I Am Her Secret Beauty - Chapter 9

After settling their luggage, the three of them went downstairs again. Mu Xi appeared composed, as if nothing had happened, but Nan Xi’s slightly reddened eyes caught Nan Nan’s attention.

Nan Nan asked in surprise, “Have you been crying? Why?”

“No,” Nan Xi replied without even glancing at him, sitting directly in the nearest chair. “I just rubbed my eyes too hard.”

Nan Nan didn’t press further.

He began discussing with Vincent the idea of making wine in the backyard. Vincent mentioned that there was a small decorative grapevine plot there. Though no one watered it, the vines had grown quite well, and the grapes were likely ready for harvest.

Nan Nan sought Nan Xi’s opinion, and since she didn’t object, they decided to head to the backyard to pick grapes, perhaps even make wine afterward.

Vincent, being older and less mobile, offered to accompany them but was persuaded to stay behind. Only Mu Xi went with them.

After a twenty-minute walk, they reached the grapevines. The plot was indeed small, just enough for two young masters and mistresses who had never done farm work to play around. Hidden among the dark green leaves were clusters of purple grapes. Nan Nan eagerly rolled up his sleeves, ready to start picking, but Mu Xi stopped him.

“Second Young Master, please wear gloves.” Mu Xi calmly pulled out three pairs of gloves from her backpack and handed them out. “Some of the leaves are sharp, and there might be insects on the plants.”

She turned to Nan Xi. “Are you afraid, Miss? I can pick them for you.”

Nan Xi didn’t look at her, instead focusing intently on smoothing out the wrinkles on her white gloves, as if it were a meticulous task requiring absolute concentration.

“No need. I can do it myself.”

Her tone was no different from usual, but Mu Xi sensed a hint of rejection in it, perhaps just her own imagination.

Mu Xi fell silent and stepped aside, watching the siblings pick grapes.

As it turned out, even the simplest manual labor required experience and skill. Though Nan Xi and Nan Nan carried themselves with elegance from head to toe, their grape-picking efforts proved utterly ineffective. They looked the part but made little progress, their baskets remaining mostly empty.

Fortunately, they weren’t in a hurry, this was just for fun. Halfway through, they even started bickering, nearly throwing their baskets at each other.

With nothing else to do, Mu Xi simply held up her camera and took photos of them by the grapevines.

The moment the camera was pointed at them, the siblings, who had been trading barbs just seconds ago, immediately fell into a composed silence, not uttering another word, letting Mu Xi capture their best angles.

Later, Nan Nan explained to Mu Xi that this was because Nan Zhiya, when they were children, would have the servants take photos to send to her. If they misbehaved, they’d be scolded, hence their habit of behaving perfectly in front of a camera.

“Heh, but Nan Xi hardly ever got scolded by Mom,” Nan Nan added sarcastically. “After all, she’s one of the only two omegas in the family.”

Hearing this, Nan Xi wasn’t provoked in the slightest. She merely curled her lips slightly and replied mildly, “You think you were scolded because you’re a beta? No, it’s just because you deserved it.”

Even when arguing, Nan Xi always remained calm, a stark contrast to Nan Nan’s flustered anger. Yet her words were sharp and unerringly precise.

It felt somewhat like presenting an opinion in a laboratory discussion, with the only difference being that the subject had shifted from experiments to people, otherwise, it was just as sharp and rational.

Mu Xi couldn’t help but laugh at her words, letting out a chuckle before immediately drawing Nan Nan’s glare.

“Butler Mu, were you laughing just now?” Nan Nan gritted his teeth, indignant. “You think she’s right? You also think I’m being unreasonable?”

“Second Young Master, I don’t think that way. Since I don’t understand the growth habits of grapes, I’m in no position to make any judgment…”

Mu Xi explained earnestly, doing her best to appear like an impartial and dutiful steward.

Her words had little effect.

“Why are you bullying her? She’s the butler, it’s not like she can tell you how annoying you are. It’s already hard enough for her to carry all this for you.”

Nan Xi hooked the basket of grapes over her forearm, took off her gloves, and placed them inside as well before turning to beckon Mu Xi. “Let’s go, Butler Mu. Time to make wine.”

She walked along the path behind the vineyard, carrying the basket. Vincent had told them that at the end of the path was a small winery, the treasured vintages in the manor’s cellar came from there.

Mu Xi glanced at Nan Nan, who stood frozen in place, looking deeply wounded. When he noticed her gaze, he glared back furiously.

Seeing this, Mu Xi had no choice but to follow Nan Xi and leave, not wanting to disturb Nan Nan’s sulking any further.

The mountain air was cool, and the shade of the trees provided a comfortable refuge from the summer heat. Mu Xi and Nan Xi walked one after the other, their shadows nowhere to be seen on the ground.

Mu Xi imagined herself stepping on Nan Xi’s shadow as she walked, it was the same method she used to maintain distance when following Nan Zhiya.

After walking for a while without seeing Nan Nan’s shadow, Mu Xi grew uneasy:

“Should I call the Second Young Master?”

Mediating between quarreling family members was also an important part of household management.

“No need.” Nan Xi kept her head down, carefully avoiding every uneven patch of ground, the basket still hanging from her wrist. “He’s very proud. If you call him now, he’ll just feel humiliated.”

Mu Xi silently put her phone away.

She noticed how the basket hanging from Nan Xi’s wrist pressed slightly into her skin, leaving faint indentations. She worried that even a half-full basket might be a burden for an omega.

“Young Miss, let me carry the basket.”

“…But I won’t indulge him just because he’s proud and cares about face. After all, I’m even prouder than he is.” Nan Xi finished her thought, then glanced back at Mu Xi. “Butler Mu, you must think I’m delicate, don’t you? That I can’t even carry such a light basket?”

Suddenly, the matter of carrying the basket had escalated to the level of trampling on Nan Xi’s pride. Mu Xi froze, as if her mouth had been sealed by an unexpected frost.

Just as she was about to explain, Nan Xi spoke again:

“Just kidding. Please take it for me… thank you.”

And just like that, the basket containing a few grape clusters ended up inexplicably in Mu Xi’s hands.

For the rest of the walk, Nan Xi didn’t speak to Mu Xi again. Mu Xi guessed that, having just argued with Nan Nan, her mood probably wasn’t the brightest either, so she didn’t initiate conversation.

When the two of them emerged from the path, they were greeted by the sight of a small, somewhat aged winery. Inside, a few servants were busy at work, with fresh grapes at hand likely harvested from the same vineyard they had just left.

They had all received prior notice from Vincent that someone from the Nan family would be coming to experience life at the winery. Upon seeing their arrival, the staff quickly stepped forward to welcome them, guiding Nan Xi through rows of neatly arranged wine barrels and explaining the craftsmanship and process of winemaking.

Mu Xi knew that Nan Xi studied chemistry, so the winemaking process in her mind must have already been deconstructed into countless reactions and reorganizations of elements, a truly fascinating process, no doubt.

Sure enough, as the middle-aged man ahead rambled on about how to make wine, Mu Xi noticed a look of intense focus on Nan Xi’s face. Yet, inexplicably, she was certain that focus wasn’t directed at the man explaining things because it seemed like Nan Xi wasn’t even listening to him.

Nan Xi had another world inside her mind, and that was something remarkable.

While she was busy constructing the chemical reactions of winemaking in her head, Mu Xi took care of maintaining their social interactions in the real world.

So, when the man finally finished his explanation on how wine was made and proudly puffed out his chest, Mu Xi obligingly began to clap:

“Thank you. Winemaking may be hard work, but it’s also rewarding. You’re doing something very meaningful.”

It was at this moment that Nan Xi seemed to snap back to reality, and Mu Xi smoothly turned to her: “What do you think, Miss?”

Unexpectedly, Nan Xi looked up and asked, “Butler Mu, do you want to make wine?”

Mu Xi was puzzled and stopped clapping.

“Let’s get started,” Nan Xi said.

Mu Xi could only attribute this exchange to Nan Xi temporarily disconnecting from reality, with a delayed reconnection.

Regardless, they began making wine at the winery.

The man thoughtfully prepared a separate room for them, distinct from the other production lines in the winery. On the table before them were baskets of grapes and other materials, even hand towels already laid out, saving Mu Xi a lot of trouble.

“Remove the stems cleanly, like this,” the man deftly plucked off the small remaining stem from a plump grape and placed the cleaned grape into a wooden basin.

Mu Xi and Nan Xi followed suit. The grapes they had brought weren’t many to begin with, so the process was especially quick, and soon they had a small basin of clean grapes ready for the next step of instruction.

“Crush the grapes, extract the juice, and then you can add the yeast.”

The moment the grape flesh was fully crushed, the room filled with the sweet, fragrant aroma of the fruit, a fresh and pleasant grape scent that enveloped the entire space in a sweet atmosphere. Even Nan Xi couldn’t help but smile.

Mu Xi thought she was craving the grapes just like she was, but instead, Nan Xi said:

“I once smelled an alpha’s pheromones, it was almost exactly like this scent.”

“Fruit-like scents are quite nice. I actually really like fruity ones.”

Mu Xi remained silent because her own pheromones carried a scent similar to bitter orange, though Nan Xi probably didn’t know that.

The entire winemaking process, in Mu Xi’s eyes, was nothing more than a simple, beginner-friendly experience. The steps were easy, and the amount of grapes they needed to process was minimal.

If they walked back quickly enough, they might even make it in time for afternoon tea.

After adding the yeast and sugar, Mu Xi took charge of the bottling process. The uncle mentioned that the grapes they brought would yield just enough wine to fill one bottle. So Mu Xi marked a bottle and made the same mark on the small wine barrel, then asked the uncle to pour the wine into the marked bottle.

This was Miss Nan Xi’s first time making wine in her life, it deserved a keepsake.

That’s what Mu Xi thought.

Nan Xi acknowledged Mu Xi’s thoughtfulness, but what she said was:

“This is the first bottle of wine we’ve made together. The fermentation will take at least three months. When the time comes, we should come back and drink it together, it’ll be quite fun.”