Chapter 1378: 1378: Deep Affection

Chapter 1378: Chapter 1378: Deep Affection

What Ling Jinhua meant was, if the descendants of the Ling Family lost to Luo Ziling in a fight due to inferior skills, they deserved it.

Ling Ruonan naturally believed that upon learning of these matters, Ling Jinhua would definitely think that it was orchestrated by Luo Ziling or her.

Ling Jinhua had such suspicions, but still spoke such meaningful words, how could it not move Ling Ruonan?

Understanding Ling Jinhua’s intention, Ling Ruonan did not talk much about the matter, instead, she talked about other things with Ling Jinhua.

After discussing some trivial matters, Ling Jinhua’s mood visibly improved, and a smile appeared on his face. Upon hearing that Luo Liansheng had asked Ling Ruonan to bring over a jar of twenty-two-year-old Daughter’s Red, Ling Jinhua’s craving for liquor was immediately aroused.

“It seems that, just as someone’s daughter got married, you guys snatched the wine,” Ling Jinhua approached the jar and after taking a deep breath, he said laughingly, “This twenty-something-year-old Daughter’s Red is only available now; in the past, an eighteen-year-old Daughter’s Red was already considered a premium aged brew.”

Daughter’s Red originates from the Jin dynasty; this legendary yellow wine was part of the essential dowry for wealthy families in Yuezhou when having a daughter.

When a daughter is born, the delighted father would use the glutinous rice grown at home to make yellow wine, carefully sealing it in a jar and burying it under the osmanthus tree in the backyard, like deeply hidden paternal love. As the daughter grows older, brighter each day, she slowly reaches the marriageable age.

At the time of the daughter’s marriage, the buried wine is dug up and taken to the groom’s family as part of the dowry. After the daughter marries into the groom’s family, the dowry Daughter’s Red is to be unsealed and divided into three bowls for her parents-in-law and husband.

A jar of Daughter’s Red is actually the bittersweet sentiment of a father marrying off his daughter and the happiness of the daughter becoming someone’s wife.

In ancient times, a woman was considered an adult at fifteen and old maid if not married by eighteen, so an eighteen-year-old Daughter’s Red was already quite rare. Nowadays, women marry later, so there are Daughter’s Reds aged twenty years or even more.

Before a daughter is married, the buried Daughter’s Red is not dug up and consumed. The twenty-two-year-old Daughter’s Red indicates that the brewers’ daughter was finally handed over to someone else at twenty-two years old. This yellow wine’s vintage requires careful sealing techniques to keep well; otherwise, the wine would spoil and be unfit for consumption. If it’s still drinkable, it’s naturally a premium brew.

Seeing Ling Jinhua almost unable to close his mouth from joy, Ling Ruonan also felt relieved and explained with a smile, “Grandfather, this wine was gifted by Ziling’s grandfather’s neighbor. There are two jars, one for him to drink, and he asked me to bring the other to give to you. In Yuezhou, I already tasted this wine; it’s very mellow.”

“I have to taste it soon; I’ve only had eighteen-year-old Daughter’s Red before,” Ling Jinhua immediately instructed Ling Ruonan to pour the wine for him.

After hearing this, Ling Ruonan went to the kitchen, grabbed a few dining bowls, and with the help of Huang Chen, poured a few bowls of wine.

“Girl, do you want to drink too!” Seeing Ling Ruonan pour a bowl for herself, Ling Jinhua laughed heartily: “If you drink a bowl, grandpa will have one less bowl. Since you’ve already drunk it in Yuezhou, you should skip this wine.”

“Ah?!” Unexpectedly fond of the aged Daughter’s Red, Ling Ruonan was quite surprised.

“Commander, let me have a little first, and then you drink,” While Ling Ruonan was surprised, Huang Chen whispered to Ling Jinhua: “Let me taste this wine first.”

Huang Chen was not craving the taste of aged Daughter’s Red; he was responsible for Ling Jinhua’s safety.

Food brought from outside always needs to be tested, lest someone has poisoned it.

After Ling Jinhua’s previous poisoning incident, their staff received disciplinary actions, and nobody dared to be careless.

Ling Jinhua understood Huang Chen’s intention, but he didn’t care and rejected Huang Chen’s suggestion: “The wine my granddaughter brought, what could be wrong with it? If you dare to doubt my granddaughter, see how I deal with you.”

“Grandpa, please give us a little,” Ling Ruonan, seeing Huang Chen’s difficulty, thus began to act coquettishly, “Otherwise, we’ll be craving it!”

“Alright, then half a bowl,” Ling Jinhua said, pouring back more than half of the wine from the other two bowls into the jar, pouring very slowly.

Then he placed what was left, more than half a bowl, in front of Ling Ruonan and Huang Chen, “Okay, just this bit, no more!”

“Thank you, Grandpa,” Ling Ruonan immediately picked up the bowl and drank the wine in it.

Drinking yellow wine should be done with a bowl; using a cup lessens the taste.

This wine was indeed mellow and rich in flavor— even someone like Ling Ruonan who disliked drinking found it to have an endless aftertaste.

Huang Chen did not taste the wine; he quickly drank it down, only then experiencing the sensation after drinking.

Seeing Ling Jinhua picking up the bowl in front of him to drink, Huang Chen wanted to stop him, but that annoyed Ling Jinhua.

“Go get some snacks to accompany the wine, peanuts are fine too.”

Given this instruction by Ling Jinhua, Huang Chen had to comply, fetching several small dishes for Ling Jinhua.

Supported by Ling Ruonan, Ling Jinhua sat down then started savoring the freshly opened Daughter’s Red, looking very much delighted.

“Stay and have lunch with Grandpa later,” Ling Jinhua instructed Ling Ruonan: “You didn’t join Grandpa for New Year’s dinner, today stay and have a meal with Grandpa.”

He then instructed Huang Chen to call Ling Mingrui and Xie Enhua, to come over for lunch as well.

Huang Chen didn’t say anything, immediately following Ling Jinhua’s instructions.

After calling Ling Mingrui, Huang Chen found a moment, and while the old man was in the bathroom, he quietly said to Ling Ruonan, “Miss, the leader still trusts you a lot. When Ling Zhengping came to talk to the old man about Ling Haining getting beaten, he even scolded him, saying Ling Zhengping failed to teach his children properly. The leader was really good to you today!”

“Grandpa drinking the wine I brought also implies that,” Ling Ruonan nodded slightly and said softly, “It seems like Grandpa really lets them fight it out.”

“The leader is still very fond of Miss,” Huang Chen said with a slightly shy smile, “He often complains that these great-grandsons are just spoiled and worthless. During the New Year, there weren’t many who received his praise.”

“Grandpa hopes that Ziling can be the whetstone of the Ling Family, to properly sharpen these descendants,” Ling Ruonan actually knew what Ling Jinhua was thinking, but she didn’t expect his attitude to be like this in this incident, therefore felt somewhat emotional, “I just don’t know what my father would think.”

“Ziling wasn’t in the Capital; he didn’t participate in the conflict. It was the people of the Ling Family and the Chen Family who clashed, and both sides fought fiercely,” After saying these words, Huang Chen closed his mouth because Ling Jinhua had come out of the bathroom.

Ling Ruonan showed no particular reaction, immediately going to talk to Ling Jinhua.

Soon, Ling Mingrui and Xie Enhua also arrived.

But to Ling Ruonan’s surprise, as soon as Ling Mingrui saw her, he started scolding her, even in front of Ling Jinhua.