Chapter 165 Ice Cubes and Sweet Water
Lin Shu is not stupid. As soon as A'niang mentioned the matter of marriage, A'ye turned around and went into the mountains. It was obvious that he was anxious to save money for a wife.
Lin Shu looked angry but was very happy in her heart for having such awareness.
Although Ah Ye had lived with his family before and had made several trips to the mountains, selling the mountain products he had acquired for a good sum—indeed, he supported half the family—he still had to go through the necessary formalities of a marriage. The betrothal gifts didn't have to be generous, but if Ah Ye wanted to make it grand, it would show his devotion to her, and Lin Shu would accept it.
But this time, when she learned that Ah Ye had gone into the mountains, she felt different from the time Ah Ye had gone into the mountains when she first arrived in Tianshui Village. That time, she didn't care and at most asked a few questions out of curiosity. But this time, she was worried about whether Ah Ye would encounter wild animals in the mountains and get hurt.
When Lin Xiaopu learned of her concerns, he patted her shoulder politely and reassured her, "Don't worry, sister. Brother Ye is amazing. When he first went into the mountains, Mom and Dad were so worried they couldn't sleep. But every time, he came back unscathed and with a full load, so Mom and Dad were relieved."
In Lin Xiaopu's eyes, Zhou Ye, his brother from another family, is more important than his biological father Lin Dashan. After all, Brother A Ye is recognized by the whole village as the strongest man in the surrounding area.
But Lin Shu had also gone hunting in the mountains to fill her stomach in her previous life, and she knew how dangerous the mountains were. The wild animals she saw weren't the most dangerous. Poisonous snakes and insects, for example, could paralyze even the strongest person if bitten or stung. How could she be completely reassured just because Ah Ye was tall and strong?
However, she also knew that Aye had extremely rich experience in this area. He knew exactly which herbs could stop bleeding and which herbs could remove poison. He would not let himself fall into such a dangerous situation, but this did not prevent Lin Shu from having wild thoughts.
Alas, this is how people are, they want it all.
Ah Ye rushed to the mountains for their marriage, eager to save enough money for the wedding. When she knew about it, she was happy, but at the same time, she didn't want Ah Ye to take any risks. But if there were no risks at all, Lin Shu wouldn't be so moved.
"Xiao Pu, when Aye went to the mountains in the past, what else could he bring back besides picking mushrooms and hunting pheasants and rabbits?" Lin Shu asked.
Lin Xiaopu replied, "It depends on the month. At this time of year, Brother Aye usually picks fragrant mushrooms because there are more of them at this time. If you go into the mountains in autumn and winter, Brother Aye can bring more things. There are a lot of kudzu roots on the mountain, and sometimes Brother Aye will bring back a bundle. However, kudzu roots are not valuable. Many people don't need to go deep into the mountains and can dig them just outside the mountains. The more there is, the lower the price. You can't sell it for much money at a herbal medicine store. Brother Aye usually picks yam and ginseng. There are a lot of yam, but they mostly grow on the cliffs of the mountains. It's difficult to dig and it's also dangerous. Ginseng is hard to find, and Brother Aye was lucky enough to dig it up once."
Lin Shu's eyes lit up slightly, "Dioscorea? We still have Dioscorea in our mountains?
Dioscorea is yam, which is already cultivated in the Dayan Dynasty. However, it is expensive and is only eaten by rich people. Ordinary people cannot afford it.
Lin Xiaopu knew her elder sister was thinking about food again when she saw her elder sister like this. "Brother Aye said there are a lot of yams in the mountains, but the wild yams we grow in the mountains are different from those grown outside. They taste terrible and can't be eaten. Besides, no one eats this stuff. It's precious. If someone digs it up, they'll definitely take it to the town's herbal medicine shop to exchange for money. I don't know how much it costs per pound, but one time Brother Aye dug up two and brought them back to the town's herbal medicine shop to exchange for money. My mother was in a very good mood at the time. I guess he got at least a few hundred coins in exchange!"
Lin Shu couldn't help laughing when she saw her mysterious look.
It's easy to imagine that A Niang never told Xiao Pu these things before, but Xiao Pu was smart and could observe things from adults' faces.
"Then this time, please bless Aye to pick more mushrooms and hunt more pheasants and rabbits. It would be even more perfect if he could hunt a wild boar." Lin Shu clasped her hands together and muttered a prayer.
Lin Xiaopu laughed heartily when he heard this. "Sister, what are you thinking? Wild boars are not that easy to hunt. Brother Ye has been home for three years, and he was only lucky enough to hunt one last time. I thought it must be Sister who brought her good luck with her return. Otherwise, how could Brother Ye not have hunted one before, but Sister did as soon as she came back?"
Lin Shu curled her lips and continued, "Since you say I'm lucky, then I'll bless Ah Ye to hunt another wild boar. Who knows, maybe he will actually do it?"
Lin Xiaopu nodded, "That makes sense. Then I will also bless Brother Aye to hunt another wild boar!"
Now that she'd learned arithmetic from Lin Shu, she'd mastered it quite well and could even calculate how much a wild boar could fetch. It was with this calculation that Lin Xiaopu realized how much money the half wild boar she'd bought her family. No wonder her mother had been in such a good mood for three days straight after her brother Aye returned from town.
"By the way, sister, are you going to make ice today?!" Lin Xiaopu suddenly asked excitedly.
"I only mentioned it yesterday, and you remember it so clearly? It's possible today, but after breakfast I have to go to Third Aunt's house to teach. It will be noon when I get back. Making ice saves time and effort when it's a little cooler, either early in the morning or in the evening. It's too late now, so let's wait until the evening."
To make ice, especially if you want to make a lot of it, you need a lot of saltpeter. Lin Shu had been busy the past two days, having Wang Yingen and a few other guys dig up saltpeter-rich soil, especially the kind that was already frosted. They did this twice more, and together with the first time, they got four bowls of saltpeter crystals, all of which Lin Shu ground into saltpeter powder.
Although four bowls of saltpeter powder sounds like a lot, if you want to make ice successfully, the ratio of saltpeter to water in the prepared saltpeter solution cannot be too low. Otherwise, there will not be too much saltpeter solution, and naturally less ice can be made.
Lin Shu had previously asked Old Man Liao to bring a wide-mouthed ceramic jar with a lid, which was originally intended to be used as a small container for making ice. However, with only this amount of saltpeter, it would probably not be of much use, so she had to change to a smaller container.
Bamboo has good thermal conductivity, so bamboo tubes can be used.
After hearing what Lin Shu said, Lin Xiaopu scratched his head and asked with a chuckle, "Sister, I told Wang Yingen and the others that I could make ice cubes with the soil they dug, but none of them believed me. They thought I was bragging. Can I ask them to come and watch?"
Lin Shu's eyes curved slightly when she heard this. "Okay, I'm in need of a few helpers. I'll take a break today to teach you and then we can get started."
Now she is very comfortable using Wang Yingen and other child laborers, and she does not feel embarrassed at all.
When Lin Xiaopu heard this, he immediately grinned.
She believed in her elder sister's words without a doubt, so she was very unhappy when Wang Yingen and those brats questioned her. It would be best if they could see it with their own eyes.
So she looked forward to it, looking forward to having breakfast, looking forward to her elder sister coming back from her third aunt's house, taking a break, and then telling her today's class story, and then teaching her today's new words step by step. Lin Xiaopu wrote them down from memory in one go and actually got them all right.
Lin Shu tutted her words, "If Ping'er had this kind of drive, she could learn five more characters every day."
"Ahem~ Sister, when are we going to make ice?"
Lin Shu nodded her little head and said with a smile, "Let's go call everyone now. We'll start as soon as everyone arrives."
Wang Yingen and others had received the news in advance and had been playing nearby. After getting the approval from the big sister, they ran over.
"Sister Ashu, can you really make ice cubes?!" Wang Yingen asked. Although Sister Xiaopu looked like there was absolutely no problem, he still didn't believe it in his heart.
He had never seen what ice looked like. His mother told him that ice might not form even on the coldest days of the year. It depended on the year. When the year was cold, a layer of ice would form on the water in the jar. It was a very thin layer and would melt soon after it was scooped out.
Wang Yingen had never seen it and wanted to see it with his own eyes, but his mother said it was better if he didn't see it. If he did, it would mean that it was a cold winter and the weather was so cold that people would freeze to death.
They might not even see ice in Tianshui Village even when it’s coldest, so how can they see ice in this hot weather?
Lin Shu said, "Of course, I'll let you see Bing today. But I can't handle it alone, can you help me?"
When the little kids heard this, they all became very enthusiastic.
So Lin Shu became a hands-off boss, took the small bamboo stool to a shady place aside, and directed a few people while fanning herself with a palm-leaf fan.
To make ice that's drinkable, you need to put a small container inside a larger one. A long bamboo cup is the small container, while a wooden barrel is the large one, as it can withstand low temperatures and won't break easily.
Lin Xiaopu found three bamboo cups of similar size and placed a clean pebble at the bottom to prevent them from floating. He then added clean, drinkable mountain spring water until it was about 80% full. Finally, he sealed the cups with a cloth stopper to prevent the saltpeter solution from the barrel from splashing in.
Wang Yingen and others found some straw ropes, tied the three bamboo cups together and hung them on the handles of the wooden barrel, leaving the bottoms of the bamboo cups suspended in the air. This was to increase the contact area so that the water in the bamboo cups could better absorb the heat from the saltpeter solution in the wooden barrel.
Fresh spring water from a bamboo pipe is added to the wooden barrel. The spring water is cool, and the cooler the better. Don't add too much water, just two inches lower than the bamboo cup.
"Sister Ashu, is that so?" Wang Yingen turned his head and asked.
Lin Shu gave him a thumbs up and said, "Well done, you guys are really capable."
These words made the group of kids work harder.
Everyone in the village said they were naughty, and their own parents also disliked them. Only Sister Shu thought they were capable, and they did have fun working for Sister Shu again and again. It was a great sense of accomplishment, a sense of accomplishment that even their own parents could not give them.
Wang Yingen: "Sister Shu, what's next?"
"See those big bowls of white powder on the table? That's the saltpeter crystals made from the soil you collected. I've ground it into powder. Pour it directly into the bucket and stir the water in the bucket with a wooden stick while pouring it so that the powder dissolves into the water. Be careful when stirring so that the solution doesn't splash on your face. When it's almost done, put the bamboo cup in. After that, just wait. In fifteen minutes at the fastest and an hour at the slowest, the water in the bamboo cup will freeze into ice." Lin Shu lazily fanned herself with a palm-leaf fan and spoke slowly.
A group of little kids did as Lin Shu said, and after all the steps were completed, they all stood by, waiting to witness the miracle.
"Pfft, look at how eager you are. Didn't I tell you it would take at least fifteen minutes? It's still early, so go play first. You don't have to go far, just play with water guns and slingshots in the yard. Xiao Pu said your slingshot accuracy has improved a lot."
When the bamboo slingshot was mentioned, a group of little kids immediately became excited and responded one after another.
Feng Shitou said, "Sister Shu, Sister Xiao Pu praised me for my great progress last time!"
Sun Laifu said confidently: "Sister Shu, although I can't compare to Sister Xiao Pu, I can already surpass Wang Yingen!"
Wang Yingen was so anxious that he jumped up and down, "I only lost to you last time by accident. It's still uncertain who will win or lose today!" He turned to Lin Shu and said, "Sister Shu, I will practice hard every day. In less than a month, I will definitely catch up with Sister Xiao Pu."
Lin Shu smiled and said, "Then you guys keep working hard. When you can compete with Xiao Pu, I'll call Ah Ye and ask him to take you duck hunting."
The place for hunting wild ducks is far away from Tianshui Village. Not only is it outside the village, but the place is also unfamiliar. In addition, it is close to the river, and the elders in the family do not allow the kids to go so far to hunt ducks. But it would be different if there is an adult in the village to take them, especially if this person is a recognized reliable strongman in the village.
After hearing this, everyone looked forward to it.
Ever since they learned that Lin Xiaopu had hunted wild ducks, they've been eager to go duck hunting too. After all, it was because of his duck hunting that Lin Xiaopu became famous in the village! Now, Lin Xiaopu's fame in the village is comparable to Wang Yingen's. Wang Yingen is known for his mischief, but Lin Xiaopu is so hardworking that the elders in the family always praise him.
They want this kind of fame too!
Lin Xiaopu struck while the iron was hot and organized another bamboo slingshot competition.
Lin Shu was watching the fun from the side, fanning herself with a palm-leaf fan, looking quite content.
When He Guixiang came back from chatting with Zhang Qiaohua about family matters and prepared dinner, Lin Shu called out to a few people and asked the three best-performing children to choose a bamboo tube cup each. Then she took the bamboo tube cup herself to see if there was ice inside.
"Mother's back just in time. We've just finished making ice and are about to check the results," Lin Shu said to He Guixiang with a smile. He Guixiang put some rice porridge in a pot and came over to watch. She had heard Ah Shu talk about making ice with saltpeter before, and she had watched her boil several pots of brine and get the saltpeter, so she had always been curious.
Wang Yingen was the fastest, using a rope to lift a bamboo cup. As soon as his hand touched the outside of the cup, he exclaimed in shock, "Oh my God, it's ice! So cold, as cold as the river water in winter!"
He couldn't wait to untie the string on the bamboo cup and pull out the cloth that sealed it. When he saw the ice cubes frozen inside, his eyes widened with surprise. "It's ice, really ice! The water in the bamboo tube has turned to ice!"
Sun Laifu and Feng Shitou exclaimed in surprise one after another.
The rest of the kids also gathered around to watch.
Wang Yingen stretched out his hand to touch the ice in the bamboo tube, but Lin Xiaopu slapped his hand away in time, "Don't touch the ice inside with your dirty hands. The ice in here is meant to be eaten."
"Don't touch it, I just forgot." Wang Yingen chuckled, holding the icy cold bamboo cup, staring inside without blinking, and even turned the bamboo cup upside down and shook it, but not a drop of water came out, and all the water inside turned into ice.
The little kids were so curious that they took the bamboo tube cup and touched the outer wall of the tube, and even used it to cool their faces.
"Sister Shu, how do we get the ice out of there?" Wang Yingen asked.
"You're so stupid. Just put it in the sun and wait for the ice to melt a little before you can pour it out, right?" Lin Xiaopu said with a look of disgust.
Wang Yingen grinned, holding the bamboo tube cup in his hand and reluctant to let go. After a while, he put the bamboo tube cup in the sun and squatted aside to watch.
About a quarter of an hour later, he shouted, "Sister Shu, it's melting now. I can pour out a little water!"
After the bamboo tube cup was exposed to the scorching sun for a while, a gap appeared between the ice that had frozen into a whole block and the wall of the bamboo tube. When it was shaken upside down, the cylindrical ice block fell out completely.
Three crystal clear cylindrical ice cubes were neatly stacked on the table. Everyone, including Lin Xiaopu, was stunned.
So this is what ice cubes look like. They are so pretty!
He Guixiang's reaction was not much better than that of the little ones.
She knew that Ah Shu never boasted, but seeing Ah Shu making the ice cube with her own eyes, she still found it incredible.
This is ice! Even the rich families in town don't have enough ice, but Ah Shu has made it!
Lin Shu was naturally happy. Although she said that there was no problem, it was not a 100% success rate. She did not expect that the ice making would be successful for the first time.
"Mother, can you see if this ice can be broken? I want to make some bowls of iced sweet water."
He Guixiang said it was no problem, but after a moment, she held the slippery ice with one hand and a kitchen knife with the other, but she failed to break the ice.
In the end, Lin Shu brought a wooden basin, placed the kitchen knife at the bottom of the basin, and smashed the ice cube directly onto the kitchen knife in the basin, thus smashing the entire block of ice into pieces.
Then, Lin Shu took a ceramic jar of mountain spring water and threw in a piece of rock honey to dissolve it. Finally, she divided the water into small bowls, adding two small ice cubes to each bowl. She gave one bowl to He Guixiang and Lin Xiaopu first, and distributed the rest to Wang Yingen and the others.
The sweet water without ice cubes tasted very refreshing, and the group of little kids were so refreshed that they kept saying "oh my god".
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