“We can brew wine!” Xu Lin said.
“We need white sugar to brew wine, but we don’t have that much… Ah, I’ve got it! We can make fruit vinegar!” Li Jingjing suddenly had an idea.
So the two of them set off again with cloth bags, baskets, and plastic bags.
There were lots of wild grapes in this area. The two of them took scissors and cut them off bunch by bunch and put them into their baskets. Soon the baskets were full, so they put them into plastic bags.
"Why are you cutting branches? They're wet, you can't burn them as firewood." Li Jingjing didn't quite understand as she watched Xu Lin cut grape branches and put them in the basket.
“The grapes are propagated by cuttings. We’ll keep a few branches so we can plant them elsewhere when we leave this place,” Xu Lin explained.
"Oh, I see. I'll cut some too." Li Jingjing suddenly realized.
The two of them cut grapes and vines, chatting and laughing as they went, and soon their baskets and plastic bags were full.
The two walked back with baskets on their backs and plastic bags in their hands.
Plastic bags are now an important resource. They are reusable, convenient for storing things, and don't take up much space when stored away.
Back at their lodgings, Zhou Pin and Sun Wei had already dug a ten-meter-long, one-meter-deep trench. After saying goodbye, they went home separately.
Back home, Xu Lin unloaded her basket and washed the grapes in a bucket. The water in the bucket was purified water that Zhou Pin had fetched from halfway up the mountain; it was used to irrigate the fields and wash vegetables. The two of them were still using water from their spatial storage.
After washing the grapes and laying them out to dry on a bamboo mat, Xu Lin set off again with a basket on her back and a plastic bag in her hand.
When they arrived near Sun Wei's house, Li Jingjing and Grandma Wu also came over.
“I told my mom to rest at home, but she insisted on coming along,” Li Jingjing complained sweetly.
"I've finished cleaning up the house and I don't have anything else to do. Being with you all is good exercise," Grandma Wu said with a smile.
The three of them went to the grapevines again to start pruning the grapes. Since Li Jingjing's family only had one pair of scissors, Grandma Wu took a small shovel to dig for wild vegetables. After digging for a while, she and Li Jingjing took turns pruning the grapes. The two women got along very well.
After finishing this batch of cuts, it was almost noon, and the three of them had to go back to cook.
After politely declining Grandma Wu's suggestion to join her for meals, Xu Lin carried a basket on her back and plastic bags in her hands and went home.
What a joke! If we eat with them, we'll be eating nothing but scraps. How can I cook special meals for myself? Zhou Pin works so hard, how can he not eat something good?
At noon, Xu Lin cooked braised pork, chicken stew with mushrooms, sweet and sour pork, and fish ball soup—all hearty dishes, after all the hard work!
"The fence will probably take about ten days to build. It's all done by hand, which takes a lot of time. During this period, the security work will be handled by Shuke and Beta," Zhou Pin said, looking at the dogs happily eating beside him.
These past few days, Shuke and Beta have been released. Zhou Pin said he wanted to train them and let them take care of their own food. Today, for the first time ever, he allowed the dogs to eat together. It turns out there was a task for them.
The dogs, happily eating: You old fool!
But there was nothing they could do; they were beholden to the food they were owed, so Shuke and Beta had no choice but to accept their fate and take on the security work.
In the afternoon, Xu Lin washed and dried the second batch of grapes picked in the morning. The first batch had already dried and was ready to be used for winemaking.
Crush the grapes, filter out the seeds, then put the crushed grapes into a jar, layering grapes and sugar, and finally seal it and store it in a cool place.
Xu Lin had some grapes left and planned to make vinegar like Li Jingjing. Winemaking used too much sugar, and there was a wine cellar of red wine in the space.
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