Chapter 48: Making Sweet Potato Starch

After the stone grinding disc was ready, Zhang Fan eagerly washed the stone grinding disc until it was spotless. Ba Ke Er saw Zhang Fan start washing the stone grinding disc, then he silently went into the house to the storage room, and carried out several large basins of sweet potatoes to wash.

While Zhang Fan was washing the stone grinding disc, Ba Ke Er's sweet potatoes were also washed clean. Zhang Fan examined the size of the sweet potatoes, then compared it to the size of the opening of the stone grinding disc. Seeing that the opening was several times smaller than the sweet potatoes, he went straight to the kitchen and took out two kitchen knives.

"Ba Ke Er, these sweet potatoes are too big, and the opening of the stone grinding disc is too small; they simply won't fit. It looks like we need to cut the sweet potatoes into smaller pieces before we can grind them." After saying that, without waiting for Ba Ke Er's reply, he directly fetched a small stool and also brought out a clean large wooden basin. He began sitting beside Ba Ke Er and started chopping the sweet potatoes. Ba Ke Er, seeing the size of Zhang Fan's sweet potato pieces, also picked up a kitchen knife and began chopping to the same size as Zhang Fan. Both of them worked quickly, and in just one morning they chopped all the sweet potatoes they had brought out into small pieces.

At noon, after the two of them had a casual lunch, they resumed the work of making sweet potato starch.

Zhang Fan tossed the chopped sweet potato pieces into the clean opening of the stone grinding disc, and Ba Ke Er came over to grip the newly installed wooden handle on the side of the stone grinding disc. He began turning it as Zhang Fan had instructed. Since the stone grinding disc is made of stone, even if it was carved as well as possible, it is inevitable that some stone fragments will be ground out during the first use.

After Ba Ke Er turned it two rounds, the gap in the middle of the stone grinding disc finally began to exude slurry. Because this was the first time grinding something, the sweet potato starch slurry inevitably contained some stone fragments to a greater or lesser extent. After grinding a bit more sweet potato pieces, the slurry finally had no stone fragments. Zhang Fan hurriedly poured the first batch of slurry that came out into the stone trough in the pigpen to feed the pigs. He also took the opportunity to wash the wooden basin clean and put it back beside the stone grinding disc.

After grinding for a while, Zhang Fan clearly felt his arms sore. Looking at the energetic Ba Ke Er, he thought: "Ah, forget it, I shouldn't compete with him! It's really infuriating to compare oneself to others! I feel so down!"

Ba Ke Er saw Zhang Fan staring at him continuously and knew Zhang Fan must be tired. So he said:

"Fan Fan, look, you've been doing this for so long, you must be tired too; hurry up and rest, I'll take over grinding the sweet potatoes."

"Forget it, I see you've also been grinding for a while. Why don't we just go fetch a donkey, blindfold its eyes, and tie it directly to the central axle in the middle of the stone grinding disc, letting the donkey do the grinding while you stand by and simply add sweet potato pieces, just as I was doing."

"Hey, that's a great idea! Fan Fan, how did you think of that? I'll go right away." Having said that, he put down the wooden handle in his hand and went to fetch the donkey.

Zhang Fan replied: "I also just remembered that when I was on Earth, I had seen people in some places grind things this way. Besides, there is also a kind of roller that can be used to grind dry powder, and it can likewise be operated by a donkey instead of human power using this method."

"Really? Fan Fan, your people back home are amazing! They know how to use oxen to plow fields, horses to pull things, and even donkeys to turn the mill. But in my heart, you Fan Fan are still the most impressive—you know everything!" Ba Ke Er said this while leading the donkey back.

"As a matter of fact, using livestock to replace human labor is indeed a lot less trouble! Look, in less than an afternoon, all the sweet potato pieces have been ground into slurry. The next step is to place the wooden basin indoors to let it sit, allowing the starch to settle."