The Fiery Era: Starting from Longxugou

Wow! Big brother, you're amazing!

Seeing the white smoke rising from their elder brother's body, Zhao Shijie, Zhao Xiaoyue, and the others were filled with admiration.

"Boss, don't burn yourself!"

Liu Guiying quickly reminded him that lime gets very hot when it comes into contact with water, and you could easily get burned if you're not careful!

"Mom, it's alright! You all stay away!"

As Zhao Shi'an spoke, he moved away from the water-filled ceramic basin again. Sensing the water splashing from the protective shield formed by his mind, he secretly marveled at how useful the shield was. It blocked all the boiling water splashing from it with just a small test. He wouldn't have to worry about toxic or harmful substances when doing scientific research in the future. He was definitely a born scientific research physique!

After adding the lime, he quickly moved away. When the water stopped smoking and bubbling, he stirred it again with the stick for a while. After doing this, he added two ounces of alkali powder to the water and continued stirring.

After doing all this, Zhao Shi'an put the stick away and said to his family:

"Alright! Once the water becomes clear, ladle it into a pot, and the salt that comes out after boiling will be good salt."

Mother, Aunt, please keep an eye on things at home and don't let the chickens run over...

"Boss, didn't you just say you needed a cage cloth? Why aren't you using it?"

Liu Guiying asked, puzzled.

"Shi'an, if we can save some of the muslin cloth, we can do other things with the coarse gauze!"

Sun Cuilan echoed this sentiment.

"Mom, Auntie, don't rush. Wait until the water clears up before using it. After using it, this cloth can't be used to steam buns anymore, otherwise the buns will taste bitter and inedible!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Shi'an explained that at this point, the gauze could be used or not, but seeing his mother and aunt's condition, they were still reluctant to part with the old rag. This would not do. The old rag at home had been used for several years, and it was so black that it was unrecognizable. It was also unhygienic. It was a good opportunity to replace it with purified coarse salt.

"Can it really be that hard?"

Liu Guiying was skeptical upon hearing this.

"Mother, this big chunk of salt tastes bitter after just one lick. There are ten pounds of salt in it, and all the bitterness is on the cloth. How bitter do you think it is?"

Seeing that his mother didn't believe him, Zhao Shi'an immediately made an analogy, which, although exaggerated, was for the good of his family.

"Oh! That must be really bitter!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Shijie, Zhao Xiaoyue, and the other three children immediately covered their mouths, feeling unable to eat just thinking about it!

"Yes! Large salt particles are bitter to begin with, and ten pounds of bitter salt all put together, just thinking about it makes me bitter..."

Sun Cuilan felt a headache coming on as soon as she heard that.

"Okay, I'll keep an eye on it for you!"

Liu Guiying thought it made sense and immediately agreed.

Seeing that his mother agreed, Zhao Shi'an left home with his younger siblings. It would take at least an hour for the water to clear up again, and boiling salt was not something that could be done in a short time. It would be best to do it after lunch.

Letting it sit for a while longer will allow as many impurities and sediments as possible to settle down.

"Big brother, where are we going?"

Once outside the alley, Zhao Xiaoyue, Zhao Xiaole, and the other three skipped and hopped along behind their eldest brother.

"Let's go to Xinhua Bookstore. You did a great job! I'll buy you some comic books!"

"Wow! Big brother, you're so kind! Big brother, can I have a copy of 'The Biography of Yue Fei'?"

"Big brother, I want 'Journey to the West'!"

"Big brother..."

Zhao Shijie and the other three were delighted to hear this and shared their thoughts.

"Haha! Yes, we have them all, each of you pick one!"

Zhao Shi'an readily agreed, and with money in hand, he became much more generous with his spending!

"Brother, will Auntie be able to talk to you?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Shixiong asked with some concern.

"No! This is for you to learn to read. I bought you picture books; if you can't recognize all the characters, you'll get a beating!"

"Don't worry, big brother! I'm sure I can recognize all the words on it!"

"Me too!"

The four of them readily agreed, and even three-year-old Zhao Xiaole said he was sure he could remember it!

Looking at the four little ones, Zhao Shi'an couldn't help but laugh!

Passing by Huashi Street, Zhao Shi'an bought a cotton candy for each of his younger brother and sister. Cotton candies of this era were not big, only about the size of a fist, but the price was reasonable, five hundred each.

With the cotton candy, the group of little ones became even happier.

Once they arrived at Xinhua Bookstore, with their eldest brother's promise, the four little ones felt confident and began to carefully select items.

Zhao Shi'an then bought the "Russian Grammar Exercises" that he had hesitated to purchase last time. Thinking about the royalty standards, he asked while getting the invoice:

"Comrade, do you have any information about the standards for royalties here?"

"No! That's an internal document. If you want to know more, you'll have to ask the newspaper or check the city library. Is this an article you submitted that's been published?"

Li Jun asked with a smile. He had a deep impression of the student in front of him. The student had bought college entrance exam papers before even entering his senior year of high school. He had recommended a book called "Russian Grammar Exercises" to him, but the student was too embarrassed to look at it. He didn't expect the student to buy it directly today. The student had changed a lot. When he heard the student asking about the standard of manuscript fees, he immediately had a guess!

"I guess so!"

Zhao Shi'an was somewhat disappointed, thinking to himself that the standards for manuscript fees were really hard to find.

Congratulations!

Upon hearing this, Li Jun immediately offered his congratulations.

Zhao Shi'an said a few words of modesty, took the tickets, and found his younger siblings to pay for the comic books they had chosen.

After buying the books, the group of children held their comic books with great affection. Zhao Shijie chose "Journey to the West", Zhao Shixiong chose "The Legend of Yue Fei", and Zhao Xiaoyue and Zhao Xiaole chose "Sima Guang Smashes the Jar" and "Kong Rong Shares Pears".

After leaving the bookstore, the group headed home. On the way, Zhao Shi'an treated his younger siblings to sesame seed cakes and fried dough sticks, thus fulfilling his promise to the four of them from the previous day!

The four little ones were overjoyed.

Of course, he didn't forget to bring some for his family either.

Liu Guiying prepared lunch and, seeing the children return, immediately invited everyone to eat.

"Mom, my eldest brother bought sesame seed cakes and fried dough sticks!"

Zhao Xiaoyue shouted excitedly.

"Why did you buy so much! Boss, just a few is enough! I don't like fried dough sticks and sesame cakes! I'm saving this money for myself..."

Liu Guiying glanced at her eldest son holding a sesame seed cake and a fried dough stick, and started rambling on.

"Mom, since we've already bought them, have a taste! Fried dough sticks with tea are delicious!"

Listening to his mother's nagging, Zhao Shi'an responded with a grin, mentioning a way of eating fried dough sticks that is still used in modern rural areas of the Central Plains—soaking fried dough sticks in boiling water.

Fried dough sticks can be stored for a long time. Many older people would buy several kilograms at a time and eat them for ten days or half a month. When the fried dough sticks got hard, they would soak them in boiling water or soup until they softened and then eat them with a meal.

"You silly kid... don't buy any more next time!"

Liu Guiying went on and on for a while, and at the end she didn't forget to give some final advice.

"knew!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Shi'an immediately agreed, fearing that he would be nagged again.

After finishing his meal, Zhao Shi'an went to the door and looked at the solution that had become clear. He cleaned the pots and pans, then carried the basin to the stove and carefully used a ladle to scoop out the clear liquid from the top and put it into the pot.

With the aid of mental focus, impurities such as sediment and silt were suppressed.

"Shijie, start the fire!"

"Alright, big brother!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Shijie took out a match and lit it.

After a busy period, most of the clear liquid was extracted, leaving only the base.

Zhao Shi'an picked up two clean cloths, folded them together, and had his younger cousin hold them up. He poured the remaining solution onto the cloths to filter it, and the solution quickly filled the two bowls.

"Alright, the rest is no good!"

As Zhao Shi'an spoke, he put down the earthenware basin, filtered it several times with a cloth, poured the solution into the pot, covered it with the lid, and heated it over a high flame.

After the water in the pot had decreased by nearly half, a ring of white frost appeared on the rim of the pot.

Seeing this, Zhao Shi'an knew that salt was starting to be released. He boiled it for a while longer, and white crystals began to appear at the bottom of the pot.

He took out a wooden stick and stirred it to prevent the pot from burning.

"Salt has been extracted! Salt has been extracted! This salt is so white! Shi'an, you're really something!"

Looking at the white frost on the edge of the pot and the white crystals on the bottom, Sun Cuilan was very excited.

"Shi'an, you're really awesome!"

Tian Fusheng exclaimed "Awesome!" as he watched the snow-white salt continuously bubbling up from the pot.