The Beginning of a Courtyard House: Sixty Years of Internal Strength

After teaching Yao Yao a dozen or so words, I let her go practice on the side.

Li Jianguo took a sip of the spiritual spring water and began to continue cultivating his internal energy.

He has been living in his heart for about 68 years now.

This spiritual spring water is truly a great tonic, and it has no side effects. After taking a sip, the speed of cultivating the Free and Easy Wind technique is incredibly fast, and the new internal energy is very solid, not weak at all.

When the two got bored, they would go fishing, and as for animals, they could control the bran feeder with their thoughts.

Because of his martial arts training, Li Jianguo's appetite has increased dramatically. He can eat several steamed buns in one meal. No wonder he's always described in novels as needing several pounds of meat and several pounds of wine. He really can eat a lot.

Li Jianguo then remembered that he also wanted to learn winemaking, so he told Yao Yao about his idea.

"Yaoyao, look how much grain we have. It's just sitting there anyway, so let's learn how to brew wine."

I happen to know Xu Family Village. There's a family in Xu Huizhen's village whose winery is on the verge of collapse. Let's go and learn from them.

"Brother Jianguo, you go ahead, I'll just study characters in the space."

Li Jianguo shook his head as he watched Yao Yao diligently practicing her calligraphy. It seemed that eternal youth was indeed quite attractive to her.

Li Jianguo then left the space, and you headed out of the city. You went to the bus station in Beijing's inner city. According to my memory, Xujia Village was quite far from the inner city.

After a four-hour journey by bus and taxi, we arrived in the county town near Xujia Village.

Seeing that the distance was so far, it was impractical to drive a donkey, and since the donkey hadn't been brought out, Li Jianguo had no choice but to rely on his own two legs.

Let's just buy the secret recipe and yeast, and then buy the brewing equipment ourselves.

Li Jianguo was stopped by militiamen as soon as he reached the entrance of Xujia Village.

Li Jianguo quickly showed his purchasing agent's certificate, but the militiamen were armed, and he didn't want to get shot.

"I'm a purchasing agent from a steel rolling mill. I've heard that the Xu family's winery in your village has excellent craftsmanship, but it's not doing well. I'd like to buy their secret recipe."

"Oh, you mean Old Xu's house? I'll take you there."

The militiaman looked at Li Jianguo's certificate but still didn't want to look at it anymore, so he personally led him to Old Man Xu's house.

"Old Xu, Old Xu, someone's here. They want to buy your family's brewery."

As soon as they reached the door, the militiamen started shouting.

"Hello, I've come here because I've heard so much about your business. A friend brought me some of your wine before and thought it was quite good. I've heard you're not doing well, so I'd like to ask if you sell your secret recipe?"

"Okay, come in, let's talk slowly."

Li Jianguo followed Old Man Xu into his house.

"Hello, comrade, 200 million is the price, no bargaining. I mainly brew Erguotou and Niulanshan here."

"I'm telling you, you're treating me like a fool. You're just a small workshop. Your taste is a little outstanding, but it's not particularly excellent."

You actually dared to ask for 200 million? You're treating me like a fool and trying to scam me. Besides, there are plenty of Erguotou and Niulanshan liquors available.

However, your yeast starter is a bit special. In small workshops, it can only be considered mid-to-high level, not even reaching the top level, let alone comparing with those large distilleries.

Li Jianguo quickly retorted, "This is too expensive."

"Dad, you can't agree to him. This distillery has been passed down through generations."

Although business has been difficult lately, even resulting in losses, this is a business that concerns our family's future survival.

At this moment, Xu Huizhen walked in from outside and expressed her thoughts: the brewery must not be sold.

Upon hearing Xu Huizhen's words, Old Man Xu hesitated.

"Gentlemen, please wait a moment. I'm just buying some technology and some yeast to brew my own wine. It's not like I'm acquiring your workshop."

"Just keep doing what you were doing. With this little money, you can get through this difficult time."

Li Jianguo immediately realized it was a misunderstanding. "Jiufang" and "Jiufang" are not the same word. How could he have misheard?

Xu Huizhen and Old Man Liu were also taken aback when they heard this. It turned out that he only wanted the brewing method, not his own brewing workshop.

"Okay, we agree." Xu Huizhen agreed decisively.

After all, it's just about buying the technology. As someone who grew up in the world of wine, her wine can only be considered to have some unique features; it's far from being a top-tier wine.

"Hmm, are you willing to buy it for 5 yuan? And it has to be real technology. If you sell it, I'll give you the money right now. If not, I'll turn around and leave."

"Young man, this is too much! This is our family's technology. Our brewing recipe has been passed down for generations, and the yeast starter has also been passed down from generation to generation."

"Although it's not outstanding, there's a long time to learn. If I let you study here for two days, I guarantee you'll learn something, and you'll give me 5 yuan?"

Old Xu immediately started bargaining, wanting to get as much as possible.

"Alright, stop talking nonsense. 5 yuan is already a lot of money."

You could marry a young woman for 5 yuan without any problem, if the taste of your wine is really that outstanding.

"I won't go out of business. I heard your place has already closed down. So, are you saying it's okay or not? If you add any more, I'm turning around and leaving."

"Okay, I can agree. I'll stay here for the next two days and learn how to brew wine from you." Xu Huizhen quickly agreed when she realized that things might fall apart.

"You can't fool me, or the taste of my brew won't be the same. We need to have a written agreement, otherwise you won't teach me some of the secret recipes. Wouldn't I be at a disadvantage then?"

Li Jianguo was afraid of being fooled; people these days like to keep something in reserve.

"I will definitely tell you the secret recipe, and I will also give you a portion of the yeast, but brewing also requires experience."

The specific timing, temperature, and humidity levels require experience to determine.

The taste might be slightly different, but it will be almost the same after brewing it a few more times.

After that, Li Jianguo stayed at Old Man Xu's house, and Xu Huizhen began to teach him step by step, and Li Jianguo slowly learned.

Selecting raw materials, grinding them, moistening and steaming the grains, mixing them with yeast and putting them into the cellar, distilling and brewing the liquor, and aging them in grades.

According to Xu Huizhen, the most important step is distillation, which involves one or two re-distillations.

Xu Huizhen explained each step in great detail and even wrote it down on paper. Li Jianguo then carefully studied the instructions.

Xu Huizhen gave a portion of the mother broth to Li Jianguo, instructing him to preserve it carefully, as the mother broth was used as a starter culture for each new broth.

"Brother Jianguo, if there's anything you don't understand, you can come back and ask."

"Okay, when I've brewed it, I'll definitely let you try it."

Li Jianguo then gave Xu Huizhen money and left Xujia Village with the yeast and a few pieces of paper.

Li Jianguo took the car back to Beijing, found a corner, retrieved the donkey cart, and then went to the state-owned liquor monopoly company.

Brewing supplies were sold here, and many small workshops bought their products from here. Xu Huizhen told him about this.

It's a bit expensive, though. If you want to buy something cheaper, you'll have to go to a flea market to find a second-hand one.