Chapter 12: With Grain in Store, the Heart is at Ease

Opening the kiln, taking out the Tile, then putting in Tile blanks to seal the kiln, Baifeng constantly cycled through the process of firing tiles.

Of course, now that Baifeng had salt, he was no longer satisfied with just making smoked meat, but instead went to the pool to set a Fish Trap, intending to make Salted Fish.

Still using pond snails as bait, the fish were dull and foolish, making them very easy to catch.

Baifeng left the fish cage there and didn't bother with it again, then turned to go to the nearby Reed Marsh to cut Reed; he had to make more salt to be able to cure enough meat.

Originally, Baifeng intended to just set fire to the Reed Marsh, but he feared it would directly cause a forest fire, and if the whole area burned clean, it would be neither safe for him nor would it lack a food source.

What's more, there were some birds in the Reed Marsh; after they grew fat in autumn, Baifeng still planned to catch a batch, so he couldn't just clear everything out now, as it wasn't suitable for sustainable development.

With experience, Baifeng was more confident and relaxed when making Luyanyan; this time he kept cutting Reed and carrying Reed, and the fire in the pit where he burned the Reed in the Battalion never stopped.

Fortunately, the Reed Marsh was large enough that Baifeng's destruction was only a minor disturbance.

The salt Baifeng made this time was too much for the salt jar to hold, so he just found a basin to put it in, intending to use it directly for making Salted Fish in a moment.

Returning to the pool, he lifted the Fish Trap, another big Harvest; he threw a few small fish back into the pool to let them continue growing, and carried a dozen large fish back to the Battalion.

After cleaning the fish scales and internal organs, he split the fish open, flattened them, and made a few cuts on the fish bodies so the salt could penetrate better. Then, he spread plenty of salt on both sides and rubbed the salt into the fish meat.

After going through this process for all the fish, he should have washed them after they were cured, then hung them up to let the sun bake and the wind dry them.

But Baifeng feared the summer, worried that after washing them once, there would be flies or they would rot, so he hung them up to dry directly; at worst, he would just wash the salt off before eating. It would be salty, but he couldn't be picky now.

For the smoked meat made previously, he had just built a rack and placed it in a pile; Baifeng felt it was safer to build a Grain Storehouse.

So Baifeng found many large stones, intending to use them as Brick to build a small house.

Baifeng mixed a lot of mud, added Grass ash and Grass stems inside to serve as a binder for laying the walls.

Leaning against the stone wall of the Battalion, Baifeng planned out a one-square-meter foundation to build the Grain Storehouse.

He laid the stones up bit by bit with mud, and scraped the inner and outer walls with mud to make them smoother.

In one afternoon, Baifeng built four walls one meter high and reserved a Phylum for taking and storing grain.

Although small, it was enough. Baifeng intended to use this Grain Storehouse as a temporary one; as long as it could protect the grain when heavy rain came, it would suffice. Future grain would be placed in the large house he was going to build, to avoid it being stolen by something.

By dinner time, the tiles Baifeng fired were also out of the kiln; he would fire the rest tomorrow to avoid the loss that would come if he couldn't add coal in time at night and they were ruined.

When Baifeng got up in the morning, he couldn't help but sing a folk song; it was mainly because he hadn't spoken for too long and was too lonely, wanting to vent a little.

Singing while working, the stifled air in Baifeng's chest indeed dissipated quite a bit.

The longer he stayed in the wilderness, the more Baifeng wanted to leave this place to find a human tribe, even though his own Battalion had already begun to take shape.

Baifeng really wanted to try smelting Iron; if he succeeded, he could set off in autumn to find the human race. Even if he didn't smelt the Iron or find the human race, this Battalion could ensure he survived the Winter.

Although Baifeng planned it this way, it would take some time to put it into action; after all, he still had to hurry and build the house, and also make some pickled vegetables so he would have vegetables to eat in the Winter.

Open the kiln, fire the tiles.

The Grain Storehouse built yesterday was already relatively dry today; after letting the midday sun bake it a bit more, he could set up the roof and cover it with tiles by evening.

Baifeng took a basket and started looking for wild vegetables nearby; regardless of the species or whether they were delicious, he only picked the ones that were tender enough, and in no time, he could dig up a large basket.

After a little sorting, removing the roots, and washing with clear water, he put them in the pot to blanch.

In the gaps while waiting for the water to boil, he went to dig more; in short, he made full use of all his time.

When the water boiled, he threw the wild vegetables in regardless of the species to blanch, then scooped them out, rinsed them in cold water, and squeezed out the moisture.

Among the Pottery Baifeng had fired before, there was a jar about fifty centimeters high, and it even had a lid, which was just right for a pickle jar.

Baifeng spread the vegetables into the jar, then sprinkled a thick layer of salt, then put in another layer of vegetables. Like this, one layer of vegetables and one layer of salt, until the jar was nearly full.

Baifeng found a piece of granite of similar size, washed it clean to use as a pressing stone, but he didn't dare to press too hard, as Baifeng didn't quite know the pressure limit of the things he made.

After finishing lunch, chatting with the "Heaven and Earth" stone tablet, and carving a mark on the stone wall that recorded the date, that was all he had to do at noon.

After the nap, Baifeng first went to the pool to set the Fish Trap; regardless of how many he could catch in half a day, now that he could make Salted Fish, naturally the more the better.

Returning to the Battalion, Baifeng was to officially begin building his own residence.

Taking out the mold for making mud bricks, there was a dirt slope not far from the Battalion where there was plenty of soil that was easy to dig, so Baifeng chose to make the mud bricks there.

After digging a pile of soil, he mixed in Grass ash, stirred it evenly, put it into the mud brick mold, and stepped on it with his feet. If it wasn't tight enough, he would hold a large stone and smash it to pack it tightly, then remove one side of the mold to release the mud brick.

Baifeng could make one mud brick every three minutes on average; fortunately, this body was sturdy and even tireless, otherwise, if the Baifeng from his past life came, after making two mud bricks, his arms wouldn't be able to lift that stone.

Baifeng only stopped when he had made exactly one hundred; after a short rest, he went to the pool to retrieve the Fish Trap, while the finished mud bricks were left on the dirt slope waiting for the sun to dry out the moisture—anyway, no animals would go to steal that stuff.

In this midsummer, in places without trees to block the sun, the soles of his feet would be hot just walking on it; the mud bricks only needed two or three days to dry out completely. Once dried, as long as there wasn't heavy rain for two or three days in a row, they wouldn't be afraid of being washed away or soaked through.

The fish catch could again be called a big Harvest; that was the only advantage of the primitive era—as long as your brain was sufficient, you would never lack a bite to eat, unlike in later generations where you couldn't even see many fish in a large river.

Now the sky stayed bright very late, and the sun didn't set until eight o'clock; Baifeng, who had returned from catching fish, still had time to make Salted Fish at a leisurely pace.

Once the Salted Fish were done, the kiln of tiles fired today had also cooled and been taken out; for the remaining Tile blanks, he only needed to fire one more kiln, but the coal was running out, and he would have to go and fetch more coal tomorrow.

After the tiles were fired, Baifeng might not use them for a while, but he had to find time to make an iron smelting furnace; once everything was packed up, it would be time to try smelting Iron.

However, what exactly did an iron smelting furnace look like?