Chapter 432: Rice Market
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Su Binglan kept an eye on the rice in the pot. After cooking the rice, she told Su Fengzhang to remove all the firewood from the furnace to stop heating the stove.
He removed the broken pieces of firewood, but embers were still on them. Ding Wan was worried about the fire, so she quickly put the broken wood into the furnace of the stove she was cooking on.
“Why did you do that?” Ding Wan said, “You could’ve just poured water on it, silly.”
Su Fengzhang smacked his forehead. “Ah, I’m such a fool. Why didn’t I think of that?”
Meanwhile, Su Binglan continued watching the rice pot. When it cooled down, she placed the things into the wine jar. She would proceed to the next step when the temperature was about right.
After a while, she fermented the things into a jar. The fermentation process would take about one to two months. However, Su Binglan had used her spiritual spring water, so the time would be shorter. It might not even take a month, but they could only distill it after fermentation.
Every step was meticulous and cumbersome, yet Su Fengzhang and Su Wenxian watched and learned earnestly. They had a simple lunch at noon and had been busy the whole afternoon.
While the trio did this, Su Binglan thought it would be great if there were grapes she could use to make wine. Still, she could also use wild fruits to make wine.
She thought of the wild fruits that were a gift from a foreign businessman who came to buy tofu products. Most who ordered tofu from the factory would also bring along some of their local specialties.
She remembered receiving a basket of fruits from one of them. She thought of using them to make wine and headed straight home to get the fruits.
Su Fengzhang and Su Wenxian followed her to peel and core the fruit before cutting the skins into pieces. After that, she added the cut fruits into the pot and submerged them in water to boil.
After brewing, the fruit wine would have to sit for three months before one could drink it. Winemaking was typically a long process, but the spiritual spring water would shorten the time.
As such, Su Binglan wanted to brew as much as possible first. She could brew it before the end of the year and sell it then.
‘During the New Year, Uncle Fengzhang can drink his own brewed wine. My father and brothers will be thrilled, too.’ Su Binglan revealed a bright smile at the thought of this.
After lunch, Ding Wan went to the embroidery shop to work while her niece was busy with her uncle and cousin for half the afternoon.
Su Fengzhang and Su Wenxian had memorized the winemaking steps and could make wine on their own.
Su Binglan said, “Just keep brewing wine like this, Uncle Fengzhang and Cousin Wenxian. I’ll soon teach you to distill it.”
The distillation process was also a crucial step. Then the father-son duo’s wine would be more fragrant and mellow with just a few more steps.
“All right,” Su Fengzhang said.
He and his son felt fulfilled that afternoon because they had learned to make wine. Although the steps were complex, the duo remembered them all.
It was good that they had prepared everything Su Binglan had requested. Otherwise, they would have taken the entire afternoon to finish.
“Uncle Fengzhang, Cousin Wenxian, you can make more wine since it takes a long time to ferment. If you make more wine, you can drink it in about two months.”
Su Fengzhang chuckled. “I think so too. Wine is good, so we should make more.
But we won’t have enough jars if we do that.”
The duo planned to make wine daily, but fortunately for them, Su Binglan had a lot of grain in her pocket dimension. Moreover, the rice harvest this autumn was considerably higher than usual. Therefore, they could use the rice to make wine.
Moreover, Su Binglan had a lot more silver with her, so she could use it to buy more rice for winemaking.
She said, “Don’t worry. I’ll go to the Taos and ask them to make more pots and jars. I’ve put a lot of rice in my family’s warehouse. I’ll tell my parents to bring some over later. We’ll need more rice in the future if we make more wine. If so, we can buy grain from the surrounding villages.”
Fortunately, many Su Teng villages, including those in surrounding villages, had exchanged rice seeds with the Su family. The yield would be higher if they used the Su family’s rice seeds to grow grain in spring.
By then, the villagers could save some rice and sell the rest. Su Binglan could also buy the villagers’ extra rice at market price.
Su Wenxian said, “If that’s the case, we’ll have to thank you.”
‘Thank me?’
Su Wenxian noticed his cousin’s puzzled expression and added, “You don’t know how difficult it is to sell harvested crops in autumn, Cousin Binglan. Some came here to collect grain at low prices. Most can’t even sell their grain for much.
“Some pick grains and push their harvests several miles away to sell just a few pounds. The buyers typically come up with various bargaining reasons to get lower prices, saying the sellers didn’t clean the rice or the quality is poor. The buyers will sometimes work together on this.
“Although the price of grain will be low, the sellers will have no choice but to sell. If not, the prices will go even lower if the sellers don’t sell their grains as soon as possible.
“Most sellers just want to earn money by selling their grains. Then their families will have better lives. Besides, they still have to buy things for the New Year,” Su Wenxian’s heart grew heavy as he spoke about this.
He hoped to help more people, but his abilities were limited. In the past, he and his father could not help Ding Wan. However, Su Wenxian felt energized now that he was working with his cousin because he could help others while helping himself.
He enjoyed this feeling and felt he was also doing something meaningful.
Su Binglan suddenly realized what her cousin was talking about. “So, that’s how it is.’
After all, her parents did not let her work in the past, so she did not know what it was like when they sold crops.
After some thought, Su Binglan said, “Uncle Fengzhang, Cousin Wenxian, our winery will be huge. You two can make more wine and buy more rice from the villages at a fair price if we don’t have enough.
“We’ll hire more people to help when I get someone to build the winery. Still, you two must keep the winemaking recipe and methods to yourselves. The future workers will only know one step for each section, like an assembly line.
We’ll hire all men this time.”
Su Fengzhang and Su Wenxian got excited when they heard her words.
“Don’t worry, Binglan,” Su Fengzhang said, “We’ll do our best.”
“The men in the village can stop worrying about being idle now,” Su Wenxian said happily, “The men in the village are restless since the tofu factory and embroidery shop only hire women. The men want to work, too. Soon, they can work in the winery.”
Su Binglan said, “Of course. Still, you must only hire those who are diligent.”
She would not directly involve herself in the winery’s hiring process. Instead, she entrusted her uncle and cousin to handle it.
“Naturally.” Su Fengzhang nodded..
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