Beginning Backpack [Farming]

Bamboo slices that have been sun-dried also need to be carbonized to prevent mildew. Carbonization is actually drying at high temperature. After carbonization, the color of bamboo filaments becomes light brown.

Shen Huaijin originally planned to bake pottery and charcoal, but later realized that he had two baskets of limestone to be calcined, so he simply took the time to build a lime kiln, and then baked bamboo chips while burning limestone.

The lime kiln that Shen Huaijin wants to build doesn't need to be big, after all, he only intends to rely on it to do some "small things".If large-scale calcining of lime is really needed in the future, Shen Huaijin still plans to build several large kilns directly between the stone forest and the woods, which is convenient for local materials and will not pollute the environment in the valley.

The diameter of the completed lime kiln is about 1.2 meters. The air inlet is dug at the bottom and the smoke outlet is left at the top. Since Shen Huaijin only has two fuels, wood and charcoal, he had to stack one layer of fuel and one layer of limestone to increase the furnace temperature.The limestone he picked up was smashed into small pieces by Li Jiji, so that it could be easily calcined.

The fire is ignited from the top, and the oxygen consumed by the top makes the wind flow in continuously from the bottom, and the flame gradually descends until the entire kiln is burned.After the fuel is burned out, the plant ash falls through the grate, and fuel can continue to be added from above.

Shen Huaijin was burning limestone and drying bamboo chips at the same time, because it was late in the evening when the kiln was built, and he was impatient, so he started to burn it directly, so he and Li took turns to watch the whole night.

At dawn, he estimated that the stones were almost burnt. After the fire was cut off and cooled naturally, he carefully sandwiched the burnt limestone into a rattan basket with wood.

The burnt stone still maintains its original appearance, but the color has changed from blue-gray to brown-white, and it is much lighter than stones of the same volume.Shen Huaijin picked up a piece and threw it into a bowl of water. Quicklime quickly melted into the water, and many bubbles appeared immediately. The water boiled and hot air rose out of the water.

After the exothermic reaction was over, Shen Huaijin stirred it with a branch, and there was no hard lump left. It seems that the temperature of this kiln is neither over-burned nor under-fired overnight, just right.

Li looked thoughtful, "This thing looks a little dangerous."

Shen Huaijin agreed, "The burnt limestone turns into quicklime, and when it touches water, it will emit a lot of heat, so don't wash it with water. This bowl of white water is also corrosive, so don't touch it casually."

Li nodded. Fortunately, they lived on the other side of the stream, and usually no cubs would come to play casually, otherwise it would be bad if they accidentally hurt them.

The remaining quicklime was put in a cool and dry storage room. Shen Huaijin had to weave the bamboo mat first, otherwise it would be really difficult to sleep at night.

Shen Huaijin was also a novice at weaving bamboo mats, so he asked Li to learn from the materials with him.Seeing that the other party could only frown at the picture because he couldn't read, Shen Huaijin thought about other things.

Although he doesn't have time to teach the members of the tribe to write, but Li gets along with him day and night, and he is also very smart, so it is feasible to gradually teach some simple characters now.

"Li, do you want to learn writing?" Shen Huaijin asked.

While imitating the weaving method on the picture with the rattan stick, Li responded, "Of course I want to, but will you be tired?" They only have time at night now. Although he really wants to learn words, he is afraid of disturbing Shen Huaijin's sleep time.

"No." Shen Huaijin shook his head, "We use fragments of time to learn during the day, and we learn a few a day. After a long time, we will know more characters."

After the two discussed it, they began to split the bamboo strips. The bamboo strips are too thick to be used for weaving.

Splitting bamboo strips is the most difficult process in weaving bamboo mats. Splitting thin bamboo pieces that will not break requires not only patience but also skill.The first time the two made up a rough feeling, it was not suitable for lying down, and Shen Huaijin didn't dislike it. After all, it could be used as a bamboo raft for drying things.

After the failure, they learned their lesson. In order to make the mat smoother and more comfortable, each bamboo only splits the outer two layers of bamboo. However, weaving a mat in this way requires at least dozens of bamboos.So while Shen Huaijin was weaving the bamboo mat, Li had to keep adding materials, and the process was much slower.

They did not use the first usable bamboo mat they made.Xiu had been bedridden recently, and Shen Huaijin was afraid that the room would be humid and hot, and Xiu's skin would suffer from stuffiness.The first bamboo mat was sent to Xiu's house.

When Shen Huaijin entered the room, Xiu Xiu sat on the wooden bed and prayed in a low voice, while Miao waited beside him.

Shen Huaijin said, "Xiu, this is bamboo weaved by Li Yong and I. You put it on the bed, and it will be more comfortable and breathable when you lie down." Just right.

Xiu raised his hand to Miao, signaling him to step back first.After Miao went out, Xiu pulled Shen Huaijin to sit down on the bed.

When Xiu spoke, Shen Huaijin realized that the other party's voice was so hoarse and old that he almost felt strange.

"Jin, I heard that you dug some stones and burned them. What's the use?"

Shen Huaijin nodded, "The limestone is burned, and the burned lime can be mixed with other things to make better cement, and the built city wall will be very stable."

Xiu nodded with satisfaction, "I've seen the cement before, and it's really good. I believe the city wall built will be able to withstand the beast tide."

"I heard from Han that the two sacred beast fruits are growing better and better, and they will definitely ripen in the off season this year."

His voice was full of relief, and he said to himself: "Yang has stopped embarrassing you from time to time, and everyone in the tribe should trust you now."

Without waiting for Shen Huaijin's response, Xiu just continued to ask: "You and Li are already together, when are you going to officially become a couple?"

Shen Huaijin noticed something from Xiu's chatter, he tightened his lips, nodded, and said: "We are together, we will hold a ceremony when we find a suitable opportunity. Xiu, you..."

Xiu interrupted Shen Huaijin's words with a smile. He took off the animal tooth necklace that he had been wearing around his neck, stroked it at last, and put it in Shen Huaijin's hand, "Give it to you."

"Back in the wild beast jungle, this beast attacked me, and it was Lu who blocked me. Lu was a witch from the Dahe Tribe at that time, and he was the only sub-beast capable enough to be a great witch. He died under this beast Mouth."

"After this beast was killed, I took off its animal teeth and wore them for a hundred years, just to prevent myself from forgetting my promise to Lu and lead the Dahe Tribe to live well."

"But since so many sunsets and moonrises, I've been thinking that if it was Lu who survived back then, the tribe wouldn't have..."

Shen Huaijin clenched his hand, "Xiu, you didn't cause the Dahe Tribe's plight. Even Lu might not be able to do better than you. Lu saved you back then because of her sincere feelings, and you also used 100 years of hard work to save you." Giving repaid his kindness."

Xiu smiled as if he was relieved, "I can feel at ease if I can hand over the Dahe Tribe to Jin."

Shen Huaijin went back to the other side of the stream and continued to weave bamboo mats. Seeing his silence, Shen Huaijin sat down beside him and asked in a low voice, "Did something happen?"

Shen Huaijin collected herself, forced a smile, "I feel that life is very fragile, maybe it will disappear in a second."

"Xiu's health is even worse." Li sighed, "When I went to see him two days ago, he didn't have the strength to get up."

Shen Huaijin hugged Li's waist tightly, absorbing the heat from the other party in the spring breeze blowing on his face, "So we should cherish every moment."

The busy life can't help disturbing thoughts, and the melancholy soon blows by the spring breeze, leaving ripples in my heart.

The two had successful experiences, and it didn't take long for them to weave a Hsinchu mat.They trimmed the edges and corners, and put it on the wooden bed that was put together, and it was just the right size.

Finally able to lie down on the cool and breathable bamboo mat at night, Shen Huaijin sighed.But he didn't intend to go to bed so early, instead he took out the square bamboo strips weaved with extra bamboo in the afternoon, filled with fine sand dug from the stream, which could almost serve as a writing board.

Shen Huaijin greeted Li excitedly, "Come on, let's start learning characters today."

Shen Huaijin held Li's hand and used a straightened branch as a pen to teach him the correct posture for holding the pen. However, it is really inconvenient to write on the sand table with a pen in the posture, so Shen Huaijin had to start with the strokes.

There is no need for a fireplace in the house, so Shen Huaijin made a bamboo lamp for lighting together with the phone light.

"Let's write your name first." Shen Huaijin carefully wrote the word "Li" on the sand table one stroke at a time, and asked the other party to copy it.

The word "Li" is not complicated, and the other party copied it a few times before writing it in a decent way, "It turns out that this is a character, and it doesn't feel difficult, but it will have a special feeling when it is written."

Shen Huaijin smiled meaningfully, thinking how much you can feel after learning a single character, and sooner or later you will understand the profoundness of Chinese characters.

"Is there anything else you want to learn today?"

"I want to learn to write your name." Li paused, "Shen, Huai, Jin."

Shen Huaijin was not surprised at all, wrote down her name with ease, smiled and winked at Li.

Seeing this painting, Li Nande was silent for a while, but he quickly recovered and copied it seriously.

"Your name is beautiful to write, just like you."

Shen Huaijin pursed her lips, "Do you think I'm good-looking? Humans don't live long, and they will age quickly. By then, you shouldn't think I'm good-looking."

I rewrote Shen Huaijin's name, but felt it was not good enough, so I smoothed it out and rewrote it.

"I snatched you into the tribe impulsively at first because you were good-looking, but what really moved me later was your smile and eyes. These will not disappear as you get older."

He hooked his lips, "But I'm glad I carried you back to the tribe on impulse."

Shen Huaijin rolled his eyes at him, but his heart softened, "How dare you say it, you almost threw me up when you were carrying it."

Both of them were a little excited and didn't want to go to bed early. Seeing that Li accepted it well, Shen Huaijin taught "bamboo" and "stone" these things that they had been in contact with these two days. One side draws the appearance of bamboo and stone.

Li blinked strangely, and pointed to the pattern drawn by Shen Huaijin, "What are these characters? It looks a bit strange."

Shen Huaijin: ... Well, the drawing skills are a bit clumsy.