Top Scholar

Chapter 81 Dragon Boat Festival Song
As dusk settled over Erlangtan, the long-silent He Family Winery was suddenly illuminated by firelight.

The three Su brothers divided the grain mash into bamboo baskets and carried them to the stilling room of the distillery.

Inside is the distillery's core asset—a large black-glazed still.

Inside the stove, the firewood crackled and popped, and the rising heat caused dew to cover the roof beams.

Su Tai used a long-handled wooden ladle to layer the grain mash into the steamer, gently smoothing each layer with a bamboo rake. When the steamer was about eight-tenths full, Su Man and Su Lu worked together to cover it with the heavy wooden lid. They then carefully sealed the gaps along the lid with strips of wet cotton cloth, leaving only the copper steam pipe at the top, which extended diagonally toward the cooling tank beside it.

Of course, these are all names used by Su Lu. The Su Tai pipe is called "Guo Long," and the cooling cylinder is called "Xi Guo." The wine outlet is called... "Xi Guo Niu Zi," which is indeed quite descriptive.

As the name suggests, the cooling tank is a tin tank half-buried underground, filled with freshly drawn, icy well water, with a long, spiraling spout submerged in the water.

As the boiling water in the pot began to gurgle, steam rushed into the thin steamer, trying to escape. But as it passed through the cold water in the tin pot, it condensed into fine droplets, eventually dripping down the tin pot into a porcelain bowl.

The liquid that dripped down at first was cloudy and whitish. Su Man and Su Lu, two laymen, couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat, wondering if it had been ruined by steaming.

But gradually, the liquid flowing out of the tin pot became clear and transparent.

Su Tai then took the porcelain bowl away and poured it out, replacing it with a wine jar to continue serving.

At this moment, all three brothers smelled the aroma of the wine, which was much stronger and more intense than when the cellar was opened. Before long, the entire still room was filled with a rich aroma of wine.

Chun Ge'er isn't a big drinker; just smelling this alcohol made his face turn completely red.

About an hour later, the flowing wine gradually thinned. Su Tai took a sip with a bowl, tasted it, and then shouted, "The wine is coming out, stop the fire and remove the still!"

~~
After cleaning up the mess, the three of them carried the jar of wine they had received back to the hall.

Su Tai poured out two bowls and placed them before the spirit tablets of the He brothers.

Then they poured out another half bowl of wine. The three brothers, holding pine torches, looked at the new wine in the black porcelain bowl, which was bubbling with fine bubbles and looked exceptionally clear and bright in the firelight.

"Try it quickly," Su Man and Su Lu urged Su Tai.

One of them can't drink alcohol, and the other can't drink alcohol either, so they can only rely on him to 'test the poison'.

Su Tai picked it up, smelled it, tasted it, and remained silent for a long time.

"Tell me what it tastes like!" the drunkard and the underage boy urged.

"It has both soy sauce and caramel aromas, with relatively pronounced astringency and sourness, and a bitter aftertaste." Su Tai said breathlessly, "But all first-round wines are like this."

"What about the taste of the wine?" Su Lu was extremely anxious, wishing he could taste it himself.

"Very good." Su Tai smiled and said, "It has a rich flavor and is a genuine spirit!"

Su Lu slapped his thigh and exclaimed happily, "That solves it!"

"Yes, we succeeded!" Su Tai nodded emphatically, his lips curving into a wide smile.

All they need to do is prove that using the crushed sand process, a single fermentation can produce high-proof liquor. The taste of the liquor, whether it needs further distillation and fermentation, etc., are not their concern…

"How can I not believe it?" Chun-ge'er was a proud man all his life, how could he easily accept something that challenged his common sense?
He picked up the bowl and took a sip, immediately choking and coughing repeatedly. But there was no doubt it was alcohol, and very strong alcohol at that…

"Believe it now, believe it now!" The two brothers, Su and Lu, excitedly held hands and jumped around the bowl of wine, even dragging Chun Ge'er along.

After celebrating for a while, Chun Ge'er withdrew his hand with a look of disgust and asked, "What are you going to do next?"

"I don't know." Su Tai shook his head and looked at Su Lu.

"You'll find out tomorrow," Su Lu said, keeping everyone in suspense.

~~
The next day was the Dragon Boat Festival, which was also the day the distillery made its starter culture.

The brewing of Kunsha liquor follows the seasons, with the Dragon Boat Festival for making the starter culture and the Double Ninth Festival for starting the fermentation process being the two most important time points.

Just like on the Double Ninth Festival, the distillery will also hold a wheat offering ceremony on this day.

It was the same stage as last year, and the same group of flag-bearing teenagers, but Su Lu and Su Dan were missing.

When the auspicious hour arrived, the band played the suona horns, and the aging clan chief, who looked a year older, and the large-handed musician, who looked more than ten years older, took their unsteady steps onto the stage.

Four students dressed in white round-necked robes, with mugwort sachets tied around their waists and each holding a wooden fan painted with rice ear patterns, followed behind with leisurely steps.

Su Lu and Su Dan were also among the four, replacing the two senior students who had already dropped out.

After taking the stage, Su Lu and the other three began to perform a warm-up dance... uh, it was the 'Zhai Yue Dance'.

Last year, Su Luxiao and Chun Ge'er danced terribly, and now it's his turn. And he danced even worse than them, repeating the same few moves mechanically like a zombie…

But this didn't affect his self-esteem; he even felt a little bit of reverence. When the music changed, he joined the elders of his clan in singing:

"On the auspicious day of the Dragon Boat Festival, the aroma of wheat fills the fields. We devoutly offer sacrifices to heaven and earth, and to the ancestral shrine."

Dressed in white, they offer their harvested grain; aged wine is poured into cups. They pray for the success of the brewing process, that blessings may last forever.

"Please provide wheat!" Su Youpeng shouted again, leading the extras. The young men of the clan then carried six loads of the newly harvested wheat.

Amidst the crackling of firecrackers, the clan chief and the eldest son offered tributes, burned incense, prayed, and led the people in kneeling to worship heaven and earth.

But this time there was no big fat pig, only a cured pig's head, which looked much more shabby.

After everyone stood up, Su Youpeng led the loudspeaker in shouting, "Step on the music!"

“The essence of wheat dust condenses, the marks on the feet contain spirit. The bare feet conform to the form, the spring embryo nurtures the essence.” Su Lu and the other three sang again.

The laborers then used stone mills to crush the wheat. The women poured the crushed but not mushy wheat grains into wooden boxes, added water and yeast, and stirred.

Finally, they washed their feet with clean water and then stood barefoot on the box, stomping on it continuously. They had to stomp for a very long time, until it was formed into a 'curved block', before they could wrap it in straw and 'store' it...

The tribespeople watched for a while, but there was nothing new about it, so they all dispersed.

Su Lu then went to the master workshop with the three 'dancers' to receive their reward—less than two catties of cured meat per person, freshly cut from the head of the cured pig.

"Why is there so little this time?" one of the senior students couldn't help but complain. "It used to be five catties of fresh pork."

"It's a bit too little," Su Daji, the big-handed man, said with a wry smile. "How many pounds of meat can a cured pig's head have? Just make do with it."

"Seventh Uncle, why aren't we slaughtering a pig this year?" Su Dan asked. He was actually annoyed; it was finally his turn to dance, but there was no pig.

"Sigh, what else could it be? The distillery is out of money." Su Daji sighed. "Your brother and the others haven't been paid since the New Year, so they're trying to save money wherever they can."

"Alright, alright." The students were easy to deal with; after hearing the explanation, they took their cured pork and left, but Su Lu stayed behind.

"What's the matter, Qiu-ge'er?" Su Daji was still very polite to Su Lu, as his grandson was counting on Su Lu to tutor him for the academy entrance exam.

"Is the distillery in a bad state?" Su Lu asked softly.

“That’s right.” Su Daji nodded and said, “It would be strange if the wine didn’t sell year after year.”

"Can't we sell it at a lower price?" Su Lu said, "Small profits but quick turnover, getting the goods moving is the only way to get out of this predicament."

“Sigh, you don’t understand.” Su Daji handed a betel nut to Su Lu.

Su Lu waved his hand, politely declining.

"Our Fengqu liquor begins its fermentation process around the Double Ninth Festival, involving two rounds of feeding, nine rounds of steaming and cooking, eight rounds of fermentation, and seven rounds of distillation, taking a full year. Then it needs to be aged in cellars for over a year before it's released to the market." Su Daji chewed on his own liquor, sighing as he did so.

"Calculate how much manpower and time it will take. We're already selling at a loss, how much cheaper can it get?"

"Can we reduce the cost?" Su Lu asked again.

"Of course not, every step is essential, otherwise it wouldn't be Fengqu Fajiu." Su Daji shook his head, completely losing his talkative mood.

"If there's nothing else, go back. Study hard, pass the imperial examination to become a scholar, and get Langquan Well back. That's the right thing to do."

"Once I pass the imperial examination and become a scholar, will our winery still be around?" Su Lu asked quietly.

"..." Su Daji seemed frozen in place, and after a long while said, "Who knows?"

“I have a way to save our distillery,” Su Lutu said, revealing his true intentions. “I just don’t know if Seventh Uncle is willing to help.”

"Nonsense!" Su Daji finally showed anger, puffing out his beard and glaring as he said, "I've been an apprentice here since I was thirteen, and I'm sixty-three this year—a full fifty years! Tell me, do you think I don't want to save it?!"

As he spoke, his voice choked with emotion, "I dream of saving our distillery! Whoever can save the distillery, I'll give up my position as head manager! I'll do anything for them!"

“In that case, Seventh Uncle, go and talk to my godmother,” Su Lu said.

In this tiny place called Erlangtan, the news of Su Lu recognizing a godmother had already spread far and wide. The clansmen couldn't help but wonder, what's going on with this sixth branch of the family? Why are they getting so close to the Cheng family?
Of course, recognizing a godmother is nothing compared to getting married, so people only gossip about it behind her back.

"He Chengshi, the proprietress of He's Wine Shop, and the daughter of Scholar Cheng?" Su Daji frowned slightly and asked, "What do you want to talk to her about?"

“She has the secret recipe for Erlang Wine,” Su Lu said casually.

"Erlang wine?!" A flash of lightning struck his heart, and Su Daji's cloudy eyes instantly cleared up considerably.

The events of last year are still fresh in his mind. He has always praised the wine that the He brothers made and even considered cooperating with the He family.

Unfortunately, Da He was Cheng Xiucai's son-in-law, and there was no way he would cooperate with the Su family, so he didn't want to make a fool of himself...

As a result, Erhe's boat was destroyed and everyone on board perished, and no one ever learned how to brew Erlang wine again.

Su Daji was devastated upon hearing the devastating news, regretting that he hadn't tried to negotiate. If the other party had agreed to cooperate, they could have utilized the sales channels that Su Ji had cultivated for decades, and he and his brother wouldn't have needed to personally develop the market, thus preventing the tragedy.

Of course, what he regrets most is that Suji has completely lost its hope of getting out of its predicament by relying on Erlangjiu, which has low cost but decent taste.

Now Su Lu tells him that the proprietress has the secret recipe for Erlang Wine!

How could he not be overjoyed?!
(End of this chapter)