Five-year-old little girl: Mom has thousands of acres of material space

Jiang Xiaoxiao moved the porcelain jar to the yard. There was also a simple stove built last time when everyone made ice cream and ice cream. She took the opportunity to place the porcelain jar on the stove.

Gao Xiaoshuan also came out with half a basin of plant ashes: "Sister Xiaoxiao, the plant ashes you wanted are available."

Jiang Xiaoxiao fetched more than half a bucket of water from the well and poured it all into the basin. She made sure the water was not too much and not too little, just enough to cover a little more of the plant ash.

She stuffed a mallet into Gao Xiaosuan's hand and said, "Brother Xiaosuan, stir evenly."

"Oh, okay." Although Gao Xiaoshuan didn't understand her strange operations, he did them honestly.

Stirring plant ash water is a physical job, and Gao Xiaosuan worked very hard, but he was only a six-year-old child after all, and he was out of breath after a while.

Jiang Xiaoxiao had no choice but to take the mallet from his hand and start stirring by herself. When she got tired, Gao Xiaosuan took over.

This step is particularly important. Only when the plant ash and water are fully mixed can the alkaline water required for the saponification reaction be produced.

The two took turns stirring, and it took a long time to fully mix the plant ash and water.

Jiang Xiaoxiao wiped the sweat from her forehead and took out gauze to filter the plant ash water.

The two of them worked together to pour the filtered plant ash water into the porcelain jar just now. The plant ash water obtained now is not really alkaline water. It needs to be further heated and concentrated to remove the moisture in the alkali solution and improve the alkali concentration. concentration.

Gao Xiaoshuan brought a pile of firewood and started to light a fire to heat the plant ash water. Be careful in this step. The heated and concentrated plant ash is the real alkaline water. Pay attention to protection when operating, and the container for storing the alkaline water must not be made of iron, so Jiang Xiaoxiao picked out the alkaline water in a porcelain can.

While waiting for the alkaline water to be heated and concentrated, Jiang Xiaoxiao went to the kitchen again.

Her mother-in-law had already put pork in the kitchen. Unlike the fat and thin pork belly of the previous two days, it was all fat pork, which was perfect for cooking lard.

At this moment, Qiu Lianniang and Mrs. Zhao are frying tofu with the cooked oil residue. This is the lunch for the workers today. The cooked lard is placed next to it in a small porcelain jar, still with residual warmth. .

Jiang Xiaoxiao hurriedly carried the oil can out of the kitchen. He had to pour the lard into the alkaline water while it was hot, otherwise it would be difficult to stir it thoroughly when the lard cooled down.

Gao Xiaoxuan stayed by the stove to keep an eye on the heat, not daring to be careless at all. Jiang Xiaoxiao saw that the alkaline water had been heated and concentrated, and she began to estimate in her mind how much lard should be added to the alkaline water in the porcelain jar.

According to the formula, the ratio of alkali to oil is 1:3. This ratio must be accurately grasped. No matter if there is too much oil or too much alkali, soap will not be made.

She scooped up the lard with a spoon and poured it into the lye water one spoon at a time. She secretly added alcohol to the lard, because oil is not easily soluble in alkaline water. Adding alcohol can increase the solubility of oil in alkali solution and promote saponification reaction.

This is a small trick left by Jiang Xiaoxiao.

There are so many people working at her house these days, and there are so many people out there. Even if she, a five-year-old child, messes around without attracting the attention of the adults, there are still people who are secretly peeking in and secretly learning how to make soap. Go.

But there are some details, such as alcohol, which is indispensable for the saponification reaction. In this era, there was no distillation technology. Even if there was alcohol, high-purity alcohol could not be purified. Therefore, even if someone secretly learned how to make soap, there would be no such thing as alcohol. , and can't make real soap.

After pouring in almost the same amount of lard, Jiang Xiaoxiao stopped and asked Gao Xiaosuan to continue stirring with a mallet to mix the alkaline water and lard.

This process takes a long time, during which constant stirring is required to fully saponify the oil.

Jiang Xiaoxiao and Gao Xiaoshuan took turns stirring, but they were both weak and they were still a little overwhelmed. Fortunately, Jiang Wei came back from town in a carriage after a while.

The carriage stopped at the gate of the courtyard. Jiang Xiaoxiao looked over and saw five sheep tied in the back carriage, running all the way back home with his carriage.

She couldn't help but smile. It turned out that her mother went to town to buy a goat. There was only one dairy goat at home, and the goat milk squeezed out was far from enough to make soap. Jiang Wei jumped out of the carriage, followed by Gao Xiaoyan and Chun Miao. The three of them came to the back compartment, and one person led two sheep into the yard.

The sheep shed at home is too small to accommodate so many sheep, so we can only place the purchased sheep in a chicken pen.

Chun Miao, who was cleaning the chicken coop, saw this and picked up the basket to go outside to cut some grass and feed the sheep.

Jiang came over to help before she could wash her hands. She was stronger than the two men combined. She took the mallet and started stirring.

Jiang Xiaoxiao had her hands free. She didn't have time to rest, so she went to the kitchen to get some coarse salt, crushed it and added it to the earthen pot.

Salt increases the hardness of soap, making it easier to form.

Jiang Wei was not very strong, so her work efficiency was much faster than that of the two children. She stirred in one direction, and the water in the jar gradually evaporated, and soon the mixture turned into a sticky paste.

When Jiang Xiaoxiao saw that it was almost done, she found the bamboo tube she had prepared the day before and asked her mother to help pour it into the bamboo tube to shape it.

After filling five bamboo tubes, there was still a lot left in the earthen pot. Jiang Xiaoxiao went to the house and poured in the goat milk Gao Xiaoyan squeezed in the morning, stirred it evenly, and filled three more bamboo tubes.

Eight bamboo tubes were placed neatly under the window and allowed to dry in the shade for three days.

Jiang Xiaoxiao wiped her sweat and worked all morning. It would take three days to know whether the soap she made could be used.

Jiang Wei patted her shoulder and comforted her: "I think it looks good. It should be successful."

"Let's eat!"

Qiu Lianniang over there has already begun to greet everyone for dinner.

When everyone on the construction site heard the sound, they all ran like wolves and tigers, even the disciples brought by Master Zheng were no exception.

After working all morning, everyone was already hungry.

Today's staple food is corn paste and pancakes, plus a large pot of fried pickled cabbage and tofu.

It's not enough to eat dry food every day. It's fine for a day or two, but over time it will always arouse suspicion.

However, the Jiang family was generous, and the batter they cooked was thick, and the pancakes were full of ingredients, including eggs and wild vegetables. No one felt that this meal was any worse than dry rice.

Although today's dish only consisted of stir-fried pickled cabbage and tofu with oil residue, it contained both meat and vegetables, and the pickled cabbage was appetizing. Everyone ate it with relish and was very satisfied.

More than 40 people sat on the ground in the Jiang family's yard, forming a few groups around them, eating and chatting about home affairs.

The Jiang family, mother and daughter, Qiu Lianniang, Sister Zhao, and Chun Miao were eating in the kitchen. Even the two Gao siblings were invited to the dinner table.

"You're welcome, open them all to eat!" Jiang Xiaoxiao was afraid that the two Gao siblings wouldn't be able to let go, so she gave them a lot of food.

Chun Miao and Chun Ya, who were sitting across from each other, were eating and laughing. They had gradually gotten used to the initial resistance and embarrassment.