Chapter 217: Preparing For Winemaking
Although moved, Xie Chong couldn’t truly accept it.
He received the kindness.
Qin Wanwan said, “Daddy, and Brother Yuanli gave me all these. And a big turtle gave me such a large Eastern Pearl.”
The little one held her head high and patted her chest, “Daddy, don’t worry about spending money. If it’s gone, Wanwan can still grow flowers and earn money to support you. So many people really like the flowers I grow.”
Xie Chong rubbed her little head.
“Keep these things for yourself. Daddy isn’t short of money now.”
Qin Wanwan rummaged through his clothes, “Nonsense. Look, your clothes are all patched.”
Xie Chong looked at the patches on his clothes; he had sewn them himself with dense stitches.
He had been living alone since he was twelve. When his clothes tore, he could only rely on himself to sew and mend them; he was accustomed to it.
“This was torn by a sword during sparring with someone. The clothes were still good, and it would be a pity to discard them just because of this one rip.”
“Daddy, what’s this on you?”
The little one leaned closer. Xie Chong quickly adjusted his clothes, “Nothing.”
Qin Wanwan didn’t believe him. She furrowed her little brows and acted spoiled, stubbornly pulling open her daddy’s clothes.
A gruesome wound appeared in her eyes on Xie Chong’s chest.
The wound was not only gruesome but also long, running from his shoulder to his ribs.
And the flesh on it had grown back recently.
Qin Wanwan took just one look, and her eyes filled with tears, which began to fall like raindrops.
Xie Chong awkwardly comforted her.
The little crybaby hugged his neck, “Wuwuwu… Daddy must have been in so much pain, it’s such a big wound.”
She continued to cry, sobbing intermittently.
Xie Chong wiped the tears from her face, as if they would never stop.
When the little one cried, the tears fell endlessly.
Her eyes were red, like a pitiful little rabbit.
“I’m fine, stop crying.”
Qin Wanwan’s little voice was choked with sobs, “Daddy, why didn’t you tell Wanwan? It must have hurt a lot.”
There were many other wounds on Daddy’s body, big and small.
Some were sword wounds, others were arrow wounds.
Xie Chong was brave on the battlefield. When he first joined the army, he was just a soldier, charging at the very front. Although he was strong, he was bound to get injured facing so many enemies.
But no matter how many injuries he sustained, even if an arrow was stuck in him, as long as he wasn’t dead, he could continue fighting with his weapon.
It was precisely this desperate ferocity that made the enemy fear him and earned him the admiration of the Duke of Zhenguo, who was a Great General at the time.
Even now, as a General, Xie Chong doesn’t just command from the rear. When the urge to fight takes him, he still charges to the front.
Of course, he doesn’t act recklessly. His keen sense of the battlefield allows him to find breakthroughs in the enemy’s formations and then directly take the enemy general’s head.
This wound was inflicted by an enemy general during a battle with a Tartar general in the winter.
However, Xie Chong also decapitated the opponent and killed over a dozen of his brave guards.
This wound caused him to have a fever for several days. Fortunately, his robust physique helped him recover.
How could he possibly tell her such a thing and make Wanwan worry?
He didn’t expect the little one to discover it on her first day back.
After coaxing the little crybaby, Qin Wanwan hugged her daddy and fell asleep.
As for the jewelry, she didn’t care about it at all.
Xie Chong held the little milk bun, who was nestled against him, with one arm. With his other hand, he picked up everything on the bed and put it into a small box, then he slept holding his daughter.
Xie Chong thought the matter was over and didn’t pay much attention to his own injuries.
After all, the outcome was that he survived, while his opponent lost his life.
On the battlefield, those who survive are the biggest winners.
But Qin Wanwan took this matter to heart.
The next day, she went to Keke to ask if there was any way to prevent her daddy from getting injured.
Keke flew to Qin Wanwan’s shoulder and said, “Your father is mortal now. On the battlefield, swords and spears have no eyes. For him not to get injured, he would either have to stop fighting or stop being a soldier.”
Qin Wanwan held a grass-woven bird, her brow furrowed.
This grass weaving was given to her by Xie Chong.
He had made it with his own hands.
He wouldn’t normally make such things to coax a child, but he happened to see one of his subordinates who knew how to make them. Thinking of Wanwan, he had that subordinate teach him.
“But what if Daddy likes being a general?”
Keke replied, “Who likes warfare? Your father doesn’t like being a general; he just can’t let go of so many people. His sense of responsibility is too heavy.”
Although Xie Chong looked fierce and always had a cold, unapproachable expression,
his sense of responsibility was indeed very heavy.
He could stop being a general, but he wouldn’t trust the brothers who had faced life and death with him to others; he needed to take care of them.
This position of General wasn’t something he could just give up.
These hundreds of thousands of troops at the border pass were all his responsibility.
“It’s definitely impossible to prevent him from getting injured. Your mall won’t sell such things, but you can approach it from another angle: increase the survival rate of the injured.”
Qin Wanwan looked at him eagerly, “What is it?”
“Alcohol, specialized medicine for treating external wounds, and suturing techniques for external wounds.”
To get alcohol, one needed to make wine.
Qin Wanwan remembered there was a book on winemaking in the mall.
But winemaking requires grain.
Grain was already scarce at the border pass, and Xie Chong certainly wouldn’t have enough grain for her to make wine.
Some fruits could also be used for winemaking, but they hadn’t borne fruit yet.
So, the little milk bun could only go to Father Shang.
Shang Wuyang heard the little one’s grand wish to make wine and couldn’t help but look at her.
“You, making wine?”
So small, and already thinking about making wine?
Qin Wanwan nodded very seriously and took out the winemaking manual.
“I can do it!”
She was determined to make alcohol so that more people could survive.
Shang Wuyang smiled and rubbed her head.
“Alright, I’ll have someone bring you wheat and sorghum right away.”
The main grains for winemaking now were sorghum and wheat.
Most wine was made from sorghum.
Because wheat was a staple food, its nutritional value was higher in this era of food scarcity.
However, ordinary farmers rarely grew sorghum.
This plant attracted too many insects and didn’t taste as good as wheat, and it was very rough on the throat.
Only those who needed to make wine would specifically plant sorghum.
“Corn can also be used for winemaking. You can plant corn this year, kiddo.”
Qin Wanwan already had corn in the mall.
Qin Wanwan, Keke, and Aunt Zhang got busy preparing to make wine.
However, winemaking requires yeast, and the book also contained methods for making yeast.
Keke said, “Our pasture grass seems to be usable for making yeast too.”
Qin Wanwan rolled up her little sleeves, “Then let’s give it a try.”
“Keke, our pasture grass is so versatile.”
This pasture grass, which had little use in the sky, was now being utilized in multiple ways by Qin Wanwan.
Making yeast takes some time, and the adults at home played with her.
But before they could even start winemaking, Qin Wanwan unhappily heard Father Shang say that he had to leave for a while.
