Harvesting Alkali
Wu Jiong took the chopsticks. "Worth it."
Jian Mo picked up a piece of braised pork and took a small bite.
The plump pork skin, tender lean meat, and rich broth burst together in your mouth like fireworks.
All the flavors vanished in an instant, swallowed along with the slightest movement of the throat.
Jian Mo couldn't tell what the meat tasted like at all; she only felt an extraordinary, rich aroma wafting out, making her feel dizzy with its fragrance.
He had to take another bite of meat to savor the taste again, so he could explain his experience.
The snow and ice outside had not yet melted, and the firelight inside the house was dim.
Only the small fire in the hearth illuminated them.
They sat facing each other in front of the fire pit, able to see each other's faces.
Jian Mo was sweating slightly from the hot food; tiny beads of sweat clung to the tip of his fair nose. His nose and cheeks were flushed slightly from the heat or his excitement.
The touch of red made his handsome features stand out even more.
Looking at the splash of red, Wu Jiong suddenly recalled the scene of them parting the snow that day and seeing the bright Pink-Tube Flower underneath, and he couldn't help but feel a little drunk again.
Jian Mo made a lot of meat and stems today. He hadn't eaten such delicious food in a long time and ate until he was stuffed, but he still ate less than a third of all the food.
Wu Jiong finished off the rest of the food.
Jian Mo rubbed her stomach, looking at Wu Jiong with concern, worried that he might overeat.
Wu Jiong looked up. "It's nothing, I just used up a lot of energy today."
Jian Mo: "No matter how much energy you expend, your stomach has a limited capacity, right?"
Wu Jiong: "It's alright, an orc's stomach can hold a lot. If I get too full, I'll just transform back into my beast form."
Jian Mo looked at him and said, "If you're not feeling well, just tell me, and I'll make you some fruit tea to aid digestion."
Wu Jiong rarely made requests, but today he said, "I want to drink."
Jian Mo smiled, got up and went to get the dried fruit and earthenware pot to make him some dried fruit tea.
After washing up after the meal, Wu Jiong indeed transformed into his beast form and went to sleep.
The two were on the second floor, each originally sleeping in a corner.
Today, Wu Jiong leaned closer and pulled Jian Mo close to his belly to sleep.
It was cold, and they were already sleeping close together. Being wrapped up like that was a little unusual, but Jian Mo quickly ignored the strangeness.
The giant wolf's body was hot, and sleeping on its belly was really comfortable.
It's much more comfortable than being wrapped in a thick animal skin blanket and sleeping for half a day without your feet getting warm.
Moreover, wolves have thick, long fur all over their bodies, and their bellies are very soft, so sleeping on them is like sleeping on a waterbed, much better than the hard ground.
Jian Mo found a comfortable spot on his stomach and was quickly pulled into a deep sleep by exhaustion.
Perhaps because he had slept in the giant wolf's embrace all night, his sleep quality was excellent, and his body remained warm. Contrary to his expectations, Jian Mo did not catch a cold and instead got up feeling refreshed.
He got up very early, but Wu Jiong got up even earlier.
Before he even got up, Wu Jiong had already fed the Pack-Pack Beast and the Flying-Winged Beast, changed the charcoal brazier for the Pack-Pack Beast, and milked it.
Jian Mo wandered around the house and found nothing to do, so she put the stems in a ceramic pot, put it on the fire pit to boil, and then took the Pink-Tube Flower to the hillside in the backyard, intending to try planting it.
These vine cuttings usually survive, and the survival rate is actually higher now that the weather is cold.
They removed the flowers yesterday, and when Jian Mo planted them, she also removed some of the leaves to prevent too many leaves from evaporating water and reducing the survival rate.
While picking leaves, Jian Mo thought of water and then of the lake she had seen yesterday afternoon.
The river outside the village was frozen, but the lake was surprisingly not frozen.
Wait, it didn't freeze?!
A thought flashed through Jian Mo's mind, and she suddenly realized that the lake was a salt lake!
Salt water has a much lower freezing point than regular water, which is why it doesn't freeze.
Salt lakes can be used to harvest salt in the summer and alkali in the winter; this is basic chemistry knowledge from junior high school.
I passed the exam!!!
Jian Mo put down the Pink-Tube Flower in her hand, grabbed her fur coat, and ran down the mountain. "Wu Jiong —I have something to tell you!"
Chapter 29 Soda Removal
Wu Jiong rarely heard Jian Mo's voice so excited. Upon hearing it, he immediately thought something had happened and quickly transformed back into his beast form to run over.
The giant wolf ran up the mountain, while Jian Mo ran down the mountain, and the two met.
Jian Mo stop and crashed into the giant wolf. She managed to regain her balance by grabbing the wolf's front legs.
The giant wolf looked down at him.
Jian Mo completely ignored analyzing the giant wolf's expression, tilted her head back and said, "Do you know what alkali is? It seems you can harvest alkali from the salt lake in winter!"
The giant wolf shook its head, its thick ears twitching slightly. "Tell me."
Jian Mo was drawn to those ears, but quickly forced herself back to her senses. "When we make soap, we soak wood ash in water, and the resulting water contains alkali."
Giant Wolf: "I remember now, you told us that."
Jian Mo: "Yes! But the alkali content in wood ash is relatively low and not very pure, making it particularly troublesome to use. The alkali in salt lakes is different; it's much purer, and if made into soap, the cleaning effect would be much better."
Jian Mo was a little excited and spoke quickly, "The alkali is very useful. Most importantly, it can only be caught in winter. If you miss this season, it will be much harder to catch it later."
Having finally remembered a little useful knowledge, Jian Mo hoped it could be put to use.
He looked up at Wu Jiong hopefully.
The giant wolf thought for a moment and said, "Then let's go there. We're out of salt, so let's gather some while we're at it."
Jian Mo: "Are we going to collect salt from the salt lake?"
In winter, not only can alkali be harvested, but there must also be salt in the salt lake, so you can also collect some.
The giant wolf shook its head. "We usually collect salt from the salt mountains; that salt tastes better."
Upon hearing this, Jian Mo suddenly thought of the alkali in the salt lake.
If there is alkali in the salt lake, the salt and alkali will mix together. Since alkali has a bitter taste, the salt dredged from there will mostly taste bitter as well.