novelraw Chapter 275 He just keeps praising me!
Chapter 275 He just keeps praising me!
Chapter 275 He just keeps praising me!
Plates of food were laid out on the table, and Gu Tang stared at them, slightly stunned.
Stir-fried radish with meat, dry-fried chicken pieces, stewed mutton, stir-fried cabbage, stir-fried pickled vegetables with lard, a plate of egg pancakes, and a bowl of rice porridge.
Good guy!
Is today some kind of holiday?
She looked up and asked her father, "What day is it today? Why is breakfast so lavish!"
"It's not a special occasion." Gu Lianshan moved the dishes that Gu Tang liked to eat in front of her. "It's just that I made a few more dishes. Hurry up and eat, eat more."
Gu Tang didn't believe him and picked up her chopsticks with a suspicious look, afraid that her father would make some kind of request.
But even after the food was in her mouth, her father didn't say anything, sitting in his seat and eating by himself.
Gu Tang breathed a sigh of relief and then focused on eating.
After the meal, she got up to help clear the dishes, but her father stopped her with a solicitous look, telling her not to move and just sit down, and that he would clear the dishes himself, not letting Gu Tang lift a finger.
Gu Tang was completely confused.
After her father took the bowls and chopsticks to the kitchen, she couldn't help but ask the old man, "Grandpa, what's wrong with my father? He's making me really uneasy!"
Third Uncle laughed: "Your father is afraid that he is clumsy and cannot do incense making, so he wants to curry favor with you so that he will be more patient in teaching him later."
"So that's what it was about." Gu Tang was speechless. "What's the big deal? Just say it directly. This fawning is creepy!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Gu Ping'an joined in the fun.
"Second sister, I'm afraid I'm clumsy too. Please be patient and teach me slowly..."
Gu Tang glared at him: "This hasn't even started yet! Everyone's saying I'm impatient! Are you looking for trouble?!"
Gu Pingan paused. It wasn't that they were looking for trouble, but they had already noticed from his second sister's past behavior that she had no patience for anything, whether it was people or things. If she got annoyed, she would give up at any time!
"We agreed that you can't just quit because you're angry!"
Gu Tang felt a little guilty, as this was indeed something she often did.
But this time she promised that she would never again say she was quitting just because she got angry.
"You just wait and see! I will definitely teach you!" He said this with unusual determination.
After saying this, Gu Tang went to her room to get some face powder.
The bags containing the face powder were all small, about a foot long, and Gu Tang could carry two bags in one hand.
She picked out all the face powder she needed for the day, piled them up one by one, and then called Gu Ping'an over to move them.
Her father, Gu Lianshan, had already finished washing the dishes and was coming out of the kitchen when he heard his daughter calling for her son to move things.
Upon hearing this, Gu Lianshan didn't hesitate and shouted to his daughter before Gu Ping'an could speak, "Dad will carry it! The face powder is precious, and your brother is clumsy; this kind of delicate work isn't suitable for him!"
Gu Ping'an, who came out of the main room, heard these words clearly. He looked at his father with a blank face, full of dissatisfaction!
Gu Lianshan ignored him and pushed him aside: "Who are you staring at with those big eyes? Get out of the way!"
Gu Pingan was even angrier!
Gu Lianshan found a basket, put bags of incense powder into it, and once it was full, he carried it to the main room.
After making several trips back and forth, I finally finished reciting the face powder that Gu Tang had selected.
Besides taking out the incense powder, Gu Tang also took out a set of incense-making tools and had her father carry them to the main room.
Gu Lianshan and the others had seen incense powder before, but this was the first time they had seen incense-making tools, and they all looked at them with great curiosity.
Of the many tools, most are self-explanatory and their functions can be guessed, but the purpose of the thick bamboo tube remains a mystery.
Gu Tang kept them in suspense, saying she would tell them later.
He grabbed a handful of glutinous rice from the west wing, put it in a small jar, added water, and put it on the stove to cook glutinous rice paste.
"Why are you cooking glutinous rice porridge? Aren't you full?" Gu Lianshan asked, puzzled.
“This isn’t for eating,” Gu Tang explained. “Glutinous rice is sticky, so adding it to the spice powder helps it bind together and allows the spice powder to take shape.”
Gu Lianshan suddenly realized that glutinous rice paste could be used in this way.
Before long, the earthenware pot on the stove began to gurgle and pop.
Gu Tang stirred the water in the earthenware pot with a spoon until it turned into a paste. She scooped out a little, blew on it, and then rubbed some between her fingers.
Okay, that's fine, it's sticky now.
Set the glutinous rice paste aside for later use, and then Gu Tang began to prepare the fragrance powder.
The first ingredient to be prepared was Dream Spirit Incense.
Lavender, agarwood, sandalwood, Polygonum multiflorum, Poria cocos...
The Dream Spirit Incense requires nine kinds of fragrance powder. After all the powders are mixed, nanmu wood adhesive powder is added to increase the binding strength.
This step was clearly about fragrance blending, and no one asked any questions.
Clearly, they all assumed that the fragrance formula belonged to Gu Tang.
Gu Tang was very satisfied with her father and the others' reaction. She could give them the things, but they couldn't force her to take them.
"After preparing the spice powder, mix it several times, then add the glutinous rice paste..."
"No water?" Gu Ping'an held a pen in his hand and actually wrote down the steps.
"Whether you add water or not is up to you, but remember one thing: if you add water, then you should add less glutinous rice paste."
If you don't add it, then add more glutinous rice paste, and knead it into a paste. It shouldn't be too soft or too dry.
Gu Tang handed them the dough balls she had kneaded herself, letting them touch them.
"This level is fine. Finally, keep pressing and kneading."
"After kneading, this fragrant paste can be made into fragrant cakes, fragrant balls, fragrant beads, or incense sticks, etc."
Gu Tang pinched off a small clump from a large mass of fragrant mud and kept kneading it in his palms until his hands were warm, activating his skill.
As the skill is activated, the system panel automatically pops up.
On one side of the system panel, a smaller blue screen lit up instantly, and rows of options began to flash.
Gu Tang silently chanted the incense sticks, and the various options on the small blue screen began to scroll rapidly, eventually stopping on the incense sticks.
She took the thick bamboo tube, pulled out the thinner part inside, put the kneaded fragrant mud into the tube, and then inserted the thinner part back into the tube, squeezing it tightly.
"See this small hole at the bottom of the bamboo tube? The incense paste will come out from here and become the most common incense sticks."
Gu Tang began to turn the thin bamboo tube clockwise, as if he were tightening a screw.
As the thin bamboo tube rotates, the bottom is squeezed downwards. When it is squeezed to a certain extent, a thin, long incense stick begins to emerge from the small hole at the bottom.
Gu Tang asked her father to catch the incense sticks in a basket. After squeezing out all the incense paste from the tube, she took the drying net and straightened the soft incense sticks in the basket, placing them on the drying net to dry.
At this point, the incense sticks are a single, continuous strip. After being placed on the drying rack, they can be cut to the desired length.
Gu Tang cut the incense sticks to the normal length. After arranging them all, she cut off both ends to make sure they were neat, and then she took them out to dry.
"Since the sun is not out now, let the incense dry slowly inside the house."
Gu Tang placed the drying net on the table so they could observe it carefully, and asked, "Well? Did you understand? Who wants to try it first?"
"Father, go first!" This suggestion was exactly what Gu Lianshan wanted to hear, and he was the first to respond.
Without waiting for Gu Tang to say whether it was okay or not, he stepped forward, grabbed a lump of fragrant mud, and started rolling it in his palm.
Gu Ping'an looked on with envy: "Dad, can you let me go first?"
"Go away! Get in line at the back!" Gu Lianshan ignored him and, mimicking Gu Tang's actions, took out the thin bamboo tube from the thick bamboo tube while it was spinning, and then stuffed in a lump of fragrant mud.
Once the incense paste has fallen to the bottom of the bamboo tube, the thin bamboo tube is then placed inside while rotating it. As it rotates, the small hole from which the incense comes out is kept in close watch, for fear of missing the incense and letting the incense, which is just "out of the oven," fall to the ground.
As the thin bamboo tube rotates and squeezes continuously, the incense-emitting hole quickly begins to emit fragrance.
Third Uncle held a basket to help him catch the incense sticks, and soon he had filled a small basket with them, which were limp and soggy.
So far, everything has been going smoothly, and Gu Lianshan was grinning foolishly with joy.
After squeezing out the incense paste from the tube, he couldn't wait to take the basket and try to find an incense drying net like Gu Tang did, and put the incense sticks on it.
Gu Tang helped him set up the drying net and gave him a special instruction: "Be gentle, use a light touch, or it will break."
"I know, I know..." Gu Lianshan nodded repeatedly, his large hand finding the incense stick, thinking he could pick it up with a single squeeze like Gu Tang, but because he didn't dare to use force, he couldn't pick it up even after two squeezes.
After failing twice in a row, Gu Lianshan became anxious and suddenly put in more effort, only to find that he had used too much force and simply turned the clay into mud...
Gu Tang told him not to rush: "Take your time. Today we'll only learn this one method. Try it a few more times, and you'll get better with practice."
After saying this, she plopped down on the stool to rest, looking completely at ease, without the slightest hint of impatience.
snort!
Let's see who dares to say she has no patience now!
Gu Tang relaxed, and Gu Lianshan's tense nerves also loosened up considerably, allowing them to continue trying.
After failing five or six times in a row, I finally managed to lift the limp incense sticks and then tried to place them on the drying rack.
It's likely that he used too much force when placing the incense on the drying rack, causing it to suddenly break. In the end, only a finger-length stick of incense remained on the drying rack.
Gu Tang glanced at it and immediately encouraged, "You've made progress! Don't rush, keep going."
With this encouragement, Gu Lianshan regained his confidence.
So next, he began to perform the art of breaking incense.
Some broke as soon as they were picked up, some broke just before they were uploaded online, and some broke while being organized even after they had been successfully uploaded online.
At first, Gu Tang watched with great interest, but then she gradually lost interest.
She stretched and got up to mix sandalwood and calming incense.
Agarwood is made into incense sticks, while calming incense is made into incense cakes and pills, which look more attractive and impressive than incense sticks when given as gifts.
After preparing the incense powder, she put the sandalwood powder into a sachet. Once her father learned how to make incense sticks, she would have him make them, while she would make calming incense.
Gu Ping'an glanced at his father's side, then at Gu Tang's side, feeling very conflicted, unsure which way to look.
After hesitating for a while, he decided to go to Gu Tang's place and temporarily abandon his father's side.
His father is still cutting off the incense offerings, and it's hard to say how long it will take before it's his turn. He should probably go to his second sister's place and learn something else.
Making incense cakes and incense balls is very simple; it just takes longer to press the incense paste back and forth, which is a bit strenuous.
Once the fragrant mud was finished, Gu Tang threw him several wooden molds of different shapes. He filled the molds with the fragrant mud, pressed it down firmly, and after a while, he tapped them out.
Gu Tang didn't use molds; she relied on her skills to mold various shapes of fragrant cakes by hand, making Gu Ping'an envious.
"Second sister! Can I, like you, sculpt by hand without using molds someday?"
Gu Tang: ...You can't!
"Yes, as the saying goes, practice makes perfect. Once you've done enough, you'll be able to sculpt it eventually."
That's a bit of nonsense, but there's always a chance of something going wrong.
What if Gu Pingan actually succeeds?
You have to give people hope, don't you think?
Gu Ping'an was unaware of Gu Tang's inner thoughts. He believed Gu Tang's words and was overjoyed. He kept working and soon made a lot of fragrant cakes.
After making the incense cakes, continue making the incense balls.
Gu Ping'an still used a mold, while Gu Tang still sculpted by hand.
She not only sculpted them by hand, but also used a small carving knife to carve each incense ball into various rounded little flowers.
Each one is a masterpiece, absolutely stunning!
Gu Ping'an completely forgot about incense sticks and pestered Gu Tang, wanting to learn how to carve incense balls.
Gu Tang scratched her head. She had learned to do all this through her skills. If she were to teach this skill, she would really need to figure it out properly.
“Since you suddenly want to learn this, I don’t have a plan and don’t know where to start teaching you. Let me sort things out first, and then I’ll teach you. For now, you should learn how to make incense sticks.”
Mentioning incense sticks, Gu Ping'an glanced at his father and saw that his father was still struggling with the incense sticks, which made him feel disheartened.
Why is it so difficult to learn how to make incense sticks?
Gu Tang leaned closer to take a look and saw that the incense drying net had yielded some results, with several sticks of incense arranged crookedly and of varying lengths.
To be honest, it's really hard to look at.
But Gu Tang didn't dampen her spirits; instead, she praised him again: "You've improved again! As I said before, practice makes perfect! Take your time, no rush..."
Gu Lianshan glanced at her briefly, a thought creeping onto his mind.
His daughter talks a good game, but I don't know if she's telling the truth.
do not care.
Real or fake, he's going to take this incense stick to heart today!
He refused to believe that he could never learn it!
Gu Lianshan regained his focus and continued working!
Perhaps it was true that "practice makes perfect," because Gu Lianshan didn't stop working from morning until noon.
Finally, perseverance paid off, and the limp incense stick in my hand finally broke!
He held his breath and concentrated, placing all the incense sticks onto the drying rack in one go, making them barely neat.
Gu Tang glanced at it and thought, "So-so, it's passable."
Gu Lianshan was extremely happy, as he had finally mastered the technique through practice.
Gu Tang, with great insight, offered praise: "When I first tried making incense sticks, I spent a whole month trying to stop the incense burning. Now you've mastered the technique in just half a day. It's clear that your talent is truly exceptional!"
Gu Lianshan was very pleased. He listened to his daughter praising him, and regardless of whether it was true or not, he was just as happy. His eyes were full of joy.