Chapter 71 Brewing Alone

  Ignoring Zhang Guang, let's just say our classmate Zhao Fei walked out with a bag of grain in his hand, his gait was unsteady. As he walked, he muttered to himself in discontent.

  As soon as Zhao Fei walked out of the workshop, he put down the sack in his hand and flexed his wrist. He turned back to glance at it again, saying to himself with a hint of resentment: "Just you wait, I'll make you regret this! It's just wine brewing, after all!" Feeling a bit of strength restored in his hands, Zhao Fei picked up the sack once more and headed towards his small cottage.

  He arrived at the small cottage, putting his pockets on the headboard. Zhao Fei didn't rush to do anything first, but instead sat down on the bed to recover a bit of energy, and then thought back about what he had seen today. Although Zhao Fei thought brewing was very simple, in order not to lose face in front of Zhang Guang, Zhao Fei still needed to make some preparations. After thinking for a while, feeling quite helpless, Zhao Fei turned over and got out of bed, heading towards the outer courtyard.

  In the wine shop, Zhang Bao was counting something at the counter, while Li Jin was busy with his own affairs. Without Zhao Fei by his side, Zhang Bao always felt like something was missing, so he was somewhat distracted.

  Zhao Fei came out of the outer courtyard and happened to see Zhang Bao being absent-minded. He started a small conversation: "Boss, why are you so absent-minded? Are you thinking about something?"

  Dazed, Zhang Baosan heard Zhao Fei's voice, and at first he was stunned, then felt it was unlikely, turned his head to look, and found that it was indeed Zhao Fei standing there with a smile. "Aren't you supposed to be learning winemaking? How did you come back so soon?"

  "With my intelligence, brewing is nothing to brag about, of course I've mastered it." Zhao Fei said with a self-satisfied smile, his mouth slightly curled up, looking very pleased with himself.

  "Really?" Zhang Bao looked at Zhao Fei with doubt, unsure if he was telling the truth.

  "This is natural. Doesn't the shopkeeper trust me?" Zhao Fei said stubbornly.

  Zhang pointed at Zhao Fei and smiled: "You must be too proud, offending Zhang Jian Gong, and being driven out by him."

  Zhang Baoshan saw through himself, and Zhao Fei blushed and lowered his head. "This... this..."

  "Haha." Seeing Zhao Fei's embarrassed look, Zhang Bao couldn't help but burst out laughing. "Alright, the boss already knows about your filial piety, so let's just drop it. You can focus on learning how to do business with me from now on."

  "I still hope that you can give me a chance." Zhao Fei raised his hand and said to Zhang Bao.

  "Why?" Zhang Bao asked in confusion.

  "I made a bet with foreman Zhang Guang that I could come up with a fine wine on my own." Zhao Fei said to Zhang Bao.

  "Did you promise?" Zhang Bao hastily asked.

  "This is natural! Why didn't you respond." Zhao Fei said in puzzlement.

  "You don't know, that foreman Zhang Guang is an easy person to deal with." Seeing Zhao Fei's confusion, Zhang Bao said to him. "You are being misled by his rough appearance, but this man has a subtle mind, and his thoughts are far more delicate than mine! He proposed a bet, which means he has already made up his mind. He is certain that you will definitely lose."

  "What?" After hearing Zhang Bao's words, Zhao Fei blurted out. Then he fell into deep thought. The more Zhao Fei thought about it, the more frightened he became. He himself had also seen a bit of the world, how could he be changed like this by just one person's few words. If this person was really a martial artist, how could he have become a supervisor? Although martial arts were one aspect, being a person was another aspect.

  "Otherwise I'll go beg him, and you can just cancel this bet!" Zhang Bao said worriedly.

  "That's not possible." Zhao Fei shook his head, revealing a determined expression. "Although that Guang is meticulous, I'm not one to be underestimated easily. How can he be so sure I'll definitely lose? The brewing process, I've already got it down pat. There must be a way out."

  "But..." Zhang Bao wanted to say something, but Zhao Fei interrupted him: "Boss, you have to give me some confidence! Do you think I'm so useless that I'll definitely lose?"

  Zhang thought so too and didn't say anything more. "Since you've already made up your mind, just take care of it yourself then. Do your best to make everything better."

  Feeling Zhang Bao's kind intentions, Zhao Fei nodded emotionally, "Don't worry, boss, I have it in mind."

  "Need me to help you with anything?" Zhang Bao still wasn't reassured and asked Zhao Fei again.

  "No need!" Zhao Fei shook his head, then said to Zhang Bao: "Since I promised Zhang Jian Gong that I would go alone, then I will go alone. Boss, I'll go down and prepare first!"

  "Hmm." Zhang Bao nodded in response.

  Farewell to Zhang Bao, Zhao Fei returned to his own hut. He opened the pouch given by Zhang Guang and looked inside. There was nothing extra in the bag, some good wheat, and a few block-shaped things. Zhao Fei reached in and took out one of the blocks, examining it carefully.

  "This must be the wine yeast." Zhao Fei muttered to himself as he looked at what was in front of him. He put the yeast aside and picked out a handful of wheat, carefully examining it. He didn't find any problems with it. But then again, Zhang Guang was meticulous, but he also wouldn't stoop to such petty actions. As for Zhang Guang's character, Zhao Fei still believed in him.

  "Since you think I can't do it, then I'll do it to show you. Let's see what you have to say at that time." With a determined mind, Zhao Fei started to get busy. The first thing Zhao Fei needed to do was find a wine jar to brew the wine. As the saying goes, "to achieve great things, one must first sharpen his tools". Everything needs a good start.

  "Wine jar? Wine jar? Where can I find a jar? Ah...!" Zhao Fei's eyes lit up, and he thought of a good jar. He rushed out in a hurry, and before long, he returned to the house with a jar in his arms. The jar in his arms was the same one he and Zhang Bao had drunk from that day, the ten-year-old cellar-aged wine jar.

  Having chosen the vat, Zhao Fei picked up his sack and headed towards the kitchen. When he arrived at the kitchen door, he peeked inside and found that there was no one around. It was just the right time when everyone should be busy with their work, so the kitchen was empty and quiet. "This is perfect!" Seeing that the kitchen was empty, Zhao Fei patted his chest in satisfaction and walked in boldly. He was being extremely cautious, afraid of being disturbed by someone.

  Carrying a sack to the side of the stove, Zhao Fei put down the sack and began to bustle about. First, he hugged some firewood, then poured water into the pot, found a steamer basket and placed it on top of the pot. Finally, he washed the grain in his own sack until it was spotless. With everything ready, Zhao Fei wiped the sweat from his forehead, still feeling quite pleased with himself. Carefully placing the clean grain into the steamer basket, covering it with a lid, Zhao Fei lit the firewood. The flames grew stronger and stronger, casting a warm glow on Zhao Fei's pale face, making it flush red. As he gazed at the increasingly vigorous flames in the stove, Zhao Fei's mood became more and more elated.

  "This is nothing, I can do it even if no one helps me." Zhao Fei muttered proudly to himself. At this time, Zhao Fei was already fantasizing about holding his self-brewed fine wine and appearing in front of Zhang Guang, wondering what kind of expression Zhang Guang would have. Thinking of this, Zhao Fei couldn't help but burst out laughing.

  At this moment, Zhang Guang was smiling and staring at Zhao Fei from a short distance behind him. Watching Zhao Fei's meticulous operation, Zhang Guang couldn't help but nod secretly. Although this kid is a bit arrogant, he is not bad as a jade. After watching for a while, Zhang Guang felt bored and turned to leave.

  Zhao Fei was still unaware of Zhang Guang's evaluation of himself and continued to fantasize about the scene after Zhang Guang had given him something. Before long, a thick white mist began to rise from the steamer, and the sweet aroma of food wafted out through the gaps in the steamer. Zhao Fei greedily took a few more sniffs, feeling refreshed and invigorated.

  "It should be about right." Zhao Fei nodded to himself, asking if the grain was fragrant. He carefully took down the steamer, opened the lid, and a sheet of white mist rushed up to his face. After the mist dispersed, looking at the crystal-clear rice grains, Zhao Fei couldn't help but salivate, and he couldn't resist swallowing hard. In his heart, he kept reminding himself to calm down, this was for brewing wine after all. After calming down a bit, Zhao Fei carefully carried the steamer to the courtyard, placed it there, then ran back to the kitchen to fetch several pieces of yeast.

  Slowly, he crushed the wine yeast, imitating the movements he had seen in the winery, and mixed the crushed yeast with the steamed grains. Zhao Fei's actions were very careful and meticulous. "This should be about right." After multiple stirrings, Zhao Fei thought that the mixture was already quite uniform. Then, he turned around and went back into the house, took out the sack that had originally been used to hold grain, and carefully poured the well-mixed yeast grains into it. He sealed the bag, tidied everything up, and then carried the sack back to his own small hut.