Chapter 93: Grape Wine

In the early morning, as soon as Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er arrived home, they opened the door, took everything out of the package, and put it back where it belonged.

Because they had already eaten breakfast on the mountain, but having stayed up too late last night and then not sleeping well this morning due to watching the sunrise, after tidying up their things they prepared to go back to their rooms to catch up on sleep.

As for the livestock and poultry in the yard, Ba Ke Er said, "What's that? These animals won't die from missing one meal; besides, it's just a matter of feeding them a little later!" At this moment, nothing could stop him from heading to bed together with Zhang Fan.

So Ba Ke Er pretended not to hear the animals' calls, directly dragging Zhang Fan, who wanted to go feed the animals, back to the room to sleep.

When it was nearing noon, Zhang Fan finally woke from his sleep, rubbed his belly that had been flattened by hunger, glanced at the empty space beside him, threw off the covers, put on his shoes, walked out of the room, and headed toward the main hall.

As soon as Zhang Fan entered the main hall, he smelled the aroma of food drifting from the kitchen, making his hunger even sharper. He hurriedly quickened his steps into the kitchen, and upon entering he saw Ba Ke Er busy serving rice.

Seeing Zhang Fan come in, Ba Ke Er didn't stop his hand movements; instead he sped up and finished serving the rice. After placing the food and dishes onto the tray, he then spoke.

"Fan Fan, you're awake? You must be starving, right? Why aren't you sitting in the room? We can eat right away." Having said that, Ba Ke Er took Zhang Fan's hand with his free hand and led him to the main hall.

"I wasn't ignoring you; I was just about to go to the kitchen to cook something to eat. But since you've already cooked, I won't stand on ceremony! Haha, let's go, let's go, let's go eat!"

After Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er reached the dinner table and set out the food, they began to eat. Zhang Fan, being extremely hungry, grabbed his bowl and chopsticks and started wolfing down his food. Ba Ke Er, worried he might choke, hurried to the kitchen to pour a cup of water and brought it over to feed Zhang Fan.

After finishing the meal, Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er weren't in a hurry to clear the bowls and chopsticks, since only the two of them were at home and there was nothing particular to do in the afternoon. Zhang Fan simply went to the storeroom and took out several fruits, which happened to include the wild grapes Ba Ke Er had picked from the back mountain the previous night.

When Zhang Fan washed the grapes and other wild fruits clean, placed them in a plate, and brought them into the room, Ba Ke Er had already tidied up the bowls and chopsticks from the table and put them away in the kitchen. Looking at a large plate of bright, tempting fruit, Zhang Fan casually peeled a grape and popped it into his mouth; upon chewing, he was instantly hit by sourness that twisted his whole face.

"Good heavens! Ba Ke Er, what kind of fruit did you pick? These grapes are so sour! They're practically inedible!"

"Huh? Sour? Let me try!" Saying that, Ba Ke Er also peeled a grape and ate it, and his face instantly changed as well.

"Ah! Pah! Pah! Good heavens, it's really sour!" Saying that, Ba Ke Er immediately spat out the grape he had just put in his mouth. But then he saw Zhang Fan peel another grape and eat it. He hurriedly snatched the grape from Zhang Fan's hand and said:

"Good heavens, Fan Fan! Why are you still eating? Stop quickly! Something this sour will ruin your teeth!"

Zhang Fan was amused by Ba Ke Er's antics.

"Hahaha… Ba Ke Er, you look hilarious! I didn't actually swallow it; I was just tasting the flavor, wondering whether I could try making wine from these grapes."

Ba Ke Er instantly went from being an angry lion to a curious baby, asking, "Fan Fan, what is alcohol? Can you eat it?"

Zhang Fan feigned mystery by shaking his head and replied, "Well, anything made from food can certainly be consumed, but it's not meant to be eaten. I can't exactly explain what alcohol is right now, but why don't we try using these grapes today to make some? Once it's done, you'll know what alcohol is."

Having said that, Zhang Fan directly put down the grapes, turned around, and went into the storeroom. Ba Ke Er, seeing that his question hadn't been answered, hurriedly trotted after him.

After Zhang Fan entered the storeroom, he began rummaging through a pile of jars and vats, looking for a container of suitable size to hold the grape juice for winemaking. As soon as Ba Ke Er entered the storeroom and saw Zhang Fan's actions, he almost instinctively guessed what Zhang Fan had in mind.

"Fan Fan, what size of ceramic jar are you looking for? Tell me, and I'll help you find it."

"I need a ceramic jar just big enough to hold all the grapes we have at home." Zhang Fan spoke while continuing to move his hands.

"Like that, then Fan Fan, how about this one?" Saying that, Ba Ke Er directly picked out a medium-sized jar from the ceramic jars.

"Hey! This will work! Hahaha… Looks like your eyesight is still sharp, Ba Ke Er—you found it at a glance! All right, let's hurry out and squeeze the grape juice."

"Hey! Okay! Let's go!" Having said that, Ba Ke Er picked up the jar, took Zhang Fan's hand, and together they left the storeroom and entered the main hall.

After Ba Ke Er led Zhang Fan into the main hall and let go of his hand, he said, "Fan Fan, you stay inside for a while; I'll go wash the jar clean first, then come back to help you squeeze the grape juice."

"Sure, perfect—I'll first deal with these grapes here in the room; you go ahead and wash the jar."

"Mm-hmm, then I'll head out first!" Having said that, Ba Ke Er took the jar and went out the gate, arrived in the courtyard, and began scooping clean water to wash the jar. Meanwhile, Zhang Fan went into the room, took out the scissors he had brought from Earth, then fetched a clean ceramic basin and began snipping the grapes off one by one with the scissors.

By the time Ba Ke Er had washed the jar clean and brought it inside, Zhang Fan had already finished trimming all the grapes.

"Ba Ke Er, you've come in! Perfect—I've basically finished processing the grapes here; hurry over and help me squeeze the grape juice."

Ba Ke Er saw that Zhang Fan was preparing to have him squeeze the grapes by hand and felt a bit puzzled, asking, "Fan Fan, are we supposed to squeeze the grape juice directly with our hands? Can't we use the little stone mill at home? You always used the stone mill to squeeze fruit juice before, didn't you?"

"Well, Ba Ke Er, this grape juice is going to be used for making wine—it can't be treated like ordinary fruit juice! Besides, I've never heard of anyone using grape juice pressed by a stone mill to make wine. Let's just stick to the old method."

Having said that, Zhang Fan washed his hands and began pinching the grapes, but after a while he realized that this method was inefficient, wasted time, and still couldn't fully extract the juice.

So Zhang Fan simply changed his approach, having Ba Ke Er boil a pot of water to sterilize a clean cloth bag—so to speak, "disinfection!"

When Ba Ke Er brought over the boiled cloth bag, Zhang Fan immediately took it excitedly, and with Ba Ke Er's help began pouring all the grapes from the ceramic basin into the bag.

After Zhang Fan had packed the grapes into the bag, he tied it shut with a strap, then handed both the bag and the ceramic basin to Ba Ke Er, instructing him to start pounding the grapes inside the bag with his fists.

Ba Ke Er, this loyal dog‑wife‑slave Beastman, happily accepted the task assigned by his beloved, and began with one hand securing the grape bag in the ceramic basin while clenching his other hand into a fist and forcefully pounding the bag.

Ba Ke Er's movements were swift and powerful; with each punch, fresh grape juice began to seep out of the bag. Zhang Fan watched from the side, and not long after, the bag holding the grapes became shriveled.

Seeing this, Zhang Fan quickly had Ba Ke Er stop, then he took the bag out of the juice, twisted it hard to wring out the remaining grape juice. Once that was done, Zhang Fan had Ba Ke Er lift the ceramic basin and pour all the grape juice into the clean jar.

After Ba Ke Er finished those tasks, Zhang Fan suddenly remembered a very important matter: he had actually forgotten to refine cane sugar! Now that the grape juice had been squeezed out, it lacked sugar, and he thought the little sugar he had brought might not last. Nevertheless, to succeed in making grape wine, Zhang Fan could only sacrifice the remaining bit of white sugar he had.

Realizing this, Zhang Fan steeled himself, went straight into the room, took out the small canister of white sugar he had left, and poured it into the grape juice. Ba Ke Er watched Zhang Fan's action and was instantly dumbfounded.

"Fan Fan, you said this sugar was precious, didn't you? Why did you pour it all in? Once it's used up, there'll be none left!"

"It's fine, Ba Ke Er; I've already thought of other ways to make sugar, so eating this sugar is just eating it. Besides, it would dissolve if left too long. Might as well use it now!" Having said that, Zhang Fan set down the sugar canister.

Ba Ke Er was very surprised: "What? Fan Fan, you still want to make sugar yourself? How do you do it? Do you need my help?"

Zhang Fan rolled his eyes and replied, "Of course I'll make it myself! I just also really need you to help me find the materials. It would be best to have it ready before the cold season."

"Fan Fan, rest assured—I'll definitely complete the task! But we're in the middle of making wine, right? How long will this take to be ready?"

"We'll probably have to wait another ten or so days to know whether it'll succeed, but this period should be enough for us to produce the sugar!" Zhang Fan said, "Hey? Ba Ke Er, why aren't you stirring the grape juice? If you don't stir it, that sugar will hardly dissolve in the juice."

"Is that so? Then I'll first go to the kitchen to get a spoon." Having said that, he ran off to the kitchen.

Zhang Fan shouted from behind, "Ba Ke Er, go get a new spoon!"

"Got it!"

Soon Ba Ke Er took out the spoon, then began stirring inside the jar, stopping only when the white sugar in the grape juice had dissolved. After Zhang Fan saw Ba Ke Er finish that, he took another piece of cloth that had been disinfected with high heat, covered the jar with it, and then had Ba Ke Er fetch a rope to tie it down tightly.

After the initial sealing work was done, Zhang Fan went out the gate again, carrying a water‑filled ceramic basin to the backyard. He dug some soil, dumped it into the water, waited until the dirt turned into a slurry, then carried the basin into the front yard.

At that moment Ba Ke Er happened to bring the grape juice, prepared according to Zhang Fan's wishes, to the front yard. Zhang Fan hurried over, began smearing the mud onto the jar's seal with his hands, and started applying a second layer of sealing.

After Ba Ke Er clearly saw Zhang Fan's actions, he also began busily applying mud to the jar's mouth.

Once Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er had completely sealed the jar's mouth, Zhang Fan didn't bother washing his hands with Ba Ke Er; instead, together they placed the jar into the cellar to begin storage.