The cool breeze of the early morning blows and blows on the face, which is extremely refreshing. Xu Ping leaned on the willow tree in front of the village with his arms crossed, bored.

Not far in front of him, on the road in front of Zhuangmen, Xu Chang held the handlebars, and Sun Qilang and Gao Daquan pedaled the car and walked slowly.

Sitting in the car, it was Lin Suniang who took Su'er and Xiuxiu, two little girls, looking around curiously. Xu Ping had already connected the two seats into a row of chairs, and the three of them were still very loose to sit on.

Since they got up early in the morning, they have been playing back and forth from the village along the repaired road to the field outside. Although Xu Chang Gao Daquan and Sun Qilang contributed to the triumph, they did not feel unpleasant, and excitedly took turns to change the handlebars. After practicing a few times, these three people have also become proficient and have become old drivers.

Xu Ping understands this mood, in his previous life, friends bought a car, and relatives and friends had to sit twice, not to mention this kind of novelty in this era.

Five days ago, he congratulated Lin Wensi on his birthday, and he also took this car to Baisha Town. Although he didn't say anything enthusiastic with his character, he couldn't hide his expression, and it was much more comfortable to ride in this car than to ride a donkey.

On a whim, Lin Wensi also made several suggestions for this car. Although most of them are carved on which part of the car, what kind of mythical beasts are carved, etc., there is also practicality, that is, adding a shed on the seat to protect from the sun and rain. Xu Ping naturally made a detachable shed.

At this time, all the over-made things in this car have been dismantled cleanly, and it looks unpretentious, but the practicality is stronger than before.

When the car stopped, Gao Daquan changed to Xu Chang to be the driver, Zhuangke Lu Song came from the east of Zhuangzi and said to Xu Ping: "Official, the grits over there have been moistened, and the wine vat has been buried." ”

Xu Ping was already anxious, and when he heard that it was done, he shouted over there: "Don't care, don't play yet, we still have work to do!" ”

Gao Daquan had just gotten into the car, and when he heard the shouting, he turned the head of the car and slowly rode to the gate of the village.

In front of Xu Ping, Gao Daquan shouted: "Stop!" ”

Sun Qilang and Xu Chang reversed the pedal and stopped abruptly, very chic.

Xu Ping shook his head, braking in this way is not good for the transmission system, but it is not good to say whether it is cost-effective to add another set of braking system, so he has to do this for the time being.

The three little girls got out of the car, their little faces flushed, apparently still reminiscing.

Su Er tilted his face and said, "When will you take a trip to the town, how good it will be!" ”

Xiuxiu laughed at her: "You just want to show off everywhere!" ”

Only Lin Suniang smiled and didn't say a word.

Bidding farewell to Lin Suniang, Xu Ping took Xu Chang and Sun Qilang to the place where the wine was made, and Gao Daquan was responsible for pushing the car back into the shed. Now this car is under his maintenance, and he cares very much.

The wine farm is selected on the east side of the yard and the north of the wheat field. Because the Yellow River has been flooded for many years, it is all sandy soil, and there is a lack of yellow mud, so Xu Ping does not use a wine cellar, but uses a large vat to make wine.

When Xu Ping arrived, there were already more than a dozen villagers waiting there.

There are several large piles of broken sorghum, all of which were made early yesterday and mixed with hot water to moisten the material here, and it is not considered to be moistened until today.

On the other side are ten large vats buried in the ground, which are all to be loaded and fermented.

Xu Ping stepped forward and looked at the crushed sorghum that had been moistened. Grab a handful, see if it's moistened, pick it up and smell it carefully, make sure there is no smell, and the heat is just right.

Turned to Xu Chang and said: "Everything, go and get the big retort made a few days ago, this material will be steamed to a good degree, I'm afraid it will take a lot of time, don't delay." ”

Xu Chang took the order.

Xu Ping said to Sun Qilang again: "Qilang, go and get some chaff, remember to be clean and good, don't have a little rot!" ”

When the two of them returned, they set up a large pot next to them and put the retort on it to prepare the steaming sauce.

For today, Xu Ping had already asked the town to send several truckloads of good coal, and the dealer caused a fire under the pot, added the coal, poured clean water into the pot, and blew the bellows next to it.

After a while, water vapor will come out of the retort.

Xu Ping said to the tall man who came over: "You go to sprinkle material on it, and Qilang will give you a hand." It's a delicate job, and it's not sloppy at all! I already told you what to say yesterday, is there anything else to ask? ”

Gao Daquan responded: "It's all in my heart!" ”

Stepping on the stool, Gao Daquan stood on the side of the retort, saw that the water vapor in the retort began to diffuse, and said to Sun Qilang, who was standing at the bottom: "Seventh brother, take the chaff!" ”

Sun Qilang took half a dustpan and handed it over.

Gao Daquan took it in his hand and slowly sprinkled it on the bottom of the retort.

Use the bran to pad the bottom first, which is to play a loose role, so as not to block the grate eye at the bottom of the retort, and the water vapor cannot come up, and the steaming is uneven. Grain bran also has a function, is to increase the fragrance of the material, of course, if there is a rice husk better, but this around does not produce rice, so it has to be replaced with grain bran.

After loading the bran, the feeding begins. Yesterday, Xu Ping explained that the loading should not be loose or tight, and he kept filling the retort and leaving a flat top. Gao Daquan remembered it in his heart and didn't dare to slack off.

Slowly filling the materials, Sun Qilang brought a large basin of hot water to Gao Daquan below, he took it, and poured it all on the loaded materials before taking a breath and getting off the stool.

Xu Ping asked the banker who pulled the bellows to increase the wind and steam it with a high fire.

The material was going to be steamed for almost an hour, and Xu Ping took the loader and began to scrub the water tank. The water used is boiled and cooled, and after scrubbing, wipe dry, and then brush with a layer of pepper water. The function of pepper water is to disinfect, and the other is to increase the aroma of pepper.

After the cylinder was brushed and cleaned, the first retort over there was almost steamed, and the villagers were officially busy.

Someone had already been instructed to take cold well water, pour it on the steaming broken sorghum, splash a few buckets, and start stirring. Then spread it out and let it cool slowly.

Now that the weather is hot, where is it so easy to cool down, Xu Ping let a few bankers fan around. Anyway, the vacancy will have to wait until the evening, and it is not too urgent.

I was so busy until the evening that I steamed all the ingredients.

By this time, the sun had set, and the cool breeze was gradually rising.

Everyone was busy all day, and they were tired from the high-temperature work of steaming and cooking.

Xu Ping had already asked Xiuxiu to cook mung bean soup, and when he took it, he asked everyone to rest first and drink a bowl of mung bean soup to relieve the heat.

Gao Daquan sat on the ground and asked Xu Ping: "Official, can this really make wine?" ”

Xu Ping said: "Isn't this nonsense! Have you drunk less soju at home? ”

Gao Daquan was a little embarrassed: "I'm a rough person, so I have to drink hard and make the officials laugh." But how much better is it than the original sake brewing? ”

Xu Ping said angrily: "How much is glutinous rice a catty?" How much is a pound of sorghum? This year's weather is dry, the water of the Bianhe River is shallow, and the rice from the south of the Yangtze River has been transported to Beijing less than in previous years, and the money has risen a lot. My dad worries every day, if the price of rice continues to rise like this, the restaurant will not make money. ”

Since Xu Ping started steaming wine, everyone thought he was a wine connoisseur and proposed this method of making wine, although everyone was skeptical, but there was no real opposition.

Fortunately, Xu Ping visited a small wine workshop in the countryside in his previous life, and he still remembers the general procedure, so he will not be wrong.

When it was already dark after resting, he lit a few torches to illuminate the surroundings.

Xiuxiu was bored in the house alone, so she also ran over, lit the alcohol lamp and put it next to her, hugging her knees and watching everyone busy.

At this time, the first steamed material finally cooled down, and Xu Ping commanded the Daqu that had been broken in advance to be mixed into the material. In this era, there is no need to talk about the wine production rate, so Xu Ping added less koji ingredients. If you add too much koji, and now that it's hot, it's easy to get rancid and affect the quality of the wine.

After mixing the koji, the ingredients are placed in a large vat buried in the ground, covered with a stone slab, and the bran left over from the steaming process in front of it is sprinkled on top and sealed.

After finishing a cylinder, Xu Ping took a breath and asked Zhuang Ke to be busy with the rest, and sat next to Xiuxiu to rest.

Xiuxiu whispered: "Official, you haven't eaten until now, aren't you hungry?" ”

Xu Ping shook his head: "I've been busy, so I don't feel hungry." I told them that when tonight was done, the wine and meat would be eaten, and the kitchen would have killed a dozen chickens. ”

Since the sorghum alfalfa was planted, Xu Ping has let the village raise thousands of chickens, which are usually raised in the field, and they can be eaten whenever they want. This free-range chicken tastes good and doesn't cost food. Sheep is still too expensive, no one can stand it if they eat it every day, and Zhuangzi still has to talk about output profits. Although the weasel and the fox also ate a lot of chickens, the village raised a few dogs for this purpose, and the villagers chased and beat them, and the rest could not be eaten.

Xiuxiu smiled mysteriously: "Official, are you hungry?" I've brought you a few buns. ”

Xu Ping said: "You have this kind of careful thinking, but it's a pity that I'm not hungry, and I'll have to eat and drink with them later." ”

Xiuxiu shook her head unhappily and turned away from Xu Ping.

At this time, a round of the first quarter moon hangs in the sky, as bright as silver, and the cool breeze blows, accompanied by the busy figures of the villagers next to it, revealing a unique tranquility in the countryside.