Chapter 218: The Items Have All Arrived
Wen Yao actually knew about this; it was all written in the books she had researched before, so she hadn’t given the immediate monetization of the winery a single thought at all.
On the other hand, the others who didn’t understand the inner workings of this trade couldn’t help but ask, “Uncle Qin, why can’t this wine be drunk yet?”
Uncle Qin held the wine jar and replied with a smile, “This wine must be stored. The longer it is kept, the more fragrant it becomes. If we want to drink this wine of ours, the earliest it can be taken out of the cellar is after half a year. But rest assured, everyone—I dare say this wine is absolutely the most delicious wine this old man has ever seen in his entire life. Just wait a little while.”
Wen Xiuyi looked at him and asked, “Uncle Qin, are you certain? Can this wine really do?”
Uncle Qin bowed and replied, “Master, please rest assured. this old servant has brewed wine for a lifetime; I can still distinguish the good from the bad.”
When Old Man Wen and the others heard that they still had to wait half a year to drink the wine from their own home, their spirits instantly deflated.
“Brother Wen, then I’ll place a pre-order first. Let’s start with a hundred jars.” Li Fu generously fished a banknote out from his sleeve, intending to stuff it to Wen Xiuyi. But since Wen Xiuyi was holding the wine, Li Fu simply turned his head, grabbed Wen Yao’s hand, and stuffed it right into her palm. “Eldest Niece, first book a hundred jars for your Uncle Li.”
Wen Yao looked at the banknote in her hand—good heavens, a thousand taels.
“Uncle Li, this is too much.”
Li Fu, however, waved his hand. “Not much, not much. This wine of yours is worth it. You trust your Uncle Li; your Uncle Li has drunk all kinds of wine. Although this freshly distilled wine tastes sharper and spicier, your Uncle Li dares to say that this wine of yours will definitely not be ordinary. Who knows, if your Uncle Li wants to drink it again in the future, I might even have to pull strings with you guys just to get a taste.”
Wen Yao loved hearing these words. She shook the banknote in her hand and said, “Then I won’t stand on ceremony with Uncle Li. But rest assured, you will forever be the number one client of our Wen family’s winery. As long as you want wine, everyone else will just have to step aside.”
Hearing this, Li Fu burst into a hearty laugh, repeatedly praising Wen Yao for being so well-spoken, wishing he had such a sweet-tongued daughter himself.
The more Wen Xiuyi listened, the more he felt these words didn’t sound right. He frowned slightly and interrupted him, “If you want a daughter, go give birth to one yourself. Don’t go eyeing mine.” The two were well-acquainted by now—so well-acquainted that they could openly dismantle each other’s stage.
Li Fu rolled his eyes at him and huffed, “Miser.”
After the two finished bickering, Li Fu finally looked at Uncle Qin and asked, “Can the first batch of wine come out before the new year?”
Uncle Qin calculated the time and bowed. “Replying to Master Li, it should be possible.”
“That’s good. Yao’er, I will send people to fetch it before the new year. Out of this batch of wine, you keep fifty jars for your Uncle Li. As for the rest, I know your dad definitely wants to hoard them, so I won’t fight him for those,” Li Fu said to Wen Yao.
Wen Yao was curious. “Uncle Li, what do you need so many for?”
Li Fu stroked his nose and smiled. “Well, to give as gifts. As you know, my family is in the capital, and with all the social connections and courtesies, I always have to send gifts.”
In reality, with fifty jars, he was even afraid his Imperial Brother would snatch them all away after drinking some. When the time came, he would just give his Imperial Brother thirty jars and keep twenty for himself, thoroughly delighted.
After returning from the winery, everyone’s enthusiasm had turned somewhat listless. They had thought they could drink fine wine today, but in the end, they still had to continue waiting.
Seeing them like this, Wen Yao sat there by herself, propping up her head and secretly laughing.
“Stinky girl, did you know all along that this wine couldn’t be drunk right now and intentionally played a trick on your grandpa?” Old Man Wen saw this girl laughing with schadenfreude and knew she had definitely done it on purpose by not telling them in advance.
Wen Yao smiled. “Grandpa, I never said it could be drunk right now either. You guys were the ones talking about it the whole time.”
Old Man Wen and the others: “…”
Old Man Wen: So frustrating, I want to hit something.
Second Uncle and Third Uncle: Sigh, Dad really ought to do it—thrash this girl.
Wen Xiuyi: Dead girl, she made his mouth water for nothing.
Old Madam Luo glanced at the crowd, having only one thought: Serves you right.
Now that the winery was set into motion, Uncle Qin seemed to have found a new purpose in life. Every day, he studied the usage of the daqu starter, brewing wine according to different ratios, then marking them before storing them all into the wine cellar.
It was also thanks to the fact that when they built the wine cellar, they made it large enough. Moving large, human-height wine vats inside, holding one or two thousand of them was more than enough.
Although he knew it couldn’t be drunk right now, Old Man Wen still habitually made a round to the winery every day. Being able to sniff the aroma was perfectly fine too.
Ever since the winery started production, a faint fragrance of wine could be smelled in Gutong Village every day. Even if they couldn’t drink it, satisfying their noses was fine too, so everyone was working with even greater vigor now.
A few days later, Li Yi suddenly received a message via carrier pigeon. After reading the contents, he went straight to find Wen Yao with the letter in hand.
At this moment, Wen Yao was still huddled in the kitchen, making her ice cream and ice pops.
Li Yi sat down beside her with familiar ease, directly reached into a mold, pulled out an ice pop, and began eating.
Wen Yao raised her head and shot him a glare. This guy was truly not standing on ceremony at all now.
Li Yi promptly handed the letter over. “Here.”
“What’s this?” Wen Yao wiped the water off her hands and took it. Without a refrigerator in ancient times, it was truly far too troublesome; making ice cream and ice pops required pouring from large basins to small basins to molds.
Li Yi tasted today’s ice pop—mm, it seemed to be peach-flavored. Delicious!
“The items you wanted, my mother sent them over. They should arrive at the Yunwu Town pier tomorrow,” Li Yi said.
Wen Yao beamed with joy. “Is it the fruit trees? Coming by water?”
Li Yi said casually, “There are dairy cows too. My mother said she got ten of them for you, and even brought a breeding bull, along with the people who raise cows sent over together.
“Oh right, she also asked if you still have sunflower seeds. Ever since you sent those seeds over last time and she invited people to taste them, people have been constantly coming to her place to hang out, just wanting to crack sunflower seeds.”
Wen Yao saw it herself in the letter, and the corners of her mouth stretched wide as she said happily, “Yes, yes, yes. If Auntie wants them, they must absolutely be available.”
Li Yi gave an “mm,” walking out while eating the ice pop. As he walked, he said, “Oh, and my grandmother’s pastries.”
“Rest assured, rest assured, not a single one will be missing.” Wen Yao’s voice drifted from behind. Li Yi smiled, walking out of the kitchen while eating his ice pop.
That evening, everyone in the Wen family learned of this news. Not only were the fruit trees arriving, but even the dairy cows were arriving too.
Old Man Wen simply couldn’t believe it. In the future, their family wouldn’t just be raising chickens, ducks, and fish—now they were even going to raise dairy cows? One had to know that cows were the most precious things, let alone dairy cows.
In the future, in this Gutong Village—no, no, no, in the entire Yunwu Town—he could practically walk sideways. Ten dairy cows, whose family could possibly have ten dairy cows?
Amidst his excitement, Old Man Wen suddenly realized a situation.
“Now that these cows are coming, where are we going to raise them?”
There was no space left at his house; even the empty land had been used to build the winery. Where were they supposed to find a place to raise cows now?
