Chapter 49: People from the Cement Highlands Tribe Arrive
Limestone, clay, and slag were mixed together and calcined at high temperatures, turning into a grayish-white powder that looked very similar to the cement he had seen in modern times.
Different material ratios result in subtle differences in color and powder particle size.
Yu Yan graded these finished products from one to ten, recorded them, and made it easy to check them later.
As he inspected the results, everyone watched quietly with curiosity.
Their eyesight is good; they can see the differences between these "white and gray" colors.
But what can be done with it all burned to ashes? They couldn't think of anything.
Finally, Yu Yan watched the whole thing carefully from beginning to end and said, "Can someone get me some water?"
Xin Yu said, "I'll go."
He fetched the water and placed it on the ground.
Yu Yan took out the scoop she had prepared beforehand, scooped up some water, walked to the first pile of cement, slowly poured it onto it with one hand, and stirred it in circles with a wooden stick with the other.
A shocking scene unfolded: when this "white ash" was mixed with water, it quickly solidified from a paste into lumps!
"How could this happen?" Yin Qing exclaimed in surprise.
Yu Yan didn't answer. After waiting a moment, she tapped the hardened cement surface with a small stick, making a "thump-thump" sound.
Xin Yu, who was closest to him, also stared wide-eyed: "This...it turned into stone?"
“It’s not stone; you can call this cement. Finished cement can be harder than stone,” Yu Yan said.
Lan Xiu's eyes flashed: "If that's the case, cement slabs are more useful than stone slabs, and you can build as big as you want."
Cangfeng: "It can even be flatter than a stone!"
Lanxiu: "Yes, the shape can be controlled."
Upon hearing this, the others gasped: "Then we can use cement to make tools! Like a stone mill, we can just build one out of cement, right? It's convenient and saves a lot of trouble!"
"Making cement blocks is fine too!"
...
People no longer underestimated this unassuming "white ash" and enthusiastically imagined its wonderful uses.
They were so happy that even though they had worked all day, they didn't show any signs of fatigue on their faces.
Cang Feng looked intently at Yu Yan's profile and said, "Now I understand why you were so determined to produce cement."
Xin Yu was also very excited: "I have a strong feeling that our tribe is going to change drastically because of cement."
Yin Qing, who was standing next to her, said with a smile, "Hasn't our tribe changed a lot already?"
Everyone understood his meaning, and their gazes toward Yu Yan were extremely ardent.
Yu Yan didn't participate in their discussion, but turned around and called Lan Xiu over.
"You are like me just now, with cement, water poured little by little, and I will record it."
"good."
Lan Xiu's hands were steady, and he perfectly completed Yu Yan's "task".
Yu Yan held her notebook and charcoal pencil, taking notes intently.
This time, he drew simple charts in his notebook to make it easier to compare the data.
After all the cement had solidified, Yu Yan began testing its hardness.
Soon, Yu Yan discovered that if you use 20% to 30% quicklime, the cement produced from that quicklime is the hardest.
Even the strongest orcs would find it difficult to smash them.
This discovery has once again shocked everyone.
"Beast God, can you really harden something like this just by mixing ash and water?"
"This isn't ordinary ash; it's ash from burning white charcoal!"
"Whether it's limestone or clay, our tribe has plenty! We also have no shortage of metal slag! We can have as much cement as we want in the future!"
"Ahhh, I'm so excited!!"
"I knew Yu Yan could do it!"
Yu Yan also showed a relieved smile.
At this stage of the experiment, it can be considered that the experiment is more than half successful.
The remaining question is which type of clay, when added, produces better quality cement.
Yu Yan asked a strong orc for help to test this batch of the hardest cement from multiple angles, and temporarily concluded that "the cement made from the tribe's red clay is the best."
Time flies when you're fully focused on something.
When I came to my senses, it was already half dark.
Yu Yan patted the lime off her hands and said with a smile, "That's enough for today. Thank you all for your hard work. Go back to the tribe, cook and rest. We'll continue testing tomorrow."
His face was covered in dust, but it did not diminish his handsomeness in the slightest.
Looking into his bright, star-like black eyes, everyone's hearts were illuminated.
It seems that as long as he's there, all the difficulties ahead will be resolved.
The future is full of hope.
...
They traveled together and happily returned to their tribe.
The good news of the successful cement production quickly reached the ears of everyone in the tribe.
Many people brought out the best food from their homes and prepared a sumptuous dinner to celebrate.
Yu Yan and the others had a good meal that night.
He used the Sichuan peppercorns that Fan Su and the others had sent to make a dish of boiled pork slices, which the three of them thoroughly enjoyed.
Having finally managed to free his mouth, he asked Feng Gui, "Father, how did Chief Cangfeng's talks with the Shenhu tribe go today?"
Feng Gui: "It went very smoothly. When Fan Su and the others left, they took a batch of white charcoal and aluminum ore with them. Sen Bai also went with them to teach them metallurgy and forging."
Yu Yan nodded.
Feng Gui sighed, "Although Senbo is also a powerful orc, his strength is not as good as Cangfeng's, and his hunting skills are not as good as Moye's. He used to be not very noticeable in the tribe. I really didn't expect that his metallurgical skills are so high."
Lan Xiu: "He is indeed amazing. Yu Yan didn't even teach him, yet he can create jewelry of different shapes from aluminum ore."
Yu Yan smiled, a phrase coming to mind—"everyone has their own expertise." Senbai's talent might lie in forging.
There are also some orcs in the tribe who are very talented in weaving and dyeing.
For example, Jinxia's father was so skilled at weaving that people from several nearby tribes were eager to trade with him. He hadn't gone out to gather resources for a while, and he could earn enough to support his family just by weaving cloth.
Perhaps in the not-too-distant future, there will be more and more "professions" in the beast world.
Thinking of this, Yu Yan smiled with hope.
After dinner, Feng Gui and Lan Xiu told Yu Yan to rest while they went to wash the dishes, feed the sheep, and feed the ducks.
Yu Yan couldn't stand by and watch with a clear conscience, so she got up and went to check on the yogurt he was fermenting.
The moment he lifted the lid, he smelled a faint sour odor.
"..."
Undeterred, he poured out the goat milk, which smelled even worse, and strange little bubbles floated on the surface.
Yu Yan sighed and walked out, carrying the jar.
"Father, Lanxiu, I'm going to pour out the spoiled animal milk!"
He had just reached the water's edge with the jar when he heard light footsteps approaching.
The children asked affectionately, "Brother Yu Yan, what are you doing?"
Yu Yan looked up and saw that each of them was holding a soccer ball. The one he had brought with him at the beginning was already worn out from being kicked around so much in Qiu Ze's hands.
"Washing the jars? Why are you still out playing so late?"
Shuoxing said, "We're not here to play. My father sent me to call you. Jiang Kuo and Chief Shuyu are at my house right now."
Yu Yan: "Huh? It's so late?"
"yes."
"Wait a moment, I'll finish washing the jars and then we'll leave."
Qiu Ze, who had somehow gotten closer, peeked out and asked cutely, "Brother Yu Yan, is this animal milk?"
"Yes, but it's broken."
"What a pity, was it left out for too long?"
"It fermented too slowly and went bad before it was fully fermented."
What is fermentation?
"Fermentation is..."
After cleaning the jar, Yu Yan led the children back, explaining things to them as she went.
After putting their things away, he took a few bowls and poured a bowl of freshly boiled goat milk for each of them.
"Drink it."
The children's eyes lit up, and they all said in unison, "Thank you, Brother Yu Yan!"
After they finished drinking, Yu Yan went with them to the big banyan tree where Cang Feng lived.
It was completely dark, and the forest was thick with fog. People lit torches to dispel the darkness.
Yu Yan glanced around and asked, "Clan Chief Jiang Kuo, Clan Chief Shu Yu, why did you bring people with you?"
Jiang Kuo looked at him with resentment: "Yu Yan, tell me, haven't our two tribes been dealing with each other for a long time? We were the first to exchange the cloth you wove with you."
Yu Yan: "Yes."
"So, do our two tribes have a good relationship?"
Yu Yan had a pretty good idea of why he came, and nodded with a smile, "Yes."
"If that's the case, why don't you come to us first if you want to find people to do the work!" Jiang Kuo was extremely anxious.
Shuyu chimed in resentfully, "And our tribe, Yuyan, didn't you say we were good friends?"
Lin Ye, standing behind Jiang Kuo, said, "What the Deep Lake Tribe can do, we can do too!"
Yu Yan raised her hand to reassure them: "Everyone, don't rush, sit down and talk slowly."
Cang Feng stepped in to smooth things over: "This is also my fault. Chief Fan Su and the others happened to be coming to deliver something to Yu Yan, so I told them first."
Jiang Kuo gave a light snort: "It is indeed your fault."
He then looked at Yu Yan: "We are all your friends. Whatever others have, we should have too."
Yu Yan smiled and said, "Okay, okay."
Jiang Kuo and Shu Yu were finally happy to receive his promise.
Yu Yan asked everyone to sit down and watched Cang Feng maneuver among them.
Xin Yu poured water for everyone using a beautifully crafted ceramic bowl newly fired in the tribe, and then sat down next to Yu Yan.
The attitudes of the surrounding tribes show that the peninsula tribes have become the central tribes of this land.
Other tribes all wanted to build good relations with them, not wanting to be left behind by the other tribes.
So the conversation went very smoothly. Cangfeng only needed to repeat what he had said to Fansu that afternoon.
With all the conditions agreed upon, Jiang Kuo and Shu Yu left with their people, completely satisfied.
Yu Yan also said goodbye to Cang Feng and Xin Yu and returned home.
The next day, the weather was cloudy, and the smell in the air told Yu Yan that it would rain in the afternoon.
He milked the goat before eating breakfast.
He was getting tired of drinking milk twice a day, so he stubbornly continued to ferment yogurt in a jar.
This time, he learned from yesterday's lesson that fermentation was too slow. After sealing the mouth of the jar, he found a piece of animal hide and wrapped the jar with it.
"Yu Yan, are you done? Dinner's ready." Feng Gui called to him.
"alright!"
He quickly finished his breakfast, waved goodbye to Feng Gui, and called Lan Xiu to go to the lime kiln to continue burning cement.
This time, he mainly tested the impact of factors such as the rate of temperature rise, humidity, air content, and type of clay on cement quality.
Conducting experiments requires repeating steps over and over again, and there can be no carelessness whatsoever, which is supposed to be somewhat tedious.
However, he was inspired by the many people working with him and their united efforts, which also made him enthusiastic.
Especially since he received positive feedback in every experiment, he became even more proactive in his work.
After three days of hard work, although the yogurt had not fermented successfully, they finally produced the most satisfactory cement.
Yu Yan lined the basket with large leaves, then filled it with cement ash, closed the lid, and had Lan Xiu transform into his beast form to help carry it to his house. She also asked Mo Ye to bring over some fine sand.
After arriving home, Yu Yan pointed to the stone stove and said, "Lanxiu, can you help me take this apart?"
"good."
Everyone was curious about what Yu Yan was going to do and offered to help Lan Xiu.
On the other side, Yu Yan took out his iron knife, sharpened the blade, and whittled out a wooden scraper.
After the stone stove was dismantled and the sand was transported, Mo Ye, who was transporting sand, returned.
Yu Yan poured cement and sand onto the ground, added water, and began mixing the cement.
He didn't know the exact proportions, but if one ingredient was too much, he would add the other two.
Finally, the cement was mixed, and the process of "playing with mud" was quite stress-relieving.
Yu Yan used a scraper to apply cement to the stones, then piled the stones into a circle, adding layers upon layers to create the basic shape of the stove.
At this point, everyone finally understood what Yu Yan was doing.
"Cement can be used like this?"
"My God, I only knew that cement was very hard after it hardened, I never thought it could be used to bond stones!"
"This stove must be incredibly sturdy!"
People stared intently at the nascent cement stove.
Only Lanxiu offered a reminder: "Yu Yan, the cement on the ground looks like it's about to solidify."
Yu Yan quickly turned her head to look, and indeed, the edges had turned into lumps of cement!
This won't do! His cement stove is only half-built!
Yu Yan thought for a moment, put down the scraper, and asked, "Who wants to try? Just keep laying stones on top."
Cangfeng eagerly said, "I want to."
Yu Yan handed him the scraper, saying, "It's yours now."
"Yes, I'll hurry. What about you?"
"I'll go get some plaster powder."
Plaster powder is susceptible to moisture, so Yu Yan sealed it in a jar.
He brought over a jar and poured the plaster powder inside onto the pile of mixed cement.
He gave Lanxiu a look, and without saying a word, Lanxiu understood and started mixing the cement.
After adding gypsum powder, the setting speed of the cement did indeed decrease.
Yu Yan breathed a sigh of relief: "This time it's okay. Before, we were testing with small piles of cement, and the change in the speed of solidification wasn't obvious."
Xuefei asked, "So it's best to mix cement with gypsum powder before using it?"
Yu Yan: "Yes."
Yin Qing: "Can I just grind gypsum stone into powder?"
Yu Yan: "I'm afraid that won't work; it needs to be calcined plaster."
"Ah..." Everyone looked troubled. They didn't know how to burn it either.
Yu Yan smiled and comforted them, "Don't worry, I'll teach you later."
"Thank you so much, Yu Yan! You're so kind!" They were deeply moved.
Yu Yan: "If you guys learn it, it'll save me a lot of trouble, isn't that great, haha."
Everyone knew that what they did for Yu Yan was far less than what Yu Yan gave them.
At this moment, they desperately wanted to repay Yu Yan.
So, Cangfeng, who was diligently laying stones, caught their attention.
"Chieftain, you've already built one circle, let me do it."
"...There weren't many stones after going around, and I hadn't even warmed the scraper in my hand yet."
"Oh dear, you're tired, you need to rest! Let me take over!"
"I should be the one here; I haven't been able to do much work these past few days."
"Bring me the scraper!"
"Hey! Why are you guys grabbing at me?! Yu Yan, do something about them!"
Seeing how fiercely they were fighting over the prize, Yu Yan couldn't help but chuckle and moved a little further away to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.
Later, it turned out that his worries were unnecessary.
These people were so careful they didn't even touch the cement stove.
Amidst playful bickering, the cement stove was finally completed. It was a square shape with an opening at the top so that a pot could be placed underneath. The inside of the cement stove was coated with yellow mud to prevent the cement from cracking when heated directly.
In addition to the opening for burning firewood, Yu Yan also asked them to leave a space for building a chimney.
A simple cement stove suddenly became a novelty.
First, Cangfeng and the others stood around and watched for a long time. Later, the news spread throughout the tribe, and everyone, young and old, came to visit and praised the cement stove.
Yu Yan could see the envy and longing in their eyes, and said with a smile, "Our tribe has been burning charcoal, and soon we will have a lot of cement. Everyone who wants it will have it."
Everyone looked at Yu Yan with gratitude, their emotions lingering for a long time.
"Yu Yan, thank you."
"The peninsula tribes are so fortunate to have you."
Thank you so much.
Everyone lingered under the ginkgo tree for half a day, until the sun set, before reluctantly leaving.
The following day, Yu Yan sent others to collect limestone, clay, and gypsum, while he led the people to calcine cement and gypsum.
In just a few days, they had gathered a lot of materials.
During this time, he also took the opportunity to burn a batch of quicklime from limestone.
Feng Gui told him that there were too many bird eggs brought back from the Mingyuan tribe last time, and they would spoil if they were not eaten. Yu Yan was considering making preserved eggs with quicklime.
But before he could even make a move, new guests arrived at the tribe.
A group of massive leopard-like beastmen stopped outside the peninsula tribe's habitat.
Leading the pack was a leopard over seven meters tall, with a lithe build and pure black fur. Its bright yellow eyes were fixed intently on the tall, lush forest ahead.
The patrolling orcs of the peninsula tribe hovered in the sky and introduced them: "This is where we live."
The black panther's name is Heng Qing, and he is the chieftain of the highland tribe.
He turned to look at his haggard orc companion on his back and said with undisguised heartache, "Cheng Liu, we've finally arrived."
Cheng Liu gave a soft "hmm," his two slender hands covering his slightly protruding belly. He looked up and asked hopefully, "Can you take us to see Doctor Yu Yan now?"
The term "doctor" was something they learned from other tribes when they came here.
Patrol Orc: "I just sent a message to Yu Yan. He's waiting for you at home. Come with me."
"Thank you."
The patrolling orcs led them across the altar plaza toward the ginkgo tree.
The people of the peninsula tribes looked at these guests with curiosity.
The people of the highland tribes were also observing and assessing the peninsula tribes.
The short journey left them feeling chilled to the bone.
How come the peninsula tribes have so many wonderful things they've never seen before? Many of them even have metal knives tucked into their belts!
A metal knife!!!
Will the supplies they brought still be able to move Yu Yan?
When Cheng Liu saw Yu Yan, his face was completely bloodless.
He had barely opened his mouth when his voice choked with emotion: "Dr. Yu Yan, please save the baby in my belly."
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