webnovelfull Chapter 303: Winemaking
Chapter 303: Winemaking
"These are what we should do. Do we need to wash the grapes now?" Chen Zihao asked.
"No, we can handle these ourselves. You guys go back and rest first!" Shen Wanning said.
"There are so many grapes, let us help wash them!" Chen Zihao rolled up his sleeves and prepared to start washing.
Several other villagers followed Chen Zihao's example and started washing the grapes.
"Hey, wait, these grapes need to be picked before washing. We really don't need your help. You've been tired all day, go back and rest!" Shen Wanning stood up and stopped them.
"Then let's go home and get some scissors to help cut it." Chen Zihao said sincerely.
Shen Wanning felt a little helpless. Chen Zihao was truly too enthusiastic. "Really, there's no need. Go back now. If you keep being so polite, I won't let you help me next time," she threatened deliberately.
Chen Zihao chuckled and touched the back of his head, "Then we'll leave first. Miss Shen, please call us if you need anything."
"Well, let's go!"
After Chen Zihao and the others left, Shen Wanning took out some scissors from home and said, "Mom, let's cut the grapes together!"
Yue Mingzhu brought her own stool and squeezed over, "Auntie, let me help cut it."
"Okay." Shen Wanning handed her a pair of scissors.
Lin Hu was studying in his room, while Lin He had gone out to play with his friends. Lin Jiang and Lin Dashan were studying the spinning wheel.
Lin Jingce and Lin Jingcheng also brought a chair, sat next to the bamboo basket, and helped pick the grapes.
"Cut the grapes close to the stems and don't tear them apart. Throw away any broken or rotten grapes. Also, don't throw away the green, unripe ones." Shen Wanning said as she demonstrated by cutting a grape.
"I understand, aunt. Is this how you cut it?" Yue Mingzhu cut a grape and placed it in front of Shen Wanning, letting her take a look.
Shen Wanning smiled and said, "Mingzhu is really smart, that's how she cut it."
Aunt Zhang brought a large, clean wooden basin and filled it halfway with well water. "You guys pick the grapes first and put them in the basin. Xu and I will wash them together."
The family chatted while picking and washing grapes.
Lin Jingcheng took a green grape from the basin, washed it, peeled it, put it to Lin Hai's mouth, and let him lick it a few times.
Lin Hai's little face wrinkled up with sourness, and this little expression made everyone laugh.
Mrs. Wen held Lin Hai and moved away from him. "Don't make Xiao Hai cry. The child is getting older and harder to comfort."
After washing the grapes, Aunt Zhang took a large winnowing basket and poured the washed grapes into the winnowing basket, letting them dry overnight. After the grapes were dry, she could start making wine.
"With so many grapes, we definitely don't have enough wine jars at home. Let's ask the eldest son to go to town and buy two large wine jars tomorrow," said Aunt Zhang.
"By the way, I have to buy some sugar. Fortunately, my mother thought of this, otherwise I would have forgotten that there is no place to store wine at home." Shen Wanning said with a smile.
Lin Jingce nodded and said, "Okay, I'll go to town to buy it tomorrow morning."
Yue Mingzhu stood up and stretched. "Oh, I'm so tired. I have to go wash up and go to bed early."
"Go, go, all of you go back and wash up and rest early." Aunt Zhang and Shen Wanning carried the last basket of grapes to the bench in the yard and placed it there.
The moon gradually sets, the sun slowly rises, and a new day begins.
When Shen Wanning got up in the morning, Lin Jingce had already bought two large wine jars.
Maybe it was because she was tired recently, or maybe it was because rural life was more comfortable, but every time she was in Daqing Village, she felt extremely comfortable and slept more comfortably.
Since June, the weather has been getting hotter and hotter, so she has been going back to the express station and sleeping with the air conditioner on.
As for the others, they all placed two basins of ice in their rooms to cool down. Yue Mingzhu was initially surprised. After all, she knew ice was expensive, only the wealthy could afford it. She had never imagined the Lin family could actually use ice. Furthermore, they could actually fit two basins in one room. Even when she was in the capital, she only kept one.
After breakfast, she checked on the grapes. They were completely drained. The sun had already risen. Aunt Zhang was worried that the grapes would get damaged by the sun, so she moved them under the eaves that morning to avoid being sunburned.
"Knowing you'll need these wine jars, my eldest brother and I have already cleaned them. The sun is so strong, you see, they're all dried up." Aunt Zhang said, pointing to the two wine jars.
"Thank you, mom. You really understand me, hehe. But we have to put the wine jars in the warehouse first. The wine must be kept away from light." Shen Wanning said.
Then, Lin Jingce and Lin Dashan carried the two wine jars to the warehouse and put them away.
"Dad, could you please get the scale so we can weigh these grapes?" After leaving the warehouse, Shen Wanning said to Lin Dashan again.
"Okay, wait, I'll get it." Lin Dashan rubbed his hands and said.
Shen Wanning and Aunt Zhang put the grapes into a clean bag. Lin Dashan took them out and weighed them, and they weighed about 94 kilograms in total.
"Mom, there are 94 kilograms in total. Let's put these grapes into the wine vats, half of them in each wine vat." As they said that, Shen Wanning and Aunt Zhang put the grapes into the wine vat together.
Lin Dashan was about to bring the scale in when Shen Wanning called him, "Hey, wait a minute, Dad, we still need to use the scale to weigh the sugar."
"Sugar? Here's the sugar!" Lin Jingcheng came over with a bag of sugar. "I don't know how much sugar you need. I saw so many grapes and figured they'd need quite a bit, so I bought thirty kilograms. I'm not sure if it's enough."
"That's enough. Please ask Dad and big brother to weigh it together and weigh out two eight-jin. Pour eight jin of sugar into each wine jar, and then wait for it to ferment slowly." Shen Wanning said.
Lin Dashan and Lin Jingce began to weigh the sugar. After weighing the sugar, they poured it into the wine jar and finally covered it with a wooden lid.
Shen Wanning clapped her hands. "Alright, that's almost done. Come back and have a look in three days."
"Wan Ning, there is so much sugar in this wine. Won't it be sweet when the wine is brewed?" Lin Dashan asked with a frown.
What's so good about this wine if it's not spicy but sweet? It would be like drinking sugar water!
"Yes, wine is sweet when it is brewed. That's why they say this wine is suitable for women to drink." Shen Wanning replied.
Lin Dashan sighed, "Oh, I was thinking that I could drink some wine after it was brewed, but it seems that I won't be able to drink it now."
"It's okay, men can drink this wine too. Dad will try it first. If it tastes good, he'll drink it. If it doesn't, he won't."