They happily pulled up the salt mushrooms before starting to collect the salt blocks.
The two worked until the sun was high in the sky before hurriedly carrying the basket of salt blocks home.
When the father and daughter returned, Grandma Su was overjoyed to see so many blocks of salt.
"We won't need to buy salt anymore! Where did you get it? Just crush it with a graphite stone and store it away. We can use it next time we cook."
It wasn't until this moment that Su Muyao realized that the reason the salt she ate here tasted bitter was because the salt blocks had been crushed and used directly without being refined.
Is this some kind of scary? Wouldn't that result in direct poisoning?
There are so many harmful substances in this place, no wonder the average lifespan of ancient people was not long.
Fortunately, in order to live well in ancient times, I had brushed up on a lot of ancient knowledge before I traveled through time, including salt production.
"Grandma, this is not edible. It contains a slight amount of poison. If people eat it for a long time, they will develop all sorts of health problems."
Looking at the large basket of salt blocks, Old Mrs. Su felt a deep pang of heartache.
"What a pity, it's inedible. What are you going to do with it?"
Grandma Su was puzzled. If it couldn't be eaten, what was the point of bringing it back?
"Grandma, this is indeed the kind of salt you usually use, but it's a bit bitter, and that bitterness comes from impurities. Eating too much of these impurities will be bad for your health."
Although Grandma Su didn't quite understand, after all, she had been eating this salt her whole life, and it was really hard to accept that the salt was poisonous.
Seeing that the old lady was deep in thought, Su Muyao continued, "This kind of salt can be consumed after it is purified, and there will be no more impurities, and it will not be bitter."
Old Man Su overheard the conversation between the grandfather and grandson at the door and suddenly seemed to realize something.
Old Su first went to the yard and bolted the gate before hurrying back to the kitchen.
"My dear, let me ask you, is this the kind of salt that high-ranking officials and nobles refine?"
Su Muyao thought for a moment. The green salt they were talking about was actually refined salt, but the refining method was different, and there was still a lot of dirt in it.
He nodded. "Grandpa, it's pretty much what you said, except that the refined salt I use is much better than regular salt."
Grandma Su looked at her husband, puzzled, and asked, "Why are you so agitated?"
"Oh my, old woman, you don't know that only people in the palace or high-ranking officials can afford this salt."
Seemingly remembering something, he continued, "Years ago, I worked as a kitchen helper and met some high-ranking officials and dignitaries. When they came to eat at the restaurant, they all brought their own salt, and that salt was absolutely beautiful!"
When Grandma Su heard her husband say this, she wondered if that kind of salt was very expensive. She also thought of all the refined salt her granddaughter had brought out a while ago.
She quickly took out the salt shaker and handed it to her husband, saying, "Look, this is my darling. He gave it to me a while ago. We've been using this salt lately. Do you think it has that kind of green salt you mentioned?"
Old Su's hands trembled as he held the salt jar. "This is even better than green salt, finer and whiter. How can salt be so white?"
Seeing her husband's trembling hands, Old Mrs. Su snatched the salt jar from him.
"Look at you, so useless. Our little darling is a lucky star, the kind that even the heavens are chasing after to feed you. You'll never miss out on good things in the future."
Old Su chuckled.
Su Muyao found suitable gauze in her spatial storage and a clean wooden bucket in the kitchen.
Then he picked out a few small pieces of salt from the basket that Su Laosan had brought back and put them into the basin.
Pour in water again, add wood ash, boil and let stand before filtering.
He slowly stirred the brine with a large iron ladle, covered one side of the wooden bucket with gauze, and began pouring the brine into another bucket.
Next, filter with gauze to remove the insoluble matter.
After going back and forth several times, I finally poured the filtered water into the pot.
Looking at the large amount of impurities on the cloth, she knew that the so-called salt was probably just salt water that had been dissolved and filtered through a cloth, and that was it.
The salt that enters the market is basically filtered once before being sold to the people.
I never even considered that the impurities in it might contain trace amounts of toxins.
Just as Su Muyao sat down on the bamboo stool to continue tending the fire, her grandmother pulled her aside.
"Grandma can handle this. If there's anything you need to do, ask your grandpa for help."
The old lady had already looked it over once; there were no special rules about starting a fire, and she could do it herself.
Grandma Su lit the firewood with a flint and steel underneath, while Su Muyao began to stir the salt water in the pot with a spoon.
She kept stirring and stirring. Old Su, who was standing to the side, finally understood that his granddaughter wanted to keep stirring the water. So he took the big spoon from his granddaughter and started stirring in a very professional manner.
Finally, crystals appeared in the pot.
"Grandma, you don't need to add any more fuel to the fire."
Upon hearing this, Grandma Su stopped adding firewood, clapped her hands, and stood up, watching her granddaughter still busy on the stove, tiptoeing.
Su Muyao waited for the embers to finish drying the salt water in the pot.
Soon after, pure white crystal salt appeared.
The salt in the pot had crystallized, and even after making so many salt blocks, only two large bowls were poured out.
As if in a dream, Old Man Su watched as his granddaughter's pot of brine turned into this white salt.
He said to his wife, "Honey, can you pinch me?"
Grandma Su pinched her husband in annoyance.
"It really hurts, it's not a dream."
At this moment, Old Man Su was already considering whether to keep this technology to himself or discuss it with the village chief and report it to the government.
Manufacturing crystal salt privately is a capital offense; if discovered, it could lead to the extermination of nine generations of one's family.
However, if someone proactively reports discovering a method for manufacturing crystal salt, they will only be rewarded, not punished.
But he was afraid that this would involve his own granddaughter. After all, this method might offend a lot of people, so he decided to give up on it.
“My dear child, you can’t do this again after this one time. Don’t tell anyone! Not even your parents or your uncles.”
When Grandma Su heard her husband say this, she began to have her own thoughts.
This is indeed a very serious matter. If outsiders find out, they may not be able to protect their granddaughter.
They don't need to be rich or powerful; they just hope their little granddaughter can grow up safely and happily.
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