Chapter 63 – Solar Stove

What was killing him was that, in this era, people in the countryside didn’t seem to care much about hair hygiene. Both adults and children had lice in their hair. Because of this, Zhou Yimin had specially brought back several bars of soap, giving two of them to Third Aunt’s family, just so they could wash their hair now and then.

At this time, there was no such thing as shampoo. People used soap bars for both bathing and hair washing.

Zhou Yimin, in his past life, had also used soap for bathing, hair washing, and even laundry when he was young. But somehow, a rumor began to spread that soap was bad for the hair and scalp—it would cause hair loss, dandruff, and so on.

After that, everyone switched to using shampoo. But as time went on, people realized shampoo caused even more hair loss. How many people in modern society ended up with male-pattern baldness or were completely bald?

In fact, that rumor had just been made up by shampoo manufacturers to promote their product.

Just like the whole MSG scare.

In some especially poor areas, people couldn’t even afford soap, so some people’s hair was completely matted, already hardened into clumps.

Zhou Yimin felt uncomfortable just looking at it.

He took out a pair of scissors and had Laicai take off his shirt. He figured he might as well give him a haircut and then a bath.

No need to care about hairstyle—what does a kid need to look handsome for?

After a flurry of action, while he didn’t look like a monk, there was definitely a bit of a reformed convict vibe going on.

“Alright, go take a bath. Use the soap and scrub yourself well—get clean.” Zhou Yimin instructed him.

Then he called over Laifang.

Naturally, a girl couldn’t be given the same haircut. He gave her a hairstyle that would become quite popular in a couple of years—the Liu Hulan cut.

Neat and straight hair just long enough to cover the ears.

After cutting it, he also picked out the lice from her hair and sprayed medicine into it.

“Don’t move around. Sit here for half an hour.”

The old lady stood a short distance away, grinning as she watched Zhou Yimin running around, tending to his younger siblings.

Third Aunt came back to breastfeed Qianqian and, seeing the scene, felt happy too. It showed that Yimin was willing to be close to her children. When Laicai tried to just wipe himself off half-heartedly, she scolded him thoroughly and nearly dragged out the “torture devices.”

“Yimin’s haircut is actually pretty good,” Third Aunt said to the old lady with praise.

She knew that kind of talk was what the old lady liked to hear.

The old lady nodded. “Well, Yimin grew up in the city. He’s knowledgeable and well-informed…”

Zhou Yimin’s face turned red hearing this. Laicai’s head looked like it had been chewed by a dog.

And they could still praise that?

He was speechless.

“Yimin, what are you doing now?” the old lady asked as she saw her grandson heading back into the kitchen.

What kind of man kept running into the kitchen all day?

“I’m heating up some water—Laifang needs to wash her hair later,” Zhou Yimin replied.

The water from the hand pump was a bit cold. Laicai’s reaction had already made that clear. But he was already washed, so it didn’t matter anymore. Laifang, being a girl, deserved to have warm water.

Third Aunt quickly said, “Why use hot water?”

The old lady chimed in, “Let your Third Aunt boil the water. Yimin, you should rest.”

She still doted on her grandson.

“Yes, I’ll do it.” Third Aunt agreed, put down the now-fed Qianqian, and headed into the kitchen.

Zhou Yimin remained where he was, and suddenly thought of a miraculous device for boiling water—the solar stove, which had been all the rage in the 1980s and 1990s. It wasn’t just for boiling water. It was said that in the North, some people even used it for cooking meals.

Speaking of solar stoves, their structure was actually very simple. The most critical component was the focusing mirror—a curved, concave reflective surface.

It used reflected sunlight to concentrate solar energy onto a single point. Then a stand was set up so the energy focus point would land precisely on a water kettle or a cooking pot.

According to what Zhou Yimin knew, solar stoves were very popular in northern rural areas during the ’80s and ’90s.

Boiling a kettle of water with a solar stove took about twenty minutes, and in summer, it was even faster.

First, it didn’t require a fire, which saved firewood and coal. Second, once the kettle or pot was set in place, it required little attention, which saved time and effort.

It was precisely these advantages that made solar stoves immediately popular with the masses once they appeared.

The structure of a solar stove was even simpler than that of a hand pump. There was no technical barrier at all, and it was very practical.

Bringing this kind of thing out early was not a problem.

Zhou Yimin decided to make one, so that in the future his grandparents could conveniently boil water.

So he went back to his room and began drawing the design.

In solar stove designs, typically only the projected shape of the stove body is provided. So, when drawing the actual contour lines of the stove on the model, the projection on the ground must closely match the designed shape and size.

The center of the stove body needed a rectangular opening to allow for tilt adjustment. The width of this opening was usually about 50 millimeters, and its length had to accommodate the angle range of the tilt.

The design drawing was simple, and within half an hour, Zhou Yimin had it completed.

“Grandma, I’m heading back to the city for a bit. No need to cook for me tonight.”

“Alright, go ahead. Be safe.”

Lately, their beloved grandson had been coming home nearly every day. The elderly couple was already very happy—they wouldn’t dream of keeping him locked at home.

Before it got dark, Zhou Yimin returned to the courtyard.

“Yimin, come have dinner at our place tonight,” Huang Suqin called out as soon as she saw him.

“Alright! I’ll take you up on that, Aunt Huang.”

He had originally thought of just grabbing some bread or crackers from his in-head store and calling it a night. But since someone had extended an invitation, he might as well go!

The original Zhou Yimin had often eaten at others’ homes anyway—there was nothing to be embarrassed about.

Seeing that he agreed, Huang Suqin happily went off to cook.

Zhou Yimin took a kilo of peanut oil and went over to Third uncle’s house.

“Brother Yimin, my dad’s home,” Little Radish Head said as soon as he saw him, knowing he must be looking for his dad.

Zhou Yimin pulled out two White Rabbit creamy candies and handed them to him. “Give one to your sister.”

“Okay! Thanks, Brother Yimin!”

It was White Rabbit candy! The boy was thrilled and ran off to show his sister his treasure.

“Yimin, have you eaten? I’ll have your third aunt—” Third uncle Yang Zhenhua saw Zhou Yimin arriving with goods and immediately knew it wasn’t just a casual visit.

Zhou Yimin waved him off. “No need, Aunt Huang already invited me to eat later.”

“Alright, I won’t be formal then,” Third uncle nodded.

Zhou Yimin put the bottle of oil on the table and got straight to the point. “Third uncle, it’s more or less the same thing as last time. I need help finding someone to make something. It’s very simple.”

Third uncle could already smell the peanut oil.

“No problem!” He agreed right away without a second thought.

After all, last time had stirred up quite a bit, and nothing bad came of it. Now he felt bolder.

“So, what are you inventing this time?” he asked, curious.

Zhou Yimin took out the blueprint. “Let me keep the suspense a bit. Just have the craftsmen make two. Once they’re done, I’ll put one in the courtyard to show everyone. It’s definitely a good thing. Everyone in the yard should find it useful.”

Third uncle glanced at it. He wasn’t an engineer, but the diagram was simple enough that he understood it at a glance.

He just didn’t know what the thing was for.

But hearing Zhou Yimin say that, he was even more intrigued.

(End of Chapter)