Chapter 67 Kapok and Water Melon
As summer approached, Su Yun remembered something else.
The kapok trees that were flowering before should be bearing fruit by now, so does that mean... we can start harvesting the cotton fibers?
After breakfast, Su Yun took Rose to Kapok Village. Rose had recovered from her initial discomfort and was feeling quite bored after staying at home for several days.
Just then, Ye Feng, who was looking after the drying rice, was worried about Su Yun going out alone, so he asked Su Yun to bring the roses with her.
Su Yun and Rose arrived at the entrance of Kapok Village. Sure enough, after the buds of the kapok trees fell, clumps of cotton-like fluff began to drift down with the breeze, looking like snowflakes falling.
Rose was very curious. "Wow, what is this? It looks like snow!" She couldn't wait to rush into the "rain" filled with fluffy fluff and happily twirled around.
"This is kapok." Su Yun caught a piece of kapok that was falling down and introduced it to Rose. "It can be used to make pillows and quilts."
As she spoke, she began to collect the fallen kapok flowers from the ground.
"A quilt and a pillow? But don't we have those at home? I saw you have a lot of them in your closet!"
"yes!"
"Why would you still pick up this at home?" Rose was puzzled by Su Yun's behavior of collecting kapok flowers.
"I use it during those days of the month~" These few kapok trees don't produce much. Unless you go up and collect them directly, it's enough to make a pillow or a cushion if you just pick them slowly. But right now, Su Yun has a more important use for it—menstrual belts.
The newly formed kapok tree is soft and white, much better than cotton that has been stored in a closet for years, making it ideal for making menstrual pads.
Therefore, Su Yun kept this place in mind at all times, and rushed over to collect the materials as soon as the time came.
"Which days?" Rose scratched her head, indicating her confusion.
"It's during those few days when a woman bleeds!"
"I don't understand. The days when Rose didn't bleed." Rose scratched her head, looking puzzled.
"You orcs don't menstruate, do you?"
What is menstruation?
Su Yun patiently explained, "It's a normal physiological phenomenon in humans. The sign is that there will be bleeding for a few days every month, which means that human females have reached maturity."
Rose: "Oh, we orcs don't menstruate."
Su Yun: "I'm so envious! No menstruation means no pain or bleeding. It's so great! No wonder we're such a superior species." Su Yun rambled on and on, eating lemons like crazy.
"What's so good about that? You humans don't have a heat cycle either." Rose's body was still limp and occasionally hot.
She expressed her envy that humans don't have to go through this terrible moment.
Su Yun was speechless for a moment: "That's true."
Compared to the dreaded heat cycle and uncontrollable desires, it's better to have your period on time.
Su Yun herself largely agreed with the woman's admiration for Rose.
After the kapok flowers bear fruit, the cotton fibers will carry the kapok seeds and fall with the wind, scattering the seeds. Su Yun only needs to pick them up below.
The kapok trees have been bearing fruit for quite some time now, and most of the cottony fibers on the branches have fallen off. Su Yun rummaged around nearby and picked through the piles, filling a bag almost to the brim.
"I can probably make about a dozen or twenty." Su Yun originally wanted to share them with Rose, but she didn't need any, so this many are enough for her to use until next year.
"I wonder where Rose has run off to again." Su Yun picked up all the cotton flowers on the ground and was about to head home when she discovered that Rose, who had been helping her pick up the cotton flowers, had run off somewhere again.
As expected, the husky was full of energy; it had barely calmed down a little before it was running off again.
Su Yun stood at the village entrance, calling out Rose's name loudly, "Rose~ Rose~ Where have you been? Come home!"
A moment later, Rose's excited voice came from a corner of the village: "I'm here! Come and see, I found something great!"
"What good stuff?" Su Yun wondered, following the direction of the sound. He circled left and right for a while, and finally found Rose in front of a dilapidated little wall.
Su Yun walked up behind her and patted her on the shoulder, "Hey, what are you doing!"
Rose was intently picking something when she was suddenly patted on the shoulder and startled, exclaiming, "Ouch!"
With a shout, it leaped onto the wall.
Su Yun was taken aback by the other party's strong reaction and took a big step back. "Why are you making such a fuss? You scared me."
Rose crouched on the wall, her things falling to the ground. Still shaken, she patted her heart and said, "You scared me! When did you get here? I didn't hear a thing."
"I'm just walking normally, what are you doing? Why are you so engrossed?"
Rose: "No, I was just picking things normally. It's probably because of the special circumstances; my hearing is a bit weak. It's normal, normal..."
Su Yun: "Okay, you startled me too, now we're even!"
Rose blinked and said, "That's all trivial... Compared to this, this is the most important. Look! What I found!" As she spoke, she held up what she was holding, a series of green, plump things.
"Ah! It's watermelon!" Su Yun then realized that Rose's arms were stuffed full of watermelons that she had found.
"How is it? Is it edible?" After spending some time together and witnessing Su Yun's culinary skills and his eye for delicious food, Rose had come to trust Su Yun completely. She believed that ordinary things could become exquisite delicacies in Su Yun's hands as long as they were approved by him.
Su Yun knows a lot about water melons; when they are young, they can be stir-fried or used in soups.
She smiled and nodded: "Yes, you can eat them. Pick more, and I'll cook them for you tonight."
"Great!" Rose got even more excited when she heard that these melons were edible, and continued to pick them while standing on the wall. "There are still so many more up there. Wait, I'll pick them all. They're so fresh, I can eat them as soon as I get home."
Seeing her climbing higher and higher, Su Yun said with some concern, "Don't climb too high, that's enough!"
Rose wagged her tail and continued picking: "This won't do—these will turn yellow and dry if we don't pick them. Look, all these yellow ones are going to go to waste."
This gourd vine had been neglected for a long time, and it almost covered the entire house. Wherever the vine spread, it was covered with gourds of all sizes, but no one harvested them, and they eventually withered and turned yellow on the branches.
Although they can't be eaten, they still have other uses, so Su Yun's eyes lit up and he instructed, "We need the yellow ones too, I'll have a use for them!"
Rose stood on the wall and readily agreed: "Oh!"
Yellowed gourds are old and inedible, but they have many uses. First, the seeds can be poured out and buried anywhere, and next year a large gourd vine will grow again.
Moreover, watermelon is very easy to grow. Just scatter the seeds anywhere, and next year the whole village will probably be covered with green vines. If nothing unexpected happens, you can see it everywhere.
Su Yun collected the seeds and prepared to sow them on a rainy day.
After removing the seeds from the watermelon, the remaining watermelon, after drying the skin and flesh, is left with only a mesh-like fiber that is hard and does not easily attract oil. It can be used as a brush to scrub pots or for bathing.
Water gourd fiber becomes soft and firm when it comes into contact with water, making it particularly useful for cleaning dirt off surfaces.
Su Yun strung three together with a rope and hung them in the bathroom. "Look! Bath sponges!"
The Night Breeze Roses, puzzled, asked curiously, "What is this?"
"It's a bath product. You pour the shower gel on it like this, then gently rub it in. See, there are lots of bubbles. Then you apply it to your body like this and brush it off..." Su Yun demonstrated the new bathing method by holding up the modified water gourd bath ball. Unexpectedly, the water gourd bath ball worked surprisingly well. Just a little shower gel was enough to produce a lot of foam.
Su Yunxin's newly developed watermelon bath ball can produce rich foam and remove dead skin and dirt.
Instantly, both of the dogs in the house were drawn to the bath and became very interested in it. Even Rose, who usually dislikes baths, volunteered to take a bath.
Su Yun was once again proud of his invention, saying, "I'm really too smart."
"You're really amazing." Ye Feng nodded in agreement, looking down at his girl with extreme tenderness and affection.
Those golden eyes that were gazing at her remained as gentle as ever, forever fixed on her from the very beginning until now... Su Yun suddenly turned her head away shyly.
Next, the kapok trees were processed. The fallen kapok leaves inevitably picked up some impurities. Su Yun carefully separated them from the cotton fibers and collected the kapok seeds to one side. These could also be planted. There was no cotton found here yet, so planting a few more kapok trees and harvesting the cotton to make new quilts later was not out of the question.
Su Yun didn't know how long he could survive in the apocalypse. If it really was going to be a lifetime, then he should just start planting trees now!
Night Breeze also came to help, and the two of them spread the cotton on the winnowing basket and began to slowly pick out the impurities.
Rose has never liked doing such delicate work; after picking and choosing for a few minutes, she's gone somewhere again.
Watching Rose's disappearing figure, Su Yun suddenly had a strange feeling that she seemed much more "lively" than when she first arrived.
Su Yun raised her question: "Night Breeze, have you noticed that Rose has become more lively? She used to be able to help me peel a mango or something, but now she can't sit still for more than a few minutes."
Upon hearing this, Ye Feng looked up and thought for a moment before slowly replying, "I didn't pay much attention to that, but the scent on her body is much fainter than before I came."
"It's faded a lot? Could it be that the heat cycle is about to end?" Su Yun guessed, stroking his chin.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com