CHAPTER 163: CHAPTER 162: BRIEF TENDERNESS (THIRD UPDATE)

The wine sold even better than rice wine as soon as it was released. According to Brother Jianye, many organizations are ordering their wine.

Old Tang has some connections in S City, and he hasn’t stopped pulling orders all month. Liu Yanmin is young and a sent-down youth, so he finds it hard to get a foot in the door. Although he hasn’t pulled in as many orders as Old Tang, he still manages to bring in a few dozen boxes every month. The commission per bottle ranges from one to five cents, making the commission higher than the salary. Their income is much higher than those in regular factories or organizations. At this rate, in two to three years, they can afford a small courtyard.

This makes the two of them even more motivated.

Their rice wine production is now stable, but production of mulberry and plum wine has stopped. There are only a few thousand bottles left, which probably won’t last until next year’s mulberry season. The main limitation is that they only have one winemaking machine, which restricts their production capacity.

In mid-September, it has been raining for three consecutive days, and the temperature has dropped rapidly. The night market of the restaurant has to stop.

The crayfish and grilled lamb skewers are quite popular. Lin Wan didn’t remove these two from the menu; instead, she asked the renovation workers to create a small space of a few square meters on the left side of the store, dedicated to selling these items. They can be taken out or consumed inside the store.

Lin Wan specifically told Huang Dashan to deliver some crayfish and fish by 11 AM.

The two of them discussed and decided to deliver once every three days, as it can be stored in cold weather.

This year, Lin Wan made preparations by having Mom buy plentiful beans from the morning market during the autumn, along with pumpkins from Aunt Jin and Grandma’s homes, and they collected quite a few, sun-drying them all.

They didn’t make much, but buying some from outside should last through the winter.

After the hot pot started business, there were a couple of days when business wasn’t very good. Citizens were still thinking about the night market dishes, and suddenly they were gone, causing some discomfort.

Fortunately, there were still crayfish and grilled lamb skewers. While fewer people ate hot pot, the line for takeout crayfish was unexpectedly long.

Today is a day off, Lin Wan didn’t go to the store. She finished knitting a sweater and pants for Grandma. Grandma’s body is quite plump, the whole set used up several pounds of wool, knitted rather loosely. Additionally, she knitted a sweater for Aunt Jin.

Aunt Jin wore the sweater given to her by Lin Wan and was moved beyond words, her eyes reddening to the point of nearly crying.

"My son was the only one who went to war and didn’t come back alive. All these years, you’ve helped me take care of Xiao Yi endlessly. You think of them like this, and they are happy in their hearts," Grandma said, holding Lin Wan’s hand.

"Don’t worry, Grandma, we know how good Uncle Jin and Aunt Jin are."

After hearing Lin Wan’s words, Han Ying knew that her family hadn’t chosen wrong for Han Yi. Xiao Yi’s lifelong issue was resolved, fulfilling her wish.

Lin Wan helped Grandma make some soap at home, then busily helped Grandma and Aunt Jin make soybean paste.

There are fewer vegetables in the winter, and families in the North rely on soybean paste as a substitute for vegetables all winter long.

They also make soybean paste in the South, though the method is different. Mom also knows how to make soybean paste, but doesn’t have time to do it. Fortunately, they have the restaurant, so they don’t worry about running out of food during winter.

The most common items here are soybean paste and sour cabbage, almost every household has them. Lin Wan likes using soybean paste for cooking, her favorite is chive flower paste. Seeing that she likes it, Grandma found a small crock and made a small jar of chive flower paste. She also added some pepper rings.

Lin Wan also made a jar of spicy beef paste and specifically bought three small crocks to pack separately. One is for Mom, and the other is for Han Yi.

During the winter, the military doesn’t have much in terms of vegetables; mostly it’s potatoes, cabbage, and radish.