Ancient Eden - Chapter 127
~End of chapter 126
The turtle shell was too big, almost as big as a round table. Underneath it, there was a layer of mud, using it to boil water or as a bathtub was very good, but it would be too big if she wanted to boil food and soup for two, besides it was very thick and not easy to heat.
More and more she was feeling the inconvenience of not having enough containers. And more importantly, she couldn’t let herself and Li Mang always eat food that was roasted over a fire, besides the issue of the taste, it was also detrimental to one’s health.
She needed pots to boil food, she needed dishes, and also jars to store water.
She had seen these the settlement before. It was probably pottery they had made themselves.
Chapter 127
(39.5)
Mu Qing only knew that pottery could be made by firing clay, but other than that, she was completely inexperienced and could only hope that Li Mang knew the firing method.
A few days ago she tried to mention it to Li Mang. He didn’t say anything at the time, but a few nights in a row, he was busy building up a pile of clay in a hollow in the ground against the wall of the cliff, and finally something that looked like a kiln was made. She then realized that he had built a furnace for the purpose of firing pottery.
She felt a little ashamed. At first, she thought that all she needed to do was to put the clay pots on an open woodpile and burn them.
It was only when she saw the furnace that it occurred to her that an open-air woodpile certainly couldn’t burn at a temperature as hot as a furnace, and that the pottery that would come out of it wouldn’t be as solid as what would come out of a furnace.
Of course, she wouldn’t let Li Mang know about her previous idea, so as to avoid becoming a joke.
(40.1)
Mu Qing soon realized that there was something wrong with the kiln. Although she had never fired pottery before, she still knew what a kiln looked like. But the kiln that Li Mang had built was not the usual vertical one she was used to, but a horizontal one. On the left side, a deep rectangular pit was dug, most likely a fire pit for adding firewood, and on the right side, there was a round kiln chamber, separated by a wall of mud, with three fire paths, and the top was sealed with mud, with a few smoke holes.
Could it be that people of this age had no concept of a vertical kiln and that a horizontal kiln was the kind of furnace they were used to for firing pottery? But a vertical kiln was obviously much better than this kind of horizontal kiln, whether it was for the full combustion of the firewood or for the even heating of the pottery.
So Mu Qing explained his idea to Li Mang. Seeing his surprised expression, Mu Qing knew that her guess was not wrong. There were no vertical kilns at this time.
Li Mang was a practical man. As soon as he realized what Mu Qing meant, he immediately started the plan of building a vertical kiln with the fire pit at the bottom and the kiln chamber at the top, right against the cliff wall. After a few nights of hard work, a new kiln was built on a slope against the cliff wall.
Mu Qing had to say that Li Mang was really a good thinker. She had only given a general idea of this vertical kiln. Regarding specific details such as some smoke holes, those were his own ideas, and what made her especially surprised, was that he actually got some sand-like small gravel spread at the bottom of the kiln bed. She thought about it, and realized that this could make the pottery heat more evenly during the firing process.
During the few days where she was waiting for the kiln to dry, apart from doing the usual things she had to do, Mu Qing started to play with clay.
She used the clay she had dug up to make smaller bowls and dishes, and larger jars and pots, and then used the method Li Mang had shown her to turn the clay into thin strips, piling it up in circles to form the shapes she wanted, before finally scraping the surface to make it smooth. This way, the molded object would be stronger and the clay would not collapse easily.
Apart from these containers that she was going to use daily, she also made a flower vase, and at the end, seeing that there was still some clay left, she simply molded a doll in the Ah Fu style, with all features, who looked chubby and very cute.
When the kiln and the clay were all dry, Li Mang didn’t go hunting that day, but stayed to work with Mu Qing on the pottery.
Translator : Laura
Other novels : His One Love & After Being Kidnapped by the Crown Prince & Unaware that My Legitimate Sister is My Husband
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