Reborn in a small mountain village in 1991

Chapter 109 Picking Jujubes

Xu Chunsheng approached the mouth of the jar, and as soon as he got close, he could smell the aroma of citrus and wine mixed together. Looking into the jar, he could see small bubbles rising to the surface, making a soft rustling sound.

He took out a clean, oil-free, and water-free spoon, reached in and pressed the tangerines under the liquor, then stirred the sugar inside.

Finally, Xu Chunsheng carefully half-covered the mouth of the jar, leaving a small gap. He dared not seal the mouth of the jar completely, otherwise it would be easy for the air to become stuffy during the continuous fermentation process.

After fermentation, you don't need to seal the jar completely like you did at the beginning. At this point, the fermentation inside the jar will continue to produce carbon dioxide, and the gas inside will continuously flow outward to form an air wall, making it difficult for bacteria and small flying insects from the outside to get into the jar.

After doing all that, Xu Chunsheng cleaned up the sugar water and fruit pulp residue that had dripped onto the jar's mouth from the spoon. These things were the most likely source of attracting small flying insects and breeding bacteria and mold.

"Erwa, are you done reading? We're all packed, we can go now."

"Not yet, there are still two (or a few) jars left to look at."

Xu Chunsheng squatted down beside the wine jar, answering without turning his head.

The eldest sister was wearing an old, thin jacket with a scratch-resistant coarse cloth over it, with several patches still visible. She walked into the bamboo shed, went straight to Xu Chunsheng, squatted down next to him, and looked at the remaining wine jars with him.

The eldest sister leaned closer to the mouth of the jar and took a gentle sniff. The aroma of tangerines mingled with the fragrance of wine and wafted into her nose. Looking inside the jar, she saw that the pulp of the tangerines had swelled up from being soaked in wine, plump and translucent.

"So many bubbles have appeared! It's only been three days, and you can already see countless tiny bubbles around the edge of the jar."

The older sister leaned closer to look at the wine in the jar. A dense layer of bubbles clung to the edge of the jar, and when she gently shook the jar, she could hear the bubbles bursting.

"It smells a bit like citrus, and the aroma of alcohol and citrus has already blended together. I definitely want to try it once it's brewed."

As Xu Chunsheng listened to the sound of bubbles bursting, he slowly said, "When the sugar inside the tangerine is broken down, it ferments and produces bubbles, generating carbon dioxide that keeps rising out."

The eldest sister kept nodding. Recently, she has started reading some technical books and occasionally asks Xu Chunsheng questions.

The older sister pointed to the half-covered jar opening next to her and said, "I know this. Leaving an opening is to let out the waste gas produced during fermentation. If it's not let out, the wine will have a strange taste."

Xu Chunsheng was somewhat puzzled. He had practically worn out those two technical books, which only mentioned leaving a gap at the mouth of the jar after fermentation, but didn't explain why: "Hmm? How did you know that? It's not mentioned in the book, is it?"

The eldest sister gestured with her chin at Xu Chunshan: "Hmph, I overheard Uncle Tang teaching you last time. Your sister has a good memory!"

Xu Chunsheng nodded with a smile: "It's quite good, especially when you're holding a grudge."

The older woman glared at Xu Chunsheng sideways: "Dare you say that again?"

Xu Chunsheng pinched his index finger and thumb together, placed them near his mouth, and "pulled" them from right to left to indicate that he was "shutting up."

The older sister then let him go and continued talking about the jars of tangerine wine: "I've only ever seen wine made from grains before, I've never seen anyone make wine from tangerines. At first, I was worried about wasting the ingredients, but now that I can smell the aroma, it should be fine."

Xu Chunsheng looked at the wine jars and smiled: "If this wine is really brewed, it will taste good. Every household in the village grows tangerines. We can go and harvest some more to add a new type of wine to the distillery."

The eldest sister followed Xu Chunsheng's example, taking a clean long spoon and pressing down the floating tangerine pulp in the wine jar, then stirring the wine and sugar inside.

Before removing the spoon, she placed a clean bowl underneath it, saying, "Come on, Xu Erwa, let me teach you a trick. If you use a clean bowl to catch it, you won't have to wipe every single jar."

The eldest sister looked at Xu Chunsheng, wiping each jar to remove the spilled wine and fruit residue. She couldn't understand why her clever brother, who was usually so quick-witted, seemed to have such a poor memory when it came to these small details.

Watching his sister's actions, Xu Chunsheng felt as if someone had tapped the top of his head, instantly opening the door to a new world.

"That's right, isn't this much easier? Hurry up, we've got everything packed, and we're just waiting for you to finish so we can go up the mountain to pick jujubes."

A few days ago, Tang Yongnian brought a jar of jujube wine that he had made by soaking dried jujubes to Xu Chunsheng's house.

While they were having dinner together, he said to Xu Chunsheng, "Now that the frost has passed (after the Frost's Descent), the jujubes in the mountains are at their sweetest right now. You can go pick them and try making fruit wine."

"I don't recommend you try this kind of dried jujube. It's not really fruit wine, it's just an infused liquor, and the alcohol content is still as strong as baijiu."

Soaking dried jujubes in alcohol is only suitable for people who are used to drinking strong liquor. Farmers who drink strong liquor are not willing to spend more money to buy this liquor. They usually buy their own liquor to make the wine.

Fresh jujube wine is different. This wine is more suitable for guests who don't like strong liquor. Like citrus wine, fresh jujube wine has a low alcohol content and a fruity aroma, making it more suitable for women and people who don't often drink spirits.

"Are you two siblings ready yet? Your dad and I are heading up the mountain now!"

Mr. Xu carried two baskets on his back and walked ahead, while Mrs. Xu followed behind him empty-handed. When they passed the bamboo shed, she stood at the door and gave them some instructions.

"Okay, you guys go ahead, we'll be right there."

As Xu Chunsheng closed the lid, he called out in agreement.

The two siblings quickened their pace and soon finished processing the remaining wine jars.

"Sis, wait a minute, I'm going to the bathroom."

"Hurry up, you need to use the restroom every time you go out. And find some old clothes to wear outside, otherwise the thorns in the mountains will tear them."

"I'll go get another kettle of hot water and take it with me."

"Yes, I will."

After settling his life's major event, Xu Chunsheng went back to his room, found an old cotton undershirt, and put on a military green coarse cloth work shirt over it.

He then put on a pair of coarse work pants over his clothes, tucking the cuffs into his high-top black rubber rain boots. After putting them on, he stomped his feet a couple of times before heading out.

The older sister was dressed similarly, her pants tucked into her rain boots, a piece of coarse cloth covering her head, and finally a straw hat.

She tossed a few pairs of gloves into her basket, watched as Xu Chunsheng stacked two baskets on his back, and carried his water bottle herself, asking him, "Aren't you going to wear a hat?"

Xu Chunsheng shook his head, then picked up a long bamboo pole leaning against the wall. A wire hook was tied to the pole for picking jujubes from high places: "No need to bring it, it blocks the view."

"Sis, let's go. Did you bring all the food?"

"Yes, Mom and Dad have already taken it."

After locking the door, the two started walking up the mountain, chatting casually along the way: "Sister, how are things going with you and Teacher Tang?"

The older woman's face flushed slightly. Even the most outgoing girl would feel a little embarrassed talking about her boyfriend. She mumbled, "What do you mean, 'how is he'? He's just like that."

Xu Chunsheng glanced at his eldest sister's flustered ears and teased her slowly, "So what? I haven't seen Teacher Tang come to our house lately, and I've been missing him quite a bit."

The older sister quickened her pace and walked ahead, not wanting to hear Xu Chunsheng's "joking" tone.

Xu Chunsheng dared not tease his older sister any further; he feared that if he said anything more, the only reply he would receive would be, "I'll count to three!"

"three!"

As they approached the mountain, Xu Chunsheng buttoned up his shirt all the way to his collar and rolled up his sleeves to block out the weeds in the forest, so that grass clippings wouldn't get inside his clothes or cut his exposed skin.

The woods were much more humid after the first frost than in summer, with heavy dew on the weeds. Luckily, the whole family was wearing rubber boots that weren't afraid of getting wet.

Xu Chunsheng and his sister walked along the path their father had cleared. After a while, they called out, "Mom and Dad, where are you?"

After receiving a response, the two did not go towards their parents, but instead found another jujube tree and began picking fruit.

Mature Japanese jujube trees can grow to about 10 meters tall. The siblings looked at the tall Japanese jujube tree in front of them. Most of the leaves on the tree had already fallen, and a bunch of brownish-red twigs hung from the branches, growing long and winding.

The siblings put down what they were carrying, put on gloves, and began picking fruit. There weren't many fruits at the bottom; some had already been picked, and some simply had no fruit at all.

The older sister looked up at the fruit and said, "This tree is so tall! There's hardly any fruit in the lower parts. Luckily, Dad brought a hook. You hook them down, and I'll pick them."

Xu Chunsheng weighed the long bamboo pole in his hand and nodded in agreement: "Okay."

Xu Chunsheng raised the bamboo pole and looked at a branch covered with twigs hanging from a bend, then steadily hooked the iron hook onto it.

The frost-bitten branches at the corner were brittle. Xu Chunsheng slowly pulled the bamboo pole down, and the branches bent down. He reached out and grabbed the branches: "Sister, come and catch it (hold it)."

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The older sister came over, reached out and grabbed the branch, pinched the base of the fruit, and gently broke off the whole bunch of jujubes.

On the other side, Xu Chunsheng hooked down another branch to pick fruit. He gently wiped the fruit on his clothes, avoiding the small, hard seeds and stems, and tasted the flesh. It wasn't astringent at all, but had a sweet taste.

"Sis, try a bite, it's quite sweet."

After listening to Xu Chunsheng, the eldest sister took a bite of the fruit and squinted her eyes: "When we were little, we used to come here to pick fruit. We didn't care whether it had been frosted or not. We would just pick it and put it in our mouths. The ones that have been frosted are sweeter than the ones that haven't been frosted, but they have less flesh and aren't filling."

Xu Chunsheng continued picking fruit: "It was so much fun when we were kids. We'd pick them and not wash them, just throw them in our mouths, chew them, and swallow them."

"It's just something to try as a snack. When I was a kid, I would climb trees to pick them, and I didn't dare tell my family."

"Yeah, when I was a kid, I'd get punished for climbing trees. I'd get punished every day, and I'd still climb trees every day. I don't know why I never learned my lesson."

The two reminisced about their childhood while picking fruit.

Xu Chunsheng used a bamboo pole to hook down a few branches of jujubes from a high place, reached out and pulled several large bunches of them off the branches and handed them over. The eldest sister squatted on the ground and deftly removed the dead branches and leaves. She threw the fresh fruit into one basket and the dried fruit into another.

Freshly picked fruit is clean and high in sugar, making it easy to ferment and suitable for making fruit wine.

Fruits on the ground have lost moisture, are covered in dirt, and may have been crawled over by insects. They are suitable for washing and drying before soaking in white wine.

The two worked together. Xu Chunsheng used a bamboo pole to reach the jujubes on the top, while the older sister sorted them on the ground, taking off her cane and putting it into her basket.

"Eldest son, Second son! Are you hungry? Come and get something to eat."

Xu's father called out to the two of them from the other side.

"Oh, yes, we'll be right there."

The Xu family has developed the habit of always bringing some food with them when they go out to work.

In the past, my family was poor, and there was basically no oil or fat in our meals. We would get hungry soon, so we would often eat a sweet potato or corn cake to fill our stomachs.

Although we now have meat and plenty of oil in every meal, making us much more resistant to hunger than before, this habitual action from many years ago has remained.

I feel uneasy if I don't eat something in the middle of a job.

This time, when they went into the mountains to pick jujubes, Xu's mother prepared food well in advance. She wrapped several pieces of wheat cake mixed with cornmeal in oil paper, cooked a few chickens, and put some fried pork from yesterday in an enamel mug.

She laid the nylon bag flat on the ground and then placed the items on it one by one.

Xu's father continued picking jujubes, muttering to himself, "It's become a habit. When I go out to work, especially into the mountains, I don't feel at ease without bringing some food. Although it's good to have meat with every meal now, having a little something to eat in between makes me feel better."

Xu Chunsheng picked up a wheat cake, took two bites, and joked, "Mom, why did you bring so much good stuff? Is this our main lunch?"

Xu's mother patted his arm with a smile: "Yes, we won't go back for lunch. Let's work a little longer and go back early this afternoon to feed the pigs."

Xu Chunsheng felt a warmth in his heart as he looked at the gentle smiles of his family. It was as if no matter what he did, his family was silently supporting him.

He took a sip of warm water and said with a smile, "That's true. There are still so many pigs waiting to be fed. When we get back, we'll have to wash and dry all of these. There's a lot to do."

"That's good too. We have meat, bread, and fruit to eat. Our way of celebrating is like the city folk; we call it a picnic." They like to choose a quiet spot, find a mat, put it on the ground, and sit on it, eating and chatting.

His family looked at him curiously: "How did you know city people like to do this?"

Xu Chunsheng casually picked up a bunch of jujubes, wiped them off, and tossed them into his mouth: "When I went to the county town, I ran into some people who were eating and picnicking on a cloth spread out on the riverbank. They said it was called picnicking. They're used to living in apartment buildings in the city and prefer the quiet of the mountains."

Mother Xu broke off a small piece of wheat cake and took a bite, while Yi picked up a jujube and tasted it. He couldn't help but laugh, "So, according to you, we poor folks who go into the mountains to pick fruit are living the life of city dwellers? Then this picnic isn't so strange; we mountain people have this opportunity every day."

Xu's father and eldest sister also nodded with smiles.

Xu Chunsheng laughed: "In two days (afterwards), I'll take you to live the life of city dwellers, with high-rise buildings and cars running all over the place. It'll be very interesting."