Chapter 105 Insects and Wax
The branches of the cardinal tree are thin, with almost no leaves. All the branches are covered with small red flowers the size of date seeds.
Jian Mo broke off a branch and put it under his nose to smell it. A faint fragrance filled his nose, a bit like the fragrance of plum blossoms, but a little clearer than plum blossoms.
Jian Mo didn't expect the scent of the cardinal branch to be like this, and exclaimed in amazement: "It smells good."
Qing Kuang, who was stroking the flower buds of the cardinal branch, said: "It smells good. Sometimes we pick them and put them in a vase. But it withers very quickly, and the place where it grows is far away from our tribe. We usually don't come here on purpose, but just pick some when we walk here."
Jian Mo pinched the flower bud and felt that the flower bud was very tender. It turned into mud with a light rub. It looks like it will wither very quickly.
Sure enough, nothing is perfect.
Qing Kuang and his friends are all beastmen with rich experience in collecting flowers. They quickly alternated their hands and stroked the flowers one by one.
The flowers fell lightly into the basket on their backs, and it became fuller and fuller.
Jian Mo's speed was a little slower, because there were many cardinal branches, and the harvest was good in the end.
They quickly picked the cardinal branches and took them home to prepare for soaking. It
was Jian Mo's first time to soak essential oils, and he didn't know how to do it. He could only use the most stupid method to put the flowers in the oil and then heat the oil.
They didn't dare to raise the oil temperature too high, for fear of destroying the fragrance inside, so they kept simmering it over low heat.
Batches of cardinal branch flowers were put into the oil, and the oil in the earthenware pot became redder and redder, and the fragrance became stronger and stronger.
Cardinal branches are non-toxic, and Jiujiu waited on the side, eating the fried cardinal branch vegetable balls.
Jian Mo saw that it could eat a lot, so he mixed it with some spice powder and kneaded it into balls for it to eat.
Zhou Fu looked at them and couldn't help but ask for one. After tasting it, he said to Jian Mo, "It's quite delicious. Although it has a little astringency, the floral scent is very strong."
The kids who were watching on the side couldn't help it: "Brother Jian Mo, we want one too."
He Feng slapped Jiujiu's thigh with a snort: "Stinky Jiujiu, you are so disloyal that you didn't even remind us when there was something delicious."
Jiujiu blinked and looked innocent: "Jiujiu!"
Seeing them like this, Jian Mo had to give the kids a portion of the filtered flower balls: "Eat less, I'll fry some vegetable balls for you later."
The kids cheered and asked for help: "Brother Jian Mo, is there anything you want us to do?"
Jian Mo: "Take Jiujiu out to play. Don't let him get hung up here."
The adults all laughed when they heard this.
Qing Kuang looked at Jian Mo and smiled, "I thought you weren't bothered by the chirping of the cubs, but it turns out you are."
The red cardinal branch has a stronger floral scent and beautiful color. The medicinal soap and medicinal oil made from it are very good.
Especially the medicinal soap, once it is put into a patterned mold and then demolded, the finished product is very delicate and beautiful.
Jian Mo and the Asian beastmen in the tribe took it to the Mengshui tribe to exchange for things.
Their medicinal soap was indeed very popular, and it was also very smooth to exchange it for berry cloth and the like.
However, the medicinal oil -
Yun Ke smiled and said, "Your medicinal oil is not as good as ours. In addition to relieving swelling and itching, our medicinal oil can also prevent and repel insects."
As he said that, Yun Ke asked someone to bring a pottery jar of medicinal oil to them.
The medicinal oil of Mengshui tribe is dark and has a pungent smell, neither fragrant nor smelly. When you spread it with your fingers, you can feel a coolness, and then the fragrance comes out.
Jian Mo applied it to the place where he was accidentally bitten by an insect, and it really didn't hurt or itch.
It does seem to be better than their civet cat tail grass medicinal oil.
Jian Mo sniffed it, and his nose hurt because of the strong smell, as if someone punched his fragile nasal mucosa, and he couldn't smell what was in it at all.
Yun said, "This is our unique medicinal oil, and it can't be applied to fragile places."
Jian Mo nodded.
Qing Kuang was surprised: "You didn't have this medicinal oil before, and you didn't promote this good thing."
Yun Ke: "It's new this year. I was just about to go to your tribe to ask if you wanted it, and you came. How about exchanging some?"
Jian Mo thought about it: "Can we exchange the formula?"
Yun Ke smiled: "The formula is fine, if you bring the soap formula, I'll exchange it with you."
Jian Mo weighed it in his heart: "Then forget it."
Yun Ke: "Then exchange the medicinal oil, we'll exchange the medicinal oil for your soap."
So, Jian Mo and his team didn't exchange much of the medicinal oil, and exchanged it for the medicinal oil of the Mengshui tribe.
It was already summer, and the weather was getting hot. Every evening, the flying insects above our heads chased people like dark clouds.
Although most insects don't bite, it's annoying to be around people, and sometimes they'll hit people's eyes and nostrils.
It's different after applying the Mengshui Tribe's medicinal oil. The flying insects seem to have encountered their natural enemy and stay away from them. This
is the first time Jian Mo and his team have changed the Mengshui Tribe's medicinal oil. They were not sure about the effect before, so they didn't change much.
When they saw this, everyone was shocked.
Qing Kuang stared at the flying insects above his head: "Good fellow, where did they get the formula? The effect is too good."
Ye Luo: "I don't know if they made it themselves or exchanged it from other tribes."
Qing Kuang: "I feel that they should have exchanged it from other tribes. Mengshui tribe has received many people recently. But no matter how they changed it, the ingredients should be something that they have in their tribe."
As he said, Qing Kuang tried to smell the medicinal oil again.
The smell of the medicinal oil was pungent and complex. He sniffed it several times, but couldn't smell anything. He also turned his head and sneezed wildly.
Ye Luo: "They probably have the same idea as us. In order to cover up the active ingredients in the medicinal oil, they specially added a lot of spices into it."
Qing Kuang rubbed his nose: "Too cunning."
Jian Mo laughed: "We are just as cunning."
Qing Kuang: "That's because we have to be a little more cunning, otherwise our details will be discovered by the people of Mengshui tribe, and we won't be able to guess anything from them."
As he said that, Qing Kuang muttered again: "Forget it. We can't guess the ingredients in their medicinal oil, and they can't guess how our soap, glass and the like are made."
Jian Mo also thought so: "Our soap is relatively simple to make, so it shouldn't be a loss to replace it."
Qing Kuang: "Yes, we will collect more alkali this winter. We collected less alkali last year, and now it's almost used up."
Everyone discussed it.
Jian Mo asked: "Do you want to go to the Mengshui tribe to exchange some medicinal oil? I think their medicinal oil is really useful and can be used by the kids."
Qing Kuang sighed: "Exchange it, but I'm not as good as them, there's nothing I can do."
Jian Mo laughed and didn't take it to heart. Each tribe has its own good things, and it's normal for the Mengshui tribe to have some hidden tricks.
That evening, most people in the tribe had returned from hunting or gathering, and today's harvest had already been distributed.
Qingkuang and Yeluo had just hurried back. Qingkuang
glanced at the open space and saw that Jian Mo had not come out to cool off. Instead, Ban Ming and A Hu were fighting in animal form.
The two big cats stood up on their hind legs, waving their front paws rapidly, and were using cat punches on each other.
They were fighting with "Ah-woo-ah-woo" sounds, and their hair was flying.
The people around watched the excitement with relish, cheering for both sides.
When Qingkuang saw this, he immediately felt a headache.
When the big cat Ban Ming saw his father coming, he felt guilty for a moment, and quickly tucked his tail between his legs and ran away, trying to escape.
Ah Hu was just playing with him, and seeing him like this, he quickly chased after him. Qing Kuang
was so angry that he said, "Why are you running? I saw everything!"
Ban Ming let out a roar and ran even faster.
Qing Kuang shouted from behind, "Don't just run, stop by Jian Mo's house and ask him to come over for me!"
Ban Ming quickly turned around, slipped on his feet and ran to Jian Mo's house to pass on the message.
Jian Mo was preparing dinner, and he put down his kitchen knife when he heard it, "What did your father ask me to do?"
Ban Ming said, "I don't know either, brother Jian Mo, you go over there."
All right, it won't take much time anyway.
Jian Mo simply cleaned up the kitchen, took off his apron and went to the open space.
Qingkuan and the others were still waiting in the open space. When they saw Jian Mo, Qingkuan said with a little pride: "I brought you something good. Guess what it is?"
Jian Mo: "I really can't guess it. Berries?"
Jian Mo has been very fond of berries recently, so he usually guessed in this direction.
Qingkuan said bluntly: "It's not edible."
If it's not edible, then what else can it be? Jian Mo walked over: "Wood? Insect nest? Let me see it quickly, I can't guess."
Qingkuan took out a yellow-brown hard object from the basket on his back.
Jian Mo looked at it carefully. It looked like a salt block, a bit like a sugar block, and some kind of mineral raw material.
Jian Mo walked over to take it. The hard object felt heavy and cold in his hand. It was indeed a bit like a stone, but it didn't feel like a stone.
He wanted to put it under his nose and smell it.
When it was shaken, some crumbs fell off the hard block, and he rubbed it with his hand -
wait!
This feeling!
Jian Mo rubbed the crumbs, and picked the hard block again. Sure enough, he picked out larger crumbs, which easily stuck together with the previous crumbs.
Jian Mo's eyes widened: "Oh my God, this can't be the beeswax I mentioned before?"
Qing Kuang smiled: "You are asking me about what you are looking for?"
Jian Mo put it under his nose and smelled it. He didn't smell any special smell, so he rubbed it again: "It really seems like it. I have never seen pure natural beeswax, but it feels like it. Wait a minute, I'll go home and melt it with a fire."
Others came up to watch, and seeing Jian Mo so excited, they also touched and picked it.
Someone asked, "What is this used for?"
Jian Mo: "It's very useful! Wait, let me go see if it's what I want to find."
Qing Kuang followed him and said, "Go ahead, but this should be what you are looking for. This is also secreted by insects."
Jian Mo: "If you say so, it really could be."
Jian Mo took them home, found a clean pottery pot, lit a fire on the stones in the yard, put the pottery pot on it, and then cut off a hard lump with a dagger. The
cutting process was quite smooth, and it was cut off easily.
This made Jian Mo more convinced that what Qing Kuang brought back was a piece of bee wax, no, insect wax!
The insect wax quickly melted into liquid in the pottery pot, and it quickly solidified when it was picked up with a wooden stick.
Jian Mo remembered the candles he played with when he was a child. The touch was exactly the same.
It was definitely a wax, he couldn't have made a mistake.
Jian Mo sighed: "It's not easy. This is what I want to find. Where did you find it?"
Qing Kuan: "It's definitely not in the tribes near us." Jian Mo
asked curiously: "Then how did you find it?"
Qing Kuan said casually: "I asked the familiar beastmen from other tribes to help look for it. The beastmen from other tribes asked the beastmen they knew from other tribes, and finally found it."
Jian Mo: "So, which tribe's specialty is this?"
Qing Kuan: "Gold Next to the Tuo tribe, there is a tribe called Yangyao that produces things. Most of the people there are cats and sub-beasts. When they heard that we also have cats and sub-beasts here, they agreed to exchange things. "
Jian Mo sighed: "That's really not easy."
Qing Kuang: "Who said it wasn't? People are still looking at your face. I heard that you are the most powerful witch doctor among all the nearby tribes, so they give you a face."
Jian Mo touched his face: "It's worth it."
It's not easy to get insect wax, Jian Mo said he would use it no matter what.
Jian Mo: "Let's do it tonight, I'll see if I can make lip balm?"
Qing Kuang: "The lip balm made of animal oil and insect wax you said?"
Jian Mo added: "We need to add some moisturizing medicine juice. Don't we have cardinal branch oil? Add that too."
Making lipstick is also a confidential matter in their tribe. Jian Mo only invited Qing Kuang and a few others to come.
They made lipstick in the yard. Because they applied the medicine oil they exchanged from the Mengshui tribe, no bugs bit them. The breeze in the yard was more comfortable.
Jian Mo used an oil-free and water-free ceramic pot to melt insect wax.
He was afraid that he would not be able to succeed the first time, so he only melted one-third of it.
The melted insect wax had some impurities. He originally wanted to filter it, but after a few attempts, he found that he could not filter it at all. He had to use chopsticks to pick out the impurities bit by bit.
It's okay.
Jian Mo made lip balm in small quantities and repeatedly, and finally found that the oil in the lip balm did not affect the success rate, only the proportion of wax.
About one-fifth of wax plus four-fifths of oil made the most successful lip balm.
The first batch of 52 boxes of lip balm were laid out in a row.
This light red paste looks very cute, and you can smell a faint fragrance when you put it under your nose and sniff it.
After getting Jian Mo's consent, Zhou Fu couldn't wait to pick up a box, scooped a small piece and smeared it on his lips.
After applying it, he sipped it and said in surprise: "It smells so good and moisturizing!"
Everyone looked at his slightly reddish oily lips, and Qing Kuo said: "Red looks good too."
Zhou Fu: "Then can we add some red soil or something else to make it redder?"
Jian Mo waved his hand: "It's not necessary. If you want to make your lips redder, you can also apply red soil directly on your lips. I feel that applying red soil is not very safe." Jian Mo
didn't know what the ingredients of red soil were. He only saw them use it at the Ten Thousand Beasts Festival and guessed that it was a kind of mineral soil.
Since it is mineral soil, it may be rich in metals. If you accidentally eat it, it will probably be harmful to the body.
This kind of mineral soil is okay to apply on the face during festivals, but it is not suitable as an ingredient for daily lip balm.
Lip balm also has to be used by the cubs, and mineral soil has been added, so they are afraid that it will be detrimental to the growth and development of the cubs.
Jian Mo explained, and everyone nodded to show that they understood.
Everyone took a box of lip balm to try, and they were all very satisfied with the effect of this lip balm.
They turned around, but saw Jian Mo's brows wrinkled.
Qing Kuan asked: "What's wrong? Don't you like this lip balm? Or is the wax wrong?"
Jian Mo shook his head: "I feel that the oil is a bit wrong. Do you think this lip balm is too oily? It's sticky and greasy on the lips."
Everyone shook their heads in unison, and it was obvious that they did not feel the same way as him.
Jian Mo still felt that it was not very effective. He had used very good lip balms before. That kind of lip balm was very moisturizing, and it was very smooth on the lips. It had a great touch and smell.
He reached out and wiped off all the lip balm, then put it under his nose and smelled it.
The newly made lip balm smelled of asparagus oil and was very thick.
Lip balms on Earth should be made mostly from plant oils, such as shea butter.
Qing Kuang patted his shoulder and said, "Don't be so demanding. I think this lip balm is already very useful now."
Jian Mo said, "It's OK, but if you take this lip balm to the Mengshui tribe to exchange, they should be able to replicate it quickly."
Qing Kuang was unhappy: "Tsk."
Jian Mo smiled and said, "I just thought of the Qingchi fruit on the mountain. Are the seeds of the Qingchi fruit very oily? It seems that the oil of the Qingchi fruit can be used to make it."
The Qingchi fruit is a small shrub fruit, which contains a bag of seeds slightly larger than sesame seeds. The seeds are very oily. If you pinch them between your fingers and gently grind them, you can grind out oil.
However, this kind of fruit does not have many seeds. There are only five or six seeds in one fruit. Although it can be eaten, people are too lazy to pick it.
Qing Kuo: "Now is the season for the Qing Chi fruit to ripen."
Jian Mo: "Yes, I will pick some in two days and see if I can use the oil to make lip balm."
Min Dang said on the side: "I am free these two days, so you don't have to go out with the tribe to collect. I will help you."
Zhou Fu was eager to try: "I can help, and there is Xilu."
Xilu nodded beside him.
Ye Luo smiled and said: "Then let's go together. I know where the Qing Chi fruit grows well and in good condition. Qing Kuo will come too?"
Qing Kuo said unhappily: "If you all go, I will definitely go with you."
So, everyone agreed to go up the mountain to pick Qing Chi fruit.
Wu Jiong had to go out hunting with the people in the tribe, so he couldn't accompany them. Only a few Asian beastmen could go together.
Jian Mo and his friends set out early in the morning and walked towards the mountain where Qing Chi fruit grew under the leadership of Ye Luo.
The fruits of this shrub were indeed numerous and dense, and they were already ripe. The fruits split open, ejecting some of the seeds, and the rest remained on the branches waiting for wild birds to eat.
They could not collect the seeds that ejected, so they could only collect the fruits on the branches, knocking them against the edge of the basket one by one, knocking or picking the seeds off.
The seeds were really too small, and they collected from morning to noon, and from morning to noon, and everyone's hands were a little cramped.
At noon, they sat under the shade of the tree to drink water and share the food they brought.
Qing Kuang said, "That won't work. How about we pick the fruits together, dry them, grind them with a roller, and then sieve them."
Jian Mo was also very tired, and felt a little guilty: "Thank you for your hard work."
Ye Luo patted Jian Mo's shoulder: "What are you talking about? After we pick them, we will all share them. How can you be the only one to work hard?"
Qing Kuang: "We have two kids at home, and they will need lip balm."
Jian Mo laughed: "Ban Ming is not a kid."
Qing Kuang said, "He is not the bastard you are talking about?"
Everyone laughed together.
After a brief rest, they continued to work.
In the afternoon, picking fruits together made the work much easier, and everyone quickly filled two backpacks.
They carried a backpack in front and a backpack in the back, and slowly went down the mountain and returned to the tribe.
The young beastmen in the tribe came back early and ran out to greet them.
It was much easier to deal with the fruits after they were brought back to the tribe.
Whether it was drying or crushing and screening, there were many people who could help.
Only four or five days later, two large baskets of dark and oily seeds were placed in front of Jian Mo.
Qing Kuang asked, "What should we do now?"
Jian Mo: "Let's press the oil first."
The people in the tribe ate animal oil and had no experience in pressing vegetable oil.
Jian Mo asked Wu Jiong to move the hardwood they had stored in the cave out, dig a groove in the middle of each hardwood, and then match the grooves to form a "cross" shaped wooden frame.
Others asked:
"Then what? What should we do?"
"I have also found the dried big leaves, and the rope is here."
"I have already pounded the Qingchi fruit. Some oil came out when pounding, but it won't have any impact, right?"
Jian Mo answered one by one: "Send it to the kitchen to fry it first, and keep the big leaves and ropes ready. The oil produced during pounding will not have any impact, and the loss should not be much."
Seeing that Jian Mo had an idea in mind, everyone surrounded him and walked into the kitchen.
Jian Mo first fried the two large baskets of Qingchi fruit seeds until they were cooked and fragrant, and then asked everyone to use the big leaves to wrap these seeds into round and flat blocks like tea cakes.
After wrapping, Jian Mo asked them to lift the big wood in the yard and stuff the blocks into the grooves.
Everyone asked, "What should we do next?"
Jian Mo tried to place the big wood on a certain spot. He looked around and saw that the yard was bare and there was no place to place it. He slapped his head and said, "Let's go to the big stone mortar, place the wood on it, and then squeeze out the oil in the groove."
Now everyone understood and hurriedly moved things to the big stone mortar.
The wood was placed on the big stone mortar, and if the oil from the seeds flowed down during the squeezing process, it would just flow into the stone mortar.
Jian Mo wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "It's time to press it down. Two heavier people can step on the two ends of the wood to press it down."
Ban Ming raised his hand and said, "Brother Jian Mo, can we press it down directly in beast form?"
Jian Mo didn't realize that they were beastmen for a while. After he realized it, he said happily, "Of course, find two heavier beastmen to stand at the two ends."
Ban Ming: "Let's use our cat beastmen."
As he said that, Ban Ming turned around and changed back to beast form. His good friend A Hu also turned around and changed back to beast form tacitly.
Two big cats, one gray and one orange, jumped to the two ends of the hardwood above and pressed it down directly.
As their huge bodies pressed down, the hardwood bent and creaked, and the seed bag in the middle of the wood also successfully squeezed out oil.
The clear oil fell drop by drop into the stone mortar, exuding the unique fragrance of vegetable oil.
Jian Mo: "It really works! Well done!"
Ban Ming's tail was hooked up, and he said proudly: "We cats are the most flexible, right, A Hu?"
The big orange cat A Hu said seriously: "Yeah."
Everyone has been observing the oil secretion of the seeds. Seeing that they pressed twice and no oil flowed out, Qing Kuang said: "Change to a new leaf bag."
The two big cats jumped off the wood at the same time.
The beastmen waiting on the side moved the hardwood above down, and this time put two seed bags into the groove.
After it was put in place, two big cats, one gray and one orange, jumped up again and used their body weight to press the wood again.
This process was quite fun to watch.
After repeating two rounds, the beastmen of the canine family could not help but squeeze forward: "Ban Ming, A Hu, it's our turn."
The two big cats simultaneously used cat punches to drive the beastmen of the canine family away: "Go away, you canines are clumsy. You can't even stand on such a narrow piece of wood. Don't fall down."
The beastmen rushed to squeeze out the oil, and the oil yield was actually quite good in the end.
Jian Mo got a small half bucket of fragrant vegetable oil. Everyone came over to smell it and felt it was good.
Indeed, animal oil has its own characteristics, and vegetable oil has its own characteristics. Different oils can be used to make different things.
Everyone helped to clean up, while Jian Mo led people back to the yard to continue making lip balm.
This time, the same ratio of four-fifths oil and one-fifth wax was used. The lip balm made was more delicate and oily, with a better scent and a more beautiful color.
- Vegetable oil is more compatible with the scent and color of cardinal flowers.
After the new version of lip balm was made, even Qingkuang couldn't help but say, "Sometimes you really shouldn't steal that lazy thing."
Jian Mo looked at the remaining oil: "Save the remaining half bucket of oil and use it later. Such a small box of lip balm doesn't use much oil in total, and it's worth the hard work."
As he said, Jian Mo handed the oil to Qingkuang and planned to hand it over to the tribe.
Qing Kuang waved his hand and said, "This time we squeezed the oil from the seeds that we collected with you. You can keep the oil and share the lip balm with us."
Ye Luo and the others had the same idea.
Ye Luo said, "I've learned something new. This oil is not enough to reward you. You can keep it."
Jian Mo, "Then I won't be polite. I'll use this vegetable oil to try something else."
Qing Kuang laughed heartily and said, "Go ahead. If you find something good, it would be even better if you can share it with us."
Jian Mo, "Don't worry, I will."
Next, Jian Mo made a vegetable oil version of the ointment and tried the lubricant.
The ointment was okay, but the lubricant was not necessary.
Qingchi fruit oil is very useful. Adding more insect wax will not improve the experience, but may even cause allergies.
You have to practice to know the truth.
One day, Jian Mo was lying on the bed lazily thinking.
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