Meanwhile, on the other side of the valley, in Lin Feng's cabin, a completely different scene unfolded.

Lin Feng had just finished his most important task of the day—firing glass.

He was sitting in front of the warm fireplace, wearing a simple vest made of animal hide.

The fire in the fireplace was burning brightly, crackling and baking the whole cabin warmly.

On the small wooden table in front of him were several glass products he had just made: a glass cup with a slightly rough but fairly regular shape, and an oil lamp shade with a simpler structure but extremely practical function.

The wick of the oil lamp was made from a small amount of rubbed dried moss and fine hemp thread, soaked in lamp oil refined from animal fat.

At this moment, a bright yellow flame was dancing at the top of the lamp wick. Although the flame was not large, it was steady and persistent, illuminating a corner of the cabin.

The dim light shone through the slightly cloudy glass lampshade, casting a soft and warm glow that dispelled the darkness and cold outside the window.

Lin Feng picked up the still-warm glass, which contained a hot drink he had brewed with wild fruits and herbs. Although it tasted a bit bitter, in this environment, being able to drink a hot drink was already a great pleasure.

He took a small sip, feeling the warmth flow from his throat to his stomach, dispelling the last trace of coldness in his body.

A satisfied smile appeared on his face.

Making glass was another remarkable achievement he accomplished after coming into this world, besides building wooden houses and firing pottery.

This process is far more complex and difficult than imagined.

Everything has to start with the most basic raw materials.

Lin Feng knew that the main raw materials for making glass were quartz sand, soda ash, and limestone.

He spent several days carefully searching for quartz sand in the nearby mountain streams.

He needed white or light-colored sand with uniform particles and few impurities.

Fortunately, the mountain range had good quartz deposits, and he found a piece of quartz sand of quite good quality on the side of a dry riverbed.

He carried the sand back to the cabin in animal skin bags, then washed it repeatedly with clean water to remove the mud, humus, and other impurities.

This process consumed a lot of his physical strength and time; just washing and drying the sand took him nearly three days.

Next is soda ash, also known as sodium carbonate, which is not easily obtained directly in nature.

Lin Feng thought of wood ash. The ash from burning certain plants, such as those growing in saline-alkali soil, or certain seaweed, is rich in potassium carbonate and sodium carbonate.

He collected a large amount of dried mugwort, ferns, and some plants that he did not recognize but which turned white ash when burned.

He piled them up and burned them thoroughly to obtain wood ash. Then, he used an earthenware pot to soak the wood ash in hot water, filtered out insoluble impurities, and obtained a filtrate containing potassium carbonate and sodium carbonate.

Then comes the long process of boiling and evaporation.

He poured the filtrate into a ceramic basin, placed it over a fire, and slowly heated it to allow the water to evaporate little by little, eventually precipitating out white powdery crystals.

These crystals are mainly potassium carbonate, but also contain a certain amount of sodium carbonate, which can be used as a flux to lower the melting point of quartz sand.

To increase the soda ash content, he specifically sought out plants that grew in slightly saline-alkali soil, whose ash contained a higher sodium carbonate content.

Limestone, also known as calcium carbonate, is relatively easier to obtain.

He found some white, soft rocks at the foot of the mountain, and after a simple tapping and identification, he determined that they were limestone.

He smashed the limestone into small pieces and then calcined them in a simple earthen kiln.

High temperatures will cause calcium carbonate to decompose and produce calcium oxide, which is quicklime.

Quicklime is a glass stabilizer, increasing its chemical stability and mechanical strength. Calcination of limestone also requires a large amount of fuel and patience; the temperature inside the kiln must be high enough and maintained for a sufficiently long time.

Once all the raw materials are ready, the next step is batching and smelting.

Lin Feng mixed the processed quartz sand, wood ash extract, and calcined lime powder together in approximate proportions.

Mastering this ratio is crucial; too much or too little of any component will affect the quality of the glass and may even lead to melting failure.

He also figured out a feasible ratio through many small-scale experiments.

Melting glass requires extremely high temperatures, typically between 1,200 and 1,500 degrees Celsius.

The kiln he used to fire pottery clearly didn't reach the required temperature.

To this end, Lin Feng spent several more days renovating and upgrading the original earthen kiln.

He raised the kiln body, thickened the kiln walls, and improved the ventilation structure, creating a simple animal skin bellows to force airflow and increase the combustion temperature inside the kiln.

He also specifically sought out some clay with high refractory properties to repair the inner wall of the kiln.

After everything was ready, Lin Feng carefully placed the mixed ingredients into a small crucible made of refractory clay.

He successfully fired this crucible after numerous trials, and it had to be able to withstand extremely high temperatures without cracking.

Then he started to light the fire in the kiln.

He first ignited the fire with dry, fine firewood, then gradually added large pieces of hardwood. The flames roared inside the kiln, while he continuously pumped the bellows, sending a steady stream of air into the kiln.

The temperature inside the kiln continued to rise, and the color of the flames gradually changed from the initial orange-red to a bright orange-yellow, and finally tended towards a dazzling incandescent color.

This was a long and agonizing wait.

Lin Feng had to constantly monitor the fire inside the kiln, adding fuel continuously and maintaining the strength of the blower. Sweat soaked his clothes, and his face was flushed red from the kiln fire.

Several hours later, Lin Jin inserted a fire probe made of refractory clay and carefully inserted it into the kiln through the observation hole to observe the changes in the raw materials inside the crucible.

At first, the mixture simply became hot and red-hot. Gradually, as the temperature rose further, the raw materials began to melt slowly, changing from a powdery state to a viscous paste with bubbles rising to the surface.

These bubbles are gases produced by the decomposition of impurities in the raw materials or by chemical reactions. They must be removed, otherwise they will affect the transparency and strength of the glass.

He waited for a long time until the mixture in the crucible had completely turned into a liquid, and the color had become relatively clear and bright, and the bubbles had been greatly reduced, before he judged that the melting process was basically complete.

This process was full of uncertainties, and he even failed several times. Sometimes the temperature was not high enough and the raw materials did not melt completely; other times the crucible broke at high temperature, causing him to fail.

Now, we've finally reached the most crucial shaping stage—blowing.

Lin Feng didn't have a proper wind instrument. He used a hollow, thin ironwood branch, wrapped the end with a thick layer of refractory clay, and repeatedly sintered and hardened it to make a simple wind instrument. Although crude, it was usable.

He carefully inserted the tip of the "blowpipe" into the crucible, dipping it into a small clump of molten glass that was as sticky as maltose and radiating intense heat.

Then quickly remove the blowpipe and gently roll it on another flat stone slab to initially shape the glass and make its surface temperature uniform.

Next, he put the other end of the blowpipe in his mouth and began to slowly blow air into it.

This is a process that requires precise control. If the air is blown too forcefully, the glass bulb is prone to bursting; if the air is blown too slowly, the glass will easily cool and harden.

He was completely focused, sensing the ductility and temperature changes of the molten glass.

A small, orange-red glass bubble slowly formed at the tip of his blowpipe and gradually expanded.

He blew air into the glass while constantly rotating the blowpipe to prevent the molten glass from sagging and deforming due to gravity.

He stopped blowing air once the glass bubble reached the desired size.

Then, he used some simple tools—two pieces of plywood carved from wet wood, or a small stick made of ironwood—to shape the glass bubble, which was still in a plastic state.

He wanted to make a cup first. He gently pressed a wet wooden board against the bottom of the glass bulb to form a flat bottom.

Then he used another wooden stick dipped in water to gently tap the top of the glass bulb, and then used a knife to cut a slit along that slit; this slit became the rim of the glass. He then used a wet wooden tool to smooth the rim as much as possible.

This process was fraught with challenges. The glass cooled very quickly, and he had to shape it in an extremely short time.

If the movements are even slightly slow, or the force is not properly controlled, all efforts will be in vain.

The first few he made were either oddly shaped or simply shattered.

When making the lampshade, he used a similar method, only the glass bubble he blew was larger and more like a cylinder or an inverted bowl. The bottom was left uncut or only a small hole was made to fix the wick holder.

Once the shape of the glassware is roughly complete, there is one more crucial step – annealing.

Newly made glass has a large temperature difference between the inside and outside, and extremely high internal stress. If cooled rapidly, it is very prone to cracking. It must be placed in an annealing furnace at a slightly lower temperature (but still several hundred degrees Celsius) to allow it to cool slowly and evenly.

Lin Feng specially built a small annealing kiln with good heat preservation next to the main kiln.

He carefully moved the newly formed glass product into the annealing furnace, then sealed the furnace opening and let it stay inside for more than ten hours, or even a day, to slowly cool to room temperature.

After countless failures and attempts, and after expending a great deal of energy and materials, Lin Feng finally succeeded in making a few decent glass products.

Although they appear rough, cloudy, and even have tiny bubbles and streaks compared to the crystal-clear glassware produced in modern factories, they are undoubtedly a remarkable achievement in this primitive wilderness environment.

Looking at the oil lamp emitting a warm glow on the table, and the glass that could be used to drink water, Lin Feng felt a great sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.

These are not just a few items, but the crystallization of his wisdom and hard work, and proof of his victory over nature and improvement of the living environment.

He lay on his bed, which he had built himself from planks and animal hides. The planks were covered with thick hay and soft animal hides, and the firelight from the fireplace shone on his face. He was covered with a warm animal hide blanket.

Although the light from an oil lamp was not as bright as that of a modern electric light, it was enough to dispel the darkness and bring a touch of civilization.

At that moment, he felt incredibly warm and at peace.

However, at this moment, his thoughts involuntarily drifted back to the past that had caused him unbearable pain.

His first love, a woman named Li Man, was once as pure as an angel in his heart, but was eventually proven to be a heartless viper.

He was young then, just entering society, and full of beautiful fantasies about love.

He met Li Man at a friend's gathering.

She was beautiful, gentle, and understanding—almost exactly what he imagined his ideal partner to be. He quickly fell in love and began a passionate pursuit of her.

He worked tirelessly to give her a better life and to start a family with her as soon as possible.

He leaves home before dawn every day, braving the scorching sun and the wind and rain, traversing the streets and alleys of the city.

During the lunch and dinner rush, he didn't even have time to drink water. His clothes were soaked with sweat, and his legs ached from riding for so long. When he returned to his cramped rented room at night, he was often too exhausted to even move a finger.

He gave most of his monthly income to Li Man, euphemistically calling it "joint savings for our future."

He kept only a little money for himself, barely enough to eat and pay rent. He never bought himself a new piece of clothing, and never ate a decent meal out.

He always thought that as long as he could make Li Man happy and realize their shared dream as soon as possible, it would be worth any amount of suffering.

However, his efforts for Li Man did not receive the reward he deserved.

Li Man accepted his money without a second thought, but grew increasingly cold towards him. When he tried to hold her hand, she would subtly avoid him.

He wanted to hug her, but she would make all sorts of excuses to refuse. He thought it was because he wasn't doing enough, so he worked even harder and tried even more humbly to please her.

He naively believed that as long as he treated her well enough, he would eventually win her over.

It wasn't until one day, when a debt collection call came to him, that he learned that Li Man had actually borrowed hundreds of thousands of yuan in high-interest loans in his name.

She squandered all that money on buying luxury goods and satisfying her insatiable vanity.

When he confronted Li Man with the debt collection notice, she responded with unusual indifference and coldness.

She told him that she had never loved him and that she only approached him because he seemed honest and easy to fool and could provide her with financial support.

Now that he is no longer of any use to her, she naturally won't waste any more time on him.

At that moment, Lin Feng felt as if his whole world had collapsed.

All his efforts, all his love, all his dreams, have become a huge joke.

He not only lost his so-called love, but also became burdened with an unbearable huge debt.

To pay off his accumulating debts, he had to work even more frantically, sleeping only three or four hours a day, operating like a tireless machine.

Those days were the darkest and most desperate period of his life. He experienced the coldness of human relationships and saw through the fickleness of the world.

That experience completely changed him. He no longer believed in love, and he no longer easily trusted anyone, especially women.

"I was so stupid in the past..."

Lin Feng muttered to himself, a hint of pain and self-mockery flashing in his eyes: "For the sake of this illusory so-called love, I've made myself so pathetic, like a dog wagging its tail and begging for mercy!"

He raised the glass in his hand and downed the remaining hot drink in one gulp. The bitter liquid slid down his throat, yet it made him feel incredibly clear-headed.

"I, Lin Feng, will never make that foolish mistake again!"

His gaze hardened and turned cold. "In this world, you can only rely on yourself. So-called feelings are just constraints and burdens."

He glanced at the dark night sky outside the window, as if he could see through the darkness and see the trembling women in the cave.

He felt no sympathy for them, only deep vigilance and disgust.

In his view, those women were no different from Li Man, whom he had met before. They were more glamorous and better at pretending, but they were the same at heart.

Their presence will only disrupt his peaceful life and bring him unnecessary trouble.

Therefore, he chose to ignore them and keep his distance from them.

He just wanted to live his life quietly, establish his own order, and enjoy this freedom and tranquility undisturbed.

The fire in the fireplace was still burning, and the lamplight was still flickering.

Lin Feng placed the glass on the table, making a crisp sound. He pulled the animal skin blanket over himself closer and closed his eyes.

That night, he slept exceptionally well. Because he knew that everything he possessed was created by his own hands, utterly real and utterly reliable.

Those past hurts and betrayals will only make him stronger and more clear-headed.

The night in the wilderness was long and cold. For the six women in the cave, it was agonizing.

For Lin Feng, inside the wooden cabin, however, it was a rare moment of peace and contentment.

Two completely different lifestyles stand in stark contrast on this pristine land.

The gears of fate continue to turn slowly, and no one knows what tomorrow will bring.