Chapter 281: Starting to Refine White Sugar, The Magical Properties of Activated Carbon!
Upon hearing Lin Ye’s words, the Beast-eared Girls and Winged Girls’ eyes lit up. “Delicious?!”
The Beast-eared Girls and Winged Girls, who had been full of doubt just moments before, all turned their shining eyes towards Lin Ye as soon as they heard him mention deliciousness. Happy smiles bloomed on their faces.
Lin Ye watched the reactions of the Beast-eared Girls and Winged Girls, thinking to himself. If he hadn’t explained just now and had simply said this, would they have cared what it was?
As the Beast-eared Girls and Winged Girls knew Lin Ye was going to make something delicious, their gazes towards the pottery pot turned full of expectation.
At this moment, Lin Ye felt the time was about right, so he opened the pot lid and began to carefully retrieve the activated carbon that had been boiled inside the pottery pot.
Piece by piece, Lin Ye removed the activated carbon from the pottery pot and placed it on a stone. This activated carbon was noticeably much blacker than the charcoal from before. The charcoal had looked more like a grayish color. Now, after repeated boiling by Lin Ye, it had become a shiny black. Moreover, this activated carbon was not a single-use item; after use, it could be reused simply by boiling it twice more.
Lin Ye placed the activated carbon on the stone to dry. Looking at the pieces of shiny black activated carbon, a satisfied smile appeared on Lin Ye’s face.
When the Beast-eared Girls and Winged Girls saw Lin Ye taking the charcoal out of the pottery pot, they all gathered around, squatting by Lin Ye’s side to watch the activated carbon on the stone.
Next, Lin Ye stood up and looked at the Beast-eared Girls and Winged Girls squatting beside him. It would take a while for the activated carbon to dry. During this time, it was just right to prepare the things needed to refine white sugar.
After thinking for a moment, Lin Ye spoke to Ming Yun, “Ming Yun, go and get me two more pottery pots and four pottery bowls.”
Ming Yun nodded immediately upon hearing this and, with a few Winged Girls, flew towards the cave once more. Lin Ye had thought that analyzing sodium carbonate and making activated carbon would go so smoothly. After all, Lin Ye only knew the principle but had never practiced it. In the past, a pack of sodium carbonate, which is baking soda, only cost a few yuan. No one would bother to make it themselves. Moreover, on Earth, buying natural rock salt was more expensive than buying refined salt.
Next, Lin Ye moved the pottery pot used for boiling activated carbon on the stove to the side. He saw that most of the water had already seeped out of the activated carbon on the stone. He placed them in the pot lid near the bonfire to dry.
Once the activated carbon was completely dry, Ming Yun and the Winged Girls had also brought back the pottery pots and bowls. The jar of brown sugar that had been stored in the pottery jar today had been kept aside. To avoid attracting ants, Lin Ye had covered it tightly. Now that Ming Yun and the others had brought back the pottery pots, Lin Ye also brought over the jar of brown sugar.
He took out two square pieces of brown sugar and put them into the pottery pot. The Beast-eared Girls and Winged Girls saw the brown sugar and swallowed their drool again. Lin Ye placed all the brown sugar, piece by piece, into the pottery pot, not even sparing the debris, pouring it all into the pot.
Next, Lin Ye filled the pottery pot with water and placed it on the fire to heat. Holding the long chopstick from before, he gently stirred in the pottery pot. Slowly, the water temperature began to rise, and the brown sugar started to dissolve in the water.
The Beast-eared Girls and Winged Girls watched as the water in the pottery pot gradually changed from clear to a rustic red-brown, the same color as the brown sugar. Seeing this scene, the Beast-eared Girls and Winged Girls all looked at the pottery pot in astonishment and began to discuss.
Lin Ye, meanwhile, was concentrating intently on the brown sugar in the pottery pot, stirring slowly with the chopsticks in his hand to accelerate the dissolution of the brown sugar. Slowly, wisps of steam began to rise from the pottery pot, but the brown sugar had not yet completely dissolved.
Seeing that the pottery pot was starting to emit steam and looked like it was about to boil, Lin Ye quickly took the pottery pot off the stove. The purpose of heating the pottery pot this time was only to speed up the dissolution of the brown sugar. However, if this pot full of brown sugar water were to boil, he didn’t know how much sugar would be lost as steam.
He took the pottery pot down and placed it on the ground. Lin Ye then continued to stir the pottery pot. As Lin Ye kept stirring, the brown sugar in the pottery pot had become very little, but there were still a few crystals that had not dissolved. Seeing this, Lin Ye stopped stirring. The remaining crystals were likely formed when other substances crystallized together with the sugar during its production, which is why their solubility in water was so poor. Although they would dissolve if stirred for a bit longer, it was such a small amount that it wasn’t worth the effort.
Next, Lin Ye brought over the activated carbon he had just dried. The Beast-eared Girls and Winged Girls saw Lin Ye bringing the activated carbon. They all remembered Lin Ye saying earlier that this activated carbon was used to make delicious white sugar. So, when they saw Lin Ye pick up the activated carbon, the Beast-eared Girls and Winged Girls looked at Lin Ye’s actions with anticipation.
After Lin Ye took the activated carbon, he poured it all into the brown sugar water in the pottery pot. Then, Lin Ye began to stir continuously with the chopsticks. As the activated carbon entered the pottery pot, and with Lin Ye’s constant stirring, the reddish-brown color of the brown sugar water began to lighten, piece by piece. Moreover, as Lin Ye continued to stir, the color of the brown sugar water was continuously fading.
Seeing this, the Beast-eared Girls and Winged Girls were all shocked, their mouths agape. “What’s happening? Why is the color changing?” “Ye, are you using witchcraft again? This is too amazing!” The Beast-eared Girls and Winged Girls stared at the brown sugar water in the pottery pot, their eyes widened in disbelief, and they questioned Lin Ye.
At this moment, Shi’s eyes had turned into searchlights, looking at the continually lightening brown sugar water in the pottery pot. He then raised his head and asked Lin Ye, “Ye, is the color change of this water because of the activated carbon you just made?” Shi could tell it was because the activated carbon was in the pottery pot, it wasn’t directly changing the color of all the brown sugar water at once. Instead, the activated carbon was slowly adsorbing the pigments in the brown sugar water. Therefore, it appeared as if the brown sugar water was gradually lightening, piece by piece, and then mixing with the other brown sugar water. Although this phenomenon was fleeting under Lin Ye’s constant stirring, it was still captured by Shi, whose talent ability had automatically activated.
Lin Ye heard Shi’s words and looked up in surprise. Looking at Shi’s eyes, which resembled two searchlights, Lin Ye couldn’t help but smile. Nodding his head with a smile, Lin Ye gave Shi a look of relief. Lin Ye hadn’t expected that Shi would discover it was due to the activated carbon without him saying anything. However, with a little thought, one would know that the water in the pottery pot started to lighten only after Lin Ye added the activated carbon. Therefore, there must be a connection between the two. But the problem was, these Beast-eared Girls and Winged Girls who had lived their entire lives in a primitive society would not make this connection. Their thinking patterns were already fixed. Now, only Shi had been subtly influenced by Lin Ye, and his thinking pattern was beginning to shift from linear to a more complex one. Gan Yu could be considered half of a catalyst, but she was only slightly better than the other Beast-eared Girls and Winged Girls. Compared to Shi, who had his brainpower enhanced, Gan Yu was far behind. Gan Yu’s greater characteristic was her love for work, a true workaholic.
Lin Ye glanced at Shi for a moment before continuing to focus on the brown sugar water in the pottery pot. The other Beast-eared Girls and Winged Girls also reacted after hearing Shi’s words. “Wow, so the activated carbon Ye made is so amazing.” “Did the charcoal become this powerful after being boiled?” “But why change the color of the water in the pottery pot? Brown sugar is also delicious.” The last sentence came from Sakura. The Beast-eared Girls and Winged Girls all looked at Sakura, then tilted their heads, thinking, it seemed to be so. Then they all looked back at the brown sugar water in the pottery pot with renewed confusion. The Beast-eared Girls and Winged Girls felt that since Lin Ye was doing this, white sugar must be more delicious than brown sugar. Thus, thinking about how delicious brown sugar already was, they all began to anticipate what white sugar would taste like.
