Traveling through 70's wine

The two rode their bikes to the Shou'an Temple Fair. This temple fair was just resumed this year, so people from all over the place came.

They saw colorful flags fluttering in the distance ahead. When they got closer, they found that there were makeshift sheds on both sides of the road. Some sold small gadgets, some sold clothes, and the majority were food stalls.

The food stalls were filled with the smell of business. Looking along, there were vendors selling Yuanxiao, dumplings, candied haws, sugar paintings, rice candies, and Pingjing stewed pork. There were actually quite a few people surrounding the stewed pork stalls, holding small bowls and eating with bamboo sticks.

Wen Qing really couldn't stand the smell, so she pulled Zhuang Xien and walked away quickly.

Zhuang Xien bought a bag of rice cakes from a rice cake stall and shared it with the other.

When we walked to the front of the temple, we saw three doorways. The middle door was closed, and a large tea pot was placed in front of the door. There were many bowls on the table in front. I heard that it was the famous Zhang tea. There were also many people queuing in front of the stall. It was a real enjoyment to drink a bowl of hot and sweet tea on a cold day.

Wen Qing and his friends entered from the doorway on the east side. There were also people setting up stalls inside the doorway, selling all kinds of mountain products and roasted nuts, including melon seeds, peanuts, and ginkgo nuts.

After entering the gate, there are two stone railings outside the dam in front of the temple. There are large drum platforms in the stone railings on both sides. There are three rows of seats below, which have been full for a long time. There are four or five rows of people standing in the back.

The two went to the east side of the stone railing and saw the "Leting Drum Lyrics" hanging on the railing. There was only a drum and a chair on the stage, and the performance had not yet begun.

There were more people gathered on the west side. A man in a long blue cotton jacket was sitting on a chair in the stone railing, holding a sanxian. There was a big drum standing behind him. A middle-aged woman in a flowery cotton jacket was standing next to the drum with a pear blossom piece in her hand. Wen Qing saw a sign hanging on the stone railing that said "Pear Blossom Drum", so she should be singing the drum.

Some people were standing and some were sitting in the front. She pulled Zhuang Xien to stand at the back. They could only hear the sound of the sanxian on the stage, followed by the clanging of the crisp pear blossoms, and then the woman's melodious voice began to sing.

Wen Qing listened for a while, not knowing what the words were. She felt that the string instrument sounded melodious and the female voice was clear and pleasant to the ear. The people sitting below were fascinated by the music and cheered along with the drumbeats.

The two of them didn't understand what was being said, so they just watched for fun, but they got bored after a while.

When they arrived at the temple, there was a vendor selling incense and candles at the entrance. The two men bought some, borrowed fire from the incense tower, lit the incense and candles, and then respectfully bowed three times to the Sakyamuni in the temple.

In the past few years, this temple was closed and ordinary people did not dare to come to worship. This year, the temple fair was held and the temple was opened.

Many people come here during the Spring Festival, but no one cares and just regards it as a folk activity.

After walking out of the temple gate, the two went to other stalls to shop. Zhuang Xien bought a pink scarf for Wen Qing, saying it was a New Year's gift for her.

Wen Qing remembered the clothes she bought for him in Hong Kong City and said, "Oh, I forgot. I bought you a gift in the South. You can pick it up from my place later."

It was almost noon, so the two rode their bikes back to Erxia Village, heated up the leftover food from yesterday, and had lunch.

Wen Qing took out the coat, suit, shirt, trousers, tie, belt and briefcase she bought for Zhuang Xien and filled the sofa with them. Zhuang Xien was very touched and said, "Xiao Qing, I didn't buy anything for you, but you bought me so many things. I am such an incompetent boyfriend."

Wen Qing smiled and said, “Brother Zhuang, don’t worry about it, I just want to buy it when I have the chance.”

Zhuang Xien said, "Xiao Qing, I will always treat you well." He held Wen Qing's hand tightly.

"Well, go ahead and try it."

Zhuang Xien took a set of clothes and changed into the bedroom. He was tall and thin. He looked stylish in the suit. Wen Qing pulled him to stand in front of the mirror and said, "Brother Zhuang, don't I have good taste?"

Zhuang Xien looked at himself in the mirror. He had never seen himself so handsome. He felt a little shy and said, "You always have good taste." He hurriedly changed his clothes, feeling very sweet in his heart.

Wen Qing packed up the things for him and said, "I also bought a batch of bicycles and plan to sell them in the store after the holiday."

Zhuang Xien asked happily: "Where is the car? Can I see it?"

Wen Qing said: "It's still on the way. I'll show it to you in two days."

Zhuang Xien said: "Xiao Qing, let's go to the palace tomorrow and have dinner at my place in the evening."

The two of them made an appointment, and Zhuang Xien took the things Wen Qing bought for him and went home.

After the Spring Festival, Zhuang Xien and Lin Qingyuan went to Jizhong City, and Wen Qing began to manage her Changxia Winery. She first had to brew the purchased hawthorns into hawthorn wine.

Hawthorn wine has the effects of lowering blood pressure, activating blood circulation, strengthening the spleen and benefiting the stomach. It has a sour and sweet taste and a low alcohol content. It is a very good fruit wine.

Liu Quan harvested more than 9000 kilograms of hawthorn and gave Captain Liu more than yuan, which made Captain Liu very happy. This money was completely free.

Wen Qing asked Liu Quan to arrange people to pick out the bad hawthorns first. For the remaining good hawthorns, there were about a pound of them. The stalks were removed, and the dust and impurities were washed off. Spring water was added and they were put into several stainless steel barrels for steaming at the same time until the hawthorns were soft. A certain amount of pectinase was added, and when the temperature dropped to a suitable level, the activated fruit wine yeast was added, and finally the mixture was poured into a stainless steel fermentation tank.

In order to make fruit wine, Wen Qing bought several large stainless steel fermentation tanks. One large tank can hold 5000 kilograms, and the hawthorn is fermented after being one-way sealed.

This was the first time that the expanded winery made wine, and the employees were very enthusiastic. After watching Wen Qing make a jar of hawthorn wine, Wang Jianguo led other workers to start making the remaining hawthorns.

Wang Jianguo said: "Sister Wen, it was such a pity that so many hawthorns were wasted before."

The hawthorns on the mountain are basically picked by children as snacks, or by women who pick some dried hawthorns and soak them in water to drink. This year, the village sold hawthorns and gave 10 yuan to each person in the village, so each family basically earned 5 to 60 yuan more.

Wen Qing smiled and said, "From now on, we will make hawthorn wine every year."

Wang Jianguo asked: "Sister Wen, what is the difference between the yeast used in hawthorn wine and the yeast used in white wine?"

Wen Qing said: "Fruit wine yeast is more tolerant to sugar and acid, and contains fewer foreign bacteria. Of course, foreign bacteria are not a bad thing, as they are also the source of the diverse flavor of liquor.

It’s just that when we make wine, we only need to cultivate good bacteria. Bad bacteria will produce bad taste, so we must not have them.”

After a pause, seeing that Wang Jianguo was listening attentively, she continued, "The most suitable fermentation temperature for fruit wine is 15 to degrees. It's winter now and the ambient temperature is too low. After putting the hawthorns into the fermentation tank, have someone turn on the heater. It doesn't need to be too high, just keep it at around degrees."

Liu Quan said: "Ours is equivalent to heating water in the city. It won't be cold when working in the winery in winter."

After more than 10,000 kilograms of hawthorns were put into the fermentation tank and began to ferment, Wen Qing said, "Let it ferment first, and add sugar tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, at a ratio of five kilograms of sugar for every ten kilograms of hawthorns."

Wang Jianguo was a little shocked. White sugar was so expensive, and it required a ticket. These hawthorn wines were not cheap to make.

Wen Qing also bought sugar in Gangcheng. Although it was more expensive than in Pingjing, she had more Hong Kong dollars.

Wen Qing placed the raw materials for brewing wine in the warehouse of the new winery. Wen Qing asked Liu Quan to record the prices according to her purchase price, and the grain in the space was also recorded according to the market price. Wen Qing has been doing accounting since she started the winery, and all taxes must be paid.

Liu Quan and Wang Jianguo always did things according to Wen Qing's instructions and never asked any further questions.

The next day, Wen Qing and Wang Jianguo checked the fermentation of hawthorn wine together.