This place was not far from the village. Fu Rui and Tu Tu went back and forth a few times before they finally got enough clay materials.
Tu Tu’s body was dirty. Thus, she ran to take a shower to clean up the mud.
Yuan immediately went over with some soap. She looked like she wanted to take another shower with Tu Tu.
Fu Rui ignored them and started digging again.
If he wanted to burn pottery, he would have to dig a cave for the kiln.
This was a place specially used to fire porcelain products. The single door design provided a certain degree of heat accumulation. This would allow the coal to reach a higher temperature and reach the standard for firing porcelain products.
For someone like him who lived in this era, it was a huge project.
Thankfully, there was an endless supply of shovels in the village. Although the shovels were crude and were easy to break, it was still much more efficient than digging with one’s bare hands.
With the tools, it was much safer to do things. He did not have to worry about a centipede or other poisonous insects appearing from beneath the rocks and biting him.
However, it still took a lot of time and effort. It was the same as building a canal or setting up the bamboo system as he needed a lot of time to create the kiln.
Fu Rui followed the knowledge in his mind and worked hard for a long time before finally digging out a prototype of a kiln.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked up. The sun was already high above his head.
“Rui, it’s already noon. Shall we take a rest first, meow?”
Yuan brought a handful of water over with a leaf. “Come, quench your thirst.”
“I don’t need to rest.”
Fu Rui drank the water in one gulp, then shook his head. “I have to fire the first batch of porcelain today. Just prepare some food for me later.”
“I’ll go ask the others if they caught any fish this morning.” Yuan nodded and immediately walked towards the entrance of the village. “If not, Yuan will go outside to help Rui find food.”
“Don’t go out. It’s not safe outside now.”
Fu Rui stopped her and thought for a moment before he said, “If there’s no fish, then I’ll eat whatever we have. Just leave some for me.”
After using the Constitution-Enhancing Potion, Fu Rui had done a lot of things in the past two days. Furthermore, he felt that he could eat even more than before. It seemed that this was the after-effects of amplified cell activity. As a result, he needed a lot of food to replenish his energy.
Fortunately, the tribe was along the river and had sufficient food sources. As long as they were not unlucky, they could catch a few fish in a dozen traps within an hour.
“Okay~”
Yuan smiled and stared at the shovel in Fu Rui’s hand. “Can Yuan help you with anything, meow?”
“Come and fan me. It’s a little hot today.” Fu Rui wiped the sweat off his forehead.
Yuan obediently took a huge leaf and started fanning it towards Fu Rui.
A cool breeze blew past, quickly evaporating the sweat on his body and taking away a large amount of heat.
Fu Rui felt much better. Other than being a little hungry, his body was still in good condition.
However, he was already sick of the grilled fish, and he really wanted to drink fish soup. The thought of being able to drink the fresh and warm soup after making porcelain products made him even more motivated.
After digging the cave, it was time to create the prototype.
Fu Rui couldn’t do everything by himself, so he called Li over. He planned to teach her first, and then let her teach the other beast-eared girls. Once the knowledge spread, only then would he have time to do other things.
With every step, he deliberately slowed down and explained his actions at the same time.
After a round of guidance, Yuan and Li’s faces both drooped.
“It’s too hard, isn’t it…”
Yuan muttered at the side, “Li, it’s really tough… Luckily, Yuan doesn’t have to learn this… Rui’s brain must be made of honeycomb to think of such a complicated thing.”
Fu Rui glared at her.
When Li saw the 14th step, she broke down. “Rui, why do you think that I can learn this…”
“I believe that you can do it.” Fu Rui smiled slightly. “Later, I’ll use a charcoal pencil to record the key points of these steps. When the time comes, you can check and compare the steps frequently. If you really don’t understand anything, you can look for me.”
Li sighed slightly. “Revenge. This is definitely revenge. You’re too vengeful.”
Then, she paused and flashed a pitiful look. “How about… you come to my room to sleep after this period is over?”
Fu Rui rolled his eyes.
“Learn and observe properly. Who is bearing a grudge against you? If I really want to take revenge, that’s not the only place I can do so.”
Li froze and glanced down self-consciously. “… Where else could you do… such a thing?”
Fu Rui stopped talking. It was better not to corrupt these pure beast-eared girls.
The process of making porcelain was indeed a little complicated. Although Li was the most knowledgeable person in the village and had a strong learning ability, she could not master this technique in a short period of time.
Compared to using whetstones to make sharper tools, firing pottery was a little difficult.
After all, this was a skill that required time to polish, and Fu Rui didn’t think they could learn it well.
Thus, he planned to personally make it once for Li to experience the process.
After a while, a basin-shaped clay prototype was completed by Fu Rui.
Fu Rui put it aside and continued making more prototypes. “Li, take some materials and follow the steps that I just taught you. Start making bowls like me.”
“Bowls?”
“Bowls are utensils that contain food during meals.”
“Can’t we just use our hands? Why do we have to go through so much trouble?”
“The food is hot when it’s first made. You can’t always use a grass skirt to cushion the heat, right? And… never mind. You’ll see when the time comes. Anyway, these utensils are necessary.”
“Oh…”
Li was confused, but she still did as she was told.
By the time Fu Rui finished making a bowl prototype, Li was almost done. However, this bowl wasn’t as good as Fu Rui’s.
The mud embryo was filled with small holes. Furthermore, many parts of the prototype were not round enough.
Fu Rui helped her repair these flaws. Then, he said, “It’s not bad. Being able to do it to this extent for the first time is already extremely impressive.”
“That’s great. Li is indeed the smartest person in our tribe besides Rui. Why can’t Yuan learn anything… meow…”
Yuan looked at the two clay prototypes and sighed.
When Li heard this, she puffed up her chest proudly and enjoyed their praise.
“Of course! I was once the Village Chief!”
“That’s good. Village Chief Li, next up, please make a prototype for each person in the village.”
“Ah? It takes me so long to make one, but there are so many people in the village. Wouldn’t that tire me out?”
“You can teach the other beast-eared girls to do it together.”
“Then wouldn’t I be even more tired!”
“Is there a problem with that?”
“… Revenge! This is definitely revenge!”