Chapter 128: Fire Pistons
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Xue Yan and the others also felt the same.
Even though Xue Dafu had never cooked before, he had been eating for many years and knew what was considered delicious. Furthermore, they didn’t have to be so frugal anymore, so Xue Dafu naturally spoke up, “Hehua, when you cook at home in the future, don’t be so frugal with the ingredients. Just add as much as you need.”
“Okay.” Hehua nodded with a smile, looking very happy.
How could she not be happy that her days were getting better and better?
Liu Guixia and the others were also very happy.
Jiang Yue nodded in her heart, thinking that this was the normal standard of living. They didn’t have to worry about meals, and didn’t need to save on the littlest things.
Xue Yan glanced at Jiang Yue.
If it wasn’t for her, he would still be taking it slowly.
The next morning, there was no steamed cornbread. Instead, there was brown rice porridge and two dishes. Just like what Xue Dafu had said at dinner the day before, the two dishes had a lot of oil and seasoning.
Naturally, the meal could only be described in one word — fragrant!
Xue Dafu and the others were in a particularly good mood.
After dinner, Xue Yan and Xue Dafu went to town together. Just like last time, Xue Erfu also went with them. The three of them borrowed the ox cart.
Tian was overjoyed.
Tian couldn’t wait for someone to borrow the ox cart at home every day. This way, he would earn much more than pulling the ox cart alone.
Xue Yan and the others went to the town to buy bricks and tiles for the big house and the fields. Jiang Yue didn’t go, but she didn’t stay idle. She took out the basket she left in the central room yesterday and started to make a fire piston.
Making a fire piston required the use of a thin bamboo tube, and she couldn’t use a knife in front of Xue Yifu and the others, so she asked Xue Yifu, who was under the shed, to help make a few thin bamboo tubes. It was the kind that could be covered.
Xue Yifu was usually a simple and honest man, and he looked like he did not know anything other than farming. However, when it came to doing this, his two hands that were full of calluses were very skillful. It did not take long for him to make a few of these small bamboo tubes for Jiang Yue.
“Thank you.”
“What’s there to thank me for? If you have anything to say, just say it. I’ll be under the shed.”
“Thank you.”
It was only when she saw that Xue Yifu had gone back to the shed to make spinning wheels that Jiang Yue started to make fire pistons again.
Since Xue Yifu was not busy with anything else and was busy making things for the workshop almost all day, Xue Yan did not need Yu Hongyan to look after her when she was not around. Xue Yifu would help to look after her in the courtyard while making things under the shed.
Jiang Yue had already gotten used to it after so many days.
Jiang Yue squatted there and calmly took out a piece of rough clay paper from the basket on her back. She placed it on the ground and sprinkled some flammable substances such as sulfur, saltpeter, and phosphorus on it. Finally, she rolled the piece of clay paper tightly and into a roll that could be put into a small bamboo tube.
Then, she lit the paper tube with fire and closed the lid.
An simple fire starter was completed.
The others here only knew how to do it, but they didn’t know the principle behind it. However, she knew that it was the principle of reignition.
The inside of the thin bamboo tube was flammable. After burning it with the lid closed. The oxygen in the bamboo tube will burn out and sparks would ignite.
When it was used, she would open the bamboo tube and blow on it. When it came into contact with oxygen, the original sparks in the bamboo tube would instantly ignite.
Jiang Yue was not in a hurry to blow at them. She only opened them one by one after she made five and blew on them.