Chapter 145: The Absentee Proprietors

Not to mention the distillery workers responsible for brewing, even Li Zhengping was somewhat shocked when she saw these exquisite wine bottles.

Could such exquisite and crystal-clear bottles really be meant to hold their wine?

"Are these bottles really for packaging the wine from our distillery?"

"This is the first time I've ever seen a wine bottle like this. It's actually transparent!"

"This is just too beautiful!"

"Wealthy families would probably be willing to buy our wine just for the sake of these bottles alone."

Seeing these wine bottles instantly renewed Li Zhengping's confidence.

With an appearance like this, whether bought to entertain distinguished guests or given as gifts, these bottles were completely presentable.

A sharp gleam flashed through Li Zhengping's eyes. "Let's bottle a batch of wine over the next two days first."

They could also notify the shopkeepers to come pick up their wine—though, of course, those shopkeepers had all ordered jar-packed wine.

Whether those shopkeepers would be willing to make an on-the-spot additional order for bottled wine would depend entirely on their own choice.

If they didn't order now, they might find that even if they wanted to buy more later, the distillery wouldn't have any ready stock available.

It seemed the distillery needed to increase its brewing volume. If so, their current workforce would definitely not be enough.

In addition to hiring more hands, the distillery itself would need to be expanded.

A wave of excitement stirred within Li Zhengping, though she managed to maintain a calm and composed exterior.

The distillery workers handled the wine bottling with utmost care, making sure not to spill a single drop and guarding the precious bottles fiercely.

These bottles simply looked too expensive.

Within two or three days, all the bottled wine was finished.

The jar-packaged wine had been prepared long beforehand, and its pricing differed from that of the bottled variety.

The jar-packed wine was generally cheaper, and its quantity far exceeded that of the bottled wine.

The exquisite bottled wine and the jar-packed wine catered to completely different markets.

The Li family's wine came in two distinct forms: bottled and jarred.

The jarred wine was further divided into two types: one supplied directly in massive quantities to the military camp, which carried the cheapest price tag.

The other type could be sold to restaurants and ordinary commoners.

Before heading to the county town, Li Zhengping instructed the distillery workers to press forward urgently and brew the second batch of wine ahead of time.

The distillery workers were also burning with enthusiasm. They could keenly sense that their distillery's wine was likely to sell exceptionally well.

This was the wine they had brewed with their own hands! If it sold well, they would feel immensely proud.

Moreover, if strong sales led to a labor shortage and the distillery needed to recruit more workers, they—being already employed inside—would definitely hear the news before anyone else.

Perhaps their own family members would then get a chance to work at the distillery, bringing in an extra source of income for the household.

The silver earned as a distillery worker far surpassed toiling from dawn till dusk facing the soil with one's back to the sky, and the labor was much easier than farming, too.

Everyone naturally picked up their pace.

Much as Li Su had anticipated, with the male workers on one side and the female workers on the other, fierce competition meant no one dared to slack off.

After all, the side with the higher efficiency each month would receive a monetary bonus.

During the first month, the male workers assumed the extra silver was theirs by default, only for the female workers to snatch the reward instead.

The male workers were left utterly speechless, facing a level of teasing from their families upon returning home that was truly humiliating.

It wasn't that they had slacked off; rather, the female women had simply worked far too hard.

From then on, the male workers silently redoubled their efforts, while the female workers were equally determined to retain their victory, working just as furiously.

The two sides traded victories back and forth, with neither side holding a monopoly on the extra silver.

Furthermore, everyone who gained entry had been personally vetted by Grandpa Li and Grandma Li. None of them were lazy; they were quick-handed, diligent workers who kept their heads down, completely devoid of any thoughts of idling.

Anyone harboring such a notion would feel they were letting down everyone else's hard work.

If their individual laziness caused their side to lose out on that extra bonus, it would be an unforgivable sin.

Clinging to this mindset, not a single person dared to slack off even in the slightest.

Besides, countless people on the outside were waiting to get in. Losing this job because of laziness was the kind of regret that would make someone wake up in the middle of the night just to slap their own face.

The Li family's shop in the county town was the very first to sell the Li family's wine.

The name of the wine was wonderfully simple: Apricot Blossom Li Wine.

Now that the first batch of wine was ready, the Li family began executing their plan by releasing the stories Li Su had provided in advance, hiring several professional storytellers to recount these tales throughout the town.

Li Zhengping went to the county town to visit the shopkeepers she had previously signed contracts with, one by one.

The shopkeepers put on a superficially warm front toward Li Zhengping, readily promising to pick up their wine within the next couple of days.

Yet days passed, and only a handful of shopkeepers actually came to collect their wine, with Jiang Yan arriving the earliest of all.

When those shopkeepers failed to show up, Li Zhengping felt no anxiety whatsoever. She figured that when the time came, she wouldn't be the one sweating.

Meanwhile, those absent shopkeepers had gathered together to drink and make merry.

"Did you guys go to the Li family to pick up your wine yet?"

"Nope. Going early or late doesn't change anything; the wine is right there and isn't going to run away. Besides, we didn't order that much anyway."

"I really don't know what the Li family is thinking, leaving business matters to a divorced woman who hangs around with Jiang Yan all day. The two of them are simply a disgrace to public morals."

" Ain't that the truth? If the Li family hadn't produced that little three-yuan scholar, who would even bother with their wine?"

"If you ask me, that little scholar of the Li family letting a woman like Li Zhengping manage the distillery business just proves that while his studies might be decent, his vision is far too narrow."

"A peasant boy through and through, lacking in exposure. Ordering his wine is already doing him a favor, anyway."

The merchants chimed in one after another.

"I heard Qin Datian, because of his son's close friendship with that little scholar, got hoodwinked into handing over a huge portion of his manor's grain harvest to the Li family."

"Well, you can't really blame him. If my son could become a provincial scholar too, I'd gladly accept losing a few supplies like that."

"That's true. Having a scholar son makes a bit of grain completely insignificant."

"The main thing is that the Li family's distillery supposedly promised Qin Datian a share of the profits. Judging by Qin Datian's attitude, he actually expects to make money off of it."

The shopkeepers chuckled heartily, finding Qin Datian's pipe dream utterly laughable.

"I reckon that outside of the quantities we ordered and what Jiang Yan's side wants, the rest of the Li family's wine will be damn near impossible to sell."

"They might sell a trickle of it here and there in their own shop and make a small profit, seeing as wine doesn't spoil if you leave it sitting around for a while."

After discussing a few more business matters, the group agreed to head over to the Li family together in a few days to pick up their allocation.

It wasn't that they deliberately avoided the Li family or meant to give them the cold shoulder.

It was simply that their respective shops sourced their wine primarily from the He family. In fact, it wasn't just them—virtually the entire county procured its wine from the He family.

Recently, representatives from the He family had arrived in town, and everyone was busy curating good relations with them, leaving no time for anything else.

Compared to the He family, the Li family was an easy second choice.

Besides, they felt they had already given the Li family plenty of face by signing a contract in advance and agreeing to take a batch of wine from them.