The process of making tomato and chili cake is quite complicated.

Xia Lunong and Kong Zhi were busy running around. Everything else was fine, except that the stove was too small and could not meet their needs at all.

Xia Lunong looked at the pot that had been baking on the stove for almost a whole day, slumped lazily on the chair, and said depressedly: "If there is a bigger stove and a bigger pot, it would be great. We can bake more together and don't have to stay in the kitchen all day long."

Kong Zhi didn't even raise his eyes and said: "Let's go to the market tomorrow to have a look."

"The market is so small. We have already bought the biggest pot. Where can we find other pots?" Xia Lunong was so tired that her eyelids were almost glued together. She closed her eyes and murmured, "Forget it. Even if we can find such a big pot, we don't have such a big stove at home."

"If you don't have one, build another one. The yard is so big, it would be convenient to cut some bamboo to build a shed."

Xia Lunong's expression changed. She turned over and sat up, looked at Kong Zhi and asked, "Speaking of this, have you ever heard of something called a bread kiln?"

Kong Zhi raised his chin slightly and motioned for him to speak.

Xia Lunong gestured, "It's actually a variation of the stone kiln, introduced from the West. It's similar to our brick kiln, but much smaller. First put firewood inside, and after the kiln is fully heated, put the food to be baked in, and use the heat radiation to cook it."

Kong Zhi thought for a moment and said, "I have some impression of this. Does the hero in the movie "Enia" have this thing at home?"

Xia Lunong slapped her thigh, raised her head and looked at him, her eyes shining, and said, "Yes, it's this movie. What do you think about us making a bread kiln like the one in the movie?"

Kong Zhi said truthfully, "We may not be able to do it."

"Let's give it a try first." Xia Lunong thought more and more that it was feasible. "Brother Xinian and his team are building a hydroelectric station, aren't they? There should be professionals. We can go ask them and find out."

In the evening, Xia Huoqu and Yan Xinian came back.

Xia Lunong followed them around, asking about the bread kiln.

After Yan Xinian washed his face, he turned around and said, "I've heard of this thing, too. Theoretically, it's not complicated. I'll ask tomorrow."

"Okay." Xia Lunong leaned against the door frame, stretched out his hand to pull the door, and asked, "If you want to build it, can you exchange some cement or something?"

"Yes." Yan Xinian smiled, "I'll have a professional come to your house tomorrow and exchange as much material as you want."

Xia Huoqu said beside him, "Let's have someone come and take a look tomorrow. If you can avoid using the base's materials, try not to use them. It doesn't sound good to replace the materials with the name of private use."

Yan Xinian smiled, "No problem."

Seeing his brother's serious face, Xia Lunong nodded and said, "I know."

The next morning, the people Yan Xinian called came to the house.

The one who came was a young man named Xi Jianbai, dark and thin, of average height, with a little buck teeth when he smiled, and he looked easy to talk to.

After Xi Jianbai finished introducing himself, he took out a drawing from his bag. "Captain Yan and Deputy Captain Xia both told me that I suggest we build a white kiln."

Xia Lunong asked, "What is a white kiln?"

"It's also a kind of bread kiln." "

The white kiln is similar to the black kiln. The black kiln needs to burn fire inside the kiln cavity, and when it's finished burning, the firewood is removed to 'remove the charcoal'. Because the fire is burned inside the kiln cavity, there will always be some wood smoke in the kiln, and the baked goods will have a smoky flavor, so the scope of application is relatively narrow."

"The white kiln burns the fire under the kiln, and the smoke is discharged through the chimney. It basically does not produce a smoky smell, and has a wide range of applications."

Xia Lunong had only seen other people's bread kilns in the movies before, and she didn't expect this.

As soon as Xi Jianbai said that, he nodded immediately, "Okay, then build a white kiln. We'll listen to you. What should we prepare?"

"Sand, cement, bricks, and if possible, some beer bottles are best." Xi Jianbai wrote down the required materials on the drawing and explained, "This kind of kiln needs a thickened kiln body. Sand and beer bottles are both used as heat storage materials. It would be better if we have some."

Xia Lunong immediately agreed, "No problem, there are a lot of beer bottles in the cafeteria. I'll go to the cafeteria to exchange some."

"Okay, for sand, just dig some from the river outside the base. It's not too complicated." Xi Jianbai said, "Then let's determine the values ​​first? Can you understand the drawings?"

Xia Lunong looked at the dense data on the drawing, and his scalp was a little numb.

He studied opera literature in college and didn't even have to take advanced mathematics. Mathematics was long gone.

He showed the embarrassment of a poor student, pretended to look aside, and said "hmm" as he wanted to pass the drawing to Xi Jianbai.

Just as Xi Jianbai was about to take it, a hand stretched out from behind Xia Lunong and gently took the drawing from his hand.

As soon as Xia Lunong felt the force, he knew it was Kong Zhi, and he stepped aside to give his place to Kong Zhi.

After Kong Zhi finished reading the drawing, he asked Xi Jianbai, "Can you give more details on the opening height of the kiln and the height of the internal ceiling?"

"Let me see." Xi Jianbai thought for a moment and said, "I'm not sure about this ratio. How about we calculate it according to the golden ratio? Multiply the ceiling inside the stone kiln by the golden ratio, and then get the height of the stone kiln opening. Is that okay?"

Xi Jianbai was afraid that Kong Zhi would disagree after he finished speaking, so he quickly added, "I have never built a stone kiln, so I'm not sure about this, but based on my experience, using the golden ratio is generally not wrong."

Kong Zhi glanced at him, nodded, and continued, "We need to confirm the height and depth of the chimney, the height and width of the fire chamber below, the size of the furnace door, etc."

Xi Jianbai was still in school before the disaster. After he got out, everyone was fooling around. This was the first time he met a party A who was more rigorous than himself, and he was immediately a little confused.

He responded quickly, "No problem, let's confirm it now."

Both parties spent more than an hour confirming the values ​​of various items, and drew a more detailed structural diagram to determine which materials needed to be prepared and which materials could be prepared later.

Xi Jianbai was so bored by Kong Zhi that his eyes were dull, as if he was back in school preparing for his final homework.

Fortunately, Xia Lunong provided lunch at noon, and Xi Jianbai ate white rice with scrambled eggs with tomatoes and minced meat with spicy sauce. He was resurrected on the spot, with rice in his mouth and tears in his eyes, and he was almost crying.

"Xiao Nong, your rice is so delicious!" Xi Jianbai screamed, "I envy you for your cooking skills. I almost vomit eating in the cafeteria every day."

After Xi Jianbai finished speaking, he sniffed and took another big mouthful of rice. It was delicious!

Xia Lunong said, "It's not difficult. You can go to Brother Liu to exchange a recipe, prepare the ingredients, and try it a few times. You will basically be able to get the hang of it and make home-cooked dishes."

"It's too troublesome. I have to wash and cut, and I have to scrub the pots and dishes. In the end, the taste may not be as good as the stir-fried food in the cafeteria." Xi Jianbai felt bitter as he spoke. "I'd better work hard, save a few more meal tickets, and go eat stir-fried food when I'm hungry."

Xia Lunong smiled and stopped persuading him. After

Xi Jianbai finished speaking, he asked hopefully, "Xiao Nong, are you still going to exchange your tomato and chili cake? I also want to exchange five kilograms."

"Yes." Xia Lunong nodded and said apologetically, "But you may have to queue up now. I have other orders on hand. I have to complete the previous orders before I can make yours. It will take about a week to make it. Is that okay?"

"No problem! Your tomato and chili cake is so delicious. I can wait a little longer." Xi Jianbai took another big mouthful of rice. "Before, I was complaining that you exchanged it too cheaply. How can you make such a delicious thing?" Xia Lunong nodded

.

Of course you can.

Tomatoes have a lot of water content. Even if they are made into chili cakes, they can't be roasted too dry. About ten pieces of tomato and chili cakes weigh one kilogram.

After the rice is ground into rice flour, it is still dry and crisp, without any moisture. One kilogram of rice flour has a small bag, which is enough to make seven or eight kilograms of chili cakes.

Even if you add in labor, firewood and a little bit of minced meat, they can earn at least three kilograms of rice for every kilogram of tomato and chili cakes they sell.

This is a considerable profit.

In the base, everyone either works hard to farm or risks their lives to collect supplies, but they can't harvest much clean rice in total.

Seeing him nod, Xi Jianbai breathed a sigh of relief and muttered, "I'm always worried that you won't make much profit and won't sell after this batch."

"That's not the case." Xia Lunong smiled, "Aren't we still going to build a bread kiln now? If we didn't want to do it anymore, we wouldn't have spent so much time on it."

"Hahaha, that's true. Speaking of which, you don't have to pay me for building a bread kiln. Just change it to tomato and chili cakes."

"No problem, according to your requirements."

Xi Jianbai reached a cooperation agreement with Xia Lunong with a smile on his face, and he was more motivated in the afternoon.

He took Xia Lunong and Kong Zhi to find clay outside the base, "The soil in the sand must be clay. There is a small amount of clay in the bamboo forest of the base, but it's not up to standard. It's best to go out and look for it."

Xia Lunong nodded.

Xi Jianbai carried the basket on his back and looked around. "Every quarter, the base will go out to clean up the mutant plants and animals nearby. It's relatively safe. Just keep an eye on it. We also go out to carry clay quite often. Generally, there won't be any problems."

Xia Lunong added, "It's okay. Kong Zhi is very strong. If we really encounter any problems, let him take us to the sky."

Before Xia Lunong finished speaking, Kong Zhi tapped her shoulder from behind. "Be careful with your words. Be careful of what you say."

Xia Lunong turned her head and said, "Puh, phuh, phuh, I was just talking nonsense!"

Xi Jianbai's eyes were on him. Seeing his funny movements, he couldn't help but smile.

Kong Zhi glanced at Xi Jianbai with dark eyes.

Xi Jianbai turned his head with the alertness of a herbivore, and subconsciously touched his neck.