Chapter 81 - 80: Peanut Shell Carbon

Chapter 81: Chapter 80: Peanut Shell Carbon

Since she used a lot of water yesterday, before preparing to roast the Bamboo Heart Tea, Huai Yu specifically went to the pond to fetch two more buckets of water.

It had been a long time since the heavy rain stopped, and the water in the pond had become clear again. Although it couldn’t compare to a mountain stream or spring, it wasn’t bad.

As for the little fish, loaches, and shrimps she had put in... there was absolutely no sign of them.

It didn’t matter. Huai Yu was full of confidence. She would go up the mountain to set traps next time!

She went to check on the chicks. Kept within their enclosure, they were currently basking in the warm sun. They were yellow, fluffy, chubby, and CHEEP CHEEP CHEEPing away... Truly full of energy!

Right now, the most troublesome thing was actually filtering drinking water.

The fetched water had to first be sterilized and purified with Water Purification Tablets, then filtered bit by bit through a towel, boiled immediately after, and finally purified using her Superpower...

The most tedious part of all this was using the towel to filter out impurities. The water didn’t seep through the towel very quickly, and it couldn’t hold much water at a time. Plus, since it was a crudely made setup, she had to stand guard next to it every time she filtered water.

Huai Yu thought for a moment. She spread the bamboo shoots out evenly to dry, then brought out the peanut shells she had dried last time.

Setting up the pot and lighting a fire, she didn’t really know how to make charcoal. So, she opted for a simple and direct approach—she would just roast them in the pot until they burned into charcoal.

Leaving the peanut shells in the pot, she went to find the quilt she hadn’t finished sewing last time and pulled out two large wads of silk wadding from the tear. Although the quilt had to make a sacrifice, well... Ahem! Water! Water was the most important thing!

If this experiment worked, this quilt would become her dedicated supply of filtering material in the future.

She washed the silk wadding clean and took it outside to dry as well. Then, steeling herself, she cut off the bottom of the large mineral water jug she had originally traded for.

The plan was to put down a layer of silk wadding, a layer of crushed peanut shell charcoal powder and fragments, and then another layer of silk wadding... Anyway, she would just give it a try first!

The peanut shells began to emit a burnt smell. Little Tian poked its head out at some point, circling and squeaking at the pot. When it looked at Huai Yu again, there seemed to be sympathy in its eyes.

It thought, "Eating peanut shells... This human’s life is getting more miserable by the day!"

After meeting Kuang Biao, Huai Yu felt that even Little Tian looked quite charming. Completely unaware of its sympathy, she was in a rather good mood as she grabbed a few soybeans and handed them over. "Here! Take them and eat, don’t be shy!"

This reminded her of something. "Come on! I’ll take you for a stroll in the bamboo forest, lest my own bamboo rat gets hurt later."

"SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK!" Little Tian protested. It was a vole!

"I know, I know!" Huai Yu brushed it off half-heartedly. "Bamboo and vole... Bamboo rat for short. Hmm, this name sounds much more delicious."

She closed the door behind them. "Let’s go meet your new neighbor."

Outside, the sun was hot, but as they circled to the back of the house and approached the bamboo forest, a cool breeze instantly washed over them.

Huai Yu pointed at Little Tian on the ground and was about to speak, but she realized that this little guy, clutching its soybeans, looked far too small. So, picking up a leaf to protect her fingers, she pinched its tail and lifted it up.

Little Tian was completely dumbfounded. Its beans fell right out of its paws!

It flailed its four paws helplessly in the air, but only managed to make itself spin around twice before finally resigning to its fate.

Huai Yu raised her arm higher. "Kuang Biao, let me introduce you to my friend. This is Little Tian the vole. It will be coming into the bamboo forest to look for food from now on, so don’t hurt it, okay?"

RUSTLE, RUSTLE.

The bamboo forest sounded in response. It seemed Kuang Biao was truly exhausted.

Huai Yu kept her arm raised and locked eyes with Little Tian for a moment. "You... there shouldn’t be much to introduce on your end, right? It’s not like you can hurt it anyway."

These words were incredibly insulting to a rodent. If pushed to the brink, Little Tian could dig a hole anywhere! But...

The aura of the bamboo forest before it was indeed too powerful. Little Tian shivered twice, not daring to make a sound.

Soon, Huai Yu set it back down. "Alright, introductions are over! If you have nothing better to do, wander around and see if you can find anything good to eat, then come tell me!"

Thinking back, she had failed to achieve her goal of getting meat yesterday... Sigh! She had encountered Kuang Biao on her very first trip into the mountains. What else would she run into if she went again? Could it be that she could only rely on trading her chickens and bamboo shoots for meat in the future?

Later, she took a stroll to the vegetable garden. She checked the newly planted yams, soybeans, chili peppers, and cowpeas, which hadn’t shown any movement yet. Then she looked at the first batch of soybeans, which had already sprouted small shoots. Everything was doing quite well.

Especially that batch of sweet potato seedlings. When first planted, they were drooping and on their last legs. Now, they had all lifted their heads, their branches and leaves standing tall and straight. They had clearly survived!

Huai Yu was overjoyed. She squatted down, carefully casting a glance at the Rose Corridor, before cautiously releasing a tiny sliver of her Wood Ability...

Wow! The sweet potato seedlings before her grew visibly more vigorous and sturdy!

In the distance, the Rose Corridor remained still, but a gust of wind blew by, sending many petals fluttering into the air.

Quitting while she was ahead, Huai Yu quickly stood up and left the vegetable garden. Once Kuang Biao recovered for another two days, she needed to figure out a way to chop some bamboo poles to build a fence. It just didn’t feel safe without an enclosure.

Finally, she went to check on the potatoes she had covered with a bag to encourage sprouting. They were in good condition, with parts of their skin starting to turn green. Sprouting was clearly just around the corner.

By now, the two handfuls of peanut shells in the large pot no longer smelled burnt. Instead, they were pitch black—so dark they almost seemed reflective. The peanut shell charcoal was complete!

Huai Yu hurriedly scooped them out, wrapped them in paper, and pounded them with a brick. Once they had all turned into fragments and powder, she brought in the fluffy, sun-dried silk wadding from outside.

The bottom of the large mineral water jug had already been removed. Now inverted, the jug was placed over a bucket. She first laid down a thick layer of silk wadding at the bottom, poured the peanut shell charcoal into the middle, and topped it off with another layer of silk wadding.

With that, a simple impurity filter was complete!

Squatting excitedly in front of the bucket, Huai Yu slowly poured the pond water in. The jug was very large, allowing her to pour all the water in at once and wait for it to slowly filter. This way, she wouldn’t have to constantly stand by and add water.

After waiting a short while, the initially yellowish and slightly turbid water slowly trickled down from the bottleneck... It was clear! Clear!

She beamed with joy, breathing a huge sigh of relief. "I’m such a genius!"

But wait! She even knew how to filter water. Wasn’t her scope of knowledge a bit too broad for a sturdy peasant woman? GASP—could she have been a sturdy peasant woman who dropped out of school halfway and was married off deep into the mountains?!

Huai Yu furrowed her brows, racking her brain as she scrubbed the pot. She was truly terrified that one day, after she had painstakingly built a 600-acre farm, a scruffy man who neither brushed his teeth nor washed his feet would suddenly show up with a crying child, claiming they were a family...

"PTOOEY, PTOOEY, PTOOEY!"

Huai Yu shook her head vigorously, swearing that she would absolutely never acknowledge her past! She didn’t want any past at all! She only wanted the present!