RL (AT) Chapter 10: Grape Picking and Wine Making

Chapter 10: Grape Picking and Wine Making

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Sulo

 

It was very early in the morning during summer, and the people in the village were used to getting up after dawn. The barking of a dog made Lin Mo, who was lying in bed, come back to his senses. Slowly turning his head to look out the window, Lin Mo realized that it was already dawn. Lin Mo entered his space, he had slept with a stiff body for the night and drank spring water as usual.

The tomato branches planted in the space grew into a small tree because of watering from the spring every day. The small tomatoes on the twigs were also ripe. They hung on one by one, which made them look like a string of red grapes in the distance.

Lin Mo broke a cluster off and went to the small ‘medicine field’ while eating the tomatoes. He had planted the small part that was thrown into the space before. Because he wanted to make them grow faster and grow into a medicine field, Lin Mo had poured a lot of springwater on it.

After getting the seeds, he continued to plant them. After several times of tossing and turning, he made a small ‘medicine field.’ Since he didn’t need to use it urgently, Lin Mo didn’t water it with spring water, so he let them grow like this. Lin Mo stood aside and stared at them while eating tomatoes. After finishing the last one, he washed the mud off the bottom of his feet and left.

After washing and eating breakfast, everyone took their tools and left home to go to the fruit orchard. Since there was a wounded person and two three-year-old children in the family, Lin Chen stayed to watch over them.

Since it was a few days later, the fruit on the trees were almost ripe. A few days ago, some green fruits were on the surface. Lin Mo tiptoed to pick a peach, gently wiped off the fluff on the surface and bit into it. The ripe peach juice was very sweet. Lin Mo’s mouth bent, and his mood was much better.

In order to make the grape wine, everyone took a short cut to the bottom of the cliff and began to pick grapes. The vines were thick and strong and they must have been several decades old. The grapevines nearly climbed the whole cliff wall. Lin Mo saw that they had picked five baskets and asked them to stop. As for the rest, he gave up. They couldn’t pick the grapes at the top, and the ones that could be picked were almost picked.

These five baskets were enough for Lin Mo to brew two barrels of wine. They worked together to carry the baskets with the grapes and pushed them home after loading the cart. Lin Mo went back with Father Lin while the others picked other fruit in the fruit orchard. The cart was not big, and they could only put three baskets in at a time.

The path was not a plain concrete road or asphalt road, but a pothole filled muddy road. When it rained, the road was full of mud. Lin Mo had seen this kind of road before, when he fled to the countryside in his original world.

At that time, it was also raining heavily, and the road was full of yellow mud. Lin Mo walked a few steps and fell into the mud. His whole body was covered with mud and he was a mess.

The road in the village was flat so since the fruit orchard here was deserted, they didn’t care much about the road. Lin Mo followed with the help of the cart. The road here was potholed. They could only slow down to prevent the cart from overturning.

Lin Mo looked down at the cart with a white face, thought about it, and asked, “Father, is there no donkey cart in the village?” 

It was too tiring to push a rickshaw. Unfortunately, people here didn’t use cattle to pull carts.

“There are donkey carts, but those who have them pick up goods or carry people to town. They want to make money with them. How can they lend them to us?” Seeing Mo’ger’s face turning too white, Father Lin said quickly. “All right, just walk behind and follow.” 

Lin Mo couldn’t breathe and didn’t have much trouble agreeing. He knew the physical gap between them, so he gave up.

Lin Mo loosened his hand and walked slowly beside the cart. Because he suddenly straightened up, his head felt a little congested and painful. Lin Mo’s vision in front of him suddenly turned black. It lasted for several seconds before he slowly recovered his vision. During this time, Lin Mo moved forward slowly, seemingly unaffected.

Finally, the pothole road ended. The clothes on Father Lin’s back were soaked with a thin layer of sweat, since he was pushing the cart on the road. But his back was straight.

Where the road became even, Lin Mo took over the cart and began to help push it. When he met the passing villagers who said hello or asked what they had, it was Father Lin who responded. Lin Mo just lowered his head and didn’t say a word.

“Cheng, why didn’t you go in?” Father Lin, who was about to get home, was surprised to see Cheng Yan standing outside their door not far away.

“Uncle Lin, I just arrived.”

Parking the cart at the door, and before Lin Mo moved, the basket on the cart was moved down. Lin Mo looked up and only saw a strong back. It was not long before Cheng Yan walked forward, and they collided.

Cheng Yan glanced at the young man standing beside the cart, who was gasping for breath, and saw his abnormal white face. Cheng Yan’s brow slightly wrinkled but it was fleeting.

“I’m sorry to trouble you. Can you help me bring in the barrels? I’m afraid that the barrel is too heavy for Mo’ger to move it. His eldest brother can’t lift it now.”

Cheng Yan shook his head and said, “No problem. I have nothing to do today.” 

“Dad, Fourth Brother, you’re back!” Lin Chen walked out of the room, still holding Lin Xiaoya in his arms.

“Mn, look after Xiaoya and Xiaonan and watch your Fourth Brother, he’s too tired. Dad needs to go back to the fruit orchard.” Father Lin told him, and then he went out.

“Brother Cheng.” Lin Chen said hello.

“Mn, what can I do for you?”

Because a man and a ger needed to avoid suspicion, Cheng Yan didn’t want to have too much contact with Lin Mo.

Lin Mo rested for a while, washed a bunch of grapes for his nephew and niece, let them sit on a bench nearby, and then began to deal with the three baskets of grapes. Cheng Yan helped to draw water from the well. After filling the water bucket with water, Cheng Yan stood by to watch the young man squatting beside the water basin washing fruit.

Lin Mo cleaned a bunch of grapes and put them on the bamboo colander. He grabbed the edge with both hands and stood up. He had been squatting for a long time and his blood circulation was not smooth. When Lin Mo stood up, he felt that his line of sight was distorted and his body swayed uncontrollably.

“Are you okay?”

There was a low voice coming from his ear, and Lin Mo’s ear quivered sensitively.

“It’s nothing.” Lin Mo murmured, shaking his head in a small way. When his sight in front of him returned to normal, he put some distance between him and the man.

Cheng Yan took back his hand and said with some uneasiness, “You don’t look okay. Why don’t you rest?” 

Lin Mo was shocked and his eyes widened. He was a little surprised by this man’s observation ability. It was reasonable to say that after drinking his spiritual water in the morning, other people could not see that he didn’t sleep all night, because he had no black rings under his eyes.

Lin Mo often suffered from temporary blindness for a few seconds recently, which was caused by the lack of Qi and blood by not sleeping all night. Lin Mo thought that he could use the spring water to recuperate his body after a month, and his body’s constitution should be able to reach what it was in his previous life, at least he would not have the temporary blindness after moving.

“No, it’s just physical reasons.” Lin Mo denied.

Lin Mo put the bamboo colander with grapes aside to let the water drain, and then went back to wash the grapes. Lin Chen squatted by another basin to help wash the grapes. When Lin Mo was ready to put them in the bamboo colander, Cheng Yan would pick them up and put them aside to dry.

Lin Mo stared for a few seconds, and waited for Cheng Yan to turn around before he lowered his head to wash the grapes.

The cleaning work was very fast. After an hour, all the grapes had been washed and put in the shade to dry. Lin Mo stood aside to stretch his hands and legs which were a little sore. Then he went into the kitchen.

Before long, Lin Mo came out with a bowl of herbal tea and put it on the stone table. He asked them to come over and drink tea to quench their thirst. Lin Mo made Lin Chen brew the tea before going to the fruit orchard. Now it was cool.

The leaves floating in the tea were mint leaves, which were usually grown near the pond, river bank, and other places. Lin Mo picked the mint leaves from the river before.

“Cool~!” Lin Xiaoya took a sip. She was stimulated by the unique cooling element of the mint, and her body trembled. Then she looked up at Lin Mo and gave a hum.

After taking a drink, Lin Xiaonan puckered his face tightly and spat out his tongue, trying to drive out the cold air in his mouth. Lin Mo touched Lin Xiaonan’s head but didn’t say anything. After drinking a bowl, Lin Mo finally got rid of his sleepiness.

God knows why he suddenly wanted to sleep. If it was a normal day, Lin Mo would go back to his room to make up for his sleep. After all, the sudden sleepiness was exactly what he expected every night but couldn’t.

But there was still a lot of work to do. Lin Mo didn’t have time to sleep at all.

It wasn’t long before Father Lin delivered the customized cask. Cheng Yan got up and went out to help move the cask in. The shape of the cask used to make wine was the same as that of modern times. Other people who couldn’t understand it would feel a little strange when they looked at it.

According to Lin Mo’s requirements, Cheng Yan cleaned the wooden barrel several times, then wiped off the water with a clean cloth and put it aside to dry.

Lin Mo moved the drained grapes onto the stone table to put things in the wooden bucket in turn, two layers of grapes and a layer of sugar, while Lin Chen and Cheng Yan continued to wash and drain the two baskets of grapes that Father Lin just brought back.

After the two of them washed the grapes, Lin Mo almost finished the work, leaving a little space in the barrel, and Lin Mo tightened the lid tightly.

“Cheng… Brother, can you help me move this barrel into the house?” Lin Mo looked at Cheng Yan with an unnatural expression.

“Yes, lead the way.” Cheng Yan nodded and picked up the barrel full of grapes.

Lin Mo nodded and took him to the granary where the grain was stored. Lin Mo had been paying attention to Cheng Yan. Unexpectedly, this man had such great strength. Also, his body shape was similar to that of his elder brother, who was a soldier in the past. He must have no less strength.