The day the rock sugar crystallized, the five brothers of Fu really took leave and went home. The next day, they went into the mountains to pick bayberries together, carrying baskets on their backs. Zhou Laoda and Zhao Guihua also went.
This time, they did nothing else but pick bayberries. By the time they returned home in the evening, each of their baskets was full, a total of eight baskets.
Xingxing's basket was small and could probably hold about ten pounds, but she only carried six pounds back. Zhao Guihua was worried that she would get tired, and Xingxing protested a few times, saying that everyone else had filled their baskets to the brim, but hers was only half full.
Back home, Zhao Guihua washed the bayberries, frowning and complaining again, "These things use so much salt! Salt is so expensive, why do we have to use salt water to wash them?"
"Alright, stop nagging. We're almost done washing up. Why are you still nagging?" Old Zhou was sitting next to her helping out and had been listening to her rambling for most of the hour. Now his ears were ringing.
"Salt is so expensive, don't you feel bad about wasting it?" Zhao Guihua asked him.
Zhou Laoda: Does feeling sorry for someone necessarily mean you have to keep nagging?
The five brothers have been busy draining the washed bayberries in a bamboo sieve since evening, almost an hour, and they still haven't made dinner.
Xingxing licked a small piece of rock candy, then ate a bayberry. When she tasted the sourness, she licked the rock candy again.
"Let's go cook. Dad, Mom, you and Xingxing rest here. After we finish dinner, we can put these bayberries into jars." Zhou Sanfu pulled the other four Fus to the kitchen.
Seeing their attentiveness, Zhao Guihua sighed softly. She didn't mean to nag, but seeing so much salt being used to wash the bayberries made her heart ache, and she couldn't help but mutter to herself. If she didn't say it, she would feel suffocated.
"Third Brother said we'll have bayberry wine in seven days. Will Mom and Dad's bayberry wine be as sour as bayberries?" Xingxing asked curiously.
Neither Zhou Laoda nor Zhao Guihua had ever tasted bayberry wine before, and they didn't know what it tasted like, so they couldn't answer.
"We'll try it then, but Xingxing is too young to drink alcohol. I'll just dip a little with my chopsticks so you can taste it," Zhao Guihua said.
"Okay, I'll just try it and see what it tastes like." Xingxing pouted. She can't drink alcohol now; she'll drink it when she's older.
After dinner, Zhou Laoda and his wife, along with five Fu brothers, put the drained bayberries into a wine jar. Then they crushed some ice and poured it over the bayberries, covering them completely. They then poured in high-proof liquor, which completely submerged the bayberries and ice. Finally, they sealed the jar with clay.
After they finished, Zhou Laoda led his five sons to carry all the wine jars into the cellar. Zhao Guihua held a torch to light their way, and Xingxing followed them back and forth.
"Daughter, we can sit here, you don't need to run around." Zhao Guihua gently wiped the sweat from her forehead.
But Xingxing insisted, "No, Xingxing is not tired from delivering wine down to the cellar with Dad and Brother."
Unable to dissuade her, Zhao Guihua had no choice but to accompany her back and forth.
"Mom, when can we open the bayberry wine and drink it?" Xingxing asked, smacking her lips.
"Your third brother said that we can open a jar and try it in seven days." Didn't the child just ask that?
Xingxing counted on her fingers, trying to figure out how long seven days was, but she couldn't figure it out after a long time because sometimes a day felt like a very long time, but other times a day went by very quickly.
Sigh, I wonder if seven days is a long or short time for the bayberry wine to be brewed?
They finally finished working at the end of the night. When Zhou Laoda and Zhao Guihua went to bed, the children were already asleep. Zhao Guihua lay on the bed and whispered, "We brewed thirty jars of wine today. We'll wait until this wine is brewed and taste it before brewing the second batch. If it doesn't taste good, we'll stop."
"Tsk, why can't you say anything nice? We've only just started, and you're already telling me to stop. These bayberries aren't rice; they can't be stored. Once the season is over, they're gone. If we don't pick more now to make wine, we'll have to wait until next year."
"Since we've already started, let's go for it. It's only a hundred taels of silver, we can afford it." Old Zhou was quite open-minded. After saying that, he turned his back to his wife, looking like he didn't want to talk to her.
Zhao Guihua stared at his back for a long time, but instead of turning around to coax him, he fell asleep. She was so angry that she punched him hard. "I'm doing this for the family, you heartless man! You don't even care about a hundred taels of silver now. We've been married for ten years. If it weren't for Xingxing bringing wealth to our family, you wouldn't even have saved ten taels of silver."
Hmph, what a stinky man.
The only response she received was a man's deafening snoring; it was unclear whether he was truly asleep or faking it.
So the next day, the Zhou family continued to go up the mountain to pick bayberries and brew wine at night. They brewed wine for several days in a row until they ran out of rock sugar.
After finishing brewing the wine, the five brothers Fu were not in a hurry to return to the private school. Zhao Guihua urged them to go back, but they refused, insisting that they would wait until the bayberry wine was brewed and tasted before leaving.
In Zhou Sanfu's words, "In two more days, we'll be able to taste the first batch of bayberry wine. We'll go back to the private school after we've tasted it. Mother, don't rush us. We know what we're doing, and we won't fall behind in our studies."
“Yes, Xingxing should try it too, don’t go back to the private school.” Xingxing chimed in from the side.
"Alcohol, alcohol, alcohol! Be careful, or you'll all turn into little alcoholics. None of you want to study, all you want to do is drink." Zhao Guihua started nagging again, annoyed.
Seven days later, the first batch of bayberry wine was ready to be opened and tasted. The entire Zhou family gathered in the cellar, each holding a bowl and eagerly waiting.
"Everyone gets a bite, and you even bring a bowl? Do you think this is a wedding banquet?" Zhao Guihua laughed in exasperation.
“It’s bayberry wine, not wedding wine, Mom, you’re wrong.” Xingxing snuggled up to Zhao Guihua every now and then.
The bottle opened by Old Zhou was also the first bottle of wine he tasted.
"How does it taste? Is it good?" Zhao Guihua asked nervously, her eyes filled with anticipation.
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