sbdcsierra Chapter 116 Salt Field Drying
Chapter 116 Salt Field Drying
He previously thought that directly drying sweet potatoes was a bit too hard on the teeth, so he adopted the traditional method of steaming and drying them three times, which took a lot of effort.
However, the dried sweet potatoes made this way are indeed much tastier than before. Sometimes when he doesn't want to eat breakfast, he just uses this instead.
However, dried sweet potato chips have one advantage: they are easy to store, making them an essential item for long-distance hunting trips!
By this time, the oyster meat had slowly released its juices, emitting a sweet and slightly fishy seafood aroma. Yang Ye watched Lin Baiyan's movements intently, "Is this how the oyster sauce we ate before is made?"
Lin Baiyan nodded, "It doesn't take much effort for me, it's just time-consuming and tedious."
"I'd also like to make some to take back," Yang Ye said slowly, his face looking somewhat awkward, as if he had thought of something.
Lin Baiyan didn't react at first. "Sure, but our rules are still the same as before. We have to hand over a portion of our own supplies to the tribe."
Yang Ye didn't think anything of it; they had always followed this rule, and everyone was used to it.
Lin Baiyan turned his head and saw that Yang Ye's cheeks were slightly red. He rolled his eyes and quietly moved closer to him. "Could it be that Hu Qiu likes food made with oyster sauce?"
Then he saw Yang Ye's usually gentle and composed face suddenly turn red.
Lin Baiyan's voice wasn't actually quiet. There were male beastmen in Shuyue, and he covered his mouth and chuckled secretly, even pulling Hu Ying to watch with him. Hu Ying was a little embarrassed.
Yang Ye and Hu Qiu lived under the same roof for a whole snow season, but neither of them sent any news. Lin Baiyan even thought they had broken up.
Surprisingly, his trick actually worked; the two of them had kept it a secret quite well.
Yang Ye looked at the priest's bright eyes and felt slightly embarrassed and annoyed. "Bai Yan!"
Lin Baiyan laughed for a while, then felt it was enough. He quickly raised his hands slightly, coaxing the sub-beastman in front of him who was practically ascending to heaven, "Alright, alright, I won't say anymore. I'll teach you how to make oyster sauce, okay?"
As they chatted and cooked oyster sauce, time flew by. Gradually, the sub-beastmen became sleepy and went to sleep. Lin Baiyan, however, was preoccupied with the oyster sauce and didn't feel sleepy at all.
The next morning, the beastmen got up very early. Badger and Fox Shadow repaired the shed, while Lin Baiyan and the others started using earthenware pots to fetch water and boil salt.
The few sub-orcs were used to doing chores in the tribe, so Lin Baiyan demonstrated the salt-making process to them, and they understood it.
The few sub-beastmen couldn't believe that such precious salt had appeared before their eyes so easily.
Zhu Shan watched their expressions with a smile. It wasn't surprising that they looked like that. Zhu Shan and the other male beastmen were also stunned when they saw Lang Cang boiling salt like that.
This led to a deeper respect and trust for Lin Baiyan.
The orcs were incredibly grateful that their tribe had such a knowledgeable, kind, and benevolent priest.
Salt, which is usually hard to obtain, was so easily produced by their priest.
The salt-boiling team began their work, but this time they had a lot more tools than before. Lin Baiyan took a bamboo filter and wrapped it with a thin layer of animal hide to filter the seawater again.
After washing the salt several more times to remove impurities and refining it, the resulting salt was indeed whiter and clearer than before, and tasted better.
Several sub-beastmen were busy with their salt-making project. Seeing that they could manage, Lin Baiyan slipped away and strolled along the beach.
Lin Baiyan wanted to build a salt field by the sea. This trip was mainly to scout out the location. With the salt field, it would be much more convenient for them to boil salt every time they came.
The salt pans need to be made more sturdy. If possible, next time they come to the seaside, they can directly fire bricks to build a red brick salt pan.
Let's make a simple one using bamboo this time.
Lin Baiyan made a rough estimate and chose a spot about 30 meters from the sea, a corner under a tree that would be sunny. More importantly, the soil there was firmer than the sand that crumbled easily when washed away.
He knew that the ancient method of salt making consisted of many steps, but since the technology on Earth was advanced in the past, he didn't pay attention to these things, so he could only use the most cumbersome method.
Seawater is introduced into salt pans and exposed to the sun to precipitate some coarse salt. Finally, seawater is added to purify and evaporate the salt, which is similar to the process of boiling salt.
However, the seawater that has been exposed to the sun will turn into brine, making it much easier for them to boil salt.
After making the decision, Lin Baiyan returned to their temporary camp and called Zhu Shan over, "Could you help me cut down some more bamboo in the forest we had before?"
He pointed to the location he had chosen, "I'm going to build a simple salt pan over there."
"This will make it much easier for us to come back for salt, saving at least half the time."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Shan immediately led Huan Cun to the forest to cut bamboo. Every time they came to boil salt, they would stay here for four or five days, and that was only if they worked day and night.
If we can save even more time, that would be even better.
The two of them went to cut bamboo, while Lin Baiyan picked up a stone shovel and started digging in the soil.
Lin Baiyan wants to build a salt field that is five meters long and eight meters wide, and now he needs to dig a huge pit.
When Zhu Shan brought Huan Cun to haul bamboo for the first time, he saw how busy Lin Baiyan was, so he left Huan Cun there to dig holes with him while he went back to the forest to continue cutting bamboo.
The group worked all day until it was dark before they finally finished digging the pit.
Lin Baiyan, covered in dirt, patted the mud off his hands. "Let's stop here for today and go back."
The two male orcs nodded, and the group first went to wash up by a stream in the mountains before returning to their temporary camp.
The Rat Moon and the others had been busy all day and were exhausted. Boiling salt wasn't tiring, but carrying water from the seaside was exhausting.
Several sub-orcs pushed the cart back and forth dozens of times.
Lin Baiyan, exhausted, sat down on the haystack, staring blankly at the roof of the thatched shed. He said weakly, "Just a little more effort, and once I've built the salt pan..."
Yang Ye and the others knew that Lin Baiyan had been busy drying salt in the salt fields all day, so they waved their hands, saying that everyone did the same thing and no one had it much easier than the other.