To Make Wine
Qu Qingning was pop-eyed and felt a burst of cold. He stared at Su Li’s slightly curled lips. Although her appearance didn’t change, he felt that the maiden in front of him was a She-Devil with changeable disposition rather than a good-hearted maiden.
Illusion?
Qu Qingning shook his head and then looked at Su Li who did not laugh again.
It really was an illusion.
The Su House without Su Li became exceptionally harmonious and didn’t spread any contradiction. Su Li lived in the Baiwei Building feeling happy and quiet. It was more convenient for her to dress up and go to the Baicao Tang.
After Zhu Yan’s injury healed, her room was full of tonics which were bought from Mam. Su-Cui.
However, she was not pleased!
She laboriously bought off a witch but finally only changed Su Li’s living place, which made her very unwilling. It also made her clearly be aware that if she could not separate Su Li from the Baiwei Building, she could not throw Su Li out of the Su Family. However, Su Li used cooking skills as a link, so Su Huanli could not let Su Li leave the Baiwei Building.
"The wicked girl! I never saw her cooking before. How can her cooking be so powerful?"
Zhu Yan hatefully bit her lips. She entered a dead end now. Fortunately, Su Qingtan would come back after a year, so she still had enough time to come up a solution.
As time went by slowly, Su Li constantly enhanced her medical skills. Besides, Fang Yuan and Qu Qingning built the yard in full swing.
There was no special incident for a whole month. Zhu Yan’s belly slightly swelled. She was temporarily the most important figure in the Su Family. Mam. Su-Cui cared for Zhu Yan almost every day.
During the period, Su Li was disguised as a man and made a transaction with Su Huanli again in the Sanhe Bridge. It was the third transaction since she stole the seasonings. Except using ninety thousand taels for constructing the yard and purchasing a large number of polished glutinous rice and other raw materials, there were sixty thousand taels left.
Qi Xianqing still did not come back. Su Li did not know which battlefield he went to. A war always lasted for a long period of time and could not be ended in a month. She estimated that her master would go at least half a year.
"In the previous life, I was suffering at the Su Family, so the news was blocked. I don’t know which country is currently fighting with the Dahan Country…"
All kinds of thoughts passed through in Su Li’s mind. The national territorial area of the Dahan Country was not small and bordered on three countries. The Qinghe County was located in the southernmost part of the Dahan Country, adjacent to the Nanjiang Country. The Zhushou Country which advocated force lay in the northeast and the Tianhe Country which was famous for mechanism skill lay in the northwest.
Fang Yuan and Qu Qingning both fled from calamity of the Nanjiang Country. Logically speaking, chaos caused by war should occur in the Nanjiang Country. However, the Dasu Town was near the frontier juncture and dead calm. There was no atmosphere of a war. Thus, Su Li speculated that the center of the war was not there.
Standing on the top floor of the Baiwei Building and overlooking the boundless night, Su Li sighed softly.
After a busy and calm month, her cultivation had completed the acquired ninth hurdle, and her breath was mellow and full. She only needed the final step to reach the inborn state!
If the practice method was perfect, it was only a matter of time to practice step by step until the acquired ninth hurdle. However, to stride the natural moat and reach the inborn state needed aptitude. Someone who had mediocre aptitude might not break through the natural moat in the lifetime and was stuck by limited lives.
Based on her aptitude, she would not be stuck at the natural moat. In the previous life, even if she practiced astray, she reached the innate state and even a higher state. It was a pity that the price she paid was too high. At last, she was unaware of Su Zipei’s plot against her and got a miserable end.
On the seventh day of practicing to break through the natural moat, Qu Qingning finally came to see her.
The yard had eventually been built!!
When coming to the valley, Su Li saw the tripled space and couldn’t help but admire. She smiled and looked back to say, "Well done. Have a good rest during these two days."
Qu Qingning heard the
These made him doubt Su Li’s real intention, but he felt that it was not possible. After all, Su Li was not from the Nanjiang Country. Even if she heard of the Poisonous Heart Biting Insect, she could not know more about it than him.
At the moment, Su Li had gone far and stood at the door of yard.
The yard costed tens of thousands taels of silver. Its materials were superior and more expensive than the Jinyuan Court’s. Its land occupation was quintuple larger than the Jinyuan Court’s. It could accommodate hundreds of people.
"Sister Su Li!" Fang Ling skipped along and ran towards Su Li. She embraced Su Li at once and asked, "The furniture in these rooms is chosen by me. Do you like it?"
"Yes."
Su Li smiled gently. Since Fang Ling moved here, her nutrition had kept pace with her growth. She became higher and fair-skinned. She had a quick-witted look which was endearing.
Su Li thought about it but did not realize that she was only fifteen years old now, only two or three years older than Fang Ling.
"Miss!"
"Miss is here!"
Heidan and other people swarmed from the yard. Although they worked hard in one or two month(s), they all became strong instead of being as thin as laths and being emaciated with sallow complexion as before. It was because they ate well.
"How about them? Although they didn’t go to school, they are very hardworking!"
Qu Qingning came over and smiled.
Su Li slightly nodded and said, "They are good but have not reached my requirements. We have leisure these days. You can pass on your practice method of the Qu Family and collect more items on the list. If you collect all of them, I can start refining elixirs to speed up their practice process."
Su Li’s understatement made Qu Qingning’s eyes nearly pop out of his head!
"You actually can refine elixirs?!" Qu Qingning pointed to Su Li and said after a long time, "You are a poison master. How can you also refine elixirs? You are younger than me!"
"From time immemorial, medicine and poison have been related to each other. You talk too much." Su Li was a little impatient, "Time is tight. Pass on your practice method quickly!"
These little beggars stood in the yard and watched Su Li talking with Qu Qingning. They were dumbfounded and didn’t know what the conversation meant for them.
"Ling, teach them literacy in the future. Illiteracy is indeed a trouble."
Su Li said to Fang Ling. This time the little beggars understood, and their eyes were shining. Can they read and write like those bureaucrats?
A month ago, they didn’t even think about this kind of good deed.
After explaining the trifles, Su Li finally started to do business. She asked Heidan to move out a bag of polished glutinous rice and poured into a basin to clean it. After two hours, when Fang Yuan came back from the Baiwei Building and saw the scene, he was instantly shocked.
Did Su Li intend to cook a new dish?
Nowadays, almost everything in the Baiwei Building was managed by Fang Yuan. Although Shopkeeper Wu was still there, the evidence that he privately collected money was caught by Su Li. In order not to be sent to the feudal official, he could only listen to Su Li’s orders to put on an act and help cover up the truth in the restaurant.
After solving the matter of Shopkeeper Wu, the Baiwei Building was actually controlled by Su Li. However, Su Li did not make false accounts and gave all profits to the Su Family, which made Fang Yuan very confused.
"What are you thinking about? Come to help."
At the time, Su Li’s voice came. Fang Yuan immediately woke up and ran more quickly. Su Li waved to Heidan and said, "Go to learn martial arts from your Big Brother, otherwise, you’ll fall behind."
Heidan knew what "martial arts" was now, so he nodded immediately and ran away rapturously.
"Is Qu Qingning teaching Heidan and others the practice method from his family? That guy always observes the regulations of his clan…"
Fang Yuan was amazed. Su Li just looked at him.
Fang Yuan was silent and breathed slightly. That’s right. The Qu Family had vanished. Qu Qingning didn’t need to keep the secret. Would he bring the practice method to a coffin? He was the same, not to mention Qu Qingning…
"I remember that the practice method of the Qu Family can be practiced by both males and females. Su Li, you would better…"
Su Li heard it and was slightly in a trance. Then, she shook her head and said with a smile, "Ling can learn it. I don’t need it."
Fang Yuan slightly frowned, "Don’t you want to learn it? Although the practice method of the Qu Family is not the best, it is the rare second-class practice method in the martial arts circle. If you learn it and even just learn the rudiments of it, you can have the acquired first hurdle and have no problem with self-preservation."
Su Li still shook her head and did not want to talk about it.
Fang Yuan knew that Su Li’s temper was extremely stubborn, so he could only sigh secretly and stop to persuade her. His sight moved to the polished glutinous rice soaked in water.
"You bought a whole warehouse of polished glutinous rice and a lot of distiller’s yeast. Do you prepare to make wine this time?"
Judging from the items bought before, Fang Yuan easily guessed what Su Li wanted to do. However, the wine market had been saturated. There were countless wineries. Even if Su Li used the more expensive polished glutinous rice to make wine, it was only a little better than those wines. Besides, the cost was much higher. They would lose more than they would gain.
"Don’t ask me so many questions. Come to help."
Su Li did not answer it, and Fang Yuan was helpless. But he was used to Su Li’s way of keeping him guessing. He went over and fished polished glutinous rice out. According to Su Li’s instructions, he poured it into a bamboo steamer with a piece of cotton and spread out it evenly.
Boom!
Fire burned in the stove. As time went by, a fitful scent of rice came out. After about an hour, Su Li asked Fang Yuan to stop and took all polished glutinous rice out to cool it down. She added distiller’s yeast and stirred it evenly. Then, she encased it into a small jar and spread out it flatly by hand. In a while, she encased five jars.
"Next, you and Qingning pay more attention to the wine jars. If wine has been made, you can taste it. The taste of wine can’t be too sour. When it is sweet and sour, you call me here."
Su Li carefully instructed. Fang Yuan firmly remembered and did not dare to miss any word. Although they used little polished glutinous rice this time, it costed hundreds of taels of silver. He was not a wasteful person.
After dealing with the wine jars, Su Li rushed to the Baicao Tang and started to see patients. Although the time was a little later than usual, it was okay for patients to wait. Su Li was busy until midnight. After the last patient left, she stretched herself and looked at the darkness outside. Then she moved the door plank and was about to close the door to leave.
Suddenly!
The smell of blood assailed the nostrils, and a resistance stopped her action of closing the door. Su Li contracted pupils and looked down.
A hand with blood came into her sight!