Chapter 112: A lot of work to be done
"Aying, is it enough?" Su Laoer came in holding a large piece of liver-red clay.
"Enough, enough!" Su Ying said, "Where did you find it?"
The clay has been pounded and the three brothers' hands are covered with mud.
Playing in the mud is a rare entertainment activity for rural children, and the three brothers probably played a lot while digging in the mud.
"Secret!" Su Lao Er rarely joked, "How could you girls find this thing?"
"Aying, what is this mud used for?" the boys were curious.
"Well, make something good!" Su Ying smiled. "Second Uncle, help me beat it up and make it into a few brick-sized cubes, two and a half inches thick."
"Done!" Su Laoer picked up the clay and banged it a lot, making it into several rectangular blocks and placed them on the flour sieve.
Su Ying used a branch as thick as her finger to poke two rows of holes on it, running through it from top to bottom, arranged them neatly, and placed them in a ventilated place to dry.
"What is this for?" Even Su Boyan couldn't help but be curious.
"Mold, to make chalk!" Su Ying took out two lumps of lime given by Old Man Yang and ground them into powder.
There was not much lime, so I was reluctant to use it to compost the soil and disinfect it. Anyway, it was not enough for one acre of land.
Without books and paper, children could only rely on their teachers to copy the contents of the books on the blackboard.
When talking about setting up a village school, Su Ying thought of the blackboard and chalk in modern society.
The raw materials of chalk are things like gypsum, chalk, and talcum powder, which are difficult to find at the moment, so the only raw material I can think of is quicklime.
Quicklime plus a little water produces lime powder, while adding more water makes it lime paste.
Pour a large bucket of water into the lime basin,
"Swish!" Steam immediately rose up, making a gurgling sound, and the water kept bubbling like boiling water.
Quicklime plus water releases a lot of heat, and the water is very hot. Su Ying gently stirs it with a bamboo stick to allow the lime to fully dissolve in the water.
The young men didn't understand what this meant. Wasn't this just mixing lime slurry? They weren't building a house or whitewashing it, so wasn't this a waste of lime?
When the lime water stops bubbling and slowly cools down, a white precipitate will slowly settle out, with clear water on top.
Pour out the Su Ying, then add clean water and stir to allow the undissolved lime to fully dissolve and precipitate.
Boil a little more sour jujube water and pour it in, stirring thoroughly.
Quicklime dissolves in water to form calcium hydroxide, which reacts with carbon dioxide in the air to form calcium carbonate.
Calcium carbonate can also be obtained by adding lemonade or fruit acid to lime water.
The sediment at the bottom of the basin is the calcium carbonate that Su Ying wants. Pour out the clean water.
Worried that calcium carbonate would be too hard after solidifying and would be impractical for writing, Su Ying thought she needed to add some white powder into it.
I looked around, but there was no flour at all. The only thing available was chestnut flour.
"Brother, please get me some chestnut powder." Su Ying said to Su Boyan.
Su Boyan filled a bowl and asked, "Is that enough?"
"Enough!" Su Ying took the chestnut powder and poured it into the calcium carbonate.
"Ah!" The brothers who were watching the fun were so heartbroken that they couldn't help but exclaim.
Oh my god, this is chestnut powder! How did you pour it into the lime?
Su Ying glanced at her brothers and smiled, "Don't worry, just use this little bit!"
Stir for a while, mix into a paste, and slowly pour into the mold holes.
The so-called chalk made in this way is definitely not as delicate and easy to use as the one made by gypsum powder, but it is worse than nothing.
"What is this chalk used for?" Su Boyan looked at it for a long time but still couldn't imagine its use.
"It's for teaching. Tomorrow, Uncle Zheng Si and Uncle Wang San will bring the blackboard over. You'll understand it then."
Su Ying herself didn't know whether such a randomly put together thing could be made into chalk, and she might just waste a bowl of chestnut powder.
Thinking about the upcoming class, the teenagers flirted with each other, poking each other, and couldn't help but feel happy.
Only when I touch the book do I feel calm and at ease, and feel that I have not wasted my time or squandered my years.
Even though studying is meaningless with my current status, I still feel a strong desire in my heart, unwilling to let my life be wasted and just go with the flow.
Su Ying was tired of eating the hodgepodge porridge, so she ate it casually.
"What are you worried about?" Su Bucheng saw that his daughter was worried, with her brows furrowed, like a little old lady.
"Oh! I'm so worried!" Su Ying sighed, "I can't swallow porridge every day."
"I'll let your mother cook some rice tomorrow!" Su Bucheng said with concern as he looked at his eldest daughter who was so thin that she looked unrecognizable.
Now that vermicelli has come out, it will soon be convertible into cash. We no longer have to be stingy with our food and be afraid to eat more.
"No, let's wait a little longer. The vermicelli hasn't been converted into cash yet, and I don't know how it's selling." Su Ying refused.
Be patient for a few more days, and you will get the iron pot, and you will also have a general idea of the market situation in the state capital.
Squeeze out the tea oil and use it in an iron pan to cook. Just imagine how fragrant it would be.
"You!" Su Bucheng smiled. This kid is so young, but he always thinks far ahead when doing things.
"Father, there are so many children in the village who want to study, but they don't have paper and pen. There is not much point in reading this book." Su Ying was about to go bald.
After being busy for so long, I have only finished the winter wheat matter. The other thing has not been done, and the students' pens, ink, paper and inkstone are in front of me again.
"This won't be a problem when we have money in the future. But now we are in this situation, penniless and with no priorities. We only have two hands and a lot of things to do. There's no point in being anxious." Su Bucheng is very open-minded.
This exile was not as hopeless as I had imagined. There was food, and the villagers were friendly and united.
Judging from the current development trend, the scene here will definitely be completely different in a few years.
If it doesn't affect the future of his descendants, Su Bucheng feels that there is nothing wrong with living here for the rest of his life.
"There are still a few days left before delivery. I'll dig up some more fern roots and kudzu roots tomorrow and try to deliver as much as possible.
Once we determine the external trends, we can determine production and finalize staffing arrangements.
We can't always stay at the village chief's house. We need to find a vacant lot to build a shed and a factory. If we want to do it, we have to do it well.' Su Bucheng thought.
"Tomorrow we can assign some more people to dig konjac, wash it, cut it into slices, dry it, grind it into powder and sell it directly, or make it into vermicelli and sell it." Su Ying thought of the konjac that was missed.
"Yes! This thing doesn't take up a big pot! One konjac is a big pot of food!" Su Bucheng nodded repeatedly.
It’s not very filling, but the food is very good, especially the braised dishes.
"Father, since we are building a factory, we might as well make it sturdy. We can also build the oil mill as well and gradually add equipment to the oil mill.
After completing these two tasks, we will build a lime kiln and dig a pond. During this period, my second uncle will organize several people to survey the route.
The road will be built next. If it is arranged properly, a section can be built before the New Year.
If there is a shortage of manpower, the children who are studying can also go, working half a day and repairing half a day, or working a whole day and repairing a whole day.
After the busy farming season in spring, the oil mill can start pressing oil."
Su Ying suggested that since there was no paper and pen, there was nothing much to do except learning to read.
There is a lot of work to be done and there are so many areas that need manpower.
"Okay, let's discuss it with the village elders tomorrow!" Su Bucheng agreed.
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