Chapter 384: New Year’s Eve Alcohol"Divine Child... this..."
As more and more people tasted the canned goods and experienced this taste, Han Cheng, who had taken a sip of the canned soup and closed his eyes without speaking, finally spoke.
After receiving them, the children who were eager to taste the delicious canned goods took a sip of the soup, and their faces immediately twisted in disgust, sticking out their tongues.
How did the canned foods, which were supposed to be deliciously sweet and sour, turn into this taste?
Are they spoiled, or does storing them for a long time change their taste like this?
But isn't the difference in taste too big from before?
Because of the appearance of these canned goods, which were very different from what was expected, the joyful atmosphere of the New Year's Eve dinner was slightly subdued.
Han Cheng swallowed the sour liquid in his mouth, feeling a warm flow from his throat to his stomach.
He took another small sip, then carefully tasted it in his mouth, feeling the familiar taste amidst the sourness.Perhaps the method in his memory went wrong. This batch of canned fruits could be said to be a complete failure. As expected, they should all be spoiled.However, they didn't spoil completely. While the canned foods were inedible, something else equally delightful appeared.
Wine!
This was something Han Cheng had never anticipated.
Tasting the wine in his mouth, amidst his emotion, he recalled the story of the ancient poet who failed to brew wine but ended up with good vinegar. He couldn't help but shake his head and smile.
He had previously made fun of others, but now he received his comeuppance. The canned fruit he brewed turned into this murky, sour wine.
But he wasn't as angry as that poet. The appearance of the sour wine made him just as happy. He was even happier than he would have been with the expected canned goods.
After all, sweet and sour canned fruits were his childhood favorite. Now that he had grown up, compared to canned goods, wine was more appealing.
Moreover, the wine appeared just in time for the New Year's Eve dinner. Drinking a little wine at such a time always felt like something was missing.
Now, they just needed a plate of dumplings.
From poverty to now, so many things have been brought out. Was a plate of dumplings still far away?
Another thing was, now that wine had appeared, was vinegar far behind?
Sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, and salty, these five flavors would gradually be collected together. When it was time to cook, there would be more choices.
After all, "brew wine in a jar, good vinegar in another," right?
He vaguely remembered that yeast and other useful things for fermentation were found in places like the wine jar used for brewing. When it was time to make dough, they could knead it on the edge of the jar and leave the old dough repeatedly. After a long time, extremely potent yeast would emerge.
Thinking of the steaming, soft, fragrant, and slightly malty white steamed buns, Han Cheng couldn't help but drool.
As a genuine northerner, steamed buns, the staple food he had eaten since childhood, were always an unavoidable obstacle.
He didn't know if he would be lucky enough to find wheat...
Han Cheng shook his head slightly and smiled bitterly. Who would have thought he would be so obsessed with steamed buns, which he ate daily?
The shaman also picked up a bowl and tasted the canned goods that had been sealed for many days. The taste wasn't very good, and compared to when it was freshly made, it was simply night and day.
Based on his many years of experience and the words spoken by the Divine Child when he made the canned goods, he knew that the canned fruits were ruined.
As someone in the tribe who has experienced many years and inherited the knowledge of the past shamans, influenced by the Divine Child, Han Cheng pays more attention to matters of human feelings and face-saving than others. For example, during the Green Sparrow's New Year's Eve dinner, he attached great importance to the order of serving.
To avoid embarrassing the Divine Child, he did not ask questions like others but took a big gulp of the not-so-good-tasting canned soup, feeling a warmth in his throat that he had never experienced before. Then, he prepared to praise the deliciousness of this canned soup.
At this moment, Han Cheng, who had been holding a bowl with closed eyes and had not spoken, opened his eyes, put down the bowl, stood up, and smiled at the people looking at him. He said, "The canned fruits have failed!"
After hearing this news, the people felt both expected and disappointed. After all, they cherished the sweet and sour taste.
Especially for those underage, the disappointment on their faces was hard to conceal.
Han Cheng observed the people's reactions without beating around the bush. After a slight pause, he continued, "However, it has created another good thing, which is wine!"
Wine?
Upon hearing this, everyone looks at their bowls' somewhat murky canned soup.
If something that tasted good was called a good thing by the usually discerning Divine Child, then the taste shouldn't be too bad and must be good.
Han Cheng had someone bring over several jars of "canned goods" and, after opening the mud seals, everyone poured some.
Adults received a bowl, children received half a bowl, and the younger ones received only a shallow bowl.
Then, holding their wine bowls, he stood up, gesturing for others to do the same. Han Cheng said, "Happy New Year! May our Green Sparrow tribe thrive! Cheers!"
After saying this, he clinked his wine bowl with those of the shaman and the eldest senior brother standing on either side of him, then raised his wine bowl to the people sitting in circles around them, toasted from afar, and drank it in one gulp.
The shaman and the Eldest Senior Brother, who had never experienced such a thing before, were momentarily stunned. Following Han Cheng's lead, they clumsily echoed, "Happy New Year! May our Green Sparrow tribe thrive! Cheers!"
Then, recalling Han Cheng's actions just now, they awkwardly clinked their bowls with those around them and then, looking somewhat unfamiliar, raised their bowls to the others and began to drink.
The adults could handle the taste, but the children, whose taste buds were more sensitive, found it uncomfortable.
"So sour..."
After taking a sip, Bai Xue stuck out her tongue and said with a bitter face.
Han Cheng laughed and rubbed her braids. Then, he poured the remaining half of the wine in her bowl into his own and drank it all in one go.
"Let's eat!"
After drinking the wine, Han Cheng announced the news that everyone had been waiting for, and numerous chopsticks stretched out at once. In the joyful atmosphere, the New Year's Eve dinner of the Green Sparrow tribe for the fourth year began.
During the meal, Han Cheng occasionally had someone pour wine for those who wanted to drink.
After drinking a bowl of wine, some of the adult members of the Green Sparrow tribe found that the not-so-good-tasting wine had a unique taste that was hard to describe.
Most of those who felt this way were adult males.
So, they didn't drink much of the well-boiled meat soup anymore. Instead, like the Divine Child, they occasionally drank some of the wine they had tasted for the first time.