It was just dawn, and there was still a little fog in the mountains. There were a few rooster crows in the village, and it didn't take long for them to become patches, and then the eyes gradually brightened.

The rooster sings that the world is white.

The sisters and brothers carried cloth bags and baskets and walked straight to the back mountain, ready to pick the myrtle fruit there and make wine.

Myrtle is used to be called twist in the local area, and its whole plant can be used as medicine, which has the effect of activating the wind and astringent and stopping bleeding. Its fruit can also nourish blood and replenish deficiency, astringent intestines, solid essence and stable fetus, and the taste is sweet.

Now that it is close to the Midyear Festival, it is the time when the twist is ripe. The fruit is shaped like a wine glass, but it is the size of a finger, and it is surrounded by rows of seed cores with a white core in the middle. As it grows, the epidermis turns from green to yellow, then slowly turns red, and when it becomes purple-black, it is fully ripe.

The three of them came to a mountain not far from their home. This sunny slope is overgrown with three or four feet tall twisted shrubs, and the trees are full of fruit, and the full purple and black twists make the mouth sigh with admiration when they look at it.

Some time ago, Xiao Pei inadvertently mentioned to someone that Xiao Yu was worried about this twist, saying that it was a big and sweet, and somehow everyone in the village knew about it, so everyone kept it, and if they wanted to eat it, they would pick it elsewhere. Fortunately, the nearby mountains are rich in this wild fruit, and it is not unique to this area.

Even so, Xiao Pei was still a little embarrassed.

Xiao Yu picked one on the side of the road and put it in his mouth, and when he bit it gently, the sweet juice stained his tongue. She said to Xiao Yucheng and the others: "Pick some first and eat first." It is better to wait for the sun to dry the dew and then pick it. ”

It didn't take long for the sun to rise, and the shallow fog dissipated.

A few people put on hats, took baskets, picked only purple and black ripe twists, and occasionally ate a few, until the sun was too hot at noon before carrying the heavy twists home. In the afternoon, when the sun was getting smaller, I went to pick another hour. For most of the day, there are nearly 300 catties.

The equipment used for sake brewing has been prepared for a long time.

After dinner in the evening, the three of them took the twists they had picked during the day to the yard, washed their hands, and began to make wine. Xiao Yu did not wash the twists so as not to affect the yeast on the peel. This twist is not dirty, so I directly crushed it and put it into a scalded and dried jar, leaving a small half-gap, closed the lid, and moved it into the hall to put it.

After installing nine altars in this way, it was finally finished.

Xiao Yucheng glanced at it, but saw that the sour bamboo shoot altar and wine jar were crowded one after another, and said: "Now the family seems to be selling jars." ”

Xiao Yu covered her mouth and smiled.

"That's it?" Xiao Pei saw that this method was also very simple, and couldn't help asking.

"Just for the time being." Xiao Yu shook his head and said, "Fruit wine has to go through several processes such as fruit selection, crushing, juice extraction, fermentation, adjustment, filtration, and mellowing, and good wine still needs to be aged for several years or even decades, so I can't rush it." ”

Xiao Yucheng asked: "Do you know that so many of them are all from books?" ”

Xiao Yu smiled: "It's not all, this winemaking was taught by my parents." Moreover, medicine and food are of the same origin, and some medicinal wine and poisonous wine are also made from fruits. This twist can nourish blood and solidify essence, build muscle and relieve pain, and it can be used as medicine. ”

Xiao Pei couldn't help but shake his head and said helplessly: "Why do you have to say poisonous wine, it's weird." ”

Xiao Yu smiled playfully.

"Can mountain grapes also make wine?" Xiao Yucheng asked.

"Yes, a lot of fruit can be made into wine. Did you see mountain grapes anywhere? Xiao Yu immediately smiled, "It's not too quick to recruit from the truth." ”

Xiao Yucheng Xiu Mu often picks mountain mushrooms, herbs or birds with Huzi in various places in the mountains, so he is quite familiar with the neighborhood. It is very clear what plum groves, where the mulberry trees are, or where there are more mushrooms. Once, he stumbled upon a valley slope overgrown with wild vines. Because the grapes are small and astringent, and the taste is really not very good, I didn't pay much attention to it, but I didn't know that I could also make wine.

"The day after tomorrow, there will be a holiday in the middle of the year, and we will go to pick mountain grapes together." Xiao Yu became enlightened.

"Good!" Xiao Yu nodded in agreement.

If you say that when you eat the fruit, it is natural that the twist is delicious, but when it comes to sake brewing, the mountain grape is better than the twist.

In Daqi, wine is very popular and highly sought after. Because grapes have not been introduced from the northwest for a long time, they are also relatively valuable fruits, and there are few people who know how to make this kind of wine, so the best wines are mostly worth thousands of gold.

There were still a lot of empty wine jars at home, and the next day Xiao Yucheng went to the academy, and the two sisters, Xiao Yu and Xiao Pei, still went to the mountains to pick twists.

"Ah Yu, it turns out that you two are here, but let me find it!"

Hearing this familiar loud voice, Xiao Yu and Xiao Pei turned to look. I saw Hao Jun walking uphill with Huzi, picking a few twists in his hand and throwing them into his mouth.

"Huh? There's a big hornet's nest here. Hao Jun suddenly stared at the tree in front of him, and said overjoyedly, "Just burn it back and eat bee chrysalis and drink, haha!" ”

Xiao Pei involuntarily took a few steps back before looking up. Sure enough, I saw a dark hornet's nest among the dense branches and leaves of the big tree in front of me. She felt sick at the thought of the floppy larvae, and her face turned a little pale.

Xiao Yu was very positive: "Don't burn it, use the sack to put it back, I want to use it to make wine!" ”

"Little brother really wins my heart!" Hao Jun let out a long laugh and strode back to get the tools.

After Hao Jun moved the ladder and brought the sack, how could Xiao Yu still have the mind to pick the twist? They all stood from afar and watched Hao Jun climb up the tree to get the hornet's nest.

From this day to the evening, I only picked a few dozen catties of twists. In the hall, there are two more jars of famous wine called wasp wine and a hornet's nest the size of a barrel.

When Xiao Yucheng came back from school, he saw Hao Jun's nose and swollen face, and even his speech was a little slurred, which made people laugh.

The next day, the three sisters and brothers went to pick mountain grapes. The slope was covered with wild vines, the leaves had turned a little red, and the clusters of small black berries were hidden in the yellow and red leaves, which were delicate and lovely.

Xiao Yu picked one to eat, subconsciously wrinkled his brows, and then stretched it out again. It's so sour, but the sake has a unique flavor.

Mountain grapes can be picked in bunches, and they are quite fast.

However, because it is said that the ghost gate is wide open during the Midyear Festival, the yin qi is very heavy, and several people go home early. At night, they burned paper clothes and coins to sacrifice to ghosts and gods, and the three sisters and brothers began to deal with mountain grapes.

"Don't rub off the white frost on the skins of these mountain grapes." Xiao Yu instructed.

Similar to making twisted wine, the three of them plucked the mountain grapes from the branches and crushed them and sealed them in the wine jar. So there were ten more large jars in the hall.

A few days later, Hao Jun came over and volunteered to help buy jars and carry mountain grapes, and Xiao Yu and Xiao Pei went to pick mountain grapes for another day.

Xiao Pei looked at the house full of bamboo shoots and fruits, and sighed: "There are so many jars that I can't put them at home." ”

Xiao Yu said with a smile: "Sister, if you think that these are all fine wines, you won't have too much money, but you will only feel that your house is too small." ”

"It's time to expand." Xiao Pei said thoughtfully.

"This thatched hut is narrow and dilapidated, and it rains outside and drips water inside, so it is better to build a new one." Xiao Yu said, "Anyway, the large piece of barren house next to it belongs to my Xiao family." ”

Xiao Pei thought a little in his heart, and now the family has saved a lot of money, which is enough to build a very large house, so he immediately nodded yes, and began to plan to build a house.