Yi Tian, who came to Yi Ji Grain Store to become an apprentice of Wu Wu, only took half a year to understand all the big and small matters.
In Accountant Wu's words, keeping accounts was all about purchasing, purchasing, selling, and storing. How much rice the store purchased that month, how much was stored in the warehouse in the backyard of the store, and how much was sold every day. Everything was recorded down one by one.
This was a modern day account without any nutrition. What do you mean by writing down everything? There was no ticket stub, you just had to write down everything.
No wonder anyone who could read and count could do it. For three months, Wu Wu taught Yi Tian step by step how to read the accounts, recognize the accounts, keep the accounts, and cancel the accounts step by step.
After that, Yi Tian was able to complete the accounts independently under the supervision of Wu Wu. Even his uncle was full of praise when he saw it.
Half a year later, Wu Wu Wu pushed all the work to Yi Tian except for the final cancellation of the accounts.
The poor ten year old child was forced to do the accounts by an unscrupulous uncle every day. The only good thing was that Yi Tian's handwriting was still relatively neat.
There was no other way. Wu Wu Wu had set the rules. Even the crooked chicken feet had to be rewritten.
Because of this, Yi Tian was tortured to the point that he could only sleep for three hours a day. The rest of the time was spent practicing his handwriting. If he did not write well, he had to rewrite. The psychological pressure was too great. He was like a primary school student in the Celestial Empire who could not finish studying every day.
Wu Wu Wu began to have free time during this period. He took in a disciple as a free helper, and this helper did all the work for him.
In the end, all he had to do was look at the accounts and sign them. Every month, he would receive a salary of five taels of silver. He would rely on the boss for food and accommodation. His life was very comfortable.
Ever since Wu Wu Wu took the imperial examinations, he had lost confidence in the exams. He was almost forty years old and had taken the exams since he was sixteen. Other than becoming an Elementary Scholar at the age of twenty-six, he should have been high-spirited. But he did not expect that every time he took the exams, he would be burdened by them.
When people have money and time, they will have hobbies. Men are nothing more than wine, women, wealth, and temper. Fortunately, Accountant Wu only had wine and money.
Yi Tian noticed that Accountant Wu never left his hand since the first day he saw him. Sometimes when he woke up in the morning, his breath reeked of alcohol.
She had told her uncle a few times about this, but her uncle always said that Accountant Wu only had this hobby and let him be. Besides, as long as he did his accounts well, no one would care about him. Yi Tian observed him a few times. Accountant Wu rarely went out. When he had nothing to do, he would fiddle around in his small courtyard. Yi Tian had no idea where he got so much wine.
According to Accountant Wu's drinking habits, he must drink at least two catties of wine every day. Could it be that he was brewing wine himself? This question had been bothering Yi Tian.
However, Accountant Wu was a vigilant person. He did not allow others to enter his courtyard. If there was anything, the servant would call him at the door. Shopkeeper Yi Da also wouldn't come to his small courtyard. At most, he would just send someone to pass on the message.
At the beginning of spring, all living things came back to life. It was also the time when animals were in heat. Especially at the night of the spring equinox, it was especially lively.
Yi Da gave Yi Tian a small room just next to Shopkeeper Wu's courtyard. At first, he kindly let the master and disciple live closer to each other. If there was anything, they could ask their master.
At night, after the first night watch, Yi Tian heard a soft rustling sound outside the room. He thought it was a cat calling, but it didn't sound like it.
Yi Tian got out of bed and put on his clothes. He opened the door and looked at his courtyard. There was no sound.
He listened carefully. The sound was coming from the courtyard next door. He wondered what Master Wu was doing in the middle of the night. No, it was the middle of the night.
No matter what era it was, young people always had endless energy and invincible curiosity.
Yi Tian decided not to sleep. He quietly moved a bench over and placed it next to the low wall of the courtyard. He climbed up to see what the neighbor next door was doing.
Just as he poked his head out of the low wall, he saw that Shopkeeper Wu's courtyard was full of jars and jars of different sizes. In the middle of the courtyard, there was a fire. There was a big pot on top of the fire.
Shopkeeper Wu was busy beside the big pot. There was a scale next to him. Every time, he took out the things from the sack and placed them on the scale. After weighing, he divided them into portions. When the water in the pot boiled, he put the ingredients into the big pot from time to time.
On the other side, there was a five-tiered steamer. Shopkeeper Wu washed the things in the sack in the water and then put them into the steamer.
With the help of the fire, Yi Tian could vaguely see the two words "Yi Ji" on the sack. Could it be that Accountant Wu had stolen the goods from the shop and used them himself? Looking at the posture, he was using them to make wine. No wonder he always had an endless supply of wine.
Seeing this, Yi Tian understood. However, he had nothing to do at night. He wanted to see how Shopkeeper Wu made wine. At the same time, he wanted to extort him to see where he got the food.
After about an hour, Shopkeeper Wu put all the steamed rice into the big pot. He mixed the ingredients in the big pot with some water and put a spoonful into each pot.
In the end, he mysteriously took out a small bottle from the house and put some in each jar. After doing all this, Shopkeeper Wu sat down. Although his face was red and his forehead was sweating, it was obvious that he was in a good mood.
He took out the wine bottle and was about to drink a few mouthfuls. When he saw a smiling face by the low wall, he spat out the wine in his mouth.
Yi Tian turned around and flipped over the low wall. He patted the dust off his body and said to Shopkeeper Wu with a smile, "Master is in a good mood tonight. You've been busy for half a day. Can you give your disciple some advice so that your disciple can learn more?" After he finished speaking, he pointed at the bag of rice.
Shopkeeper Wu sighed. He thought that it was difficult to guard against thieves day and night. He could only explain in detail. As it turned out, Shopkeeper Wu's real name was Wu Youdao. His family used to make wine. Although he was obsessed with the imperial examinations, he had seen and heard about the family business since he was young. He was an expert in making wine.
After Yi Tian heard this, he was thoroughly disdainful, "What is this? There are many wine shops in River Wan County. Just the North City alone has many wine shops. Is there a need to be so secretive?"
After Shopkeeper Wu heard this, he coldly snorted, "This is a secret recipe passed down in my family. How can the wine on the streets compare to it? Furthermore, my wine can strengthen the body for ordinary people. If a martial artist drinks it, it can help them cultivate. Even cultivators say it's good."
At first, Yi Tian didn't care. However, the last sentence piqued his interest, "Then have you seen cultivators drink your wine?"
Shopkeeper Wu said with a red face, "I only heard my father say so."
When Yi Tian heard this, his face was full of disappointment. Then, he pointed at the bag of rice. Shopkeeper Wu looked at it and felt a little guilty. He only said, "That's old grain. In any case, there's plenty of it in the shop. It's a pity that it can't be sold."
"What's in that little jar?"
When Shopkeeper Wu heard this, he hurriedly covered the jar as if he was hugging his lifeblood. This made Yi Tian even more curious.
In fact, every year, the grain shop would think of ways to get rid of the grain that couldn't be sold. Usually, new grain would be mixed with old grain. This was also the rule. Thinking of this, Yi Tian looked around the courtyard. In fact, buying wine was also a way to make money. It could also be used to get rid of the store's inventory. This was something he had to discuss with his uncle.
After that, Yi Tian comforted Shopkeeper Wu, telling him not to worry. He wouldn't betray him. He just had to talk to his uncle about this matter. Shopkeeper Wu also said that he had already talked to the shopkeeper about this matter. Everyone had a tacit understanding.
After saying this, Yi Tian left the courtyard and went straight to the shopkeeper's room. He then heard the surprised conversation in the shopkeeper's room until the lights went out at five o 'clock.
The next day, Yi Da came forward and chatted with Shopkeeper Wu for two hours. In the end, they decided that the shopkeeper and Shopkeeper Wu would open a wine recipe in Bei City. Shopkeeper Wu would provide the recipe and the Yi family would pay for it.
In order to keep the recipe a secret, Yi Da would keep it safe. Yi Tian would use his free time to learn how to brew wine from Shopkeeper Wu. Inside his little jar was distiller's yeast. Normally, distiller's yeast was maltose or cane sugar.
Shopkeeper Wu used honey and propolis mixed together with cloves, nutmeg, ginseng, safflower, and so on. Therefore, the wine had to be filtered three times with gauze to not be muddy. With this secret recipe, the wine would probably sell very well.
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