Chapter 46 I am handsome, even the ugliest ones can wear it
In order to make it easier for her to walk in the mountains, Xu Yu also made a straight stick for her to use to clear the way.
She pushed aside the weeds in front of her and accurately identified what she needed, bending down and swinging the sickle again and again.
By the time she finally found everything she needed, it was already late.
In the past, Xu Yu would always be carrying bundles of firewood down the mountain, but today there were seven or eight bundles of firewood piled at his feet, and he never left the spot.
The clay pot containing the day's syrup had been taken away by Aunt Xu and the others. He saw Sang Zhixia breathe a sigh of relief without making a sound.
"Did you find everything you wanted?"
Sang Zhixia's face, which had been stained with mud at some point, was tinged with excitement. "It's all done. I'll go back and pick some more osmanthus leaves and dry them, and then we can start making the koji."
As long as you get the koji making step right, brewing wine at home is not a problem.
Xu Yu was infected by the excitement in her eyes and curled the corners of his lips slightly. He reached out to take her backpack full of unfamiliar green plants.
"Let's go down the mountain first."
Sang Zhixia originally thought that she could walk while carrying the thing on her back, but when Xu Yu stretched out his hand and didn't catch anything, he showed no sign of retracting it.
After a second of silence, she handed him the backpack, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, and pointed to the pile of firewood on the ground and said, "Wouldn't it be tiring for you to make another trip?"
"Don't I put in enough effort every day?"
Xu Yu muttered something and walked ahead. He could see that all the dead branches and weeds blocking his way were blocked one by one, making the way down the mountain quite easy.
When they reached the foot of the mountain, Xu Yu returned the backpack to Sang Zhixia, picked up the firewood on the ground that he had not had time to take home, and carried it on his shoulders.
He sent the firewood pile and Sang Zhixia home together. Sang Zhixia put the things down and just said a few words to Xu Wenxiu, when she turned around and found that Xu Yu had turned around and left.
This person is too lazy to even enter the door.
Xu Wenxiu didn't notice Xu Yu, who was hanging around the door. She looked at the weeds and branches she brought back and asked in surprise, "Xia Xia, these won't turn into charcoal, right?"
After working non-stop for a while, everyone became familiar with the charcoal-making process under the clear division of labor and also developed a unique eye.
These in the backpack are unqualified, very unqualified.
Sang Zhixia suppressed the ripples in her eyes and said with a smile, "I found this to make wine, so of course it can't be burned into charcoal."
Xu Minghui happened to come out to drink water. Upon hearing the sound, he put down his water bowl and said, "Are you really going to brew wine?"
"How else could it be a joke?"
Sang Zhixia looked at what he had poured out and said slowly, "Let's try it first. What if it works?"
As she spoke, she was about to go get the missing osmanthus leaf to wash together, but just as she stood up, Xu Yu, who had left, appeared at the door.
He held a small armful of slender cassia twigs and said, "Is this the leaf you wanted?"
Sang Zhixia was a little surprised: "You went to cut cassia branches?"
You just said it on the way, and now you’re going to get it back?
Xu Yu said calmly, "Didn't you say it's useful?"
He even said that he would move a stool to reach the leaves, so he simply cut the branches back.
Sang Zhixia silently gave a thumbs up: "He is worthy of being the big brother."
This super fast action is so powerful that it makes people excited!
Xu Yu's ears automatically filtered out the big word in "big brother". When he heard her unconsciously upturned ending tone in the word "brother", his tongue tip slightly touched the roof of his mouth, and a faint smile appeared in his eyes.
He put the things down and said, "As long as they are useful, you can do your own thing. I'll go back and fetch the firewood."
Together with the handful of osmanthus leaves that Xu Yu brought back, all the necessary things for making koji were ready.
Sang Zhixia thought that she could take advantage of the good weather to dry the things quickly, so she put them in order and started to wash them.
The hot pepper, wild tea leaves, black lotus, and osmanthus leaves were counted and cleaned one by one, scattered in a sieve and placed in the place with the most sunlight during the day to dry.
In order to remove the moisture from these things as quickly as possible, they were exposed to the sun during the day, and after the sun went down, they were placed next to the charcoal pit in the backyard to be baked in the scorching heat.
Five days later, thanks to the charcoal pit burning day and night, the things in the sieve were baked to the point where they would break brittlely if squeezed. Sang Zhixia set up a machete in the yard.
The four ingredients were mixed together, chopped into as small pieces as possible with a knife, and then placed in a stone mortar and pounded.
The hammering process requires strength.
Xu Minghui took the initiative to come over and said, "Sister-in-law, go to the back and help me watch the coal pit. I'll do it."
He reached out to take the hammer, but Sang Zhixia didn't let go.
She calmly avoided Xu Minghui's hand and said with a smile, "I can handle this myself, you go and do your thing."
Xu Minghui's outstretched hand fell empty. He curled his fingertips and said playfully, "Sister-in-law doesn't seem to like me very much. Is it because of Brother?"
Sang Zhixia was suddenly startled for no apparent reason. She couldn't help but laugh when she thought of Xu Yu muttering bad things about Xu Minghui.
"How can you say that?"
She narrowed her eyes slightly and sighed, "You don't know, your elder brother likes you very much, but he is a man of few words."
"Why, do you have a conflict with your eldest brother?"
She looked so curious as if it was really true that Xu Minghui didn't know how to respond for a moment.
Sang Zhixia said something in her heart, then pounded the contents of the stone mortar and said calmly, "Don't overthink things, kid. It's hard to grow tall if you think too much."
Besides, her estrangement from Xu Minghui was simply because she felt that although this man was young, he was very thoughtful and cunning in his actions, and that he had absolutely nothing to do with gossiping or complaining about Xu Yu.
A man of her age should have been married if nothing had happened to the Xu family. Why are you talking to her about whether you like someone or not when you have nothing better to do?
That's bullshit.
She turned her back, making it clear that she was refusing to help. Xu Minghui felt frustrated but just lowered his head and smiled.
"In that case, it seems that I was overthinking it."
"Sister-in-law, you are busy. Just call me if you have anything."
Sang Zhixia politely said yes, but when Xu Minghui left, she couldn't help but secretly click her tongue.
Xu Yu was right, this kid was weird.
Not like a good guy.
The conversation in the yard did not cause any ripples. When the people who went out came back, Sang Zhixia had also reached a very critical step.
Mix the pounded powder that has been sieved twice with the licorice powder, add rice flour and water, and roll into balls.
As usual, the little ones fed the chicks, washed their hands, and came over to help make meatballs.
Seeing that they were squatting and kneading the balls very well, Sang Zhixia covered the prepared wooden barrel with a layer of dry straw, put the kneaded balls in it neatly and arranged them. He covered the balls with another layer of straw, and then carefully sealed the top with three layers of sealing oilcloth, and tied the edges tightly with hemp rope.
The old man who had been staring at me said hesitantly, "Is this the wine yeast you were talking about?"
Sang Zhixia clapped her hands and said, "This won't do."
"Put it over by the charcoal pit and let it bake overnight with the heat. Once the fermented yeast balls have produced mycelium, dry them and you can put them in cans and use them."
As long as there is no mistake in the yeast step, the rest of the things will be easy.
The old man nodded half-comprehendingly and said to himself, "I've also found out who bought the sorghum you mentioned yesterday. I'll buy some for you tomorrow. Is fifty kilograms enough?"
"That's enough. Let's try it first. It will take some time before we can drink it after it's ready."
The old man was in a good mood at the thought of having some wine to drink. He said cheerfully, "Good wine is never too late. What's the harm in waiting?"
"But you can't just think about the good wine."
The old lady, sewing in her hands, said, "This one is finished. Come here and try it to see if it fits you."
When they were young, all the women in the Xu family were experts at needlework.
However, her skills have become rusty due to not practicing for many years, and now she is rushing to make it when there is no work, so the old lady can't help feeling nervous when holding the finished product.
Fortunately, it was suitable in the end.
While it was still early, Xu Wenxiu and Aunt Xu San took out most of the needlework that had been done in the house.
Looking at them sitting in unison and sewing, Sang Zhixia felt inexplicably guilty.
She was just looking for an excuse to go out for a stroll when she heard Second Aunt Xu, who was dragging Xu Mingyang to try on clothes, say, "Xia Xia, why haven't you moved at all?"
"Have you finished what you made for Xu Yu?"
Sang Zhixia forced a dry laugh and said stiffly, "No, well..."
"I'm actually not very good at it. I haven't had the chance to ask my mother-in-law and aunts for advice yet."
Stop pretending and be honest.
The child really can’t do that!
Aunt Xu, who was gesturing at Xu Jinxi with clothes in her hand, looked up in surprise and suddenly laughed out loud when she saw the embarrassment on Sang Zhixia's face.
"Oh, this is rare."
She pretended not to notice the displeasure on the old lady's face and jokingly said, "Sister-in-law, your daughter-in-law can do everything, but it's rare to hear that she can't do anything."
Xu Wenxiu understood instantly and said with a smile, "After all, they are still young, so it's normal for them to feel unfamiliar with each other."
The old lady was about to express her dissatisfaction but was blocked by their words. Aunt Xu also interjected: "There are so many schools, it doesn't matter if there are just one or two more."
"Go get the stuff and we'll teach you. You'll be good at it in a couple of days."
Having said that, Sang Zhixia didn't want to disappoint everyone's enthusiasm in helping her out, so she could only go back to the west shed to find the things she had hidden, and began to try to absorb new knowledge under everyone's guidance.
When Xu Yu came back, she was working hard to compare the fabrics.
His eyebrows twitched silently, and he walked over and said softly, "Didn't I tell you I had enough clothes? How did you find this?"
Sang Zhixia thought about the old lady who was extremely dissatisfied with her poor needlework skills, and sighed, "Third Aunt said that a woman should weave for her husband and sew for her husband. No matter how ugly my work is, I should make two sets of clothes for you with my own hands. After all, they are different."
The main reason was that the assistants were too enthusiastic and she didn't feel comfortable saying no directly.
She swung the material in her hand over her legs, held her chin up to her chest, looked at Xu Yu and said, "So if I make it ugly, would you be embarrassed to wear it?"
Xu Yu bent down and looked into her eyes, a smile growing on his lips: "How ugly is it?"
Sang Zhixia thought for a moment and said, "How ugly can it be?"
"wear."
Xu Yu lowered his head and chuckled softly, saying softly, "I'm handsome, so I can wear anything, no matter how ugly it is."
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