Chapter 54: Beeswax

“Liang, I still have a few things I need your help with making.”

After breakfast, Lin Heng found Liang, the carpenter, who was working on a wooden door.

“What is it?” Liang asked curiously, as Lin Heng usually asked him to make rather unusual things.

Lin Heng immediately took him to the front and back yard to show him his plans.

The backyard was nearly finished, just needing some flowers and plants. The stone path was already laid.

In the front yard, Lin Heng had planned an area for planting vegetables, and Xiulan was already planting. At this time of year, peppers, green beans, yard-long beans, eggplants, tomatoes, and bok choy could all be planted.

After hearing Lin Heng’s plans, Liang was visibly surprised and said, “Your planning is brilliant. I even envy the backyard! Setting up a small table there for meals would be really nice. I’ll remember what you’ve said. It’s not hard to do, and after I finish the doors, I’ll help you make these.”

Since he was getting paid every day and enjoyed having meat with every meal, he didn’t want to leave.

“Thanks, I appreciate it,” Lin Heng smiled and nodded.

After finishing the talk with Liang, Lin Heng went to help Xiulan plant the garden. The plot wasn’t large, so it only took an hour to finish—Lin Heng dug the holes and Xiulan dropped the seeds.

While planting, Lin Heng noticed Xiulan’s lips were cracked. In this era, industrial products were expensive, and rural women rarely bought cosmetics.

The main plants in the garden were yard-long beans, green beans, tomatoes, and peppers.

After planting, Lin Heng put the hoe aside and said, “Let’s go, help me move the fish fry.”

“Okay,” Xiulan smiled sweetly, put down the hoe, and followed Lin Heng.

They got two buckets, and Xiulan scooped the fish fry while Lin Heng carried the water to the fish pond. The fish fry were so small that they had to pour all the water from the wooden buckets into the pond.

Worried that the fry might escape, Lin Heng blocked the water outlet of the pond with a cloth.

“I’ll help you!” Seeing Lin Heng bend over carrying the bucket, Lin Heng’s father took over.

“I can’t help it, my shoulder hurts,” Lin Heng chuckled, and slowly got another wooden bucket.

After transferring all the fish fry into the pond, Lin Heng finally felt at ease.

Over the past few days, the number of fish fry had decreased significantly. There were probably fifty to sixty thousand initially, but now it was probably only half that number. Fish die naturally, which is normal. A single grass carp can lay millions of eggs, but only a few thousand fry survive the first year, and only a hundred or so grow into large fish.

“Xiulan, give me a piece of money.” After finishing with the fish pond, Lin Heng said.

“Okay.” Xiulan didn’t ask why and went inside to get it.

It was Lin Heng’s money, so of course, he had the right to spend it.

Lin Heng put the money in his pocket without saying what he was going to do, then took a basket and a small hoe and went to the nearby creek.

The creek had a complex ecosystem, so Lin Heng first dug up several stones, scooped some duckweed, and caught some snails.

He also dug up two wild orchids and several ferns.

Aside from the orchids, all of these would be used to decorate the fish pond. A pond without plants would not look nice.

He planted the stones, scattered the duckweed, and the pond immediately looked more natural.

The two orchids in the yard also made it look more harmonious.

“As for the other things, I’ll add them slowly,” Lin Heng muttered to himself.

Seeing the time, it was almost noon, so he took the money Xiulan had given him and went out.

First, he went to Liu’s house, which kept bees, and bought five pounds of old, unusable beehives for two pennies.

He also asked around to find someone who sold camellia oil, and he was surprised to find out that Liu’s family, not far from his own, had it.

When he arrived at Liu’s house, Liu Changgen was making breakfast. He greeted Lin Heng with a smile, “Lin Heng, what are you carrying?”

Everyone in the village had heard about Lin Heng hunting a badger, and now people treated him with a little more respect.

“Old beehives, bought them for two pennies,” Lin Heng said with a smile.

“What do you need those for?” Liu Lan, who was in the kitchen, came out and asked, confused.

“Ha, they’re useful for something,” Lin Heng replied without elaborating.

He then asked, “I heard your family has camellia oil, is that true?”

“Yes, we bought some from the neighboring town six months ago, for the elderly, for their ears, and we still have about seven or eight taels,” Liu Changgen said.

“Then sell me half a jin for three cents,” Lin Heng smiled and said.

“I’ll go get it for you.” Without waiting for her husband to respond, Liu Lan went to fetch it.

Since the camellia oil was of little use to them, selling it for money was better.

“Thanks,” Lin Heng said as he left with half a jin of camellia oil.

When he returned home, Lin Heng gave the remaining fifty cents to Xiulan.

“Why are you buying all this stuff? And you even brought back a bunch of flowers,” Xiulan asked curiously, seeing the old beehives, camellia oil, and the bouquet of roses, gardenias, and camellias.

“You’ll see soon enough,” Lin Heng smiled and went to work.

He found a small pot used for boiling meat during the New Year and set up a small stove in the yard, starting a fire.

He placed the pot on top, crushed the beehives, and threw them into the pot.

As the beeswax was being boiled, Caiyun returned and curiously approached. Her big eyes showed clear confusion, “Second Brother, what are you doing?”

“He’s melting beeswax, am I right?” Liu Juan, the eldest sister-in-law, immediately guessed.

“Yes,” Lin Heng nodded.

“Then Second Brother, what are you going to do with the beeswax?” Caiyun asked, looking very curious.

“Something…” Lin Heng smiled.

“Once I’m done, I’ll give you a piece,” he said, looking at his sister.

“Okay,” Caiyun nodded. Her second brother always had surprises.

Soon, the beeswax was ready. Lin Heng used several sheets of palm leaves as a filter and strained the leftover beehive bits twice.

Looking at the black liquid in the pot, Lin Heng set it aside to cool naturally, knowing the beeswax would solidify at the top once cooled.

This completed the first step. Then, Lin Heng found an old tin can, cleaned it, and dried it. He poured half a cup of camellia oil into it.

He then picked the flower petals from the flowers he had gathered and stuffed them into the jar. After filling the jar, he sealed it and placed it in a pot of boiling water to heat.

His family watched in increasing confusion, unable to guess what he was doing.

In the past, they might have criticized him for wasting time, but now, they were all curious to see what he would come up with.

(End of Chapter)