Early in the morning, at the Chen Residence in Yongtong District.
After breakfast, Chen Mu carried a pile of herbs into the thatched shed and began to sort and process them one by one.
Some were ground into powder, some soaked for their juice, others boiled over a high flame.
Then, in a specific order, he mixed the processed herbs and poured them into a large pottery jar.
He heated it over a small charcoal fire, stirring all the while.
He continued until the jar of viscous liquid turned into a rubbery clay texture, only then did he stop heating and let it cool naturally.
Later, he poured the brown medicinal clay into smooth, polished hardwood molds, flattened and compacted it, pressing it into small cylindrical shapes the height of a mung bean and the size of a soybean.
He immediately set them aside in a shady place to dry.
After a busy morning, Chen Mu nodded in satisfaction as he looked at the molds lined up on the drying rack.
