Future Pet Shop

Chapter 339: Chapter 339: Brewing Wine

"Oh, Bin, another new friend in your shop?" The shopkeeper was momentarily surprised to see Xiaoliu but quickly composed herself. After meeting Hah’Er, Cheeky, Shi Gaofei, Egg, and Maphario, her tolerance for the unusual had risen significantly. She figured that next time, even if Shen Yibin led an elephant in, she wouldn’t be shocked. In fact, she’d be delighted. ’Just think how big an elephant’s stomach is! I wouldn’t have to worry about my banana inventory anymore.’

There was no elephant today, but a monkey wasn’t bad, either. ’It has to eat more than that hamster from last time, right?’ "Come, come, look at these. These are all organic fruits my old man just got in. No chemical fertilizers or pesticides were used during planting." The shopkeeper enthusiastically welcomed Shen Yibin inside, leading him and Xiaoliu to the fruit section. "Look, we also have the new Yunzhong Oranges, the very same ones Hah’Er helped advertise in the promo video. Why don’t I peel one for you to try? You can buy them if you like the taste."

The shopkeeper was a savvy businesswoman. Before Shen Yibin could even respond, she had picked out a particularly nice-looking orange and started peeling it. She handed a plump slice to Shen Yibin, then gave a few more to Xiaoliu and Hah’Er. "You two try some, too."

"SQUEAK! SQUEAK!" Emei Mountain was abundant with crisp red plums and kiwis, but oranges were a rare sight. Xiaoliu had never seen such a plump orange back on the mountain. It held the slice in its paw, studying it for a good while before timidly stuffing it into its mouth. As it bit through the thin membrane of the pulp, sweet juice burst across its tongue. This selectively bred fruit was a world away from the sour, astringent wild berries of the mountains. The Yunzhong Orange won Xiaoliu over in an instant.

It devoured the slices in just a few bites and held its paw out to Shen Yibin for more. It seemed Shen Yibin’s training over the past few days had paid off; at least Xiaoliu didn’t just try to grab more on its own.

"Don’t just eat oranges. I have plenty of other delicious things. Here, try this kind of banana." The shopkeeper smiled, satisfied. ’Looks like this little monkey is about to become a loyal customer.’ To seal the deal, she grabbed a banana, peeled it, and handed it to Xiaoliu. ’All monkeys love these, right?’ she thought.

However, things didn’t quite go as she’d expected. Xiaoliu took the banana, nibbled it twice, and tossed it aside. It kept twisting its mouth, apparently very unhappy with the taste.

The shopkeeper was also a bit confused. She broke off pieces of another banana, handing them to Shen Yibin and Hah’Er and trying a piece herself. "There’s nothing wrong with the taste. Why doesn’t it like them?"

"Maybe it’s just never really eaten them before?" Shen Yibin guessed. Xiaoliu was a wild monkey from Emei Mountain. Judging by its native habitat, it likely hadn’t ever robbed or harassed tourists for food. Bananas didn’t grow on Emei Mountain, so it was very possible it had never tasted one. Its reaction, therefore, seemed understandable.

"Should I have it try some other fruits then?" The shopkeeper reluctantly accepted Shen Yibin’s explanation. She brought out other fruits for Xiaoliu to try. First was a kiwi, which Xiaoliu loved and devoured in a few bites. Next were longans and lychees, but these two received the same treatment as the banana—tasted and tossed aside.

Strawberries: it liked them. Loquats: disliked. Grapes: liked. Hawthorns: disliked. Pears: liked. Walnuts: disliked. Sugarcane: liked. Almonds: disliked... After sampling over a dozen types of fruit, Shen Yibin and the shopkeeper slowly started to notice a pattern. Xiaoliu preferred fruits with thick, juicy flesh. It showed little interest in those with not much pulp, such as lychees, longans, and hawthorns. The same went for bananas, which were not particularly juicy. As for nuts like walnuts and almonds, Xiaoliu barely gave them a glance before tossing them aside in disdain.

’Oh, it seems its tastes match the ingredients needed to make Monkey Wine.’ Shen Yibin was starting to understand Xiaoliu’s choices. According to the records on the tree, Monkey Wine was made when monkeys gathered wild fruits and piled them in a hollow. The fruit at the bottom would be crushed by the weight of the fruit above, breaking down and releasing its juices. Meanwhile, the pile of fruit would block off the air, allowing the juice to react with the wild yeast on the skins and ferment into wine.

This method required ingredients with a high juice content, like apples, pears, strawberries, grapes, and oranges. If you filled a tree hollow with bananas, you probably wouldn’t get much Monkey Wine. As for walnuts and peanuts, you could let them sit for ten years and likely wouldn’t get a single drop of wine.

’Oh, sugarcane might be difficult, too,’ he thought. ’While it has a lot of juice, the cane itself is too tough. The juice has to be forcefully extracted; a natural pile wouldn’t be enough to squeeze any out.’

Now that he understood, Shen Yibin had a clear idea of which fruits to pick. "Ma’am, I’ll get some oranges, weigh out two pounds of strawberries, and I’ll need some pears, too. These grapes look great, I’ll take all of them! Oh, and I’ll get some of those Yunzhong Oranges and a few tangerines as well..."

A short while later, Shen Yibin was juggling several plastic bags, almost too many to carry. He quickly called Xia Shixuan and Xie Nannan for help. Only then were they able to carry all the fruit and dinner ingredients back home.

"Boss, why did you buy so much fruit? There’s no room in the fridge for all this. Couldn’t you just buy it when you want to eat it?" Xia Shixuan thought her boss had come back a little crazy.

"Heh, you’ll see soon enough." Back at the store, Shen Yibin didn’t start making dinner right away. Instead, he placed all the fruit in front of Xiaoliu, intending to watch what it would do.

Xiaoliu’s belly was already round from its feast at the fruit stand, so it didn’t eat any more. Instead, it grabbed the plastic bags, zipped up the tree in a flash, picked up one piece of fruit, inspected it, and tossed it into a tree hollow. It picked up another, inspected it, and tossed it into the hollow. But the third piece of fruit it picked up, it set aside...

"Boss, what is it doing? Is it trying to hide the fruit so it doesn’t have to share with us?" Xia Shixuan felt this monkey’s intelligence was on par with Shen Yibin’s. ’If you’re going to hide something, you should at least do it out of sight. We’re all standing right here watching. If we wanted some, we could just grab a ladder and get them.’

"Heh, you’ll see soon enough," Shen Yibin repeated. ’It’s no fun if I just tell you.’ He couldn’t wait to see the looks on their faces when the Monkey Wine was finished brewing.

Hm? After watching for a while, Shen Yibin started to see what was going on. Xiaoliu wasn’t just tossing the fruit in randomly.