Chapter 356 Firing Pottery (Subscription Request)

“Next, I want to make pottery. You can see that there is only mud on both sides of this stream, with very few rocks.”

“It looks like clay, so it shouldn’t be a problem to use it to make pottery.”

Meng Chao squatted down, gently picked up the mud by the stream with his fingers, and rubbed it carefully in the palm of his hand.

“Well, the texture of this clay is very fine and has good viscosity, making it very suitable for making pottery.” He explained to the camera, his eyes flashing with anticipation for the upcoming creation.

Afterwards, he selected a patch of soil and started digging.

Meng Chao gradually accumulated a pile of clay that was enough for his use.

As he dug, he explained to the audience: “When digging clay, you should pay attention to choosing places without impurities and with uniform color, so that the pottery made will be more beautiful and practical.”

After digging out the clay, Meng Chao did not start making it immediately. Instead, he placed the clay on a large stone and repeatedly knocked and kneaded it with a wooden stick to remove bubbles and impurities.

“This process is called ‘mud kneading’, which makes the clay more compact and easier for us to shape it later.”

While operating, he looked up from time to time to interact with the camera and answer questions raised by the audience.

After a period of hammering, the clay becomes soft and elastic.

Meng Chao nodded with satisfaction and began to conceive the shape of the pottery.

He decided to start by making a simple clay pot to store water and food.

“In the wilderness, a practical clay pot is a very important survival tool,” he said to the camera with a smile.

Next, Meng Chao rolled the prepared clay into a long strip, and then coiled it up in circles, gradually forming a jar shape.

He gently pressed the wall of the jar with his fingers to make its inner and outer surfaces smoother, while constantly adjusting the shape to ensure the stability of the pottery jar.

During this process, he also cleverly used a wooden stick to carve some simple patterns on the bottom of the pottery jar, which not only increased its aesthetics but also enhanced its load-bearing capacity.

“Look, a basic shape of a pottery jar has come out.” Meng Chao showed the work in his hands, his face filled with a sense of accomplishment.

“Originally, this kind of pottery jar needs to be dried in the shade before it can be fired, but I don’t have that much time, so I can only use the drying method.”

“To prevent them from cracking, I need to make more pottery. As long as one succeeds, I will have a container to boil water.”

As he spoke, Meng Chao continued to make pottery.

Meng Chao’s movements became more and more skillful, and the pottery pieces gradually took shape in his hands. He not only made pottery jars, but also tried to make different utensils such as pottery bowls and cups. Each piece embodied his hard work and creativity. During the production process, he would stop from time to time and gently wipe the surface of the pottery with a wet cloth to keep it moist and avoid cracks caused by drying too quickly.

“Making pottery is actually a very good way to relax. It allows you to focus on the clay in your hands and forget all the troubles in the outside world.” Meng Chao shared his feelings with the camera while working, and his smile looked particularly warm in the sun.

As the sun gradually set, Meng Chao completed the production of the last batch of pottery blanks.

“Next, I will start looking for suitable dry wood to drill to make fire.”

“As long as there is a fire, I can prevent the wild animals from approaching me.” As he said this, Meng Chao began to search.

Meng Chao shuttled through the woods, searching for dry wood scattered on the ground with sharp eyes. Soon, he collected a pile of hard sticks of moderate thickness. He chose a longer stick as the drill rod and another shorter one as the drill plate, and carved a small groove on the drill plate to fix the drill rod.

“Although drilling wood to make fire is primitive, it is an essential skill for survival in the wild,” Meng Chao explained to the camera while showing the tools in his hand.

He knelt on the ground, placed the drill plate on the ground, stepped firmly with his feet, then held the drill rod tightly with both hands and began to rotate it quickly in the groove on the drill plate. At first, only some fine wood chips were ground out, but as Meng Chao continued to rotate vigorously, the friction between the drill rod and the drill plate became more and more intense, and gradually, wisps of light smoke rose from under the drill plate.

“Almost there, almost there!” Meng Chao’s eyes sparkled with excitement, and he turned the drill rod even harder. Finally, at a certain moment, a ray of fire suddenly burst out from under the drill plate. Meng Chao quickly brought the hay and leaves he had prepared forward, and the fire instantly grew bigger.

“Success!” he shouted excitedly, his face filled with the joy of victory. The firelight reflected on his face, making him look more resolute and brave.

Meng Chao carefully tended the fire and allowed it to gradually stabilize. He knew that the fire not only provided him with warmth and light, but was also the key to his pottery making.

As night fell, Meng Chao built a simple rack next to the fire and carefully placed the pottery blanks he had made earlier on it one by one.

He wanted to dry these pottery, and only after drying could he build a simple stone kiln to burn these pottery.

Meng Chao carefully adjusted the pottery on the rack, making sure there was enough space between them so that the hot air could pass through evenly. He knew that drying was an important step before firing pottery, which not only further removed moisture from the pottery, but also made it stronger and reduced the risk of cracking during firing.

The flickering flames of the fire illuminated Meng Chao’s focused face. He kept adding dry firewood to the fire to keep it stable. As the fire burned, the pottery began to change color, from the initial moist earthy yellow to slowly becoming dry and hard.

“This process requires patience, and you can’t be impatient.” Meng Chao said softly to the camera, his voice was particularly soft in the quiet night. He knew that firing pottery is an art, and it is also a skill that requires carefulness and patience.

As time went by, the fire gradually weakened, and Meng Chao reduced the frequency of adding fuel. He carefully observed each pottery blank to make sure they were completely dried. When he confirmed that all the pottery blanks had reached the ideal degree of dryness, he nodded with satisfaction.

“The next step is to fire the pottery,” said Meng Chao, his eyes gleaming with anticipation. He knew that firing pottery was the most critical step in the entire production process, as it determined the final quality and appearance of the pottery.

In order to fire pottery, Meng Chao decided to build a simple stone kiln. He selected several stones of appropriate size and piled them into a semicircular kiln body, leaving a chimney at the top of the kiln so that smoke and heat can be discharged smoothly. Then, he spread a layer of fine sand inside the kiln to prevent the pottery from being heated unevenly due to direct contact with the stones.

After everything was ready, Meng Chao carefully placed the dried pottery into the stone kiln. He lit the fire again, controlling the fire just right, letting the flame burn slowly and evenly transferring heat to each pottery piece.

As the fire burned, the temperature in the stone kiln gradually increased. Meng Chao constantly observed the changes in the fire and the pottery, and adjusted the size and position of the fire to ensure that the pottery could be heated evenly. He knew that firing pottery required precise temperature control, and that too high or too low a temperature would affect the quality of the pottery.

After a period of firing, the pottery began to gradually show beautiful colors. Meng Chao knew that this was the chemical change of the pottery, forming a hard ceramic texture. He waited patiently until all the pottery was fired.

When the last flame died out, Meng Chao could not wait to open the door of the stone kiln. He was pleasantly surprised to find that the one above looked very successful.

So he took it out.

“Great!” Meng Chao shouted excitedly to the camera, his face filled with indescribable joy and sense of accomplishment.

“This one is intact, I don’t know what’s happening with the ones underneath.” Meng Chao showed it to the camera.

“Unfortunately, the second one exploded, and the bottom exploded directly.” Meng Chao took out another pottery, only the upper half was intact.

Many of the people below looked like they were exploding.

But finally, he pulled out a long pot at the bottom.

“This one is still intact. I don’t know if there are any cracks. Let me try filling it with water later.” As he said this, Meng Chao happily took the two pottery vessels to fetch water.

The water source was nearby, and Meng Chao quickly pumped the water back. It would need to be heated to see if it was leaking, and we would know when the water on the surface dried up.

By the way, he boiled some hot water for himself to drink. He hadn’t eaten anything today.

Meng Chao carefully poured the water into the long pot and then placed it next to the fire to heat it.

He stared at the pot, afraid of missing any slight changes. As the flame jumped, the pot gradually became warmer and the water droplets on the surface slowly evaporated.

“It looks like there should be no problem with this pot, there’s no leakage.” Meng Chao said to himself with a relieved smile on his face.

He knew how difficult it was to successfully fire a piece of watertight pottery in the wilderness.

When the water in the kettle began to steam, Meng Chao knew it had boiled. He picked up a branch and gently stirred the water in the kettle to distribute the heat more evenly.

Then he carefully removed the pot from the fire and set it aside to cool.

“I can finally drink hot water.” Meng Chao said with emotion. There was a hint of fatigue in his voice, but more of satisfaction and joy.

“Today I have harvested these two pieces of pottery, which is not bad.”

“Tomorrow, I can go get something to eat.”

“I guess there won’t be any animals coming here at night.” As he said this, Meng Chao picked up a stone and weighed it in his hand.

If there are animals at night, he can only rely on these stones.

Although he melted the spear with charcoal and sharpened it to a sharper point, it was still unlikely to kill prey with it.

It would be better to use stones. Now he has mastered throwing stones and can hit whatever he points at.

You can hit whatever you want.

This is also why he doesn’t need to carry a weapon.

After all, he is incredibly strong, and coupled with his accurate throwing ability, any animal that is hit by him will be doomed.

If you can’t knock it down once, hit it five times, ten times.

I was just thinking about it, and then I heard some movement in the nearby trees.

I guess some animal was attracted by the fire and came to watch the fun.

Meng Chao thought it was most likely a squirrel, so he picked up the stone.

After a while, the squirrel came closer and closer.

Meng Chao listened to the direction and threw the stone in his hand out.

“Squeak!”

[Oh my god, this can even be hit? ]

[No way, Brother Chao, are you cheating? ]

[This is outrageous. Will this really hit the squirrel? ]

[Brother Chao, do you have infrared sensors installed in your eyes? That’s why you can see this?]

[We can see it because the ball has night vision mode. Can Chao Ge also do it? ]

[Stupid, this is called listening to the sound and positioning, this is called luck! ]

[If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I really wouldn’t believe he could hit it. ]

“It seems like I really hit it?” Meng Chao looked at the barrage and couldn’t help but smile.

“It seems that God couldn’t bear to see me starve and sent me food.” As he said that, Meng Chao walked towards the place where the squirrel fell.

The squirrel was still squeaking, which undoubtedly told Meng Chao its location.

When the squirrel was found, it was already dying.

Meng Chao returned to the campfire, then took a sharp stone and began to cut open the squirrel’s belly to clean it.

Although there was not much meat, it was undoubtedly a good dinner for Meng Chao who had not eaten all day.

After cleaning it, Meng Chao skewered it on a wooden stick and roasted it on the fire.

As the flames jumped, the squirrel meat sizzled on the fire and the aroma gradually spread. Meng Chao patiently turned the skewers to allow the squirrel meat to be evenly heated and roasted to the best taste.

“In the wild, barbecue is also an art.” Meng Chao said to the camera with a satisfied smile on his face, “You have to control the heat well. You can’t let the meat burn, and you can’t let the fire go out.”

As he roasted the meat, he sprinkled some spices collected from the surrounding plants from time to time to make the squirrel meat more fragrant. As the roasting time got longer and longer, the surface of the squirrel meat gradually became golden and crispy, exuding an attractive luster.

“It’s almost done, it should be ready to eat.” Meng Chao said as he moved the skewers away from the fire and placed them on a stone nearby to cool for a while.

He couldn’t wait to pick up a piece of meat, took a bite, and his mouth was immediately filled with fragrance. The meat was tender and juicy with an excellent taste.

“This dinner is so delicious!” Meng Chao exclaimed with a happy smile on his face.

He knew that it was a rare opportunity to enjoy such a delicious dinner in the wilderness.

This is not only because of the scarcity of food, but also because in the process, he created delicious food with his own hands and wisdom.

“This should be the only meal we have tonight. There shouldn’t be any other animals coming to our door.” Meng Chao said as he added some dry firewood to the campfire.

Tonight, he planned to sit by the fire and take a nap.

If there is any movement, action can be taken immediately.

(End of this chapter)