Chapter 182: Winemaking

Seeing Lin Zhaodi's devastated expression, Lin Shu had no words for her. "It's nothing, Aunt Lin. I think our ice jelly is selling so well that the thief has been targeting you from the beginning. If not today, then some other time. As the saying goes, you don't have to worry about thieves stealing, you have to worry about thieves thinking about it. We got robbed today, so we'll be more vigilant in the future."

Lin Shu is really open-minded.

It's just money lost, which can be earned again. Aunt Lin and the others are fine. Thieves are despicable, but they're better than robbers.

In the apocalypse, she'd witnessed countless instances of looting and killing for supplies. The scenes were brutal and bloody, so she often told her companions that if they encountered robbers they couldn't defeat, they should prioritize saving their lives. Losing supplies could be resought, but losing one's life was a given.

Lin Zhaodi gritted her teeth and said, "Ah Shu, today's income is about the same as yesterday's, so let's calculate it as 1,700 wen. I'll put this amount on your head and I'll pay you back later."

"Aunt, you're being estranged from me by saying this. I'm handing over the ice jelly to Aunt Lin to sell, so naturally I have to bear the risks involved. If you really feel bad about it, how about we split the profits according to the ratio? You get 30% of the profits, and you also bear 30% of the losses."

It sounded reasonable, and after thinking about it, Lin Zhaodi agreed. This way, she would only have to pay back the 500 coins she was supposed to receive today?

However, when leaving the Lin family, Lin Zhaodi was still a little distraught.

When Zhou Ye learned about this, he said to Lin Shu, "This is your livelihood after all, you can't be careless."

After dinner, Zhou Ye went to Zhao Laosan's house. When he came back, he said to Lin Shu, "It's solved."

Lin Shu blinked. "How do we solve this problem? Even if we guard against thieves for a thousand days, there will always be a lapse."

Zhou Ye: "There are too few people for the thieves to steal. If we find someone to guard the money jar, the thieves won't be able to steal."

Lin Shu nodded, "Some money really can't be saved."

"Some money really can't be saved." Zhou Ye stared at her, his eyes deep and filled with burning heat.

Lin Shu: ...

I always feel that what Aye said is not the same as what she said.

"Ashu, there are still about twenty days left." Zhou Ye said suddenly.

Lin Shu: “Ah?”

Zhou Ye: "The day we get married."

Lin Shu couldn't help laughing, "Aye, you're not counting the days on your fingers every day, are you?"

Zhou Ye hummed, "Counting."

Lin Shu laughed at him, "What's there to count? It's just a wedding. It won't be much different from now. You do your thing and I'll do mine."

"It's different." Zhou Ye said in a low voice.

"What's the difference?" Lin Shu looked at him and asked knowingly.

Zhou Ye paused, as if considering what kind of answer Lin Shu wanted to hear. After a moment, he replied, "Ah Shu, I want to go in. I can go in after we get married."

Lin Shu's eyes widened when she heard this, and she almost thought she had misunderstood. But when she met A Ye's gaze, which was so hot that it seemed to burn a hole in her body, she thought to herself that she was right.

In an instant, her pretty face flushed with shame, "Ahhh, you bastard Ah Ye, why are you saying such nonsense!"

The two of them were enjoying the night breeze by the fish pond. Lin Shu was so embarrassed that she stepped on him hard and turned and ran away.

Zhou Ye lowered his head and looked at the instep of his foot that was stepped on, with a slight smile on his lips.

Ah Shu didn't use much force when she stepped on him, so he didn't feel any pain at all, but rather a little itchy.

When Aunt Lin and Uncle Zhao came to get ice jelly and ice cubes the next day, Lin Shu realized what Zhou Ye had done last night. He actually persuaded Uncle Zhao to set up a stall with Lin Zhaodi to sell ice jelly!

For farmers who rely on the land for their livelihood, nothing is more important than farming. Just like Lin Dashan, who spends every day in the fields, weeding doesn't require daily visits; just one or two days to remove weeds before they grow tall is enough. Otherwise, some farmers with large plots of land wouldn't be able to cultivate them with just a few workers. But the more time you spend in the fields, the more you'll yield when harvest time arrives.

Uncle Zhao was actually willing to put down his farming work and start setting up a stall?

Zhou Ye explained: "Uncle Zhao was reluctant at first, but I did the math for him and he agreed."

Aunt Lin could earn four or five hundred coins a day selling ice jelly. This year, the price of a dan of brown rice was six hundred coins, so her daily earnings could almost buy a dan of brown rice. And with her hard work, an acre of paddy field could only yield three dan of grain at most. Selling ice jelly could earn her back that much in four or five days!

After this analysis, even the dumbest person would know how to choose.

Although farming is something that is ingrained in farmers' DNA, it is nothing compared to absolute profit.

Besides, Uncle Zhao didn't just ignore the land. After he thought it over, he went to the Wang family. This Wang family was the same Wang family that Wang Changshun helped build the house last time.

The Wang family had little land and many people, and they could not even get enough to eat. Uncle Zhao asked Wang Changshun to help farm the two acres of land at home. He provided Wang Changshun with one dinner every day. They ate breakfast early and made simple meals, so he didn't care about breakfast, but would give him an extra ten copper coins.

When the Wang family heard this, both the two elders and Wang Changshun himself agreed without thinking.

Their family doesn't have much land, and they can still farm the fields without one laborer. If they ask Wang Changshun, who has a big appetite, to help farm other people's land, they can get a meal for him. It sounds like a good deal.

Moreover, the food cooked by Aunt Lin was generous and delicious, even the second brother Wang was greedy.

What’s even more exciting is that Uncle Zhao not only provides a dinner, but also gives an extra ten copper coins!

Ten copper coins might not sound like much to others, but their family was poor. A liter of brown rice at the grain store cost seven copper coins, so ten copper coins could buy a liter of brown rice with some left over! And one liter of brown rice was enough for their whole family to eat three meals of porridge!

After hearing Zhou Ye's explanation, Lin Shu felt relieved.

Compared to Old Man Liao, Uncle Zhao is stronger and will stay at the stall the whole time, which is indeed safer.

Now that Uncle Zhao was here, Zhou Ye didn't need to help with moving things. Although he wasn't as tall and strong as A Ye, he was still a strong man. He easily picked up the ice jelly and ice cubes and put them on the ox cart.

Because the ox cart was loaded with tables, chairs and other miscellaneous items, there was no room for Zhao Laosan to sit on it, so Zhao Laosan followed behind on foot. He was a strong man used to doing heavy work, so walking this distance was no problem for him.

After watching Aunt Lin and Uncle Zhao walk away, Lin Shu returned to the courtyard.

"Sister, if Uncle Zhao goes with him, will Aunt Lin still employ her cousin?" Lin Xiaopu asked.

If she hired someone and then quit after one day, it would be very sad for Aunt Huang.

Lin Shu said, "Aunt Lin is a cautious person. Yesterday, the money jar was stolen by a pickpocket because they were short-handed. Uncle Zhao went over to help keep order and watch over the money jar. Even a grown man like him can't do chores like wiping tables and washing dishes."

Lin Shu had originally considered keeping the place under control, so she had asked Old Man Liao to come over and walk around from time to time. However, Old Man Liao still had his own things to do, and he was driving an oxcart, which couldn't stay in the streets for too long, otherwise it would block the way. The day before yesterday, Old Man Liao was able to help collect the money because he parked the oxcart outside the gate and asked someone he knew to help watch it.

However, after saying this, Lin Shu changed her tone. "Even if Aunt Lin doesn't hire her cousin anymore, it's fine. Putting aside all the emotional ramifications, Aunt Lin is the employer. If her cousin was originally doing something else, and Aunt Lin called her over only to fire her halfway through, that would be unethical. But that's not the case. She helped her cousin by having her come. If one day Aunt Lin no longer needs her cousin, as long as she's paid, she can stop hiring her. If she keeps someone on because she feels bad about it even though she clearly doesn't need them anymore, then she's sacrificing her own interests by supporting someone who's idle. It's only herself who suffers, so why bother?"

Lin Xiaopu seemed to be thinking after listening to this.

Lin Shu rubbed her little head, turned around and asked He Guixiang, "Mother, when are you going to make the wine yeast? The day before yesterday you said yesterday, and yesterday you said today. If you don't make it today, will I still be able to drink the fermented glutinous rice when I get married?"

He Guixiang glared at her, "Aren't you busy making your wedding dress? I'm not as good at sewing as your third aunt, and she wanted to help, but I thought it would be best if you made the wedding dress yourself for my daughter's wedding."

Lin Shu said with a smile: "Just do it, mother. I am beautiful. No matter what shape your wedding dress is, it will look good on me."

He Guixiang was amused by her, "Okay, I know you want to eat fermented glutinous rice. After you have breakfast, I will go to pick some fermented glutinous rice."

Lin Xiaopu hurriedly said, "Mother, I'll join you! Sister, in previous years, mother and I made the wine yeast balls together."

After the family had breakfast, He Guixiang asked Lin Yushu, who had come to visit, "Yushu, have you made the yeast for your wine?"

Lin Yushu replied, "We have some koji made last year at home, so I'm not going to make it this year."

"I'm making some wine yeast today. When it's ready in a few days, you can take some back."

Lin Yushu did not refuse and thanked him quickly.

After Lin Yushu entered the main hall, teacher Lin Shu began her daily lectures, and He Guixiang took Lin Xiaopu to the fields to pick yeast.

The koji grass is the hot polygonum officinale that Lin Shu mentioned. The villagers use this hot polygonum officinale to make koji and fermented glutinous rice every year, so this grass is called koji grass.

Both the flowers and leaves of the Polygonum hydropiper can be used to make koji, but He Guixiang only uses the flowers, and only selects the Polygonum hydropiper flowers from dry land. The koji made from the Polygonum hydropiper flowers from dry land is better than that from the riverside.

Seeing Lin Xiaopu putting handfuls of Polygonum multiflorum flowers into the bamboo basket, He Guixiang didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "That's enough, it's just for making wine yeast, so we don't need that much."

Lin Xiaopu said cheerfully, "We're also sending it to Aunt San's house. Let's make some more."

"You don't need so much. The koji is used to make fermented glutinous rice, not to be eaten as a meal."

The two gathered half a basket of hot pepper flowers, crushed them, and mixed them with the rice flour. He Guixiang couldn't pinpoint the exact proportions, but after making a few, she could tell by eye whether the mixture was roughly right. After stirring evenly, they added just enough warm water—not too much, just enough to hold the hot pepper flower and rice flour together without breaking apart.

Lin Xiaopu helped He Guixiang to make about twenty or thirty quail egg-sized koji balls.

It’s not enough to just knead the koji balls. You have to sprinkle some aged koji on them.

He Guixiang took out a large bamboo sieve and put the koji balls in it, while Lin Xiaopu sprinkled the crushed old koji powder on it. One of them sprinkled while the other held the large bamboo sieve and kept turning it.

The bamboo sieve rotates in circles, and the koji balls inside also roll back and forth. After a few rounds, the koji balls in the bamboo sieve are not only coated with old koji powder, but also become more round.

"Xiao Pu, help Mother get a basket."

"Okay!"

This time, I made so many koji dumplings that they wouldn't fit on one layer, so I had to lay them out in two. I put a layer of straw at the bottom of the basket, making the first layer slightly thicker. I placed the koji dumplings on top, one by one. Then I put another layer of straw on top, followed by the second layer. Finally, I added another layer of straw to the top.

After the floor was laid, He Guixiang took the basket and placed it in the corner.

Leave it like this for two or three days. If water droplets appear on the straw during this time, ventilate it in time to prevent it from getting too hot inside and burning the koji.

When white fuzz grows on the koji balls, it means that the koji balls are ready.

"Mother, you just take care of your things these two days. I'll help you watch over them. I'll call you when white hair grows on the koji balls." Lin Xiaopu took on the job.

He Guixiang smiled and said, "I know when the hair will grow white, so why would I need you to see it?"

After the white hair grows, place the koji dumplings in a shaded and ventilated place to dry for three days. After they are completely dry, they can be sealed and stored.

If stored properly, it won't go bad for a year or two.