Chapter 21 Making Candles
Because Jiang Yunhua brought back a lot of fungus and mushrooms, Ye made chicken stewed with mushrooms according to Jiang Zhiluo's instructions at noon.
Fish soup was stewed with fish.
After lunch, the family sat together and talked for a while.
In the middle of the afternoon, Jiang Zhiluo and Cui Hejin went home.
However, Jiang Xiangchuan and Ye Shi also brought a lot of things to Jiang Zhiluo.
There were fish caught by my two brothers in the river, and a bowl of chicken stewed with mushrooms.
At noon, my mother left a large bowl for her to take home for her mother-in-law to eat.
I also brought her some rice cakes, which were made from millet that my mother specially bought.
It's like rice buns, just like buns, except it's made of millet, and sugar is added inside, so it tastes very sweet and delicious.
Food like this is extremely rare in the village.
When preparing to walk home, Jiang Zhiluo saw some pine trees on the hillside behind Shanxing Village and said to Cui Hejin: "I want to go there to see if I can get some grease. Would you like to go home first or come with me?"
One trip?”
Jiang Zhiluo originally wanted to let Cui Hejin go home first.
It's just that he was accompanying her back. If he was allowed to go back alone and people in Donghe Village saw it, he would probably gossip, which would not be good for Mrs. Cui and Cui Hejin.
So Jiang Zhiluo asked aloud.
There are only a few candles left at home, and every time they light them at night, they light them sparingly.
If you buy candles, they are also expensive. One candle costs fifty cents.
Jiang Zhiluo felt that it got dark early at night and she couldn't sleep. If she could light a candle, it would be easier for her to do other things.
I’m reluctant to buy candles, so why not make your own candles?
She didn't see any pine trees on Donghe Village Mountain.
But there were pine trees on the mountain in Shanxingcun, and Jiang Zhiluo suddenly thought of rosin.
She can make candles out of rosin. Although they don't look good, they are useful.
This way there is no need to save on candles.
Although Cui Hejin was confused and didn't know what Jiang Zhiluo was going to do, she still said softly: "Let me accompany you there."
In this way, Cui Hejin accompanied Jiang Zhiluo to the mountainside.
Jiang Zhiluo found a very fast pine tree stump and collected some grease.
Looking at the collected grease, Jiang Zhiluo was very happy. Now she could make many candles.
In this way, there is no need to save money on candles at home, and there is no need to buy candles in a short period of time.
Cui Hejin looked at the bright smile on Jiang Zhiluo's face with a deep expression, but didn't ask anything.
On the way home, Jiang Zhiluo thought Cui Hejin would ask something, but he didn't ask anything.
From beginning to end, he looked cool and cold, as if he was not interested in her affairs and didn't want to ask questions.
The smile on Jiang Zhiluo's face faded. She originally wanted to explain something, but she opened her mouth and said nothing.
After returning home, Mrs. Cui was very happy to see them back.
Especially when I learned that Jiang Zhiluo's parents brought a lot of rice cakes and a bowl of chicken stewed with mushrooms, I sighed in my heart.
Her in-laws are really great.
Mrs. Cui was still thinking about making brown sugar, so she pulled Jiang Zhiluo and asked: "Zhiluo, um, should we still make brown sugar? I'll put all the firewood on the stove and light the fire at any time."
Jiang Zhiluo nodded and said, "Mom, I need you to heat up the beets and boil the sugary water out of the beets."
"I'm thinking of boiling this fat so that I can make candles."
When Mrs. Cui heard about the candle, her expression became excited and she even suspected that she had heard wrongly.
"Wax...candle?"
"Zhiluo, can you make candles?"
Candles are very expensive things. Mrs. Cui would not light them at night unless she had no choice.
I can't bear to use it at all.
Because when a candle is used up, you have to buy a new candle. It is so expensive that you can buy a lot of food.
So when she heard Jiang Zhiluo say that she could make candles, she suspected that she had heard wrongly.
When Cui Hejin was fetching water to wash his hands in the yard, he heard Jiang Zhiluo's words and the movements of his hands stopped.
He looked sideways at Jiang Zhiluo, with a complicated look in his eyes.
It turns out she went to get the grease to make candles.
However, the secret recipe of candles is in the hands of a very small number of businessmen. How can ordinary people know the secret recipe?
Then thinking about some of the words of his wife, brothers and sisters, Cui Hejin looked at Jiang Zhiluo with a deep expression.
Jiang Zhiluo nodded and said: "Mom, this grease can be used to make candles. Now that we have candles, we don't have to be so frugal at night. We can light candles whenever we want."
"well."
Mrs. Cui was very excited inside.
She actually wanted to do some embroidery with candles at night.
But when she thought about how expensive the candles were, Mrs. Cui was reluctant to light them.
If these things can really be made into candles, she can light candles at night and do embroidery work. If she does more embroidery work, she can go to the embroidery shop in the town and sell it, and she can earn a little bit.
Mrs. Cui felt warm and excited.
"Zhiluo, just go about your business. Mom will light the fire and cook these beets."
The beets are cut into small pieces for the convenience of cooking the sugar water."
Jiang Zhiluo set up a small jar in the yard, put firewood in it, put a small basin on top, put the grease on top, and started burning the fire below.
After it melts into water, Gillian removes some of the magazines.
Filtered grease water is easy to use.
Jiang Zhiluo put several small wooden barrels she got from her father upright, put a long rope inside, and poured the grease into them.
Once cooled, it can be used as a candle.
Nine small wooden barrels were poured out in a row.
Jiang Zhiluo fixed them carefully, thinking that after cooling, she could remove the wooden barrel mold outside and the candle would be ready.
Let the things cool down first, while Jiang Zhiluo helped Mrs. Cui look at the pot and stirred it with a spoon.
As time goes by, when the sugar water in the pot boils out, you can smell the sweet aroma of the sugar water.
Jiang Zhiluo fanned it gently with her hands, with a smile on her face.
It's like seeing brown sugar one by one.
Mrs. Cui lit the fire and said excitedly: "Zhiluo, can you smell the sugar water? It's a very sweet smell, it smells really good."
Mrs. Cui was still skeptical before, a little dubious.
But smelling the smell now, she believed that this thing could really make sugar.
Mrs. Cui's heart was filled with enthusiasm and excitement, and she was even more active in lighting the fire.
Jiang Zhiluo nodded and said, "Well, Mom, it tastes like sugar water, but it still needs to be boiled for a while."
"Okay, we have enough firewood to burn it for as long as it takes."
Jiang Zhiluo saw that it was almost done, so she went to prepare a large basin, and then got a piece of clean cheesecloth for filtering.
After waiting, Jiang Zhiluo said: "Mom, it's okay. There's no need to light the fire yet."
"Okay, is this okay?"
Jiang Zhiluo said: "Scoop it out first, and continue to light the fire for a while."
Jiang Zhiluo used a large mesh spoon to scoop out everything in the big pot bit by bit.
The beets were caught in the cotton cloth, and the sugar water was filtered into the big basin.
Chapter completed!