uncle Qin is right. You, wretched girl, just have too big a heart. If we truly want to brew wine, this is a family heirloom trade—can it be casually let out for outsiders to learn? Wretched girl, to say your heart is big, you are sometimes incomparably meticulous; to say your heart is meticulous, you are sometimes like a total scatterbrain.”
To the side, the younger Old Madam Luo merely smiled as she watched Wen Yao receive a scolding. Although Old Madam Luo was scolding Wen Yao, her gaze was filled with affection.
“Grandma, then you agree to me going to buy a few more people?” Wen Yao said.
Old Madam Luo let out a sigh. “Does our family have few people? This is also a matter of having no choice. For how many people, that wine brewing skill is a family heritage, not to be shared with outsiders. Our family doesn’t have that many people left for you to toss around anymore. Discuss it with your father, and pick a few honest, dutiful, and trustworthy people to bring back. I can’t control you all anymore.”
Wen Yao linked her arm with the old lady’s and acted spoiled for a while, saying, “Then I’ll find another old maidservant to come back and serve you, letting you be a thoroughly comfortable old matriarch.”
This caused Old Madam Luo to raise her hand heavily and let it fall lightly on her shoulder with a smack, chiding, “Don’t cause a racket, the rest of the folks will laugh me to death.”
“They won’t. They will only be envious. If they say anything unpleasant, that’s just their jealousy. Alright, Grandma, I’m going to look for my dad to discuss it. I’m off!” Wen Yao left the moment she said so, not turning back.
Looking at her like this, Old Madam Luo was filled with both helplessness and delight, her gaze not pulling back for a long time.
“This wretched girl’s temperament—who knows whose it actually follows.” Only after a long while did Old Madam Luo squeeze out such a sentence.
Pity the person had already run off without a trace long ago.
