By chance
She had made the right bet. It seemed that although she hadn't tasted that many wines, she could still distinguish between good and bad. Jiang Yingyue's confidence instantly soared: "If you're interested, young lady, why not buy it?"
The shopkeeper, hearing this, was displeased: "Hey, miss, weren't you just going to sell me this pot of wine? Why did you change your mind?"
"The shopkeeper didn't seem to be looking to buy more wine before," Jiang Yingyue replied quickly. "Besides, now that someone appreciates my wine, I'll naturally consider this young lady first."
Qingzhu looked at the gourd beside her and asked almost without hesitation, "How much?"
"To be honest, I'm new to Hangzhou, and all I need is for Miss Qingzhu to treat me to a meal." Jiang Yingyue didn't hide anything; right now, no amount of money could compare to a meal. As she spoke, she slowly picked up the gourd. "Here's the wine, I'll keep the gourd."
Qingzhu was about to ask a question, but after thinking about it, she held back and said, "Deal."
Afterwards, Qingzhu took Jiang Yingyue away from Zuixianlou and went to another restaurant by West Lake. This was the first time Jiang Yingyue had seen the scenery of West Lake. Under the moonlight, it was so beautiful that people dared not breathe loudly, for fear of disturbing it.
The two entered the restaurant, and Qingzhu chose a private room on the second floor. As soon as she sat down, she couldn't wait to ask Jiang Yingyue, "Now can you tell me why?"
Jiang Yingyue heard the servants outside ordering food and then felt relieved: "Miss Qingzhu, what flavors did you taste when you were tasting the wine?"
"The brewing method for this wine uses glutinous rice as the base, and adds herbs such as bamboo leaves and dried tangerine peel for soaking. It should be called Bamboo Leaf Wine, but its color is not green, and it contains more..."
"Does it have a bit more of the unique flavor of Northwest liquor?"
“Not bad.” Qingzhu’s eyes were full of curiosity.
Jiang Yingyue smiled and then took out her gourd: "The secret lies here." Although there was no wine in the gourd now, it was still emitting a fragrance.
Qingzhu examined it carefully for a long time but couldn't figure out anything special about it: "What's so special about this gourd?... Is it made of wood?"
“Yes, and it’s not ordinary wood, but oak.” Jiang Yingyue continued, “Oak is unique to the Northwest. Most of their wines are stored in oak containers, and the unique aroma of this wood is naturally part of the flavor of the wines from the Western Regions.”
Qingzhu ran her fingertips along the rough texture of the gourd's surface, then suddenly chuckled as if she remembered something. "No wonder I always felt there was a faint, smoky aroma in this wine." She looked up at Jiang Yingyue, her gaze now more inquisitive. "How would a girl from Jiangnan like you know these things?"
"This gourd was a gift from my senior sister. She told me about it." Jiang Yingyue felt a pang of sadness whenever she thought of Ji Yinglei. Back then, Ji Yinglei represented the Mingyue Sect in a martial arts competition in the Northwest and specially brought back this specially made wine gourd for Jiang Yingyue. That's why she didn't choose to sell it along with the gourd.
Just then, footsteps sounded outside the door, and then waiters filed in, bringing in a variety of dishes. In just a few seconds, the entire table was filled with all sorts of delicacies, and Jiang Yingyue didn't know how to react.
"I didn't know your taste, so I brought a little bit of everything," Qingzhu said casually. "By the way, I still don't know your name."
"Jiang Yingyue." She shook her head, looking at the dishes in front of her, "With so much food, is your family very rich?" The next second, Jiang Yingyue realized that there was a problem with what she said, but it was too late to take it back.
"Excuse me... I wanted to ask, your surname is... Qing?" Jiang Yingyue wanted to disappear into the ground. She was so hungry that she had lost the ability to speak at the sight of food.
Qingzhu burst into laughter: "You're really something! Qingzhu is of course my name." She laughed for a while before calming down, then looked at Jiang Yingyue and solemnly introduced her:
"The Ye family of Lin'an, Ye Qingzhu."
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