Chapter 51 Fragrant Wine Workshop

Ganoderma lucidum is a fungus, and during the inoculation process, hands must be sterilized with seventy-five percent alcohol to prevent germs from interfering with the development of the mycelium.

However, whether alcohol of the appropriate concentration could be found in this place was uncertain, so Tong Chuxue decided to first visit the tavern in town to find out.

In fact, there was only one wine shop in town, named Fragrant Wine Shop. The name was chosen quite casually, and the types of wine sold inside were not many either.

Yet, because it was a monopoly business, the income was enough to sustain daily expenses.

The owner of the tavern was an elderly grandfather who had run this shop his entire life. Seeing Tong Chuxue enter, he greeted her warmly, "Little girl, here to buy wine?"

Tong Chuxue smiled, "Grandfather, I'd like to ask, which of your wines has the highest alcohol content?"

The old man chuckled heartily, "You little girl, you speak quite boldly, asking for my highest-proof wine right off the bat. Aren't you afraid of getting drunk?"

With that, the old man brought out a small jar of wine from the back room, "Little girl, I'll pour some out for you to taste, and then you can decide whether to buy it or not."

The old man was also generous, taking out a coarse porcelain bowl and pouring a bowl of wine. Tong Chuxue lifted the bowl and took a sniff. The aroma of the wine here was lingering and mellow, and the quality was good. She took another sip; it was indeed high-proof wine, around fifty degrees. It was still somewhat short of the seventy-five-degree standard, but it didn't matter. She could take it back and continue distilling it. Although it wouldn't be completely identical to medical alcohol, it would serve the purpose.

"Grandfather, how is this wine priced? I'll take a jar," Tong Chuxue said.

The old man stroked his beard, "Girl, if you are truly sincere about buying, I must warn you first, this wine is not cheap."

"I'll buy it no matter how much it costs." Tong Chuxue now held a fortune of dozens of taels, so buying a jar of wine was more than affordable.

The old man extended his right hand and made a five, "Five hundred wen."

Not bad, not bad, it was only five hundred wen. Tong Chuxue breathed a sigh of relief, having thought the old man would ask for five taels of silver per jar.

She paid the silver readily, and the old man was also very happy. He went to the back to get her a brand new jar of wine and asked casually, "Girl, is there some great celebration at home?"

Usually, only when encountering a great celebration would someone be willing to spend money on such good wine. Tong Chuxue blinked, "You could say that."

She was going to start cultivating Ganoderma lucidum as soon as she got back. Thinking of the streams of silver about to flow in, how could it not be considered a great celebration?

Having bought what she needed, Tong Chuxue boarded the ox cart belonging to Uncle Tong's family to return to the village. Along the way, seeing Tong Chuxue holding a jar of wine, everyone was very curious and asked how much she had paid for it. When Tong Chuxue said five hundred wen, everyone's jaws dropped in astonishment.

This little girl had truly made a fortune; she could buy five-hundred-wen wine just like that.

However, some people could not bear to watch, "Surely you didn't buy this wine at the Fragrant Wine Shop, did you?"

Tong Chuxue found this strange, "Isn't there only one wine shop in this town?"

"Who says so? The Fragrant Wine Shop just hangs up a sign. When families have events, they buy wine from the restaurants. Who goes to a wine shop?"

"Indeed, girl, but since you don't go out often, you probably don't know. The wine from the Fragrant Wine Shop is terribly fake."

How could wine be fake? Tong Chuxue removed the lid of the wine jar and instantly froze.

The wine she had selected in the shop earlier had a clearly refreshing and fragrant aroma, but the jar of wine in her arms required a hard sniff at the mouth of the vessel to catch even a hint of wine odor. Tong Chuxue dipped her index finger into the liquid and tasted it; the wine flavor was as bland as plain water.

She had been cheated!

Tong Chuxue suddenly remembered that when the old man gave her the wine earlier, he had gone to the back to fetch a new jar instead of the one he had opened.

It was also her carelessness. Thinking the other party was a kind-faced old man, she didn't think much of it, paid directly, and left, leaving an opening for someone to take advantage of her.

Seeing the change in Tong Chuxue's expression, the others guessed she had been scammed.

"Snow girl, let it be. Consider it paying for a lesson."

"How can I just let it be!" Swallowing a loss in silence was simply not Tong Chuxue's style.

"You don't know yet, the owner of that Fragrant Wine Shop is the father-in-law of the county yamen's private secretary. Otherwise, how would he dare to cheat people so blatantly?"

"But if he does business like this, and everyone knows it, won't nobody go to him to buy wine?" Tong Chuxue asked, puzzled.

"Hah, those bailiffs in the county yamen patronize his business year-round, and he doesn't cheat those bailiffs. He only preys on ordinary folks like us."

"Snow girl, not every household in all the surrounding villages knows about the rotten deeds of the Fragrant Wine Shop. There will always be a few gullible fools like you."

For a small place like Qingshan Village, the county magistrate's private secretary was practically equivalent to imperial royalty. Therefore, whenever anything was linked to him, no one dared to speak out casually.

As for being cheated, they had nowhere to seek justice and could only swallow their broken teeth along with the blood.

Yet how could Tong Chuxue be resigned? She had actually been tricked by such a clumsy trick. What if he was the private secretary's father-in-law? Bullying others by abusing power was still wrong.

Tong Chuxue hugged the jar of wine and returned home amidst the sympathetic glances of the crowd.

Seeing Tong Chuxue return, Xu Jinniang smiled and greeted her, "Chuxue, you're back?"

Her gaze fell upon the wine in Tong Chuxue's arms, and she asked with surprise, "Does our family have an event to host? Why did you think of buying wine?"

Tong Chuxue did not mention being scammed, but silently placed the wine jar in the room, "Mother, help me do something tomorrow."

Early the next morning, Xu Jinniang took Uncle Tong's ox cart to town, found the proprietor of the Fragrant Wine Shop, and immediately ordered twenty jars of the fine wine priced at five hundred wen each, specifying that someone would come to pick them up in the afternoon.

Receiving such a large order suddenly, the old man was naturally overjoyed, repeatedly promising to have the required wine prepared in advance.

In the afternoon, Tong Chuxue arrived with a rented carriage.

When the old man saw Tong Chuxue enter, his expression turned slightly unnatural, but Tong Chuxue acted as if nothing was wrong, "Grandfather, I wonder if the wine I wanted is ready."

The old man was confused, "What wine?"

"Oh, didn't my mother come over this morning? I clearly told her to come and order twenty jars of wine," Tong Chuxue said with a puzzled expression. "Could it be that she forgot?"

"So that woman this morning was your mother! The wine has been ready for a long time, it's in the back. I'll go carry it out for you," the old man said with a sudden realization.

"Fortunately, I was worried I might delay important business," Tong Chuxue helped the old man load the jars of wine onto the carriage one by one. Having only paid a deposit of one tael of silver in the morning, she still needed to stay behind to pay the remaining balance.

Tong Chuxue's hired driver drove the carriage away first, while she cast a crafty smile at the old man, "Grandfather, the wine I tasted here yesterday was truly delicious, which is why I came back again today."

"That's right!" The old man felt quite proud. "I'm not boasting, but in the entire town, no one brews better wine than my family."

A glimmer flashed in Tong Chuxue's eyes as she chimed in, "Grandfather is right. That's why I'm planning to send some to the distinguished guests in the capital as well. I heard the county yamen's private secretary is your son-in-law, and I even gave special instructions that when they deliver the wine, they must make sure to mention your son-in-law."