Not long after, Old Man Chen and Mrs. Zhou returned.
Upon seeing Old Man Chen, Chen Kai immediately ran over, tugged at his father's clothes, and asked, "Dad, do you know where I can buy saltpeter?"
Old Man Chen patted Chen Kai's head and asked in confusion, "My good son, what do you need saltpeter for?"
"Salt water is basically controlled by the government, but if you want to buy some, you can ask the firecracker sellers. Salt water can also be used to make firecrackers. Wealthy families will buy some firecrackers to set off when they have weddings or celebrate the New Year. Salt water is very expensive," Old Man Chen said.
Firecrackers were formerly called "baozhu" (爆竹), and this isn't just literary embellishment. Firecrackers used to be expensive, and ancient people actually burned large bamboo poles to hear the sound. Moreover, they didn't burn dry bamboo; they burned wet bamboo. The principle behind this is that bamboo is hollow, and when it contains moisture, it turns into steam upon contact with fire, expanding in volume and bursting the bamboo tube. In the countryside, firecrackers were sometimes used to scare away wild animals.
Chen Lao Er happened to be passing by and said, "Little brother, you should be able to buy saltpeter at the pharmacy. I've heard that saltpeter can be used in medicine, but you have to buy the whole medicine, and it probably won't be cheap."
Chen Kai said with a smile, "I saw saltpeter in a book. The book mentioned something made from saltpeter, and I wanted to make it for fun."
Chen Laosi picked up Chen Kai and said, "Little brother, if you really want to play, I'll go to town tomorrow and ask where I can buy saltpeter. I'll bring some back for you when I come back."
After listening, Chen Kai smiled and said, "Fourth Brother, you don't need to buy it. I've remembered something else that's fun."
Chen Laosi put Chen Kai down and said, "Little brother, I'll go and get busy now. If you want anything in the future, just tell me and I'll buy it for you."
Chen Kai nodded and said, "No need, Fourth Brother, I have money. I can buy whatever I want myself."
Chen Laosi chuckled awkwardly and said, "I forgot that my little brother has money now and even pays us wages! If you need any help, just ask your fourth brother!"
After Old Man Chen and the others left, Xiao Jing came over and said, "If we're not buying saltpeter, what are you going to do? What will we use to make ice?"
Chen Kai said with a smile, "I have other ways to get saltpeter, so you can just wait to drink your cold drinks!"
As Chen Kai spoke, he walked to the wall, picked up some bamboo strips, went to the corner of the wall, dug a few holes in the soil, and then shouted loudly, "Nephew, come here for a second!"
Hearing his uncle's voice, Chen Shi ran over and asked, "Uncle, what's wrong?"
Chen Kai pointed to the corner of the wall and said, "Go find a wooden bucket and collect all that soil, especially the soil with a layer of white frost on it. Collect as much as you can; I need it. Your uncle will perform a magic trick for you later."
Chen Nong asked excitedly, "Uncle, what kind of magic trick is that?"
"You'll see it in a bit, hurry up and dig! You'd better dig the soil near the toilet," Chen Kai said with a smile.
Chen Nong excitedly ran off to find the wooden bucket and digging tools.
Chen Kai thought to himself that saltpeter was too expensive for him to buy, so he decided to make saltpeter himself using saltpeter clay.
Nitrate soil is often found in toilets, pig and cattle pens, houses, old corners of courtyards, and places that are not easily washed away by water.
There are several ways to determine whether soil contains nitrates.
Firstly, one could observe and taste the soil. Soil containing nitrates usually settles on the ground, with particles resembling ant droppings, and has a bitter, spicy, and salty taste. The particularly spicy kind is good nitrate soil. However, soil containing nitrates is generally found near toilets and pigsties, and Chen Kai wouldn't taste the soil there, so that method was ruled out first.
Secondly, there's the combustion method: good nitrate clay will ignite rapidly when placed on red-hot charcoal. However, this method requires a certain level of skill, so we won't consider it for now.
Thirdly, wood ash is used: the wood ash used for boiling saltpeter is made from tung oil shells and wheat straw, which have the highest potassium content.
Chen Kai wanted to use the third method, and would first try ordinary wood ash. He crushed and sieved the nitrate and wood ash separately, mixed them in a weight ratio of about 7:1, put them into a sieve, and extracted them using the water-sprinkling method.
Chen Kai saw that Er Ya and the others were also helping to dig, so he didn't join in the fun.
At this time, Daya had also boiled the water, and took some out in a wooden bucket, pouring it into the basin that had already been washed and contained the bayberries.
Daya stirred the bayberries with a spoon for a while, and when she saw that they were almost cooked, she scooped them into another wooden basin.
Chen Kai walked over and asked, "Da Ya, do you put sugar in the plum juice?"
Daya laughed and said, "Uncle, candy is too expensive, Grandma won't let us put it in."
Chen Kai knew that his family didn't add sugar when making plum juice.
Xiao Tian cried out, "I don't care, I want sugar!"
Da Ya hesitated and said, "Xiao Tian, how about I put some licorice in to cook? Licorice has a sweet taste too."
Chen Kai asked, "Da Ya, do you have osmanthus and dried tangerine peel at home?"
The dried tangerine peel here is made from orange peels grown on the mountain. It can relieve coughs and phlegm, and almost every household keeps some on hand. The hawthorns are also mostly picked from the mountain and dried to be eaten as snacks, but they are too sour, so few children eat them.
“There are still some at home, Uncle, would you like some?” Daya said.
Chen Kai said, "Da Ya, when you're making the plum juice later, in addition to licorice root, add some hawthorn and dried tangerine peel. It will taste better that way."
"Okay! I'll give it a try," Daya replied. If she added sugar, her grandmother would scold her, so she'd rather try adding some of the things her uncle suggested.
Chen Kai pulled Xiao Tian to sit on a stool next to him and said, "Let's try it first. If it doesn't taste good, we can add some sugar."
Daya asked Erya to get some licorice root, hawthorn, and dried tangerine peel, then wash them and take them to the kitchen.
In the kitchen, after the water boiled, Daya put the bayberries, licorice, hawthorn and dried tangerine peel into the pot, put the lid on, and added a few more pieces of firewood.
Daya asked, "Uncle, Xiaotian, are you hungry? I'll heat up some food for you."
Chen Kai shook his head and said, "No need, I want to drink plum juice later." Xiao Tian also shook his head; he wasn't hungry either.
After the bayberries had been cooking for a while, Daya opened the lid, stirred them with a spoon, and then pressed them down.
When Da Ya saw that the plum juice was almost ready, she took a bowl and used a strainer to scoop out the bayberry pulp and other residue from the pot. Then she ladled the plum juice from the pot into another clean bowl.
Daya found a slightly higher stool and placed it in front of Chen Kai and Xiao Tian. Then she ladled out two bowls of plum juice, put them on the stool, and said, "Try it after it cools down."
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