Chapter 230: Dead End

"Where can we find the raw materials? Blue grass can be collected around the beginning of summer and the beginning of white dew. Yellow gardenia is only available in autumn. Rubia cordifolia can be harvested at this time, but it's not available here!"

The three sisters-in-law were obsessed with it, and they even discussed cooking and cutting vegetables, especially Yang Chunhua.

She was also a woman who had read a lot of books. It was rare for her to come across something she liked, so she was extremely excited and had such a strong desire to study that she wished she could go into the mountains with a backpack to look for it.

"Oh, hurry up! Chunhua, put out the fire!" Wei ran over anxiously, pulled Yang Chunhua away, and pulled the firewood out of the stove.

A strong smell of burnt food came out of the pot, and wisps of green smoke wafted out.

Mrs. Du on the stove hurriedly lifted the lid of the pot, turned the rice over with a spatula, and scooped up the thick layer of carbonized black rice at the bottom of the pot.

"I, I didn't mean it!" Yang Chunhua stammered uneasily, her face flushed.

I made braised rice today, but so much of it got burnt, what a pity!

"Oh my God, is the kitchen on fire?" Old Mrs. Su exclaimed.

While chatting with Gao on the roadside, he saw smoke coming out of his kitchen and ran home on crutches.

Entering the kitchen, the three daughters-in-law hurriedly shoveled the rice out of the pot and picked out the rice crust that had turned as black as charcoal.

"What are you doing? Do you want to burn the house down just to cook a meal?" the old lady shouted.

The three sisters-in-law were so frightened that they patted their chests and said, "Mother, can you please stop being so startled? It's frightening!"

"It's so scary! You scared me to death, didn't you? Go out and take a look, there's smoke coming out of our house!

"We worked so hard to build this new house, are you planning to burn it down?" the old lady cursed.

All three daughters-in-law can burn the food they cook. This skill is amazing!

"Mom, I'm sorry. It was my daughter-in-law who was distracted and made the fire too big. It has nothing to do with my sister-in-law and my younger sister-in-law!" Yang Chunhua took the initiative to admit her mistake.

"You?" Old Mrs. Su stared at Yang Chunhua, the words she wanted to curse stuck in her throat.

It's not like the eldest and third daughters-in-law who have been wives for twenty years. It doesn't matter if they curse at me, but it goes in one ear and out the other.

The new daughter-in-law has only been married for a few days, so it's not a good idea to say anything harsh. She was just chatting with her mother-in-law on the street, and it would be too embarrassing to turn around and scold someone else's daughter.

"Don't do that again next time!" After a long while, the old lady said this and walked away with her cane.

"Hahahaha..." The three sisters-in-law covered their mouths and laughed, and Yang Chunhua stuck out her tongue.

I did something stupid and got my two sisters-in-law scolded, but luckily my mother-in-law didn't say anything more.

"Sister, what's wrong? The house is full of smoke and fire." Gao followed and saw Old Mrs. Su coming out of the kitchen with a crutch.

"It's okay, it's okay, the firewood is wet!" Old Mrs. Su hesitated to speak, and finally laughed.

Seeing the old lady's strange expression, Gao went straight to the kitchen.

The three sisters-in-law were carrying the charcoal with a smile on their faces. There was a big bowl of rice that was so dark and yellow that it looked inedible.

"What's the matter?" Gao saw her daughter's red face.

"Mom, why are you here?" Yang Chunhua became even more embarrassed.

"Why is this rice so mushy?" Gao smelled the burnt and bitter smell coming from the rice. This kind of rice was hard to eat.

"I burned it!" Yang Chunhua pulled her mother, "I was thinking about something, and when I got distracted..."

"What are you thinking about, kid? Why are you so distracted? If you were to waste food like this, another mother-in-law would skin you alive!"

Gao poked her daughter on the forehead. She had never failed in the Wang family, so why did she become stupider after marrying into the Su family?

"Mom, I'm thinking about something important!" Yang Chunhua pulled her mother's sleeve and acted coquettishly, like when she was a girl.

"What's the important matter that has you so engrossed?" Gao looked at her daughter lovingly. It seemed that she was really living well in the Su family, and her temperament as a girl was unconsciously revealed.

"Mom, I was thinking about what to use to make paint. Either the picking season is wrong, or it doesn't grow here. Oh! What can I do?" Yang Chunhua sighed.

"What do you need the paint for? It's not cheap!" Gao was surprised.

Pigments are complicated to make, and are used in dyeing workshops and as painting materials. What would a girl want with them? I was so distracted that I even burned my rice.

"Yeah, do something very important!" Yang Chunhua hesitantly.

"You kid!" Gao laughed.

I wanted to ask more, but then I thought that this was the Su family, and strange things often appeared there. I thought it was a good thing, so I didn't ask any more questions.

"The production of pigments is complicated. If you don't use much, it's better to buy some cheaper!" Gao suggested.

"Oh, that's right! Look at me, why didn't I change my mind? I was always thinking about how to make paint!" Yang Chunhua slapped his head and laughed.

"What's going on? There's smoke coming out of our house! Are we going to make a fortune?" Su Ying came in with a smile.

While feeding silkworms in the old house, I smelled a burnt smell. I went out to see that there was smoke coming out of the kitchen, but the house was very quiet. I hurried back to take a look.

"Aying, we've found the paint!" Yang Chunhua excitedly pulled Su Ying.

"Where? Where?" Su Ying asked.

"My mother said it's cheaper to buy ready-made paints if you use less!" Yang Chunhua said.

"Oh! That's right! Why didn't I think of that?" Su Ying clapped her hands and said, "Grandma is really amazing!"

The village was poor, and everything depended on everyone's accumulation bit by bit. People also formed the habit of making everything by themselves.

Now that they had some money, they could still afford to buy some paint. After a long time of grumbling, they all reached a dead end and no one had any idea.

"There are pigments for dyes and for painting. Which one do you want?" asked Gao.

"Grandma, can you help us decide which one is better?" Su Ying expressed her idea of ​​raising natural colored silkworms.

Feeding silkworms with colored pigments and having them spit out colored silk was too unbelievable. Gao was stunned for a long time before she digested these words.

"Is this really true?" Gao's voice trembled.

I lived a life of wealth and glory in the first half of my life, and I have seen countless rare treasures, but I have never seen natural colored silk. If I can really make it, it will be an eye-opener in my life.

"The idea is fine, but I'm not sure which paint to use. Grandma is knowledgeable and experienced, so please give me some advice." Su Ying asked humbly.

In modern society, silkworms have special colored feed, but where could they find it in the Tang Dynasty thousands of years ago? The only option was to use pure pigments instead.

There are similarities and differences between dyes used in dyeing workshops and pigments used in paintings.

Traditional Chinese painting pigments are divided into 'stone' (mineral colors) and 'water/grass colors' (plant colors).

The "stone" is made by manually grinding colored ores into powder. After screening, filtering, water rinsing and sedimentation, appropriate gum, honey and other substances are added to make the mineral powder coagulate into a paste.

Due to its mineral properties, it starts with insoluble pigments such as cinnabar, azurite, malachite, orpiment, titanium dioxide, etc.

'Water color/grass color' is a paste pigment made from some plant roots and biological processing, made into juice, solidified and then added with gum and honey.

They are soluble pigments, such as gamboge, indigo, carmine, and juice green.

Ancient dyes include plant dyes, mineral dyes, and animal secretion dyes.

Plant-based dyes such as madder crimson, sedge yellow, hazelnut black, locust beige, and indigo.

Mineral pigments include muscovite, red cinnabar, black graphite, gold and silver, etc.

Animal dyes such as cochineal, lac insects, cuttlefish ink, etc.

"How about using pigment made from safflower? Safflower is the raw material for both rouge and red dye, so I think it's probably safe for silkworms to eat it.

Furthermore, red silk fabrics are the most popular. If there really were natural red silk, the fabrics would be extremely gorgeous," Gao said after a moment's thought.