As a student who spent most of his time sleeping and reading novels in classes, Shen Zhe had never done any experiments for real and never thought that a griddle (crucible) was not a crucible (griddle).
"I'd like a piece!"
Mistaking them for the same thing, he ordered Griddled Spicy Lobsters.
Soon, the steaming food was brought to him, with a small stove below it. Shen Zhe found its warmth comfortable.
"Is this a crucible? It's much thinner than a furnace. Can it really bear the heat without being broken?"
Shen Zhe observed the griddle carefully and even touched it.
It was just regular ironware. By common sense, it couldn't bear high heat. But why did his teacher claim that it could contain melted metal?
Could he have remembered it wrongly?
It couldn't be! That was the pronunciation he remembered!
Crucibles worked with crucible tongs…
Thinking about that, Shen Zhe asked, "Boss, do you have tongs?"
"Tongs?" After a brief daze, the boss smiled and took out a poker. "You meant this, right? Of course we have such tools. The fire is too hot for us to reach with our hands!"
"It seems that I was correct…"
Shen Zhe was relieved after ascertaining the answer.
Since he had found what he wanted, he felt even hungrier than before. Without any hesitation, he began to devour the delicious food.
He had to admit that it tasted really good. There were lobsters as well as fish, potatoes and other ingredients.
After he ate his fill, he put the chopsticks down and wiped the griddle with a piece of cloth carefully. Studying it for a long time, he went to see the boss and asked, "Could you sell this pot to me?"
"Huh?"
Stunned, the boss asked as if he thought Shen Zhe was a retard. "You're not letting go of the pot? Child, it's made of iron and it's not edible!"
Nearly choking, Shen Zhe explained, "I'm buying it for other purposes…"
"If you want it, I can sell it to you for thirty wen!" The boss waved her hand.
She had seen people packing up the food that they couldn't finish, but it was the first time she saw someone pack up the pot!
But it didn't matter. For enough money, she could sell anything in her place.
Relieved, Shen Zhe gave her thirty wen. He was about to leave, when he thought of something else and asked, "This griddle is not as thick as I would like. How do you prevent it from being burnt through?"
The boss looked at the kitchen and said, "You're definitely not a cook! It's never exposed to fire without having oil and ingredients inside. If the temperature is too high, you can put soy sauce, vinegar or soup into it. How can you let it be burnt through if you want to cook anything?"
"Oil? Soy sauce? Vinegar?"
Shen Zhe was stunned.
Was refining herbs the same as making food?
Wasn't he looking for a utensil to refine herbs?
"Young man, nobody will laugh at you for never making any food. Since you want to experience it, I'll give you some helpful seasonings for free. You can try them at home!"
The kind hearted boss gave him a basket that contained oil, soy sauce, vinegar and other seasonings.
They weren't worth much money. Since the customer bought the container, she decided to offer them.
"Thank you…"
Although finding it hard, Shen Zhe decided to give it a shot since regular furnaces did not work.
Returning to the lab, he closed the door and placed the herbs on the griddle above the scorching fire.
The fire for refining was much hotter than the fire for making food, or it couldn't have broken the regular furnaces. The griddle was only for home usage and certainly couldn't take the heat. Very soon, it was cracking and reddening.
Noticing that the herbs didn't melt, Shen Zhe frowned and poured oil into the griddle.
BOOM!
Fire rose from the griddle and nearly burnt Shen Zhe's hair. He stepped back in a hurry, but he discovered that the herbs were turning black and showing the signs of melting.
Enthused, Shen Zhe poured some of the vinegar and soy sauce into the griddle; the fire was even brighter after that!
The whole room was blackened by the smoke.
After the ingredients were added, the griddle that was falling apart was not as red as before and turned back to the normal color.
"It's true that crucibles are designed to melt metals and refine herbs!"
His chemistry teacher was correct. Crucibles were indeed more awesome than furnaces.
Oil and soy sauce were certainly not things that could be added into furnaces!
He thought he was wrong just then, but he was completely reassured.
The fire was more and more exuberant, melting the herbs that couldn't be melted in furnaces. After a while, Shen Zhe noticed that the oil container was empty.
Since it was offered for free, there wasn't much oil in it, and Shen Zhe had used it up.
He was running out of soy sauce and vinegar, too.
According to the books he had read, if he stopped in the middle of a herb refining process, the herbs would be ruined, and he would obtain nothing in the end.
Those herbs had been delivered by his family. He couldn't waste them.
"I have to make it…"
As he gritted his teeth, the notebook in his head seemed to have sensed his thought and wrote it down.
Bo!
After the writing, the last third of the pencil was used up and vanished.
Shen Zhe, who was concentrated in refining, didn't notice any of that. He simply sprayed the pepper powder into the griddle.
Zi! Zi! Zi! Zi!
The fire was even brighter, and the herbs were melting faster.
Soon, the reactions stopped.
The herbs had been melted into a bowl of gold liquid that had the intense smell of barbecue.
Taking a long breath, Shen Zhe wiped his sweat.
Refining was truly hard. He could hardly open his eyes under the smoke. The fire, while failing to burn his hair, had blackened his face. He could barely recognize himself in the mirror.
"I need to prepare an exhaust hood for refining, or at least an anti-smoke mask…"
Shen Zhe took out a spoon and transferred the melted herbs into a porcelain bottle that he had prepared.
The herbs were too powerful to be taken all at once. He needed to take them gradually.
After cleaning everything up, Shen Zhe picked up the griddle again and appreciated it.
Then, he packed up all the items and returned to his dormitory.
Since he was successful in attaining the liquid, it was then time to try and find a way to polish his body. Even though his stars weren't illuminated, he would be able to take a slap if his body was stronger. He didn't want to die when his journey had not begun yet!
…
Soon after Shen Zhe left the room, an intimidating middle-aged man stepped in.
"What has brought you here, Mr. Xin?"
The director of maintenance saw him and greeted him in a hurry.
That Mr. Xin was neither a Mage nor a Martial Artist, but he was highly respected in the school, even by the headmaster.
It was because he was the only qualified level-one Druggist in the whole Abyssal Ocean Kingdom!
Druggists could melt herbs, minerals, blood of beasts, and other things into drugs of specific effects.
They had a deep understanding about the nature of herbs and other resources, as well as the possible reactions when they were combined. There were only a few of them.
"I just figured out a recipe, and I'm planning to test it…"
Waving his hand, Xin Qi went to the room where Shen Zhe had just worked and opened the door.
Wu! Wu! Wu!
The moment the door was opened, the smoke that hadn't entirely dispersed embraced the newcomers. Their tears were almost flowing out.
"Well…"
Xin Qi and the director of maintenance were both stunned.
"Was there… a fire in this place?"