Chương 20: Savings Running Low

"Let's take a look first." Carrying an iron shovel to the corner of the courtyard wall, Jiang Huanyu soon dug out the wine jar buried underground. Looking at the intact mud seal, a trace of a smile appeared on his face. Then he carried one wine jar into the courtyard. The moment the mud seal was knocked off, a rich wine fragrance instantly spread out.

"What fragrant wine…" Hu Yufen smelled this mellow aroma and could not help exclaiming. Jiang Huanyu brought a bowl from the kitchen house and carefully poured out a bowl of rice wine. In the white porcelain bowl, the rice wine was a crystal-clear pale yellow. An elegant fragrance spread out, making him unable to resist lifting the bowl and taking a sip.

"Tsk—" When the wine entered his mouth, it was sweet but not greasy, with just the right balance of sour and sweet. It was precisely that familiar taste from his previous life. Only, in terms of mellowness, it was slightly lacking. Jiang Huanyu also knew this was because he did not have good wine starter. If he wanted to completely reproduce the taste from his previous life, it would still need some settling over time. Hu Yufen leaned closer, seemingly somewhat tempted.

But Jiang Huanyu directly drank the rice wine in the bowl in one mouthful, then sealed the wine jar properly.

"You still haven't finished your postpartum confinement. You can't drink wine."

"Besides, if you drink wine, it will be troublesome if the two little things get drunk on milk later." Hearing this, Hu Yufen could not help rolling her eyes at him. She also knew that she could not drink wine right now. It was only that the wine fragrance was too tempting, so she could not help wanting to taste it.

"Then it's agreed. You have to leave some of this wine for me."

"When Wenping and Chen are a little older, I must taste it." As Hu Yufen was instructing him, knocking suddenly came from outside the door. Jiang Huanyu curiously put down the wine jar in his hand and opened the courtyard gate. He found that the person who had come was Zhao Shuan. At this moment, Zhao Shuan was standing outside the gate, stretching his head toward the courtyard and sniffing. He chuckled and said, "I was busy in the courtyard when I suddenly smelled wine."

"I followed the scent here… A-Huanyu, did you make some good wine?" Hearing this, Jiang Huanyu could not help laughing.

"Brother Shuan's nose is quite sharp."

"It's self-brewed rice wine. Come in and taste it." He moved aside, and Zhao Shuan immediately slipped in.

"Sister-in-law… hehe." Seeing Hu Yufen, Zhao Shuan smiled embarrassedly and greeted her. Hu Yufen quickly brought another bowl from the kitchen house and had Jiang Huanyu pour him a bowl. Smelling the wine fragrance and looking at the pale-yellow rice wine, Zhao Shuan's gaze instantly went straight.

"Tsk, tsk… This color, this fragrance…" He lifted the bowl, closed his eyes, smelled it in intoxication, and directly took a big mouthful! Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

"Good wine, good wine!" After tasting it for a while, Zhao Shuan could not help praising, "Your wine is much better than the Apricot Leaf Yellow from the Kang family wine shop in town!" After finishing the wine in the bowl in one gulp, Zhao Shuan looked again at the wine jar, but in the end, he was too embarrassed to ask for more.

"A-Huanyu, did you really brew this wine yourself?" Jiang Huanyu pointed at the dug-open ground and said, "When Stone was born, I made several jars. I'm preparing to take them out to entertain guests when Wenping and Chen have their full-month banquet."

"Brother Shuan, don't forget to come then." Hearing this, Zhao Shuan repeatedly answered, "I'll definitely come, definitely come. When the time comes, you have to let me drink freely!" Hu Yufen smiled.

"There will be enough wine!" Hearing this, Zhao Shuan finally put down the bowl in his hand reluctantly, wiped his mouth, and said farewell to the two. He really did not dare stay any longer. Otherwise, he was afraid he would be unable to resist asking for another bowl. In the evening, after bringing Anu back, the family ate dinner. Jiang Huanyu then came into the courtyard and began practicing stance training.

Although the cultivation of stance training made him suffer terribly, Jiang Huanyu understood that once his body loosened up and adapted, practicing stance training would only have benefits and no harm. Late at night, on the bed, the two little fellows had eaten and drunk their fill and had already fallen into deep sleep.

"How much money does the family still have?" Jiang Huanyu suddenly asked. Hu Yufen pursed her lips.

"There are still one hundred and sixteen taels." After hearing this, Jiang Huanyu sighed slightly. At this time last year, the family still had one hundred and eighty taels of silver. This year, reporting the barbarian squad's invasion had earned a government reward of one hundred taels. Selling firewood had earned more than twenty taels. This year's harvested grain had also sold for more than forty taels. But in the end, their savings had grown smaller and smaller.

Fortunately, Stone's initiation gift for learning martial arts had already been waived now. Otherwise, the family's remaining money would probably already have fallen to two digits. Making money… he still had to think of ways to make money. Otherwise, once the two little fellows were weaned, the family's food, clothing, and daily expenses would not be covered.

"The few piglets in the pen have all grown up too. How about keeping one male and one female, and selling the rest?" Hu Yufen suggested. She knew how great the pressure on her man was.

"It is not time for that yet." Those piglets had only been raised for one year, and their weight still had room to increase. Moreover, those piglets were something he had kept as an emergency fallback. Unless it was absolutely necessary, he did not plan to sell them lightly.

"There is nothing to do in autumn. Tomorrow, I'll go to the great river and catch some fish. I'll try to make it so that we don't have to spend money buying fish for the full-month banquet." After hearing this, Hu Yufen sighed slightly. The section of the Lai River near Golden Willow Village was only several dozen li in total, and the other sections belonged to other villages. After autumn, there was no farm work to be busy with.

The commoners in the village all had the same idea as Jiang Huanyu, wanting to go to the Lai River to catch some fish, either to sell for some money or to improve their family's meals. With many people and few fish, how could catching them be so easy? The night passed without words. The next day, just as the sky had begun to brighten faintly, Jiang Huanyu had already prepared the fishing net and other tools. He packed several flatbreads as dry rations, brought a water pouch, and rushed toward the Lai River.

He thought he had gone very early, but only after arriving by the river did he discover that more than ten villagers had already occupied good spots and were casting nets. These people were all commoners from Golden Willow Village. After greeting one another, Jiang Huanyu could only choose a fairly decent spot and begin casting his net. But after casting several nets in a row, apart from a few finger-length small fish, he only caught some loaches.

Seeing that the others also had poor harvests, Jiang Huanyu immediately lost interest.

"A-Huanyu, not casting anymore?" Seeing him begin to tidy the fishing net, a nearby villager asked with a smile.

"It's either loaches or tiny finger-length fish. Not even enough to fill the gaps between the teeth." The villager echoed him with a laugh.

"In any case, we have nothing to do. If we can get a little to bring back and let the children taste something, that's enough. We're not counting on this to make a living." Jiang Huanyu nodded in agreement, carried the fishing net, greeted the others, and left. At the crossroads, Jiang Huanyu stopped. He turned his head and looked in the direction of Blackwater Pond, somewhat hesitant. Last time at Blackwater Pond, he had obtained several black carp.

By a strange combination of circumstances, they had given Anu the opportunity to become a student under a great scholar. Now, he still wanted to go to Blackwater Pond and try. But recently, the village had been constantly saying that the alligator-dragons in Blackwater Pond were causing serious trouble. It was said that quite a few villagers who were merely passing by had been attacked by alligator-dragons, dragged into the pond together with their oxen.

This made it so that now, when they went to Cloudwater Town, they would rather take a longer detour than dare to take the road near Blackwater Pond. Jiang Huanyu thought for a long time, but still wanted to go to Blackwater Pond and try his luck. It was not that he was not afraid of alligator-dragons, but rather because the divinations these past few days had all displayed "Ordinary." This meant that he should not have any bloody disaster.

If this trip was lucky and he gained something, not only would the fish for the full-month banquet be settled, he might even earn a small sum. Thinking of this, he no longer hesitated. He directly carried the fishing net and walked toward Blackwater Pond.