The Noble Doctor's Daughter 075, Distillation

  Peony Courtyard, Su Lianyi had just left, and Mrs. Li's face no longer had the previous warmth and desolation? Only coldness and majesty remained. She lowered her eyes, as if in thought. "Qiao Yu, do you think this Su Lianyi will really help that Peach Aunt find a way to give birth?"

  Qiao Yu, it was actually Liu Mama's maiden name.

  "Madam, in my humble opinion, if Mistress Tao could have given birth, she would have done so long ago. The Tao family is also a wealthy one, and they've consulted many famous doctors to no avail. What can that young whippersnapper Su Liu do?" said Liu Mama.

  Mrs. Li took a deep breath, thinking of Tao's wife and gritting her teeth with hatred. "I always had a feeling that Su Lianhui would have a way to cure Master's illness, which many famous doctors couldn't do. I've met countless people, but how come I couldn't see through this Su Lianhui?" As she spoke, her eyebrows furrowed tightly, and the wrinkles between them deepened, revealing that she often made this expression in her daily life.

  Mrs. Liu's face was awkward, because in the past she had been calculated by Su Liangwei, and now she still had a handle in her hand, so she naturally knew Su Liangwei's ability. "Madam, don't think too much about it, I think that girl is not someone who wants to fight either."

  Mrs. Li nodded, "Yes, with her small winery in the Su family, whether she relies on me or Peach Aunt, it's all beneficial, but from start to finish, she has been quietly expressing her unwillingness to rely on anyone, what a strange girl."

  Looking back on their conversation just now, she had tried her best to win her over, but Su Lianwei had skillfully dodged her every time. The more Su Lianwei didn't want to join her camp, the more she wanted to make her join.

  Jade Hall...

  Mrs. Li suddenly remembered her second son, Li Yutang.

  There was a rumor that after being rejected by Yutang, Su Liangwei's spirit was severely damaged and she fell ill as soon as she returned to the village, almost dying. After waking up, she became like a different person, not only rapidly losing weight but also greatly changing in character. It is unknown whether this rumor is true or false.

  Su Lianwei is not a simple person. If Su Lianwei can really become her own person, it will be a great help not only to herself but also to the Li family!

  "Qiao Yu," thinking of this, Mrs. Li called out to Liu Mama, "Have you ever seen Su Lianwei before? Was she really infatuated with Yutang?" The previous Su Lianwei had made a scene in the backyard of the Li mansion, but it was just a small disturbance and didn't alarm Mrs. Li.

  "Yes, in the past, as long as it was the Su family wine factory delivering wine, Su Liu would definitely follow, dressing up and making herself look beautiful, just to get Second Young Master to take a glance at her. There were even several times when she snuck into the Haitang courtyard unnoticed," replied Liu Mama. "But the Su Liu back then and now are completely two different people. Not to mention her plump figure, but also her rough and savage demeanor. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed that they were the same person."

  "When did it start changing?" Mrs. Li asked again.

  Liu's mother thought for a moment, suddenly enlightened, "The old slave remembered, it was... after being beaten by Cui'er and her group of maids." So, she told Madame Li about the events of that day from start to finish, and naturally also mentioned giving her the silver.

  Mrs. Li listened carefully and felt that Su Lian's thoughts were clever, and she must be won over. "I've also heard before that some people's personalities change greatly after experiencing great difficulties, I suppose it's true."

  Mrs. Liu nodded.

  Mrs. Li thought for a moment, her eyes narrowing slightly, "Where is Cui'er?"

  "Madam, I don't know what Cui'er did wrong, but she was punished twice by the second young master recently. Now she's still serving him." Liu Mama's eyes flashed with a hint of gloom, her voice lowered and cooled down a bit. "Should we call Cui'er over?"

  Mrs. Li understood what Old Mother Liu meant - hand over Cuier to take care of Su Lianying, "No, go call Yutang instead."

  "Yes." Then Liu's mother ordered the maid beside her to call Second Master over.

  Mrs. Li picked up a teacup from the side, carefully recalling every word Su Lianwei had just said and every move she made, and became more determined to win her over. The simplest way to do this was to have Yutang, the person Su Lianwei admired most, come and persuade her.

  ……

  Lianyi hurriedly drove the donkey cart, first going to the pharmacy to pick up medicine according to the prescription discussed with Dr. Zhou, and then went to the winery. The scorching wind on this sweltering day was also hot, but she let out two inexplicable sneezes.

  One thinks twice scolds three times, could it be that someone is scolding her from behind?

  I don't quite understand the women in Li's household. "Home" is supposed to be a truly relaxing and safe haven, but it has become their battlefield. I'd rather ask another question, are you tired?

  Today I am filled with regret, my intestines are all green with remorse. All because I went to see Doctor Zhou and ended up at the Li residence, but brought upon myself a whole body of trouble. Sincerely hoping that those two noble ladies can let her off easy and allow her to live a peaceful life.

  Just as he was thinking wildly, they arrived at the winery.

  He stopped the car and tied it up in front of the winery gate before entering the winery.

  The workers who were busy at work stopped what they were doing and greeted Miss Lianyi, who responded to each of them. The manager of the winery came out. "Miss Lianyi, you're here." The manager's surname was Yang, his name was Chang, he was thirty-four years old, lived near the winery, had gone out to do business in his early years but lost money and returned home, saw that the Su family winery was recruiting workers, so he came to work.

  Later, Su Lianwei found that Yang Chang had a broad vision, strong management ability, and was also honest, so he promoted him to be the manager of the winery.

  "Brother Yang doesn't need to bother with me, go ahead and be busy, I'm here to find Big Tiger." Lianyi said.

  Other workers saw Su Lianwei coming to find Da Hu, with ambiguous smiles on their faces. "Hey, Da Hu, your wife is looking for you." Someone shouted.

  Dahuo was holding an iron scoop and stirring the wine ingredients when he heard them shouting, his whole body stiffened for a moment, and from behind, his ears turned red.

  Dà Hǔ occasionally comes to the winery to help out. At first, everyone sees him as the boss's brother-in-law and is very respectful. Later, they discover that he is quiet and unassuming, and works harder than the hired workers. Over time, they become familiar with him, and several of the hired workers address him as "brother" or "younger brother".

  Men are all shameless, gathering together for lunch to talk about women, sometimes they even ask Datou who's on top and who's on the bottom at night in bed, Datou gets annoyed and embarrassed, then he punches his fist at a group of people, although it's just joking around, but everyone stops asking.

  Now this ambiguous tone is naturally a continuation of that joke.

  Lianyi didn't understand, "Big Tiger, bring two jars of wine back home with me. I'll head back early today, there are some things to attend to."

  "Alright." Datou agreed and turned around to go find wine in the storage room.

  Lianyi and Datou left the winery, a group of hired workers were all secretly laughing.

  Lianyi reached out and touched her hair bun, then stroked her face, finding nothing wrong. "What are they laughing at?" she asked, puzzled.

  The big tiger's ears turned red at the roots, and one hand held a jar of wine, "They are sick."

  “……” Lianyi didn't ask much, but was very curious about how these people had provoked Datou (Big Tiger) to anger. It's rare for Datou to get into a fight with someone like this, and it seems that these people have grasped Datou's weakness. What weakness does Datou have? Curious, very curious.

  Today Chun Yue didn't go to the winery, so Lian Yi drove her little donkey cart and the two returned home.

  "Why is it so early today?" Da Hu thought for a moment and couldn't help but ask.

  It's actually getting late, but according to the usual time, I'm really home early today. "I came back a little earlier today, I want to do an experiment, distillation."

  "Distillation?" Da Huo asked in doubt.

  "It's just increasing the degree of the wine, or in local terms, making the wine stronger." said Lian Yi.

  The great tiger looked puzzled and said, "Isn't increasing the wine's potency supposed to be done through long-term storage?"

  "Long storage is a good method, but the problem is that it takes too much time. I want to try distillation, maybe you don't understand now, but you'll see later." When reaching a certain high temperature vaporization, gas pre-cooling liquefaction, this knowledge learned in modern junior high school physics class, ancient people may not understand its principle, but this phenomenon should have been seen before.

  As he spoke, they arrived home and stopped the donkey cart. Da Hu led the donkey cart to a shed on one side of the yard, unloaded the cart, tied up the donkey, and added fodder for it.

  Lianyi carried the wine into the kitchen, found a clean large pot and a clean iron plate. First, she poured the wine into the clean large pot, then lit the fire. Seeing Dahu entering the yard, "Wash your hands and come in to help."

  "Alright." Da Hu followed his words, washed his hands and went inside, "What do you need me to do?"

  "Holding this iron plate." He said, and handed the iron plate to Da Hu. "It may get very hot later, hold on, go back to Xian Shui Tan to take a bath later."

  "En." Datou replied, but he couldn't guess what Su Meng was going to do next.

  As the fire burned more and more fiercely, the wine in the large pot boiled, white steam rose but was blocked by the iron plate held by the big tiger at the top. The iron plate was cooler than the large pot, so some of the steam escaped, but some also condensed and flowed down along the iron plate, and under the iron plate was a bowl with ripples, and what flowed down just entered the bowl.

  "Holding the iron plate, won't you get tired?" Ling asked worriedly, "Let's switch." In ancient times, there was no modern thin stainless steel plate, and the iron plate here must be heavy.

  "It's unnecessary," Da Hu replied.

  Ripples saw the big tiger refuse, and he also didn't persist, the matter was urgent.

  A wisp of fragrance passed, and the wine water in the big pot had evaporated by more than half. Lian Hui carefully observed, designing a distillation device in her mind.

  She was studying medicine, not chemical engineering or mechanics. If she hadn't inexplicably crossed over to this place, she might have spent her whole life without researching these things that had nothing to do with her major. But unfortunately, she could only grit her teeth and design how to reduce water vapor consumption, and what method to use for rapid cooling.

  The first big pot is done, and a total of four bowls of wine were distilled from two tanks. I couldn't help but think about the wasted steam just now, and if I had achieved zero waste, I would have gotten at least ten bowls.

  After the first distillation, a second distillation was carried out, which is to continue heating these four bowls once.

  Lianyi was busy and focused, while Dahu held up an iron plate, unable to help but look at her.

  Due to the high temperature indoors, she was sweating profusely, and her already delicate face became even more tender and pale from the steam, making her eyebrows seem darker, her eyes blacker, her straight nose bridge smaller, and her cherry lips redder. Big Tiger stared blankly, discovering for the first time that a woman could be so beautiful, evoking his sympathy.

  Lianyi raised her head and found that Da Hu was staring at her motionlessly, their eyes met.

  The big tiger was startled, as if caught off guard, and hurriedly lifted his head. However, the ripples seemed to have not noticed being peeped at, but instead pulled out a handkerchief from her bosom, stood up, "Isn't it very hot?" she said while helping him wipe the sweat on his face.

  Su Lian's heart secretly blamed herself for her carelessness, focusing on doing the experiment, but forgetting that Da Hu had been holding up a heavy iron plate, smoke and fire everywhere. The iron plate was in direct contact with the water vapor, it must have been scorching hot.

  Wiped the sweat from Da Hu's face and touched the iron plate with his hand, "Heavens, it's so hot!"

  The big tiger didn't speak, it was indeed very hot, but for Su Lianwei's "experiment", he persisted.

  "I'll take it, your hand must be scalded." Lianyi thought of grabbing the iron plate.

  "It's nothing." Datou's arm was as hard as a rock, how could the ripples take it down? "If it were you, the burn would be even more severe." Because he had a thick callus on his hand, it was somewhat better.

  Ripples in her heart, looking at the majestic and slender figure of Da Hu, she was suddenly dazed. What identity has anything to do with it? What age has anything to do with it? In front of her, this man is as firm as a rock, as reliable as a great mountain.

  Lianyi lowered her head, her face turned red, and for a change from her usual calmness, she smiled foolishly.

  The big tiger frowned and said, "What are you laughing at?"

  Lianyi shook her head, "Nothing." She refused to lift her head, not wanting Da Hu to see her lose composure.

  Finally, the second distillation is complete. Liangliang hurriedly let Datou put down the iron plate, and didn't even check the ** collected in the bowl, pulling Datou's arm and rushing out of the kitchen, quickly scooping water into a basin, putting Datou's hand into the basin, "You idiot."

  “……” Big Tiger didn't speak, it had been a long time since he heard Su Liangwei call him that. In the past, she used to call him that when she was angry. At that time, he was angry, but now, with the same name, not only was he not angry, but he also felt affectionate.

  After a while, Lianyi finally pulled out his two big hands from the water basin and picked them up for careful examination. The scald was quite serious, even with thick calluses, the palms were still bright red all over. No wonder Dahu didn't let her take over the iron plate, this temperature, she probably couldn't hold on for a while.

  The big tiger actually supported itself for nearly half a day, which is more than an hour.

  What a real man!

  Seeing Su Lianhui like this, Da Hu felt a bit embarrassed. "Never mind, it's fine tomorrow, was your experiment successful?" He hurriedly changed the subject.

  "Compared to that, your hand is more important." Liang's heart ached tightly, frowning, wishing she could also help him share some of the pain.

  After hearing her words, Da Hu's heart was filled with an indescribable feeling, very happy and very blissful. For a moment, he unconsciously turned his hand over and grasped hers, "Really nothing." The pain in the palm of his hand couldn't hide the smooth and comfortable feeling at all, and he didn't want to let go.

  Ripples initially didn't resist and let him pull her along. After a while, seeing that he still wouldn't let go, she felt a bit embarrassed and her face turned red.

  The courtyard was quiet at night, the wind blew through the leaves rustling, the insects chirping up and down. Although there was no sea of lavender flowers, nor a vast grassland, there was still another kind of romance. This romance was subtle and silent, yet solid and real.

  The moon is full and near fifteen, moonlight spills down, the world is a silver sheet.

  The big tiger lowered his head and looked at Su Lianwei, who no longer had the calm wisdom of her usual days, but only the shyness of an ordinary woman. A voice told him that this was his wife, they had a wedding, went through the door, and now their life was plain and dull, bit by bit.

  Lianyi was at a loss for a moment, wanting to withdraw her hand, but found that the large palm held it tightly. His palm was so hot, and his body was too, she felt that the heat had been transmitted to her through their clasped hands, her blood accelerated, and she felt suffocated.

  He seemed to have made a decision, and pulled her hand towards him, his tall figure slowly leaning down.

  Ripples of shock, he's... going to kiss her!?

  Opened her eyes wide in disbelief, her mind was a complete blank, should she let him kiss her?!

  The subconscious may be willing, the two of them go in and out together, for several months now, they have already become a family, in the eyes of outsiders, they are already a de facto couple, and the two also sleep on the same bed.

  In this desolate world, he listened to her story without questioning or asking. When she was ill, he stayed by her side and took care of her silently. When her career needed help, he put down that mysterious task, put aside his dignity, and went to the winery to do the rough work that ordinary workers did. When she was injured, it was him who carried her down the mountain, step by step. When she was being capricious, he tolerated her silently, letting her throw a tantrum.

  She has never dealt with emotional issues, but even in modern times, men are only doing this much for their girlfriends.

  The tiger's face drew closer and closer, its breathing paused, tense to the point of being at a loss for what to do.

  "Su Lianwei, are you... willing to be with me?" Da Hu knew that even if he took the initiative, Su Lianwei wouldn't refuse, but a sense of responsibility compelled him to ask.

  Her heart was racing with excitement, but suddenly, the scenes and sounds from Li's mansion during the day flooded her mind - the struggles of the women in the inner chambers, the marital customs of three wives and four concubines, the harsh reality of a male-dominated society. It all poured over her like a basin of cold water, extinguishing her passion.

  She wanted to ask Da Hu whether he would be devoted to her in the future, but she couldn't bring herself to ask. There was always a premonition that Da Hu's background wasn't so simple, although he practiced martial arts, his speech was elegant and refined, and his demeanor was graceful, maybe he was an official's son.

  She didn't have the courage to ask if this question was very stupid. In a feudal ancient times where having three wives and four concubines was common, it was a lifelong monogamy of one couple.

  In the end, Liang Li couldn't muster up the courage to ask the question and instead chose to be an ostrich. He withdrew his hand. "Dah Hu, go check on the distilled liquor." This changed the subject.

  The big tiger's heart suddenly fell, is this a tactful refusal?

  Lianyi turned and went to the kitchen, her face no longer calm as usual, but full of panic and fluster. She was afraid, fearing that if she really spoke up, she would be rejected, and even the last shred of security she clung to would be gone.

  Let her enjoy it for a while longer, wait until she can really adapt to this era before facing those emotional issues.

  Digression

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