Chapter 162: Wine

"It’s not impossible, but it won’t taste as good as rice wine."

"Is that so? Then we can only pray the koji turns out well."

Ethan patted the wooden bucket containing the koji, stood up, and said, "Just having koji isn’t enough, the main ingredient is rice, we have to cultivate the paddy rice properly."

"Oh... is there anything I can do to help?" Mirelle stared at Ethan with puppy eyes, she figured that if she could help, she could get to drink the wine sooner.

Ethan smiled and nodded. "When you’re free, you can come help me weed."

The growth of the paddy rice went incredibly smoothly, with the blessings of Ethan’s abilities, the Statue of Gaia, and Green Thumb, it would be difficult for the rice not to grow well.

The lush green rice ears turned a golden yellow, hanging heavy from the stalks. Seeing this, everyone broke into gratified smiles.

"Thank you, Mirelle," Ethan said to her, looking at the golden paddy fields.

Mirelle proudly rubbed her nose. "It was nothing, no need to thank me, just don’t forget the wine you promised me."

The reason Ethan thanked Mirelle was because, a while back, planthoppers and locusts had appeared in the paddy fields, without any pesticides, Ethan had been helpless, pacing around anxiously.

That was when Mirelle stepped in, she used her toxins to completely annihilate all the pests, her toxins were harmless to the rice — a purely natural pesticide, so to speak.

It was no exaggeration to say that Mirelle was the greatest contributor to this rice harvest.

Mirelle laughed heartily and patted Ethan’s shoulder. "Haha, you’re welcome, just remember to give me my wine."

Ethan reached out and stroked the heavy ears of rice, plump grains cascaded into his hands.

This year’s harvest was even better than he had anticipated, with this much paddy rice, it would be enough to feed them for the entire winter, with plenty to spare, they could even use the surplus to trade with other races.

’Rice cakes, wine, all sorts of delicious food...’ Ethan began to mentally brainstorm all kinds of rice-based culinary creations, plain white rice was delicious on its own, of course, but there were so many other delicacies that could be made from it.

"Are you all ready?"

"Ready, meow~"

Today was harvest day, just like the winter wheat harvest, Zharok and Walter were in charge of reaping, while Mirelle was responsible for carrying, with an extra pair of hands to help, their efficiency should be much higher.

Ethan clapped his hands. "Alright, let’s do our best, everyone, let’s try to finish the harvest early so we can have rice with roasted meat for lunch."

"Alright." Everyone began working, their fighting spirits soaring.

With the experience from the wheat harvest, this time went incredibly smoothly, they followed the steps, working methodically and systematically.

A few hours later, the golden paddy field had been completely harvested.

"Phew, finally got a major task out of the way." With the rice harvest complete, the rest of the year’s work would be much easier, Zharok took off his straw hat as he spoke.

"What work is left for this year, meow?"

"Just taking care of the crops in the greenhouse and planting another season of winter wheat."

"Are we not planting rice anymore?"

"Not for now." This year’s harvest was already more than enough, there was no need to plant another season.

Ethan looked at the mountain of harvested rice, handed a flail to Zharok, and said, "I’ll leave the rest to you."

"Alright, leave it to me."

"What about the wine? When do we start brewing?"

"Let’s finish threshing first."

"Fine."

"Let’s go eat."

"Alright."

Taking advantage of the time Zharok and Pearl spent threshing the grain, Ethan began to prepare lunch.

"Making scorched rice with freshly harvested rice should be really good, right?" Ethan grabbed a cast-iron pot and walked toward the paddy field.

He had only been gone for a short while, but Zharok and Pearl had already threshed a good amount of grain, filling a large wooden bucket with pure white rice.

"I’ll take some back."

"Take it, meow~"

Ethan scooped the rice into the iron pot and brought it back to the cabin, he washed it clean and began to cook the rice, while the rice cooked, he prepared other dishes — roasted meat, a cold vegetable salad, and more.

By the time the others finished their work and returned, Ethan had already finished making lunch.

"Welcome back."

"We’re done, meow~" Pearl shouted from her perch on Liora’s head.

Just as Pearl said, sacks full of paddy rice were neatly stacked on the handcart.

"I didn’t expect we’d harvest this much rice." Aside from what needed to be sent to the Seed Vault and saved for next year’s seeds, there were still hundreds of sacks of rice left, even if they gave some to the Minotaur and Kobold tribes, there would still be plenty left over.

"With this much rice, we can trade with the elves, right?"

"Let’s ask Miss Elara what this rice is worth the next time we see her, alright, let’s eat, everyone."

Ethan had already arranged the prepared dishes on the dining table, everyone happily took their seats while Ethan opened the lid to inspect the rice inside the pot.

[Crafting Complete: Fragrant Rice]

[Rice cooked from freshly harvested grains. Each grain is distinct, the aroma is tantalizing, and the texture is excellent.]

[Delicious Effect: Maximum stamina increased upon first consumption.]

[Delicious Effect: Eliminates fatigue after consumption.]

[Crafting Difficulty: ★★★]

"Smells so good." Pure white, fragrant rice steamed inside the pot.

Ethan fluffed the rice a few times with a wooden spoon, nodded in satisfaction, then picked up the pot and announced, "Rice is served."

He scooped a large bowl of rice for everyone, they had worked hard all morning, so naturally, they needed to eat more, just as Ethan expected, no one refused the rice he served them.

"Time to eat."

Hearing everyone’s cheers, Ethan picked up his chopsticks, grabbed a bite of rice, and put it in his mouth, the rice was sweet, soft, and glutinous, becoming more fragrant the more he chewed, even Ethan, who had eaten his fair share of rice in his lifetime, felt incredibly satisfied.

"Wow? What is this? It’s so delicious."

"It goes perfectly with the roasted meat."

"So rice can be cooked like this."

"Yummy."

"It’s also really good wrapped in vegetables, meow~"

Everyone seemed very satisfied with the rice, Ethan smiled and brought the other dishes to the table, he had specifically prepared dishes that paired well with rice.

As everyone ate, they showered the food with endless praise.

Ethan smiled and patted the pot. "Does anyone want more rice?"

No one refused, Ethan smiled and refilled everyone’s bowls, then, he added water to the scorched rice stuck to the bottom of the pot, boiling it into a scorched rice porridge as a post-meal dessert.

Once everyone had eaten and drank their fill, Ethan stood up. "Let’s go check on the koji."

"What are you going to do, meow?"

"Let’s rest for a bit first."

"I want to go see the koji."

"Let’s go together." Hearing koji, Mirelle perked up and stood excitedly.