Xu Hongmei first brought in a big oil drum, put it down, and went out without saying a word. Soon she brought in another bundle of firewood and a kitchen knife in her hand.
"I've borrowed the oil drum, firewood, and knife. What do we do next?"
Sheng Kangning: "Sister Hongmei, you've worked hard, please wipe your hair first!"
Xu Hongmei said nonchalantly, "It wasn't wet in the rain. Someone from the kitchen helped deliver it to me!"
Sheng Kangning prepares to make moxa by himself.
To make moxa, you must first wash the picked moxa leaves. The moxa leaves have been soaked by the heavy rain, so the leaves are clean, saving the washing process.
The next step is to dry the mugwort in the shade.
It was raining heavily, the conditions did not allow it, and there was no time. Sheng Kangning was in a hurry to use it, so he could only roast the mugwort leaves over fire.
It cannot be baked dry either. How deep should it be baked? It should be baked until all the moisture on the leaves is gone, which means it should be half dry.
The big oil barrel that Xu Hongmei brought back was used specifically for heating in the winter at Hongyang Farm.
A hole was opened on the side of the big oil barrel, and the wood was stuffed in and lit.
In the Great Northern Wilderness, these large oil drums for heating are very common and are also a relatively safe way of heating.
Xu Hongmei squatted on the ground and stuffed wood into the big oil barrel and lit it.
Soon, the tent became warm.
"Corning, what should we do next?" Xu Hongmei asked.
Sheng Kangning said: "We need to find a way to roast the moisture from these moxa leaves."
Xu Hongmei thought about it, then took out an old piece of clothing from her luggage and put the wet mugwort leaves directly into the clothes.
Xu Hongmei couldn't do it alone, so she needed two people. One of them held one end of the clothes and placed the mugwort leaves on top of a large oil barrel to roast.
Seeing this, Ma Chunmei quickly stood up to help.
Just then, a person came in from outside the tent. This person was also a new female educated youth named Wang Juan.
He was an educated youth who came from Shanghai. He spoke softly, was not tall, had two dimples on the corners of his mouth when he smiled, and had a cheerful personality.
Wang Juan was holding a thermos in her hand. She looked at Sheng Kangning and the others and asked with a smile, "What are you doing? Do you need help?"
Sheng Kangning explained that she planned to make some moxa and wear it on her body to repel mosquitoes and insects.
After hearing this, Wang Juan's eyes lit up and she smiled:
"That's great! Tell me what you need to do."
After saying that, Wang Juan pointed to the red mark on her neck and said, "See? Applying cooling oil is useless. The mosquitoes here are too fierce! Good Kangning, when you are done, be sure to give me some! If they keep biting me like this, I will lose my face!"
Sheng Kangning smiled and nodded: "No problem!"
Wang Juan put the kettle aside and said, "I'll go to the kitchen and get a kettle of boiling water. If you want to drink water, just pour it from the kettle. But one thing, be careful! Girls, drink more hot water. It's good for your health!"
That was Wang Juan’s own thermos.
Sheng Kangning also bought one, but it is still in his luggage and he hasn’t taken it out.
Zhou Xiaoran, who was lying on the bunk, rolled his eyes and whispered, "As if no one has a hot water bottle!"
Zhou Xiaoran's voice was not loud, but not small either.
Everyone who was not asleep in the tent heard it. Wang Juan stood there, looking at Zhou Xiaoran who was lying with his back to her, and frowned.
I think this person is quite weird, always saying things that hurt others!
Sheng Kangning asked Wang Juan: "Can you do needlework?"
Pulling Wang Juan's attention back.
Wang Juan nodded: "Yes, I made all the clothes and shoes for my younger brothers."
"That's great! I bought some gauze here, can you help me sew a few cloth bags? They don't have to be too big, just half the size of a palm! Make them the kind with drawstrings, and then put the moxa in them."
Wang Juan smiled and said, "Okay, no problem! Leave it to me, I guarantee you'll be satisfied!"
Sheng Kangning stood up and took out the gauze she bought from her luggage. She bought a lot of gauze, so she naturally wouldn't use it all. Instead, she measured it with her eyes and thought it could probably make ten pieces. Sheng Kangning cut it with scissors and handed it to Wang Juan: "Do you have needle and thread?"
"Yes, don't worry about it!" Wang Juan took the gauze and walked towards her own bunk.
She took out her sewing box from her luggage, sat on the edge of the bed and started cutting.
Sheng Kangning squatted in front of his luggage and took out a small medicine pestle from it.
This medicine pestle is made of pure copper and can be considered an antique. It also has a lid on it. My grandma said that this medicine pestle has been in the Ling family for hundreds of years and has been passed down.
Sheng Kangning reached out and felt the mugwort leaves inside his clothes; they were still a little wet.
Sheng Kangning used his hands to push back and forth inside his clothes.
Soon, the moisture on the mugwort leaves disappeared and the leaves became semi-dry.
Sheng Kangning asked Xu Hongmei to pour out the half-dried mugwort leaves, and then put the wet mugwort leaves into the clothes and continue roasting them.
Sheng Kangning put the half-dried mugwort leaves into the pestle and pounded it repeatedly with force.
Through this pounding process, the fibers inside the moxa leaves will gradually be exposed.
The last step is screening. After screening, you can get moxa wool that is as soft as cotton. Then roll the moxa wool into a ball and put it into a cloth bag made of gauze, which can play a role in repelling mosquitoes.
If you want to prevent fleas, lice, etc., moxa alone is not enough, you also need to add Sophora flavescens.
By the time Sheng Kangning finished processing all the mugwort leaves, his arms were so sore and weak that he could hardly lift them.
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