When the sun was about to set, there were nearly a dozen large earthenware jars used to store pickled vegetables placed next to the three adobe bricks under the wooden house in the yard where Yan Liqiang lived. A pile of gray-brown large earthenware jars were neatly arranged in several rows and placed downstairs.
After carrying the last large earthen jar filled with things over with Yan Liqiang and placing it here, Gu Zexuan wiped the sweat from his forehead and finally breathed a sigh of relief, "Damn it, it's finally done..."
Yan Liqiang, who had worked the same day as Gu Zexuan and Zhao Huipeng, was also exhausted and sweating.
Gu Zexuan and Zhao Huipeng's job today was to pull out all the corn stalks that had been harvested yesterday in the cornfield. After Gu Zexuan bought these large earthen jars, Yan Liqiang went to the field with the two of them to work.
Under the command of Yan Liqiang, the three men first pulled the corn stalks out of the ground, and then used a stone mortar to squeeze out the sweet juice from the fresh corn stalks, and then poured the juice with a high sugar content into large earthen jars. Each large earthen jar was filled with about ten pounds of juice. Then they filled the large earthen jars with clean water, and then chopped up some corn stalks, radish peels, rotten vegetable leaves and the like from the fields, mixed them in the large earthen jars, and soaked them together with the water in the large earthen jars. Then they put the large earthen jars in place, covered them one by one, and moved them to a place in the yard where the sun could easily reach them. The job was done.
Although it sounds simple, it is not so easy to actually do it, especially the step of squeezing the juice out of the corn stalks, which really tests one's patience.
"What's the name of this... thing?" Zhao Huipeng asked Yan Liqiang a question.
Yan Liqiang did not hide the process of making these things from the two people and let them participate in the whole process. It was only after participating that Zhao Huipeng felt a little strange, because he found that the things made by Yan Liqiang did not look like pickles, and the vinegar did not look like vinegar, and he didn't know what it was called.
"This thing is called ground vinegar!" Yan Liqiang said seriously, and with a quick thought, he had given this thing a new name that was more in line with the way people in this world called it. Yan Liqiang was an environmentalist in his previous life, so making this kind of thing was naturally simple.
"Di Cu?" Gu Zexuan and Zhao Huipeng looked at each other. They had never heard of this name before.
"Well, it's called ground vinegar!" Yan Liqiang nodded seriously. "My grandfather gave it this name. It was a method he discovered when he was making medicinal soup. People can't drink this ground vinegar, but it has a very good cleaning effect. In addition to removing odors, adding a little bit of it when washing clothes or dishes can make clothes and dishes cleaner. If you have flowers and plants at home, you can dilute it in water to fertilize them, and the effect is good! Originally, you need to add brown sugar or black sugar to the water to make this thing, but buying sugar is too expensive. The sugar content in corn stalks is very high, so you can squeeze the corn stalks into juice instead..."
"Oh, I see. Li Qiang, you really know a lot!" Gu Zexuan rubbed his hands and said excitedly, "If this thing really has so many functions, then we won't have to worry about selling it in the future. We've finally found a way to make money!"
"Well, if this thing can really be sold, we won't make a lot of money, but it may allow us to make a little money in the short term. Over time, making this thing is not complicated, and others can learn it easily. When everyone can make it easily, it won't be surprising if we can make it!"
"No matter what, as long as the three of us keep it a secret and don't leak the production method of this thing, we can delay it as long as possible..."
"Well, we just need to pay attention to these earthen jars, open the lids every day to let some air in the jars, and be careful not to let the circle of water outside the lids dry up, and we'll be fine..."
"Can we stop talking about these things? Let's eat first. I'm so hungry now..." Zhao Huipeng touched his stomach and said with a sad face.
"Hahaha, let's eat, eat..." Yan Liqiang and Gu Zexuan both laughed.
The three people who just met yesterday have become much closer after today's cooperation, and have more trust and understanding between each other.
Dinner was still simple. Apart from steamed buns, there was only a corn and an egg, but Yan Liqiang ate it with gusto.
After dinner, he chatted with Gu Zexuan and Zhao Huipeng for a while, and took a few minutes' walk to digest the food. Before the sun set, Yan Liqiang returned to his room and began to practice the Yi Jin Xi Sui Jing. After reciting it twice, he went straight to bed.
…
The next day, Yan Liqiang woke up at around three in the morning again. He just wanted to get up and wash up, but suddenly he remembered something.
When he went to fetch water yesterday, some sections of the mountain road were dark, and he couldn’t see the mountain road clearly. When passing those sections, he easily stumbled and was tripped by the steps and things on the road, and a lot of water in the bucket would spill. At the end of the Yi Jin Xi Sui Jing in his mind, there was a section called "Yi Jin Xi Sui Jing Branch External Gong Collection". In this collection of exercises, there are external exercises such as heart exercises, body exercises, head exercises, face exercises, ear exercises, eye exercises, mouth exercises, tongue exercises, teeth exercises, hand exercises, foot exercises, shoulder exercises, back exercises, waist exercises, abdomen exercises, kidney exercises, heart, spleen, liver, lung exercises, etc., which almost cover the training methods of every organ and viscera in the body...
In the past, Yan Liqiang had not taken these external skills seriously, thinking that he would give them a try after he had practiced the Yi Jin Xi Sui Jing well enough. But at this moment, an idea popped up in his mind - why not try the eye skills among those external skills first to see if practicing them can enhance his eyesight!
With this in mind, Yan Liqiang lay on the bed, following the eye training method, still keeping his eyes tightly closed, but rubbing his eyes with the back of his thumb fourteen times to start the eye training warm-up...
After the warm-up, the eye exercises also include various eye movements, massage of the eyes and various acupuncture points on the head, and finally the eye exercise ends with the "tiger gaze" method. The whole process can be completed in just a few minutes.
After practicing the eye exercises, Yan Liqiang didn't feel any obvious feeling for the time being, so he quickly got up, washed, packed his things, went up to Tianqiao Peak, and started working.
When Yan Liqiang came yesterday, there were senior brothers from the Sword God Sect who were on guard on the road and stopped him for questioning. When he went again today, the people who were secretly on guard on the road did not come out to stop Yan Liqiang.
Everything was the same as yesterday. Yan Liqiang ran down the mountain to fetch water. He held his arms horizontally while fetching water up the mountain. He exercised his physical strength and body movements while running and exercising. After fetching water, he began to clean the toilet on Tianqiao Peak with all his heart and meticulousness...
I still worked until the sun rose before I came down the mountain. After I came down the mountain, I was almost soaked in sweat. Then I took a shower, changed clothes, did laundry, and ate...
The only difference between today and yesterday is that Yan Liqiang has plenty of time during the day to practice the Yi Jin Xi Sui Jing.
From the second day on, Yan Liqiang's days in the Sword God Sect became fixed and routine. After meticulously cleaning the toilet every day, he would spend the rest of his time exercising in the small valley. Sometimes, he would help Gu Zexuan and Zhao Huipeng with their farm work...
Apart from a few disciples living in the small valley, almost no one in the entire Sword God Sect noticed that in this valley at the foot of Tianqiao Mountain, there was a young man named Yan Liqiang who was exercising diligently every day. Even when he was doing dirty and tiring work like cleaning the toilet, he always adhered to the highest standards.
In this ordinary yet fulfilling life, Yan Liqiang also slowly felt the changes in his body...
Yan Liqiang first felt that his arms were getting stronger. At first, he held his arms horizontally to carry two buckets of water. After fetching two full buckets of water from Tianqiao Peak, he still felt a little tired. He felt sore every day, as if his arms were broken. But after only half a month, he felt that even holding his arms horizontally to fill two buckets of water was becoming easier. The buckets filled with water were becoming lighter in his hands. He could run faster and faster on the mountain road. The time he spent fetching water was getting shorter and shorter. Along the way, the amount of water he spilled became less and less...
What surprised Yan Liqiang even more was the mountain road in the darkness. After practicing the eye skills in the Yi Jin Xi Sui Jing for more than a month, he found that the mountain road that was originally pitch black in his eyes gradually showed the outline of steps in the darkness, and it became clearer day by day...
(End of this chapter)