klisemfg Chapter 37 Brewing
Chapter 37 Brewing
It's already July.
The Xiao family's wheat had already been threshed and brought home. This year, they had started a business and had some money, so Old Master Xiao decided to keep all the wheat for their own consumption and not sell it anymore. The twenty mu of land yielded a total of 28 shi of wheat, enough for their family to eat for a year.
The sun shone brightly that day, and a gentle breeze made it exceptionally comfortable. Xiao Siyue suddenly remembered that the wild grapes on the mountain should be ripe, and a surge of impulse welled up within her, making her want to go up the mountain to pick some and make delicious wine.
However, she can't carry much up the mountain by herself, and besides, she has a bad sense of direction and is afraid of getting lost.
In the end, I decided to ask my brother Xiao Siyu to go with me.
"Brother, let's go up the mountain!" Xiao Siyue excitedly approached Xiao Siyu, carrying a small and cute basket on her back.
Xiao Siyu readily agreed, "Okay, but wait a moment, I need to go and tell Grandma first."
He hadn't been anywhere except to school lately and was getting quite bored, so he was overjoyed to be going up the mountain. However, he needed to tell his family first, otherwise, if things went the same way as last time, he'd probably get a beating.
With Old Lady Xiao's approval, the brother and sister happily went up the mountain. They chatted and laughed along the way and soon arrived at the place where they had found the grapes last time.
The grapes, which were once a vibrant green, have now almost all turned a deep purple, hanging heavily on the vines, looking incredibly tempting. However, these grapes are relatively small; compared to cultivated grapes, wild grapes are only slightly larger than soybeans.
"Brother, there's such a big patch of wild grapes, why don't we see any villagers picking them?" Xiao Siyue looked at the scene before her, her heart filled with doubt and confusion.
She couldn't help but recall what she knew about life in ancient times, an era of scarcity, especially in rural areas where people lived in harsh conditions and had relatively few food options.
Against this backdrop, these wild grapevines appear exceptionally precious, so why are they left unpicked? Don't they know they can be a delicious fruit? Or are there other reasons why they've overlooked their existence?
"Little sister, you'll know once you try it," Xiao Siyu said with a serious expression.
Xiao Siyue picked one and put it in her mouth, immediately frowning and contorting her face.
"Ugh, this is so sour." It's almost like a lemon, with hardly any sweetness.
"Haha, isn't it sour?" Xiao Siyu laughed gleefully.
"Brother... Brother," Siyue called out to Xiao Siyu through gritted teeth. This brother was no good; he had actually fooled her.
"Little sister, I'm sorry, it was my fault." Xiao Siyu quickly apologized when he saw his little sister was angry.
“Little sister, everyone in the village knows these wild grapes are very sour, so no one picks them.” Xiao Siyu thought of Xiao Siyue’s pained expression and thought to himself: This little girl is really innocent and cute! But I had the same expression when I first ate them.
"Okay, brother, let's pick some and go," Xiao Siyue said, no longer arguing with her brother. She thought she would never eat a second one again, but she could use it to make wine.
"Huh? Why are you still picking them?" Xiao Siyu asked, puzzled. They were already so sour, why were you still picking them? Did you still want to eat them?
"Brother, I have something to use, I don't need to eat." Xiao Siyue hadn't told Xiao Siyu what she was going to do yet.
"Oh, as long as you don't eat them, it's fine." Xiao Siyu didn't ask any more questions and helped Xiao Siyue pick two baskets of wild grapes.
After returning home, Xiao Siyue directed Xiao Siyu to pour the wild grapes into a large winnowing basket. Then the two of them sat in the yard and began to use scissors to cut the grapes off one by one and put them into a basin.
"Yue'er, why are you picking these wild grapes? They're sour and not tasty." Old Mrs. Xiao said as she saw her grandchildren processing grapes in the yard.
“Grandma, I don’t want to eat it, I want to brew wine,” Xiao Siyue explained.
"Winemaking? Can grapes be used to make wine?" Old Mrs. Xiao was very puzzled. She had only heard of winemaking from grains, never from grapes. Moreover, winemaking techniques were controlled by the powerful and wealthy, and ordinary people like them had no access to them.
“Yes, grapes can be used to make wine.” Xiao Siyue nodded in agreement.
"Then how do you do it? Grandma will help you," said Old Mrs. Xiao, preparing to get started.
"Thank you, Grandma. Please pick these grapes, wash them, and let them dry." Xiao Siyue didn't stand on ceremony. The wild grapes were small, and she and her brother didn't know when they would finish picking them.
The three of them were indeed much faster; they washed all the grapes clean in an hour, filling two large basins.
Afterwards, Xiao Siyue found two of Grandpa Xiao's large wine jars, washed them clean, dried them, put the dried grapes into the jars, and added some rock sugar. The sugar was added to increase both sweetness and alcohol content; otherwise, the wine would easily fail.
Old Mrs. Xiao watched in astonishment. Was that all? Wasn't it a bit too easy?
"Yue'er, is it all done?" she thought to herself, and unconsciously asked aloud.
"Okay, put it in a cool place and let it ferment for about ten days, then it'll be ready." She had seen this method of making wine on her phone, and she wasn't sure if she would succeed.
Ten days have passed in the blink of an eye, and Xiao Siyue thinks the wine should be fermenting almost completely.
After opening the jar, I smelled a strange odor, somewhat like gasoline, and thought it might have failed.
"Host, it hasn't failed. Filter out the grape skins and impurities, and let it ferment for a while longer." The system's voice suddenly popped out.
"System, you're alive again." This system hadn't appeared since it gave her the reward last time.
"System, do you know how to make wine?" Xiao Siyue then asked the system.
"Yes, host."
"What else do you know?" Xiao Siyue asked curiously.
"Knows everything,"
"System, you're like an encyclopedia!" Xiao Siyue was pleasantly surprised. Now she could ask the system anything she didn't understand or had forgotten.
"You could say that."
"Can I ask you if I don't know something in the future?" Xiao Siyue asked expectantly. Why hadn't she thought of that before?
"A suitable host"
Following the system's instructions, Xiao Siyue filtered the wine through gauze. The red liquid still looked somewhat cloudy and not clear. It seemed she would have to filter it again.
Xiao Siyue sealed the jar again, planning to come back in a few days to filter it once more.
After two filtrations, the impurities in the wine are basically gone, and it looks much clearer.