Chapter 35 Wooden Buckets
Afterward, we went to another sundry store and bought two wooden buckets. This time, it was much simpler. With more complete clothes on our bodies, we paid twelve copper coins, and the sundry store wouldn’t care about our identities at all.
Carrying the wooden buckets with a towel draped over them, we looked just like any other customer going to the bathhouse. The only thing was our faces were too dirty, but we would deal with that now.
I also noticed that towels were sold very cheaply here. However, in ancient times, obtaining raw materials for towels involved processes like growing flax or silkworms, then processing them into cloth or silk, dyeing, and finally weaving them into towels. The entire process was actually much more complicated than箍ing* a wooden bucket.
After all, a wooden bucket only required cutting down a tree, shaping the wood, and fixing it together. A skilled carpenter could make one per hour without issue. Therefore, wooden buckets should have been cheaper than towels back then.
But now, the towel in my hand was very cheap and of good quality, soft and plush, not just a random piece of cloth, but a real textile.
This indicates that towels have already become mass-produced, cheap products. It not only signifies that this world already has textile machines but also that raw materials should be abundant and inexpensive, and the entire textile industry has formed a complete assembly line.
Furthermore, the wooden buckets we bought were reinforced with iron hoops, not wooden ones or simply tied with string. Unless the carpenter intentionally custom-ordered steel hoops from the blacksmith, the iron smelting industry should also be very common.
Recalling those factories emitting white smoke, perhaps one of them was involved in one of these industries.
With this thought, Jayad and I had already walked back to the water tower. This place not only served as the water source for the entire apartment complex and bathhouse but also had several outlets where people could fetch water, free of charge.
Looking at the clear water flowing from the spigots, I was almost moved to tears. Finally, I saw water that looked at least normal on the outside. This was likely groundwater with a relatively low level of pollution.
Jayad and I each filled a bucket. I couldn’t resist and took a direct sip. The cool groundwater was truly wonderful, with no strange taste or filthiness, and even a faint sweetness.
“Now that we have the wooden buckets, we can fetch water here and take it back to drink from now on,” I said with a smile. However, unfortunately, after taking just a few steps with my half-full bucket, my hand felt unable to lift it. Parul’s body is really so weak.
“It’s okay, I’ll carry the water from now on. Parul doesn’t need to force herself,” Jayad said. When he was under MacDuff’s command, he often went to the well to fetch water.
He would often fetch enough water for everyone in MacDuff’s gang. Now, he only needed to carry water for himself and Parul, which he found quite easy.
We brought the water to the side, and Jayad and I used our towels to wipe our faces. I saw that as soon as Jayad wiped his face, his whole face turned into a little black cat, looking even dirtier than before and rather comical.
I wasn’t much better. After wiping my face three times, the towel had already changed color. When I wrung it out in the water bucket, the previously clear water became somewhat murky, which spoke volumes about how dirty I was before.
This was just our faces, usually the cleanest parts. Our bodies and limbs were even dirtier. However, our purpose in doing this was to enter the bathhouse, not to clean ourselves thoroughly. There was no need to be overly serious.
If there were no bathhouse, being able to wash with clean water would have satisfied me. But now, I was no longer satisfied with just that.
