Wild grapes
Grandpa Lin carried a basket as he walked into the forest. There was a patch of wild grapevines in the forest, and the large, round wild grapes had ripened, hanging on the vines like clusters of purple crystal balls.
Just as Grandpa Lin was about to pick the wild grapes, he heard a rustling sound.
“Who’s there? Come out!” Grandpa Lin shouted loudly into the forest.
“Grandpa Lin, it’s me, the little monkey Qiqi from the mountains!” Qiqi humbly emerged from behind a tree, looking quite funny.
“You should greet Grandpa Lin too,” Qiqi waved and then turned to call another little monkey hiding behind a different tree.
“Hello, Grandpa Lin, I’m the little monkey Kiki!” Kiki greeted Grandpa Lin with a stick in hand.
“Where are you two going?” Grandpa Lin asked when he saw they were all packed with gourds, ready to leave.
“Oh, Grandpa Lin, we have some important business to attend to,” Qiqi said, looking a bit troubled.
“Let me treat you to some wild grapes! Don’t go yet,” Grandpa Lin offered.
“Alright, alright,” Qiqi and Kiki reluctantly agreed.
Grandpa Lin led the two little monkeys to pick wild grapes, and soon they had filled the basket.
“These wild grapes are so sweet!” Grandpa Lin said, smacking his lips.
“Yes, Grandpa Lin, but we really need to go. If we delay making the honey wine, it will be troublesome,” Qiqi said, looking anxious.
“I won’t let you go,” Grandpa Lin said. They had picked so many wild grapes, and it would be a waste not to eat them.
“We really must go!” Kiki said, a bit helplessly.
“What should we do with all these wild grapes?” Grandpa Lin shouted.
“How about we make honey wine and honey grape juice?” Qiqi winked at Kiki, then opened one of the gourds and said, “Grandpa Lin, this is honey juice.”
Grandpa Lin sniffed it and smelled the scent of honey.
Qiqi continued, “This is a hint of floral fragrance we collected.”
Grandpa Lin sniffed again and smelled the floral scent.
Qiqi looked at the sunlight through the grape leaves and said, “At different times, pour the honey juice into the bottle with the floral fragrance, and gently shake it, and it will turn into honey wine!”
Qiqi poured the honey juice into the bottle with the floral fragrance and gently shook it.
Grandpa Lin leaned in to smell it. “It smells so good!”
At this moment, Kiki picked up a stick and started stirring and mixing vigorously in the basket full of wild grapes. The grape skins and seeds were tumbling inside.
“Look, I’ve stirred out the grape juice,” Kiki said proudly. Qiqi took a gourd hanging from his body and poured the honey juice into the mixed grape juice.
“We’re making fresh honey wild grape juice. It’s a top-quality drink!” Kiki said happily.
Grandpa Lin wanted to stop the two little monkeys from messing around, but he was too sleepy to speak. Sleepiness crept over him, and his eyelids barely stayed open.
The honey wild grape juice started dripping out of the basket’s cracks, falling to the ground with a “plop plop” sound, like a beautiful melody.
“Hurry and get the gourds; the honey wild grape juice is getting wasted,” Kiki said to Qiqi.
Kiki lifted the basket with all his strength, while Qiqi used a gourd to catch the dripping honey wild grape juice. The juice dripped into the gourd, making a clear “drip-drop” sound.
Grandpa Lin could no longer keep his eyes open. The “drip-drop” sound seemed like a lullaby, making him drowsy.
“Let Grandpa Lin have a taste,” Kiki said.
Qiqi picked a leaf, rolled it into a cup, and scooped up some honey wild grape juice to feed Grandpa Lin.
What did the honey wild grape juice taste like? Was it sour? Was it sweet? Or was it both sour and sweet? Grandpa Lin couldn’t quite tell before he drifted off to sleep.
When the sun was about to set, Grandpa Lin woke up to find the basket full of wild grapes. Beside the basket were two gourds, one filled with honey wine made by mixing a hint of floral fragrance and honey at different times, and the other filled with honey wild grape juice.
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
