LSLFBW: Chapter 36

Qi Bai stayed at the kiln until everyone’s earthen kiln was sealed. After returning home, he remembered that the charcoal from his second kiln was ready to be harvested.

However, when Qi Bai excitedly dug in the charcoal ashes for a long time, he finally found that the small piece of bird bone that he put in yesterday hadn’t melted at all in the fire, just as Zhu Ya said.

Qi Bai frowned. Since his bone knife was made of bird bones, it meant there must be a way to process the bird bones. He didn’t know whether it was because the temperature of the earthen kiln hadn’t reached its melting point, or whether this type of bird bone was fundamentally different from the metal he knew and it couldn’t be directly refined with fire.

Qi Bai put the charcoal in his room and placed the bird bones next to the charcoal basin. He hadn’t found a better way to deal with the bird bone for the time being, so Qi Bai didn’t think too much of it and turned around to prepare his dinner.

He took out a piece of beef, cut it into even pieces with a bone knife, put it in a stone trough together with onion and ginger slices, poured in cold boiled water from a bamboo kettle, and added some firewood to the fire. Then after forcing out the blood foam over a high fire, he took out the beef and put it aside for later use.

He took advantage of the time when the beef was cooking to wash the radish and cut it into diced pieces.

After smelling the spicy scent, Qi Bai couldn’t resist his craving and threw a piece into his mouth. The spiciness brought a few tears to his eyes, but his hands didn’t stop moving.

He found a stone bowl covered with a stone slab near the entrance of the cave.

The stone bowl was filled with butter, made from fat cut from ten catties of beef. After a night of solidification, the butter had turned milky white. However, Qi Bai’s tools for processing the butter were too crude. Some golden butter residue was still stuck in the stone bowl.

At this time, the water in the stone pot had almost evaporated. Qi Bai used a bamboo stick to take out the residual oil and put it in the hot pot.

The butter sizzled in the pot, and the aroma of butter wafted in the air. Qi Bai sniffed hard. It was so fragrant. It was much more fragrant than what he bought in modern times.

He threw the ginger and garlic into the butter and stir-fried it. Then he added the beef that had been blanched in water and fried it. At this time, he put the radish into the pot. He added hot water to cover the ingredients and an appropriate amount of salt. After that, he covered it with a stone slab and simmered it slowly.

Taking advantage of this time, Qi Bai took out four large radishes. He washed the skin, cut the radishes into evenly-sized slices and added salt. He mixed it repeatedly and set it aside to drain.

Qi Bai planned to dry these radish roots into dried radish. The light-testing side dish was very suitable to be eaten with meat and rice.

However, when drying food that could be eaten directly, such as radish, it couldn’t be placed directly on the ground like the sweet potatoes dried before. Qi Bai decided to try making two bamboo winnowing baskets.

The winter sky was a bit gray, and the moonlight shining on the entrance of the cave seemed to be glowing coldly. The night was quiet. Only the crackling of the campfire under the stone trough could be heard.

Qi Bai was sitting next to the charcoal fire a bit further away. He was warmed by the heat. He smelled the aroma of beef stewed with radish in the pot and handled the bamboo for making the winnowing basket.

There was only half a bamboo left in Qi Bai’s cave. It was what was left over from making the kettle a few days ago. Qi Bai estimated that it would be no problem to use it to make one or two small winnowing baskets.

This time, Qi Bai was much more careful in processing materials for bamboo weaving than in the previous rattan basket weaving. After all, when making rattan baskets, they needed to adapt the length and thickness of the rattan. This resulted in the rough appearance of the rattan basket.

However, bamboo weaving was different. The thickness and width of the strips could be controlled, so the winnowing basket made in this way would be neater and more beautiful.

Qi Bai first used a stone knife to smooth the raised areas on the outside of the bamboo joint. Then he used a small stone around one centimeter in size to carefully mark the edge of the bamboo tube for the splitting process.

Splitting bamboo was much easier than cutting it. He just needed to aim the stone knife at the blade and press the stone knife hard into the bamboo body. The bamboo strips would separate according to the fibers grown by the bamboo. Eventually, they would become bamboo strips of uniform length and width.

The bamboo strips were still too thick. Therefore, Qi Bai used a stone knife to divide the bamboo strips into layers one by one. Each bamboo strip could be divided into about four layers of bamboo strips.

After finishing all of this, the beef broth stewed with radish in the stone trough was almost done. Qi Bai finally added a bit of chopped green onion and stir-fried it a few times. Then he scooped it into a bamboo bowl while it was still how. White steam immediately rose from the bamboo bowl.

Qi Bai held the bamboo bowl in both hands and savored his meal carefully.

The beef was stewed until it was soft, and the meat shreds could be bitten apart with a light bite. The slightly yellow radish must be cooled before eating because it was soaked in the delicious soup. Even the garlic cloves that were added to enhance the flavor had a soft and meaty taste.

Qi Bai felt like he only had a taste before the beef stewed with radish in the bowl was already finished. He licked his lips with a sense of dissatisfaction.

He put away the separated bamboo strips. Then he added some charcoal into the charcoal basin and covered half the basin with a stone slab, hoping that the charcoal would burn slower. Then he got into his little bed.

The moment he opened his eyes the next morning, Qi Bai started working like a busy spinning top.

He first removed the fallen leaves covering the ashes of the campfire. He added some fire, lay on the ground, and blew hard at the fire.

Since he lived alone, Qi Bai didn’t have the habit of getting up in the middle of the night to add fuel to the fire. If he left the fire unattended, it would go out by the time he woke up the next morning.

Therefore, Qi Bai thought hard about it and finally found this method in the depths of his memories. It was unknown where he saw it from. After all, the books and video materials that Qi Bai usually read were too messy. Fortunately, this method was useful.

He covered the fire with slightly moist fallen leaves. The next morning, there was a possibility that the fire would be relit if he added firewood.

Qi Bai had become very proficient in this process. Of course, it didn’t work every time.

Qi Bai was very lucky today. The sparks flickered a few times before starting to burn. Qi Bai threw the sweet potato into the fire, intending to have it as breakfast today. Then he watered two pots of green onions and garlic sprouts before moving them out of the cave.

Perhaps because the temperature in the cave was suitable, the two pots of onions and garlic had survived tenaciously. However, they didn’t look very energetic at the moment. Qi Bai patiently moved them out of the cave every day to let them enjoy as much sunshine as possible. Then he moved them into a slightly warmer cave after dark.

After placing the two pots of plants and blocking the wind for them, Qi Bai took a shovel and filled the rattan basket with soil.

By this time, the sweet potatoes were almost ripe. Qi Bai carried a rattan basket on his back, held the bamboo strips in one hand, and ate the hot roasted sweet potato with the other. Then he walked towards the kiln.

Along the way, Qi Bai met many tribe members who were going to the kiln. They all came to greet Qi Bai enthusiastically.

Qi Bai had told the tribe members, who had sealed their kilns yesterday, that they could wait until dark before going to the kiln to open. However, for such a new thing as burning charcoal, many people could no longer stay at home. They all wanted to go over there to join in the fun.

He didn’t know why, but ever since living separately from his fellow tribe members, Qi Bai’s relationship with everyone had become closer than when they lived together.

Qi Bai heard Shu Lin’s voice calling him from behind. He turned around and saw Shu Lin jogging briskly with Xiong Feng following behind him with firewood in one hand.

This time, Xiong Feng didn’t ignore him like last time. He grinned at Qi Bai. It was a pity that Xiong Feng looked fierce and tough. Fortunately, Qi Bai knew what type of person he was. If he just relied on the first glance, he would’ve thought Xiong Feng was finding fault with him.

“Wow, Bao Bai, where did you find such a beautiful vine?” Shu Lin was watching from a distance. He thought that Qi Bai was holding a reed stalk in his hand until he got closer and realized this wasn’t the case.

“These are the strips of bamboo that have been split apart. I will use them for weaving.”

“Then the woven bamboo basket will definitely be very beautiful.” In Shu Lin’s imagination, the most complicated weaving craft was nothing more than a rattan basket. Then the one woven with bamboo must be a bamboo basket.

Qi Bai didn’t refute him. Once he had weaved the winnowing basket, everyone would know its function.

After arriving at the kiln, Qi Bai continued to build the pottery kiln that he had half built yesterday. He added fire to dry it.

Then he found an open space to sit down and started to concentrate on weaving the winnowing basket.

Qi Bai decided to weave two winnowing baskets first. The one with tightly woven strips would be used to dry the radish roots. The other one would be woven a bit looser to make a sieve.

It was because when he wanted to knead the soil, he found that there was too much fine gravel and stones in the soil. Finer soil was needed to make pottery.

It was obvious what the result would be if he didn’t take good care of the soil. Just look at the kiln he used to make charcoal. It only took one or two days for it to be full of cracks. He had to keep filling the holes with clay.

This time, Qi Bai still used the simplest weaving technique. He weaved the bamboo strips up and down.

In order to make the winnowing basket stronger, Qi Bai added an extra bamboo strip as support every five rows to prevent the winnowing basket from being unstable in the middle when it was filled with slightly heavier things.

Once the diameter was around 50 or 60 centimeters, Qi Bai started to gradually reduce the weaving range of the edges until the entire winnowing basket’s surface was woven into a large disc.

Then he folded the extra bamboo strips inward. He tied them up in a circle and formed a border around two centimeters high.

Qi Bai was very focused when weaving the winnowing basket. It was only after he had finished weaving the entire winnowing basket that he realized there were already many people around him.

Lang Ze had said that he wasn’t on guard enough. The moment he looked up, he saw that there were people standing on tiptoes and looking at him, but Qi Bai was the only one who didn’t notice. No wonder why he felt like the sky had darkened just now. He had only thought it was cloudy.

However, Qi Bai didn’t mind everyone watching. He smiled at the tribe members, took the remaining bamboo strips, and started weaving his sieve. He also told everyone how to make the bamboo strips.

Once the sieve was ready, QI Bai found a flat piece of land. He cleaned it with branches and prepared to put the clay on it.

The requirements for making pottery clay weren’t as high as those for porcelain. Not all clay was suitable. Fortunately, he wasn’t impatient. The process of slowly exploring and experimenting was also very meaningful to Qi Bai.

The first two types of soil to be experimented with were the mud he had taken from the hillside and the clay from the stream next to the waterfall.

Qi Bai crushed the soil taken from the hillside. Then he sifted it, slowly added the mountain spring water, and mixed the clay until it was slightly sticky but just enough to be shaped. After that, he started to work on molding it into shape.

Since this was his first attempt, Qi Bai didn’t jump right into making the difficult clay pot.

He decided to use two different types of clay to make a pottery jaw and two pottery bowls.

He placed two wooden sticks of similar thickness on the stone platform. Then he placed the kneaded soil in the middle of the sticks. He used another wooden stick to compact it so that the bottom of the ceramic bowl could be even.

Then he rolled the clay into long strips, adding layer by layer to the bottom of the bowl.

Qi Bai had seen modern and mature porcelain-making techniques, which all used manual wheel throwing. However, the clay he used now wasn’t as fine as porcelain clay. Thus, the most important thing was to use the stupidest method to make the clay firm and even.

As for the clay dug from the stream, it already contained moisture and couldn’t be sieved. Qi Bai didn’t force it. He just tried his best to beat out the sand and gravel from it.

Yang Luo looked at the pottery jars and bowls that Qi Bai made in an elegant manner. He frowned and said, “A bowl made of clay will fall apart as soon as it is filled with water. How can this be pottery?”

Qi Bai smiled. “Grandpa Priest, don’t worry. These jars and bowls that have just been molded can’t be considered pottery yet. They need to be left for at least two or three days to dry out. Then I will put them in the kiln to burn them.”

It hadn’t snowed in the past few days, but Qi Bai still moved the pottery under a big tree and found some leaves to cover it.

Qi Bai raised his arms and did some chest expansion exercises. He worked with his head down every day and started to have back pain at such a young age. This wasn’t good.

“Bao Bai, I sealed the kiln at this time yesterday. Come and see if my charcoal has been burned!” At this time, She Li ran over in a hurry.

“Okay.” Qi Bai completed the last action and followed She Li to check.

After Qi Bai came here in the morning, he had actually done a rough inspection. He didn’t have much experience in charcoal burning, but he felt that the earthen kilns were warm. He thought there shouldn’t be any problems. He came here to help see which direction would be more convenient to dig the exit.

She Li listened to Qi Bai’s instructions without blinking. Then She Li excitedly opened the earthen kiln from below. “Got it! I saw black charcoal!”

“Let me see.”

“It is really charcoal!”

Usually when the beastmen burned wood, ash was left most of the time. There were times when black charcoal was left behind, but people didn’t care about their use. This meant it wasn’t that they had never seen charcoal.

Still, it didn’t hinder everyone’s enthusiasm for opening the kiln.

The earthen kilns were opened one by one, just like opening a blind box. People were always curious about the output of the next earthen kiln.

Moreover, Qi Bai actually discovered some differences during the process. For example, the charcoal made by Lu Guo was the most successful. Not only was the amount of charcoal large, but the quality was also very good.

Qi Bai guessed that this might be due to the different types of wood, so he quickly recorded the wood everyone used. It was only by slowly accumulating these experiences that they could make better and better charcoal.

The charcoal burned by the tribe members couldn’t be completely owned by individuals.

Everyone needed to give some charcoal to Yang Luo. This didn’t mean that Yang Luo, as a priest, was being harsh to his own people.

Providing for the orphaned children was the responsibility of every member of the tribe. Now that everyone lived separately, the burden of taking care of the children temporarily fell on Yang Luo and Zhu Zhu. According to Qi Bai’s idea, it was right to give them a bit more food and supplies.

In addition, the tribe must store supplies at all times in case of an emergency.

Thus, everyone handed over their share without objection.

At this time, Quan Lie walked out of the crowd while holding a small piece of meat in his hand. He smiled and said, “Bao Bai, you taught me how to make charcoal. This piece of meat is my thanks to you.”

The others around them also reacted. Lang Ye blamed Quan Lie for not reminding him to bring a piece of meat as well.

The charcoal made by Qi Bai was really useful for older beastmen like them. Lang Ye had put some of it in the cave last night, and he actually slept well without being woken up by the cold.

The people in the tribe were very principled. They believed that everything should be exchanged for goods. In the past, they had no property of their own, so they had no way to express their gratitude. Now it was different. They also had to go back and choose a piece of meat.

Qi Bai stepped back quickly. “Grandpa Quan Lie, how can this be? These are just some small things. I don’t need everyone’s thanks.”

“Bao Bai, today you also taught us how to make bamboo strips. We don’t know how to thank you.”

“Yes, I want to give Bao Bai a piece of meat too.”

Yang Luo said, “Quan Lie did the right thing. No one can gain knowledge for nothing. Bao Bai, you should accept the gratitude of the tribe members. Of course, the tribe will still give you extra rewards according to the regulations.

Looking at everyone’s sincere eyes, Qi Bai suddenly felt warm in his heart.

But there wasn’t much food for everyone in the tribe. He couldn’t collect everyone’s food.

Qi Bai pondered on it for a moment before saying with a smile, “Since everyone wants to thank me, why don’t you all give me some bamboo? I need a lot of bamboo, and I really can’t handle it by myself.”