Ye Feng smiled slightly. This woman was quite sensible…

"that is…"

Fu Changxiong, who was gnawing on a bone and eating a fried egg, made indistinct sounds as he spoke…

"What's so bad about it? I think it smells delicious. My brother risked his life for this, so we can't waste it..."

If you really can't eat it all, then give it all to me. I like it...

Seeing this, the others admired his appetite, and after eating a few more pieces of egg, they gave him the rest…

Seeing how much he enjoyed his meal, Ye Feng was quite impressed…

Although Fu Changxiong is a complete idiot when it comes to survival, his appetite is something every survivor would crave...

Almost anything that gets into his mouth tastes good; he's not picky at all, no wonder he's grown so big…

Half an hour later, after finishing their meal, everyone except Qi Xiaoyan, who was forced to rest by Ye Feng, started working again…

And her job was to fan the fire…

Because the charcoal smoking process, even in a professional carbonization furnace, generally takes 5 to 8 hours.

But this kind of earthen kiln takes twice as long... even a whole day...

That means he'd have to get up at night to add firewood to the stove, and Ye Feng didn't want to go through that.

So he went into the jungle and picked some palm leaves, cutting down the tree trunks along with them.

This plant is an excellent material for making fans. Simply cut off all the remaining leaves from the trunk, following its position to form a fan shape…

A simple palm-leaf fan was thus completed.

The process was very simple, so he made four in a row.

In the afternoon, Ye Feng and Fu Changxiong were in one group, and Qi Xiaojie and Liu Sisi were in another group…

Each group takes turns fanning the furnace opening for ten minutes at a time, then they switch to another group...

With the help of the wind, the temperature will rise significantly, and the process will accelerate rapidly...

Because of the grate, not too much open flame will burn, and the charcoal smoking will be more even.

Ye Feng originally wanted to make a bellows, but after considering the costs, from finding materials to manufacturing and drying...

With all these procedures involved, it might not be finished until dark...

He estimated that if about 60% of the wood in the furnace could be made into charcoal, it would be enough to melt iron and steel…

All afternoon, the two groups kept switching back and forth... The scorching heat and acrid smoke around the stove made them all suffer terribly...

In less than half an hour, everyone's clothes were almost soaked with sweat.

The wind that was fanned out carried a scorching heat...

However, the more this happened, the happier Ye Feng became, because it meant that his smelting furnace had been made very successfully.

Finally, around 6 PM... with Ye Feng's group fanning themselves...

A highly distinctive smell of burnt charcoal wafted into everyone's noses...

"Hey! Brother Feng! It's done! It's done!"

Liu Sisi shouted excitedly...

Ye Feng's lips curled into a smile. After fanning himself for a few more minutes, he stopped and pulled out the burning firewood...

"Quick, help me move that thing off the chimney..."

Upon hearing this, Fu Changxiong and Qi Xiaojie quickly cleared away all the branches and leaves...

Immediately, a thick plume of smoke billowed out…

"Cough cough cough..."

The two were choked and coughed repeatedly…

Ye Feng didn't rush to check; at this moment, the temperature inside the furnace was at least 800 degrees Celsius...

So, after waiting for about ten minutes, Ye Feng excitedly went to the stove...

Using two twigs, he carefully removed a long strip of charcoal from inside...

This piece is about 30 centimeters long, completely black, with tiny sparks still burning on it…

Ye Feng inspected the charcoal thoroughly, then threw it on the ground and gently stepped on it…

"Click!"

With a crisp crack, after pulling away, the charcoal broke in two in the middle...

And the center of these two pieces of charcoal was also pitch black...

This means the charcoal is completely carbonized and meets the required standards…

"Hahaha…"

Ye Feng suddenly burst into laughter. He had... succeeded in taking the most crucial and difficult step...

Liu Sisi also rushed forward, picked up a small piece, squeezed it, and instantly grinned from ear to ear...

"Brother Feng, this charcoal is amazing! Look, it's like black crystal. It's definitely top-quality charcoal!"

Ye Feng nodded. He learned how to make charcoal from watching videos.

I thought I would fail at least once or twice, but to my surprise, I succeeded on the first try, and very successfully at that.

Unable to hide his excitement, he gave the order:

"Quick, quick, take them all out and check them..."

Upon hearing this, everyone started picking out the charcoal pieces, and in just a few minutes, all of the more than one hundred pieces were removed…

After more than ten minutes of inspection and screening, this batch of charcoal had a success rate of nearly 80%...

Failed charcoal is simply charcoal that has not been completely carbonized; it is considered inferior charcoal.

However, it can still be used as a raw material for firing ceramic utensils...

Ye Feng didn't stop for a moment, throwing the inferior charcoal back into the stove, arranging it neatly in a circle, leaving only an empty space in the center.

The rest of the charcoal was left to air dry naturally...

Then, the earthenware pot and lid that had been made in the afternoon were placed in the center of the charcoal, completely surrounding it…

The earthenware jars were placed in a cool, shady place throughout the afternoon, and by now they are almost completely air-dried.

After finishing the preparations, he started the fire again…

Helpless, the group had no choice but to repeat the afternoon's steps, taking turns fanning the air...

Their commotion that afternoon aroused Qi Xiaoyan's curiosity, who was inside the house.

She slowly walked out of the treehouse, and when she saw the half-person-high smelting furnace, she couldn't help but raise an eyebrow...

Made entirely by hand from mud, this is the first stove I've ever made...

This is no longer something that can be achieved simply by having abundant survival knowledge; it requires the rational application of knowledge and careful calculation…

And you need to have strong hands-on skills to do it.

This Ye Feng is truly extraordinary. Following him, I might actually survive for 100 days…

After thinking it over, Qi Xiaoyan gave a genuine smile of admiration…

Ye Feng, however, was completely unaware of this; he was intently observing the fire...

Before we knew it, the sun had disappeared behind the mountains…

But everyone kept working with torches lit, and as long as Ye Feng kept moving, no one dared to mention the word "rest".

Heaven rewards those who persevere; their efforts finally paid off...

More than two hours later, Ye Feng looked at the red-hot pottery jar in the furnace and nodded in satisfaction…

He then signaled to the others to extinguish the flames...

He didn't know if the firing was successful yet; only by waiting for the pottery to cool could he determine its quality...

"Everyone, you've had a hard day. Go get some water and take a shower."

Upon hearing this, they all breathed a long sigh of relief…

They drank two large jugs of water today, and the act of wiping away sweat never stopped...

It was finally over. The group immediately ran to the pond and jumped in…