Super Zoo

"Did you see monkeys brewing wine?" Zhao Yun's voice rose slightly, and there was obviously some disbelief in his tone.

"That's not the case."

Su Ming thought about it and told the story in the small valley in the back mountain. However, he concealed part of the truth and did not say that the wine was brewed by the monkey king in the zoo. He only said that he went to the back mountain to play and met a few monkeys staggering. When those monkeys saw someone coming, they screamed and ran away. He chased them curiously and found monkey wine in a valley.

Zhao Yun nodded. This made sense. Monkeys are not winemakers. How could they brew wine in front of humans?

He asked with great interest: "Is the wine tree still there?"

"Yes." Su Ming nodded.

"Well, come with me!"

Zhao Yun thought about it, and didn't care about eating. He stood up and walked upstairs.

"It's time for dinner..." Zhao Qian ran out of the kitchen wearing an apron, only to see Zhao Yun taking Su Ming up to the second floor. She rubbed her hands on her apron while catching up with them. Standing at the bottom of the stairs, she shouted at Su Ming and his back: "Old Zhao, what are you doing now? Bring Xiao Su down to eat!"

"I'll be there soon." Zhao Yun waved his hand without looking back, and took Su Ming into the study on the second floor.

The study was not big, with a few paintings and calligraphy hanging on the wall. Su Ming didn't understand calligraphy and painting, but he knew at a glance that it was definitely not the kind of rubbish hanging on the walls of Ming and Qing Dynasty residences.

An entire wall in the study was transformed into a large cabinet, on which were placed a lot of porcelain and other things, and it was specially locked with tempered glass.

Zhao Yun squatted in front of a safe, twisted it a few times quickly, opened the door, took out a wine glass from it, and gently placed it on the table.

The wine glass was about the same size as the small wine glass people use today, but it was light blue. I don't know what material it was made of. There were also strands of fine lines around the cup body, dark red like blood.

The study was on the back side, the light was dim, and Zhao Yun didn't turn on the lights. In the dimness, he saw that the wine glass was slightly shiny, as if covered in a layer of fog.

"This cup is a luminous cup. The ancients said that grape wine should be drunk in a luminous cup. When drinking wine, you should use a luminous cup."

Zhao Yun leaned on a chair, playing with the luminous cup, and said slowly: "Actually, this is not completely accurate. Wine is a kind of fruit wine. It is best to use a luminous cup as a container for any fruit wine. Fruit wine is the king of fruit wine, so it is natural to use a luminous cup."

After Zhao Yun finished speaking, he took the monkey wine sent by Su Ming and carefully filled a cup into the luminous cup.

The study was immediately filled with a mellow wine aroma.

Zhao Yun's eyes lit up, he raised the cup and put it under his nose to take a deep breath, then drank it all in one gulp, closed his eyes, played with the luminous cup in his hand, and seemed to savor the mellow fragrance of the monkey wine in his mouth. After a long time, he exhaled deeply and opened his eyes again.

"Good wine! It's definitely not the fake monkey wine sold on the market." Zhao Yun gave Su Ming a thumbs up.

"I also think this wine tastes very special, so I gave it to you." Su Ming smiled.

"The wine is good, no doubt about it! But, Xiao Su, I can't accept this bottle of wine!"

Su Ming was stunned: "Why, is there something wrong with this wine, is it unhygienic?"

"That's not the case. Since it has been fermented into wine, there will be no bacteria. Even if it is a little unhygienic, it is harmless. We are not doctors, so there is no need to be so particular."

Zhao Yun smiled and waved his hand, explaining: "Wine is the best sterilizer. Some old wines can still be drunk after being stored in ancient tombs for thousands of years. At most, people will get drunk to death, but there will be no bacterial infection. What I mean is that your bottle of monkey wine is very valuable. I invited you here today to thank you for saving Chengcheng's life. If I accept your monkey wine again, it would be too much of a bargain. So I can't accept this gift."

"Can this be sold for money?" Su Ming didn't think much about this problem. Although monkey wine is said to be magical, this thing cannot be mass-produced. Secondly, there is no news of monkey wine being sold at a high price in the market.

I have no reputation and no background. I hold a bottle of strange wine and say it is made by monkeys. I want to sell it at a high price. It is strange that anyone will believe it!

"Listen to me and I will tell you slowly. I am an antique dealer. The value of your monkey wine is somewhat similar to antiques. For example, why is a thing valuable? First, it is rare. The rarer the thing, the more valuable it is. Han jade is valuable. Let me tell you, if more than a dozen pieces suddenly appear on the market in Yangchuan City within a month, no, as long as three or four pieces appear one after another, the price of this thing will go down immediately;

Second, you have to find the right buyer. For example, if someone likes porcelain, you insist on selling him calligraphy and paintings, he will buy it even if you sell it to him. If you are willing to buy it, you also want to make money by reselling it, so you are naturally reluctant to pay a high price. But if you find a piece of Tang Sancai for him, it is like putting a beauty in front of a pervert. He will buy it even if he borrows money, because it is a rare opportunity. If you miss it, you will never get it again.

The third thing is, of course, the quality of the thing itself. Although yours is monkey wine, I can't make a conclusion about its appearance. I am a collector, not a wine connoisseur. "

"Is there a difference in the quality of monkey wine? Then tell me about it." Su Ming was also interested.

Zhao Yun tapped the table with his slender fingers and said slowly: "Monkey wine is a general term. If you break it down, it can be divided into several categories.

First, it is called 'liquid wine'. Monkeys take hundreds of fruits and ferment them together. The juice drips down. The first drop is 'hundred fruit liquid'. A large amount of hundreds of fruit liquid gathers and ferments twice, which can be called 'hundred fruit wine'. The second fermentation of hundreds of fruit wine is naturally more valuable than the first fermentation of hundreds of fruit liquid, because monkeys are greedy and often smell the fragrance. Before the liquid is collected to make wine, they will drink up all the hundreds of fruit liquid.

The second fermentation is not the end. There is also a third fermentation. When all the fruits no longer have juice dripping, the hundreds of fruit wine is sealed in one place. After three fermentations, a strong wine smell is produced. This can be called real monkey wine. "

Su Ming recalled in his mind that the monkey king finally threw away all the fruits that no longer dripped liquid. So, this should be the monkey wine that was fermented three times.

Zhao Yun didn't know that Su Ming had already made a judgment in his mind, and then said: "Second, it is called 'monkey quality'. There are hierarchical subordinates in the monkey group. Monkey king, female monkeys, male monkeys, as well as strong, weak, old, and young monkeys of different levels have different status. The higher the monkey's rank, the better the raw materials for brewing wine. For monkeys of low status, even eating is a problem, how can they brew wine? At the same time, the older the monkey, the better the 'crafts' of brewing wine!

Therefore, the value of the wine also depends on the age of the monkey brewing it and its status in the monkey group.

Third, it is called 'local quality'. As the saying goes, oranges grown in the south of the Huai River are oranges, while those grown in the north of the Huai River are bitter oranges. Monkeys from different regions brew different wines. The more famous ones are Emei macaques, Huashan monkeys, Huangshan monkeys, big yellow monkeys, etc. "

"I've learned a lot!" Su Ming said sincerely.

"I heard this from my friends."

Zhao Yun waved his hand and smiled, saying: "These are the classification methods in ancient books, but monkey wine was extremely rare even in ancient times. Nowadays, there are not many monkeys, so where can monkey wine come from? Maybe in the real deep mountains and old forests, by chance, it may still be found. Therefore, no matter whether it is liquid, brewed, wine, or monkey wine, as long as it is brewed by monkeys, it is extremely precious.

Real monkey wine is worth a fortune, even if it is a high imitation, it is also worth a lot. During the Republic of China period, a family put various fruits in a large vat, fermented them, added a little yeast, filtered them with asphalt, steamed and buried them, and brewed "monkey wine" artificially. After drinking it, the heart does not beat, the brain does not get hot, and you fall asleep peacefully, which is extremely comfortable. When you wake up, you feel comfortable and clear-minded. It is extremely good for the body. A bottle can sell for hundreds of dollars and is in short supply. However, due to the high cost and trouble, it is difficult to make more. As for the monkey wine on the market now, in the words of you young people, it can only be "hehe". "

"Then how much do you think this wine is worth?" Su Ming asked.

"I can't say for sure. There are similarities between wine and antiques. The quality itself is one aspect, which requires professional appraisal; in addition, the selling price is different in different places. For example, if I go to the countryside to collect an antique, it may only cost a few hundred yuan, but if I go to Liulichang in the capital, it may cost tens of thousands. If it is put in an auction house, if I meet an expert who likes it and there are a few people who bid up, it will not be difficult to sell it for hundreds of thousands. Monkey wine is something that is hard to come by. If you are lucky, you can sell it at a sky-high price. "

After listening to Zhao Yun's systematic explanation, Su Ming immediately had a new understanding of the value of monkey wine.

He thought about it and said, "Uncle Zhao, I still have some monkey wine. This bottle of wine is for you. There is absolutely no reason in the world to take a gift into the house and take it away. It is too rude! Besides, if you hadn't told me this knowledge today, I wouldn't know how precious monkey wine is. This bottle of wine is my thank you, you must accept it! "

Seeing Su Ming's sincerity, Zhao Yun hesitated for a moment, then stopped refusing and laughed: "In that case, I won't be polite. To be honest, although I don't like drinking, I am a collector after all. Seeing this monkey wine, I am really jealous."

After he finished speaking, he carefully locked the remaining half bottle of monkey wine and the luminous cup in the safe, then turned to Su Ming and said: "You just said, there is still monkey wine there? If you trust me, I have a relationship with the auction house in Hong Kong, you can send it to the auction to try."

"Then trouble you." Su Ming nodded, Zhao Yun's words were exactly what he needed.

As Zhao Yun said, the same thing, in the hands of different people, in different occasions, the price is definitely different.

I am a penniless young man, even if I hold a treasure, I can't sell it at a high price, and it may be coveted by others.

"Let's go, let's go to eat, your aunt Zhao must be waiting anxiously! "

Zhao Yun pulled Su Ming outside. When he passed the safe, he patted his forehead in annoyance and smiled bitterly: "If I had known that this was really monkey wine, I would not have drunk so much in one gulp no matter what you said just now. What a spendthrift!"

"Uh..." Su Ming was speechless. If that's the case, if I drink this stuff every day, wouldn't I become the number one spendthrift in the world?