Chapter 43
43 Soapberry, Oil Tea Tree
Li Yu put away the gift and returned to the foot of the mountain. Seeing that Xiao An was still guarding the charcoal pit, Li Yu saw that he had already blocked the vent. She checked and said, “Xiao An, there’s no need to watch here. We’ll pick soapberries. We’ll come back tomorrow morning to get the charcoal.”
“Okay.” Xiao An carried the backpack. “Sister Li, what’s a soapberry?”
“It’s a fruit that can be used to wash things. The seeds inside are medicinal herbs.” Li Yu brought Xiao An to the forest with the soapberry trees. Seeing that most of the soapberry fruits were ripe and most of them had turned brownish-yellow, Li Yu pointed at the fruits. “Look, these are soapberry fruits. Xiao An, pick them at the low places. Only pick the yellow ones and don’t pick the green ones.”
“Yes!” Xiao An put down the backpack and plucked the yellow soapberries. Li Yu used a tree branch to hold down the soapberry tree. This allowed her to pluck the riped soapberries at the top and she placed them in her backpack.
The two of them plucked from three to four trees before filling up the two backpacks. Their hands were sticky with oil. Li Yu carried the soapberries back home and poured them on the sun pad to dry. She planned to dry and store them. She would slowly peel them when she was free in the future.
At night, Li Yu looked at the gifts Zhou Jia had sent. There were two gray fur coats, two sets of ink and paper, a few boxes of snacks, and a few rolls of thin cloth. They were purple, grayish-green, and lake blue in color.
Li Yu brought the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone to Li Qing’s room and placed them on his bed. Looking at the empty house, she felt that she should make a few pieces of furniture and paint the house with lime.
Li Qing came back while drying his hair. He smiled and said to Li Yu, “Sister, what’s that thing you gave me to bathe today? My hair feels astringent after washing it. I didn’t think it was useful at first but my hair smoothed out after I wiped it.”
Li Yu smiled. “See those things on the sun pad? They’re called soapberries.”
“Yes! Sister, Sir asked me today if I want to continue studying in order to obtain scholarly honors, or if I want to learn some words and calculations?”
“So what did you answer?”
“Sister, I want to study for two years to try. If I can pass the county-level examination, I’ll continue studying. If I can’t pass the county-level examination twice in a row, I won’t continue.”
“Alright, you have to be confident in yourself too. You have to believe that you can do it. Also, you don’t have to worry about the money for your studies. Your family still has the money to pay for your studies for a few years.”
“I know. You made some money selling pickled vegetables, but I couldn’t take the exam year after year with my family’s hard-earned money like those old kids. I decided to take the exam twice at most. If I don’t pass, I wouldn’t study. I’d come back and work with you.”
When Li Yu heard this, she felt that this child was too sensible. He was only nine years old and already knew how to plan his life. Li Yu patted Li Qing’s shoulder. “Alright, I support you. Ah Qing, I believe you can do it.”
“Yes.” Li Qing agreed solemnly. As he watched Li Yu go forward, he held Li Yu’s hand and called, “Sister,”. Li Yu smiled and nodded. The siblings laughed.
In the next few days, Li Yu planned to burn the charcoal. After that, she would pick the soapberries and dry them at home. After picking the soapberries, she began to fertilize the rapeseed. Li Yu was as busy as a bee. She was only finished when it was almost winter.
At night, lying in bed, Li Yu suddenly remembered that she could pick the camellia oil tea fruits in the mountains. She was also worried about whether there was a way to extract oil here.
Li Yu put on her clothes and came out to see that the oil lamp in Li Qing’s room was still lit. She knocked on the door. Li Qing opened the door and said to Li Yu with a smile, “Sister, why aren’t you asleep?”
“You haven’t slept either, have you? I wanted to ask if you’ve heard of an oil press?”
“There’s one in Green Mountain City! There’s one at the foot of the mountain where I used to chop wood.” Li Qing smiled and said, “Sister, the rapeseeds are not ripe yet!”
“I found a patch of oil tea trees in the mountains. They should be ripe by now. I’ll pick them up tomorrow and extract the oil. Since the oil press is so far away, I’ll pick them and go home first. Sleep early.”
Li Qing nodded and watched Li Yu return to her room before going back to study hard.
Li Yu returned to the house and thought about picking the oil tea fruit first. She might as well get a stonemason to make a press and extract it herself. Yes, that was what she would do.
Li Yu took a pen and drew a stone pestle and a kiln nest. However, it was much larger than ordinary stone pestles and kiln nests. She wanted to dig a hole at the bottom of the kiln nest, roast a bamboo tube, and attach it to the hole. When the oil was squeezed out, it could flow out through the bamboo tube.
The next morning, Li Yu drove the ox cart to Master Chen’s house at the east end of the village and handed the drawing to him. “Uncle Chen, I want to make something like this to extract oil. Do you think it’ll work?”
Stonemason Chen looked at it for a while and smiled. “Xiaoyu, I’ve seen how they extract oil. This stone mortar and stone pestle can be made into a stepping pot. You can use a hard wooden head slightly smaller than a mortar nest like a cork to squeeze it into the mortar nest and press out the oil. Then, you can place three stone pillars at the bottom of the mortar nest and the oil will flow out of the bamboo pipe.”
Li Yu asked worriedly, “Will the tube be secure?”
Stonemason Chen smiled confidently. “Don’t worry about that. It will be unbreakable after I apply fish glue on it.”
Li Yu was relieved. “Alright, please help me make it as soon as possible.”
“Xiaoyu, this thing is a little expensive. I’ll charge you at least a tael of silver.”
“Alright, Uncle Chen.” Li Yu paid the money and happily went home to take two strings of money and handed them to Madam Qian. “Auntie Qian, get Xiao An to rush to buy two stones of ash back later. I have a use for them.”
“Alright.” Madam Qian took the money and agreed with a smile.
Li Yu took the sack and bamboo basket to the oil tea forest and busied herself harvesting ripe oil tea fruits.
Li Qing went to school early in the morning. When he saw Ji Xiang, he asked, “Brother Ji Xiang, do you know where there’s an oil press workshop nearby?”
“The oil press workshop? Why are you looking for the oil press workshop? If your sister wants to buy oil, my grocery store has it!”
Li Qing told Ji Xiang about Li Yu picking the oil tea fruit. When Ji Xiang heard this, he asked curiously, “What does the oil tea tree look like?”
Li Qing shook his head. “I don’t know. My mother probably taught my sister what it looks like.”
Ji Xiang smiled at Li Qing. “Oh! Go to class first! I’ll help you ask later.”
“Thank you, Brother Ji Xiang.”
Ji Xiang found Zhou Jia and told him about Li Yu looking for the oil press workshop. “Young Master, what is an oil tea tree?”
For some reason, Zhou Jia recalled Li Yu’s look of disdain. “Go and find Qi Min Agricultural Text for me. Go up the mountain and search. If you can find Miss Li, go and help.”
“Alright.” Ji Xiang went to find the text and gave it to Zhou Jia before turning around and going out into the mountains.
Thinking about Zhou Jia’s expression, Ji Xiang thought to himself as he walked, Could it be that Young Master is interested in Miss Li?! Otherwise, he wouldn’t have asked me to look for her in the mountains.
Li Yu was busy picking oil tea fruits in the mountain. After picking a bag, she placed it in her space. Just as she was busy, she suddenly heard panting sounds behind her. Li Yu thought to herself, Not good, there’s a wild boar.
She turned around and saw a wild boar with long fangs charging at him.
Li Yu took a few steps back and hid behind the oil tea tree. She took out a long saber from her space. Just as she took out the saber, she saw that the two tea trees had been knocked down by the wild boar. Li Yu jumped up and stepped on the wild boar’s back. She jumped to the wild boar’s side and raised the saber to slash at the wild boar’s back. Blood sprayed out and splattered all over the ground.
The wild boar howled and rushed into the forest. Li Yu chased after it and slashed its back again. The wild boar howled and fell to the ground. It grunted and twitched a few times before stopping.
Li Yu placed the wild boar in her space and dug some soil to cover its blood to prevent the smell of blood from attracting ferocious beasts.
After the blood was covered, she sat down to rest for a while and ate something before continuing to pick the oil tea fruits.