Ch. 21 - The First Cup of Wine

Tang Qi pointed at Kuru:

"The kobold stole the cobbler's leather boots to steal starberries and use them as tribute offerings, so there's no way he would have destroyed the starberries.

Father Lynn has a habit of jogging in the early morning. He saw you appear near David's house instead of at the church—that doesn't seem like a coincidence either.

The only answer is that you used the excuse of delivering something to Father Lynn to go out, and before David's family woke up, you destroyed their orchard."

"I... I..."

In the face of the truth, argument was meaningless.

Anbi could only clutch Tang Qi's sleeve, blinking at him with large eyes so red they seemed ready to burst like a dam at any moment:

"It's all because George bullies me every day, calling me a monster. I just wanted to secretly teach him a lesson—I didn't want to be a bad person!"

Tang Qi had no desire to debate right or wrong:

"There's a reason for it. You have your own justification, so... I suppose you can't really be called a bad person."

"Then... then do I need to apologize to him? He already apologized to me..."

"Either way is fine."

"I don't know what I should do. I feel like I should apologize to him, but I can't help remembering how he looked when he called me names..."

"It's precisely because you don't know that you need to think about it. You don't need to reach a conclusion right away.

You are free.

You can be a forgiving person, or a strict person. You can be a good person, or a bad person.

But no matter what, the only one who can decide who you become is yourself."

After all, she was still a young girl whose mind hadn't fully matured. Tang Qi wasn't quite sure whether he should approach this from a parental mindset to educate her.

This shouldn't be his job, and he couldn't shoulder that responsibility. It was best to leave it at that.

"Then Anbi will think about what to do... but before that, can we not tell big sister?"

"People who spread gossip generally have very long tongues."

Tang Qi opened his mouth, demonstrating that his tongue was a normal size.

The young girl smiled knowingly and stuck out her tongue at Tang Qi as well: "Then Anbi isn't either!"

"Kuru, not either!"

The kobold also stuck out its own slender forked tongue, but it quickly discovered that its lizard-like tongue could actually extend all the way to its nostrils.

It quickly hung its head in dejection:

"Kuru... is..."

The air filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

But the mood didn't last long. As they approached the Golden Oak and saw a graceful silhouette standing with hands on hips at the tavern's front door, Anbi's smile quickly faded.

Catherine maintained her usual smile, extremely polite and refreshing like a spring breeze.

But Anbi knew that her sister's dignified smile wasn't meant for her.

It wasn't until Anbi walked right up to her that Catherine first thanked Tang Q.

"Mister Poet, you've truly troubled yourself. I don't even know how I should thank you."

It seemed she had already heard about everything that happened today.

"Then how about waiving my expenses at the tavern?"

Although he'd come into some unexpected wealth, no one would complain about having more money. Tang Qi didn't bother with politeness.

"As you wish."

Hearing his request, Catherine actually let down her guard.

"To risk your own safety for this child... in any case, please treat the tavern as your own home."

If Tang Qi had done such a great favor but asked for nothing in return...

Catherine would only think he was craving something more.

After a simple thank you, she stroked Anbi's head:

"Since what follows is a private matter..."

"You say to treat the tavern as home, but I wouldn't dare actually treat myself as family."

Tang Qi made a joke and quickly pulled Kuru along, voluntarily retreating.

"I'll go upstairs to rest first. Please notify me in my room at dinnertime."

"Tonight is mashed potatoes with plum jam and fried pork chops. You can look forward to it."

Once the man and kobold had gone upstairs, Anbi noticed that her sister's expression had finally turned cold.

Like early spring retreating back into bitter winter.

She stammered, trying to explain, hoping to push all the blame onto the kobold.

That way she could clear herself of involvement and avoid her sister's punishment.

But Catherine said nothing, first grasping her wrist and leading her all the way to the wine cellar in the back courtyard.

The wine cellar wasn't well-lit. Pushing open the small door, the pervasive scent of plum fruit entered her nostrils. Anbi felt her head spinning, already feeling drunk before even drinking.

"Why did sister bring me here?"

Catherine remained silent. Only after Anbi shook her head did she notice a small wooden barrel displayed in the dim shadows. The barrel boards bore some minor claw marks, and there was a prominent label:

Anbi!

This was the first barrel of wine she'd worked hard to brew after her sister taught her the techniques—

She still remembered how her sister had taken her to the orchard to personally pick starberries.

Washing and de-stemming took her an entire day.

Crushing the fruit pulp was very strenuous physical labor. Though her strength was great, she still collapsed on the ground after the repetitive pounding.

Fermentation was the most grueling part. Starberries spoil quickly, and under the special ancestral technique, it actually required an even longer period, so much so that she waited three months.

Clarification was the final step, otherwise the residue would affect the taste. She repeatedly worked on this delicate task for seven days.

Finally, she completed her "masterpiece," affixed her own label to the wine barrel, and waited painfully for another whole month—

Her sister had said that the most memorable wine in the world isn't the fine vintage sparkling in nobles' hands.

But rather the first sip of mellowness that passes your throat in your lifetime.

When you're decrepit and old, looking back in retrospection, your tongue will still be wreathed with the taste of that moment.

Bitter or sweet.

So she reserved the day for her first cup of wine for the Harvest Festival.

In her arduous waiting, she looked forward to the day when she could also reminisce about the joy of the festival.

But Catherine had already picked up the tools piled in the corner for opening wine—a wooden mallet and a chisel as long as a forearm.

"Bang!"

She forcefully drove the chisel into the wine barrel.

The fragrant wine sprayed out like a fountain. In the "splashing" sounds, it poured onto the dim wine cellar floor, extinguishing all of Anbi's anticipation for the festival.

"No, no, don't!!"

She rushed over hysterically, trying to use both hands to cover the breach that had been chiseled open.

But the slippery wine liquid still seeped out from between her fingers, dyeing the downy fur on her body a deep purple as well...

Anbi realized that all her previous waiting had been wasted. She cried out to her sister in heart-wrenching pain:

"Sister, we could have drunk it tomorrow. I even promised to let Tang Qi-gege have a cup!

Why... why do this—"

"Does it hurt?" Catherine responded expressionlessly.

Anbi nodded as a matter of course.

"When they saw the starberries they'd nurtured for an entire year destroyed overnight, David's family felt exactly what you're feeling now."

Catherine looked directly at Anbi, saying coldly,

"If George insults you, then shout back at him at the top of your lungs.

If George bullies you, then grab him by the neck and beat him back.

If his family comes to make trouble for you because of it, then I'll stand in front of you—

It's not like I haven't done it before, right?

But Anbi, I never taught you to destroy other people's starberries, to ruin their anticipation for the Harvest Festival."

When she looked directly into her sister's solemn, almost icy eyes, all of Anbi's wishful thinking and excuses vanished in an instant.

She could only cry out, could only apologize:

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!

Anbi knows she was wrong. Anbi shouldn't have been naughty, shouldn't have destroyed George's family's orchard... Anbi will go apologize to David's family!"

Catherine continued to ask:

"Hogg always bullies you together with George. What else did you do to their family?"

Anbi shook her head while crying: "Nothing!"

"You did nothing at all?"

"Really nothing—George's dad grows wheat, Hogg's dad grows starberries.

Anbi couldn't destroy Hogg's family's starberries, because they really depend on starberries to make a living..."

She was afraid her sister wouldn't believe her and tried to wipe away her tears to express her sincerity with her eyes.

The next second, guilt prompted more tears to spill from her eyes.

Hearing the young girl's answer, Catherine's eyes softened. Only then did she crouch down and gently hold her in her arms:

"Anbi, I'm not forcing you to apologize.

I just want to tell you—

Before you make a choice, you should understand the consequences that choice will bring.

Rather than indulging your impulses only to end up with a result you don't want to see."

"Sister... Anbi never thought it would be like this."

"I know. Anbi has always been a good child."

"Then what should I do... After George apologized to me, I actually felt a bit guilty. I don't want to be like this."

"Then after dinner, we'll go apologize together.

And after the Harvest Festival, we'll brew a new barrel of wine, okay?"

"Wuu wuu, sister, I'm sorry..."

The young girl lay on Catherine's shoulder, her tears soaking her dress.

"Anbi will never be naughty again."

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