Soap
That day, Bai Wu returned from looking at tiles at the pottery kiln to find the house deserted.
Bai Wu found this very strange.
His two fathers had gone to the woods to collect honey; it was normal that they weren’t near the nest.
It was An’s turn to cook today, but he wasn’t home. Where had he gone?
Bai Wu took the earthenware pot from the hearth, washed it, and boiled water to make some fish soup.
The fish were in a small puddle beside the vegetable garden. Bai Wu picked out a few barely lively fish and took them to the hearth to scale and gut them.
Halfway through, An rushed up from the foot of the mountain. “Wu, you’re back!”
“Where have you been? You’re all sweaty.”
An leaned closer, looking on with a gossipy expression. “You know Chu and his partner had a fight today, right?”
“How would I know?”
An was disappointed. “Aren’t you curious why?”
“Why?”
An’s eyes lit up. He grabbed a wooden stool and sat opposite Bai Wu, winking. “Chu’s partner pulled him down to lie in the grass—you know, that!”
An fiddled with his fingers, afraid the innocent sub-beastman wouldn’t understand.
Bai Wu lifted his eyelids. “And then?”
“Aren’t you curious at all?” An asked, somewhat disappointed. “Then Chu’s robe got stuck underneath, and was stained with yellowish-green grass juice, it looked awful. Chu scrubbed it for ages but couldn’t get it clean, so he argued with his partner.”
Bai Wu was speechless. “You all went to see this spectacle?”
“Who went to see the spectacle? We were all comforting Chu. The robe was so precious, it’s such a pity it was ruined like that. Wu, do you have any way to save that robe?”
Bai Wu knew Chu.
That sub-beastman was exceptionally skillful; he had fitted the robe at the waist, sewn purple fabric patterns onto the collar, and even sewn a small dried flower on the chest.
No wonder he argued with his partner after all that effort he put into making the garment. Bai Wu thought for a moment, “The robe has stains; we can take it to the river to wash it clean, or sew other pieces of cloth over it to cover them up.”
“His robe is so patterned; sewing other pieces of cloth over it won’t look good, and it won’t get clean anyway. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have argued with his beastman!”
“Won’t get clean?” Bai Wu repeated, slapping his forehead, muttering, “I knew I forgot something! I forgot to make soap!”
Everyone used grey water to wash their hair and bathe, and Bai Wu, adapting to local customs, didn’t find it particularly uncomfortable, since he didn’t use it often anyway.
He had thought about making some soap before, but he’d gotten so busy that he’d forgotten.
An looked blankly at Bai Wu. “What’s soap?”
“It’s something really useful for washing your hair, bathing, and washing clothes,” Bai Wu said quickly, shoving the fish he was holding into An’s hands. “You clean the fish and cook, I’ll go get some ash water to make soap.”
An shouted, “Right now?”
“Yes!”
They cooked every day, so a lot of ash piled up by the hearth.
Bai Wu took out two broken earthenware pots, dissolved the ash in water, stirred it well, and then filtered the ash water through a cloth.
He added more ash to the filtered ash water, stirred it repeatedly, and then filtered it again.
After filtering three times, Bai Wu had a pot of grayish water.
He put the filtered ash water aside. “An, watch this ash water for me, don’t spill it. I’m going to pick some grass.”
“What kind of grass?”
“Cooling herbs.”
Cooling herbs are a bit like mint, they taste cool and have a very refreshing aroma, but you can’t eat them since they’ll give you diarrhea. The people in the tribe used to crush it and apply it to their skin to repel mosquitoes.
Bai Wu had tried it too, but he didn’t like it because it was so fragrant and lasted so long; he usually used a different kind of herb for mosquito repellent.
This herb was too fragrant to apply directly, but it was perfect for making soap.
Bai Wu excitedly flew to the riverbank, to the place where he had previously found the cooling herb.
There wasn’t much cooling herb; he walked along the river for a while and only found two small bunches, barely enough to make two batches of soap.
Bai Wu took the cooling herb back.
Chuan and Mo had already returned and were cooking dinner by the fire pit.
Chuan called Bai Wu to dinner. “Why did you suddenly want some cooling herbs? I should have brought some back for you.”
“To make soap. Dad, I’ll use up all the animal oil later.”
“Is that enough? If not, we can exchange some tomorrow.”
“That’s enough for today. We’ll talk about tomorrow’s needs then.”
Bai Wu finished his dinner quickly, put down his bowl and chopsticks, and said, “I’m going to squeeze the juice from the cooling herbs.”
An followed suit, shoveling the food from his bowl into his mouth. “I’ll go help too!”
Bai Wu found a smooth stone, spread the cooling herbs on it, and then crushed them with the stone, squeezing the juice into a broken earthenware bowl.
The juice felt very cool on his hands, even a little spicy. The aroma was very strong, and even a bit pungent.
An squatted nearby, watching. “Shall I get you the ash water now?”
“Start a fire. I need to boil animal fat in a clay pot.”
“Why boil animal fat?”
An looked puzzled, but still went to start a fire and boil the animal fat for him.
The animal fat in the tribe was made from the fat of various animals; whatever animal they had on hand, they would use to make the fat.
The rendered animal fat wasn’t stored separately; it was mixed together directly.
The animal fat smelled slightly fishy, but it looked beautiful. It was a pool of lustrous white, slightly solidifying in the black clay pot.
Bai Wu scooped out a small portion of the animal fat and put it into the broken clay pot to boil.
The animal fat quickly melted under the flames, turning into a bright yellow liquid.
Bai Wu held his hand above the broken clay pot, and after feeling the slight heat, used dry grass as a cushion to lift the entire pot out.
An watched his movements intently. “Is that enough?”
“Not yet. Bring me the ash water.”
“Coming!” An quickly handed him the ash water. “And then?”
“Stand back a bit. I’m a little worried this jar might explode.” Bai Wu gestured to An, then slowly poured the ash water into the broken earthenware jar containing hot oil.
The oil wasn’t too hot, and Bai Wu didn’t pour in much ash water, successfully protecting the jar from exploding.
As soon as the ash water was poured in, the oil immediately became cloudy.
After pouring about a bowl of ash water, Bai Wu set the jar aside and then used a wooden stick to stir the ash water and oil in one direction.
An watched from the side.
After observing for a while, he noticed, “Wow! The oil in the jar has changed!”
Bai Wu continued working. Now, the oil and ash water in the jar were almost completely mixed together; there was no visible oil or water, only half a jar of creamy mixture.
Bai Wu picked up a little with his fingertip and rubbed it. It felt very smooth and creamy, and its cleaning power was quite good; the herbal juice on his fingers was rubbed off.
“Brother, could you bring me some cooling herbs?”
“Can I just add the cooling herbal juice directly?”
“Add half; the other half is for the next batch.”
The cooling herbal juice was mixed with a few broken leaves. After adding it and stirring, the milky yellow paste turned green, and a fragrant aroma wafted out, already smelling very much like floral soap.
Bai Wu was very satisfied.
He poured the mixed soap onto the prepared leaves. Once the soap dried, it would be ready to use.
An watched as he turned a jar of oil into soap, and his eyes wide with astonishment. He examined it closely, confirming that the oil and water truly did indeed form a paste when mixed.
By the time it came to the second jar of soap, his curiosity got the better of him, and he insisted on stirring it himself.
Bai Wu granted his request, directing him as he stirred while bringing over more clean leaves.
Chuan and Mo watched from the side, equally amazed.
Chuan asked, “This oil is so slippery; it’s impossible to get it clean on your hands after pouring it on. Can you really use it to wash your hair and body after mixing it with ash water?”
“Dad, if you’re curious, just try it. No matter how amazing I make it sound, it’s useless,” Bai Wu said, cutting a corner off the freshly made soap with a piece of wood. “Now you can take a small piece to bathe with.”
Chuan rubbed his hands together, holding his fingers up to his eyes. “It seems to really work.”
Mo pulled him along. “Then let’s go try it.”
Bai Wu waved his hand. “Tell me how it goes when you get back.”
The two fathers went to bathe.
Looking at the second jar of soap he had just made, An felt a surge of accomplishment and insisted, “I want to take a bath too!”
“Wait until dad and father return,” Bai Wu said, shaping the soap with a piece of wood. “If it works well, bring some for your friends tomorrow.”
“No problem.”
An was very curious about the soap and even brought a new robe for his bath.
Scented soap deserves a scented robe.
After their fathers returned, the two brothers eagerly flew to the riverbank upstream to bathe.
An took off his robe, threw it on the bank, and jumped into the water with a splash. He wet his skin and then rubbed the soap on it.
Bai Wu washed his hands with the soap, finding it quite effective. He looked up to ask An, but seeing An’s serious expression, he was startled. “What’s wrong?”
“The soap smells so good and is so slippery!” An rubbed his waist and abdomen, his face showing an exaggerated expression. “Slipperier than oil!”
“That’s how it works. Just wash it with water, and it’ll be clean in no time.”
An squatted down, splashed water on himself, and quickly scrubbed himself clean.
He looked down and smelled his arms; a faint fragrance wafted out. “It works! It’s much easier than washing with ash.”
“Mm. It’s not as harsh on the skin.” Bai Wu thoroughly washed his hair and body. “I should have made the soap first. Brother, help me scrub my back.”
An took the grass leaves from his hands. “Should I be gentler?”
“Yes!”
The two brothers finished washing each other’s hair and bodies, transformed back into their animal forms, and flew back to the tribe.
An could still smell the faint fragrance emanating from his body before going to sleep.
He sniffed the soap hard and announced, “I’m going to take another bath with this soap tomorrow.”
“Great! You can take your friends with you and teach them how to use it. By the way, don’t tell anyone how the soap is made; I want to trade it for something.”
“Wow, will we get a lot of things in return?”
“Probably not. Soap isn’t a necessity, and the cost isn’t high. Just take whatever you can get.”
“What do you want to trade?”
Bai Wu didn’t hesitate, “Sap for building houses!”
Large pieces of hide aren’t suitable for trading for resin.
Harvesting resin takes time. A tree only yields a piece of resin the size of a football a year. You need to harvest resin from dozens or even hundreds of nesting trees to make enough for one nest. If you don’t collect enough in a year, you have to wait until the following year.
The following year, the tribe might arrange for the next batch of young beastmen to harvest resin, leaving the previous ones with nowhere to harvest resin.
Therefore, no one would trade large amounts of resin for hides.
Soap is different. Exchanging a bar of soap for a ball-sized piece of resin isn’t a difficult thing for most families.
Even if they wanted to build a nest, it wouldn’t be that much difference.
An’s eyes widened in surprise. “Did you already think of this idea?”
“No, not really. I just had a vague idea before,” Bai Wu said. “Let’s give it a try. I feel like it shouldn’t be a big problem.”
An thought it made perfect sense.
The next morning, he got up early and urged Bai Wu to get him some soap.
He wanted to show his friends the magical soap!
Bai Wu used a piece of wood to trim the soap, collecting a small bag of the trimmed bars for him. “Each of you should have one bar. Don’t mix them; it’s unhygienic.”
“Why?”
“No reason. Go quickly. By the way, brother, tell everyone we’ve only made thirty-seven bars of soap so far. Once we’ve exchanged them, that’s it. Tell anyone who wants to exchange some to contact me as soon as possible.”
“Huh? Can’t we make more tonight?”
“Just tell everyone what I said. Give it a try. If we can really exchange enough resin for my house construction, I’ll make a special treat to celebrate.”