The trip to Fragrant Hills eventually turned into discussing business and development plans.
The four men discussed the economy and the market, as well as policies and directions. Chen Jing quickly concluded that opening up to private ownership next year was basically a foregone conclusion.
Ji Xia and the other two girls actually went hiking, taking photos, and having fun.
When they stood at the highest point of Fragrant Hills and looked down, the whole mountain was ablaze with red, occasionally dotted with a few patches of emerald green, like a few flawless pieces of jade scattered on a bright red carpet, those evergreen pines and cypresses.
The winding mountain roads, like jade ribbons, encircle the beautiful Fragrant Hills. Standing on the mountain peak, one is immersed in a continuous scroll painting, with mountains ablaze with color and forests dyed in vibrant hues.
Both rolls of film were used up completely, but everyone still felt a little unsatisfied.
In the afternoon, the group found a patch of grass on the mountaintop, took out a plastic sheet from their backpacks, spread it out, and had a picnic and a rest.
He poured water for everyone, then handed the glass to Ji Xia and whispered comfortingly, "Are you tired?"
Ji Xia took the water glass, rubbed her calf with her other hand, and nodded wearily: "Tired, like I have a cramp."
Her face was full of fatigue, while her companions still looked relaxed: "Aren't you all tired?"
Chen Qiuyu chuckled: "Sister Xia, you've been lacking exercise. We're used to it, working tirelessly in the workshop every day."
Chen Jing rolled her eyes at her: "Your sister-in-law uses her brain, is she the same as you? Don't listen to her nonsense."
Ji Xia gently rubbed her shoulder and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Chen Jing chuckled and said, "However, you should exercise more. You're so tired from climbing Fragrant Hills today, what will you do when you climb the Great Wall next time?"
Ji Xia rolled her eyes at him.
However, young people have a strong ability to recover. After returning from Fragrant Hills, they rested for one night and were full of energy the next day.
Xie An drove over early in the morning in his Jeep, carrying several bowls of wontons and a large bag of beef buns. He said they were from a century-old shop in Xicheng, and the beef buns were top-notch.
Xie An prepared a lot of grapes, over a hundred pounds. After breakfast, the five of them readily went with him.
Xie An drove his jeep to a small courtyard in the western part of the city. It was a small two-courtyard siheyuan (traditional courtyard house), only three or four hundred square meters. It was part of Xie An's mother's dowry and was now registered under Xie An's name.
The courtyard was very clean, and many beautiful camellias were planted there. The rooms inside were also very elegantly furnished, which was obviously different from Ji Xia's.
Xie Xun and Jiang Yizhi, along with two middle-aged women, were waiting in the courtyard. When they saw Xie An and the others return, Xie Xun cheered, "You're finally here! We've been ready for you all along!"
After the introductions, Chen Jing immediately remembered that Jiang Yizhi was one of the three people from that day, and that he was the fifth of the six young masters of the capital.
He's already gotten to know three of the six young masters of Beijing; he doesn't know what kind of luck it is.
At this moment, Chen Jing was starting to believe the saying from his hometown that Ji Xia had good fortune for her husband. He had met Ji Xia that evening.
Jiang Yizhi shook hands with Chen Jing, then turned back and teased, "You haven't even offered him a sip of water, yet you're already chasing after him to do the work."
A woman quickly brought them tea, and Ji Xia thanked her with a smile: "Thank you, but we just ate something before coming here, so let's get to work as soon as possible!"
"Yes, let's finish early and go home. We want to go shopping tonight!"
Xie Xun readily led them to the backyard, where tools had already been prepared. Four large octagonal tables were piled high with winnowing baskets and stacks of grapes. Four large glass jars were placed upside down.
An older woman explained with a smile, "The glass and other tools were all scalded with boiling water, then laid upside down to drain, and now they're all completely dry."
Ji Xia nodded approvingly, picked up a purplish-red grape, tasted it, and found it to be just the right amount of sweetness and very fresh.
"The grapes were all picked yesterday, soaked in salt water for half an hour, then drained and washed."
Seeing that everything was ready, Ji Xia had everyone wash their hands with soap and then dry them with clean cloths. Then she picked a few grapes, popped them while explaining and instructing them on how to work together.
Actually, there's nothing complicated to do. Just keep it clean and hygienic, and the rest is just constant kneading.
Xie An and the other two sighed as they kneaded the mixture, saying, "If winemaking requires kneading like this, how much manpower and resources would it take? How can this be scaled up? How do wineries abroad do it?"
"Actually, you can use tools too, ceramic, wooden, stone pestle or stainless steel will all work, just press it down, but iron that will rust won't work."
As Ji Xia spoke, she suddenly remembered a movie from the 1990s in her previous life. She remembered that the movie was called "Walking on Clouds," and it was a romantic movie from the United States.
Inside, there's a scene of a group of women taking off their shoes and jumping into a large wooden tub filled with grapes after the grapes have been picked at a vineyard, where they trample the grapes with their feet.
She smiled and said, "I seem to remember reading a novel about North America that mentioned how wineries in America make wine."
She mentioned that winery winemaking requires women, specifically young women, and involves a group of women stomping on the grapes with their feet to ferment and make wine.
When Xie Xun heard that Western winemaking involved women stomping on grapes, his face turned green with rage.
"Is it possible that foreign wines were made by women trampling on their feet?"
"That's hard to say."
Ji Xia smiled and joked with a cheerful expression, "Those who are more hygienic might wash their feet, but if someone is a little disgusting, they might not wash their feet, spit, pull out their scalp, or even a single strand of hair."
Xie Xun couldn't help but take a few steps back, vomiting a few times in disgust: "This is really disgusting. I will never buy imported wine again, even if you kill me."
Xie An and Jiang Yizhi also looked extremely unpleasant, their faces turning green as they realized they had drunk imported liquor several times.
The three ladies couldn't help but smile slightly.
Hou Xiaolian asked in a low voice, "Sister Xia, is this for real? Someone really stomped on grapes with their feet? Is it still safe to drink?"
Ji Xia twitched the corner of her mouth and shook her head helplessly: "Out of sight, out of mind. If you want to ensure safety, doing it at home is the safest. As for the rest, it depends on your conscience and luck."
In later generations, there have been all sorts of disgusting rumors about food safety issues.
Fast food uses gutter oil, ham sausages are made from scraps and starch, stinky tofu is soaked in sewage, pickled cabbage is stomped on, and people spit and throw cigarette butts—you name it.
I've heard there's something called "rubbing tobacco," which requires a clean young girl to rub the tobacco on her thigh or chest, supposedly to give it a milky or girlish scent.
In the West, there are also those who use the oil scraped from the skin of dead young girls to make perfume.
"Hey, what were you guys talking about yesterday, some new-style wedding dresses, and wedding bedding? What are those?"
Jiang Yizhi glanced at his two brothers and deliberately changed the subject.
Xie Xun pointed to Ji Xia, who had a calm expression: "Hey, this is Jiang Yizhi, the designer of the wedding dress and bed. His sister and brother-in-law are getting married on New Year's Day."
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