Chapter 73: Lime

“Brother, are you going to the noodle shop after breakfast?”

Xiaoguo looked at Qin Anming, who was eating his porridge hurriedly. He had woken up early and gone out to cut grass in the morning. He only returned when Xiaoguo asked him to come in for his breakfast.

“Yes, yes. I’ll be back early this afternoon. I’ll lay the tiles when I return.”

Qin Anming informed Xiaoguo that he would go early in the morning so that he could come back earlier in the afternoon.

Xiaoguo nodded. She was intending to tell him that there would be nothing much to do at the noodle shop today. He could just familiarize himself with the operations at the shop and help to prepare the ingredients. It would be fine even if he turned up a bit later. However, seeing how enthusiastic he was, she didn’t say anything. She picked up another piece of fried egg for him.

After Qin Anming finished his meal, he put down his bowl and headed out with the donkey cart. Xiaoguo looked at his back view, which was exuding with enthusiasm, and reminded him to come back early. Qin Anming gave a wave of his hand and left.

Xiaoguo went back to continue eating with Zhuang Zhuang. When he finished the porridge in his bowl, there was still a little left in the pot, so she scooped out the remaining portion for him.

“Mother, I can’t eat anymore…”

Zhuang Zhuang looked at the half-filled bowl of porridge and looked at Xiaoguo with tears in his eyes.

Xiaoguo had prepared a little too much food today. Seeing that Zhuang Zhuang was not quite full yet, she decided to negotiate with him.

“Zhuang Zhuang, let’s share this porridge, okay?”

Zhuang Zhuang nodded. “Okay!”

Xiaoguo gave Zhuang Zhuang the omelet and let him eat it with the porridge.

After the meal, Zhuang Zhuang went to wash the dishes as usual. Xiaoguo had nothing to do at home, so she decided to lay the tiles on the shed. It wasn’t difficult anyway. She could handle it herself.

Knowing that Zhuang Zhuang wanted to follow and help, Xiaoguo gave him an easy job. She asked him to help pass the tiles to her while she was on the ladder.

Zhuang Zhuang was very eager to move the tiles. While Xiaoguo was laying out the oil paper, he had already placed six or seven pieces of tiles below the ladder.

Xiaoguo asked Zhuang Zhuang to pass the tiles one by one while she tried to figure out their arrangement on the roof. With Zhuang Zhuang’s help, Xiaoguo saved a lot of time and finished covering up the entire roof within a short time.

Xiaoguo slowly descended the ladder and looked at the results. Not bad!

This time, she didn’t use up all the tiles she had bought. There were five or six unused tiles. Zhuang Zhuang moved them to the corner of the wall. The next thing she was going to do was to construct the food trough.

Zhuang Zhuang wanted to help with the lime mix, but Xiaoguo didn’t dare to let him touch that. She told him to keep moving the bricks while she went to the well to get water. Then she began to work on the lime.

She didn’t need a whole bag of lime. Pouring out half a bag of the powder, she made a hole in the middle and slowly added water.

Zhuang Zhuang had already placed the bricks in the shed. Xiaoguo used an unwanted basin to contain the lime mixture she just made, and brought it to the shed.

First, she spread a thick layer of the lime mixture on the ground. Then, she arranged the bricks on top of it. Layer by layer, she stacked the bricks on top of a layer of the lime mixture, until she had created a rectangular-shaped structure. Then, she applied a layer of the lime mixture on the internal and external surfaces. This way, both the inner and outer walls would be symmetrical.

She used the remaining bricks to build a smaller rectangular sink. By the same method, when she had laid the final brick for the structure, she covered up everything with a layer of lime.

Zhuang Zhuang was curious and reached out to touch the lime. At first, he felt nothing. But gradually, he felt the lime on his fingers getting warmer. Zhuang Zhuang cried out in surprise. Xiaoguo was applying the lime mixture and did not notice what the boy was doing. When she heard his cry, she turned around instinctively and saw Zhuang Zhuang holding his hand and scrutinizing the lime on his fingers with his big eyes.

When Xiaoguo saw this, she was relieved. The lime would become hot when it is mixed with water, but that small amount on his hands was too little to cause any burns.

“Mother, why is it hot?”

Zhuang Zhuang had just learnt from his mother that this was called lime, but he didn’t expect it to be hot.

“Because when lime powder meets water, it will turn into cooked lime. It’s the same principle as when you boil water.”

Xiaoguo tried to explain to Zhuang Zhuang by referring to her past classroom knowledge. At the same time, she wiped the last of the lime mixture from the basin.

Zhuang Zhuang seemed to vaguely understand. He came up behind Xiaoguo and leaned on her back. “Then why does the lime heat up when it touches water?”

Zhuang Zhuang was full of questions. He had the habit of getting to the bottom of everything.

Xiaoguo knew that Zhuang Zhuang was at the age where he was curious about everything. At such a time, she would answer whatever he was curious about. Even if she encountered something she didn’t know— as a parent, she would answer honestly that she didn’t know—instead of getting impatient or telling lies to the child.

Xiaoguo knew the answer to Zhuang Zhuang’s question. At this moment, she was thinking about how to explain in simple terms so that Zhuang Zhuang would understand.

“Before this lime was added to water, it was quicklime. And quicklime is made up of a substance called calcium oxide. This substance will boil as soon as it comes into contact with water. Once that happens, it will turn into hydrated lime. Just like when you boil water. Cold water, when heated, will turn into hot water.”

Zhuang Zhuang looked at Xiaoguo in admiration. “Mother, you’re really amazing!”

Xiaoguo felt guilty upon hearing that, but she smiled and basked in the kisses that Zhuang Zhuang was planting on her face. Fortunately, Zhuang Zhuang did not ask her what calcium oxide was. If he had asked, the chemical composition would be a problem for her.

The newly-built troughs were left to dry. The lime mixture in the basin had been used up, but there was still some left in the courtyard. Putting the remaining lime mixture into the basin, Xiaoguo used it to patch the chipped cement in various corners around the house. She did not let any part of the lime mixture go to waste.

Seeing that there was still half of the lime powder left, Xiaoguo carefully tied up the bag. Once this thing gets exposed to moisture, it would become hard. Hence, she had to seal up the bag tightly.

Xiaoguo carried the bag of lime to the kitchen and looked around, trying to find a place to put it. Finally, she carried it to a hidden corner in the kitchen.

After she was done in the kitchen, she went to the well to draw a basin of water and called Zhuang Zhuang over to wash his hands.

Zhuang Zhuang put his hands into the basin. Worried that he wouldn’t be able to clean his hands thoroughly, Xiaoguo bent down and washed them for him. She carefully cleaned every finger and nail.

“That’s enough!”

Xiaoguo checked Zhuang Zhuang’s hands once again to ensure that they were clean, she then asked him to dry his hands. She poured away the dirty water and replaced it with a basin of clean water. She proceeded to wash her hands carefully with some soap. Lime could be harmful if left on the skin for a long time. It is essential to wash up thoroughly after coming into contact with any lime mixture.

After washing her hands, Xiaoguo returned to the house and thought of the clothes she had made two days ago. It was supposed to be washed yesterday when the weather was good. However, she didn’t have time so she had to wash them today. The weather seemed good and the sun was shining brightly.

Seeing that Xiaoguo was going to wash the clothes, Zhuang Zhuang quickly moved the basin and soap to the well when Xiaoguo stepped away to bring the clothes for washing. Once she came out, she saw Zhuang Zhuang moving those items towards the well.

Xiaoguo really didn’t know who Zhuang Zhuang took after. Every day, she would ask herself this question. The boy was always carrying things that were more than twice his size on a daily basis. Every time when he was feeding the chickens and ducks, he would carry one large pile of grass. She couldn’t even see his head when he was moving the grass. Even so, he could still reach his destination safely. It was too amazing.

Xiaoguo sat on the stool and began to wash the clothes. Zhuang Zhuang sat behind her and massaged her back with all his might—his little fists constantly moving rhythmically across her back. Xiaoguo enjoyed Zhuang Zhuang’s massage very much. With Zhuang Zhuang massaging her back, Xiaoguo felt like she had more strength to wash the clothes.

In the afternoon, Xiaoguo brought Zhuang Zhuang out to let the cows graze. When it was almost time to go home, Zhuang Zhuang’s sharp eyes immediately spotted Qin Anming coming back on the donkey cart.

“Uncle! Uncle!”

From afar, Qin Anming heard Zhuang Zhuang’s shouts. He raised his arms and waved at him.

When he arrived in front of them, he stopped the donkey cart and got out. He picked up Zhuang Zhuang—his face was filled with boundless joy.

Zhuang Zhuang lay happily in Qin Anming’s arms. “Uncle, why are you back so late?”

He missed his uncle so much after not seeing him for a day.

“Haha, Zhuang Zhuang, do you miss me?”

Qin Anming’s cheerful laughter rang out, his voice filled with vitality.

Xiaoguo could tell from his expression that he had had a good day. It must have been a fruitful day for him!