Chapter 307: A Sumptuous Dinner, and Beautiful Beast-eared Girls and Winged Girls!
As Lin Ye scooped out the wine spoonful by spoonful from the pottery jar, the intense aroma of wine immediately filled the area around the brick house, even overpowering the scent of the dinner being prepared by Shi. The beast-eared girls who were cooking smelled the aroma of the wine and all looked over.
The beast-eared girls and winged girls, smelling the wine for the first time, were instantly captivated by its fragrance. After filling two pottery jars with the wine brewed from four pottery jars, there was a little left, just enough to fill half a bowl of the previous small pottery bowl.
Lin Ye gently swirled the wine in the pottery bowl and inhaled its aroma up close, closing his eyes in intoxication. Then, Lin Ye slowly took a small sip. Because it hadn’t been aerated, the wine with a faint sourness flowed into Lin Ye’s mouth. Lin Ye didn’t rush to swallow the wine in his mouth but savored it carefully, letting it slowly fill his entire mouth. As his taste buds on his tongue experienced the taste of the wine, Lin Ye’s face revealed an expression of enjoyment. He then slowly swallowed the wine in his mouth.
Lin Ye felt a strong alcoholic scent rush up his nose, but it wasn’t pungent at all; instead, it felt refreshing. At this moment, the beast-eared girls and winged girls sitting around Lin Ye had opened their eyes and happened to see Lin Ye’s expression after drinking the wine. One by one, they all looked at Lin Ye with curiosity, revealing expressions of enjoyment. They all wanted to taste the wine.
Sakura, sitting beside Lin Ye, tilted her head, her large eyes blinking a few times. She looked at Lin Ye with yearning and asked, “Ye, what does wine taste like? Is it delicious?” After Sakura asked, the other beast-eared girls and winged girls also perked up their ears and looked at Lin Ye with longing. Lin Ye glanced at Sakura, then saw the expressions of the other beast-eared girls and winged girls. A slight smile appeared on his face, and he said to them, “Don’t worry, everyone will drink this wine together tonight. Everyone gets a share.” “There are two full pottery jars, and it will last a long time!”
Upon hearing Lin Ye’s words, the faces of the beast-eared girls and winged girls lit up with excitement. Seeing their expressions, Lin Ye thought, for such a happy occasion, it wouldn’t hurt to let them get drunk once. Because after Lin Ye took a sip just now, he immediately realized that the wine’s alcohol content was indeed high, at least over thirty percent, which was already comparable to low-proof white spirits. The beast-eared girls and winged girls had never drunk alcohol before, and if they drank a couple of sips, they would definitely get completely drunk. However, for such a joyous occasion as relocating, it was only fitting to get drunk. Wine made solely from grapes would not cause a hangover even when drunk.
After scooping out all the wine, only the grape residue was left in the four pottery jars. Lin Ye handed them over to a few winged girls and asked them to wash them to prevent mold. The two pottery jars filled with wine were left open by Lin Ye on the table to aerate. This way, they would be perfectly aerated by the time dinner was served in the evening. If wine is not aerated, its taste will be significantly inferior. Because wine uses only grapes as raw material, and the grape skins and seeds are not removed during brewing, wine contains more tannic acid and tannins, which affect its taste. The process of aeration allows the wine to come into full contact with air, and through oxidation, some tannins are removed, improving the wine’s taste. Aeration is mainly for new wines; not all wines need to be aerated. Wine contains tannins, but their content is higher in newly brewed wines. High-end aged wines have very little tannin content and have undergone long fermentation; they cannot withstand aeration as it would cause their flavors to be lost.
Unopened red wine tastes closed, with tight tannins and muted aromas. It’s like talking to someone who hasn’t woken up yet, looking at their drowsy appearance, making it uncomfortable and losing the desire to communicate. Red wine that is aerated to just the right extent, on the other hand, tastes delicate and smooth, with a rich aroma, like the rounded sensation of chocolate melting in the mouth. It’s like stroking silk and feeling its smoothness, or like a vibrant, radiant, and energetic person.
The two pottery jars of wine sat on the table, slowly aerating. A group of beast-eared girls and winged girls sat at the dining table, inhaling the aroma of the wine with intoxicated expressions. Seeing them like this, Lin Ye smiled and put down the pottery bowl in his hand. He then got up and left the dining table.
Several beast-eared girls who were cooking kept turning their heads to look at the two pottery jars on the dining table, drawn by the aroma of the wine. Meanwhile, Lin Ye went into the cave and found all the wooden cups that the beast-eared girls used to drink water. They would need something to drink the wine from during dinner. Lin Ye counted the wooden cups; there were now forty-nine people in the tribe, and there were exactly fifty wooden cups. So, Lin Ye packed them all into a wooden bucket and took them to the winged girls by the water pipe who were washing the pottery jars, asking them to wash these wooden cups as well. Since the tribe began firing pottery, these wooden cups had not been used for a long time. Next, he recalled waiting for Shi and the others to finish cooking dinner so they could celebrate properly in the evening.
When Lin Ye returned to the brick house, more than half of the beast-eared girls and winged girls sitting at the dining table had already left and were squatting by the fireplace, helping Shi with the barbecue. Moreover, they were grilling delicious venison today. Everything that Shi knew how to cook was prepared.
Finally, as the sun was about to set, various dishes for dinner were brought to the dining table. A few winged girls also flew back carrying the wooden cups. Seeing the sumptuous dinner, the beast-eared girls and winged girls’ eyes lit up, and their mouths watered uncontrollably. They were all eager to sit down and eat. However, Lin Ye stopped them all with a single sentence. “No eating yet. Go wash your hands first, and after washing your hands, you must wait for Shi and the others. Shi and the others worked all afternoon to prepare such a sumptuous dinner, so we must wait for everyone to be seated before we can eat together. Now, everyone come with me to wash your hands!”
Upon hearing Lin Ye’s words, the beast-eared girls and winged girls obediently nodded, then followed Lin Ye to wash their hands. Grandma Nanrong, watching Lin Ye’s actions from the side and hearing what he said, nodded with admiration. Lin Ye looked at these beast-eared girls and winged girls; although they didn’t understand anything, as long as they were taught once, they would remember it firmly. This made Lin Ye extremely gratified.
After washing their hands, Lin Ye also had a few beast-eared girls fetch two buckets of water. This way, Shi and the others could wash their hands here directly later, saving them the trouble of coming out to wash them again. Furthermore, Lin Ye also noticed a problem: the well water and the pipe water would surely freeze in winter. Then, the tribe’s water supply would become a big problem again. However, Lin Ye had lived in the countryside when he was a child. At that time, the tap water in the countryside would surely freeze in winter. Facing this situation, there was a very simple and practical method: storing water. At that time, in Lin Ye’s old rural home, every household would prepare a large water缸 (water vat) at home. Some households with many people would even prepare three or four. A single water vat could store one ton of water. As long as the opening was sealed and the water vat was not exposed to the sun, this water could be boiled and drunk, and it would be enough until spring when the pipes thawed.
Lin Ye thought that although the tribe didn’t have water vats, they had huge bamboo. Cutting off two sections and making lids would also allow them to store water. With this in mind, Lin Ye decided to start preparing tomorrow. This meant he would have to remove the newly installed door again, otherwise, the bamboo tubes wouldn’t fit.
When they returned to the brick house with the beast-eared girls and winged girls, they saw Shi placing the last dish, a jam to be eaten with potato cakes, on the table.
