Reborn in a small mountain village in 1991

Chapter 119 Paying Cheng Runshu's Work Money

After returning from the county town, Xu Chunsheng immediately set about applying to the brigade for land to build a winery. Having already obtained land for a pig farm last time, Xu Chunsheng was quite familiar with the process this time.

There is only one condition: the winery and the pig farm must be strictly separated, the winery must be built above the pig farm, and the two facilities must be kept at an appropriate distance.

Xu Chunsheng and Tang Yongnian stood on the stone embankment of the slope, looking down at the pig farm below.

The pig farm below had already been built, with manure pits, fermentation tanks, pens, and warehouses all clearly visible.

Xu Chunsheng pointed in a direction and humbly asked, "Uncle Tang, I'm thinking of building a new winery in this location. What do you think?"

Tang Yongnian, a retired veteran employee of the distillery, had worked there for most of his life and knew the layout of the cellars and factory buildings very well. He was more experienced than Xu Chunsheng in both brewing techniques and site selection.

It was for this reason that Xu Chunsheng made an appointment with Tang Yongnian well in advance, asking him to come and help with on-site inspections and provide guidance.

Tang Yongnian looked in the direction Xu Chunsheng pointed, then looked at the pig farm below. After thinking for a moment, he replied, "Chunsheng, the place you chose is quite good. The winery is above, and the pig farm is below. You don't need to cut down any of the trees in between; it's a natural buffer zone."

"It's just that this lees is hard to transport down. There are many obstacles down from here. If you don't want to take a detour, you'll probably have to build another road down."

Xu Chunsheng nodded: "That's what I'm thinking. Could we build a ramp? Then we can push the lees directly down from the top."

Tang Yongnian shook his head and explained the problem with the method: "Your idea is good, but the most important issue is that the odor will flow back in and affect the distillery. The slope is unprotected, especially in windy, rainy, or foggy weather, so the moisture will drift into the distillery along the slope. If the mash absorbs the impurities, the brewed wine will be completely unusable, both fishy and foul."

"In addition, the wastewater from washing jars and rinsing cellars at the winery flows down the slope and easily mixes with the manure from the pig farm. The backflow during rainy days is also a problem. The muddy ground is also prone to rotting."

Xu Chunsheng thought about it and realized that the problems Tang Yongnian mentioned did indeed have a significant impact. He then asked, "What if it were built as a pipeline?"

Tang Yongnian continued, "This method does save us from the problem of the muddy ground being soaked and rotten, but the most important problem is still the backflow of odors. If this problem is not solved, no matter how many other methods we come up with, it will be useless."

"Furthermore, the lees are wet and prone to clumping. If the pipe slope is not steep enough, it may block the pipe. If it gets blocked, the pipe has to be dismantled and manually dug out, which is also a considerable troublesome matter."

Xu Chunsheng paced around twice, thought for a moment, and then said, "How about I build an earthen wall in the middle of the isolation zone you just mentioned, and plant some shrubs to block the odor?"

Tang Yongnian nodded: "That's certainly possible, but it's best to build the pipes in sections."

Tang Yongnian pointed to the slope over the warehouse and said, "Build open chutes in sections here, with two earthen embankments in the middle, and plant some shrubs to block the smell. Also, the two ends of the pipes must not be piled up with workshops and pigsty manure pits. Build another wall to block the air at the winery end, and build a separate shed for storing the wine lees at the pig farm."

"In addition, your sluice can be made in sections, so that even if it gets clogged, it will be easy to disassemble and clean. Leave some small drainage holes at the bottom of the sluice so that the water can be directly introduced into the septic tank and prevented from seeping directly into the ground."

Xu Chunsheng replied with a look of having learned something: "Luckily, I asked Uncle Tang for help. If you say it like that, it will not only save labor, but also keep out the stench and sewage, and the dirty water will not flow into the ground and back into the winery."

Tang Yongnian waved his hand: "You're the one who has ideas, and you do things one by one in a very professional manner."

"But how are you planning to repair this trough? These days, there are only three things you can use to make a trough for conveying distiller's grains: wood, sheet metal,..."

Earthenware pipes are very acidic (due to the sour taste of the fermented grains). Wooden troughs are convenient, but they rot after a few months. The same goes for sheet metal; they easily rust and develop holes after a few months. Earthenware pipes don't have these problems, but they are easily broken.

Tang Yongnian listed the three commonly used materials for making troughs at that time. In his opinion, these three were the most cost-effective materials at present, so he only considered these three materials.

After carefully comparing the three materials, Xu Chunsheng asked, "What if we use cement to pour a trench? And then clean it immediately after use? Would that be feasible?"

He assumed that Tang Yongnian thought cement was too expensive, which was why he didn't include it in the options.

At that time, a strong laborer's daily wage was only four or five yuan, while a ton of cement cost nearly one hundred yuan, so repairing a cement trough was not cheap. In other people's eyes, cement was the most expensive material, and it was generally not chosen.

Tang Yongnian immediately shook his head, squatted down and picked up a pebble from the ground, saying, "It's not that I haven't thought about using cement, but this method is not practical. Even if you don't consider the cost, this cement trough can't be cleaned by just rinsing it once."

"Cement looks smooth, but it's full of tiny pores, making it very easy for odors to be trapped inside. Rinsing can only remove the surface lees and residue, but the odors and acid stains that seep into the pores can't be washed out at all."

Xu Chunsheng was still somewhat puzzled. Whether in his past life or this one, he didn't know much about these materials. He continued to ask, "Then wood, sheet metal, and ceramic pipes won't retain any odor?"

Tang Yongnian explained each point in detail, making a clear comparison: "Of course, it also leaves a smell, but it's not as easy to leave a residue as cement. Let's start with sheet metal. This is the least likely to retain a smell. After use, you can just rinse it and it will be clean. The biggest problem is that it is easy to corrode and rust. Even if it rusts, it doesn't have much of an impact. Even if it rusts through a hole, you can just replace it."

Afterwards, Tang Yongnian explained the differences between the other two materials to Xu Chunsheng.

Xu Chunsheng said that he would keep all of this in mind. If he had to figure it out on his own, he would have inevitably made many mistakes.

Just like with the pipe issue, if Tang Yongnian hadn't explained everything clearly, Xu Chunsheng might have actually chosen to simply pour cement to build a pipe.

After the two finished discussing the details of the winery, Xu Chunsheng invited Tang Yongnian to his home and took him to see the orange wine and jujube wine he had brewed some time ago.

"Uncle Tang, come and see how it is."

Xu Chunsheng led Tang Yongnian into the "small room". The small room was close to the ditch, and with the early winter environment, it was rather dark inside. Xu Chunsheng turned on the light, lifted the lid of a fermentation vat, and gestured for Tang Yongnian to come over and take a look, wanting to get some guidance from him.

Tang Yongnian looked at the several large earthenware jars that were neatly arranged and elevated inside, with labels specially attached to them, and said with a hint of approval: "You really do a very meticulous job with these things. The earthenware jars must be separated from each other, otherwise their temperatures will affect each other."

Tang Yongnian then took a closer look at the fermentation process in the vat, and the aroma of fruit and wine immediately filled the air: "It smells fine, and there's no sign of over-fermentation."

"Your jujubes have sunk to the bottom. The surface mash is white and fluffy, without any black or green mold. It smells pure fruity and sweet, without any sour or musty odor, which means that the sterilization and water control in the early stages were done thoroughly."

Tang Yongnian commented carefully, then took a wine ladle from the side, scooped some out and poured it into an empty bowl. He took a small sip and said, "It's still a bit sweet. The temperature is low now, so you'll need to let it sit for another two or three days until all the sugar has fermented before you can filter it."

"No, yes, I do feel much more at ease with Uncle Tang watching over things for me."

Tang Yongnian smiled and said, "I just have a few more years of experience than you. The fact that you didn't encounter the common problems that newcomers often have when making fruit wine for the first time is enough to show how much effort you put into it."

After having lunch with the man, Xu Chunsheng took him back to town. After leaving the Tang family, Xu Chunsheng went to the winery.

Before even reaching the winery, I saw a beautiful figure sitting by the counter. It turned out to be Cheng Runshu sitting there doing the accounts.

Xu Chunsheng was somewhat surprised. Today wasn't market day, so why was Cheng Runshu here?

"Runshu, what brings you here today?"

Hearing the familiar voice, Cheng Runshu looked up in surprise: "Brother Chunsheng!"

She hadn't seen Xu Chunsheng for quite some time; a long period of time had passed since the incident at the Xu family's winery.

She had been coming back to the distillery every market day recently, but she had never run into Xu Chunsheng. She couldn't find a suitable reason to go to his house, but she never expected to run into him in town today.

Cheng Runshu capped his pen, stood up, and came out to greet them: "I came to town today because of the inspection of our pig farm."

Cheng Runshu had previously mentioned that his family and several uncles' families were working together to build a pig farm, and it seems that the pig farm has been completed.

"Has it been repaired? Have the bank representatives gone to verify it?"

Xu Chunsheng pulled over a long bench and sat down to chat with her.

Cheng Runshu nodded, his eyes filled with admiration for Xu Chunsheng: "It's all done. Luckily, I listened to Brother Chunsheng and completed all the procedures before starting to build the pig farm. I heard that some people started building the pig farm while submitting the materials, and as a result, the pig farm they built in the end was inconsistent with the materials they submitted, failed the inspection, and didn't get the funding."

Xu Chunsheng smiled and nodded: "It's already great that I can help you. I've only told you what I know."

Cheng Runshu rummaged through his canvas bag and pulled out a few pieces of dried sweet potato, handing them to Xu Chunsheng: "Brother, have a taste. I made them myself a couple of days ago."

Xu Chunsheng smiled and reached out to take it. It was made from red sweet potatoes, and the brownish-yellow dried sweet potatoes were covered with a thin layer of white frost. They were soft and chewy to the touch.

Xu Chunsheng picked up a piece and put it in his mouth. He chewed it a couple of times. It was soft and smooth but not sticky, and he could taste a hint of sweet potato flavor.

"It tastes good, better than sweet potatoes with white cores, and it's not too hard, just the right consistency."

As Xu Chunsheng chewed, he looked at Cheng Runshu and asked, "You must have harvested quite a few sweet potatoes at home, right?"

Sweet potatoes are not picky about their growing environment. In this remote mountain area, every household intercrops a lot of sweet potatoes every year, and it is common to harvest several thousand kilograms every year.

At this time of year, every household makes some dried sweet potatoes, cutting them into small strips and spreading them out thinly. After cooking rice, they let them dry slowly in the residual heat of the stove. It's a must-have snack for every household in winter.

Cheng Runshu sat to the side, his eyes filled with tenderness and anticipation: "The harvest is quite good. This year, we planted a lot of white-fleshed sweet potatoes (red-fleshed sweet potatoes), so we used them all to make dried sweet potatoes. They're sweeter than the white-fleshed ones and not dry at all. I've been taking some with me when I go out lately to eat as snacks. It's quite delicious to chew on a couple now and then."

After Cheng Runshu finished speaking, he looked at Xu Chunsheng, his words carrying a hint of barely perceptible grievance: "Brother Chunsheng, what brings you to the wine shop today? I haven't seen you for days."

Xu Chunsheng finished eating the dried sweet potato in his hand and wiped it on his clothes. "I'm planning to build a new winery. I asked Uncle Tang to help me look at the site today. I just sent him home and thought I'd come over and take a look."

After saying that, Xu Chunsheng asked again, "Where's my brother?"

Just as Cheng Runshu was about to answer, Xu Chunsheng heard his cousin's voice behind him: "I'm here. What brings you here today, you busy man?"

Xu Chunsheng turned around and saw his cousin Xu Chunping carrying a plastic bag, talking as he walked inside. When he reached the counter, he put the plastic bag on the counter and opened it casually. Inside were some candies and melon seeds.

"Here, Runshu, have some candy."

After doing all that, he plopped down next to Xu Chunsheng, nudged him with his shoulder, and winked at him: "You, as the boss, aren't in a hurry at all. Runshu will come whenever she has a show to attend. She's much more attentive than you."

""

Cheng Runshu said somewhat embarrassedly, "I'm just here to help my brother with some simple things. Brother Chunsheng is quite busy, and he's been busy building the new winery recently, so you can leave this to me without worry."

Xu Chunsheng was also a little embarrassed and retorted to his cousin, "Isn't there you here? Aren't you the boss here too?"

Because Uncle Xu makes high-quality items with solid materials, some families who don't drink alcohol will come to Xu's winery specifically to ask if these items can be sold separately.

At first, Xu Chunping did not agree, but after more and more people asked, he told his father.

Uncle Xu told Xu Chunsheng about this, and after thinking about it for a moment, Xu Chunsheng told them that they could set up a stall outside the winery and sell these things.

However, the words "Xu Family Winery" need to be engraved on them, and then the buyers need to be told that these are all "peripherals" of Xu Family Winery.

Therefore, she said there was nothing wrong with Xu Chunping being the boss here.

Cheng Runshu sat beside the two brothers, smiling as he watched them chat and laugh.

Xu Chunsheng saw the smile in her eyes and felt a little embarrassed: "Ahem."

"Runshu, I happen to run into you today. There's something I need to tell you. You always come to help out at the distillery, and I think we should still pay you for your work."