151 Rain must be accompanied with a cup of wine 4 (1/2)

With the thought of brewing rice wine pestering her mind, the young girl finally ran towards the armory of the first corridor to extricate the black iron wok for the umpteenth time.

When An Fei hauled it back to the medicine garden, the young girl could be seen with a goofy smile on her countenance with a delighted hum escaping her throat.

Piled within the large wok of black iron was a large assortment of trays, jars, and fabrics.

The young girl clutched the wok to her body as she carefully waddled towards the designated area devoid of medicinal plants, her arms incapable of reaching across the utensil's circumference.

An Fei heavily placed the black iron pot onto the trifold support she had utilized from her initial attempt of cooking, before emptying its contents and setting them aside.

”Then… to light it up… was it…” The young girl scratched her head, her beautiful countenance displaying a tinge of bewilderment and embarrassment.

”Oh… whatever! Nobody is watching me anyways… [Ignite].”

The ring of melodious bells tolled within the medicine garden, a thread of golden flame emerging from the young girl's right index fingertip to glare at the atmosphere.

The golden thread drifted across space to land onto the hollowed earth, abruptly expanding into a golden ball of flames.

The end of the thread connecting to An Fei's fingertip quickly disengaged itself, landing into the ball of fire in less than the span of a breath.

A quiet crackle of familiarity and enjoyment rang across the medicine garden, and the flames rose into a plume to gently support the bottom of the black iron wok.

”Mm… even more efficient than a gas lighter…”

The young girl nodded in appreciation, her lips curving upwards to reveal a delighted smile.

With a quick stretch, An Fei gathered the numerous jars into her hands, before rushing off towards the stream.

As the fire began the process of warming up the bottom of the black iron wok, the young girl began the numerous trips of transporting water into the wok until it was about half full.

Then followed the arduous but rewarding task of shelling the grains and extricating the plump white rice seed from its browned shell, placing it into the warmed bath of water.

An Fei inadvertently began humming to herself as she carried out the mechanical chore, her mind flowing back to her early memories as a tender child.

A young girl watching from the side with curious eyes as an elderly man bent at his waist to pluck the white rice from the browned enclosures, then bathing them in hot water for a full hour.

Two pairs of hands, one elderly and the other young, handled the grains of white rice with a tender gaze, as though it were the most priceless object in the world.

Once the rice had been soaked for the full duration, replace the water and steam for thirty minutes or until the familiar fragrance of rice struck the soul.

The elderly hands placed the perfectly cooked grains of rice onto a pair of chipped porcelain bowls, whilst the delicate and younger pair distributed them onto a tray.

The elderly hands prepared the additional condiments and side dishes, and the younger pair spread the rice evenly on the iron tray, allowing the rice to cool.

”Grandfather… to think that I would try brewing rice wine here…”

An Fei whispered to herself, her scarlet irises brimming with a nostalgic sorrow. Before she could immerse herself in her memories, the young girl slapped her wrist, rousing her mind from the past.

”Enough for now. What I need next… yeast…”

Yeast could be found anywhere, and was usually scraped from the surface of plant leaves, fruits, fungi, and the intestinal tracts of deceased animals.

However, the young girl had noticed through an arbitrarily helpful book that within the Sanctum was an herb known as the Rotwood Herb – an apt substitute of yeast, albeit its slightly inappropriate title.

The Rotwood Herb appeared in the form of a small balled mushroom, and was customarily a brown color throughout.

The young girl found a cluster of the mushrooms a few meters away from the cluster of rice, and scraped a little of the underside onto the spread and cooled rice.

An Fei poured the rice into the jars, followed by the distributed portions of the Rotwood Herb, then a few drops of an extract of Nine Leaf Purple Lotus into each jar.

The young girl continued to transfer water into the wok, causing the filled and stoppered jars to float in the warmed container.