MMB Chapter 74 Mountain Fruit Salad
Chapter 74 Mountain Fruit Salad
"Sis, I should at least try learning it, no matter how difficult it is. Maybe I have a knack for languages!"
Thinking of the English CET-4 and CET-6 exams that he had worked so hard to pass but which were ultimately useless, Chen Tuo's face also showed a sense of dejection.
If only I had learned Russian back then! Su Dao, an Evenki hunter, had even invited him to cross the river to the market!
Chen Tuo directly adopted learning Russian and Tungusic languages as skills.
Having experience with the CET-4 and CET-6 exams, I think learning some simple conversations shouldn't be difficult.
As for learning to read and recognize Russian and being able to read Russian texts fluently, he felt it was of little use.
There are plenty of translated works in China, why bother reading the original Russian texts?
"Okay! The Forestry Bureau Hospital has transferred a few new doctors. I don't need to make rounds recently, so I can teach you how to read."
After saying that, Hu Yuling still glared fiercely at Sun Changkui.
The couple had five sons, and every time they ate at Chen Tuo's place, they would owe him a favor.
Her five sons eat as much as they want; enough to feed an average family.
Having been repeatedly tormented by his own handsome doctor, Sun Changkui could only manage a bitter smile and gulp down a mouthful of wine.
Wu Laowai had already gone easy on the two water-resistant beads and two hundred bullets he exchanged, plus the four hundred bullets he received as a backup.
If it were someone else, they might give you a gun, but they definitely wouldn't give you this many bullets; a dozen or twenty rounds would be considered a favor.
Two hundred rounds at a time, isn't it just to give Chen Tuo enough bullets to practice his marksmanship?
At the time, Chu Mingshan was present, so the water was released for both public and private convenience.
Although Sun Changkui didn't want to replace Chen Tuo's gun again, he was still thinking about what kind of gun would be suitable for him.
Compared to the charming doctor Hu Yuling, Sun Changkui was clearly more upright and stubborn.
Thinking that she hadn't participated in the drinking at the educated youth settlement a few times, Chen Tuo wanted to find a different drinking buddy.
"Sis, your eldest went to get some sea buckthorn berries. Shall we make some fruit wine to celebrate later?"
It might be more interesting to have some low-alcohol drinks and have Hong Ye and Hu Yuling participate.
Debating with Sun Changkui in a free-flowing style was exhilarating, but it always felt a little lacking in emotional depth.
"Fruit wine? Do you have rice wine?"
Distracted by Chen Tuo, Hu Yuling also thought of the rice wine from her hometown.
When it comes to brewing wine, rice wine is best, but she couldn't even imagine the taste of strong liquor from Northeast China.
"Where can I find rice wine? This morning, Brother Zhang gave me five catties of loose white wine. Diluting it with some water should do, right?"
Chen Tuo was trying to fool people with cheap, diluted liquor, but Sun Changkui, who was drinking it, felt sorry for the distillery's distillery.
"Xiao Chen, it's a pity to dilute this liquor with water. Is Master Zhang still around? Have him go to the distillery; they have some low-alcohol liquor tails there."
When Sun Changkui mentioned the "tail end" of the drink, Chen Tuo's face darkened; that stuff was definitely not to be drunk.
"Brother-in-law Sun, the tail end of the drink contains methanol and fusel oils; it can blind you..."
Chen Tuo's concerns made Hu Yuling smile, and Sun Changkui added to the discussion.
"It's not that kind of liquor. Our Songling Distillery only produces 60-proof Songling Bai and 45-proof Erguotou. Not many people drink Erguotou."
"So, the distillery uses Erguotou to dilute the first batch of liquor, and then continues to distill the remaining middle and later stages in the feeding tank. This matter has left Old Du of the distillery scratching his head in worry."
"Old Du also made fruit wine. Your sister Lingzi likes to drink it, but she's the only one who likes it. He sells the low-alcohol leftovers for a fee, so don't waste the good wine."
Sun Changkui's words displeased Hu Yuling again.
In her view, the bitter, spicy, and pungent baijiu had little to do with alcohol; it was just pure alcohol.
In her opinion, fruit wine should be sweet and sour, refreshing, and even slightly intoxicating – that's what wine should be like.
"Old Sun, don't go around saying things like that outside..."
Seeing that Sun Changkui had been humiliated, Chen Tuo went back into the house, took out ten yuan, and found Zhang Taibao, who had been working behind the house.
"Brother Zhang, Brother-in-law Sun wants you to go to the distillery to buy some leftover liquor. Here's ten yuan. Buy as much as you can."
Upon hearing that they were going to have a final drink, Zhang Taibao asked in confusion:
"Chen, the barrel of wine I gave you is the first brew from the old days. The last brew is sour and bitter. Why would you drink that stuff?"
Although Zhang Taibao was a heavy drinker, he had very high standards for alcohol.
As a tractor driver stationed at the distillery, Old Du, the factory manager, gave him face, which is why he was able to buy aged, high-quality wine.
"Sour and bitter? I'm thinking of making some low-alcohol fruit wine. Brother Zhang, why don't you buy some sugar too?"
"Why buy sugar? Aren't you going to make fruit wine? I have some beetroot from when I feed my dog, just throw a couple in and it'll be sweet, right?"
Chen Tuo didn't know whether to respond to Zhang Taibao's words or not. If they were already feeding the dogs, how were people supposed to eat?
"Chen, the boards from the educated youth settlement aren't very good. Let's wait until tomorrow. I'll go to the cutting workshop and get you two truckloads of good boards..."
Chen Tuo remained silent, so Zhang Taibao started talking about his sauna.
As a tractor driver, although I can't compare to a car driver, in Songling, tractors are sometimes more useful than cars.
With this advantage, Zhang Taibao has ways to get his hands on anything, whether it's leftover beetroots from the field or damaged boards from the workshop.
"Don't go to too much trouble. Try the fruit wine I made later. Maybe you can drink more."
"Alright, I'll go ask Old Du for more..."
Just as Zhang Taibao started the tractor, the eldest, second, and third sons of the Sun family, who had gone to the Qi family to exchange sea buckthorn berries, returned to the educated youth settlement with Wu Laowai.
"Zhang Lao Er, where are you going? Why don't you eat here..."
Wu Laowai was much more polite to Zhang Taibao than to Sun Changkui, simply because Zhang was a tractor driver and he was needed when farming.
"Uncle Wu, I'm going to get some low-alcohol liquor for Chen, he's making fruit wine! Are you here to deliver some wild fruits to him?"
Glancing at the broken sled behind Wu Laowai and seeing the frozen mountain fruit in the sweeping basket, Zhang Taibao knew why Chen Tuo wanted to buy sugar to make fruit wine.
Most of the fruits in the mountains are sour; eating a few at a time is fine, but eating too many will make your teeth hurt.
Therefore, you don't have to go far to find various mountain fruits frozen on the trees around Songling.
"You're so quick to talk, hurry up and go..."
Old Wu was lucky to run into the two Sun brothers; he must have done something awful.
Last night, after dividing up the wolf meat, that old bastard went to flirt with Lao Qi's wife. As winter approached and snow began, Lao Qi went up the mountain to call for help.
The Qi family is similar to the Sun family; they have many children but little income. Old Qi's wife doesn't have a proper job and usually supplements the family income by picking wild fruits.
Blocked inside the house by the two Sun brothers, Wu Laowai had no choice but to put on an act, exchanging wolf meat for a small portion of Plywood Mountain Fruit at the Sun family's house before arriving at the educated youth settlement.
After Zhang Taibao reminded him, Chen Tuo saw the two baskets of wild fruit on Wu Laowai's sled and politely said:
"Uncle Wu, I just wanted to get some to try, I don't need this much."
Having his good deed exposed, Wu Laowai was already holding back his anger, and then being misunderstood by Chen Tuo and Zhang Taibao made him even more embarrassed.
"Fine, don't give it to me like I'm some free lunch..."
"Yes, of course I want some! Brother Zhang, buy more low-alcohol liquor, and if there's a lot of fruit, brew more."
When Wu Laowai arrived, Chen Tuo didn't let him rest. There was a foot-long ice fishing rod in the snowdrift behind the house, which was perfect for making live fish taraha.
Chen Tuo, along with the Sun family boys, found some wooden stakes and began smashing the frozen mountain fruits.
Apart from the orange-red sea buckthorn berries.
Wu Laowai also brought over red wild apples, schisandra berries, raspberries, and crabapples, as well as purplish-black ugly plums, wild grapes, and wild eggplants.
They set up the cooking pot, threw in the crushed frozen mountain fruit, and Zhang Taibao also brought back the wine and beetroot.
As Chen Tuo shoveled the miscellaneous mountain fruits into the pot and poured in most of a pot of white wine, the crowd curiously gathered around to watch the spectacle.
Chen Tuo, who was using wild fruits and beets for the first time to recreate the Guangxi fruit salad, was also a little insecure.
I was worried that his first attempt at this stuff might not be edible...