Live Strong in the Wilderness-Chapter 81: Making Soap

"Xu Yi, you didn’t get wet, did you?" Lu Ke saw Xu Yi come in and quickly handed him a bowl of hot peppermint tea.

"Not too bad, just a little." Xu Yi took the hot soup and caught a whiff of the fresh scent emanating from the young girl.

This was the effect of enhanced smell; Xu Yi could now detect some scents he usually couldn’t.

"Quickly take off your clothes, and dry them," Lu Ke hurriedly said, her eyes full of worry.

After all, if Xu Yi fell ill, it would be a big problem. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"It’s okay." Xu Yi finished the water and then took off his coat, realizing his vest was all wet. However, it was mostly rainwater; much of it was sweat.

"I’ll go wash it and then come back to dry it." With that, Xu Yi put on his clothes and went to scrub his vest.

After washing, Xu Yi returned.

"Xu Yi, how about we cook something different today?" Lu Ke glanced at Xu Yi, genuinely worried he might get sick.

Xu Yi shook his head, took off his coat, and said, "No need, a bit of rain is nothing to me. This rain will probably last for a few more days, so we should quickly finish the lamb and dried fish. Potatoes are for saving lives; let’s try not to eat them until the very end."

If this rain lasts for ten days to half a month, they’ll have to rely on potatoes for sustenance later.

Lu Ke nodded, saying no more.

Sitting by the fire, the two of them gnawed on lamb jerky and drank soup made from it.

After dinner, Xu Yi brought out the water he had previously soaked with wood ash.

"Are we going to make soap?" Lu Ke asked, seeing Xu Yi pour the ash water into another empty bowl.

"Yes, fetch the oil, and we’ll try to make the soap tonight." Xu Yi said as he added some firewood to the fire.

"Okay." Lu Ke got up, brought the mutton fat over, and handed it to Xu Yi.

Xu Yi scooped half into the pot and heated it into liquid.

"You can just pour it into the water, but be careful," Lu Ke reminded, worried the oil might splash.

"Yes, after pouring it in, you have to start stirring." With that, Xu Yi poured the oil into the lye water.

Then, Xu Yi took a stick and began stirring continuously.

Lu Ke quietly watched from the side without saying anything.

Xu Yi stirred for a full half hour before stopping.

"Is this okay?" Lu Ke asked, seeing Xu Yi seemed to notice the bowl was starting to solidify.

"Once it’s completely solidified, it’s done." Xu Yi stood up and put on his now dry vest and coat.

"Don’t we need to make it square?" Lu Ke leaned closer for a sniff, feeling the scent was a bit strange.

"There’s no mold, so we’ll leave it like this. This time, it’s just a trial to see if it works." Xu Yi thought appearance didn’t really matter, as long as it could be used.

"That’s true, once we succeed, I’ll make a mold out of clay." Lu Ke said with a slight smile at Chu Yi.

The thatch in the house had dried a lot, and there was wood available, so she continued attaching the thatch to the branches.

Chu Yi also worked on this task, hoping to complete the shed in one day.

The two of them chatted while working on the thatch.

In one evening, Xu Yi and Lu Ke finished processing the thatch.

The next morning, Xu Yi was the first to wake up.

Opening his eyes, he glanced at Lu Ke sleeping beside him.

Last night, Lu Ke didn’t cuddle with Xu Yi to sleep, but her back was against him the whole time.

Propping himself up, Xu Yi glanced at the sleeping Lu Ke, then reached out and touched her forehead.

No fever, Xu Yi breathed a sigh of relief.

Although she was close to him and he didn’t feel any signs of warmth, he still checked her forehead to be sure.

Knowing Lu Ke didn’t have a fever, Xu Yi got up.

Outside, the rain continued with no signs of stopping.

Opening the door, Xu Yi glanced outside.

The sky remained dark and gloomy, and it seemed the rain would continue the whole day.

Picking up the pot, Xu Yi went to fetch water to boil.

As the water was about to boil, Lu Ke woke up.

"Still raining?" Lu Ke rubbed her eyes and sat up.

"Yes, it’s still raining." Xu Yi replied, adding some peppermint leaves to the water.

Although Lu Ke didn’t have a fever, since the rain continued, they could still drink more peppermint tea.

Lu Ke puffed her cheeks and then stood up.

She went outside to check the shed, moved her body afterward, and returned to the house.

"The temperature hasn’t dropped, just the rain keeps falling." Lu Ke said helplessly, as the weather was something no one could change.

"Yes, it disrupted all plans." Xu Yi originally planned to build a bed over the two days, but now all time was spent on the shed.

"Alright, you wash up first, I’ve prepared the water." Chu Yi said, handing charcoal powder to Lu Ke.

After washing up, the two of them had breakfast.

After breakfast, Xu Yi continued to work.

With the shed outside the house complete, Lu Ke could help move the thatch pieces to the shed outside.

After spending half a day, Xu Yi covered the remaining shed roof.

Seeing the results of their labor, Xu Yi smiled slightly.

However, they still needed to dig drainage around the shed to prevent it from becoming muddy.

"Xu Yi, where are you going?" Lu Ke saw Xu Yi open the fence gate and asked.

"The toilet isn’t done yet, I’m going to carry some poles back and fix it up. It’s inconvenient to use the bathroom in the rain." After all, this problem was quite real.

Lu Ke looked at Xu Yi’s back, feeling a bit useless for catching a cold so easily.

If she went out now, she would surely be lectured by Xu Yi.

So, she didn’t rashly follow him out.

She walked to the earth kiln to check its condition.

Inside, though full of water, it remained sturdy.

After cleaning up the kiln, Lu Ke prepared to continue making some pottery.

Since there wasn’t enough firewood, the kiln couldn’t be fired yet.

But making pottery form was still possible.

In any case, she couldn’t stay idle. Since Xu Yi was constantly busy, how could she not work?

Moreover, Xu Yi mentioned building a toilet.

She wanted to try making a squat toilet out of pottery.

If successful, it would make the toilet more hygienic.