Chapter 99

The courtyard of the Xu family is already filled with the unique and strange fragrance of medicinal wine.

At this time, it was time to go off duty. Many Langjun officials came back from their errands. As soon as they returned to Shijing Lane, they smelled the strong fragrance of medicine.

People who were traveling together looked at each other and their noses were twitching, smelling good! So delicious!

"Where does this scent of medicinal wine come from?"

"Yes, no one in our Shijing Lane knows how to make wine?"

"Could it be..." The person traveling with him hesitated for a moment, and then said pointedly, "Do you think it could be the Xu family?"

Yes, in Shijing Lane, except for Xu Xiaolang of the Xu family, there is no other doctor.

But this is brewing medicinal wine, which is different from concocting medicinal materials.

These people were also thinking about it and discussing with each other whether they should go to Xu's house and ask.

After all, the scent of this medicinal wine is so fragrant, it’s even more fragrant than the best medicinal wine in a wine shop!

At the same time, Mrs. He, the neighbors of the Xu family, knew that Xu Yi was making medicinal wine. She smelled the smell in the air that was even more fragrant than the day before. She felt happy and called to count the money in the house. Yu Qiulin.

"Brother Qiu, hurry up and bring two pieces of money. Let's go to Brother Yi's house."

"Why do you bring so much money to Brother Yi?" Yu Qiulin stood up and asked doubtfully.

Mrs. He said: "Yuan's Day is coming, I thought your father should be back too. He hasn't been home for a long time, so he should have a good rest in the past two days. Brother Yi happened to be making medicinal wine, and I wanted to buy a dime of it. "

Yu Qiulin was surprised: "Is this medicinal wine coming from the Xu family?"

"Yes." Mrs. He glared at him, "Why don't you know?"

"..."

He left early and came back late. I really don’t know.

On the other side of the Chen family, Chen Erwang smelled the scent of medicine, and he felt weird.

What kind of tricks is this guy doing?

He got up and secretly looked out through the crack in the door, and saw Mrs. He knocking on Xu's door with Yu Qiulin.

The boy bought by the Xu family, named A Xu, happily ran out to open the door.

Chen Erwang took this scene in his eyes and let out a jealous "hum" in his heart. He was really good at pretending. He cursed in a low voice, but smelled the aroma of the medicinal wine and swallowed subconsciously.

It smells so good.

Not to mention, regardless of other things, this boy Xu really has some tricks up his sleeve.

In the past, I just thought that if he didn't study, he would just work in the fields. Who would have thought that in less than a year, Xu Xiaozi would be living a prosperous life on South Street and become the object of fawning among the neighbors on South Street.

What else can Chen Erwang do? He gritted his back molars angrily, feeling nothing but regret.

So much so that now he somewhat resents his ex-wife, feeling that if it weren't for her, he wouldn't be in such an embarrassing situation.

Just like now, if he was still on good terms with the Xu family, he would be able to drink a cup of this medicinal wine.

...

In the Xu family room.

Xu Yi was pouring out the brewed wine when A Xu led Mrs. He and Yu Qiulin in.

"Lang Jun, Madam He, Brother Qiu is here."

"Brother Yi, has this wine been made?" As Madam He stepped into the room, her smiling voice came over before she arrived.

Xu Yi turned to look out the door and said to their mother and son, "It's been made, but I haven't tasted it yet. Just come over and help me taste it."

"That's great!" Mrs. He said happily. He leaned closer to Yu Qiulin, smelled the rich aroma of wine, and took a deep breath sincerely.

She kept praising her: "Good wine! It's good wine!"

"Ms. He, you haven't tasted it yet." Xu Yi smiled helplessly.

But Yu Qiulin said seriously: "What Brother Yi makes is of course good. You don't need to taste it to know it."

Xu Yi blinked. Is it appropriate for him to let two people who love to compliment him taste the wine for him?

It’s unclear whether it’s suitable or not, but A Xu has already come over with two wine cups.

Xu Yi took the wine cup, scooped out the wine with a bamboo spoon, and handed it to Madam He and Yu Qiulin.

The pottery pot that had just been removed from the stove, the wine inside was steaming hot and smoking, and the aroma of medicine came to their nostrils. Both mother and son were surprised.

They took a sip against the wine cup, and their eyes immediately lit up.

It is indeed a good wine.

Seeing Xu Yi looking at them with a smile on his face, Madam He asked, "Brother Yi, have you drank the wine this time?"

Xu Yi shook his head and said he hadn't yet.

The aroma of the wine brewed this time is more mellow, but I don’t know how it will taste, whether it will be astringent and sour like last time.

Madam He shook her head happily: "It's not astringent or sour, and the taste is mellow. It's very smooth in your mouth. But the medicinal taste is stronger and more pungent than ordinary sake. Drinking too much may be intoxicating."

Next to her, Yu Qiu Lin had finished drinking a cup of medicinal wine and said in agreement: "It's like my mother said, this wine is more intoxicating than the ones sold in wine shops outside."

Xu Yi curled his lips and smiled. In theory, this is indeed the case. The method of cooking wine Finally, the original wine will be purified, and the alcohol content will naturally be higher than the original.

And after the wine is boiled, the turbid matter in the wine will precipitate, and the wine will become clearer and translucent.

Coupled with the use of other medicinal materials, the color of this wine is like a clear sandalwood color, which is very surprising when poured from the spoon.

This is very similar to the red yeast wine they saw in the big tavern, but the taste of red yeast wine and the medicinal wine cooked by Xu Yi are too different to be considered the same.

Of course, the medicinal wine made by different people will taste different, even if they use the same secret recipe.

I heard that in Kaifeng Prefecture in Tokyo, you can taste all kinds of fine wines and jade liquids in different buildings, or call these precious and fine wines with elegant names such as Xianmin, Yuyun, Qiongbo, etc.

Ordinary commoners far away in Shu such as Mrs. He can't drink this kind of good wine.

But it didn't stop them from feeling that the wine Xu Yi cooked was no different from them.

"Brother Yi, have you thought about how to sell such a good wine?" Mrs. He asked Xu Yi.

Xu Yi made a calculation in his mind, and then said: "One dime of wine sells for three cents of silver."

Three cents of silver, that is three hundred cents. Madam He was surprised. The price alone didn't sound cheap, but this was medicinal wine. The medicinal wine sold in a wine shop cost several coins per cent. Could it be that the price Xu Yi set was a little cheaper.

She told Xu Yi that the price of sake was not low, and so much firewood was needed to cook the wine. The price of firewood was not low. If it was only sold for three cents of silver, she would not make much money.

Xu Yi smiled and said: "No, Mrs. He, I have a good idea."

The price of a dime of sake is eighty cents. After cooking, some of it will evaporate, and some will be absorbed by the medicinal materials, and there will still be 70% of the amount left. .

In other words, it takes about a dime and a half of sake to make a dime of medicinal wine. In this calculation, the sake is one hundred and twenty cents, plus twenty cents of medicinal materials and firewood money. Xu Yi controls the cost of a dime of medicinal liquor to Within two hundred cents.

Sell ​​it for three denarii and get one hundred pence.

If Xu Yi hadn't felt that cooking wine was hard and took a long time, and he couldn't lack people when cooking, he would have wanted to lower the price even more.

However, he also thought that those who could afford medicinal wine were not the common people with low incomes, so he felt that the price of three yuan was quite reasonable.

While chatting with Mrs. He, a new round of medicinal wine gurgled over the stove, and a strong aroma of medicinal wine leaked out from the gap in the lid.

"Eh? There are so many more?" After Mrs. He entered the house, she only talked to Xu Yi. Only then did she notice that there was a stove cooking wine in the corner next to her.

Xu Yi nodded, smelled the food, and told Madam He that it wasn't ready yet.

"I'm not in a hurry, as long as you can leave a corner for me in these two days." Madam He covered her mouth and smiled, saying, "I won't be willing to buy it no matter how much it is."

If it were medicinal wine sold in a wine shop, she wouldn't I'm not willing to spend this money.

Mrs. He is so generous, because Yu Qiulin has been able to earn money these days, and her family has a lot of money, so they are willing to buy some meat to eat, not to mention that it will be Yuan Day in a few days.

At about the same time, Mrs. He and her son happily left the Xu family.

At this time, there was new movement outside Xu's house.

“Bah bang bang bang—”

The wooden gate was knocked, and several nearby neighbors appeared outside the door.

Soon, Xu Yi came out of the room and saw familiar faces. He didn't ask A Xu to open the door, he went there himself.

"Hello, uncles." Xu Yi called politely.

One of the neighbor uncles asked with a smile: "Xu Xiaolang, what have you been doing these two days? Why does it smell so fragrant?"

"Yes, when we smell this smell, we get greedy and want to have a drink. A few drinks,” another person agreed.

When Xu Yi heard this, he explained that he was making medicinal wine at home, and the medicinal wine was intended to be cooked and sold.

When they heard that Xu Yi wanted to make medicinal wine to sell, two uncles among them immediately became interested.

They quickly asked: "Can you try it?"

"Of course you can." Xu Yi responded with a smile.

The medicinal wine he made today was just for people to taste. If there was anything wrong with it, he could continue to improve it.

The result -

when these neighbors came into Xu's house, their eyes kept falling on the clay pot containing medicinal wine, and they couldn't bear to look away.

When he drank the wine again, he couldn't be restrained and said, "It's wonderful."

"Okay, great!"

"It's just one cup, it's too little." Among them, the neighbor's uncle, who was drinking heavily, saw that the cup was empty. Liquor cup, he hurriedly asked Xu Yi, "Xu Xiaolang, how much does such a good wine cost?"

Xu Yi smiled lightly and said, "One dime of wine costs three coins of silver."

"Hiss—" Three coins of silver is really not cheap.

The energy they had just raised suddenly calmed down a lot. For them, three pieces of silver would equal half a month's monthly payment to buy a dime of wine, which was indeed too extravagant.

But good wine is rare and expensive.

Everyone was full of emotions, and some were reluctant to spend the price to buy wine, so they had to put down their glasses, thanked Xu Yi and left.

Gradually, these neighbors left one after another, and only one person remained.

Xu Yi looked at the neighbor uncle who had not left yet, and pointed his eyes at A Xu next to him. A Xu immediately put away the other wine glasses.

Then, he poured half a cup of medicinal wine for the uncle.

Xu Yi smiled and asked, "Uncle, is there something on your mind?"

This uncle was none other than Mrs. Li, who we had arrested and trafficked children with last time.

The neighbor uncle sighed: "The wine is good wine, but I am short of money and can't bear to spend three coins to buy it." He looked at the wine in the wine cup and was silent for a long time. Then he asked Xu Yi if he could just buy one bowl. .

The bowl here is the kind of earthenware bowl that people usually drink in wine shops. A full bowl is about one-third of a dime.

The uncle from the neighborhood went to the liquor store to buy drinks on weekdays. The cheap low-grade wine cost 2 cents a dozen and could last for several days.

But Xu Yi's wine was of the highest quality. He was reluctant to buy a dime directly, so he decided to spend a penny to buy a bowl.

Xu Yi was silent: "..."

He knew that people in Song Dynasty loved to drink, but because he had gathered with his friends many times during his filial piety period, they would not drink in front of him.

At this time, he finally felt how much Song people loved drinking.

Seeing that Xu Yi didn't respond for so long, the neighbor's uncle couldn't help but ask again. No way, this wine is too greedy.

Xu Yi came to his senses and agreed with a smile.

But there wasn't much wine left today, so Xu Yi didn't sell it to him and asked him to pick it up tomorrow.

It just so happened that he was also going to buy a tool for weighing wine.

Wine shops in the market usually sell wine in bowls, horns and buckets.

According to the current measurement method, a bowl of wine is about 250 ml; a dime of wine is about 680 ml; a bucket is ten liters, which is about 12.8 kilograms. [Note 1]

These items are all sold in grocery stores. After Xu Yi bought the tools for weighing wine in the store, he also picked up a few more ceramic bottles.

This ceramic bottle sold in the grocery store can hold more than two cents of wine. Xu Yi poured one and a half cents of wine into it, then added medicinal herbs to steam it, which was just enough.

The medicinal wine cooked in this way is almost a dime's worth. When a customer wants to buy it, just pour it directly into a dime and give it to the customer.

You won't open the bottle cap repeatedly on weekdays, which will affect the taste and efficacy of the medicinal wine.

The next day, Xu Yi went out when it was slightly light.

This time he took Ah Jin and Xiao Huang with him, leaving Ah Xu at home to guard the wine-making stove.

Ah Jin had not followed Xu Yi out for a long time. He put on a shoulder bag that he had made by himself and put a dozen coins in it. Then he took Xiao Huang and followed Xu Yi into Uncle Liu's bullock cart.

After getting in the car, Ah Jin knew and asked: "Mr. Lang, where are we going?"

Xu Yi said: "To Baili Village." The reason

why I went out today was to find Zhang Tiegou and bring him some medicinal wine. I also have something to ask him for. help.

After more than half an hour, the oxcart turned from the official road outside the city to a side road. There were only a few people on both sides. Looking into the distance, one could see an extra touch of silver frost on the top of the mountain covered by the mist.

The tops of several mountains outside the county have been covered with snow.

Uncle Liu thought of what happened in the past few days and said sadly: "These days, the number of people entering and leaving the city is much less than in previous years."

"Isn't Yuan Day coming soon? Why are there so few people entering the city?" Xu Yi asked doubtfully.

Uncle Liu sighed: "There were several heavy snowfalls last month, and many crops in the fields were frozen. This year's festival is not as lively as usual, and many people do not go to the city to buy anything."

The crops in the fields were damaged by the snow . , this family will have less income, so they need to tighten their belts.

For example, in Uncle Liu's village, in the past, before Yuan Day, every household had to buy two or several kilograms of meat to celebrate the festival.

But...the butchers only killed two pigs this year.

There are still some that cannot be sold. If it weren't for the cold weather, the meat that cannot be sold may not be saved.

There are also people who go to the county town to sell goods, but the business of selling door charms and peach charms is not easy to do. A few families dug up some wild mushrooms that grew in winter in the mountains and dried them to sell them. They could get a few bucks, but there were not many wild mushrooms around and there were many people digging them. After such a grab, there weren’t that many wild mushrooms available. Dig.

Uncle Liu's family managed to live a good life by relying on the rent money that Uncle Liu received each month and his two sons' part-time jobs.

But during this half month, the eldest daughter-in-law Lin needed to take medicine to treat her illness, so half of the monthly money Uncle Liu received from renting a car was used as medicine.

Coupled with the cold weather, it is difficult for casual workers to find work. This year, their family also has to celebrate the holidays.

Uncle Liu did not dare to say more about his family's situation, fearing that Xu Yi would misunderstand and think that he was doing it intentionally, so he would end this unpleasant conversation in a timely manner.

Soon, the ox cart arrived at the head of Baili Village.

Passing by the door of Village Chief Zhang's house, Xu Yi saw Village Chief Zhang chopping firewood in the yard. He heard the sound of wheels, looked up, and met Xu Yi's eyes in the car.

Village Chief Zhang came over happily to say hello: "Doctor Xu come to the village to look for Tiegou?"

Xu Yi got out of the car and nodded: "He was just looking for Brother Zhang."

Village Chief Zhang heard that he was really looking for Zhang Tiegou. , I wanted to be with him.

"I asked Tiedou last night to help me sell some firewood in the city. It just so happened that I was done with my work here and could go with Dr. Xu."

Xu Yi looked past him to the yard behind him and saw a pile of firewood lying on the ground. A few bundles of firewood, my mind moved slightly.

He asked: "Village Chief Zhang, how do you plan to sell this firewood?"

Village Chief Zhang: "I made an agreement with Tietou. We will sell it for 20 cents per bundle, which is two cents cheaper than the ones in the grocery stores in the city. That's good. Sell ​​some."

Xu Yi said, "Village Chief Zhang, why don't you sell these firewood to me?"

Village Chief Zhang was stunned.

Xu Yi said with a smile: "I have been using a lot of firewood recently. These bundles of firewood can only relieve my urgent needs."

"This...this..."

Village Chief Zhang hesitated, looking at Xu Yi as if he didn't mean to say so. He lied and happily agreed to sell it to him.

The firewood was temporarily sold to Xu Yi, so that he did not need to find Zhang Tiegou to pull the cart. Therefore, these bundles of firewood were moved to the ox cart by Village Chief Zhang.

Xu Yi took Ah Jin and Xiao Huang and walked slowly along the field path.

When they arrived at the door of Zhang Tiegou's house, they saw Zhang Tiegou patting the skin drying on the wooden pole with a stick.

When he saw Xu Yi coming, he stepped out and opened the door quickly.

"Brother Xu, you are finally here." After Zhang Tiegou finished speaking, he looked at the wine jar in his hand and chuckled, "Why did you buy me wine?"

He picked up the wine jar and called Xu Yi As they entered the house, they continued, "I was thinking of going to the tavern to have a drink and then I would call you to eat meat and drink wine. I didn't expect you to bring the wine first."

When they got inside, he couldn't wait to open the wine can. lid.

At this time, the scent of medicinal wine hidden in the jar broke free from its restraints and rushed out of the mouth of the jar in an instant, directly hitting his face.

Zhang Tiegou's nose twitched, his eyes widened immediately, and he shouted in surprise: "What a fragrant wine!" He turned to Xu Yi and asked him, "Where did you buy this good wine? The price is not cheap." Xu Yi looked at it

.

He smiled lightly: "This is the medicinal wine I failed to make. I thought it would be a pity to lose it, so I brought it to you."

Zhang Tiegou: "!!!"

"Did you do it?"

His expression was extremely complicated, knowing Xu Yi like this For a long time, no one knew that Xu Yi could make wine.

But for some reason, he felt that Xu Yi could make wine, and it didn't seem that strange. Zhang Tiegou raised his hand and patted Xu Yi on the shoulder: "Good brother, how many things are you hiding from me?"

Xu Yi thought seriously. After a moment: "Not much."

As soon as the voice fell, Zhang Tiegou stopped talking.

The taste of this wine was so fragrant. Although Xu Yi said it was a failed medicinal wine, he still poured a bowl excitedly and took a big sip.

Then...

"Ahem..."

Zhang Tiegou was caught off guard by the concentration of the wine and choked, unable to stop coughing several times.

This wine not only tastes spicy, but also has a strong medicinal flavor.

He slowed down and took another sip. He found that the medicinal wine was astringent in the mouth, but it had enough stamina. After a few more sips, it became a bit tonic.

"What medicinal effects does this wine have?" After drinking, Zhang Tiegou asked Xu Yi with some aftertaste.

Xu Yi said: "It has the effect of promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis. For those with internal injuries, it can also be taken before going to bed. You can only take one bowl at a time."

After saying that, his eyes fell on Zhang Tiegou's hand, which was still about to pour wine.

Zhang Tiegou paused and raised his head in disbelief: "How can one bowl be enough? When I go to a wine shop to drink, it's more than two cents every time."

He has a good drinker, and he often drinks four cents without getting drunk. At most, he is top-heavy and a little drifting.

Because most of today's wine is brewed by private individuals, produced and sold by themselves. People can buy music from the government and make wine at home. The wines produced are of varying quality, so the wines sold in wine shops and taverns are also of various kinds.

But most of them are unsifted meat wine, which is often called loose wine. This wine is cheap and the alcohol content is not high.

Therefore, it is easy to understand whether Zhang Tiegou is drunk or not.

But Xu Yi did not change his mind.

When he first tried the wine-cooking method, he added a large amount of medicine and cooked it for a long time, which resulted in a lot of purification of the wine.

Moreover, what he bought was high-quality sake, whose alcohol content was much higher than that of loose wine. After purification, Xu Yi tried the wine. There was no specific measuring device, but he could probably drink it. The alcohol content was no less than 20 degrees.

Zhang Tiegou is not drunk now, but that doesn't mean he is still sober after eating two bowls.

Zhang Tiegou clicked his tongue: "..." He didn't want to believe it.

Seeing his unwillingness to admit defeat, Xu Yi smiled and said, "That's okay. It's okay to have a drink once in a while."

He was so confident that Zhang Tiegou hesitated a little.

"Brother Xu, don't you want to make a bet with me again?"

In his heart, Xu Yi has learned from the past!

Xu Yi said: "You want to bet with me, you can."

Zhang Tiegou was stunned, and then clenched his fists, it was just a bet, he was not afraid.

"Brother Xu, what do you want to bet on? It just so happens that I have nothing to do recently. As long as Brother Xu wants to bet, I will accompany him to the end." After thinking about it, Zhang Tiegou stopped being coy and shouted boldly.

Xu Yi smiled and said: "I need a guard. If you lose, you will be A Xu's guard for two months."

Zhang Tiegou was stunned: "That's it?" This bet looked like it, but it didn't bother him at all. .

"Yes." Xu Yi nodded with a smile and added, "But there is no money to take."

Zhang Tiegou didn't care, scratched his head and asked, "Okay, what if I win?"

Xu Yi looked at him, Said: "If you win, you can drink the medicinal wine I make in the future."

"Really??" Zhang Tiegou immediately became excited.

Thinking that there would be countless good drinks to drink in the future, he suddenly became very excited and urged Xu Yi to start quickly.

Xu Yi nodded and poured a bowl of wine for Zhang Tiegou himself.

He said unhurriedly: "In a few days, I want A Xu to sell wine in the market, but he is too young. There needs to be someone who can protect him."

After thinking about it, he I thought of Zhang Tiegou.

Originally, Xu Yi wanted to hire Zhang Tiegou as a guard, but he wanted to gamble.

What Xu Yi could do, he naturally agreed.