Chapter 104: You Know It’s a Fine Brew Just by the Aroma
Hoping for the best, Li You left the market.
He got on his motorcycle and returned to his shop.
He opened the shop door.
Since there were no customers yet, he decided to prepare the pickling jar first.
Although he didn’t have any young ginger for now, he did have chili peppers. He would start by pickling the peppers.
He poured out all the water in the jar, then sterilized it with boiling water.
After the jar had cooled completely, he poured in the two bottles of pickle brine and added some fresh water.
Then, he placed the washed chili peppers into the jar.
There were about five jin worth.
He’d pickle this much for now. Once it was all eaten, he’d pickle more.
He added a bit more salt to the jar.
Finally, he put the lid on and filled the rim of the jar with water.
And with that, he was done.
In a couple of days, he’d be able to eat some delicious pickled chili peppers.
Just as Li You was about to go rest at the shop’s entrance, the system’s voice echoed in his mind.
"Congratulations, Host. Side quest ’Fine Wine for the Shop’ is complete.
Reward granted: Ten jars of fine wine (one hundred jin per jar)."
The voice was a pleasant surprise for Li You.
This meant the fermented rice he had prepared the day before yesterday had finished fermenting.
Only once the fermentation was complete would it meet the quest’s requirements and be marked as complete by the system.
’I should go take a look.’
Li You went over to where he had placed the container. He looked inside and saw that the glutinous rice had indeed transformed into proper fermented rice.
It looked incredibly appetizing.
He peeled back the plastic wrap sealing the container, and a rich, sweet aroma of fermented rice wine immediately wafted out.
So familiar.
"Ingredient: Fermented Rice.
Quality: Medium."
The system provided its ingredient rating right on time.
’Medium quality. That’s pretty good!’
Looking at the fermented rice and smelling its sweet fragrance, Li You could feel his mouth watering.
He quickly took a spoon from the Storage Pavilion, scooped up some of the fermented rice, and put it in his mouth.
The familiar taste was incredibly satisfying.
’Delicious!’
’It’s so much better than the bottled stuff they sell at the supermarket.’
He took out a bowl and a new spoon. After scooping several spoonfuls into the bowl and eating it all, he finally stopped, completely satisfied.
Afterward, he stored the fermented rice in the Storage Pavilion.
It would be best preserved in the Storage Pavilion.
Then, he took out his phone and sent a WeMessage to both Xia Xiaoyue and Mu Qingye, telling them the fermented rice was ready to eat.
The last time Xia Xiaoyue and Mu Qingye left, Li You had promised them he would let them know the moment the fermented rice was ready.
They had also added each other as WeMessage friends at the time.
Both of them replied quickly, saying they would come over today.
Li You, of course, welcomed them.
After that, he opened the Storage Pavilion again.
This time, he wanted to check out the system’s quest reward.
Ten jars of fine wine.
The shop could finally offer wine to its customers.
Inside the Storage Pavilion, ten jars of wine were lined up in a row.
The jars didn’t look much different from the ones commonly seen outside, except for the large character for "Wine" written on their bodies.
He took out one jar first.
After choosing a prominent spot in the shop for it, Li You retrieved a jar of wine from the Storage Pavilion and set it down.
Then he unsealed the extremely tight lid.
Instantly, an incredibly rich aroma of wine wafted out.
It was mellow and fragrant, a truly refreshing scent.
The aroma was so enticing that even Li You, who wasn’t particularly interested in alcohol, felt an urgent desire to drink a large bowl of it right away.
’So tempting!’
Judging by how alluring the aroma was, this was undoubtedly a rare and exquisite wine.
It was far more tempting than any of those high-end, famous liquors.
’I have to try a sip.’
Li You took a bowl from the Storage Pavilion, dipped it directly into the jar, and scooped out half a bowl of wine.
He took a sip.
After the wine touched his lips, Li You could only think of two words: Good wine!
It felt incredibly mellow and smooth; he felt like he could down a whole bowl in one go.
Such a fine wine was the perfect pairing for the shop’s supreme delicacies.
’Perfect.’
Li You kept drinking. In a few more gulps, he finished the entire half-bowl of wine.
’Oh no!’
He started to feel a little dizzy.
It was good wine, the kind that didn’t give you a headache, but it could still get you drunk.
Li You had gotten greedy for a moment and forgotten that his alcohol tolerance was actually quite poor.
Fortunately, he was only a little dizzy, not quite drunk.
’A little rest should do the trick.’
He put the lid back on the jar. Li You went to the rocking chair outside the shop and lay down.
’So comfortable!’
Although he was a bit dizzy, he could still think. Li You began to consider how to price the wine.
’Such good wine can’t be sold too cheaply, of course, but it can’t be too expensive either.’
After hesitating for a while, he decided on a price: twenty yuan per liang.
It could only be consumed in the shop; no takeout.
In other words, if a customer found the wine delicious and wanted to buy some to take home, that wouldn’t be allowed.
’Also, should I serve it in cups? Or bowls?’
After a moment of hesitation, Li You decided on bowls.
The kitchen had wine bowls provided by the system. They had a vintage look, much like the ones heroes use for drinking in historical dramas.
Drinking from a bowl seemed more free-spirited.
Having made his decision, Li You closed his eyes to rest.
About half an hour later, his head no longer felt dizzy.
’Good wine really is good wine. You even sober up faster after getting dizzy.’
He checked the time: 10:30 AM.
’It’s still a bit early. I’ll lie down for a little longer.’
「Roughly another half an hour later.」
"Boss Li, time to wake up and do some business."
Such a voice suddenly reached his ears.
It was the voice of Zhao Yu, the owner of the tobacco shop in the market.
Li You opened his eyes and saw that besides Zhao Yu, other bosses like Deng Luping, Xie Hai, and Wang Dongliang had also arrived.
The group of bosses was looking at him with smiles.
Deng Luping laughed. "In the end, Boss Li is the one who’s truly living the good life!"
Li You laughed heartily, stood up, and said, "Please, come in, everyone!"
After the bosses entered the shop, they all quickly noticed the newly placed wine jar.
They all let out a curious "Huh?"
Zhao Yu asked, "Boss, have you started selling wine?"
Li You nodded. "Actually, I’ve been preparing it for a while. It’s finally ready today."
"Good, good, good. You definitely should have wine. What’s a great meal without fine wine?" all the bosses expressed.
They just didn’t know how good the wine was. Could it truly be called "fine wine"?
All the bosses wanted to know the answer.
"Boss, how’s the wine? Can we have a little taste?"
Li You said, "Of course. But you all came on motorcycles, right? If you have to ride them back later, then you can’t drink."
No drinking and driving—that was a rule that absolutely had to be followed.
It was for the good of others, and even more so, for one’s own good.
"Well..."
The bosses actually wanted to say that having a little and riding would be fine, but in the end, they all nodded.
They decided not to drink this afternoon, then.
But it should be okay to smell the aroma, right?
Is the wine good or not? You can get a good idea just by smelling it.
Of course, that was fine.
Li You walked over to the wine jar and removed the lid.
Instantly, the incredibly rich and mellow aroma of wine wafted out again.
When the bosses smelled it, looks of disbelief appeared on all their faces.
’This is too fragrant!’
’How can a wine have such a mellow aroma?’
’It’s unbelievable!’
’Judging by this aroma alone, this is absolutely a top-quality vintage!’
’How could anyone resist drinking this?’
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