Chapter 240: Having Wings Really is More Suitable for Brick Making!
Putting on the new shoes, Lin Ye felt only one thing: “Comfortable!” He tossed aside his old pair of shoes.
Lin Ye walked towards the open space in his new shoes.
The Beast-eared Girls and Winged Girls were already waiting in the open space.
Seeing Lin Ye walk over, everyone looked at him with excitement.
Xing looked at Lin Ye with anticipation and asked softly, “Ye, are we starting to make bricks today?” The other Beast-eared Girls and Winged Girls also looked at Lin Ye.
Lin Ye nodded at them with a smile.
Then, everyone went back to the water pipe together.
Balls of clay were piled up on straw mats, one by one.
Lin Ye took out the molds he had made before.
He handed them to the Beast-eared Girls.
Then, he began to teach them how to use the molds to make bricks.
As Lin Ye spoke, he demonstrated to the Beast-eared Girls how to make bricks.
“First, smear the mold and the plank or stone in front of you with grass ash. This will prevent the clay from sticking, making it easier to demold later.”
“Next, place the mold on the stone or plank, and then use ‘680’ force to smash the clay ball into it. You don’t need too much force, just enough to break open the clay.” “Press the clay flat with your hands, filling every corner of the mold.” “If there’s any excess clay, clear it all away.”
“Finally, gently tap the sides of the mold to separate the mold from the brick. This completes the demolding.” “Just like this, an unfired brick is made.” After Lin Ye finished demonstrating and explaining.
A rectangular unfired brick appeared on the stone slab in front of Lin Ye.
The Beast-eared Girls and Winged Girls looked at the unfired bricks made by Lin Ye and became eager to try.
Lin Ye added a few more sentences.
“After making unfired bricks like this, they need to be placed on the large stones in the open space to dry.”
“Mingyun, why don’t you and the others be responsible for moving the bricks? Otherwise, it will be a waste of time for everyone to walk back and forth.”
Upon hearing this, Mingyun glanced at the Winged Girls, who all nodded at her with smiles in their eyes.
Seeing everyone’s high enthusiasm, Mingyun also laughed.
Grinning, she nodded at Lin Ye and replied sweetly, “Okay.”
Lin Ye looked at Mingyun, who was smiling brilliantly at him.
Back in the Winged Tribe before, Mingyun was not like this.
Most of the time, her face was etched with worry.
When facing other Winged Girls, her expression was rarely relaxed.
Even now, she wouldn’t smile so happily on a regular day.
Lin Ye also smiled and nodded at Mingyun.
The reason the Beast-eared Girls and Winged Girls were so happy was not just because they were going to make bricks.
It was because they felt they were contributing to the tribe by being busy.
The Winged Girls, having recently joined the tribe, felt this emotion even more strongly.
When they heard that Lin Ye had specifically assigned them work, they felt needed.
So, they all happily agreed.
However, for the job of carrying bricks, the Winged Girls were the most suitable.
After all, they could fly, and their brick-carrying speed would be faster.
After arranging the work, everyone began to make unfired bricks in earnest.
As for clay, even if you make one badly, you can just knead it again and start over.
There would be no waste of materials.
One unfired brick after another was made by the Beast-eared Girls.
The Winged Girls transported the unfired bricks to the open space for drying, one load after another.
Lin Ye, after seeing that the Beast-eared Girls’ techniques were all correct, went to dig new pottery kilns.
Lin Ye needed to fire thousands of firebricks.
If he only relied on one pottery kiln, it would take ages.
For a whole day, the Beast-eared Girls and Winged Girls were busy making unfired bricks.
And Lin Ye made nine more pottery kilns in a day.
Lin Ye glanced over.
In one day, the Beast-eared Girls used about a third of the clay balls.
This was still due to their lack of practice.
It seemed they could officially start firing bricks the day after tomorrow.
Coincidentally, the unfired bricks would also be dried by then.
After dinner, everyone returned to their wooden houses and fell asleep as soon as they lay down.
There were no Beast-eared Girls chatting at night.
The Beast-eared Girls were back to how they were before Lin Ye appeared.
Every day after dinner, there was no entertainment.
Tired from a day’s work, they would all return to their tents to sleep as soon as it got dark.
However, although the Beast-eared Girls and Winged Girls were very tired, each day felt very fulfilling.
Their moods also remained very good.
Accompanied by their breathing, Lin Ye slowly fell asleep.
And so, on the morning of the third day, all the clay was finally made into unfired bricks.
The unfired bricks made on the first day were also completely dried.
Then, Lin Ye led the Beast-eared Girls and Winged Girls to formally begin firing the firebricks.
There wasn’t much to say about the firing process.
It was the same method as firing pottery, except the firing time was much longer.
Fierce flames roared out from the top of the pottery kilns.
The fires burned from morning until evening.
The fires in all the pottery kilns gradually died down.
But the temperature inside the pottery kilns was still very high.
They would have to wait overnight.
They could take out the bricks tomorrow morning.
The Beast-eared Girls and Winged Girls were all watching the pottery kilns.
Since there was still some time before dark, Lin Ye spoke to the Beast-eared Girls and Winged Girls.
“Let’s go. There’s still some time. I’ll take you to fire some charcoal.” Hearing Lin Ye’s words, the Beast-eared Girls and Winged Girls tilted their heads and looked at Lin Ye.
“Charcoal? Aren’t a lot of it already produced in the bonfire every day?” Shi asked Lin Ye with doubt.
Lin Ye chuckled and shook his head. “That charcoal can no longer be reignited.” “The charcoal I’m going to have you make is fuel for the furnace.” Charcoal is also a very important part of iron smelting.
Wood burns much less efficiently than charcoal.
Melting iron ore requires a very high temperature.
Without sufficiently combustible charcoal, this temperature cannot be reached.
Hearing Lin Ye’s explanation, the Beast-eared Girls and Winged Girls still looked confused.
They arrived at the water pipe. Lin Ye said to the Beast-eared Girls and Winged Girls, “You’ll know when we start firing later. Go gather firewood first. Only pick straight, dry wood. Fresh wood cut from trees won’t do.” Seeing their confused expressions, Lin Ye didn’t bother to explain further and directly told them to start collecting firewood.
The Beast-eared Girls and Winged Girls obediently entered the forest and began to gather wood.
Meanwhile, Lin Ye started digging out a lot of mud near the water pipe.
This mud would be needed when firing charcoal later.
Wood was everywhere in the forest.
In a short while, the Beast-eared Girls and Winged Girls returned with a large amount of firewood.
Lin Ye nodded at them with satisfaction.
Then, he took out his axe and began to split the firewood into pieces about half a meter long.
Seeing this, the Beast-eared Girls and Winged Girls came to help.
However, Lin Ye stopped them and said, “You don’t need to do this here. Go collect some more. This isn’t enough.”
When the Beast-eared Girls and Winged Girls heard this, they were about to re-enter the forest.
Lin Ye thought for a moment and then said again, “Shi and Ganyu, stay behind first.”
The two Beast-eared Girls stopped and turned back.
Seeing Lin Ye wave at them, the two Beast-eared Girls happily hopped over to Lin Ye’s side.
He asked them to stay because Lin Ye realized that charcoal would definitely be a huge consumable item from now on.
So, Lin Ye thought of teaching the two of them how to do it.
Later, they could lead the Beast-eared Girls and Winged Girls in firing charcoal.
By then, Lin Ye would surely be too busy at the two furnaces to spare any time.
The two Beast-eared Girls came to Lin Ye’s side.
Grinning, they smiled at Lin Ye.
“Ye, why did you ask for us?” Shi asked Lin Ye with a smile, her face full of joy.
Ganyu also smiled and blinked at Lin Ye.
Lin Ye didn’t know why the two Beast-eared Girls were so happy.
He just said seriously to Shi and Ganyu, “Watch carefully how I do it later and learn how to fire charcoal.” “From now on, you two will lead the others in firing charcoal.”
