Chapter 20 Soap is made by picking flowers and digging up grass for dyeing.
--Soap!
Yu Yan knew that oil and alkali could react, but she had never tried it before, so she explored it step by step.
The time it took for the animal oil to cool was rather long, so he prepared the alkaline water, and Lan Xiu also finished roasting the ribs.
"Father, let's dry some animal meat together later. Let's eat something first!"
Feng Gui: "Okay."
As the sun slowly set in the west, the entire forest grew dark, and the chirping of insects could be heard.
Using the remaining firelight from the hearth, the three of them ate the meat that Lanxiu had grilled.
The ribs are first marinated in salt and cherry jam, then roasted, and are infused with a savory, fruity, and woody aroma inside and out.
Lanxiu had a good grasp of the heat; the oil was fully activated, giving it a glossy and bright color.
Some parts are roasted more intensely, resulting in a firmer texture and an extremely tempting dark brown color.
Ah, it smells so good! Yu Yan's mouth was already watering uncontrollably after just one sniff.
His dark eyes shone brightly, and he opened his mouth, tearing off a piece of flesh.
"Mmm! Crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, so delicious!" he exclaimed, shaking his head in praise.
As you chew, the juices from the ribs burst open, like a torrent rushing into your mouth.
The sweet and sour aroma of cherries perfectly balances the flavors, making the roasted meat rich but not greasy.
His tongue felt as if it had undergone a high-end spa treatment; he ate with obvious enjoyment, unable to stop eating.
Feng Gui also praised the jam-roasted meat: "It's really delicious, fresh and tender, and the sweet and sour taste is really appetizing. I thought I was full, but now I can still gnaw on two more pieces."
Lan Xiu: "It seems like it wasn't grilled enough."
Yu Yan hugged the ribs and laughed heartily: "We've used up all the jam we made today, but I picked a lot of small red berries. If you like, we can make more tomorrow morning."
Feng Gui: "Sure, I'll do it tomorrow morning."
Lan Xiu gazed silently at Yu Yan with his icy blue eyes.
"Come over for dinner tomorrow morning!" Yu Yan made the decision.
Lan Xiu immediately broke into a bright smile and nodded with an "Mm".
Yu Yan was a little surprised that he also had sharp canine teeth, and said, "You'd better gather some firewood over." He was getting more and more adept at ordering Lan Xiu around.
This big cat is incredibly strong; it only needs the fuel of a piece of roasted meat to travel 100 kilometers, haha.
Lan Xiu agreed without hesitation.
Feng Gui felt embarrassed and said, "No need. Just use the analogy that Yan Zao was born two years ago and is in a period of sleep deprivation. I can go pick her up myself tomorrow morning."
Lan Xiu's ears seemed a little red, and he didn't agree: "I can easily chop firewood, I'll do it."
Before long, the three of them finished off the fragrant grilled ribs.
Yu Yan wiped her mouth, still feeling unsatisfied, and got up to check the animal fat in the earthenware pot.
The temperature has dropped.
He broke off a slightly thicker wooden stick and brought it back, then called to Lanxiu: "Come and help me slowly pour the alkaline water into the oil drum."
Lan Xiu: "We're here."
As darkness fell, Feng Gui held up a torch, using it to light their way while watching them with curiosity.
As Lanxiu slowly poured in the alkaline water, Yu Yan stirred the animal oil in a clockwise direction, circle by circle.
When the two are mixed, a magical scene unfolds.
The animal oil is heating up and emitting steam! Its color and texture have also changed!
Lan Xiu's hands didn't stop moving, but his pupils narrowed warily, as if he was about to run away with Yu Yan at any moment.
Yu Yan was also careful. When she felt it was about right, she asked Lan Xiu to stop and continued stirring herself.
It was his first time making soap, and he wasn't sure about the proportions.
Anyway, if there's too much oil, add alkali; if there's too much alkali, add oil.
After fiddling around for a while, he felt it was about right, so he used a piece of wood to scrape off a lump of soap that hadn't yet solidified and placed it on the large leaf he had plucked.
Hmm, in the firelight, this blob of soap looked yellowish-brown, and its shape was rather...unusual. It looked just like...
Forget it, forget it, I'd better not think about it anymore.
In the first experiment, Yu Yan didn't put in much material. In the end, she scooped out about ten clumps of soap and placed them on the leaf.
"Let's leave it like this for now. It's so late, everyone should get ready and go to bed. We can talk about the rest tomorrow morning."
Lan Xiu nodded, said goodbye to the two, and went to the water's edge to wash up.
Yu Yan was afraid that Feng Gui would stay up all night weaving again, so she watched him all the way back to the bird's nest and lay down before she could close her eyes with peace of mind.
After doing a lot of physical labor, you sleep really well.
When Yu Yan woke up early the next morning, he suddenly realized that since he transmigrated to the Beast World, his sleep quality was better than when he was in college.
Thinking about the soap, Yu Yan didn't go back to sleep today, but instead flew down from the bird's nest.
He checked it and found that the soap had solidified, with a faint yellow tint, which wasn't too bad-looking.
However, the texture is still very soft, and it deforms with the slightest touch.
He took his pants and soap, went to the stream, squatted down, and washed his pants.
The soap works, but the problem remains: it's too soft, inconvenient to use, and runs out quickly.
"Looks like we still need to make some improvements," Yu Yan muttered.
After washing the pants, he wrung them out and hung them on a tree branch to dry.
The kudzu cloth is quite thin, and it dries very quickly in the cool morning breeze.
Today, everyone in the tribe will go hunting and gathering.
Yu Yan and Feng Gui arrived at the meeting point together, and Xin Yu and the others immediately surrounded them, staring at his pants.
"It's really clean!" everyone exclaimed in surprise.
"Yu Yan, what did you use to wash it?"
"Yesterday, Xuefei scrubbed for a long time but still couldn't get it clean."
Yu Yan smiled and replied, "I made a stain remover called soap. I washed with soap this morning."
"Soap...this stuff is so useful, did you bring it?"
"No, I'm not very satisfied with this batch. I'm just letting it air out at home."
Everyone will soon be spinning yarn and weaving cloth, and the same pants they make will also face the problem of getting dirty.
Nobody wants to wear dirty pants; they look awful.
Yin Qing asked first, "Yu Yan, once your soap is dry, could you give me a new one?"
Upon hearing this, the others quickly added, "Give me one too!"
Even an orc joined in the fun: "I want some too, Yu Yan! I'll trade you some beast meat!"
Yu Yan said, "I don't want to trade for animal meat. You can trade me honey blocks instead. Five honey blocks this big," he gestured with the size of a one-yuan coin, "can be exchanged for a bar of soap this big as my palm. If we use them sparingly, they'll last us a long time."
Honey is a valuable commodity in the Beast World because it is difficult to collect and tastes good.
Five honey cubes are not a small amount; people wouldn't be willing to trade them for other things.
But now, the entire tribe is immersed in a surge of enthusiasm for weaving and tailoring, and trousers are considered the best thing in the world.
Without hesitation, they agreed: "Okay! I have some honey on me, I'll count it out for you!"
"I want to change my soap too!"
"Oh dear, I've finished all the honey. Could someone please share some with me?"
Yu Yan didn't rush to change, but instead raised her hand, signaling everyone to listen to what she had to say.
"The next batch of soap shouldn't be ready for another three to five days. Aren't you in a hurry?"
"It's only three to five days, not long at all."
"Yes, we were busy spinning and weaving at that time. You should accept the honey first, so as to avoid trouble later."
Yu Yan: "Okay."
Taking advantage of the large number of people present, he collected everyone's honey chunks one by one, and asked Feng Gui to help him remember the people.
The entire peninsula tribe has more than 300 people. Excluding those who didn't come, those who were already family, those who were taking a wait-and-see attitude, and those who couldn't gather enough honey blocks for the time being, Yu Yan ordered 36 bars of soap at once and received a lot of honey blocks in return.
The honey comes from various sources, including tree nectar, flower nectar, and insect nectar. The colors are mottled, but when piled together, they are quite beautiful and pleasing to the eye.
Feng Gui said, "I've memorized all of them."
Yu Yan nodded. We still need to produce paper that can be written on as soon as possible; relying on manual recording every time is inconvenient.
To his surprise, Lanxiu also wanted to exchange soap with him.
"..." You already know how soap is made, and you still want to trade with me? You're so honest.
Yu Yan pulled him aside and said, "You don't need to. You provided all the materials. I'll just give you a few pieces after I finish cooking."
Lan Xiu happily agreed, feeling that giving away that long-legged beast was definitely worth it.
Yu Yan was also very happy. Animal oil, alkali, and even firewood had no cost.
Excluding human labor, trading with soap would be a very profitable business for him, haha!
After handling this minor incident, everyone happily regrouped and set off in different directions.
Yu Yan continued to follow Feng Gui and his group of bird-beastmen to gather resources.
There were still quite a few cherries on the mountain, so they stayed around the mountain.
Yu Yan went to check the pit where the ammonia water was found yesterday, but there was nothing new there.
Sigh, I wonder how nature ferments it. I wish it were an endless source.
Undeterred, he picked up some leaves and grass stalks and threw them into the pit.
As he left, he muttered, "Work hard and produce more ammonia."
Everyone worked very hard to collect materials so that they could focus on spinning and weaving.
Yu Yan wasn't as skilled as them to begin with, and while she was picking flowers, she somehow flew onto a grassy patch and started picking flowers!
Two orcs happened to fly by overhead, and upon seeing this, circled above him and asked:
"Yu Yan, why are you picking purple-petaled flowers? They don't taste good."
Yu Yan looked up and said, "I didn't pick them to eat."
The two sub-orcs exchanged a glance, then suddenly realized something and asked excitedly, "Could this flower, like the three-leaf clover, also have medicinal properties?"
Yu Yan: "No..."
He often sees this flower in modern times, but he doesn't know its scientific name. It is shaped like a small oval lantern and has a darker color.
He's been thinking about dyeing it since yesterday.
White pants get dirty too easily, making it difficult to work freely, and washing them every day is too much of a hassle.
He happened to come across some purple-petaled flowers, so he said he would pick some to try dyeing cloth when he got back.
When her companions asked her about it, Yu Yan was about to tell them that she wanted to dye her hair.
Upon hearing that it wasn't medicine, the two flapped their wings and flew away.
Yu Yan: "..."
When they met up in the afternoon, Yin Qing and the others also saw the purple-petaled flowers in Yu Yan's basket.
"Yu Yan, you came all this way, why did you pick so many flowers?" Yin Qing asked curiously.
The two sub-beastmen that Yu Yan encountered earlier said, "Yu Yan probably just thought it looked pretty and picked it to play with."
"He's young, so it's normal for him to be playful."
This statement was unanimously accepted.
Yin Qing even said, "There are many flowers in our territory that are prettier than purple petals. I'll pick some for you next time!"
Later, somehow the word spread that Yu Yan liked flowers, and every time she came to see him for treatment, she would bring a bouquet of flowers.
At this moment, Yu Yan felt only a faint sense of helplessness.
Forget it, I heard that purple plants tend to lose color when heated. This is his first time dyeing, so I don't know how it will turn out yet. I won't explain it for now.
Over the next few days, besides caring about the three-leaf vines soaking in the water, everyone frantically gathered, hunted, and went beachcombing to store food.
The commotion was so great that it even alerted several neighboring tribes, who came to inquire what had happened.
Yu Yan didn't pay much attention to what was happening outside.
The purple-petaled flowers he picked on the first day, when heated at home, just as he had predicted, faded in color.
Then we can't choose purple-petaled flowers for dyeing.
While collecting flowers with others, he gathered other flowers, including purple, red, and yellow ones.
In addition, he dug up some colored grasses and roots.
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