On New Year’s Eve, I offer all book friends my greetings O(∩_∩)O

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Corn, sorghum, millet, beans, sweet potatoes, peanuts, and other crops were all harvested one by one. The harvest from over two hundred acres of land couldn’t fit in the courtyard, so it was piled up in the front yard.

Once the crops were brought in from the fields, they needed to be dried in the courtyard before threshing could begin. During the drying period, Lian Shouxin was also busy leading people, working day and night, to harvest grapes and start making wine.

Sixty-eight acres of grapes were used for making wine, a production scale unmatched by the previous years of wild grape harvesting in the hills. To improve the quality of the wine and extend its shelf life, Lian Manman planned to use coarse ceramic jars for fermentation again. However, after the wine was made, she intended to switch to wooden barrels for storage.

The coarse ceramic jars were still ordered from Zhao Family Village, and the wooden barrels for storing the wine were custom-made by several carpenters, who were given dimensions, wood types, and a portion of the deposit, along with a deadline for barrel delivery. Lian Shouli also received an order.

Lian Shouli, Wu Lang, and Xiao Qi led people to the fields to pick grapes and transport them home, while Lady Zhang, Lian Zhizhi, and Lian Manman were responsible for supervising the initial wine-making process at home. In addition to this, Lian Manman and Wu Lang had to oversee affairs at Lian’s, the fish pond, and the Lotus Pond, keeping the family so busy that they fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow at night. Yet, the next day, they still had to rise before dawn.

The hard work of the family naturally yielded deserved rewards.

The winery in the front courtyard was no longer sufficient to store their wine jars, so some finished wine had to be stored in the back courtyard.

On this day, the work of harvesting and making wine finally reached a pause. After dinner, the whole family gathered in the east room of the inner courtyard’s upper room, sitting around and chatting.

"It looks like there are only two more days of grape picking left," Lian Shouxin said. If they had been working at a normal pace, the grapes should have been picked by now. However, the pace of picking was balanced with the wine-making schedule at home because the grapes should ideally be turned into wine immediately after picking, as delaying affects the wine’s quality and taste. This was an insight Lian Manman gained from the past few days of winemaking. Although it might seem like a minor difference, she always strives for perfection.

"By that time, will you have finished making this batch of wine too?" Lian Shouxin asked.

"In another two days, that should be no problem," Lady Zhang nodded, glancing at Lian Manman.

"After the wine is finished, should we thresh the crops first or bring in the firewood from the fields?" Wu Lang asked.

"Let’s thresh the crops first. There’s no rush for the firewood; as long as we bring it in before winter, it’s fine," Lian Shouxin replied. "We don’t have space in the courtyard for firewood this year. I looked around the courtyard today and planned to stack some firewood outside when we bring it in."

"Dad, the location of the firewood stack should be chosen carefully. It should be a bit farther from our courtyard, and we need to consider the wind direction," Wu Lang suggested.

"I’ve considered that as well. Tomorrow I’ll show you the spot, and you can see if it’s suitable," Lian Shouxin said. One of Lian Shouxin’s strengths is that he never assumes he knows best or acts like a patriarch. If there are matters at home, he listens attentively if Lady Zhang or the children have opinions.

Since the family division and Wu Lang’s education, and now that he’s passed the Scholar exam, Lian Shouxin has placed even more trust in Wu Lang’s words.

"We need to clear the land for planting winter wheat first, right?" Wu Lang added.

"That’s a given," Lian Shouxin agreed with a nod.

The family then discussed which plot of land would be suitable for planting winter wheat.

"How about the five-silver-per-acre plot next to Nanshan again?" Lian Manman suggested. This plot had ten acres of spring wheat this year, and there’s a second crop of cabbage and soybeans currently growing, so it can’t be used for winter wheat immediately. However, another ten acres that grew peanuts this year will be just right for planting winter wheat next.

"That works, we’ll use the peanut fields, saving some trouble without having to dig up the roots," Lian Shouxin said. "Once we’ve about finished threshing here, we’ll turn the soil over there, spread manure, and plow it into rows. As soon as the winter wheat seeds arrive, we’ll make sure to plant them promptly."

"This time, the Lu Family’s caravan has been gone quite a while. Based on their schedule, they should have returned a few days ago," Lady Zhang commented, thinking it over.