Chapter 167 - 167 As expected of Melons
167 As expected of Melons
Hearing Zhao Erwa’s question, the others pricked up their ears.
Bai Wutong smiled and said, “There’s no need to wait until next year. Wait a few more days. I’ll get Qingfeng to inform you.”
Zhao Erwa’s eyes lit up. She did not expect that Bai Wutong would be making more wine this year. She remembered that Cui Lingyi could earn money by helping to dry fruits. Her Zhao Lanzhi was so efficient, so there was no reason for her to lose out. She asked shamelessly, “Madam, can Lanzhi and I help too?”
Bai Wutong nodded. “Sure. We should be short of people when the time comes. If it doesn’t affect your work, you can all come.”
No matter how busy the farm was, they could still squeeze out time.
Bai Wutong did not brew wine all year round. She was only the busiest in those few days.
As soon as she said this, the villagers in the same situation as Zhao Erwa’s family rushed to Bai Wutong excitedly and kept saying, “Madam, our entire family can do it too!”
“And our entire family!”
“Ours too!”
Bai Wutong said, “You guys have to record down first. When the time comes, I won’t forget anyone.”
Everyone fought to be the first. They were afraid that if there were too many people, Bai Wutong would not want their help.
The young masters and young ladies of the 30 families of Qinghe also wanted to sign up, but they did not dare to compete with the others.
Patriarch Shen of the 30 families of Qinghe had drunk the Phoenix Feather Wine before. He had long expected that Bai Wutong’s wine would be well liked by the masses.
Others were fighting to work for Bai Wutong, but he wanted to build a wine workshop with Bai Wutong.
To establish a wine workshop, there would be a need for a manager.
If Sheng Huaixuan could find someone to do business with, so could they.
Master Shen glanced at Sheng Huaixuan and knew that he could not compete with him. However, if he could gain some shares to the wine workshop after the discussion, it would definitely become a huge income for the Shen family in the future.
Of course, it would naturally be best if he could cooperate with Bai Wutong directly.
Patriarch Shen found Bai Wutong and explained his intentions. Bai Wutong tactfully rejected, “If I have this intention, I will send someone to look for Patriarch Shen.”
Patriarch Shen knew that there was no hope and was a little disappointed. He maintained his composure and smiled. “Then I’ll wait for Madam Bai’s good news.”
Bai Wutong was more willing to hand over the workshop to Sheng Huaixuan. After all, he was an experienced businessman and could control the business market. Master Shen had no experience in this aspect.
She had some money on hand now, and Sheng Huaixuan was not short of money, so she did not need more people to join in.
Moreover, there was no certainty that she would open a workshop. No one knew if there would be any sudden change in plans.
Master Shen did not manage to negotiate a collaboration with Bai Wutong. Knowing that the little brats in the clan also wanted to earn money like Cui Muzhi, he reserved a few spots with Bai Wutong to help.
Bai Wutong smiled and agreed. When Patriarch Shen returned, he told his children. The children were very happy and flaunted it to the children of the other families.
The children of the other families also wanted to go, but they did not dare to trouble their family heads, so they brought gifts to Cui Muzhi for help.
Cui Muzhi accepted a lot of flattery and gifts, and wasfinally impressed by his peers.
He went to Cui Lingyi to ask for a bottle of flower dew and went to Bai Wutong’s house.
Bai Wutong was thinking about what flavor of Phoenix Feather Wine she wanted.
There was quite a variety of local fruit. In this season, there were mainly plums, bayberries, yellow peaches, melons, lychees, and so on.
Although there were many types of fruits, they were not planted in large quantities. They were all scattered in different areas to satisfy the children’s cravings.
Only wealthy families would specially plant fruits.
But they wouldn’t plant much variety.
If Bai Wutong wanted to brew wine in this season, it was best for her to use purchased fruits.
Bai Wutong found out what the local fruits were and specially got someone to buy some.
At this moment, there were many types of fruits on the table.
There were ordinary green and purple grapes, local sweet melons, plums, lychees, bayberries, and yellow peaches, filling up seven plates. They were vibrant in color and coated with water droplets from rinsing. They looked especially tempting in the sunlight.
When Cui Muzhi arrived, Bai Wutong invited him to sit down and taste the fruits.
There were no bayberries, lychees, or green plums in Qinghe. Cui Muzhi asked in surprise, “What kind of fruit is this?”
Bai Wutong smiled and said, “This is bayberry, this is lychee, and this is plum.”
Cui Muzhi had long heard of lychees. His eyes lit up. He reached out and picked up one. When he peeled it open, the white and tender lychee meat that was like a baby’s snow-white skin was revealed.
Cui Muzhi’s eyes lit up and he could not wait to put it into his mouth. The lychee was sour and sweet, the flesh was tender and moist, and he was instantly stunned.
Cui Muzhi spat out the fruit core and exclaimed in amazement, “As expected of lychee!”
Bai Wutong saw that he liked it. “When you leave later, bring some back for your sister.”
Cui Muzhi nodded and smiled. “Okay.” Then he asked, “Madam, are you going to make wine with lychees?”
Bai Wutong nodded. “Yeah.”
Cui Muzhi immediately said, “The lychee-flavored Phoenix Feather Wine must be delicious.” He had a face that was full of praises.
Bai Wutong smiled. “Lychee wine should be not bad.”
Because of the climate, lychees were the most common fruit in the area. Every family basically had one or two trees in front of their door. Besides, lychees fermented easily. In modern times, Bai Wutong also liked to drink lychee-flavored fruit wine. Lychees were her first choice from the start.
Chu Tianbao liked sweet yellow peaches very much. The flesh was full, and when he bit into it, the juice splashed everywhere. One was enough to satisfy him.
However, although the yellow peach was delicious, it was frequently eaten by birds and insects. There were very few families who planted it. To provide long-term supply of wine, she would need to plant them in large quantities.
Bai Wutong picked up a yellow peach, and thought of the yellow peach jar. If she didn’t make yellow peach wine, she could use it as a yellow peach jar.
The bayberries and plums were all very sour. Neither Chu Tianbao nor Cui Muzhi liked them very much.
However, the yield of bayberries and plums was very high and easy to grow. They were also considered relatively common fruits in the local area. The most common fruit trees in the neighboring forest village were bayberries and plums. The plums hung on an entire tree and no one picked them up when they fell to the ground.
Although bayberries were sour, processing them into bayberry wine, bayberry juice, or candied plums were extremely popular in modern times.
The green plum’s sour taste was still slightly bitter. The candied fruit was huge and sweet. It was as popular in the modern world.
The green wine that the modern Sun Nation people liked to drink was brewed from plums. Bai Wutong felt that she could try it with plums. After all, there was a huge supply locally.
The last one was a melon, also known as a watermelon in modern times.
Watermelons were very popular fruits in both ancient and modern times.
The watermelons in the Bai Wutong’s own land had already grown to more than five kilograms and were still not completely ripe.
The watermelon on the table was a local fruit. Bai Wutong cut it into pieces and its color was water red. It didn’t look especially sweet, but when one took a bite, it was still sweeter than the other fruits.
It was indeed a melon.
Using it to make wine would save a lot of rock sugar.