Chapter 264: American-Style BBQ
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
One reason that this cabin was better than regular new houses was that the furniture and building materials had all been cleansed of any chemical odors from the construction.
Thus, after the cabin was set up, with some easy tidying, they could start staying in it.
Stephen had been right: it had taken about seven hours to build the prefab home. The materials came in the morning, and by evening, it had turned into a wonderful cabin.
By setting up a new cabin, according to social rules, they had to organize a party to celebrate.
The Chinese did pretty much the same as well. Back at home, Li Du’s hometown called it a "housewarming."
However, it was not like they had bought a big house. All they did was set up a small cabin. It didn’t make sense to throw a big party, so they just called over some of the people they were close to.
Hans called over Hannah and Stephen. Li Du called Sophie and Rose. In Flagstaff, these two women were the people he had the best relations.h.i.+ps with.
Hans expressed his jealousy: "You actually called two beauties over? Buddy, I hate to admit it, but I’ve underestimated you. I’ve always thought of you as an honest man."
"What the h.e.l.l are you talking about? I’m an honest man."
"You? An honest man?" Hans said with a mocking smile. "Go to h.e.l.l—I bet you’ve been thinking of ways to have a threesome with Sophie and Rose."
"You can say that to me privately," Li Du pointed at him and said, "but once they come, you better shut up. Or else I’ll make a bet as well—that someone will blow your brains out with her gun."
Recalling the violent Rose, Hans stopped joking.
Rose and Sofie had relatively late s.h.i.+fts, so they prepared for the party while waiting for them.
They had just gotten the distilling boiler two days ago, and alcohol was a necessity for a party. Hans brought G.o.dzilla with him to try to make some alcohol.
"Are you guys really trying to make your own alcohol?" Li Du asked. "D*mn, I don’t want to die from moons.h.i.+ne."
Moons.h.i.+ne was very strong, and could easily cause alcohol poisoning. Methanol, which was found in a lot of moons.h.i.+ne, was a toxic compound. The lowest dose that a person could take safely was around 3.5 ounces—any more than that could be fatal!
Hans patted his chest and said, "Relax, brother. I’m a seasoned maker. In the past, my grandfather had a small farm. The alcohol that we drank was all made by ourselves."
Hannah nodded and said, "Li, it’s true."
G.o.dzilla added, "I know how, too."
Hannah’s words had lightened the load in Li Du’s heart. With the trustworthy G.o.dzilla’s knowledge as well, he had nothing much to worry about.
The distilling boiler had some rust on it, so it had to be cleaned up before it could be used. There was a water well close by for the Amish homes in the area. Thus, they could draw water from there.
Hans used some steel wool to clean out the boiler. With the rust and dirt cleaned off, the boiler gradually revealed its true appearance. The canister had a red glow, while the columns had a dim, silver glow.
After seeing it, Li Du said, "It probably has quite a history behind it, brother. Be careful—don’t damage it."
"Yeah, it’s definitely been around for a long time," Hannah said, nodding. "Look at the steel columns—even after the dirt has been cleaned off, they still have a dull, white color. This shows its age."
Hans examined the columns, and his expression slowly turned strange.
After waiting for the others to finish speaking, he turned to the others with his eyebrows creased. "What did you guys say it’s made off?"
"Copper and steel. Aren’t all the boilers made of copper and steel?"
Hans shook his head and said, "No, no. Guys, I think this is made of silver!"
Li Du was taken aback for a moment. "Sorry, brother. I think I might have misheard what you said. What did you say it was? Silver? This boiler is made of silver?"
Hans stopped talking. He disa.s.sembled a few parts of the boiler, and then started weighing the columns.
After examining the parts closely, he said with a heavy expression, "Li, you really have a crazy pair of eyes! It’s really something valuable! It’s made of silver!"
Li Du hadn’t been able tell what it was made of; he had only determined that it had some history with the bug.
Hannah said in surprise, "Don’t be ridiculous, brother. This boiler is made of silver? Who would use silver to make a distilling boiler for moons.h.i.+ne? Unless he was some oil tyc.o.o.n!"
"But here it is," Hans said. "There’s a distilling boiler made of silver right here!"
As he spoke, he burned a piece of pine bark with a lighter.
Bark burns easily, and burns hot.
He lifted the flame to the exterior of the boiler, which turned black. Then, he moved to the tubes and columns, and the silvery columns remained the same!
Li Du exclaimed, "The columns are made of silver!"
As the saying goes: "Real gold does not fear the test of fire." Real silver was also unafraid of fire.
The ordinary steel had turned black from the fire due to oxidation; silver retained its color after burning.
"Yes, the tubes and columns are all made of silver. The canister is copper, because copper conducts heat well, and doesn’t absorb alcohol."
The discovery excited everyone. Although the distilling boiler was not fully made of silver, the columns were, which would greatly increase its value.
Stephen said, "Actually, it’s not rare to see silver tubes in distilling boilers. Silver does not get dirty easily, and has antibacterial properties. With silver columns, the alcohol would also become purer from the distillation."
"You’re right," Hannah said, "but it takes quite a bit of money to make those columns with silver! Most of them are just silver-plated!"
Seeing everyone becoming increasingly excited, Li Du stretched out his hand and said, "Calm down, everyone. It’s all just theories and guesses for now. We’ll go get a testing kit to validate it tomorrow. We can make conclusions then.
"Now, our main concern, is to clean this up quickly and prepare the alcohol. The sun is setting soon—we need to start making it!"
Hans was the first to regain his composure since he had been getting a bunch of extremely valuable items from storage units with Li Du recently.
He and G.o.dzilla quickly rinsed the boiler. The columns, made of silver, were not hard to clean, so the process became much easier. Silver had antibacterial properties, and the main concern when cleaning the columns was to wash off any bacteria or viruses.
Li Du and Hannah prepared the food. They bought fast food like fried chicken and fish; these were easy to heat up by microwaving. Barbecue would be the main part of the party.
Two grilles were set up. Stephen started the fire, and placed strips of bacon and ribs on it. Soon they were beautifully grilled.
Hannah brought apples and honey, and began preparing her specialty: honey grilled apples.
Li Du rolled up his sleeves, and started cooking up some dishes in the kitchen, showing off his skills.