Passion Fruit Dew

Early the next morning.

Before leaving, Chu He handed Xiao Shuili a drink.

This was a fruit wine he had brewed last night, using dozens of fruits plucked from the Mist Fruit Tree as the main ingredient.

Because the spiritual energy of the main ingredient wasn't particularly strong—roughly at the level of a mid-tier martial artist—and because all the auxiliary ingredients and additives were plant-based, the brewing time was significantly shortened.

Even when brewed in an ordinary wine jar, it would only take about three to five days.

In the White Jade Wine Pot, it was even faster, requiring only a single night.

"Chu He, what is this?" The little girl looked at the glass bottle in her hand and sniffed it gently. "It smells so good!"

"Hahaha, didn't I say I would brew some fruit juice for you? This is it!" Chu He pointed under the glass coffee table. "The rest is all there. Help yourself whenever you want to drink some in the future."

There, he had poured all the fruit wine he brewed last night into a purified water jug.

A full twenty liters—enough for Xiao Shuili to drink for a long time.

"It's delicious!" Chu Xi took a sip from her cup. It was sweet and sour with a fragrant aroma. She immediately tilted her head back and asked Chu He with a grin, "Brother, what is this called?"

"So now you know to call me brother?" Chu He found it quite amusing as he pinched Chu Xi's little cheek. He replied with a chuckle, "What it's called isn't important..."

"Alright, alright, what should I call it... Hmm, I've got it. How about Passion Fruit Dew?"

Seeing Chu Xi drinking happily, Xu Qingqing went over to pour herself a glass of the Passion Fruit Dew. After taking a sip, her eyes immediately lit up.

"Boss, you even know how to brew this kind of wine!" Xu Qingqing's voice was soft. "Then why don't you brew this at your winery?"

Chu He smiled. Just as he was about to explain the scarcity of the raw materials, the difference in brewing techniques, and the serious consequences of selling Spirit Wine, he heard his mother continue:

"People like me who don't like alcohol, and children like Xiao Shuili, would definitely love to drink this wine that tastes just like fruit juice."

"I don't know much about business, but isn't there a saying that the money of women and children is the easiest to earn?"

"Last night, your father was still complaining to me, saying that it's difficult to open wineries and restaurants across the Six Great Base Cities and that buying them all out would cost a lot of money..."

As she spoke, Xu Qingqing glanced at the thoughtful Chu He and asked, "What, is there something wrong with what I said?"

"No... it's not that. Mom, what you said makes a lot of sense." Chu He nodded gently and sat to the side, lost in thought.

Chu He wasn't struggling with anything else; he was contemplating the pressure his father was under, as his mother had just mentioned.

Previously, Chu He had simply dumped all the business affairs onto his father, ignoring the fact that even though his father was an Intermediate War General, business was still business.

Without a flagship product for their winery and restaurants, expanding naturally meant they could only spend money on acquisitions.

In this era of Base Cities, with the vastness of the wilderness, both the brewing industry and the restaurant industry could actually be categorized as high-consumption sectors.

With insufficient land to grow grain, there naturally wasn't enough food, making alcohol—which relies on grain as its primary ingredient—a luxury item.

In the Northeast Base City, thanks to his grandfather's reputation, neither the Extreme Martial Arts Gym, the Thunder Dojo, nor any of the major families would make things difficult for his father, and the costs required for procurement were quite reasonable.

However, it was a different story in other base cities.

In an industry with such high profit margins, why would they just hand it over to an outsider like him for nothing?

Therefore, he either had to pay a high price to purchase it, which was essentially paying protection money to the local powers.

Or, he had to break in through the sheer quality of his product.

Or, he had to break in through his own personal strength.

Thus, the only option left before Chu He was the product's inherent quality.

How about... selling some Spirit Wine? Chu He pondered.

First, it definitely couldn't be Red Blood Wine or Antler Wine, which could significantly boost personal strength; such wines could not be released to the public yet.

With Chu He's current strength, he couldn't protect them.

Second, the brewing process couldn't differ too drastically from the grain-brewing techniques currently used at the winery.

Processes like distillation and filtration were very different when brewing Spirit Wine, and they would need to be modified on the new production line.

Finally, there was the acquisition of raw materials.

While not every ingredient used to brew Spirit Wine needed to possess spiritual energy, the main ingredient absolutely had to.

As for brewing time, complex ingredients, and profit margins, those were actually minor issues.

After calculating everything one by one and considering it carefully, Chu He realized that Passion Fruit Dew was truly the most suitable choice.

In reality, this set of wine recipes was similar to Red Blood Wine; they were all part of the same series.

Red Blood Wine used the hearts of monsters of different levels and species as the main ingredient, with the auxiliary materials and additives varying based on the specific monster heart used.

The flavor and effects of the resulting Red Blood Wine remained basically the same.

Passion Fruit Dew, on the other hand, used any type of fruit containing spiritual energy as the main ingredient, with the auxiliary materials and additives changing accordingly.

The difference was that the Passion Fruit Dew produced would not only vary in flavor depending on the type of fruit, but its effects would also change based on the properties of the main ingredient.

Of course, most of these effects were related to beauty and vitality.

The effects wouldn't be too obvious, but long-term consumption could improve one's appearance and temperament.

The only trouble was, where could he find enough main ingredients?

"Mom, do you know where there are any large orchards?"

"Orchards?" Xu Qingqing pondered for a while, but she really couldn't think of any orchards near the Base City.

"Orchards? Why are you suddenly asking about this?" Chu Tianxiong walked down from the second floor, yawning.

Chu Tianxiong had spent most of the night thinking about how to expand his winery and restaurants to six Base Cities, so he had gotten up a bit late today.

Chu Tianxiong didn't think to ask much more and answered groggily, "We used to have plenty of orchards here in the Northeast, but now... I remember there was a temple near Shenyang Base City that was full of peach trees. Would that work?"

"A peach blossom forest?" Chu He raised an eyebrow. That could actually work!

Peach Blossom Wine!

It detoxifies and beautifies the skin, dispels cold, and nourishes the blood; it is most suitable for the elderly, women, and children.

However, whether to use peach blossoms as the main ingredient to brew Peach Blossom Wine or to use peaches as the raw material to brew Honey Peach Dew would depend on which of the two main ingredients possessed more spiritual energy.

He would have to wait until he returned from this trip to go and check for himself.

"Dad, stop worrying about expanding to other Base Cities for now. Look for or lease some orchards near our Northeast Base City and the eight surrounding Satellite Cities."

As he spoke, Chu He left behind a few wine recipes.

In addition to the one using peach blossoms as the main ingredient, there were also Spirit Wine recipes using peaches and honey as the main ingredients, or other common fruits.

"Oh, and by the way, make sure to set up a cultivation base for the medicinal herbs needed as auxiliary ingredients, and innovate the brewing process at the winery."

After handling these matters, Chu He didn't linger any longer.

The vines in the Mist Residential District were still waiting for him to harvest!

If he went too late, he feared that even the Spirit Nourishing Technique wouldn't be of much use.