Chapter 37: The Crowd at the Foot of the Mountain Busy Harvesting Salt

Chu Chen sat on a large rock outside and lit a cigarette for himself.

Uncle Chu Dazhuang approached with a worried expression after Feng Wu left.

“Nephew, no matter how rich you are, you can’t just spend like this—it’s reckless,” he said.

Chu Chen had no reply to that remark.

“Uncle, if you want the horse to run, you have to feed it, right? Besides, spending this little money can bring you ten thousand times the income, so don’t worry.”

Not knowing what Chu Chen was up to, Chu Dazhuang said no more. After all, the money wasn’t his, so he had no right to question it further.

Suddenly, as if remembering something, he pulled out over ten taels of silver from his clothes and handed it to Chu Chen.

“This is what’s left from building the workshop. Keep it.”

Chu Chen’s uncle was genuinely honest; if it were someone else, they might have asked for more without hesitation.

He pushed the silver back, saying, “Uncle, what are you doing? You should keep it.”

“That won’t do. I can’t just take your money for no reason.”

“Please accept it, Uncle. Don’t stall—I have an important task for you.”

Hearing “important task,” Chu Dazhuang immediately became serious.

At that moment, six men arrived before Chu Chen.

“Chu kid, tell us, what do you want us to do?”

Chu Dazhuang looked at the newcomers and forcibly closed his mouth, suppressing his curiosity about the important task, then sat on a nearby rock.

Chu Chen knew all six men, including Feng Wu’s older brother, Feng Lao’er.

He was the only hunter in Mashan Village, incredibly strong and exceptional, and had just spoken.

“Uncle Feng and everyone, since you’ve stood out among so many, you must all have your strengths.”

“Follow me.”

With that, he led Chu Dazhuang and the six men toward the mountain.

He picked up a shovel nearby and began digging into the mountainside.

Holding out a yellowish-white stone, he addressed the group.

“What you need to do now is dig this out and transport it to the factory.”

“Once Uncle Feng finishes building the partitions, you’ll be assigned specific tasks.”

“Each group will do its own job without interference. That’s for later. Starting tomorrow, bring your men and begin digging.”

With that, he left with Chu Dazhuang.

Seeing that no one else was around, Chu Dazhuang asked, “Nephew, what’s this important matter?”

***

“Come on, Uncle, let’s go home and call Huzi and Aunt Er. We’ll talk there.”

At Chu Chen’s home, five people sat together.

Looking at his uncle and the others, Chu Chen felt that these few were the only ones he could fully trust for now.

The technology for refining mineral salt was absolutely not to be leaked.

The process broke down into several steps:

First, mine the salt, dissolve it in water, and heat it to crystallize the white crystals.

Then, reheat the white crystals—essentially repeating the first step—to purify them further.

Next, add water and heat again, filtering through activated charcoal and gauze.

Finally, continue heating to produce fine salt.

These three or four simple steps were to be entrusted to Huzi, Aunt Er, Li Qinglian, and Chu Dazhuang.

Uncle Chu’s role was to handle the constant boiling, while the crucial filtration would be overseen by Li Qinglian.

Chu Chen planned to use materials from his spatial dimension to build a filtration apparatus.

The operation was learnable—at least the mechanics; the entire workshop was divided into separate rooms.

The filtration machine would be covered with wooden boards, leaving openings for changing filters, input, and output.

Each step had its own room, with buffer rooms between for storing semi-finished products.

This was all Chu Chen could think of for now.

If someone still managed to learn this method, there was nothing he could do.

An hour later, Chu Chen individually explained the operational procedures and divisions of labor to everyone.

Now, it was time to wait for the actual work to begin.

That evening, Chu Chen took the opportunity to go to town, instructed Li Qinglian, then entered his spatial dimension on the way back.

Inside, he rummaged through his stores.

After a night of effort, a large filtration device appeared on the road.

It was assembled from iron barrels, funnels, gauze, and other items found in the space.

He then summoned Huzi, who drove a mule cart to haul it back to the workshop.

The operation was simple: pour the brine into the large funnel atop the device and wait for it to filter.

Only the gauze and activated charcoal needed occasional replacement.

Luckily, the spatial dimension provided plenty of these materials, enough for a year or more.

If necessary, silk and charcoal could substitute.

Without delay, Chu Chen locked himself in a room and began the first experiment.

He ordered Huzi to bring a load of crushed mineral salt to the room.

Chu Chen busied himself inside.

***

After repeated trials, he worked until noon, gazing at the bucket of brine before him with joy.

He then moved to the last room and instructed Huzi to stoke the fire and boil the brine.

As the water gradually evaporated, snow-white crystals began forming along the edges of the iron pot.

Chu Chen told Huzi to scrape off the crystals, eventually collecting a large basinful.

Huzi was amazed. “Chu kid, don’t tell me this is refined salt?”

He grabbed a handful and stuffed it into his mouth.

“Whoa, Hu, don’t just eat everything! How can you be so reckless?”

Chu Chen knocked the salt from his hand.

“Ah, not salt? Then what is it?”

It was salt, but since it was the first batch, they had to test it on a small animal first.

He said, “Go find a small animal to test it on. What if it’s poisonous?”

Huzi nodded and left, returning shortly with a rustic dog.

A dog isn’t supposed to eat salt; too much can be toxic.

But there was no time to worry—this was a farm dog.

After all, don’t farm leftovers usually have salt, and the animals are fine?

Chu Chen told Huzi to hold the dog down, grabbed a handful of salt, and shoved it into its mouth.

At first, the dog resisted, but after one handful, it licked its lips involuntarily and swallowed.

“Where did you get this dog?” Chu Chen asked, puzzled by the dog’s boldness, much like Huzi.

“From Feng Lao’er’s place. I stole it. Why? Is it no good?” Huzi looked at Chu Chen with confusion.

“No problem, as long as it’s a dog. This stuff is salt, and I made it. So if it doesn’t die, we’re in business.”

Chu Chen looked at Huzi earnestly.

“You made it using that poisonous stuff from the mountain?” Huzi asked, amazed, nearly jumping with excitement.

He might be fierce, but not stupid—he fully grasped the significance.

“Don’t get so worked up. Let’s see if it survives first.”

So, in the room, Chu Chen and Huzi quietly watched the dog, and the dog quietly watched them, until nightfall.