The freshly steamed bad liquor is just strong and doesn't have much aroma. In the words of this era, it is strength.

Du Xun treated him like a baby, took a sip, and refused to drink again. said to Du Zhongxiao: "You remember, this method of steaming wine from sake lees cannot be passed on!" When we rebuild our family business, we are counting on this method. It's just that we are not a sake brewer, and we can't take out the sake that we make. In this way, since you are familiar with the Han family's foot shop, you will bring the rest of the wine. Ask them how to sell this wine and if they can sell it in their shop. ”

Du Zhongxiao had this thought and agreed immediately. Wu Kejiu coveted the beauty of the moon and cut off the supply of the Han family's wine, counting on the Han family to give his daughter to him if he couldn't bear the pressure. With this wine, it just broke his thoughts.

Put the wine in the bowl into a small jar, looked at the sky, Du Zhongxiao carried it, and walked towards the Han family's foot shop.

The business of the Han family's foot shop is as deserted as the weather in late autumn. This thing is evil, after Wu Kejiu and Cao Jucheng came to make trouble yesterday, the popularity of the store has decreased a lot.

Han Lian listlessly greeted the only three or five guests, and Han Yueniang sat behind the cabinet with a sad face. In the morning, when her father went to "Qixiangju" and couldn't drink on credit, she realized the seriousness of the matter. And it's not just "its Xiangju", but another "Yao Jizheng Store" is also not credit, I think Wu Kejiu went to say hello. What kind of business do you do when you run out of alcohol?

Han Lian and his wife discussed and discussed, and at the end of the month, they could only settle the settlement with "Qixiangju" and turn to other businesses. As for letting her daughter go to the Wu family as a maid and concubine, it is absolutely impossible. However, I didn't think about doing business well, and it was not easy to find a business to support my family in the small county town of Linying. They are more afraid that they are not familiar with the industry and accidentally lose their capital.

Du Zhongxiao came in and saluted Han Lian: "Daddy Han, is the store okay?" ”

Han Lian sighed: "Today is not good, seeing that it is almost noon, there are no guests yet." ”

Du Zhongxiao looked at the only few customers in the store, didn't speak, and pulled Han Lian to the corner. Holding the small jar of wine in his hand, Du Zhongxiao said: "Daddy, I have some powerful wine here, you can taste it." ”

Han Lian glanced at Du Zhongxiao strangely, not knowing what kind of wine he was secretly taking. With the can in hand and the lid for a day, the strong smell of wine will come to the nostrils, which is a little choking.

Han Lian took a sip and said, "The smell of wine is so strong, this wine must be very strong!" ”

After speaking, he casually took a bowl from the table next to him and poured a small half bowl of wine from the can. After sniffing it again, Han Lian took a sip.

"Poof-" This small sip of wine choked Han Lian and spit it out in one gulp.

Looking at Du Zhongxiao, Han Lian's eyes widened: "This wine is so powerful!" Nephew, where did this wine come from? I have been selling wine for many years, not to mention Linying County, even in the whole of Xuzhou, there is no such strong wine! ”

While speaking, Han Lian took another sip and savored the taste of the wine.

Du Zhongxiao looked at Han Lian's expression carefully, and said softly: "Don't hide it from Daddy, I have a way to make this wine." By the way, what if you sell this wine in a foot shop? How to sell the law? Can you make money? ”

Han Lian groaned: "Like this kind of spirit, when the price is based on the big wine, it can't be lower." If you want to come to twenty or thirty pounds, it will definitely be easy to sell. It's just a virtuous nephew, although you have a way to make this wine, but you can't make wine according to the official law, what's the use? ”

Du Zhongxiao looked at Han Lian a little nervously, and whispered, "What if you don't brew?" What about only making wine? ”

"Don't brew? Where does it come from if you don't make wine? Is it true that your wine is made of other wine? That's useless, we can't drink on credit right now. Virtuous nephew, now the restaurant does not give us wine on credit, and the good wine is secondary. ”

Du Zhongxiao looked around, leaned into Han Lian's ear and whispered, "Daddy guessed wrong, this liquor is not made from wine, but from the lees. Not to mention 'its fragrant residence', the sake lees of 'Yaojiazhengdian' can only be thrown away every day, so don't you sell it? ”

"Wine lees—" Han Lian forgot for a moment, his voice was high, and he hurriedly covered his mouth.

Looking left and right, Han Lian grabbed Du Zhongxiao: "This is not the place to talk, let's come to the back." ”

Han Yueniang watched her father pull Du Zhongxiao and hurriedly walked to the back, feeling strange. This morning, my father came back and said that he had found Du Dun among the bad people, and he was happy that Du Zhongxiao had found his relatives. It's just that now, how the two of them are mysterious.

When he arrived in the back room, Han Lian asked Du Zhongxiao with a straight face: "Virtuous nephew, you said that you made wine from the lees, what is going on?" ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Daddy, the wine smell of wine lees is strong, and there must be wine in it." I just learned a way to make wine out of sake lees. The sake made from sake lees is so powerful. Daddy, do you think this wine can be sold? ”

Han Lian pondered for a while before he said: "The government only prohibits private households from brewing wine, and they are not allowed to sell it privately. If you make sake from sake lees, my family is a sake brewer, and it is not forbidden to sell it. It's just that this matter has never happened before, and I don't know how the government will decide. - No matter what, it's not a private brew after all, and it's just that the big day is just not allowed to sell it when the time comes. Now the Wu family and the 'Yao family Zhengdian' are not giving us wine on credit, and they are going to cut off my family's livelihood. Since the virtuous nephew has this method, we will go and buy the sake lees from the 'Yao Jiazheng Store', and you will make the wine at home and take it to my store to sell. What is the price, we will sell it for a few days and then set it better. It's something you've never seen before, and the price is high and low, depending on whether the drinker is willing to pay or not. ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded violently: "Okay, that's what I said!" Early tomorrow morning, I will go to the 'Yao Jiazheng Store' with my father to buy two loads of sake lees and come back to make wine. Start by pricing the wine at the top of the price to see how well it sells, and then decide the price. ”

At this time, the wine is divided into large wine and small wine. Small wine is brewed in spring and autumn, and large wine is brewed in winter and summer, and the price is different. According to the official price, the cheapest wine is 5 wen a catty, and the most expensive is 30 wen a catty, which is divided into more than 20 and so on. The price of the wine is slightly higher. It makes sense that the alcohol content is high, and the price is a little higher. But in the end, it still depends on whether the drinker accepts it or not.

Back at home, Du Zhongxiao told his parents about the results of the discussion with Han Lian, and finally said: "According to what Daddy Han said, there is nothing wrong with making wine from wine lees, and he can also sell it there." There is only one point, the official prohibits illicit alcohol, and I don't know how the county will deal with this matter. ”

Du Xun returned home and ate a full meal, slept again, and was in much better spirits. After listening to Du Zhongxiao's words, he groaned a little and said, "Don't worry about it in advance." If the county inquires, I will say it. Anyway, I'm a Xianggong Jinshi, and I can speak well in the state. ”

Du Zhongxiao only remembered this statement, no matter what his father said, he was also a newly released person, a well-known figure in the state, and before leaving, he had seen these officials from Zhizhou to Tongju. This name can't be exchanged for money, but it can be exchanged for many other things. For example, ordinary people see that officials such as Zhizhou are in great difficulty, but it is not difficult to follow it. A famous thorn was handed in, and Zhizhou wanted to see it nine times out of ten.

Thinking of this festival, Du Zhongxiao put aside the worries in his heart and concentrated on thinking about how to make bad liquor.

Steaming sake on sake lees requires relatively simple utensils. A cauldron, a large retort, a condensed wine pipe, and a wine jar for wine. In the final analysis, it is the pot of a small family workshop.

There are ready-made pots at home, and Du Zhongxiao used the money he saved in the past few days to buy a big retort.

The open space in front of the house is just in use. Du Zhongxiao went outside the city to cut some branches, bought a few thick bowls of wood, and built a steam shed.

Du Xun's body was still poor, sitting on the side, directing Du Zhongxiao to build.

I tried the retort on the pot, and it was important to move it down, and Du Zhongxiao wiped a handful of sweat.

At this time, the sun had slowly slipped to the western horizon, red, and there was no more dazzling light. The town was eerily quiet, and there was no sound except for the occasional cries or two in the distance.

Du Xun sat under the eaves, hunched his back slightly, and watched Du Zhongxiao busy with a focused expression. The sun shone on him, and he drew a circle of gold on his gray hair. On his wrinkled face, his gray beard looked a little messy, and he looked like he had gone through vicissitudes.

Du Zhongxiao looked at Du Xun, inexplicably a little sad.

In the past few months, the fusion of the two souls has made Du Zhongxiao's thoughts very chaotic, and it is extremely difficult to calm down and do something. The loneliness that comes from the soul after a thousand years, and the inadaptability to real life, make Du Zhongxiao at a loss. For his father, Du Zhongxiao has both the feelings of living together in this world for more than ten years, and the estrangement of thousands of years, and his mood is very complicated. In the morning, Du Xun was found among the bad people, and seeing his down-and-out appearance, Du Zhongxiao only felt sad. This sorrow comes not only from family affection, but also from the tragedy caused by the times to him.

However, in just one day, the depression has slowly faded away from his father, replaced by infinite confidence in life.

Maybe in Du Xun's eyes, as long as the family is reunited, the temporary predicament is nothing, and everything will be fine.

yes, everything will be fine. Du Zhongxiao clapped his hands and walked out of the shed.

The mother came out with a bowl of water and said, "My son is tired, drink water and rest." ”

Du Zhongxiao smiled, took the bowl and took a sip of water, and turned to look at the shed he had built.

The shed was very simple, but it was surrounded by straw mats on all sides, so that it was difficult to see the inside from the outside. Thinking of steaming wine in it, Du Zhongxiao couldn't help but smile bitterly. Fortunately, it is late autumn, otherwise in this kind of confined space, people would not have to be steamed.

There is no way to do this, in Du Xun's words, steaming wine from sake lees is a secret technique for the revival of one's own family business, and it cannot be looked at. This technique is not complicated, it is like a layer of window paper, and it is worthless if it is pierced.

The uniqueness of Chinese baijiu comes from its craftsmanship, which is not technically complicated and the utensils used are simple. Back in ancient times, the easiest way to make spirits is actually Chinese baijiu.