impure

Chapter 72 I Should Say Sorry to You

Mr. Mond was over seventy years old and his hair was graying when he was fair.It is completely white, like a handful of snow, so it looks clean.He is a fastidious person, and he must tidy himself up when he goes out.There is no stubble on the wrinkled face, and a pair of gray-blue eyes are piercing.

The old man has a strong body, also wearing a neat suit, with a metal crutch in his right hand - it doesn't look like he needs it, and maybe it's just a show.

His father had already talked with him for a while in the reception room on the first floor, when Yue Ren Gefu entered the door, he raised his voice and apologized to him repeatedly.Mr. Mond liked Yue Renge's flamboyant personality, so he stood up and hugged Yue Renge intimately.

The gray-blue eyes fell on Li Mu, and they froze for a moment.

"Uncle Meng, this is Li Mu." Yue Renge deliberately changed the English in order for Li Mu to understand, "It's my friend, from China."

"Li Mu, this is the Uncle Mond I told you about. He is a big customer and good friend of our family. Uncle watched me grow up, right?" The latter sentence was said to Mond, listen It sounded a bit coquettish.

Meng De smiled at Li Mu, said hello, sat down with Yue Renge again, and chatted about family matters—in French.

Yue Renge was fluent in all aspects, sitting on the couch in the living room and chatting fluently.Li Mu sat aside, behaved well, but his eyes were restless.When I arrived yesterday, I took a quick glance and thought this was an ordinary office building, where Mr. Jean handles some business.Unexpectedly, such a living room is not simple.

The area is not very large, eighty to ninety square meters, with a light-colored wooden floor, high ceilings, and one wall is a whole wall of floor-to-ceiling windows, where you can see the hazelnut trees planted in the yard.As soon as you enter the door, you can see the towering display wall and collection racks. Of course, they are only a small part of the family collection. Li Mu only took a casual glance and saw a Chardonnay produced in the past few years.

The Beaune region is of course still dominated by white wines.

The reception sofa is close to the floor-to-ceiling windows, the autumn scenery is pleasant, and the wine is also pleasant.A bottle of white wine has already been opened, but because of the distance, Li Mu has not seen its label clearly.Mr. Mond took a sip, sipped and tasted for a while, smiled and shook his head.

Jean said something eagerly, Li Mu only heard Mond say repeatedly: "Non, non."

Li Mu also got a small glass. The white wine was a light crystal color, like a refined and flowing ore.He raised his glass and sniffed it—Yue Renge's temporary training told him to smell it before drinking, and then taste it slowly—it was different from Pinot Noir, different from the wine he had ever drunk.

"This is Aligot." Yue Renge explained in a low voice, "Father bought a two-hectare garden two years ago, a regional level, and planted Aligot and Chardonnay. This wine is made with Aligot. Gout, and he wants to sell it to Mr. Mond."

It should be noted that there are hundreds of private wineries in Burgundy, and the Grand Cru and Premier Cru are very rare.The regional level is relatively low, and Mr. Mond, who has been buying Grand Cru and Super Premier Cru wineries all year round, naturally looks down on such cheap wines.

Not everyone can afford to drink Romanee-Conti, but here, wine is an essential daily drink.The grade at the regional level may not be that high, but it is a frequent visitor on the dining table of ordinary people.

Mr. Jean was eagerly communicating with Monde, and Yue Renge acted as a real-time translator for Li Mu: "Papa said that he hopes to produce delicious regional Chardonnay and Aligot, which is what Aude has been working hard on." .”

Mr. Mond was puzzled by his approach. In his opinion, Jean's approach was tantamount to lowering his self-worth.Their family is a famous Premier Cru winery in the entire Burgundy region, and has even reached the Super Premier Cru, comparable to the Grand Cru. Why bother to take care of those unscrupulous low-end goods?

The two came and went, sticking to their own opinions, and Yue Renge was tired after translating, because what they said over and over again was just that.

Although his face was flushed, Mr. Mond did not drink less, and he still maintained his due elegance in the end.At the end, he glanced at Li Mu, who had been sitting beside Yue Renge, who had been taciturn, and asked with a smile, "Jean, is your winery sold to Asians now?"

Jean had quite a sense of humor, and agreed, "Yes, Mr. Li just bought our winery, and now he is our new owner."

This was originally a joke, but Mr. Mond suddenly changed his face, "No, that's not allowed. Jean, I can't buy wine made by Asians, because it won't sell!"

Yue Renge's smiling face suddenly turned cold.Mond spoke French, so Li Mu naturally couldn't understand it.But he couldn't let Li Muping be oppressed like this for no reason by relying on his language advantage.Before his father could speak, he said coldly, "You should apologize for what you just said, Mr. Mond."

Li Mu understood this sentence.Yue Renge studied in England in his early years, and his London accent is cold and cunning, like a sharp knife.The sharp knife was unsheathed, and the relaxed air suddenly became cold.

When Mr. Jean saw that something was wrong, he laughed, "Forget it, it's just a joke. Isn't Jeanne also Asian? Leo, don't take it seriously."

"What Mr. Mond said may not be true. Prejudice is prejudice. It is better to dare to speak out than to hide it." Yue Renge put down the empty glass in his hand, "why not wine made by Asians?" Okay? Throughout our Burgundy, there are Belgians, Germans, Americans, Asians, all kinds of people, and their wines are all different.”

"Uncle Mond, do you buy wine based on those old concepts? Grapes in the same field can produce completely different wines, and the terroir is the key factor in determining the quality of wine. A pure French is a good winemaker You are so wrong, there are many people who are inferior to others. In addition, you also drank the Aligot brewed by Dad. You should know how it tastes."

"Leo." Jean tried to stop Yue Renge's tirade.He had always been playful and well-spoken, and Mr. Mond liked him for that.The purpose of calling him here today is to enliven the atmosphere. Whether or not the business can be negotiated is another matter. After all, even he himself has no hope for Aligot at the regional level.

As a result, the little bastard fired like a machine gun, and he secretly worried whether Mr. Mond would get angry because of it.

... It won't affect my own business.The Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from Premier Cru were brought out, but Monde didn't want them, and there were still people who came to snatch them.

When Yue Renge was talking about excitement, how could he stop? "The grade is there, yes, there must be a difference. But we will not sell the regional grade grapes at the price of the village level or the first grade. The grades of the regional grade will not change. What we pursue is to use the grapes of the regional grade. Make better wine."

Old Mr. Mond was stunned by him. He was shocked at first, then furious, but now, he calmed down.After Yue Renge's passionate speech came to an end, he said leisurely: "Since the price can't be raised, then why is it so easy to brew?"

"In order not to smash the signboard of our house."

"In that case, why buy a district-level garden?"

"Because brewing delicious wine is our ultimate goal."

Yes, grapes are like people, and there may be differences due to terroir or origin.It is true that some grapes are more likely to produce better wine than some people are more likely to achieve worldly success.

But should the slightly mediocre grapes be discarded?They may be more acidic, more difficult to master the balance, or may not be aged for a long time... There are shortcomings of one kind or another, but it does not prevent them from becoming more delicious.

Whether it's Jean or Aude, they are pursuing this possibility.

Romanee-Conti has the stage of Romanee-Conti; Aligot has the peak of Aligot.Everyone is like a bunch of grapes, everyone should work hard to grow and brew their own delicious wine of life.

Mr. Mond did not speak for a long time.Li Mu listened to Yue Renge's impassioned speech on the spot. It was really good, but it was also really easy to get beaten.For Li Mu, being looked down upon by others is already a normal state of his life, no matter how unwilling he is, reason will overwhelm him, so that he will not rush to hate this old gentleman.However, Yue Renge's defense of him and the belief of the family in this way made his heart surge even more.

"Let's do this for today." After a while, Mr. Mond got up on crutches, "I still have something to do, so I'll go back first."

Yue Renge and Li Mu stood up and wanted to help him out.

Mr. Mond raised his hand to block it, "No, I'm old, but I can still walk." After that, he nodded to Jean and left without looking back.

The three of them froze in place until Mr. Mond got into his Rolls-Royce and slowly drove away from the manor.After a while, Jean came back to her senses first, raised her foot and kicked Yue Renge's ass, "You brat, you are the only one who can speak!"

Yue Renge was caught off guard by a kick, fell on Li Mu, and exaggeratedly yelled "Ouch, Ouch". Jean was angry and funny, "I'm still screaming, where does it hurt, I only used three parts of my strength!"

"I made a mistake with my father." Yue Renge knew that his father was not really angry, man, learning to be soft is the first lesson in life, "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry for what? I'll let you say what needs to be said." Glancing at Li Mu, after thinking for a while, he said to him in simple English, "Take Leo back and see if there is anything mother can do for you."

As soon as Jeanne heard Yue Renge, without saying a word, she slapped the big client and drove him out of the kitchen with a rolling pin, "You have nothing to eat tonight!"

So far, Yue Renge's status in the family is clear at a glance.Mom thinks Dad doesn't like it, okay, why not eat wild apples in the yard.

Also good.

A small piece of land connected to the vineyard is the small courtyard of Yue Renge's family.Apple and chestnut trees were planted, and some days it was not weeded, and it looked a little deserted.The autumn sun was warm, Li Mu took off his coat, and pulled Yue Renge to see the clear shoe print on his buttocks, "Does it hurt?"

"What's so painful about this?" Yue Renge smiled, "Dad didn't use any force at all."

Li Mu looked at Yue Renge's smiling face, thinking about what happened just now.It can be guessed that the big difference is not bad, and it has something to do with him.Because of the category of wine and the race of people, this is an eternal theme of contradiction.

"I'm sorry." Li Mu looked at Yue Renge who was twisting his neck and trying to pat the gray mark on his buttocks, "I shouldn't have come today."

"Why are you sorry?" Yue Renge didn't stop moving, but smiled at him, "I should say sorry to you."

--------The author says------------

The song "When the Grapes Are Ripe" is a bit close to this paragraph~ let's talk about my feelings when I searched for information.Now some winemakers are trying to make good wine from grapes that are not so high grade, which is a challenge and a touching pursuit.Although it is impossible for everyone to be a special grape, we must also work hard to mature and become delicious (hey, this statement is so strange)