Chapter 46: Sugar Production
Very good.
The bony plates of this fish should be able to create high-defense equipment like strong armor.
Chu Jiu walked up to the shieldskin fish and hopefully tapped its bony plates with his machete:
[Please use a tool with higher hardness to complete the collection!]
…That prompt again. When he had previously found the [Black Iron Tree with iron-hard trunk and branches] and wanted to collect branches to make javelins and other throwing weapons, he had encountered this prompt.
Chu Jiu looked at the system-given machete in his hand, thinking that it seemed he couldn’t collect this special material for the time being.
He should still cut the sugarcane first.
Now he didn’t have to worry about a sudden attack from the shieldskin fish while crossing the river, or the sugarcane and himself becoming fish food after painstakingly cutting it down.
With the help of the Sunny Plateau’s “Wind Breath Fruit,” Chu Jiu easily ascended into the air.
Relying on the “Flying Tiger Claws” to pull himself, he quickly landed in the natural sugarcane forest on the opposite bank.
The sugarcane here grew exceptionally robustly, each stalk standing tall and proud, its skin the healthiest purplish-red, with a natural luster.
The river breeze blew, and the long leaves of the sugarcane began to sway in the wind, carrying a faint sweet fragrance.
Chu Jiu subconsciously sniffed, thinking no wonder the shieldskin fish guarded this place so fiercely.
This was practically its personal sugar factory.
He drew his machete and began to work diligently.
Soon, [Sugarcane +99]
Unfortunately, this sugarcane forest did not have “plantable sugarcane seeds.”
Chu Jiu didn’t know which part he needed to bring back to allow Rawr Rawr Rabbit to cultivate seedlings and breed. He simply dug out a complete sugarcane stalk and put it into his backpack from top to bottom.
[Complete Sugarcane Dug from the Ground +1]
After finishing the collection work, Chu Jiu let out a long breath and decided to treat himself a little.
He casually cut off a plump section of sugarcane, quickly shaved off the outer skin with a few “swish swish” sounds, bit into a piece of the white and greenish sugarcane flesh, and then forcefully tore downwards, bringing down a bundle of sugarcane fibers, perfectly obtaining a “sugarcane lollipop” that he could hold in his hand.
In the countryside of southern China, during the sugarcane harvest season, everywhere you could see people holding such a “sugarcane lollipop” in their hands, chewing away heartily.
Chu Jiu sat down on the pile of sugarcane leaves on the ground and chewed with big bites.
Such sweet sugarcane!
Full of juice, crisp but not hard, refreshing and sweet.
Chu Jiu was so satisfied that his eyes almost half-closed.
Little Can jumped onto his lap and looked at him curiously, “Is it that delicious?”
Chu Jiu nodded, “Delicious, very sweet, and a different kind of sweet than chestnuts!”
He tore off a strand of sugarcane flesh and held it in front of Little Can.
However, for Little Can, who mainly ate meat, this food full of coarse and hard fibers was not a delicacy.
The little guy tried hard to bite off a little, but couldn’t grind out the sweet juice inside with its teeth like a human.
Its tail drooped, “Can’t eat it.”
Chu Jiu gently stroked its aggrieved little nose, “I’ll juice it for you later.”
At this time, his fingertips were still soaked in a bit of sugarcane juice, carrying a slightly sweet scent.
Little Can subconsciously stretched out its little tongue and licked Chu Jiu’s fingertip…
Hmm, it really was sweet!
But in the next second, it immediately stopped its action, lowered its head, and scolded itself loudly in its heart: How could I lick a human’s finger?
Too… too impolite!
Chu Jiu, who had been gently licked by the little cat, didn’t pull back his hand but instead used the other hand to stroke its little head:
“Okay, I’ll juice it for you when we get back.”
“The squeezed sugarcane juice, besides drinking it directly, can also be used to make sugar.”
*
Although there were many materials in the “River of the Past” basin, Chu Jiu did not linger there.
He called back the dodo bird and asked the golden hamster to find a safe place nearby to set up camp and began to study how to make sugar.
Chu Jiu knew that making sugar was not like making tofu or soy sauce.
For the latter two, as long as you knew the method, even with very crude tools, you could make decent quality products.
But making sugar was not like that.
In an era of extremely underdeveloped industry, making sugar was much more difficult than making salt.
Although Chu Jiu’s goal this time was not to produce “pure white granulated sugar” or “transparent rock candy,” but just the “brown ice-like” sugar lumps that the old man had mentioned, “that could add the color of other fruits,” relying on the existing tools to achieve this was by no means easy.
The most basic step was to peel the leaves and skin off the fresh sugarcane, cut off the tips, and squeeze out the “sugarcane juice.”
The freshly squeezed sugarcane juice was a light yellow color and contained a large amount of fibrous impurities.
At this time, if the sugarcane juice was simply boiled, a maltose-like pasty mixture would be obtained. In ancient China, this mixture had a special name, called “sugarcane dough”.
If boiling continued, a dark red blocky substance would be obtained, which was the most traditional handmade brown sugar.
Although this brown sugar also had a rich, sweet, and delicious taste, it was not “gem-like candy.”
To obtain crystalline sugar, the sugarcane juice could not be boiled directly. Instead, the sugarcane juice had to be filtered first, and then an alkaline clarifying agent added to promote the decomposition and precipitation of non-sugar substances inside.
Fortunately, Chu Jiu had enough wood ash water to act as the [alkaline clarifying agent].
However, the sugarcane juice after this sedimentation step could only be boiled into a lighter-colored brown sugar, still not crystalline light brown or yellow granulated sugar, let alone pure white granulated sugar.
The next step, how to decolorize the brown sugar, was the most difficult part.
Chu Jiu sat cross-legged in the yurt, and under the influence of the passive skill [Clear Mind], he tried hard to sort out the knowledge in his mind.
Decolorization, in essence, was the removal of impurities from the sugarcane juice or brown sugar blocks. The fewer the impurities, the lighter and whiter the color of the sugar.
He did remember seeing an introduction to the relevant process in a traditional craft museum.
What were those few sentences?
[Place a funnel on a jar. The funnel is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, with a small hole at the bottom. Block the hole with grass, pour black sand into the funnel. After the black sand solidifies, remove the grass from the hole and pour yellow mud water down. The black dregs will enter the jar, and the sugar in the funnel will become white frost.]
The general meaning of this passage was to block the opening of a funnel-shaped container with grass, place it on a jar, then pour the boiled black sugar syrup into it. After the syrup solidified, remove the grass from the opening, pour yellow mud water down, and the impurities in the sugar would flow into the large jar, and the black sugar would become white sugar.
At first glance, it seemed quite simple.
But upon closer thought…
What exactly was this “yellow mud water”?
Could it be that simply digging up some yellow soil and adding water could turn brown sugar into white sugar?
Chu Jiu felt that this was really unworkable.
In his opinion, this “yellow mud water” might only have a final appearance like “yellow muddy water,” but it should have strict raw material requirements and preparation steps to react with the brown sugar and remove its color.
In short, although he recalled this method recorded in ancient books, Chu Jiu still couldn’t create a recipe for “light-colored sugar lumps” based on it.
He sighed, scratching his hair in frustration, and closed his eyes again to continue recalling.
There was another way. Simply put, it was to use specific clarifying agents to adsorb impurities and then repeatedly “boil.” This method required the use of “milk” or “coconut milk,” or “egg white.” This method was said to have been introduced to China from other countries. Chu Jiu guessed that perhaps in this other world, this method was also initially used to boil sugar.
Hmm… unfortunately, he didn’t have any of these raw materials in his backpack, nor could he collect them for the time being.
Emerald Town should have milk, but running back to town now would take too much time.
What other way was there?
After racking his brains, Chu Jiu couldn’t find a better method.
Could it be that he had to go back to Bean Village and then run to Emerald Town?
Chu Jiu sighed deeply, thinking that if that was the only way, he would set off as soon as possible:
In modern technology, sugarcane sugar production is such a mature technology.
Sugarcane is washed and pressed to extract juice. Lime milk and carbon dioxide are added to the sugarcane juice for precipitation and filtration, sulfur dioxide is added for decolorization, it is evaporated and crystallized, and then a centrifugal separation device is used to separate the dark molasses, obtaining pure white granulated sugar.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t currently create the carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide needed, nor did he have a centrifugal separator.
If the system would go all out and open a bigger cheat, even without carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide, if it would allow him to hand-craft a centrifugal separator, then he could at least spin out the impurities in the sugarcane juice and get light-colored granulated sugar.
…Hand-crafting a centrifugal separator, what a whimsical and absurd idea.
Chu Jiu smiled self-deprecatingly.
…Hand-crafting a centrifugal separator?
Wait!
If he only pursued the effect of “high-speed rotation” and “layering substances,” could he actually create a centrifugal separator?!
Chu Jiu, who had already stood up, “thumped” back down to the ground, pressed his temples with both hands, and began to quickly recall relevant knowledge.
A moment later, he opened his eyes, the light in them almost flowing out, and laughed loudly at Little Can, “Little Can, let’s hand-craft a centrifuge!”
Little Can: “…Meow?”
This human… what impossible thing is he talking about again?
Chu Jiu excitedly opened the [Virtual Production Line].
The things he needed were very simple: two handles, several small bamboo tubes, a rope, and a disc that could hold these bamboo tubes.
First, he threaded the rope through the center of the disc, then wrapped the rope around the disc a few times to tighten and twist it, and then pulled hard—the central disc would rotate at an astonishing speed.
This was actually the simplest toy; Chu Jiu had played with it when he was a child.
Physically speaking, since the number of spirals formed by the twisted rope was limited, once this limit was exceeded, the rope would deform, forming a “superhelix,” which was enough to greatly increase the rotation speed.
By continuously rotating the disc with the rope, the rotation speed of the central disc could reach tens of thousands of revolutions per minute!
In this case, loading the boiled sugarcane juice into the bamboo tubes and using this tens of thousands of revolutions per minute to physically separate and spin out impurities was completely sufficient.
Of course, this device also had a problem: the amount of liquid that could be loaded each time was extremely limited.
However, this problem was too easy for Chu Jiu, who could use [Quick Crafting], to solve.
Even if each rotation only yielded a spoonful of separated sugarcane juice, as long as he used the skill 10 times a minute, wouldn’t he be able to accumulate half a cup of sugarcane juice? If he continued to use it for 30 minutes, the amount of sugarcane juice would be quite considerable!
Full of confidence, Chu Jiu dragged all the tools and raw materials into the [Virtual Production Line] and clearly wrote down the steps of each process, which indeed triggered a system prompt!
[Using 10 points of spirit power, you can obtain the “Light-Colored Sugar Refined in a Strange Way” Recipe X1]
A strange way?
Hehehe, ancient sugar making combined with hand-cranked centrifuge separation, isn’t that a strange way?
Seeing this prompt, Chu Jiu couldn’t help but sit cross-legged on the spot and chuckle incessantly, as if he had accidentally inhaled the scent of [Giggling Candle].
He didn’t realize that fourteen hours had passed since he first walked into the yurt and sat down.
His eyes were bloodshot, his originally smooth and obedient hair was sticking up messily from being repeatedly grabbed, and his usually full and soft lips were chapped from lack of food and water.
Not only that, but while pondering the recipe, he had constantly tried and failed, creating various auxiliary tools and intermediate semi-finished products, unknowingly using up all his spirit power.
“Meow! Meow meow!” An angry meow interrupted Chu Jiu’s giggling.
Chu Jiu looked down and saw Little Can standing by his legs, its eyes narrowed into displeased half-circles.
He quickly said, “Ah, sorry, sorry, are you hungry? I’ll prepare food for you right away.”
Little Can didn’t say anything but pushed Chu Jiu’s water cup in front of him with its small paw, gesturing with its expression: “Drink water!”
Chu Jiu understood and picked up the water cup—only to find that his hand was shaking a bit due to the exhaustion of his spirit power and almost depleted physical strength.
Little Can huffed angrily, using both paws to lift the water cup, which was almost as big as itself, and then steadily jumped onto Chu Jiu’s shoulder: “Drink water!”
Chu Jiu was a little surprised but still turned his head and was fed water by his little cat with the cup.
After drinking a cup of water, Little Can’s voice was not so fierce, but its eyes were still half-circles: “I’ll go get you some dried fish, I put it next to the fire.”
Dried fish?
Chu Jiu was stunned for a moment, then understood: it was the small dried fish he had given it in the morning, and the little guy hadn’t been willing to eat it all along…
Chu Jiu’s heart softened a bit more, and he whispered, “Thank you, Little Can…”
Little Can didn’t speak but tiptoed on its hind legs, and with a face full of displeasure, kissed the corner of Chu Jiu’s mouth.
Because his spirit power was exhausted, Chu Jiu rested until the next day before making the [Light-Colored Sugar].
Next, he used various fruits to boil out natural pigments, mixed them into the melted sugar, shaped them with molds, and cooled them to obtain [Small Gem-like Candies].
Finally having the “entrance fee,” Chu Jiu didn’t delay at all and immediately rode the Bodo bird towards the Small Squirrel Kingdom, no, towards the Dwarf Beastman Underground Tribe.
Thanks to the sufficiently accurate directions given by the small squirrel before, Bodo found the entrance without much effort.
At the entrance was a strangely shaped large stone. If viewed from a certain specific angle, this blackish-gray stone looked exactly like a giant pine cone.
And below, obscured by the pine cone, was another light gray stone slab.
Chu Jiu walked to the stone slab and, following the secret signal the small squirrels had told him, picked up another small stone from the side and knocked out three short and three long muffled sounds on the slab.
After about two minutes, with a “rumble,” the stone slab opened from the inside.
A small squirrel poked its head out of the hole in the ground, its triangular little ears twitching, its black and bright little eyes staring uneasily at Chu Jiu: “…Human?”
Chu Jiu quickly handed over a few small red and purple candies, “Yes.”
The small squirrel, originally wary, immediately jumped out of the hole upon seeing the brightly colored candies: “Gem! Gem!”
Its two small paws placed on its chest in a praying gesture, its eyes watery and bright: “Gem? For me?”
Chu Jiu: “Yes—I want to go to your tribe to find my friend and also find your blacksmith. Can I go in?”
The small squirrel immediately nodded desperately, “Yes! Yes! Yes!”
Then, it wagged its furry, fluffy tail, rubbed its small paws together for a long time, picked up a small red candy from Chu Jiu’s hand, held it under its nose to sniff, and the expression on its face was both intoxicated and excited: “Gem! Smelly! Sweet! Woo woo!”
Chu Jiu had originally thought the small squirrel would take the whole handful, but unexpectedly it only took one, which made him a little curious, “Don’t you want other colors?”
The small squirrel shook its head very seriously, “One! Human friend, said, one time, one! Otherwise, teeth, break!”
…This was probably the rule set by the child who came here with the gems for the small squirrels.
Hmm, eat sugar reasonably, don’t get cavities.
After the small squirrel carefully put the “gem” in its mouth and held it there, it wagged its big tail again and said to Chu Jiu, “You, good human. Me, lead way.”
With that, it jumped into the hole in the ground, “Come quickly!”
*
Although the dwarf beastmen were small, less than half the size of adult humans, the caves and passages here were not cramped.
At least when Chu Jiu walked inside, he didn’t have to worry about hitting his head, and his hands and feet could move freely without making it difficult to even turn around.
Not only that, but the dwarf beastmen had also installed reflective stones above the caves, so that only a small amount of candlelight was needed to provide sufficient lighting.
The leading dwarf beastman took a few steps, then remembered something else, stopped, and turned back to look at Chu Jiu, “You, come here, how find?”
Chu Jiu replied that the three brothers with the axe, shovel, and pickaxe had told him the specific location.
The leading dwarf beastman thought for a while, then jumped up and down happily:
“It’s you! It’s you!”
“We know you!”
“Brave and righteous friend of the spirits!”
Chu Jiu: “…Um, it’s me.”
The leading dwarf beastman said, “They are waiting for you! I’ll go tell them!”
With that, the dwarf beastman casually opened a small door on the wall of the passage, and his figure disappeared instantly.
…So there were hidden shortcut passages here, exclusively for the dwarf beastmen.
It was indeed a good design.
This way, even if a malicious evildoer broke in here, the dwarf beastmen could escape at the fastest speed.
After about a quarter of an hour, the small door on the other side of the passage opened with a “bang”—
The three squirrel brothers hopped out one after another:
“Friend! You’ve come!”
“You’ve come! Kind and righteous friend of the spirits!”
Chu Jiu: …
He pressed his forehead helplessly, thinking how could he get them to change their address?
At this moment, the squirrel carrying the axe jumped in front of Chu Jiu, staring at the cat on Chu Jiu’s shoulder, its eyes shining:
“Ah! ‘Beautiful and powerful human male’!”
I hope that if the old man from a few chapters ago at the candy shop was their friend and will be able to see them again