The happy little days of the Ye family

As soon as Ye Xilin got on the donkey cart, Li Guoer turned around and went back. She was anxious to go back and make clothes.

Ever since Li Guo'er made Ye Xilin's clothes, Li Xiang'er and Yang saw that the clothes were well-made and urged Li Guo'er to make clothes for them every day.

Li Guoer was so annoyed that she just wanted to quickly finish the clothes and gag the two of them.

The first batch of leather made by the Tang family was finally dug out.

As soon as Tangshan came back, the three of them gathered in the corner of the backyard, all gearing up to dig out the skin.

This batch of leather made in Tangshan uses the smoked and roasted leather method, which is a native method in the countryside.

First hang the rabbit skin high, then light firewood under the rabbit skin, and use the smoke produced by the burning wood to smoke the rabbit skin, which can soften the rabbit skin.

After the rabbit skin has softened a bit, the fur is rubbed several times with plant ash, and finally buried in the ground for about a month, the rabbit skin is ready.

However, none of the Tang family members knew how long it took to smoke and roast the rabbit skin, how long it was rubbed with plant ash, to what extent it was rubbed, and whether the soil in which the rabbit skin was buried was particular.

When making leather in Tangshan, six rabbit skins were specially tanned according to different conditions, and the tanning method for each piece was slightly different.

The six rabbit skins were buried separately in three pits, with two rabbit skins in each pit.

The first place is next to a well, and the ground is relatively humid. The second place is in a shady corner of the wall, and the third place is in the ground where it often gets the sun.

Each of the three people held a hoe and dug in three places.

Tangshan was the fastest and was the first to dig out the rabbit skin in front of him.

Tangshan took the rabbit skin and shook it vigorously a few times to remove the plant ash and soil on the skin.

After the sand and soil fell away, the original appearance of the leather was revealed. The rabbit fur on it has a good luster, but the rabbit skin is too hard to make clothes at all.

The rabbit skins dug out by Tang Xiaojing and Ye Qingqing were similar to the ones Tangshan had in hand, and they were also hard.

However, the six rabbit skins are slightly different, some are slightly softer, some have smoother rabbit fur, and two of them are a bit smelly.

Ye Qingqing looked at these rabbit skins with pity, "These skins are so hard that they cannot be made into rabbit skin coats, so they can only be made into blankets."

"But this bit of rabbit skin is not enough. When I save more rabbit skins, I will make a rabbit skin blanket."

Ye Qingqing put the rabbit skin away and planned to wash it several times with plant ash later. It was too dirty and smelled bad.

Tang Xiaojing thought that the rabbit skin he had made had been buried for 23 days, so it should be good, so he looked at Tangshan and said:

"Dad, the batch of skins I made is only a few days later than the ones you made, why don't you dig them out too and have a look?"

"Let's dig them out together. The weather is hot now, and it should be almost ready in more than 20 days."

Ye Qingqing quickly put down the rabbit skin in his hand and excitedly took the small hoe and prepared to dig.

Tang Xiaojing took Tang Shan and Ye Qingqing to the field next to the herbs, where all the rabbit skins he made were buried.

Tang Xiaojing brought back a dozen rabbit skins from Chang Gong, and made 6 sets of skins based on the difference in the time of smoking and roasting and rubbing with earthen wood ash.

Although the rabbit skins were buried together, Tang Xiaojing made a simple mark on the rabbit skins.

Two of the 12 rabbit skins made by Tang Xiaojing were covered with bugs, which made Ye Qingqing so sick that he almost vomited them out.

After just one glance, Ye Qingqing was so frightened that he took several steps back and did not dare to step forward.

Tang Shan and Tang Xiaojing moved very quickly and dug out 12 pieces of skin in a short time.

Except for the two rabbit skins that were damaged by insects, the remaining 10 rabbit skins were barely successfully processed.

Although it is too stiff to be made into clothes, it should be no problem to make blankets or leather boots.

Among these 12 rabbit skins, two rabbit skins are obviously softer than the others.

Tang Xiaojing looked at the marks on the rabbit skin. It was the one that had been smoked and roasted for the longest time and the one that had been rubbed with earthen wood ash the longest.

The two rabbit skins with worms took the shortest time to smoke and bake, and the shortest time to rub them.

The father and son exchanged their experiences on tanning leather for a long time and felt that other leathers were not as soft as this, probably because the time for smoking and kneading was not enough.

Tangshan suggested, “The leather at the back needs to be smoked and roasted for a longer time, and more plant ash should be used to rub it several times.”

"Follow this direction." Tang Xiaojing agreed.

Ye Qingqing was full of confidence and said cheerfully: "Let's try it a few more times. Maybe we can make leather into clothes in the future."

Tang Xiaojing and Ye Qingqing packed up the rabbit skins and prepared to clean them.

These rabbit skins can be made into a small blanket, which can be used to cover the legs in the winter or as a quilt for the children in the future.

Tangshan took the two rabbit skins that were infested with insects and buried them outside.

When he went to the county to deliver rabbits the next day, Tang Xiaojing went to the pharmacy to find shopkeeper Wang.

Shopkeeper Wang had studied for several years when he was young, and he was also a famous scholar.

Shopkeeper Wang likes to read travel notes very much, and he also learned many strange things from the travel notes. Tang Xiaojing thinks that shopkeeper Wang may know the method of tanning leather.

Tang Xiaojing originally just wanted to try his luck, but he didn't expect that shopkeeper Wang really knew how to tan leather.

"I read a travelogue a few years ago, and there was a method for making leather, but it wasn't very detailed."

"Brother Wang, please stop showing off. What should we do specifically?" Tang Xiaojing urged anxiously.

"Spread the skin out of the rabbit, then smear the animal's fat on the skin, and then beat and rub the skin repeatedly until the skin becomes soft."

"That's probably what it means. It's been a long time and I don't remember it very clearly."

He just read this travel diary to kill time, and he also looked at Shopkeeper Wang's diary casually, but he didn't remember it very clearly.

Tang Xiaojing was very happy. He patted Shopkeeper Wang on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Brother Wang is indeed knowledgeable and talented."

"I am also a serious scholar after all. I have studied hard for many years in Han Chuang." Shopkeeper Wang said proudly.

Tang Xiaojing took some rabbit skins from Chang Gong and came back to try them out the next day.