Allure of a Country Maiden-Chapter 39 - 38 - Shen Bao’er is to be engaged, and liquor is to be brewed in the third room

Chapter 39: Chapter 38 – Shen Bao’er is to be engaged, and liquor is to be brewed in the third room

Chapter 39 -38 – Shen Bao’er is to be engaged, and liquor is to be brewed in the third room

The next day, the main house was lively and bustling early in the morning, resounding with constant laughter.

Xiao’er had not waited for Chengyao to return last night.

Instead, she and Mrs.

Liu made wine from grapes, first squeezing the dried grapes and putting the pulp and skin together in the wine jar.

They filled half of the jar, leaving some space for fermentation.

Once they had sealed the lid, they let it ferment naturally.

During the process, they needed to add sugar and check on the fermentation.

Their grape wine was made quickly.

Once finished, Xiao’er returned to her room.

Therefore, she did not know about the good news that Mrs.

Liu mentioned in the morning.

After tending to her herbs in her space, Xiao’er practiced Tai Chi for a while before leaving the space.

Upon seeing Xiao’er wake up, Mrs.

Liu urged her to wash up.

“Hurry and get ready.

After breakfast, we need to go to the main house.

Your elder sister Bao’er is going to have her marriage engagement soon.”

“Why is it so sudden?” Xiao’er stopped brushing her teeth with a willow twig, and could not help but miss the toothbrush and toothpaste.

“It’s not sudden.

Your Aunt had started looking for potential matches, but none satisfied her till now.”

Xiao’er thought to herself, so they finally found a good match?

“Aunt’s taste must be exceptional.

May I know which family’s son she is speaking of?” Xiao’er inquired.

“Your father says it’s the second son of the county magistrate’s family.” fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

“That is indeed a good match!” Xiao’er exclaimed.

Mrs.

Liu laughed, “You talk as if you know what a good match is.”

“Whenever I hear of someone getting engaged, that’s what everyone says!

Isn’t it the right thing to say?”

Mrs.

Liu paused at Xiao’er’s reply.

True, whenever someone heard of an engagement, this was the common response, but it sounded strange when spoken by a child.

“Mother, where’s father?

Did he set off for the neighboring county early this morning?” As Xiao’er finished washing her face, she sat down by the kang table to have breakfast.

Today’s breakfast was corn porridge.

The porridge was made viscous, deliciously combined with golden corn grains.

Scooping a spoonful, she found it mouthwateringly sweet.

Mrs.

Liu’s expression stiffened at Xiao’er’s question.

“By a twist of fate, preparations for your elder cousin’s engagement is at hand, so your father’s trip will have to be postponed a few days.

Now, he has gone to the town market to buy groceries.”

“Then, where are brother and Hao’er?” Curious, Xiao’er asked while noticing their absence early in the morning.

“Your grandfather decided we should make pickled fish for lunch, so they’ve gone out to catch some.”

“Mother, we need to prepare the wine first before going to the main house to help.

Otherwise, the fruits will lose their freshness, and the wine we brew won’t taste as good.”

Upon hearing Xiao’er’s words, Mrs.

Liu agreed.

Mrs.

Liu had asked how much Xiao’er had spent on a cart-load of fruit and was shocked when Xiao’er told her it had cost ten taels.

If the fruit went rotten without being turned into wine, Mrs.

Liu felt the loss would be unbearable.

Golden cherries are hard and making golden cherry wine is a process involving squeezing the outer skin of the cherries without harming the inner core.

Xiao’er explained the process, and Mrs.

Liu proceeded to follow the instructions carefully, using a knife to gently crack the outer skin of each cherry on a clean chopping board.

At first, she was more cautious, but by the third attempt, she mastered the process, expertly managing to crack the outer flesh of each cherry but not the inner core.

The process was time-consuming but necessary for the brewing of good wine.

The preparation of the golden cherries took surprisingly long and required extra hours.

It was only after two hours with the help of the two brothers that they managed to crush all the cherries.

They packed them into two jars, added white wine, sealed the jars tightly, and left them to ferment over a couple of days before they would add sugar, lemon juice and yeast.

Quality golden cherry wine requires careful handling during the fermentation process and a minimum soaking time of one month, with at least five rounds of stirring to bring out the rich flavors.

Later, they would need to perform this extra work.

All this was kept in mind by Xiao’er, as the remaining apples did not require immediate attention since they were less perishable.

Due to the time spent making golden cherry wine, Mrs.

Liu arrived rather late at the main house.

By then, most of the dishes had been cooked, except for the pickled fish and some greens.

Mrs.

Shen, Mrs.

Lan, and Mrs.

Li were not pleased with Mrs.

Liu and Xiao’er’s late arrival.

Mrs.

Lan, who usually maintained a gentle persona, now exhibited an air of arrogance, possibly because her daughter’s marriage into a distinguished family had boosted her confidence.

“I don’t mean to offend, but since you’ve separated from the main family…” Mrs.

Shen shot a warning glance at Mrs.

Li, not because she wanted to help Mrs.

Liu but because Master Shen had specifically asked her to avoid any conflict, deeming it inauspicious.

Hence, she stopped Mrs.

Li from continuing.

Otherwise, Mrs.

Shen would have long used harsh words to make Mrs.

Liu feel embarrassed.

Mrs.

Liu prepared the fish as Xiao’er had asked, filleting it and leaving the bone out.

Xiao’er then cooked a pot of pickled fish soup.

Even though the quality of the soup could not compare to yesterday’s soup, freshness made all the difference in taste.

There were fewer people who had tasted last night’s soup, but today’s pickled fish dish was completely devoured.

Xiao’er went to Bao’er’s room with a basket full of fruit.

Shen Yuzhu was curiously asking Bao’er about the county magistrate’s family, how they got acquainted, what the county magistrate’s second son looked like, and so on.

Annoyed by the constant questioning, Bao’er responded grumpily, “How would I know?

My mother arranged the marriage.”

“Little Aunt, Elder Cousin.” Bao’er responded to Xiao’er’s greeting with a light humph from her nose and accepted the fruit basket from her.

Seeing the lip-smacking, fragrant fruits in the basket, she finally gave a proper look to Xiao’er.

“Xiao’er, where did these fruits come from?” The quality of these fruits surpassed by far the ones the county magistrate’s second son had given to her.

“I bought them.”

“Where did you buy them?” If they could buy more of these fruits to treat the guests from the bridegroom’s side on the engagement day, it would certainly add to their prestige.

“An old man was selling them from his bullock cart on the road.”

“Do you know where the old man is from?”

“I don’t know.”

Upon hearing Xiao’er’s reply, Bao’er’s eyes reflected contempt.

She thought of Xiao’er as an airhead.

If she had encountered the person selling such good quality fruit, she would have definitely made an effort to inquire further.

Such good quality fruits could be gifted to the aristocratic ladies and wives, which would ensure good returns.

Shen Yuzhu was dissatisfied that as soon as Xiao’er entered, she had captured Bao’er’s attention.

She was extremely jealous and envious of Bao’er; despite being older than Bao’er, her own engagement was nowhere in sight while Bao’er’s was finalised.

She thought of herself stuck in the village all day long, unseen and unsought by the rich young men of the town.

This thought convinced her that she needed to live in the town with her mother to find a desirable match.

Set on this, she stood up, intending to find Mrs.

Shen.

Glaring at Xiao’er, she snapped, “Shouldn’t you be out helping with the cooking?”

Xiao’er, eager to leave, also agreed that if the conversation didn’t flow, then it was better not to engage.

So, she turned around and left.

Bao’er too left to find Mrs.

Shen.

With both of them gone, her room was peaceful again.

However, what she didn’t know was that difficult times were about to begin for her family.