Whether Li Qiulan herself knew she had the capability or not, she was certain her luck wasn’t enough. With several younger brothers at home all waiting to study, and parents who would naturally prioritize their education.
Seeing her looking downcast, Li Qiumei persuaded her, "Don’t blame Mom and Dad. Our family is poor; what can we do about being girls?"
"Sister, it’s okay. I just feel envious of those who can study." Li Qiulan smiled and said, "Egg is probably about to cry too. He definitely won’t want to go with brother-in-law. You should go now."
Listening quietly, Li Qiumei responded, "From what you say, Sister Su’s skills are quite impressive. You just focus on learning from her. Whatever you can learn is a gain. In the future, you might even become a master yourself. It’s no worse than going to school."
Li Qiulan nodded.
The sisters chatted a bit more, and then Li Qiumei went out.
...
The next day, Cheng Su delivered the goods ordered by the Huaiji Supply and Marketing Cooperative and also set some up for sale on the shelves, still pricing them at one yuan per jin, selling several jars during the market at noon.
After the busy market, Cheng Su specially went to the farmers’ market and bought several large boxes of grapes. These were the Kyoho variety planted in Xinjiang, dark and sweet, and reasonably priced.
Making grape wine was the simplest of tasks. However, cleaning and preparing the grapes was a more delicate process. Each grape had to be snipped off close to the stalk, ideally without breaking the skin, and rotten grapes had to be sorted out to ensure that the wine would not have an impure taste.
Snipping each grape from several boxes took quite some time, followed by the washing.
To keep the grapes fresh, the vendor had sprayed them with a preservative, so the grape skin had a white residue, possibly even pesticides, making the washing step extremely important.
Cheng Su brought out a large basin, placed the grapes inside, and added some salt and flour with water, carefully washing them several times until the skins were thoroughly clean. Then she used a strainer to dry the grapes.
The glass jars for fermenting the wine had been washed and sterilized with boiling water beforehand.
"Sister Su, how do you know how to do everything?" Li Qiulan couldn’t help but marvel as she watched Cheng Su’s movements.
"Because I’m a standard foodie," Cheng Su replied without looking up. Wearing disposable gloves, she squeezed the weighed and dried grapes into the glass jars. When almost full, she added a layer of white sugar and continued squeezing more grapes in.
Sugar was a crucial factor for the fermentation of grape wine, so it had to be added. The sweetness could be adjusted according to personal preference. Cheng Su herself didn’t like it too sweet; if too sugary, it seemed to overwhelm the wine’s natural fragrance, feeling like drinking sugar water, which she found quite uninteresting.
Having filled the jars and leaving enough space for fermentation, Cheng Su covered the mouth with a thin film of a preservation bag, and then sealed the jars tightly.
"Is that it?" He Yue asked intently from the side.
"Mhm, the weather is hot, so after fermenting for about ten days, it can be strained for the first time. After a month, it should be completely fermented. It might even be quicker. We’ll see." Cheng Su wrote the date of brewing on paper, sticking it on the glass jars, and then had He Yue and the others move them into the room specially used for making jam to store them.
After she finished one jar, she went on to the second, then the third. Cheng Su made a total of seven or eight jars before declaring the job done.
"Alright! That’s it for today. Clean up and you can go off work. I need to make a trip to the post office in town," Cheng Su said with a smile, clapping her hands.