Chapter 10 — The Healing Peach and The Soap Pot
The Weight is Gone
The morning sun hit the roof of the small wooden hut.
For the first time in months, the air didn't feel heavy.
Yesterday, Long Tan had thrown the bag of silver at the lackey. The debt was paid. The threat of slavery or beating was gone.
Long Tan stood in the courtyard and took a deep breath. The cold air tasted sweet.
He picked up his heavy Iron-Oak Bow.
He stood twenty meters away from an old tree stump.
Draw.
His muscles bunched up. The 325 Jin strength had grown. Over the last few days of peace, with the meat from the boar and the daily training, he had improved again.
Current Strength: 360 Jin.
Thrum.
He released the arrow.
THWACK.
The arrow buried itself deep into the wood.
"Better," Long Tan whispered.
When he fought the wolf, he had missed because he was panicked and the bow was unfamiliar. Now, he practiced every morning. He was learning to aim not just with his eyes, but with his gut instinct.
The Second Fruit
He walked over to the Peach Tree.
The tree looked healthier. The green leaves were thick and waxy.
And hanging from a low branch, hidden near the trunk, was a Second Spirit Fruit.
It was small, fuzzy, and glowed with a faint pink light.
Long Tan stared at it.
His body craved it.
"If I eat this, I could reach 380 Jin instantly. I would be closer to Third Grade."
But then he looked at the window of the hut.
He saw Su Lan sitting on the bed. She was folding clothes. Her movements were slow. She still touched her lower back in pain often. The birth had drained her life essence.
"Strength is useless if my wife dies of weakness," Long Tan decided.
He picked the fruit. It felt warm in his hand.
The Medicine
He walked inside the hut.
"Lan."
Su Lan looked up. She smiled, but her face was still pale.
"Tan, are you hungry? I can heat the boar soup."
"No. This is for you."
He handed her the pink fruit.
Su Lan looked at it. She felt the energy radiating from it.
"The Spirit Fruit..." She hesitated. "Tan, you should eat it. You need strength to hunt. I am just sitting at home."
"Eat," Long Tan ordered gently. "You are not just sitting. You are feeding our son. You are making the soap. You need energy."
Su Lan nodded. She trusted him.
She took a bite.
Crunch.
It was juicy. The taste was a mix of sweet honey and bitter medicine.
She swallowed.
Immediately, a flush of red color rushed to her cheeks.
"Oh!"
She gasped, putting a hand to her chest.
She felt a warm current flowing through her blood. It went to her aching back. It went to her tired legs.
The constant, dull pain she had felt since the birth... faded away. It wasn't completely gone, but it was quiet.
Her eyes became brighter.
"I feel... warm," she whispered. "I feel awake."
Long Tan watched her closely.
"It is working. But one fruit is not enough. Your body was very empty. You will need 3 or 4 more fruits to be completely healed."
Su Lan squeezed his hand. Her grip was stronger than yesterday.
"Thank you, Tan."
The Soap Factory
An hour later, Su Lan did not go back to sleep.
She stood up. She tied her hair back with a cloth strip.
Her eyes were full of determination.
"Little San!" she called out. "Come here. We have work."
Little San ran in from the yard. "Mother? Are we playing?"
"No. We are making money," Su Lan smiled.
She went to the corner where Long Tan had stacked the Wild Boar Fat.
Soap making was dirty work. It was chemistry.
Step 1: The Fat.
Su Lan cut the white boar fat into small cubes.
"San, put these in the big pot. We need to melt it down to oil."
Little San grabbed the fat with his small hands and dropped them into the black iron pot.
Su Lan placed the pot on the stove. Soon, the smell of rendering fat filled the room. It was a heavy, greasy smell.
Step 2: The Lye.
"Tan," Su Lan pointed to the fireplace. "I need the white ash. The clean ash."
Long Tan scooped out the white wood ash from the stove.
Su Lan mixed the ash with water in a separate bucket. This created the "Lye" water—the chemical that turns oil into soap.
Step 3: The Secret Ingredient.
This was the most important part.
Su Lan took the Mutated Peach Leaves Long Tan had picked.
They were thick and smelled like mint and medicine.
She crushed them in a stone mortar.
Grind. Grind.
A green, fragrant paste formed. The smell cut through the heavy scent of the fat. It smelled fresh. It smelled like spring.
"This is the magic," Su Lan told Little San. "This is what makes the pain go away."
The Family Business
For the rest of the afternoon, the hut was busy.
Long Tan stirred the heavy mixture of oil and ash water. It slowly turned thick and creamy.
Su Lan added the green leaf paste at the perfect moment.
Little San sat on a stool, watching the bubbles pop.
"It smells good, Mother! Not like pig anymore!"
Su Lan wiped sweat from her now-rosy forehead. The Spirit Fruit gave her the stamina to work for hours without collapsing.
She poured the thick green mixture into wooden molds Long Tan had carved.
"Now we wait," Su Lan said, looking at the trays of cooling soap. "In two days, it will be hard. Then we cut it."
Long Tan looked at the soap. Then he looked at his wife, who was standing tall, and his son, who was laughing.
The tax was paid.
His strength was 360 Jin.
And his wife was building their future.
"We are not just surviving anymore," Long Tan thought. "We are building."
[AUTHOR'S NOTE]
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