Good Wine is Here

Chapter 25: Good Liquor Is Born

The next morning, Jiu'er woke up, glanced at the man still snoring soundly, cracked a smile, and got up to prepare breakfast.

As soon as she stepped into the main room, a whiff of liquor hit her. Jiu'er paused, looked around, and finally fixed her gaze on the four jars that the man had pissed in the night before.

Could it be them?

No way. The liquor the Distillery brewed could never smell this good.

Jiu'er leaned in, sniffed carefully, and found the aroma was indeed coming from those four jars.

Unable to resist, she scooped a little with a small bowl and tasted it. Her eyes lit up—so mellow, so fragrant.

"Husband, husband, wake up quick." Jiu'er hurried into the inner room and shoved Jiang Hao, who was still asleep.

"Hmm, what's wrong?" Jiang Hao asked groggily.

"Go take a look. The four jars of new liquor from yesterday have turned incredibly fragrant and mellow—way better than anything the Distillery ever made. Get up and see." Jiu'er tugged at him.

Hearing the liquor had really changed, Jiang Hao snapped awake. He threw on a shirt, went to the main room, sniffed the rich aroma, and couldn't resist a sip. It was mellow on entry, fierce but not harsh, and the bitter taste from yesterday was gone. By Jiang Hao's drinking experience, it ranked among top-tier white liquor.

Jiang Hao was overjoyed.

It worked. It really worked.

"Jiu'er, go fetch Brother Luohan," Jiang Hao said.

Jiu'er gave a quick "Alright" and hurried to the Distillery to find Luohan. Soon, Luohan came back—not just him, but all the other Helpers too, except for the few tending the fire.

As soon as they entered, the rich liquor scent hit them. Someone couldn't help swallowing. "What a great smell. What liquor is this?"

"Who knows? Probably as good as Maotai."

"Pfft, have you ever even drunk Maotai?"

Ignoring the Helpers' chatter, Jiang Hao said to Luohan, "Brother Luohan, come take a look at our new liquor. Does the flavor pass now?"

Luohan looked puzzled. "This is our new liquor?"

"Yeah, the one you brewed yesterday. Dazhuang and Er Zhuang carried it to my room. No mistake," Jiang Hao said with a smile.

Jiang Hao scooped a bowl from the jar and handed it to Luohan. Luohan took a small sip, his eyes widening instantly, then downed the rest in one gulp. He exhaled a breath of alcohol and shouted, "Good liquor, good liquor! Red and pure, fierce on entry, smooth on the finish, with lingering after-aroma and a long-lasting taste. Truly rare good liquor. This—this is really our sorghum liquor?"

Luohan looked at Jiang Hao in disbelief.

"Thousand True Beings," Jiang Hao said with a smile.

Suddenly remembering something, Luohan stared at Jiang Hao. "You said yesterday you had a Secret Recipe for blending liquor. Is it true? Did you work on it last night?"

"Yeah, I was busy half the night," Jiang Hao said.

Jiu'er shot Jiang Hao a sidelong glance, thinking, What Secret Recipe? You just took a piss and slept like the dead after. If I hadn't been right beside you, I might've bought your bullshit.

But Luohan thought differently. He looked at Jiang Hao with new eyes. In these times, people truly believed in Secret Recipes—some were secrets guarded by families for generations, passed down for ages.

Jiang Hao glanced at the Helpers, who were practically craning their necks into the jars, and said, "Jiu'er, bring more bowls. Let everyone taste our new liquor."

Jiu'er and Er Dan's Mother fetched bowls, filling each one to the brim. Staring at the crimson liquid and breathing in the thick aroma, everyone looked at Jiang Hao. He smiled and said, "To our new liquor, to our future life—let's drink this bowl."

"Bottoms up!" they all shouted in unison, then gulped down the bowls in two or three swallows.

"Damn, that's good."

"I've never had liquor this fine before."

"Way better than what we brewed before."

"No comparison, no comparison at all."

"Can't believe we made this ourselves. We can actually brew liquor this good."

Someone chimed in, "It's Elder Brother Zhan'ao's Secret Recipe that's amazing. Everyone tasted the new liquor when it came out yesterday—bitter and astringent. Now it's turned into immortal brew. That skill is something else."

No one asked what Yu Zhan'ao's Secret Recipe was, because they knew such things weren't to be asked.

Of course, Jiang Hao had no intention of telling them either.

The crowd left cheerfully. Jiang Hao had the Helpers move the half-drunk jar away, leaving the other three. Jiu'er sidled up to him and whispered, "Was it really just a piss, or is there another Secret Recipe?"

"Heh, just a piss. But there's a lot of know-how behind it," Jiang Hao said.

He guessed that some subtle chemical reaction between the urine and the bitter new liquor had made it taste so good. What reaction exactly, he couldn't figure out.

Jiu'er said, "This is between us two. Don't tell anyone else. From now on, when new liquor comes out, you go to the cellar to blend it. Don't let anyone see."

Peasant cunning.

Jiang Hao nodded. That would make things easier for him too.

"I'll make you breakfast. Wait here."

Jiu'er walked out with a smile. With this Secret Recipe, the new liquor was a success, and business at Shibali Slope was bound to pick up. Life had hope—that was worth celebrating.

Once Jiu'er was gone, Jiang Hao went to the jars, placed a hand on one, and silently chanted, "Collect."

Ten seconds passed.

Swoosh~

The wine jar vanished. Jiang Hao's heart leaped. He opened the system panel and saw a green tick mark appear on the task progress bar, followed by "Complete 1%."

Try again.

He placed his hand on another jar, silently commanded collect. Another ten seconds passed, and this jar was absorbed too. The progress ticked up to 2%.

Not a fluke.

Hell yeah, it actually worked. Looked like the aliens had a taste for this spiked sorghum liquor.

In the days that followed, batch after batch of distilled liquor was brewed and sent to the cellar. When the final count came in, there were over three hundred jars. Jiang Hao shut himself inside and began adding the Secret Recipe to the wine—well, pissing in it.

When you need to piss, you always regret not having enough.

A normal person urinates six to eight times a day. Any more than that, and something's definitely wrong.

Four jars per piss.

Four sixes are twenty-four, four eights are thirty-two. With over three hundred jars in this batch, adding the Secret Recipe to all of them would take at least ten days. It was grueling work.

Every time Jiang Hao mixed the brew, Jiu'er stood guard outside the cellar, keeping the Helpers from wandering in and stumbling on the secret.

Jiang Hao, meanwhile, collected as he mixed.

Swoosh—

Another jar vanished.

He checked the system panel progress bar. It had already reached 99%. Excitement surged through him. The task was almost done. Just as he was about to lay his hand on the last jar, he stopped.

One more collection and he'd complete the task. Once completed, he'd be forcibly ejected in twelve hours. At that moment, a deep reluctance welled up inside him.