Chapter 181: Wine

After the grapes were picked, Lin Yulan couldn’t wait to start making wine. This was because the fresher the grapes were, the better the wine they made.

Lin Yuelan first picked out the ripe purple grapes. She cut off the stems and placed them aside so that the skin was not damaged.

As these grapes were grown without pesticides, they didn’t need to be washed at all. There was a layer of white mist on the skin of the grapes, which was a natural yeast. The wine made in this way was very delicious.

Lin Yulan ordered the men to wash the clay pots by the river, dry them, and bring them back. They would dry quickly on such a hot day.

Lin Yulan took the clay pot and crushed the selected grapes one by one. The skin, seeds, and pulp dropped into the clay pot. Then, she started to process them.

She used a 6 to 1 ratio of grapes to white sugar. She mixed them evenly. After the white sugar had fully melted, she poured the mixture into clean jars. The jars weren’t filled to the brim because the grapes would release gas during the fermentation process. If it was filled too much, the wine would overflow. In addition, in order to prevent the air from entering the jar, Lin Yuelan found a piece of airtight oilcloth to cover it.

Jiang Zhennan and the others did not say a word while Lin Yuelan was processing the grapes. They were all watching very seriously. Although they had many doubts and questions, no one asked anything.

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They understood that this might involve Lin Yuelan’s secret wine-making technique.

After a long time, Lin Yuelan finally finished the first jar. She stretched lazily and shook her head. Then, she immediately realized that a few curious babies were staring at her.

Lin Yuelan asked in confusion, “What’s wrong? Why are you all looking at me?”

Lin Yuelan had never thought that her amazing act of brewing grape wine would shock these people. In fact, the soldiers didn’t expect Lin Yuelan to make the wine right before them. Wasn’t she worried that they would sell her secret formula? Of course, they would never do that. They would never betray her.

Guo Bing stared at Lin yuelan and asked in surprise, “Miss Lin, is this how wine is made?”

“What do you think?” Lin Yuelan asked instead of answering this oldest curious baby. She then immediately instructed the others, “I need each of you to take a clay pot and follow what I did. Put the skin and meat of the grapes into the pot. Then, I’ll teach you the grape to sugar ratio.”

When she saw the large grape field earlier, she had already thought of making wine, so she had prepared everything like sugar, jars, and so on.

She wanted to try out different ratios of grapes and sugars to see how each would taste. She would ultimately pick the best wine.

Therefore, she bought more than 20 clay pots. Each pot could hold about one catty of materials. As for the sugar, Lin Yuelan had collected more than 100 catties of it during the apocalypse.

She used her own store of white sugar because the quality of the sugar sold in town wasn’t that good. It would ruin the taste of her product.

When the men heard Lin Yuelan ask them to squat down and crush the grapes, they were dumbfounded.

They were all men who had fought bloody battles on the battlefield with knives and guns. It was fine for them to help out with clearing the land but asking them to use their tiny fingers to pinch grapes? That was rather preposterous.

None of the men moved.

Lin Yuelan raised her brows and looked at them with a faint smile. She asked indifferently, “what’s wrong? Is no one willing? Does that mean that no one is willing to drink the wine when it’s ready?”

That was a clear threat.

Chapter 182: Wine

In other words, if they didn’t work the grapes, they wouldn’t get to drink the wine.

That instantly moved the men.

The big baby, Guo Bing, immediately argued, “Miss Lin, you can’t do this. It’s fine if you want us to go hunting or fishing, but this... Isn’t it a bit of a waste of our talent?”

Lin Yuelan glanced at Guo Bing. “A waste of your talent?” Then, she chuckled and said, “Then, it appears like your talent will be wasted here, no matter what. I don’t think my place is suitable for you. How about this? You can go to other places where your talents are needed. I don’t need you to stay.”

Guo Bing’s expression changed quickly. He immediately stepped forward and said, “Miss Lin, I didn’t mean that. I’ll go and crush the grapes, okay?”

Now that they were penniless, they could not return to the capital. More importantly, they had to hide their identities and not let those people find out that they were still alive. Otherwise, they would be hunted down again.

They were really pitiful. They had homes, but they had no home to return to!

Before Guo Bing could finish his words, Jiang Zhennan had already walked to the front of the clay pot, then squatted down and began to work silently.

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However, when he held the grape, the grape exploded with a pop. The grape juice sprayed on Jiang Zhennan’s mask.

Jiang Zhennan was stunned for a moment, and he was at a loss.

“Pfft!” Lin Yuelan laughed.

“Masked uncle, it seems to me that you can’t wait to drink the wine.” Lin Yuelan teased, “But you won’t get the wine so soon.” Then, she walked to Jing Zhennan, squatted down, took a grape, and demonstrated it to Jiang Zhennan. She said, “You are too used to holding weapons. These grapes are very fragile compared to weapons. You have to be gentle. Think of it as peeling the grape skin. Just use the same amount of force to crush the grapes.”

Jiang Zhennan was okay because he had peeled the skin for Lin Yuelan earlier, but things were not that simple for the other men. They normally didn’t peel off the skin when they ate grapes.

......

Jiang Zhennan failed at first, but with Lin Yuelan’s demonstration, he slowly became more skilled.

His subordinates were dumbfounded.

When did their boss become so patient?

Guo Bing’s bargaining was fruitless, so he could only hang his head in frustration and obediently squat in front of another jar, slowly and patiently pinching the grapes like Jiang Zhennan.

He kept mumbling, “I’ll crush you. I’ll crush all of you!”

Since the two bosses had started to work, the three little ones had to work too. There were only so many grapes. They’d be done with them in a while.

While the five of them were prepared the grapes, Lin Yuelan walked to a quiet place and took out the white sugar from her space.

The grapes were done very quickly.

Lin Yuelan gave the men 5.3 catties, 5.6 catties, 5 catties, 6.6 catties, 7 catties, and 7.5 catties of white sugar each. These white sugar were placed in separate clay jars, stirred and mixed, and then sealed.

After everything was done, it was already dark.

Lin Yuelan carried the jars one by one to the cellar.

Although the hut was small, it was once Lin Laosan’s family’s old house, so it had a cellar. The cellar was not big, so Lin Yuelan used her power to expand it further. Now, the cellar was even bigger than the hut aboveground.

Jiang Zhennan followed Lin Yuelan, also holding a clay pot in his hands. He still had some doubts as he asked, “Miss Lin, can you really make that wine with this?”

Could a few catties of grapes with some sugar really make the fragrant wine of the western region?

Lin Yuelan said mysteriously, “Just wait and see.”

Of course, wine-making was not that simple. The quality also depended on the fermentation process and time. Plus, Lin Yuelan had a secret ingredient. She had added a drop of her spring water into each jar.

After everything was done, Lin Yuelan planned to cook a few dishes to reward the men.

Chapter 183: Wine

They had hunted some prey yesterday, including a few pheasants.

Lin Yuelan planned to cook beggar’s chicken. Before the apocalypse came, she liked to read romance transmigration novels. The female leads would cook beggar’s chickens in those transmigration novels she read.

At first, she was very puzzled. Why would every author make their leads cook beggar’s chicken? The taste would always be amazing too.

Due to her interest, Lin Xinlan did some research online about beggar’s chicken. She learned how to cook it. It was then that she also found out that beggar’s chicken was invented around two hundred years ago, but the settings of those transmigration novels always took place more than a few thousand years back. Since then, she cast aside her doubts about the beggar’s chicken.

However, she didn’t expect that she’d follow in the footsteps of so many female protagonists of those transmigration novels.

She had never made beggar’s chicken before, but she did know its recipe. She would treat this first time as an experiment. She could improve it in the future.“Please reading on Freewebnovel.com :”

Lin Yuelan asked Guo Bing to pick some big lotus leaves from the wild ponds.

As soon as Guo Bing heard that the lotus leaves were meant for cooking, he immediately departed happily.

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Lin Yuelan carried a few pheasants and went to the river with Jiang Zhennan to clean them.

Of the three remaining children, one went to call doctor Zhang, while the other two went to collect the firewood to make a fire.

Jiang Zhennan looked at the eight pheasants and was a little speechless. They had only hunted ten pheasants, and eight would be used in the dinner that night. Lin Yuelan said that she wanted to leave a cock and a hen to start a coop.

When they were at the river, Jiang Zhennan grabbed a chicken, then took out a small knife and wanted to cut the neck of the pheasant.

“Wait, masked uncle. You don’t need to bleed the pheasant for this recipe,” Lin Yuelan immediately stopped him.

......

Jiang Zhennan was a little puzzled. “Miss Yue ‘er, what should I do then?”

Lin Yuelan explained, “You need to wring the pheasant’s neck, then make a small opening on the back, dig out the internal organs, and wash the inner cavity. ”

Jiang Zhennan followed Lin Yuelan’s instructions.

The two of them moved very nimbly, and in a short while, they had finished processing the eight pheasants.

...

On the other side, Guo Bing followed Lin Yuelan’s directions to look for the pond, but he was not very familiar with the place.

Therefore, he stopped a person on the road to ask, “miss, where is the pond with lotus flowers?”

Unfortunately, the person Guo Bing stopped was Ying Zi.

Ying Zi had heard that Lin Yuelan had brought a few burly men into the village. The men looked fierce and scary. Plus, their stay had been approved by the village chief, so not many villagers dared to go see them.

Who were they? Even the village chief vouched for them even though he had met them only once. He even told the villagers not to go disturb them.

The villagers had been observing the five from a distance. Other than the man in the silver mask, the villagers realized that the men were not that fierce-looking. The initial rumors were not true. In fact, they looked dignified and decent. One of them was very handsome, with sword-like eyebrows and fine skin. He had the appearance of an elegant young master.

These days, Ying Zi had been trying to find a chance to get in touch with this elegant young master.

That day, she saw the young man leave Lin Yuelan’s place and then head to the fields. Her eyes brightened as she came up with an idea. She tidied up her clothes and moved towards the field, pretending to be looking for something.

When Ying Zi heard the voice, she looked up and was stunned. ‘This young master is so handsome!

‘He has good facial features and snow-white skin. He is even fairer than the young ladies she had seen in town.

‘This man is more handsome than young master Liu who came last time. Plus, he is manlier than Young Master Liu!’

Ying Zi looked at Guo Bing in a daze, not moving an inch.

Guo Bing’s eyes flashed with distaste. ‘Another love-crazy woman.’

However, his almond-shaped eyes immediately lit up, and the corners of his mouth curled up into a charming arc. He asked in the most alluring voice, “Miss, are you from the Lin family Village? Can you tell me how to get to the pond with the lotus flowers?”

Chapter 184: Wine

Ying Zi’s eyes were still fixed on Guo Bing’s face as if she had not heard his question.

The annoyance in Guo Bing’s eyes intensified. He thought to himself, ‘If you weren’t the only villager around, I would have left already.’

Now that Guo Bing thought about it, Lin Yuelan was the only woman who didn’t seem to be infatuated with him. Since Guo Bing was young, he had always been very good-looking. He had the appearance of a beautiful flower, causing many people to misunderstand that he was a lady.

Later, as if to prove that he was a man, he went to the battlefield without telling his family.

After a few years of training on the battlefield, his feminine face had become sharp, and he gained a soldier’s masculinity. Therefore, no one would mistake him for a woman anymore.

However, even though they no longer misunderstood him as a woman, he became even more attractive to women. When they saw them, they wanted to throw themselves at him. When he went out on the streets, he would bend down all day to pick up embroidered handkerchiefs, incense sticks, or other things. In short, these women stared at him like wolves and tigers.

Although Guo Bing was affectionate to women, he was actually most heartless with his ways. He was gentle and considerate because that was his nature. However, this was mistaken by women as hope, even though he was not interested in any of them. But was that his fault? Therefore, Guo Bing became annoyed by women who couldn’t conduct themselves with dignity around him because they’d only bring him trouble.

It seemed like that hadn’t changed when Guo Bing reached Lin Family Village.

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Guo Bing raised his hand and waved it in front of Ying Zi. He continued to call out, “Miss, miss ...” He called out a few times, and the more he called, the louder he got.

Ying Zi was finally woken up by Guo Bing’s roar. Then, Guo Bing took out a handkerchief and said, “miss, you should wipe your saliva first!”

‘How could she be so man-crazy that she’d drool all over the floor? This is disgusting.’

To be polite, Guo Bing still presented Ying Zi with his handkerchief. However, his words were sarcastic. He was reminding her to conduct herself with dignity.

It was a pity that Ying Zi didn’t understand these things, or rather, she wasn’t smart enough to understand the meaning between the lines.

She immediately took the handkerchief, then blushed and lowered her head shyly. She wiped the corner of her mouth with the handkerchief, then said to Guo Bing in a reserved and delicate voice, “Young master, please don’t take offense. It’s because I’ve never seen a man as good-looking as Young master, so...” I was too enraptured looking at you.

A sarcastic expression appeared on Guo Bing’s face, but it disappeared in an instant. Then, he asked with a gentle smile, “Miss, have you seen a lot of men? Otherwise, how would you know that I’m the best-looking man you’ve ever seen?”

Upon hearing this, Ying Zi’s face turned pale, and her eyes were filled with panic.

Even if she wasn’t smart, she could understand the meaning of the man’s question.

He was mocking him for being shameless and always staring at the man.

Ying Zi’s hand that was holding the handkerchief paused. Then, she explained helplessly, “No... No... It’s not like that. Young master, I... I just haven’t seen a man as good-looking as you in the Lin family Village.” She didn’t want this man whom she liked to have the wrong idea of her.

Guo Bing was getting fed up with this cheap dance. He cut to the point, “Miss, please tell me where I can pick lotus leaves?”

Ying Zi asked, “Young master, do you want to pluck the lotus leaves? Did that ji... Lin Yuelan ask you to do this?”

Guo Bing nodded.

“Why are you picking the lotus leaves, young master?” Ying Zi asked. ‘What is that jinx up to now?’

Guo Bing’s annoyed expression immediately appeared on his face. He said coldly, “Girl, this is my own business. Aren’t you asking too much? Miss, please tell me where the pond is. I will be very grateful. If you insist on the interrogation, then I’ll go and find it myself.” As he said that, he turned around.

When Ying Zi heard Guo Bing’s words, she immediately became a little angry. She didn’t think she was interrogating anyone. In fact, she was doing this to protect this young master. This was because he didn’t know what kind of person Lin Yuelan was.

Seeing that Guo Bing was about to leave, Ying Zi immediately became anxious.

She asked, “Young master, do you know what kind of person Lin Yuelan is?”

Guo Bing immediately looked at Yingzi and said with a smile, “Miss, aren’t you being a little too nosy? All I’ve asked is the direction to the lotus pond. How is that related to what kind of person Miss Lin is? It seems like Miss is not willing to help me. Goodbye then.”

Ying Zi immediately spread her arms and rushed in front of him. She said anxiously, “Lin Yuelan is a jinx. Anyone who gets close to her is unlucky and will get into trouble.” Young master, for the sake of your safety, it’s best for you to leave that jinx as soon as possible.”

As Lin Yuelan’s life got better and better in the past two months, Ying Zi felt more and more unbalanced. Lin Yuelan had to live like an animal. How could she suddenly become so capable, beautiful, and good at seducing men?

However, Ying Zi knew that these men definitely didn’t know anything about Lin Yuelan’s jinx identity. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have stayed with her.

For the sake of the young masters’ lives, she had to tell them the truth about Lin Yuelan and then persuade them to leave as soon as possible. She was doing this for their own good. That was what Ying Zi believed. She didn’t think she was acting out of line at all.

In fact, she believed she was being kind. She couldn’t bear to see these people die because of Lin Yuelan. Especially this young master, who was so handsome and beautiful. How could he die because of that jinx?

However, she didn’t know the story between Lin Yuelan and these people.

Without waiting for Guo Bing’s reply, Ying Zi quickly continued, “I know that you guys must not be willing to follow her. She must have used sorcery to make you obey her, right?

“Young master, you need to wake up. Lin Yuelan is a monster who can control fierce beasts. Some time ago, that jinx controlled my mother and made her stay on Mount Da Ao for a night.

“Lin Yuelan is also a cold-blooded animal. It is said that she was given divine power by the King of Hell and the ability to communicate with animals. But who knows if that’s a lie or not. After all, the jinx wasn’t like this at all in the past.”

Ying Zi rambled, but Guo Bing caught a few key points.