Chapter 24: Lighting the Kiln

At noon, under the scorching heat, all the birds and beasts had hidden away, and the forest was completely silent.

At the edge of the camp, Qin Tian and Ye Lin fetched stream water using bamboo tubes and poured it onto the dug-up yellow clay. They repeatedly **, turning the originally dry yellow clay into a soft and malleable substance, much like modeling clay.

Using this yellow clay, Qin Tian built a circular earth kiln around waist height within the camp.

The kiln was wide at the base and narrow at the top, with wooden slats wrapped in yellow clay separating the middle. The upper part was meant for placing the pottery, while the lower part served as the fire chamber.

Building the earth kiln was no small task. Qin Tian and Ye Lin spent the entire noon creating it, but before it could be put to use, it needed to be fired.

Gathering wood, Qin Tian and Ye Lin surrounded the kiln and lit the flames.

Under the burning fire, the kiln, originally yellow clay in color, gradually turned white, and its texture hardened considerably.

In fact, when firing pottery, this method could also be used, but pottery fired this way would be of much poorer quality and very prone to cracking.

***

Seeing the kiln was almost ready, Qin Tian and Ye Lin didn’t linger and turned their attention to the main event—shaping the pottery.

According to the Wildcraft Compendium, there are six methods of making pottery: Coil Building Method, Hand Pinching Method, Slab Forming Method, Molding Forming Method, Throwing Forming Method, and Slip Casting Method.

Of these, the last three require molds and machines, so Qin Tian immediately ruled them out.

Among the remaining three, the Slab Forming Method required very fine clay, which the current yellow clay could not meet, so it was also eliminated.

After comparing, Qin Tian chose the first method—the Coil Building Method.

Compared to the Hand Pinching Method, the Coil Building Method was simpler and required less skill. It was less likely to cause uneven clay surfaces, making it perfect for a beginner like him.

***

With the clay ready, Qin Tian sat cross-legged and began demonstrating for Ye Lin.

“Before making pottery, first create a base with an appropriate amount of clay.”

For his first attempt, Qin Tian shaped a base about half the size of a fist, planning to make a clay bowl to practice.

Next, Qin Tian rolled the clay into long strips. “Then, according to the thickness and size needed for the object, roll the clay into evenly sized coils.”

“Finally, wrap the coils around the base, one by one, shaping it into the desired form.” As he spoke, Qin Tian started coiling the clay strips around the base.

However, as more coils were added, Qin Tian’s expression grew increasingly strained, and the shape in his hands became stranger.

After a moment, Qin Tian stopped. The clay in his hands had turned into an indescribable, messy disc. Beside him, Ye Lin’s eye twitched repeatedly.

“This looks like…”

“No! It’s not! You’re imagining things.”

“Qin Tian…”

“Shut up!”

With no change in expression, Qin Tian threw the clay aside. He couldn’t understand how he ended up with such a mess while coiling.

Feeling utterly embarrassed, Qin Tian turned his back. “The clay is very soft, so you must be careful when shaping it, or else you’ll end up making strange things like I did.”

“You saw the method; you can try it yourself.” With that, Qin Tian resumed working the clay, determined to make a clay bowl.

***

Not rushing to act, Qin Tian reflected and realized his failures came from impatience and not allowing the coils to properly bond.

Understanding this, Qin Tian slowed down significantly. Each time he added a coil, he pinched it with his hands to ensure it wouldn’t collapse.

After ten minutes of effort, Qin Tian finally made his first clay bowl. Although it had a shape, it was crooked and far from perfect.

I refuse to believe a simple clay bowl could be so difficult!

Decisively tossing the bowl aside, Qin Tian began his third attempt.

After two failures, Qin Tian finally grasped the trick and managed to produce a passable clay bowl.

Feeling elated, Qin Tian turned around holding the bowl, intending to redeem himself. “Ye Lin, how are yours coming along?”

His voice grew quieter toward the end.

In front of Ye Lin lay three clay bowls, each evenly shaped. Looking at his own, Qin Tian felt ashamed.

“How many have you made?” Ye Lin looked up. “What about you?”

A shiver ran through him. Without hesitation, Qin Tian slapped his clay bowl, turning it back into a lump of mud. Unfortunately, Ye Lin saw it.

She paused in surprise, then instantly understood and secretly rejoiced.

Since being stranded on the deserted island, Qin Tian had taken charge of survival tasks—building camp, gathering food—while Ye Lin was left with minor duties, often feeling useless.

But now, seeing that she was better at pottery than Qin Tian gave her a great sense of accomplishment and usefulness.

Recalling Qin Tian’s earlier disdain, Ye Lin teased and sighed, “But none of them are very satisfying.”

“No, none of them are very satisfying…” Although she was teasing, Qin Tian felt as if an arrow had struck his heart.

Yet he understood that everyone had their strengths and quickly adjusted his mindset.

***

Qin Tian decided to hand over all pottery-making duties to Ye Lin. “Forget making clay bowls for now. Try making a clay pot for cooking. I’ll handle firing the kiln.”

The pottery was still half-finished at this stage. Whether it would be usable or not would only be known after firing.

Before firing, the pottery needed to dry thoroughly. Otherwise, cracks would easily form during firing. So Qin Tian placed Ye Lin’s clay bowls under the sun to dry.

Though it was past noon, the sunlight remained strong. After half an hour, the pottery was ready for the kiln.

Qin Tian placed the three bowls Ye Lin made into the earth kiln and lit the fire.

The firing process would take about an hour. During this time, Qin Tian stayed by the kiln, continually adding wood to maintain temperature.

When the time was up, Qin Tian extinguished the fire and waited for a while until the kiln cooled. He then took out the bowls to inspect them one by one.

At that moment, Ye Lin stopped her work and approached.

Qin Tian found a crack on the first bowl and felt worried, fearing he had failed to control the temperature and ruined the entire batch. Fortunately, the other two were intact, which eased his mind.

He then tapped the two bowls. The clear, crisp sound confirmed they were relatively sturdy.

Finally, Qin Tian took a bamboo tube and poured clear water into the bowls, watching them intently with Ye Lin.

One minute passed, and the bowls showed no issues.

Two minutes passed, still firm.

At three minutes, Ye Lin excitedly said, “Qin Tian, we did it!”

***

Before she could celebrate too soon, Qin Tian smashed all three bowls to pieces.

Ye Lin was shocked, not understanding why Qin Tian would destroy the bowls. “Why did you break the bowls?”

Signaling for her to calm down, Qin Tian picked up the fragments. “In pottery, there is a material called grog, made by grinding fired pottery.”

“When mixed into the clay during pottery-making, grog increases the clay’s viscosity and reduces shrinkage during firing, making the fired pottery harder.”

As he spoke, Qin Tian rubbed two shards together, fine powder falling off.

Seeing this, Ye Lin immediately understood Qin Tian’s reasoning.

***

It was already afternoon, and the sun would set soon, but thanks to their joint efforts, Qin Tian and Ye Lin managed to finish firing the clay pot before dark.

At seven in the evening, stars glittered in the night sky. Usually, Qin Tian and Ye Lin would have finished eating and rested by this time, but tonight was different.

By the stone stove, Qin Tian lit a fire and placed the freshly fired clay pot on it.

Soon, the pot glowed red hot under the fierce flames. Seeing this, Qin Tian told Ye Lin to step back and threw in the pork fat that had been cut earlier.

As Ye Lin had mentioned before, the pork fat had been kept for a day and had started to smell. Another day would have caused it to rot, so Qin Tian hurried to process it.

“Sizzle—”

The moment it hit the pot, white smoke shot up but quickly dispersed, leaving only the sizzling sound.

Looking closely, the white pork fat danced in the pot, releasing a fragrant aroma as the oil gradually rendered out.

“It smells so good,” Ye Lin said upon catching the scent of lard.

“I haven’t smelled this in a long time,” Qin Tian said nostalgically.

Lard was something unique to rural and urban areas. Since coming to the city, he hadn’t seen it again. The smell reminded him of the lard-soaked rice he often ate as a child.

Snapping back to reality, Qin Tian looked at Ye Lin and said, “Come help me prepare the materials for making soap before the lard solidifies.”

“Okay.” Ye Lin nodded instinctively, then suddenly sensed something odd.

“What did you just say?” she asked, doubting her ears.

“I said we need to prepare the materials for making soap before the lard solidifies.” Qin Tian repeated with a smile.

“S-s-s-soap!?” Ye Lin’s voice instantly jumped several octaves.

“Yes, soap,” Qin Tian nodded firmly.

Without another word, Ye Lin hurried over, serious-faced.

“Are you alright?”

“Don’t worry, my brain works fine.” Qin Tian smiled wryly, understanding what Ye Lin was thinking.

“You’ll see soon enough.” Without further explanation, Qin Tian began gathering shells around the camp.