Chapter 274 - The Family Business

Danson woke up after a really awkward and intense night with Marissa's parents. Although the two elders let Danson sleep on the sofa in the living room, they did not approve of his controversial relationship with their daughter.

"No one can find out that Daniel is your child. From now on, you can visit your son and provide child support if you want, but you can't call him your son in public. It will raise too many questions..." Marissa's mother said.

"But, we can't hide the truth for the rest of his life..." Marissa said.

"You should have considered that before you decided to marry his grandfather. You were the one that made things so complicated. Now you need to face the consequences for your actions. As a parent, you need to take your child's welfare into consideration," Marissa's father lectured. "The two of you are too simple-minded. Did you think that by showing up here, you could just claim your son and live happily ever after as a couple, Danson? You will never be able to live as a normal couple."

He then pointed to the sofa, "Danson, you can sleep on the sofa tonight, but starting from tomorrow, you will be Daniel's stepbrother again. We will never mention that you are his father ever again! Even if Marissa decides to move back to Hong Kong with you, she will continue to be your stepmother in public. We will all take this secret to the grave..."

Danson sat up and thought about what Marissa's father said the previous night. The old man was right. He had been too simple-minded. This was real life...not a fairytale...

...

Meanwhile, in Guiyang City, Halia decided to show her husband around her family business.

"I've seen your family's casino. Now, let me show you where I grew up." 

As Halia said this, their car pulled up at a beautiful field up on the mountains. As soon as they stepped out, the strong smell of fermentation lingered in the air.

"We own this field of red sorghum. It is the basic ingredient of our baijiu and we have farmers that maintain it and harvest it for us. Not too far away is our distillery, I will take you there in a minute," Halia smiled as she ran her hands through some tall stalks of sorghum. "I used to run through these fields when I was small. Life was a lot simpler back then."

Jackson looked out on the vast field of red. Although he lived in a safe house that worked as a functioning vineyard when he was in France, baijiu was very different, and it fascinated him. 

"This entire region is famous for producing baijiu, so there are many distilleries and fields around here. You may have noticed the fermenting smell in the air. That's from all the distilleries. It's a bit strong at first, but you will slowly get used to it," Halia explained.

She then led Jackson back into the car and the driver drove them up the road to the distillery.

The distillery was old but well maintained. Its ancient architecture made it nostalgic and charming to look at.

"My family has been doing this for over a century and everything has always remained the same," Halia said as they began to walk inside.

Inside the distillery, steamed sorghum lay in huge mounds on the floor and workers were spreading them out to cool down.

"This sorghum will be mixed with yeast and left to ferment," Halia explained. 

She then pointed to some containers, "They will then be distilled seven times over the span of a year. If you look at those containers, you will see a number that shows how many times the contents have been distilled."

"After that, we store them in earthenware jars for four years," Halia said as she led Jackson into their storage room. The room was huge and there were rows and rows of jars inside. It was amazing to see.

Jackson was used to seeing barrels of red and white wine in France, but he had never seen how baijiu was stored.

"Do you want to taste some baijiu that's ready?" Halia smiled as they reached the other end of the distillery.

Jackson looked at his wife and nodded his head.

Halia grabbed two tulip-shaped glasses and handed one to Jackson. Jackson was familiar with these glasses. Back when he was undercover as a gangster, he often had baijiu with his clients and was taught the best way to appreciate it. The shape of these glasses helped to gather the aroma of the alcohol, and the base, when held properly, prevented the transfer of heat from one's hands to the contents of the glass.

Jackson took a sip and smiled. He had never had fresh baijiu straight from a distillery. "This is good!" he exclaimed.

Halia smiled.

Jackson looked at his wife and wrapped an arm around her waist. "I'm impressed," he said.

Halia felt proud to hear this. Sure, she had displayed a lot of skills and knowledge in front of Jackson, but most of those had been transferred to her from other people, so she never felt like she had the right to feel proud about them. But, this was different. She grew up at the distillery and knew the entire process from start to finish. This was her family business; it was in her blood. The skills and knowledge she gained from this place were developed after many years of watching and learning from her father. She felt like she was revealing her true self to Jackson.

At that moment, Jackson asked a question that he had been curious about, "Will you come back and take over this place someday?"

Halia furrowed her brows and put the glasses away. This was a question that she had been asking herself as well. "I haven't decided yet. To be honest, this is just a family business to me. I grew up with it and it's a normal part of life for me. I like it and I find it interesting, but I've never had a passion for it. Unlike my father, he knew, the first time he took a sip of baijiu, that his dream in life was to produce the best baijiu in China. I've never felt that passion and excitement for baijiu before. All I want to do is help people."

Jackson patted his wife comfortingly on the shoulder. He understood how she felt. Both of them had a family business that they were rightful heirs to, but neither of them were passionate about it. At least, Jackson had a younger brother who was willing to run his casino for him, but Halia was an only child. What would happen when Father Feng was no longer around?