Don't get married if you're reborn.

Chapter 8: Rebirth: I am an Alchemist

The so-called raw goods are dug out from the mine, the ore is broken into pieces by a sand blasting machine, and then the fine gold particles are screened out with a sand bed and finally washed.

After Zeng Wenjie finished preparing the tools, he opened the paper bag, which contained a small ball of raw goods that Zeng Xiangdong had collected.

"Dad, this raw material hasn't passed the magnet yet. Be careful next time you receive it so you don't waste your money," said Zeng Wenjie.

"I understand." Zeng Xiangdong didn't expect Zeng Wenjie to really understand this, so he lit a cigarette and smoked it beside him, watching him operate.

Zeng Wenjie took out a magnet, skillfully wrapped it with a soft tissue, then spread out the pile of wool and slowly swept the magnet over it.

It can be seen that some tiny metal particles are attracted by the magnet. These are worthless impurities.

"The brat is so skilled!" Zeng Xiangdong took a big bite of the cigarette butt, smacked his lips, and said nothing.

Zeng Wenjie passed the raw goods through two magnets, absorbed all the impurities with the magnets, and then started the next step.

The purity of raw gold in Baishui Town is about 78%, while banks require a purity of at least 92% when purchasing gold.

This was July 2006, and the price of gold was around one hundred to one hundred and twenty, of course, this was the price of pure gold.

However, due to the large amount of gold produced in the Baishui Town area, the price of gold fluctuates greatly.

Gold bosses in towns like Baishui purify and sell their own gold for just over a hundred yuan per gram.

In order to win his father's trust, Zeng Wenjie prepared to produce a batch of 99% pure goods, and also demonstrated the techniques of boiling and melting goods.

There is no way. I am a poor student in my hometown town. I have no money and have to rely on my parents for some capital.

After asking his father to light the coking coal and put it in the furnace, Zeng Wenjie put on gloves, picked up the sulfuric acid and poured it carefully into the enamel basin. This is the method of cooking goods, which can increase the quality of the raw goods by about 2%.

"Go out and have a rest. Come back in twenty minutes. The whole room will be filled with the pungent smell of sulfuric acid." Zeng Wenjie said with a smile.

Zeng Xiangdong nodded, walked out of the room, took out a cigarette and handed it to him.

Zeng Wenjie was immersed in the idea of ​​refining gold. He subconsciously took it and put it into his mouth, while also protecting the flame handed to him.

The moment he was about to light the cigarette, he was stunned and his face became stiff.

The Zeng family has very strict family education. If his parents find out that he smokes, they will at least break three bamboo poles!

When he turned around, he saw Lao Zeng staring at him with a playful smile on his face.

"Well, I was too engrossed just now and couldn't smoke!" Zeng Wenjie waved his hand and prepared to return the cigarette.

"Stop pretending. What kind of person are you? How could your father not know that?" Zeng Xiangdong sneered and directly brought the lighter forward.

Zeng Wenjie said somewhat embarrassedly: "You knew it a long time ago?"

Zeng Xiangdong said calmly, "How could I not know? I just didn't want to tell you. Smoke if you want to, but don't smoke behind my back. You're an adult anyway! Oh, just don't let your mother know that I allow you to smoke, otherwise I'll be upset."

Zeng Wenjie then lit the cigarette with confidence, took a puff with relish, and took out a pack of Hongtashan cigarettes from his pocket and handed one to his father.

"At least smoke something good, at least it won't hurt your lungs." Zeng Xiangdong frowned and said.

"Hua Zi!" Zeng Wenjie said, "Niuba gave it to me."

Zeng Xiangdong took a look at the cigarette butt and was surprised to find it was a real Zhonghua cigarette. He stopped talking nonsense, lit it up as well, and squatted at the door to smoke with Zeng Wenjie.

Zeng Xiangdong pondered and asked, "Why did you suddenly change your personality?"

Zeng Wenjie said, "I see you're working so hard, coming home so late and not making much money, so I've been thinking about it for a long time! Besides, the gold business is very dangerous, and there are many desperate people. If I help you, I can also take care of you, right?"

Zeng Xiangdong looked at the young man with satisfaction, thinking that this kid has really grown up and become much more sensible!

But he didn't know that his son was thinking of becoming a rich second-generation who just lay down and do nothing.

Twenty minutes later, Zeng Wenjie went into the house, turned off the fire, and took out the cooking food. At this time, the purity of the gold had reached 80%.

"Let's melt it, and the purity can be increased by about two percentage points." Zeng Wenjie said, casually poured some clean water, and took out the porcelain cup that had been thirsty for a long time.

The porcelain cups are used by my grandmother when she holds wedding banquets. There are two or three hundred of them at home. The cup body is very thick, which is just right for use as a crucible.

Zeng Xiangdong stepped on the blower and said, "You do it, I'll do the heavy work."

Having said that, Zeng Xiangdong has been observing carefully, such as how much sulfuric acid to use, how to control the heat, when to add potassium chloride and borax, etc. "Boom boom boom——"

The coking coal began to emit flames under the stimulation of the blower, and Zeng Wenjie placed the gold in a porcelain cup and melted it in the furnace.

The father and son worked together and spent some time smelting and removing some impurities inside. After that, the gold turned into blocks and its purity was improved again.

Zeng Wenjie knocked the porcelain cup that had been heated to high temperature with a pair of pliers, and it shattered directly, and the cooled gold inside fell out.

"Not bad, kid! The purity should be over 80." Zeng Xiangdong praised.

Zeng Wenjie chuckled. It was already early morning, but he wasn't sleepy at all. He said, "Dad, bring some silver. I'll teach you how to purify it!"

Zeng Xiangdong nodded and went back into the house to get some change.

Zeng Wenjie immediately started weighing it on the scale. Seeing how skilled he was, Zeng Xiangdong pinched his chin and was speechless for a long time.

"Dad, look, to purify gold, we need a two-to-one ratio of silver to gold."

"Here is one hundred grams of gold, so we need about two hundred grams of silver."

"First, fuse the two together."

Zeng Wenjie was methodical. He put on gloves and began to add more fuel to the fire, asking his father to blow air to melt the silver and gold.

After the two precious metals liquefied and merged into one, Zeng Wenjie smashed the large battery open with a hammer and took out the black carbon rod inside.

As he manipulated the carbon rod into the mixed liquid, Zeng Wenjie felt inexplicably agitated...

After all, the liquid looked a bit viscous, and the carbon rod was black and hard...

"Stir it evenly." Zeng Wenjie couldn't help but pout and imitate the tone of a certain internet celebrity.

After hearing his strange tone, Zeng Xiangdong couldn't help laughing. After all, he was still a child and still very naughty!

At this time, the stirred gold and silver liquid looks foggy and spotted, which is very unpleasant to the eye.

"The next step is to stir the water. Dad, use a stick to stir the water and create a whirlpool in a clockwise direction." Zeng Wenjie ordered.

"Okay!" Zeng Xiangdong immediately started stirring a basin of pure water. As he stirred it, like practicing Tai Chi, layers of whirlpools appeared in the water in the basin.

Zeng Wenjie held the beaker and slowly and methodically poured the liquid inside into the vortex in the center to cool it down.

After the liquid gold and silver solidifies and cools, it becomes shaped like a peanut shell. The surface is bumpy and not smooth, but it is bright and very pleasing to the eye.

This is what is called "opening the film".

"The next step is to heat and boil it. We need to boil it three times with concentrated sulfuric acid. The first time will take about two hours, the second time will take an hour, and the third time will take 20 minutes to half an hour." Zeng Wenjie took out the "peanut shells" and tossed them in his hand. "It's getting late. Go to bed first and wait for the pure gold tomorrow!"

Zeng Xiangdong was exhausted after a long day, his eyes red with worry. He said, "Tomorrow I won't go to collect the goods, but I will watch you purify it!"

Zeng Wenjie shrugged his shoulders and then boiled the "peanut shells" in concentrated sulfuric acid.

The father and son squatted at the door, smoking and chatting, and would go in to take a look from time to time.

"Dad, we have to find a way to get grandpa to quit drinking. He's in poor health and it will be a problem if he keeps drinking," said Zeng Wenjie.

"Oh, your grandfather is an old alcoholic! He said that quitting drinking is the easiest thing in the world." Zeng Xiangdong said.

"Huh? It's so easy but I can't quit!" Zeng Wenjie complained unhappily.

"Because he has quit more than ten thousand times." Zeng Xiangdong rolled his eyes and sneered.

Zeng Wenjie thought this sounded familiar, so Zeng Xiangdong said, "Old man, why not learn from Mark Twain?"

Zeng Wenjie couldn't help laughing. Wow, Mark Twain was talking about quitting smoking, but the old man put it into practice!

The father and son chatted a lot while doing alchemy.

Finally, the third half-hour cooking time arrived.

(End of this chapter)