Chapter 73 Boiling and Dyeing
On this day, Jian Mo went out to collect for a day. When he returned to the tribe, Wu Jiong had not returned yet.
He walked around the house twice. Seeing that the house was in order and there was nothing to do, he simply sat down and poured himself a cup of boiled water and drank it slowly.
The sun had not completely set yet, and it was still early.
He thought he would take his clothes and take a bath in the river later.
Boiling water was a bit troublesome, but now the weather was warm, and with his physique, taking a bath in the river would be no problem.
Just as he was rummaging through boxes and cabinets looking for clothes, someone outside called him: "Brother Jianmo, are you there?"
"Upstairs." Jianmo called downstairs and walked downstairs with the clothes in his arms. "What's wrong?"
The voice outside became more excited: "Brother Jianmo, the big pot you customized is ready. We sent it to you."
Jianmo immediately quickened his pace: "Let me see."
Ban Ming and Ahu each carried a big pot in: "This is the pot, take a look to see if it is what you want. If you think it is not suitable, we will send it back and let Dejiang and others modify it."
Jianmo had commissioned the tribe to make a metal pot for some time, but the metal pot has a certain technical content, it is more difficult to make, and the construction period is also long.
During this period, he also went to the production site to draw drawings several times and explained the production method several times.
This process was particularly difficult. He was embarrassed to urge them, and it was useless even if he did, so he didn't pay attention to the big pot for a while.
He didn't expect that the young people would suddenly carry the pot to him today.
Jian Mo said in surprise: "Let me see!"
Ban Ming and A Hu put two big pots in front of Jian Mo: "These are the two pots."
The diameter of these two big pots was more than one meter, and they looked like the big pots commonly used in rural areas.
His stove had two stove holes, which could just fit two big pots.
Jian Mo walked closer, touched the edge of the pot with care, and then checked it inch by inch.
The pot was generally more even. When holding it in the hand, no side was particularly heavy, and no side was particularly light. When touching it with the hand, you can feel that the thickness of the pot is basically the same.
The two pots all had fine marks from knocks, probably because they were made from a large piece of iron. The pots had no gaps, and they felt heavy in the hand, and they felt very well made.
They were much better than most pots Jian Mo had seen on Earth, with particularly fine details, and he could not feel any burrs when he touched them.
Ban Ming observed his expression from the side: "Brother Jian Mo, how is it?"
Jian Mo's eyes were very bright: "Great! This is the pot I want."
Ban Ming: "That's great, we are afraid that you don't like the pot we made."
Jian Mo: "How could that be? I have been looking forward to these two pots for a long time. Come on, help me move these two pots to the kitchen, let me see them."
Everyone carried the two pots to the kitchen and put them in the stove. They fit perfectly.
It is worthy of being a specially customized pot, the quality is good.
Jian Mo touched it lovingly and said, "Thank you for moving the pot outside. I'll heat it up and try."
Ban Ming: "What do you mean by heat the pot?"
Jian Mo: "Well, it means heating it with fire and then smearing it with oil before using it for the first time. This way the pot will be extra durable and won't stick when you cook."
Everyone didn't understand at all and looked at Jian Mo with confusion.
Jian Mo waved his hand: "I don't know how to explain it either. You'll know after you see it. By the way, help me build a simple fire pit. I'll heat the pot first."
Both pots have iron ears, which makes them very convenient to pick up.
Jian Mo asked everyone to put the pots in the simple fire pit, and then started a big fire underneath.
He put the pots on top and planned to heat them up one by one.
Everyone stood by and watched.
Jian Mo first heated the pot until it was red hot, then took some salt and put it in the pot to slowly stir-fry.
After frying, he poured out the salt in the pot, poured in animal oil, and used a spatula to press the cloth soaked in animal oil to coat the inside and outside of the pot, leaving no corner untouched.
Everyone watched curiously:
"What's the principle?"
"Why does it become durable after doing this once? If so, can we do the same when making other metal tools?"
"Oh, brother Jian Mo, do I have to heat this knife and apply animal oil to it as well?"
Jian Mo hesitated: "I don't know the principle either, maybe only the pot needs to be done this way?"
Everyone asked again.
Jian Mo heard this question and quickly stretched out his hand to stop him: "Stop, I don't know why, this is all based on experience, this is how people in our place do it."
Everyone was unwilling to give in, but they couldn't ask any more questions, so they could only gather around and watch the excitement.
After the two pots were cooked, Jian Mo brought water to wash them carefully, and then directed everyone to help move the cooled pots back to the kitchen and put them on the stove.
At this time, Wu Jiong had already returned, and more people came to watch, and the kitchen was almost crowded.
Everyone looked at Jian Mo's kitchen, looking left and right, full of curiosity.
"So this is what a kitchen looks like after having a pot."
"Jian Mo, the pot is ready. Do you want to show us how to use it?"
"What? Do you want to make a metal pot as well?"
"No, we don't have that much metal. The metal used for labor is heavier than the pot. If we have extra metal, we should make a few more knives."
"Hahaha, I think it's good to just watch and see the fun."
Seeing that they were really curious about how the two pots cooked, Jian Mo said, "Then wait a moment, everyone. I'll prepare the side dishes first."
The people around immediately said, "What side dishes do you want? We'll help you make them."
Jian Mo didn't bother to be polite with them. He directly prescribed ingredients such as animal slices, bacon slices, fresh fish and bird eggs, and asked everyone to help wash and cut them.
Soon, all the ingredients were ready and the fire in the stove was lit.
Jian Mo fried the bacon first under the watchful eyes of everyone.
After frying the bacon until the surface was slightly crispy, he put the wild vegetables that he had prepared in advance into it.
With a "sizzle", the wild vegetables suddenly burst into a rich fragrance.
Everyone behind Jian Mo said in unison: "Wow——"
Jian Mo's mouth twitched slightly, but his hands did not stop moving.
He stir-fried it quickly over high heat, and after a few stirs, he served the wild vegetables and bacon and put it in a brown ceramic plate.
At this time, the wild vegetables were still green and covered with a layer of oil. The bacon was also crispy and smelled very tempting.
Amid the expectations of the people around him, Jian Mo picked up the chopsticks and tasted it: "It's okay, almost what I thought."
As he said that, Jian Mo handed it to Wu Jiong, asked him to taste it, and then passed it to others to taste.
Everyone was very interested in wild vegetables. After tasting them, they were even more amazed by the crisp and residue-free dishes.
Qing Kuang sighed in the back: "It turns out that wild vegetables can taste like this."
Ye Luo also said: "So fresh and tender."
Jian Mo had already washed the pot and was ready to fry the beast: "There are more tender ones."
He said to Ban Ming who was lighting the fire: "This time, we have to use a high fire all the time."
Ban Ming immediately said: "Don't worry, I will definitely not let the fire go down even a little bit."
The beast meat was cut into thin slices and marinated with starch and pepper powder. It was completely different from ordinary beast meat.
Jian Mo put a little more oil in the pot than usual. After the oil temperature came up, he poured the meat directly into the pot and quickly fried it.
The blood in the meat reacted with the oil, and small oil spots popped out with crackling.
The people around were shocked and stepped back quickly.
Jian Mo didn't even frown, and the spatula in his hand danced with the wind. He directly fried the meat evenly and served it on a ceramic plate. The whole process took only ten seconds.
After pouring a spoonful of cold water into the pot to temporarily lower the temperature in the pot, Jian Mo tasted a piece of meat.
The meat slices fried in this way were very tender. You can see with the naked eye that it is very smooth, not full of fibers like roasted meat.
Usually, he can only achieve this tenderness after marinating the meat and then boiling it in clear water.
However, boiled meat does not have the aroma of stir-frying at all.
Jian Mo was also very satisfied with this dish. He then gave it to Wu Jiong, and after he tasted it, he gave it to others to taste.
After everyone tasted it, they were amazed again.
In the tribe, no one except Jian Mo had ever made such tender slices of meat.
Seeing Jian Mo fry the slices of meat with their own eyes, everyone was watching magic, and after tasting it, they only nodded repeatedly to express that it was delicious, and had nothing else to say.
Jian Mo fried fish and scrambled eggs, and under the encouragement of everyone in the tribe, he also demonstrated stir-fried stems, which were also crispy and delicious.
Every dish made by Jian Mo was beyond everyone's expectations.
At the beginning, everyone felt that it was not worth it to spend so much effort to make two pots. After tasting these delicious dishes, everyone said that if there was a lot of metal, making two pots to solve the problem of eating was indeed a good choice.
Not to mention that everyone was surprised, Jian Mo himself was also surprised.
These two pots are much more useful than he imagined, and they are much more useful than stone slabs and pottery pots.
The dishes with the smell of pots are really delicious.
In the evening, Jian Mo specially washed himself from head to toe, and only felt better after washing away the fumes.
He said to Wu Jiong with emotion: "I now feel that the luckiest thing last year was to go to the Jintuo tribe. Metal is really easy to use."
Wu Jiong: "So Jintuo is the richest, and everyone likes metal."
Jian Mo sighed: "Yes, it's impossible not to like it."
The two pots in their house can be used as frying pans and boiling pots.
Metal pots are much more durable than pottery pots. They will not crack no matter how you cook. They are much more convenient to use for boiling water and making soup.
Jian Mo has been immersed in the various wonderful uses of the big iron pot for a while, and he doesn't even want to go out.
One day, Qing Kuang found him and asked him: "The grass that can be used for dyeing has grown. We are going to collect it in the next two days. Do you want to go with us?"
Jian Mo went out with different collection teams every day to collect various edible vegetables. He really didn't pay attention to Qing Kuang.
Jian Mo: "What colors can be dyed?"
Qing Kuang: "Yellow-brown and blue. The colors dyed are different every year. What color is it? I will take a look when I get it."
Jian Mo immediately remembered: "Are those pieces of yellow-brown cloth I received dyed with those dyeing grasses?"
Qing Kuang: "Yes, basically those dyeing grasses."
Jian Mo: "Then I'll go, wait for me."
Jian Mo has been here for so long, but he has never touched dyed cloth, and he was quite curious for a while.
He put on a large backpack, changed into an old set of clothes according to Qingkuang's instructions, and set out with them.
The place where the dyeing grass was located was a long way away. If he was not Qingzhuang, there was no way he could go that far.
Jian Mo followed all the way and his feet were almost broken.
They found the first piece of grass that could be dyed in a canyon.
The leaves of this grass were bigger than Jian Mo's palms and dark blue all over. If you pinched off a leaf and rubbed it, blue juice would appear in Jian Mo's palm.
Qingkuang put down the backpack: "Everyone start cutting, just leave a leaf in the center."
Everyone nodded, took out shell knives, and started cutting the grass - they were afraid that the dyeing grass would dye their beloved metal knives, so they changed for shell knives.
Jian Mo took out the metal knife and started cutting.
The leaves were thick and fresh, so it was quick to cut them. In a short while, he had cut half a basket.
But there was too much juice, and his fur coat was accidentally stained in several places. He rubbed it with his hands but couldn't get rid of the stain.
No wonder he had to wear old clothes when he went out to cut grass. If he had worn new clothes, he would have been heartbroken.
They quickly cut the dyed grass and went on to look for the next one.
The dyed grass grew in similar places every year, so they didn't have to spend too much time looking for it. They just had to go to a specific place and cut it.
Jian Mo followed them, stopping and walking along the way, and his buttocks were sore from exhaustion, not to mention his thighs, calves and soles.
After cutting most of the grass, they went to look for dye fruits that could be used to dye yellow-brown.
Qing Kuang said that the dye fruits cannot be eaten, and the usable part is mainly its yellow peel.
Last year's weather was not very good, and they did not find many in total, so the cloth in the tribe was not dyed much. Hopefully, it will be better this year.
While Jian Mo was resting with his knees propped up, he also hoped that more fruits would grow this year. They came all the way here, and it would be a pity if they could not pick many fruits.
After walking and stopping along the way, Jian Mo was so tired that he was out of breath, but fortunately, this year's harvest was really good.
They collected a lot of thumb-sized thick-skinned dye fruits, which should be enough for them this time.
After collecting almost everything, they started to walk towards the tribe.
Jian Mo almost vomited from walking so much. He missed Jiujiu a little at this moment. If Jiujiu had carried them here, they wouldn't have to walk so much.
But it didn't seem realistic. They had to go up and down the mountains and valleys, and go in and out of the jungle. Even if Jiujiu came, she would still have to wait outside most of the time.
Moreover, even if Jiujiu carried them here, they still had to walk a lot in the process of searching.
Jian Mo's mind was full of messy thoughts, but his feet were moving forward mechanically.
After finally returning to the tribe, everyone immediately sent the dye grass and dye fruit to the stone mortar, ready to pound them into paste and use them while they were fresh.
Jian Mo then realized that these two plants that can be used for dyeing are very easy to oxidize or are not fresh - there is no concept of oxidation here, everyone just says that the color of the plants is easy to fade.
They first pounded the dyeing grass, then washed and cleaned the mortar, and began to pound the dyeing fruit.
Everyone divided the work and put the pounded dyeing grass directly into a large earthenware pot, lit a fire and started to boil.
After the juice inside boiled, everyone put the fabrics to be dyed into the dyeing pot, and then added mineral salt to boil and dye.
Qing Kuan said that it should be boiled for half the night so that the color would be solid.
Jian Mo was completely unfamiliar with jobs like boiling and dyeing, so he followed the instructions and helped out beside him.
His family didn't have much fabric to dye this time, only ten rolls in total, five of which were dyed blue and five were dyed yellow-brown.
It's not that there is no more fabric at home, but he is not sure about the effect of dyeing, and whether it is suitable for further processing after dyeing, so he simply dyed less and planned to wait and see after dyeing.
They worked most of the night, and only stopped working when it was late at night. They let the cloth soak in the scooped-out dye water, planning to get up and take a look the next day.
Jian Mo was so tired that he almost fell down. He was no longer curious at this time. He went home, washed up simply, and fell asleep.
The next day, Wu Jiong got up first. He went to get the cloth from his family, washed it at the river, and hung it in the yard.
When Jian Mo got up, he saw ten pieces of cloth hanging in the sun.
The blue cloth actually felt a bit blue-black, very similar to the indigo on Earth.
The yellow cloth was an orange-yellow with a hint of cinnabar, and it looked very beautiful.
He had never expected the dyeing effect to be so good, much better than he imagined.
Looking around the fabric, he thought that if they could dye it to this standard every time, they could dye more fabric. They would be good choices for making bed sheets or tablecloths. With the light yellow or whitish natural color of the fabric, they should be able to make nice patterns.
After Wu Jiong fed the tuo beast, he turned to the front yard and saw Jian Mo looking at the cloth in the yard. He asked, "What's wrong?"
Jian Mo: "I just think this color is really beautiful. There is so much leftover cloth at home. We can dye more."
Wu Jiong: "It can't be used up after dyeing."
Jian Mo held up the cloth: "How could it be? Cloth is needed for everything we wear and use, and it can be used up. It's just that we may not have so much time to do needlework. Let me think, why not give some cloth to others as a reward and ask someone to do it?"
Before Jian Mo came, everyone was used to making everything by hand. After he came, he often exchanged various products with others, and everyone was used to various exchange modes.
It's just that currency has not been developed yet, but Jian Mo thinks it will be soon. The cloth and metal in circulation now are very useful, and everyone will recognize them in any tribe.
Wu Jiong: "Please, it's too tiring for us to do it alone."
All the handmade products at home are made by the two of them together, and there is no division of labor such as orcs or sub-orcs. The two of them often weave cloth and sew clothes together.
Jian Mo's patience is relatively poor, and he is worse than Wu Jiong in weaving cloth and making clothes.
Jian Mo: "I think so too. I will go to Qing Kuang later to see if he is free. If he is not free, I will look for Min Dang and Ye Luo."
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