Chapter Ten New Wine

  When it comes to brewing wine, Gao Yuan is not unfamiliar with it. In his previous life, the village he lived in almost every household had a small workshop that brewed wine using traditional methods and sold it to a large factory, which then packaged and labeled it. The cost of the wine was only a few yuan, but it could be sold for hundreds or thousands of yuan. Almost every household in the village knew how to brew wine, and Gao Yuan had also worked in these workshops until he left the village at the age of 16. He is very familiar with brewing wine, but not with other things.

  The wine of this era is really hard to drink, Gao Yuan believes that if he were to do the wine business himself, it wouldn't take a few years to defeat the Wu family and dominate the wine market. However, this is just an idea, and he doesn't want to cut off others' financial paths or dig up their ancestors' graves. Others are struggling to make a living, and he should just be honest and not try to do too much, or else he would be wasting the blessings of heaven.

  (Note: I've kept the translation as close to the original text as possible, but some minor adjustments were made for clarity and readability.)

  Get some wine out and indulge your taste buds.

  Zhang was quick to act and by the next morning, he had already found several bricklayers who began working in a side room. Meanwhile, Gao Yuan started making wine yeast on his own, having taken Zhang's words to heart. He realized that brewing wine required careful attention to detail, especially when it came to the yeast, which was crucial to the process. If others were to learn about this technique, it would likely offend the Wu family.

  Selecting materials, making molds, trampling, sprouting, drying, igniting the fire, big fire, later fire stage, and finally it's time to nurture the mold. The most difficult thing to control in this process is the temperature, but now there is no thermometer, so Haoran can only rely on his own feelings. In the past, when he helped with work in the village, those old people relied solely on their feelings to do these things, but Haoran didn't have that skill, so he could only rely 30% on technique and 70% on luck.

  The steamer for brewing wine wasn't very big, and the bricklayers finished their work in just one day. However, Gao Yuan's yeast needed at least a dozen or so days to take effect. Gao Yuan locked himself in the house where he made the yeast, only instructing Zhang Yi to prepare the charcoal stove for use at any time.

  During this time, the Ye family of three still came over to help every day, only that Gaoyuan was being mysterious and secretive, which made Ye Jing'er and Ye Feng extremely curious. Ye Feng didn't understand what was going on, but Gaoyuan wasn't hiding it from Ye Jing'er either, just saying he wanted to brew some wine for himself to drink. Hearing this, Ye Jing'er couldn't help but laugh, having been neighbors with Gaoyuan for many years without ever hearing that he knew how to make wine. It was probably just his old spoiled rich kid habits acting up again.

  Gao Yuan didn't argue with her either, facts speak louder than words. He'll wait until the day he brews his own wine and then take a good look at her jokes. Ye Jing'er is now a different person every day, with good food, good dishes, and good nutrition. This formerly thin and weak woman who was like firewood has quickly become plump, to use Zhang Yi's words, she's almost got breasts and buttocks, a real woman! The key is that Cui Er has breasts and buttocks, but her whole body looks a bit too wide, if you split her into two, each half would be slender, but put together, it doesn't look so good. Ye Jing'er is different, to use Gao Yuan's words, the current Ye Jing'er has both looks and figure, an angelic face and a devilish body, this description really suits her.

  The wine yeast was ready, and the formal brewing began. At this stage, Zhang Yi also joined in.

  Selecting materials, crushing, soaking, mixing ingredients, steaming and gelatinizing, cooling and adding yeast, then putting it in the cellar to ferment, after that, it's time to distill the wine. This busy work has been going on for a month now. During this period, the county began to collect taxes and rents. Every year at this time, it is also the busiest time for Lu Hong. In such a large county, there are always some people who resist paying rent and taxes, and even cases of injuring tax officials occur from time to time. Lu Hong sits in the county government every day, issuing orders and commands, so that he can dispatch troops to suppress them at any time. Anyway, he is too busy to take care of Gaoyuan's affairs. He promised Gaoyuan that after he fully recovered, he would go back to his post. Since then, there has been no movement from Gaoyuan, Lu Hong didn't urge him either. After all, he didn't expect Gaoyuan to accomplish anything. The troops stationed in the city now, without Gaoyuan, are also quiet and haven't caused any trouble. That's because under Lu Hong's watchful eye, these soldiers don't dare to cause trouble.

  Lu Hong was busy to the point of exhaustion, and finally, after many days, a crucial day had arrived at Gao Yuan's home. Every day, he would eat and sleep in the wine room, and as a result, Gao Yuan had lost a significant amount of weight. His main task was to stay there and control the fermentation process, and he didn't want all his previous efforts to go to waste. Ye Jing'er saw how serious he was and became curious, so during her free time, she would often come to the wine room to keep Gao Yuan company. She wanted to see if Gao Yuan could actually make good wine.

  A man and a woman who have been together for a long time become more familiar with each other, and between them, some unusual feelings arise. Ye Jing'er originally had a good impression of Gao Yuan, and this time Gao Yuan almost lost his life for her, so in addition to her good impression, she also felt grateful. As Ye Jing'er becomes more and more like a woman every day, the heart of Gao Yuan, who has been through many things, also starts to stir up again. Compared to those fleeting relationships from his past life, Ye Jing'er is as pure as a blank sheet of paper, and in silence, she plucks the strings of his heart deep down inside.

  For Gao Yuan, flirting with girls was just a small dish, and by slightly showing off his skills, Ye Jing'er became extremely happy every day, coming to the wine house more and more often. Madam Ye saw it but didn't stop them, thinking that after almost ten years, there was still no news, she had also gradually given up hope. Gao Yuan wasn't a bad person, and his family background in Fufeng City was also not bad, Jing'er marrying him would be a good ending too. Just because Gao Yuan dared to risk his life for Jing'er, Jing'er marrying him wouldn't be a loss either.

  Ye's daughter tacitly agreed, and Ye Jing'er spent more time in the wine house.

  The wine house was filled with the enticing aroma of wine, Ye Jing'er widened her eyes in surprise, looking at Gao Yuan as if he had really succeeded, and just this aroma alone was enough to fill people with anticipation.

  Gao Yuan's heart was even more excited, relying on his past experience, just smelling the wine fragrance, he knew it was done.

  "Ladies and gentlemen." Gaoyuan drew out his tone, and Yuanyang'er, Yefeng, Zhangyi, and Cui'er all bowed with a smile, "Make sure to watch closely!" He imitated the tone of the opera stage, and instantly made the four people laugh.

  Zhang Yi moved a wooden bucket to the bottom of the steamer, where there was a wine outlet, and stretched out his hand to lightly pull out a wooden peg at the bottom of the steamer. The bucket was slightly tilted, and a clear and refreshing liquor gushed out, filling the air in the wine house with a strong aroma of wine.

  Ye Jing'er widened her eyes and let out a soft cry. Zhang Yi couldn't help but add, "My mother, it's really been done." Except for Gao Yuan, the few people in the house were all shocked and bewildered.

  Zhang Yi had been to the Lu Mansion before and had seen many so-called good wines, but Gao Yuan's brewed wine, although not yet entered his mouth, already surpassed them all with just its fragrance and color.

  Gaoyuan smiled and picked up a ladle. Seeing that the head wine had been poured almost enough, he reached out to scoop some and handed it to Ye Jing'er: "Miss Jing'er, try my craftsmanship."

  Yejing took the dipper from Gaoyuan's hand and drank it in one gulp without thinking.

  "Slow down!" Gao Yuan was shocked, this is not the ordinary wine from outside, no matter how much you drink, it's hard to get drunk, Gao Yuan estimated that this wine has at least 50 degrees, and Ye Jing'er doesn't often drink, with her previous drinking method, there must be a problem.

  Sure! Here is the translation:

  As expected, Ye Jing'er, who didn't know the details, took a big mouthful of wine and suddenly felt like a flame had ignited in her stomach. She was so shocked that she started coughing uncontrollably, dropped the ladle, and couldn't stop coughing, her face turning bright red.

  Gao Yuan didn't think much and quickly reached out to gently pat Ye Jing's back, "You can't drink this wine like that, you'll get drunk." He said while patting. With great difficulty, Ye Jing finally stopped coughing, but the last mouthful was probably a small two of wine, Ye Jing's face turned bright red, and her body swayed slightly, fortunately, she was still clear-headed, "What is this wine? Why is it so spicy?"

  "This is freshly brewed liquor, of course it's very spicy, after a while, it will be much better, but this wine can't be drunk too much." Gaoyuan looked at Ye Jing'er who was shaking slightly and didn't think much, stretched out his hand to support her.

  Just helped Ye Jing'er up, and that little rascal Ye Feng got into trouble again. He smelled the wine aroma and actually stretched his mouth to the wine outlet, glug glug glug, who knows how many big mouths he drank? By the time Gao Yuan realized it, he was already spinning around in circles on the ground, grinning from ear to ear as he spun, after a few rounds, he became dizzy and fell to the ground with a thud, and actually started snoring loudly.

  "Good wine!" Zhang Yi became more cautious, taking a small sip and savoring it carefully, his eyes lit up instantly.

  Gao Yuan didn't have the heart to savor the joy anymore, one in his arms and another fallen on the ground, he had to send them back.

  "Zhang Yi, you put all the wine out and seal it with mud, this wine will be best after a few more days to get rid of the spicy flavor. Don't tell anyone about this, not even Cui Er, we're just doing it for our own pleasure, if it gets out, it'll cause unnecessary trouble, understand?" said Gao Yuan.

  Zhang Yi was after all from the county magistrate's residence and knew what was important. "I know, young master."

  "You and Cui'er go back to gather, I'll send these two back!" Gaoyuan shook his head, and Ye Jing'er beside him was already drunk with blurred eyes, her whole body softened.

  He bent down to pick up Ye Feng from the ground and put him on his shoulder, with one hand supporting the swaying Ye Jing'er, "I'll send Miss Jing'er back."

  Zhang nodded with a smile, "Young master, go and attend to your business. Leave this place to me and Cui'er."