Top was clearly very satisfied with the cold taro noodles; he was as happy as a child who had received a delicious candy, jumping up and down with the bowl in his hands.

It seems that only in this way can its excitement be fully unleashed; animal happiness is that simple.

I added a few more bundles of firewood to the kiln chamber and sealed the firewood inlet again with a stone slab to make the fire burn more vigorously.

I picked up the bowl of taro noodles that was placed to the side, mixed it well, and slurped it up. It still had that smooth and refreshing texture, but it was missing some chili peppers, otherwise the flavor would have been even richer.

At that moment, Top also sat down next to me in the shed, eating noodles with a bowl in his hand. As I ate my noodles, I pointed to the kiln and said to Top,

"Top, you keep an eye on the fire for me. I have some things to do."

When Top heard me point to the kiln, it knew I wanted it to continue adding firewood to the furnace.

Top, who had just received his reward, grinned and nodded happily at me, indicating that there was no problem.

This bowl of taro noodles is our lunch. In the afternoon, I still need to take out the leather that has been soaking for two days and remove the hair.

Thinking of this, I ate my noodles even faster. Time really flies here; if you don't hurry, the day will be over in a flash.

After returning to my lodgings, I took all the leather that had been soaking in the porcelain jars out.

After two days of thorough soaking, the leather had regained its original elasticity, and the wild boar hide had even turned somewhat whitish from the soaking.

I reached out and tried to pull a tuft of hair off the leather. I found that the pores had been opened up by the soaking, and the fur was easy to pull off.

Next, I took the leather outside and went to the downstream stream, far from my residence, to start plucking the hair off it.

Plucking and rinsing at the same time went more smoothly than I expected, and the running water helped me remove a lot of hair.

After removing all the hair from the leather, I took out the pot lid from the house and laid it face down on the ground.

Place the leather on a flat pot lid and begin scraping away any excess fat and bits of meat from the inside of the leather with a knife.

I used branches to prop them apart and let them drain for a while by the stream before putting them back into my basket. This time, I had eucalyptus leaves, and I planned to use a more advanced tanning process to tan the leather.

Eucalyptus leaves are rich in tannins, a special substance that is a natural tanning material compared to some chemically synthesized tannins, making it relatively environmentally friendly.

Leather tanned with vegetable tannins has certain advantages in green leather production, and its price is naturally much higher than that of ordinary leather. This type of leather is generally used as a material for luxury goods.

Tannin-tanned leather has good heat resistance, abrasion resistance and breathability.

Its unique chemical structure and tanning process make the leather's fiber structure more regular, thus giving the leather these excellent properties.

This type of leather is suitable for making high-end leather goods, such as leather shoes, bags, and clothing.

I haven't decided what to do with these leathers yet, but it's always good to process them and store them at home.

After I took the leather back to my lodging, I started collecting all the eucalyptus leaves and bark from before, filling two baskets with them.

I took out the water tank that had previously contained the leather, placed it on the stove, chopped up all the eucalyptus leaves and bark, and put them into the water tank that was filled with water.

Next, a fire was lit to boil the bark and leaves inside. After the water boiled, it was boiled for another half hour. At this point, the water had turned into a light tea color similar to black tea.

Now it's time to get the first water. I put the leather into an empty water tank, then scoop out a basin of water and set it aside to sit for a while.

When the water temperature reaches a point where it feels hot to the touch but not hot enough to burn your hand, the water temperature has reached approximately 50 to 60 degrees Celsius.

While the water is still hot, pour it into the prepared tank containing the leather. At this point, the water level should just cover the leather, completely submerging it.

Tannin molecules have multiple phenolic hydroxyl groups, which can react with active groups on the collagen fibers of the skin.

Tannin molecules bind to skin collagen fibers through various chemical bonding mechanisms such as hydrogen bonds and covalent bonds, forming a cross-linked network structure between the skin fibers.

This makes the structure of the leather fibers more stable, improving the leather's strength, durability, and water resistance.

Tanning leather involves three soaking processes, all of which are done in hot water rich in tannins. This method is also known as low-temperature water-based tanning.

The raw hides are soaked in a tannin solution. During the tanning process, factors such as the concentration of the solution, temperature, pH value, and tanning time all need to be strictly controlled.

Generally, in the early stages of tanning, the concentration of the tannin solution is gradually increased so that the tannin can fully penetrate into the leather fibers, and the temperature is usually controlled within a certain range.

The tanning process can take anywhere from several days to several weeks, depending on the thickness of the leather and the desired tanning effect.

The first sample of liquid has the lowest tannin concentration, which is suitable for initial osmosis.

After simmering for an hour and waiting for some of the water to evaporate, I took a second batch of tannin tanning liquid with a higher concentration than the first batch and poured it into the second empty water tank.

Finally, the largest amount remained, about half a tank of tannin solution. By this time, most of the tannin in the bark and leaves had been boiled away.

Remove the residue, then boil the water until it turns a deep red color. This third batch of tannin extract has the highest tannin content.

Then it takes almost a week to soak the leather, allowing it to be thoroughly tanned and matured in three solutions of varying concentrations, from light to strong.

The first soaking takes four days. After four days, the sample is taken out and its integrity is checked. If there are no problems, it is soaked in a second concentration of tannin solution for two days.

Two days later, the leather was taken out and inspected again before being soaked in a high-concentration solution for one last day.

After one day, you can take it out, rinse off the tannin solution, and stretch the leather out in a cool, shady place to dry.

Finally, secure it with a smooth wooden stick, apply glycerin to the leather, and then rub it back and forth on the wooden stick to heat it up and shape it. The finished product can then be stored in the warehouse.

After boiling out the final tannin solution, I left it in the water tank where it was boiled.

I arranged the three water tanks in a row according to their concentration, so that it would be easier for me to soak them later.

Having done all that, I'm going to check on the fired earthenware jars. This firing took longer than usual, but I think the finished product should be fine.

When we arrived at the kiln, Top was still diligently poking at the fire stick while sitting beside it. Seeing me arrive, Top threw down the stick and walked over to me.