Chapter 75 Handwork

Chapter 75 Handwork

The sun shines through the thin clouds and sprinkles on the earth, bringing a touch of warmth to people. The sky is blue, without a single cloud blocking it, as if a huge sapphire is inlaid above the head.

The bare branches swayed gently in the breeze, and the withered yellow leaves covered the ground. The cold air was filled with a fresh scent that lifted people's spirits.

The team was moving forward on the official road. The Shi family father and son sat on their own mule cart, busy with wooden molds with tools in both hands. Lin Yougui sat outside and helped them drive the mule cart.

By the time I took a break in the afternoon, I had finally finished making 13 wooden molds for shaped candles.

Place the clay pot next to the fire, use a wooden spoon to break the wax in the wooden barrel, scoop up a piece of wax with the wooden spoon and put it into the clay pot to heat it.

13 cylindrical wooden molds are placed firmly on the folding table of the camping. The hemp rope soaked in wax is used as the wick, and the length of the wick is cut longer than the wooden mold.

A wooden mold is made of two pieces of wood joined together. The top is hollow, and the bottom is made of two semicircles joined together to form a circle.

Lin Youcai took a hemp rope wick cut to a certain length, placed it in the middle of the open mold, and closed the mold. The bottom of the mold clamped the wick, and the excess wick at the bottom of the mold was cut off.

Use a small wooden strip to cut it in the middle, but do not cut it off, and a simple wooden clip will be made. The small wooden strip is placed horizontally on the mold to clamp the wick, so that the upper and lower ends of the wick are fixed and will not move in the middle of the mold.

Tie the wooden mold tightly with straw rope on the outside, and then use a small wooden spoon to scoop the wax liquid from the pottery jar and pour it into the mold.

The weather is cold and the temperature is low, so there is no problem of wax leakage in the mold. The wax in the mold solidifies in a few minutes.

Lin Youcai only demonstrated one and asked everyone to try it. It doesn't require much technical skills, just be careful and serious.

The weather is cold and the wax solidifies quickly, so we can only shape the wax next to the fire, which is a good opportunity for everyone to warm themselves. There are only so many molds, and the wax solidifies quickly, so we have to wait for 10 minutes. I am afraid that the outside will solidify, but the wax inside will still be a little soft, and it will be crooked when taken out of the mold, which will not look good.

The wax is taken out of the mold and placed aside to freeze it completely. Making wax in winter has its advantages.

Everyone tried their hand at it, and lined up at the back. Each person made a wax figure, and there was laughter and chatter, creating a joyful atmosphere.

After the Shi family's two fathers and sons had dinner, they started to work busy with a knife in one hand and wood in the other. They were paid work points for making molds.

Lin Zisu, Shen Xianglan and others were also making candles while staying in the RV, but they were not making simple white candles.

Zhao, the eldest daughter-in-law of the Shen family, who was also the aunt of Lin Zisu and Lin Youcai, took out a wooden box with more than a dozen small bottles filled with pigment powder of various sizes.

Although the Shen family was not a wealthy family, they were well-off at least. In terms of money, they were much better off than the Lin family, the headman's family, and the Zhu family in Nanlin Village.

These pigments of the Shen family and Zhao family are all edible plant pigments, some of which are made by themselves and some are bought. They were originally used to make cakes and make-up.

Natural pigments are not cheap and hard to get, whether in modern times or in ancient times. It is better in modern times, but they were rare in ancient times in the north.

Lin Zisu picked up the small spoon in the wooden box, carefully scooped up a little red pigment powder, and put it into the heated wax liquid.

Zhao hurriedly stirred it evenly. Seeing the wax liquid turn pink, Lin Zisu took the cork of the red bottle and plugged the bottle mouth tightly. She found the yellow bottle and scooped it three times. The spoon was not big, and the amount of powder she scooped three times was only a little bit bigger than a fingernail.

Take out the wooden board, pour a spoonful of wax liquid on the board, and use a knife to cut out the shape of petals after it solidifies. One spoonful of wax liquid is one petal, and the excess scraps can be thrown in and heated for further use.

Shen Xianglan, Lin Cuihe, Xia Tao and others were using yellow wax to make stamens.

Half an hour later, a pink lotus candle was completed. Under the light, the yellow stamens and pink petals were stacked layer by layer, like the skirt of a fairy.

Although the workmanship is a little rough, it still looks beautiful overall.

Lin Zisu held a lotus candle in her right hand, got out of the car to show everyone, and placed it on the folding table.

Everyone gathered around to see the new thing and asked what kind of flower it was.

Lin Zisu: "Lotus."

Li Juhua: "Lotus? I've never heard of it. This is the first time I've seen it! Only rich families have it!"

Zhu Xiaoyu: "My husband told me that this flower is only found in the south and grows in water. It's really well made, very lifelike, just like a real flower."

Lin Youcai: "In the north, only wealthy families can afford to grow this flower. This flower is very common in the south, and there are patches of it in the ponds."

Lin Benshu's wife, Mrs. Li: "Look at this one flower, it's so beautiful, and that large area, oh, I dare not imagine, it's a fairyland!"

Lin Youcai smiled and said, "When we get to the south, we'll be able to see them in the summer."

Lin Zisu pointed at the yellow stamens and said, "When the petals fall, this will grow and turn green. Inside are lotus seeds, which are bigger than peanuts. You can eat them. They are delicious when cooked into porridge."

Tian Daniu grinned and said, "This flower is good, it looks good and tastes good." He turned to look at his wife Zhang and said, "When we get to the south, I will plant a field of lotus flowers for you to see. The lotus seeds can be eaten when they are ripe."

Zhang's face flushed, but fortunately it was not obvious at night. "We planted it to eat, so what are you talking about?"

Everybody burst into laughter, and the place where they settled was filled with laughter.

Li Juhua joked: "Oh, young couples are so sweet!" Everyone laughed even more brightly.

Zhang's brothers and sisters stood by, their eyes full of joy.

Lin Zisu made one lotus flower and stopped because her left hand was a little inconvenient. The older wives and younger girls in the RV were all very happy with their work. They made some white lotus flowers, small red flowers, and yellow flowers. They didn't make many because they didn't want to waste paint.

Lin Youcai opened the drawer of the co-pilot seat and took out Li Ai's multifunctional mini electric drill, which was a set that Li Ai bought when she was making handmade pencils. It had various functional drill bits, both large and small for drilling holes.

Lin Youcai chose a 1.2 drill bit and drilled holes in the black core of the Chinese tallow tree. He strung them together to make bracelets to see if they could be sold. If not, he would wear them for fun.

After picking up the tung oil wax last night, I washed the kernels and put them in the car. I felt it would be a waste to throw them away.

The core of the Chinese tallow tree is too small to be drilled easily. Drill holes at both ends and then drill through the core, otherwise it will crack. Turn on the light on the awning of the RV and drill holes one by one.

Lin Youcai couldn't stand drilling holes for a while. He felt dizzy and his neck was sore. He taught others the method and asked people with sharp eyes and steady hands to take turns to do the job.

Everyone is happy to do this. It is very difficult to learn a skill in this era. If you work as a handyman for three years for nothing, the master may not teach you the skills you are good at.

Everyone was very grateful to Mr. Lin and his family. They did not keep anything from him. They were willing to tell everyone and teach everyone about everything they ate and used and anything they could sell for money.

Whether making candles or stringing beads, it is all for oneself. Only when there is money and food in the public account will everyone's work points have meaning.

Everyone worked so hard the whole night that no one wanted to go to sleep.

By 12: a.m., the candles and fruit cores were all finished. More people means faster work, so after cleaning up and packing the finished products, everyone went to bed contentedly.

The work points in everyone's public account book have increased a little, and they just hope to meet a buyer and earn some money to buy food for the winter.

Lin Zisu had long since fallen asleep, and the people in the RV were also fast asleep. After all, she didn't make many candles with concave shapes, so she didn't want to compete with the people outside for work, and went to bed early.

When Lin Youcai came to put down the electric drill, he knocked on the car door for a long time. Shen Xianglan got up in a daze and opened the door.

Shen Xianglan rubbed her eyes, yawned and said, "Are you done?"

Lin Youcai: "It's done! Lock the car door, I'm going to sleep."