Chapter 9: The Thieving Rascal

  As soon as Wu Ji's words fell, he raised his foot to leave. Yang Xiuxiu hastily stopped him: "Wu Lang, the meal is ready, let's eat first and then do it, it won't be late."

  "Is dinner ready?" Wu Ji was so anxious to finish his work that he didn't have an appetite for dinner at all.

  "It's fine without stir-frying." Yang Xiuxiu said as she busied herself serving the rice. A bowl of plain white rice was placed in a bowl and brought to the table, then Wu Ji was helped over to sit down.

  "What about you?" Wu Ji looked at Bai Fan, who hadn't moved his chopsticks.

  "I have! I have!" Yang Xiuxiu feared Wu Ji would be suspicious, so she pretended to be serious.

  "Don't you understand me yet? Go get the bowl." Wu Ji's face sank, very overbearing: "Which time wasn't it that you gave me the dry food to eat and you ate the wet food? You're at the age where you should be growing taller, that won't do!"

  "Wu Lang, I really..." Yang Xiuxiu was about to continue.

  "Enough!" Wu Ji's face sank, his tone somewhat stern.

  Yang Xiuxiu was stunned for a moment, then went into the house to fetch a bowl. Wu Ji put the bowl in front of her, poured half a bowl of dry rice into it, and pushed it in front of Yang Xiuxiu.

  Yang Xiuxiu looked at the dry rice in her bowl, tears welling up in her eyes, almost crying out. In her heart, Wu Ji was a scholar, an existence above all others. When Wu Ji shared his food with her, although it was out of concern and moved her, she felt deeply ashamed and unworthy.

  "Hurry up and eat, after you're done help me make some weapons, I can't do it alone, I need your help." Wu Ji changed the subject, softly urging.

  "Uh-huh!" Yang Xiuxiu nodded slightly, holding her bowl, silently crying while eating plain rice.

  Wu Ji let out a quiet sigh and began to eat his rice. After a few mouthfuls, he put down his bowl and went to the storage room to fetch saltpeter and sulfur, preparing to mix gunpowder.

  "It's finally useful!" Wu Ji looked at the saltpeter and sulfur in his hand, feeling very relieved.

  When he first saw these two things, Wu Ji thought of matching gunpowder. However, it was unknown where to use it. Later, after hearing about the bear's situation, there was no clever way to detonate it. Now that this problem has been solved, it should be well utilized.

  "What's going on?" Yang Xiuxiu put away her bowl and chopsticks, rushed to Wu Ji's side, and asked curiously.

  "First, we need to refine the saltpeter and remove the impurities from it. This saltpeter has been refined before, but it was not done properly, so there are still many impurities left. It's easy to fix, just a basin of hot water and a piece of hemp cloth will do." Wu Ji looked at the saltpeter carefully and saw that there were indeed some impurities inside.

  Since the invention of gunpowder, our ancestors have been thinking of ways to increase its power. One very important method is to refine saltpeter. In the early days of gunpowder, people like Sun Simiao and Qingxuzi used fire to burn it, which was actually a way to remove impurities.

  It was the Song Dynasty that was a golden age for gunpowder, and firearms appeared in human history. Although the Song Dynasty was incompetent and did not establish strong martial arts, it had remarkable achievements in the development of weapons, and cannons and rockets all emerged during this period.

  The technology of saltpeter production was not yet mature during this period. There were many places for saltpeter production in the Song Dynasty, and Jiangyou, Sichuan was one of the most important saltpeter-producing areas. Here, there are still some remains of saltpeter production sites from the Song Dynasty preserved.

  Wu Ji plays the role of Duan Gong, who sits on the ground and uses his magic. He moves his mouth but not his hands. As soon as he says something, Yang Xiuxiu quickly goes to fetch a clay pot, fills it with clear water, and puts it by the fire to heat up the water.

  Just as the water was boiling, Yang Xiuxiu went to fetch a tattered shirt made of coarse hemp cloth, with patches piled on top of each other, and after a rough estimate, there were no less than twenty or thirty patches. Under Wu Ji's guidance, it was folded several times and turned into a filter cloth.

  Finally, another container was found, and after filtering, something was needed to hold it. These things were all very old and barely usable, Wu Ji looked at them with some heartache, this family was too poor, only a kind-hearted girl like Yang Xiu would be willing to marry into such a family. If placed in modern society, even if she had a PhD, no girl would be willing to stay by the side of such a useless person.

  Making saltpeter is a piece of cake, as long as you've studied junior high school chemistry. The water had heated up, and Wu Ji poured the saltpeter into it, stirring it with a small wooden stick.

  Look, it's almost done. Wu Ji just said a word, and Yang Xiuxiu picked up the vase, following Wu Ji's instructions, slowly pouring it onto the filter cloth. In the gurgling sound of water, it flowed into the container, while the impurities remained on the filter cloth, quite a lot. It seemed that there were not many impurities at first glance, but after filtering, they appeared in large quantities.

  Filtering is done quickly. Next is simmering, which is the process of thickening, just need to put it on the fire and heat it up. The only thing that's not great is that this smell is a bit hard to take, fortunately, it can still be tolerated.

  Taking advantage of this opportunity, Wu Ji prepared to grind the charcoal finely and make preparations. Sulfur does not need to be processed, only the charcoal needs to be prepared, and saltpeter can be mixed with gunpowder once it is ready.

  Yang Xiuxiu was again busy, under Wu Jue's guidance, grinding the wood charcoal. This task was a physically demanding one, and although Yang Xiuxiu's physique was much stronger than Wu Jue's, she still ended up drenched in sweat after completing it.

  Look at the nitro in the can, it's almost gone, can't be simmered anymore, let it dry naturally, otherwise, if you continue to simmer it by the fire, it will ignite, and all efforts will be wasted.

  Yang Xiuxiu poured out the saltpeter, following Wu Jie's instructions, and spread it out in a thin layer, covering a large area. This way, the contact surface was increased, making it easier for the water to evaporate and dry quickly.

  Yang Xiuxiu's face was smeared with a lot of charcoal, and her pretty face was pitch black, almost as dark as the bottom of a pot. She washed two large basins of water before she could wash her face clean and white again.

  Wu Jie was extremely excited, without a hint of sleepiness, and Yang Xiuxiu had to accompany him. Yang Xiuxiu was someone who couldn't stay idle, so she took out her needle and thread and started doing some needlework. She was skilled with her hands, and her needlework was very popular in the village, whenever someone in Wujiacun had needlework to be done, they would ask her to do it.

  She was happy to help with this kind of thing, could exchange some food, and also get human feelings. When they needed help, the people in Wujiacun were willing to assist each other.

  The moon is dark and the wind is strong, the autumn wind is cold and biting, the people of Wu's village are huddled indoors to keep warm.

  A dark figure appeared quietly, tiptoeing to the outside of Wu Ji's house, a pair of eyes peered through the wall hole, peeking inside, and strange glows occasionally flashed in his eyes.

  Wu Jia was bored to death, and the only thing that could alleviate his boredom was admiring the young girl's fresh face under the lamp. Yang Xiuxiu had just washed her face, and her small face was as white and clean as a tender lotus root, with a pair of bright eyes that sparkled like water, full of spirit. With her petite figure, she possessed an unusual charm.

  A Buddha wants a golden body, a person wants clothes, if Yang Xiuxiu is given a beautiful set of clothes, she will definitely be a charming beauty. Not to mention that she is so kind and hardworking, which is also rare in the world.

  "This time through, it seems like I've made a profit! Not only did I pick up a beautiful wife for free, but she's also such a diligent and kind person." At this moment, Wu Ji felt especially satisfied.

  The only regret is that Yang Xiuxiu was too young and belonged to a tender girl, so she could only be admired but not approached.

  Yang Xiuxiu found Wu Jie staring at her, and she couldn't help but feel extremely shy, with a red glow rushing to her face, her head lowered, and the needlework in her hand slowed down.

  Wu Ji found that her neck was red, with a unique charm. If she grew up for a few more years and became a mature woman, such a childish temperament would be enough to enchant people to death.

  Bang!

  A faint sound came from outside the house, and if Wu Ji's hearing wasn't extremely good, he really wouldn't have been able to hear it.

  Yang Xiuxiu also heard it, and her pretty face was full of surprise, just about to shout out in anger. Wu Ji's hand pointed at his lips, indicating that she should not make a sound. Yang Xiuxiu was quick-witted and immediately understood Wu Ji's intention, swallowing back the angry shout that had been on the tip of her tongue.

  Wu Jia's face was cold, he picked up a piece of firewood, put it on his back, pretended to stretch and yawned: "I'm tired, I'm tired, I want to sleep! It's late, hurry up and rest."

  Slowly walking towards where the sound came from, there was a crack on the wall, and cold wind was pouring in through the crack.

  Wu Ji took the wooden stick in his hand and inserted it into the gap with great force, pushing more than half of it inside.

  "Ah! My eyes!" A mournful cry came from outside the house.

  "Wu Liang!" Yang Xiuxiu cried out in surprise.

  "Hmph!" Wu Jie let out a cold snort, having already guessed it was Wu Liang. Apart from him, no one else in the manor would do something like this.

  Wu Jie was still in the coffin when Wu Liang was already planning to take advantage of Yang Xiuxiu. This time he came, definitely not with good intentions. Wu Jie decided to teach him a lesson and pretended not to have heard, suddenly bursting into anger.

  "Chase!" Wu Jie grabbed the firewood and rushed out of the house, looking around in all directions. He saw a black figure fleeing in panic in the distance.