Chapter 87

A day and a half later, the second fermentation was complete.

Hu Mu’s batch tasted similar to the one bought in the city, but with a slightly crisper flavor.

Yan Qiu’s batch was exceptional; Shuiqing, who usually only liked eating jiu niang, found herself almost falling in love with drinking rice wine.

Comparing the yield, Shuiqing was very satisfied.

The others were even more pleased.

With the decision made on who would make the wine, they began increasing production. After all, they couldn’t produce it one jin (500 grams) at a time if they were to sell it in the city.

Since it was only their second attempt, they were cautious about wasting rice, so they made small batches of ten jin each, cooling the rice, mixing it with yeast, filling the basins, and wrapping them in cotton blankets to ferment indoors.

Given the current temperature fluctuating around twenty degrees, the optimal fermentation temperature of thirty degrees necessitated wrapping the basins in cotton blankets to speed up fermentation.

As it got colder, they would need to move the process to the kitchen.

Meanwhile, the foundation for their new house was completed, including drainage ditches for the entire house, the chicken coop, rabbit hutch, and pigsty.

It took several days, but both Shuiqing and Fan Jin believed it was worth it.

Preparing for sale, Fan He hired older boys from the village at five wen (a small denomination of currency) per day to cut bamboo for making bamboo tubes.

Each bamboo tube sold for two wen, so Fan He worked especially hard, and so did the hired boys!

On the day of selling the rice wine, the entire family, including Hu Mu and Hu Wenhua, got up before dawn.

Hu Mu went to the kitchen to light the fire, heat water for washing, and cook corn porridge, serving it with small pickled vegetables.

Fan Jin went to cut grass and feed the ox.

He also meticulously cleaned the cart they had washed the previous day.

Cleanliness is crucial when selling food.

In the dimly lit thatched house, Hu Wenhua easily lifted the small water barrels and wooden tubs and placed them outside.

“Uncle is so strong! My brother and I struggled to lift the water barrel together, but Uncle lifted it effortlessly,” Fan He admired.

Hu Wenhua grinned, “When you grow up to be as big as Uncle, you’ll be just as strong!”

Fan He looked at his uncle’s burly frame and then at his father’s slender build, lowering his head without a word.

Given a choice, he would rather have his father’s physique.

Fan Jiang, already a smaller version of Hu Wenhua, looked up at his uncle and nodded vigorously, “I want to be as strong as Uncle!”

The uncle and nephew laughed together, looking very much alike.

When Shuiqing came out, she was startled to see the two burly figures grinning in the cool morning light.

Yawning, she advised, “Don’t scare people for no reason.”

Scaring people wouldn’t be good.

Hu Wenhua: ……

Fan Jiang: ……

“Mom, do you think using a layer of gauze to filter it is okay?” Xing Hui called out, still unsure.

She wasn’t good at brewing wine, but she could help with tasks.

Shuiqing glanced over and said, “As long as no rice grains get through, it’s fine.”

Turning to Hu Wenhua, she instructed, “Little brother, once Xing Hui finishes filtering, move half of it to the kitchen.”

“Okay!” Hu Wenhua responded cheerfully.

With many people helping, the sky was already showing the first light of dawn.

Hu Mu had already dished out the corn porridge, cooling it to an edible temperature, and called out, “Time to eat!”

Everyone rushed to the kitchen.

The refreshing corn porridge, paired with crispy pickled radishes and salted mustard greens, left everyone with full bellies and satisfied hearts.

After breakfast, Shuiqing started boiling the wine.

If rice wine isn’t boiled, it continues to ferment rapidly, changing the taste quickly.

However, boiling it all would degrade the taste significantly.

Women from the Jiangnan water towns had concluded that the best taste is achieved by boiling half and leaving the other half unboiled, then mixing them together. This way, the rice wine retains its flavor without continuing to ferment.

Once everything was ready, Fan Jin drove the cart, Hu Wenhua walked beside it, and Fan He sat on the cart waving to his family.

“Wenhua, remember to speak up when selling; your brother-in-law is a scholar,” Hu Mu reminded again, worried.

“Mom, don’t worry! I used to help Dad with the pork stall; I know how to attract customers!” Hu Wenhua turned back, shouting with a smile.

Fan He, holding the barrels to keep them from tipping, reassured his grandmother, “And I’m here too. With the wine my sister brewed, it’ll definitely sell!”

Not only did they need to sell the wine, but also the bamboo tubes.

At two wen each, the whole bamboo grove could earn them a lot of money.

Next spring, a large batch of bamboo shoots will sprout again, and there will be so many that they won’t be able to eat them all. The grown bamboo isn’t very useful, and the roots are spreading to other hills.

Hu Mu gave a comforting smile at Fan He’s words, but she didn’t really believe him. He was only eight years old, just going along for the excitement, and they couldn’t rely on a child to sell wine.

She turned her worried gaze to her daughter and asked anxiously, “Your husband is a scholar and thin-skinned, and your brother isn’t very clever. Do you think they’ll be able to sell the wine?”

This was their first time selling rice wine, so they hadn’t made too much. They were bringing about fifty jin of filtered rice wine.

Shuiqing was quite confident. Fan He was not shy and had a keen interest in learning. She had taught him several techniques over the past few days, and selling fifty jin of rice wine should be feasible.

“Yan Qiu’s wine is delicious, so it should sell well,” she reassured.

Hu Mu was still worried, murmuring prayers, “Heaven, please let us sell it all.”

Fifty jin of rice wine, sold at the market price of twenty wen per jin in the city, would bring in a thousand wen, equivalent to one tael of silver! After deducting the cost of twenty-five jin of rice, they would still have a profit of seven hundred seventy-five wen.

As for the bamboo tubes that Fan He made for two wen each, Hu Mu didn’t think much of them. Who would spend two wen on a bamboo tube to hold wine when they could bring their own and save the money?

But Shuiqing remained calm. After all, she had made much more money selling Polygonum multiflorum and brushes through the mall. However, since this was their first attempt at making money with their own skills, she was keen to see how it would go.

Even though it was their first time selling rice wine and they only brought fifty jin, the profit would be less than one tael of silver after deducting costs. But if it sold well and Fan He managed to find a market as she had instructed, they could supply in larger quantities in the future, leading to more substantial earnings.

Yan Qiu, Xing Hui, and the other children didn’t know that their mother had even bigger plans. Like Hu Mu, they were worried. Could they sell the fifty jin of rice wine? Was twenty wen per jin too high a price?

As for the bamboo tubes, maybe they would sell a few, but not many. After all, they cost two wen each…