Grasp the farming script in the famous book

On the drawing, the fifth wine cellar is drawn.

"Look, Roland, the Nutcracker is still painted on the fifth cellar."

Louise held up the map and sent it to Roland.

Roland held up the oil lamp to illuminate it, and only glanced at it. Sure enough, he saw the location of the fifth wine cellar marked on the map, with the shape of a small nutcracker drawn.

"Then we may have thought wrong just now - the old vineyard is not mainly given to the grandson, not the entire vineyard: anyway, the grandson will inherit it sooner or later."

"The real gift is in Cellar No. [-]."

Roland walked in front, and Louise shrank behind her, following step by step.

The two came to the largest one among the three large wine cellars, followed the direction drawn on the picture, and bypassed a dozen piled oak barrels.

Behind the oak barrel was an entire earthen wall, which seemed to be of the same material as the underground corridor they had passed through earlier.Roland reached out to dip a little bit, and put it in his mouth to taste.

"It's the same terroir."

The taste of the soil seems to be exactly the same.

Roland stretched out his right hand and tapped the knuckles of his index finger on the earthen wall. The monotonous tapping sound echoed in the wine cellar without any abnormality.

"According to the drawing on the picture, it should be here."

Roland was puzzled.

But in front of her, there was obviously a complete and solid earth wall.

"Forget it, let's go back first."

Roland planned to give up searching—she bought this winery not to find any "treasures" here, but to bring the vineyard back to life, so that the villagers in Lina Village next door could have an extra livelihood.

Even if this "No. [-]" was just an "imaginary treasure" that the old owner simply drew on the map to make his grandson happy, it would be no loss to her.

"But……"

Louise was still looking at the map in her hand, frowning in thought.

Suddenly, Roland saw something in the corner of his eyes, which moved quickly and passed by in a flash.

"what--"

The next moment, Louise screamed.

"Crawled over my feet..."

Roland held the oil lamp and shone on the ground.Sure enough, I saw a group of black things, quickly jumped into the back of the oak barrel.

"It's a mouse!"

Roland comforted the frightened Louise.

"It's a good thing I didn't bring a cat today."

Roland patted his chest in rejoicing.

Louise: ...

She didn't know that Roland's delicate cat, Luna, would definitely not be able to do the job of catching mice. That cat is more delicate than a human being. When seeing a mouse, I'm afraid the cat will be scared before the mouse is scared away. fainted.

"Let's go, don't look for it anymore."

Roland can afford it and put it down neatly.

Louise seemed a little regretful.

As she walked, she turned her head to look at the darkening wine cellar, as if she didn't want to see the "gift" left by the old owner just disappear in time and cease to exist.

The two quickly returned to the hall of the winery. Roland put down the oil lamp and reached out to clean the cobwebs on his head.

Louise was still staring at the map, in a daze.

The puzzle left by the old garden owner seems like no one can solve it——

Or maybe the young garden owner also found the map from the nutcracker, but returned in vain like they do today?

"Eugénie... Please, bring the lamp here..."

Louise's trembling voice suddenly sounded.

When Roland turned around, he happened to see Louise holding the map and facing the oil lamp. The map in her hand and the light of the oil lamp just formed an angle.

Roland smiled as he brought the oil lamp closer, "Actually, you can also lean towards the oil lamp."

Louise thought about it too, thought it was funny, and immediately laughed.

The two young girls looked at the map illuminated by the light of the oil lamp at the same time.

There was actually a row of transparent characters on it, and only under certain light and a certain angle could this line of small characters be seen clearly.

"Be sure... to look far away."

Roland read this line of small print in French.

"be sure?"

Both girls asked back.

"Seeking far away from the near" means futile, why do we say "must"?

Roland suddenly remembered the locations of several wine cellars on the map, and quickly took the drawings from Louise, stretched out his hand and gestured: "So it is like this!"

"You see where this number five is - it's right between the two cellars, but it's close to the one we went to, and quite far from the other."

"The meaning of looking far away is... the entrance of this wine cellar is actually in the wine cellar that is far away?"

Louise also thought it made sense.So the two girls raised the oil lamp again and entered another wine cellar.

Roland pushed away several oak barrels that were close to the wall, looked at the wall, and said with a smile, "It's here."

This is no longer the seamless earth wall they just saw on the other side. There are a lot of flashes mixed in the wall soil. Under the dim light of the oil lamp, bright light is occasionally reflected, as if embedded in the wall. diamonds.

Roland reached out to knock, and there was an empty sound from behind the wall, which was completely different from the sound when they knocked in another wine cellar just now.

Roland and Louise looked at each other.

Both saw hope in each other's eyes.

Roland handed the oil lamp to Louise, and found a pickaxe in the corner of the cellar.

She told Louise to back away, and she tapped the pickaxe on the wall.

"Boom" sound.

Smoke rose, and the decorative wall blocking an archway collapsed in an instant.

The person who designed this door didn't want to hide the things on the back of the door for too long——the fifth wine cellar was originally a gift that was waiting to be discovered.

When Roland went down with the pickaxe, the wall that had been tempered by years of wind and frost had already decayed, and it was instantly shattered into powder. A large cloud of dust like mist rose up quickly, covering the view.

Roland pulled Louise up, turned around and left.

Louise didn't know why, but she was submissive by nature, and hurriedly followed Roland out of the tunnel and back to the ground.

"If the No. [-] wine cellar has been locked for many years, the air inside must be very turbid, or there may be snakes and rats. Let's wait a little longer before checking."

Roland said so, but she herself obviously had a hard time suppressing her curiosity.

And Louise is not assertive, she is what Roland says.

After about half an hour, Roland tried to ask, "Let's go...to see?"

Louise naturally agreed.

The two little girls entered the cellar for the third time.

At this time, the smoke and dust caused by the collapse of the wall in front of the door of "No. [-]" had completely dissipated. It was quiet in front of the door of "No. [-]", without any movement.

Roland boldly leaned towards the arched door.

Louise was terrified, but she only dared to follow behind Roland.

"what--"

Louise exclaimed behind Roland, scaring Roland into a cold sweat for a moment.

"There's something shiny over there."

Louise gave her such an answer, which made Roland stretch out his sleeve and wipe the sweat off his forehead.

She turned around, approached the direction pointed by her friend, and raised the oil lamp in her hand to illuminate it.

"It's a medal—"

Yes, this small, shining thing is a small gold medal hanging, engraved with the name of the winery, and when and where it was awarded:

In 1819, it was awarded the commemorative gold medal at the Liquor Exposition in Paris, about 20 years ago.

This winery, as the rumors say, once produced very good quality wine.

"Eugénie, look..."

Louise's eyes had gradually adjusted to the darkness around her.

Roland followed what she was pointing at, and saw that in this "No. [-]" wine cellar, there were exactly the same wooden wine racks installed in the other small wine cellar.But unlike before, these wooden wine racks are full of bottles of red wine that have been filled and labeled.

The gift left by the old owner to his grandson is the best wine ever produced in this winery.

According to the old owner's vision, his young grandson would find the treasure map in the nutcracker, find the hints in the map by the light of the oil lamp, and finally find his life's hard work and past successes in "No. [-]". proof.

pity……

"Uncle, take a look, do you recognize this wine label?"

Roland and Louise returned to Lina Village together.She brought out a bottle of red wine from the wine cellar and handed it to the lame old farmer who brought her to the winery earlier.

"This, this is..."

The old farmer stared at the label on the bottle, his eyes gradually became moist.

"1809...what a vintage!"

"I still remember...in summer, people in the village went to help harvest grapes together, working from early morning to dusk..."

"Lao Yuan dominated several fat chickens, stewed them all in red wine, sautéed the garlic until fragrant, and put them on the bread with butter..."

What a beautiful picture of pastoral labor.

But the tears in the old farmer's eyes became more and more cloudy.

"This is the last time...the last time...the last batch from the winery, the best wine!"

"Miss Eugenie, you found out!"

Roland gave this bottle of wine to the villagers of Lina Village.

In front of Roland, they opened the bottle of wine, shared a small amount into everyone's glasses, and then everyone raised their glasses together, as if saying goodbye to the old days.

Roland and Louise also each got a small earthenware cup into which they poured some of the wine they had found.

These wines, since they were picked, were cellared in oak barrels for about ten years, and then filled into wine bottles, and kept in closed cellars for 20 years.

The wine is rich and fragrant before it is drunk. The wine is full-bodied, mellow and has a long aftertaste.Roland can taste the fresh aroma of summer fruits such as cranberries and raspberries on the tip of the tongue, as well as the peppery spiciness and a little bit of smoked oak.

This wine is the perfect match for rich meat dishes.

Holding the wine glass, Roland was almost intoxicated.

And Louise beside her was blushing, almost drunk.

"Everyone, if I have a way to cure the 'mildew leaf disease' of this grape... Would you like to come to my vineyard and help me?"

After tasting the fine wine here, Roland no longer has any doubts.

She can--

She will definitely revitalize the old vines of the winery and produce unparalleled wine again.

But she needs people to carry out her transformation plan.

She also needs someone to help watch and tend the vineyard—she herself is a boarding school student, after all.

As the old saying goes, if you don't get drunk, everyone gets drunk.

The small sip of red wine in the glass has nothing to do with the word "drunk".

But the villagers of Lina Village were all blushing, and many had tears in their eyes.

Hearing Roland's question, someone asked in disbelief, "'Mold leaf disease'... can it be cured?"

Roland nodded.

"Plants, like people, can get sick."

"When you are sick, you need to take medicine, and you will be fine after taking the medicine."

Roland has already asked many people about "mildew leaf disease", and roughly concluded that it is a disease caused by fungal infection.It is indeed possible to "cure" grapes by "medicating" them.

The lame old farmer was the first to raise the empty wine glass in his hand and said, "I am willing!"

"Miss Eugenie, as long as I can see the grapes bearing fruit in this garden again and drink another sip of wine from the winery in my lifetime, I am willing to do anything."

"I would too!"

"Count me in."

The hands holding the wine glass went up one by one.

Roland hastily added: "It's not that everyone's efforts are for nothing, they are paid!"

Everyone let out a "boom" in unison.

The lame old farmer said, "You should have said that earlier!"

The villagers in Lina were already moved beyond belief, but Roland suddenly told them: There is still wages to be paid? !

Who else doesn't do this? - Those who don't are fools.

At that moment, Roland quickly negotiated with the villagers and selected two or three villagers to be stationed in the vineyard and winery, and to take care of the old vines that were about to germinate.

It's not too late to do other work until April and May. During this period, Roland plans to guide the villagers to finish the asparagus planting first.

For Roland, what remains is how to deal with the batch of "gifts" she found.

Roland found more than 800 bottles of fine wine in the "No. 1809" wine cellar left by the old owner, all of which were from 1819, the batch that won the gold medal at the [-] Exposition.

She considered that the original owner never knew that there was such a "wealth" hidden in his winery before the transfer, so the selling price of [-] francs could not be regarded as the original owner's true willingness to trade.

Based on the principle of fair trade and human conscience, Roland tried to contact the original owner.

But the original owner had already run away, taking the [-] francs he had earned from selling the land and the winery, via a certain port in the south, and went overseas to do speculative business.

Roland tried to contact the housekeeper of the original owner, but couldn't.

She had to write to the notary who had notarized the transaction for her in the first place.

The notary was frightened, and wrote an urgent letter to express that all disputes had nothing to do with him.At the beginning, the buyer and the seller had agreed that one hand would pay the money, the other hand would hand over the land deed, and when the silver deed was settled, there would be no relationship.

Roland had no choice but to write back to explain: She didn't find any problems with the winery, but found another fortune in the winery, and needed to contact the original owner to return the "gift" from the owner's ancestors.

The notary's reply was filled with the relief of "a long sigh of relief".

However, he was too lazy to help Roland find the original owner who had run away, so he wrote a long paragraph to persuade Roland to give up the idea.

"Honest and kind lady, your beautiful heart will be blessed and blessed by God—"

The notary wrote a long effusive paragraph.

"But your agreement with the seller is to buy out all the offspring of the winery, naturally including the cellar you found and the wine in the cellar—"

"By the way, can I ask you, what year are these wines from? To tell you the truth, the winery near Montelerita did produce fine wines two or thirty years ago..."

"I have done some research on red wine, maybe I can share more information with you..."

But before Roland could reply to the notary, Baron Tanglar had already arrived at the boarding school and met Roland.

"Eugénie, my daughter, I heard that you have bought the property?"

Roland had no idea how his father got the news.

She never imagined that Baron Tanglar had eyes and ears in the real estate exchange and registration center. The surname "Danglar" had already appeared on the transfer list. Although there was no other information, the baron could guess that it was Roland who made the move.

Roland: ...It seems that you can't use your real name when you buy property in the future.

"I'm here to check that you haven't spent your money indiscriminately."

The baron couldn't help but let Roland get into the car with him.

The driver quickly drove the car to the side of the vineyard.

Baron Danglars jumped out of the car with an agility that did not match his stature, walked quickly to the vineyard, and checked the condition of the grapes.

"Nine thousand francs is a reasonable price for such a vineyard."

The baron gave Roland a positive evaluation.

"It's just that the return period is too long. Nine thousand francs will take ten years to pay back. Compared with nine thousand francs, which can pay back three years, the latter should undoubtedly be chosen."

After seeing the condition of the vineyard, Tanglar obviously felt that it would take a long time to make this place a thriving vineyard.

Roland thought to himself: Fortunately, this father doesn't know about "mildew leaf disease".

Next, Tanglar ordered that the carriage driver take their father and daughter to the winery.

As soon as the baron jumped out of the carriage, he was taken to the cellar of the chateau.

After looking at the three wine cellars, the baron found that the oak barrels in the wine cellars were all empty.He immediately frowned and asked his daughter what was going on.

"Eugénie, don't think I'm being strict with you, I'm teaching you, teaching you how to use the greatest opportunity to get rich!"

"This winery, you bought it too hastily. You didn't even know if there was any aged wine in the wine cellar, so you paid for it?"

"It seems that your business vision is similar to that of your mother, and you both manage small money..."

Roland was immediately aroused by this "father" who was "outspoken".

With a sweet smile on her face, she said, "Dad, speaking of the wine cellar, it just so happens that I don't know what to do about one thing!"

She took the baron's hand and took Tanglars to Number Five herself.

"Dad, here is the wine I found in the winery... and the certificate of winning the fair."

"1809, that year..."

Baron Tanglar's eyes straightened immediately, he quickly counted the wine stored in the wine cellar, and then began to count: "Good guy, the gold medal in 1819 has been stored for 20 years..."

"Nearly [-] bottles..."

As agile as Tanglar, he couldn't calculate the value of this batch of fine wine in a short while.

But before he left, he took half a dozen wines with him, saying that he was going to the Paris Wine Association to ask the price.

"Eugénie, lock up this wine cellar and don't let others know easily."

The next day, Mrs. Tanglar sent a note to Roland, asking Roland what he found in the boarding school that made Baron Tanglar so happy.

Roland had to write back saying that she didn't know either.

But that being the case, the half dozen wines should have gotten a good estimate.

A few days later, Baron Tanglar sent a special person to deliver a box to the boarding school, specifying that it should be delivered directly to Roland.

Roland opened the box, and saw a sparkling diamond pendant embedded on the deep red velvet cushion.