Chapter 106: Drinking Wine

The women of the Baifeng Tribe helped the Tribal Chief brew wine, but unexpectedly, they ran out of wheat bran toward the end; because wheat must be milled to produce wheat bran, and that stone mill was too small, it really wasn't easy to get enough of it.

Working overtime, a large amount of wheat was milled into white flour, and the produced wheat bran was all taken to make wine starter; this time, Baifeng was going to use two thousand catties of sorghum to brew wine directly, as high-proof white wine wouldn't spoil if sealed well anyway.

Through everyone's joint efforts, the two thousand catties of sorghum finally yielded over one thousand catties of wine; the tribespeople thought the smell of the distiller's grains was excellent, but they didn't like eating it, though it was very good for feeding cattle, as it could stimulate the appetite, aid digestion, and help them put on fat.

The Fishing Team also took a lot; it could be used to bait the water, and once a shovel of distiller's grains was thrown in, the Dahu would look as if the water were boiling, with fish of all sizes scrambling for it.

When the nets were pulled in at that moment, it felt as if the nets were about to be torn by the weight, so the Fishing Team's catch saw a great increase again; they ate fresh fish every day, and what they couldn't eat was salted to make Salted Fish, dried in the sun, and then neatly stacked in the warehouse.

As the last vat of wine began to distill, the weather suddenly changed and it started to rain, only this time there was no thunder, and it fell quite steadily; Baifeng saw it was a warm front passing through, and it might rain for a long time.

Because the distillation was happening outside, this vat had just started and couldn't be stopped, so they had to have someone cover it with bamboo mats; although the effect wasn't very good, as long as it didn't affect the fire, it would be fine.

Once all the wine was distilled and the tails were removed, everyone ran back into the houses to avoid the rain; as for the stove and the distiller's grains, they could only be left out in the rain, as there was nothing to shield them.

Once this rain started, no work could be done, so they simply gave everyone a holiday; this period had indeed been very hard, so they didn't do as before—where those working outdoors rested while those working indoors continued—this time, everyone was treated the same.

However, guards still had to take turns; last time they thought that because of the heavy rain, no people or other animals would attack, but the cattle herd suffered for it, so now small Watchtowers had been built on the city walls, giving the on-duty Soldiers a place to avoid the rain and block the wind to stay warm at night.

Although summer nights were still cool, going out at night in other seasons, if one didn't have enough clothing and a stable fire source, was playing with one's life.

It just so happened that now there was wine, so he could let everyone have a taste and experience the joy brought by alcohol; previously, he didn't let them drink for fear of mistakes, and Baifeng also wanted to save the first opportunity to drink for the Harvest Festival.

However, everyone was watching with wide eyes, so Baifeng ordered that each Production Team could take one jar back to drink; one jar was about five catties, which meant half a catty per person.

It wasn't that Baifeng was stingy; people now didn't know what their alcohol tolerance was, and if they drank too much, getting dizzy was one thing, but he was afraid of them getting drunk and hurting others, and if they vomited up the food they had eaten, that would be a huge waste.

Thus, Baifeng also explained the precautions to the tribespeople in advance, such as what would happen after drinking, what it would feel like, and that discomfort or dizziness were all normal.

Drinking a little is beneficial, while excessive drinking harms the body; furthermore, Baifeng said that wine could make people forget their sorrows, but what sorrows could they have now, other than not having slept with the most beautiful woman in the tribe or not having had a child with the strongest Soldier?

How could one have wine without food?

Baifeng waved his hand, and the tribespeople feasted again; they took whatever poultry, beast meat, fish, or wild vegetables they could eat, and were not allowed to waste anything; if anyone was found wasting food, their entire team's diet would be halved for the next seven days, and they would go hungry for a few days.

Once the tribespeople had taken their wine and meat back to their small rooms to savor them, Baifeng also brought his own exquisite small wine pot to the table and prepared a few side dishes: cold-dressed Beef, cold-dressed bamboo shoots, and lotus root with cured meat.

As for the tribespeople on night watch, they didn't get a share today, and he didn't dare give them wine for fear of them making mistakes while drinking; however, there was plenty of meat, so they would suffer through it tonight, and he would replace them tomorrow so they could taste the wine too.

Sui was a glutton; while Baifeng was pouring the wine, Sui's mouth was already stuffed with slices of meat; the meat was quite tough, so she chewed with great effort, and having stuffed too much in at once, Baifeng's own cheeks felt sore just watching her.

The meat was finally chewed up and swallowed, but because it was salty, she felt thirsty and picked up the wine cup on the table and gulped it down; it was so fast that Baifeng didn't even have time to stop her.

It was only because it smelled fragrant, but after one mouthful, Sui regretted it a little; her brows were knitted together, and she swallowed with great difficulty, constantly rubbing her chest, feeling a burning sensation.

Sui's face flushed after just one small cup, her little face was red, and her neck was red too; Baifeng watched with great amusement and explained to Sui that white wine shouldn't be gulped down, but sipped slowly, and shouldn't be held in the mouth too long, or it would turn bitter.

After that experience, Sui didn't want to drink anymore, feeling it didn't taste good, so she started to focus solely on the food; Baifeng, on the other hand, was unhurried, eating a few bites of food and drinking a small cup, feeling quite content.

Sui watched Baifeng drinking happily, but she felt it didn't taste good at all; could her method have been wrong? So she asked for another cup, mimicked Baifeng's manner, took a sip, smacked her lips, and—ha! It really did have a feeling to it.

After picking up two more mouthfuls of food, Sui seemed to have found the feeling, so she started drinking along with Baifeng; the two went back and forth, eating and drinking, and Baifeng even taught Sui things about wine table etiquette; although wine table culture wasn't necessarily a great thing, Baifeng still felt it was necessary to learn some of the polite customs.

For example, when an elder or a respected person pours wine, what gestures you should use to respond, the height at which to clink glasses, and so on; it was only because Sui was happy now and willing to learn that he taught her, as she would have surely brushed it off at any other time.

There was plenty of wine and meat; the alcohol tolerance of this body of Baifeng's was decent, and he hadn't expected Sui's to be not bad either; there were many dishes prepared, and the two of them had unknowingly finished a pot, which Baifeng estimated was nearly a catty.

But seeing that Sui's interest hadn't waned and he hadn't had his fill either, he put on his large rain hat and carried the wine pot to get more wine; on a rainy day with the wind blowing gently, Baifeng felt he had suddenly become a little tipsy, a feeling so familiar and happy.

After filling the pot with wine again, Sui was already waiting expectantly when he returned; her face was flushed, her movements seemed a bit slower, and she was talking more; it seemed she was tipsy too.

Anyway, there was no work to do tomorrow, so they continued to drink wantonly; he didn't know how long they had been drinking, but when Baifeng woke up, he was already lying on the bed.

Home-brewed sorghum wine is good; his head didn't even ache, though he had blacked out, and the smell of wine in the room was very strong.

Just as he intended to get up and tidy up, he discovered he was stark naked; usually, to keep himself in check, he slept fully clothed.

Baifeng turned his head and discovered that Sui was the same as him, with nothing covering her body, and there was a patch of blood on the animal skin spread out beneath them.