Cross-border surveillance

The weather was very good that night, with no wind or clouds. In addition, on a full moon night, there was not so much light pollution in the countryside. The bright moonlight combined with the chirping of insects and birds coming from unknown places made the place full of poetry and painting.

Well, mosquitoes are actually quite annoying. Every time I bite you, I'll be riddled with them. And even in the middle of summer, it's still a bit muggy in the middle of the night.

Time waits for no one, the preliminary work has been completed long ago, and Tao An quickly devoted himself to the production of Ningshen Incense.

During this period of time, he had become familiar with the recipe for Ning Shen Xiang, but he was just missing the last crucial step.

The original secret recipe only had about a thousand words, and was described in "ancient prose". As we all know, every word in ancient prose was extremely concise. The secret recipe of about a thousand words, "translated" into vernacular would take ten to twenty thousand words.

Under the moonlight, in the small courtyard, Tao An placed a table with various tools and materials that had been weighed before.

He first placed a porcelain basin in front of him, and then strictly followed the secret recipe description, adding five carefully prepared medicinal powders in sequence, and then slowly stirred them clockwise with a pine stick.

Next, he opened a graduated glass bottle and slowly introduced about 300 ml of brown liquid. This liquid was boiled with a foot-long centipede. As for the centipede itself, after boiling, it was very useful for the production of Ningshen Incense. There is no use for it anymore.

After adding the water in which the centipedes were boiled, he stirred counterclockwise with a pine stick until the various powders in the porcelain basin turned into a paste. Lift the pine stick until the paste can drip.

At this point, let it sit for about ten minutes to soak up the moonlight.

To be honest, while waiting for it to rest, Tao An couldn't help but wonder, how meaningful are these processes? He didn't understand why, so let's just think that the materials at each stage of these processes were undergoing subtle chemical reactions with each other.

"No, I'm making incense, why does it involve chemistry? It's a bit mysterious, well, things from other worlds are inherently mysterious..."

Ten minutes passed quickly, and the paste did not change much after it rested. Immediately, Tao An began to add the other three powder materials in sequence, stirring evenly with a pine stick.

In fact, every material is a fine powder. If you think about it, you will know that making incense requires plasticity. What if it is made of large particles?

After stirring evenly this time, the original paste was already semi-dry and brown. After that, Tao An quickly poured in another 300 ml of transparent liquid.

The liquid is still not normal water, but a clear liquid left behind after the mineral mica has been boiled and precipitated.

After stirring evenly again, the originally semi-dry ‘dough’ turned into a paste again…

"I always feel like a lunatic. What if I can't make a finished product after all this hard work?"

Tao An couldn't help but complain in his heart again. At this point, he could only continue.

Add the last few powders in sequence. You can no longer mix it with the pine stick. You can knead it directly with your hands. There is no particular technique, just like kneading dough.

After kneading, Tao An finally got a lump of black 'dough' as ​​big as a big bowl. What's strange is that the finished product, which was obviously carefully mixed with various medicinal materials, had no obvious taste in the end.

Could it be that the various materials neutralize each other?

He didn't understand, and Tao An didn't dig into it. He just looked at the 'dough' in the porcelain basin in front of him with a strange expression.

"Why does this thing look so much like a fisherman's bait?"

I couldn't help but mutter in my heart, the next most critical time has come. I need to shape the finished product. I need to make it into a stick of incense about three millimeters thick and about one foot long.

You can't rub it with your hands. You have to use bamboo chips and tiles. Use the bamboo chips to grind out the incense on the recessed surface of the tiles. It's really a delicate job.

Tao An had never done this before. He was in a hurry at first, either crushing it into a puddle with too much force, or rubbing it into pieces. Fortunately, it was already a semi-finished product. If it was not rubbed well, it could be recycled and continued, so it would not be wasted.

When he first got started, it was terrible to see. He couldn't even stand what he had made. It was of different lengths and uneven thickness, and he couldn't help but be speechless.

If you weren't particular about the tools used in this step, it would be much easier to use a dough press, so just take your time.

He devoted himself wholeheartedly to it, and slowly he found the feeling. The incense he rolled out became more and more standardized. After all, he was not making a photolithography machine, but he was familiar with it.

"If we continue like this, I should be able to make three to five hundred sticks of incense. If it really has the effect described in the secret recipe, it will be enough for me to use it for a long time. But can this thing be realized?"

Seeing that nearly half of the 'dough' was used, Tao An couldn't help but have this thought in his mind.

There is no way, he is also short of money. In this era, no money is nothing.

But the question is how to monetize this thing? We have to consider various factors, first of all, who to sell to? How to sell? How to define this thing? Is it medicinal materials or handicrafts? Will the transaction be illegal? After all, there are three no products.

He also knows that there is no point in thinking about it at the moment. If the secret recipe really has the effect, it will be worth the time and effort he has spent on it.

Keep busy and try to get it done as soon as possible.

Tao An bought a lot of various 'raw materials' that day. He carefully processed some of them, and at least two-thirds of them were left. He wanted to try first to see if he could make the Ningshen Incense. If it worked, that part could be used too. The arrangements have been made, and there is no need to waste that energy if it doesn’t work out.

I just don’t know if the remaining raw materials can be returned if it fails...

As time goes by, the production of Tao An Ning's sacred incense gradually comes to an end.

When it comes to grinding it into incense sticks, it cannot be dried or baked in the sun. It needs to be placed in a cool and ventilated place to dry naturally. Only then can it be considered the real finished product.

So every time he made forty or fifty sticks, he would put them away. In this season, it would only take a day or two to dry them in the shade. Tao An was both looking forward to and anxious about the final product.

Just as he was concentrating on finishing the work, a door to a room on the second floor opened, and Liu Haochen came out in a daze, rubbing his eyes. He suddenly saw a figure moving in the yard downstairs, which frightened him so much that he lost all sleep.

He originally got up to go to the bathroom. After all, he drank a lot of beer the day before, and his stomach was very bloated when he woke up. Suddenly, in the dead of night, a figure suddenly moved around, and it was in the countryside, which almost scared him to the point of peeing.

When he saw it clearly, he couldn't help but said speechlessly: "Damn it, Brother An, you didn't sleep and wandered around in the middle of the night. You scared me half to death. If you are really scared, won't your conscience hurt?"

"Your uncle, don't you know how to say hello before you speak?" Tao An, who was originally engrossed, heard his sudden shouting, and his hands shook in fright, and a piece of incense stick that was almost completed was crushed to pieces on the spot.

This was so scary that he almost turned around and yelled.

Are you still blaming me? Liu Haochen rolled his eyes speechlessly, and wanted to say goodbye to Tao An, but his stomach felt uncomfortable, so he quickly said: "I'll put the water first."

"Okay, I have to start over again. Fortunately, it's all finished. If I had been disturbed by him like this at the beginning, my work might have been in vain." After complaining, Tao An continued to finish the work well.

After he finished the last one and put all the finished products away, Liu Haochen hadn't come out of the toilet yet and ignored him. He continued to pack the tools, cleaning those that needed to be cleaned and storing those that needed to be stored. If the finished product was effective, these tools It will be useful in the future.

After everything was almost done, Liu Haochen came out of the toilet, his legs trembling a little.

While working, Tao An heard the noise and said speechlessly: "Did you fall into the pit?"

"I drank too much cold beer yesterday and had diarrhea. I almost didn't get a cure for collapse..." After complaining, Liu Haochen reacted and asked: "No, Brother An, why are you wandering around without sleep in the middle of the night?"

"I can't sleep, just go to your sleep. Don't worry about me. I'll go. It's already four o'clock and I'm going to bed too." Tao An had almost finished dealing with the other party.

Regarding making incense, it’s not that Tao An wants to hide anything deliberately. Anyway, there is no secret recipe that can’t be restored. It’s just troublesome to explain. Another thing is that it’s okay to make a finished product that can actually achieve the effect of the secret recipe. He can also use it with his friends. Show off in front of others, but if you don't succeed, you might be laughed at. You can't afford to embarrass that person.

Although Liu Haochen felt that Tao An's behavior was a bit strange, he was not that curious. After all, Tao An had been a little abnormal after meeting him for the past few days. He seemed to be used to it.

So he didn't dwell too much on it, and because he was very sleepy, he yawned and said, "Okay, get some rest early, see you tomorrow."

Tao An waved his hand casually and planned to wash up and rest...