When the people in the village heard that the Tian family wanted to dye cloth, they all came curiously to see what kind of cloth they would use to dye the cloth, but in the end they only saw the new house, the dyeing vat, and the cloth drying rack.
Even the old rich man sent two long-term workers to see what Bai Haitang was up to.
Now Bai Haitang relies on looking for people to weave cloth. If these villagers have copper coins, will they still ask the old rich man to borrow money and grain at the end of the year? If not, where will they collect interest?
When it got dark, people watching the excitement went home to eat one after another.
"You are an ugly girl who is still young and wants to open a dyeing workshop. I will pay you for everything." The old rich man muttered after hearing the description of the long-term worker who came back.
I turned around and stood in the yard again, next to the cellar entrance, smelling his copper-smelling delicacies.
At this time, Bai Haitang and Wintersweet came out of the house quietly. They saw that no one was following them along the way, and after a few laps, they came to the mine.
"This place is very important. It is our foundation. Only you and I know it." Bai Haitang warned Lamei along the way.
"Can't Er Tong, my brother and Tian Niu know?" Lamei asked innocently.
"The fewer people who know, the safer it is. It's not that I don't trust them, but I'm afraid that if I accidentally let something slip, if this place is targeted by an old rich man or the county magistrate, all our efforts will be wasted," Bai Haitang said.
The pros and cons therein.
Lamei couldn't help but nod.
"Sister Haitang, you are so thoughtful. Don't worry, only you and I know about this place. You won't tell me even if you kill me." Lamei promised immediately.
That serious expression looked like he was swearing on his own life.
The dye, the remaining plant ash, and the various mineral materials that Bai Haitang took from the mine were all put in the basket, and he and Wintersweet walked back to the dyehouse along the path under the moonlight.
Before leaving the cave, Bai Haitang also sprinkled a layer of plant ash near the cave entrance.
"Sister Haitang, what are you doing?" Lamei asked in confusion.
"If someone comes here, shoe prints will be left on the ashes." Bai Haitang and Wintersweet walked back around the ashes.
Back at the dyeing workshop, Bai Haitang was busy the whole night, pouring the four dyes of indigo, daughter's red, turmeric, and purple into the dye vat, only a quarter of the vat was filled.
Bai Begonia began to calcine and filter the plant ash. There will be a lot of cloth in the future, and the dye vat must be filled with dye. Plant ash is one of the necessary materials for color fixation.
The dried perilla, lithospermum, sophora japonica, gardenia, barberry, madder, safflower, and cypress are dried on the shelf. Grind them into powder, add them to the stream water in a certain proportion, mix well, and then pour it into the dye vat.
No one would notice the smoke coming out of the dyehouse from the chimney at night, so calcining limestone is very safe at night.
The various mineral crystals, limestone, copper sulfate, etc. that were brought back were placed on the shelves and covered with cloth.
There are also many large and small bowls, jars, and clay pots on the shelves, which Bai Begonia will use to make dyes of various colors in the future.
The four colors of indigo, red, turmeric, and purple cannot satisfy her. There are seven more colors in the rainbow, so why should she dye them red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple?
Half a month later, the dye was almost ready, and the cloth we had woven came in one after another and was piled on the shelves.
"Sister Haitang, your shelf is really well designed. Some are for cloth, some for paint, and the light-transmitting areas can also be used to dry plants." Wintersweet envied Sister Haitang's thoughtfulness, which always allows her to think of unexpected things.