The people in the Qingque tribe seemed a little uneasy, and many of them would involuntarily look towards the west of the tribe while working.
They were looking forward to the early return of those who were away, or to be more precise, they were looking forward to the early return of the Son of God.
For some unknown reason, the Son of God was missing from the tribe. Even though they knew that there was no tribe nearby that could cause serious harm to their tribe, they still felt uneasy and as if something was missing.
Sister Snow White, who was pregnant, ran to the front door more often than Wu Du.
I don’t weave the cloth I like to weave as often as before. I come out to take a look from time to time in between feeding the silkworms.
In fact, she wanted to climb up the wall to look out, but she remembered that Brother Cheng didn't allow her to climb so high, so she had to go to the gate instead.
After watching here for a while with expectation, the west was still calm. Sister Bai Xuejun, feeling a little disappointed, turned around and went back to add mulberry leaves to the silkworms.
This batch of silkworms have almost grown to adult size and are about to shed their skins for the final time, so they have a huge appetite.
He turned around and walked back two steps, then turned his head to look to the west out of habit, and then a miracle happened.
On the small path in the woods to the west, where there was no one just now, there were people carrying loads and deer carrying bags.
After being stunned for a moment, the happy sister Bai Xue held her belly and ran towards that direction without saying a word.
“I’m back! I’m back!”
After Sister Bai Xue ran for some distance, someone noticed the returning team and started shouting excitedly, and the Qingque tribe was in an uproar.
“I’ll go!”
Han Cheng was carrying a load and walking at the front of the team. He looked at the tribe that appeared in front of him and listened to the cheers of the tribesmen because of their return. Han Cheng, like everyone else in the team, had a big smile on his face and instantly felt that all the hardships he had endured before were worth it.
However, this good mood disappeared immediately after I found out that the girl who was holding her belly, leaving the others far behind and running towards this side without saying a word was Bai Xuemei.
Han Cheng said, "I'll go," and rushed out of the team carrying his load.
This silly woman is getting more and more intolerable...
The Qingque tribe was in a festive mood. Bags of ore were poured out and piled together, forming a large pile.
Under the sunlight, these minerals appear extremely beautiful and are more eye-catching than ordinary stones.
The witch picked up a piece of translucent malachite and placed it in front of his eyes, then looked at it in the sunlight. Suddenly, he felt that the world became colorful.
Sister Bai Xue, who had been slapped on the head twice, followed Han Cheng like a kitten, unwilling to leave. She followed Han Cheng wherever he went, like a tailor.
“The silkworms are starving to death.”
Han Cheng pointed helplessly at the silkworms in a winnowing basket not far away that had just finished eating the mulberry leaves and were holding their heads high in hunger and said to Bai Xuemei.
The clingy guy then left Han Cheng to feed the silkworms.
After feeding, he came to Han Cheng without stopping.
Han Cheng had no choice but to smile helplessly, but he still felt very happy in his heart.
Now that the copper ore has been retrieved, the next step will be to extract pure copper.
To smelt copper, you need to build a smelting furnace first.
Han Cheng had never seen this kind of furnace before, let alone copper smelting. He could only figure it out slowly.
He poured the ore he brought back on the ground, told Wu and others about what happened outside and asked about what had happened in the tribe during this period of time. They expressed their feelings of parting to each other, had lunch, and rested for a while. Then Han Cheng walked out of the tribe and called Heiwa, a guy who liked making pottery, to walk outside the tribe together.
Of course, it wasn't an outing or anything like that, but rather looking for a suitable place to build a stove.
Copper smelting furnaces are best located downwind of residential areas and downstream of rivers, so as to reduce the impact of exhaust gas on people and the pollution of water sources by slag and other things.
The terrain should be high and far away from the river to reduce the stove's risk of getting damp and avoid it being submerged and destroyed by river water when the water level rises.
After much deliberation, Han Cheng finally chose a place northwest of the tribe near the quarry.
The southeast wind is strongest here in the tribe. This is the downwind area and it is far enough away from the river to not be affected.
Because the Qingque tribe uses land transportation to transport its ore, the fact that it is far away from the river has little impact on the Qingque tribe.
This place is a small hillock with relatively high terrain and less chance of being affected by moisture. It is indeed an ideal place to build a furnace.
After choosing a place, Han Cheng did not delay and immediately had people start construction.
First, people dug a half-meter-wide tunnel at a higher place on the guard post and covered it with stone slabs.
A round ceramic plate with a diameter of more than 30 centimeters is placed in the middle. The thickness of the ceramic plate is more than 5 centimeters and it is covered with round holes with a diameter of about 2 centimeters, just like honeycomb coal.
A thick layer of loess and clay is applied on the stone slab before the stove is built.
This can avoid moisture to the greatest extent, while also allowing ventilation and ash to leak downwards, making the fire burn more vigorously.
After finishing these most basic things, it was already late and the rest would have to wait until tomorrow.
A short separation is better than a new marriage, and Han Cheng is in his prime again. After hearing the child's noise at night, there is a natural tenderness between him and Bai Xue, which needs no elaboration.
The next day, Heiwa was called over to continue tidying up the stove.
Heiwa had done so many things like making stoves that he felt overwhelmed. Someone brought bricks here and he was responsible for arranging them. Before noon, a stove was already freshly built. He then placed a large vat on top of it, and the copper smelting furnace of the Qingque tribe appeared.
It just looks a bit too simple or childish.
Han Cheng didn't have much idea about this. He was really unfamiliar with copper smelting and could only learn while fighting.
Put some firewood into the newly prepared stove, dry it and test the fire.
The stove was very successful and the fire burned very vigorously. By the afternoon, the stove was dried out.
Wu, the eldest brother and others couldn't wait to start refining copper with the newly prepared stove, hoping to see this metal as soon as possible.
Copper is not easy to deal with. Judging from the current shape of the stove, it will probably take a lot of time to refine it.
Looking up at the setting sun, Han Cheng suppressed the impulse in his heart and did not agree with what Wu and others said. Instead, he asked people to transport the copper ore in the courtyard here.
At the same time, people built a shed here using tree trunks and other things to cover the stove.
The stove can be protected from wind and rain, and some charcoal can also be stored under the shed. When it is windy and rainy, with the shed there, copper smelting can continue here without being affected.
Before dark, the copper ore and charcoal had been delivered, and the shed was being built according to Han Cheng's requirements, and it would be completed in three days at most.
With the increase in population and the improvement in proficiency, the people of the Qingque tribe are now able to do these things at a much faster speed than before.