PDLP Chapter 225
Chapter 225
Chapter 225
When Jiang Luoluo got up again, it was already bright daylight. Sunlight filtered through the linen, casting a slightly dim glow that illuminated the cave.
The stone pot contained warm food left by Xing. Jiang Luoluo didn't see Xing at first glance, but she wasn't too worried.
After all, Xing doesn't have to live around her all the time, so it's normal for her to leave temporarily.
Moreover, Jiang Luoluo had more important things to do. After finishing breakfast and tidying up, she returned to the place where she had left a string of characters.
In short, Jiang Luoluo finally realized what she was missing in her soap-making process.
Alkali solution.
When oils and lye are mixed, a saponification reaction occurs. During this process, the oils are broken down into fatty acids and glycerol, which then undergo a saponification reaction with the lye. After the saponification reaction, the mixture gradually solidifies, becoming the soap that Jiang Luoluo knows.
The main way to obtain lye solution is by soaking wood ash in water and then filtering it.
And, the solution of quicklime mixed with water.
Theoretically speaking, wood ash water can indeed react with oils to make soap.
However, the alkaline solution produced by the reaction between wood ash and oil in the water is not sufficient unless Jiang Luoluo can refine and purify it further. This is why Jiang Luoluo's first two attempts at making it failed.
But that doesn't mean Jiang Luoluo can't make soap. After all, she doesn't have enough wood ash water, but she can use quicklime to make soap.
Jiang Luoluo couldn't find quicklime, at least not yet in the tribe. But she knew of something whose composition was similar to quicklime, which could be used to extract what she wanted.
That is—a seashell.
Jiang Luoluo's smug expression suddenly stopped.
Seashells... I think they can only be found on the beach.
Jiang Luoluo stared stiffly toward the cave entrance, trying to see the distant river through the thin linen curtain.
In other words, is it possible to find things like seashells in a big river?
It doesn't seem impossible. Jiang Luoluo thought seriously. She remembered that there were river mussels and clams in the river, so the ingredients should be the same... right?
They're all from the water, like a turtle's shell; the composition is probably similar.
Jiang Luoluo woke up excitedly in the middle of the night, thinking she was dreaming about something important that she had been thinking about during the day, only to find that the materials she needed were still unavailable to her...
For a time, Jiang Luoluo's appearance seemed to have "faded".
When Xing returned from outside carrying a bunch of things, what she saw was the cub squatting on the ground, its whole body "gloomy".
"Luo, what's wrong with you?" Xing was completely confused, since she seemed quite energetic when she was sleeping.
"Hmm... I just feel that life is so long..." Jiang Luoluo sighed deeply.
"Walking from here to there, and then from there to here, it seems like there's no end in sight."
You find this thing, then realize you're missing that thing; you find that thing, then you have to find the next one.
It's a long road to get to the destination.
Jiang Luoluo sighed again.
Xing couldn't quite understand what the cub was saying, but she could sense some of the cub's thoughts from its tone, so she smiled and went over to pat the cub's head.
"There's still a long way to go, so let's hurry up and get going before it gets too late."
Jiang Luoluo rubbed against Xing's outstretched hand, as if she had gained some kind of strength, and stood up with renewed vigor, "Okay!"
Watching the cub get up, pick up its little backpack, put on its bunny ear hat, fill its water cup with hot water, and rush out the door, Xing couldn't help but smile.
Although it seemed like a complaint, the cub had already decided what to do next.
What she did just now was actually just her being cute.
Jiang Luoluo jogged all the way to the Fish Cave. In the open space, the children were still making fishing lines, but instead of relying on the sun to dry them, they were making them when the temperature dropped below zero and the outside had already started to freeze.
The children of Yuerdong built a rather large bonfire in the open space and placed their fishing lines next to it to dry.
Although the temperature dropped, the warmth of the fire made it not too cold.
As for the materials used for the fire, they were some cleared plants.
Seeing Jiang Luoluo's curious expression, Little Fish King Biao explained, "There's still some time before the snow season, and everyone is used to being busy, so some people can't stay idle."
In fact, once they knew they could go out, keeping them trapped in the fish cave and preventing them from leaving seemed rather torturous and cruel.
However, the profits from making fishing line are not very high. If they use firewood to bake the line, the children of Fish Cave cannot even get enough wood to trade for. They have no way to go to Taz Forest to cut down trees, so they can only pay a price to get help from the adult members of their tribe.
Just then, seeing the tribesmen who came to deliver the hook vines also carrying other plants, Little Fish King Biao suddenly realized that, besides trees, many plants could also be used for burning.
However, these plants are not as easy to burn as firewood, and they produce choking smoke, making them unsuitable for indoor use. They are usually burned in one place.
Little Fish King Biao then thought, since they're going to be burned anyway, why not give them the plants to bake and make fishing lines?
This practice even saved the tribesmen the trouble of cleaning up and burning the waste, so much so that the tribesmen responsible for cleaning up didn't need the children of Fish Cave to exchange anything for them.
After all, being able to help them burn all these plants was already the greatest reward.
"You're so smart, Biao," Jiang Luoluo praised sincerely.
After Little Fish King Biao finished telling his story, he looked at Jiang Luoluo and asked, "And you, Luoluo, is there anything I can help you with?"
Jiang Luoluo chuckled and cracked her knuckles. "There's a tiny problem."
"Biao, you catch so many fish in Fish Cave, have you ever caught any different kinds of fish? Like those with shells?"