#ch 42

i really cannot get over how much dedication and love the translator put into this, like, this from their notes after the chapter:

I just wanted to supplement the spreading ash method for those who found it a bit confusing, and for those who actually care to understand the salt-making process.

[...]

This spreading field is an empty field where they literally just let the seawater from the tide seep through the earth, so the earth becomes salty. According to Baidu, salt particles attach themselves onto the grass ash, separating the salt from the salty earth. Therefore, they spread grass ash on the earth so the ash can absorb these salt particles. They now have a damp salt-ash-earth mixture, but all they need is the salty ash. Since it’s easier to scrape ash from the earth when it’s dry, they expose it to sunlight. This way, more salt particles from the seawater shrivel up and attach themselves onto the ash. After which, they now have a very salty ash mixture. This mixture is lodged into a deep pit, where seawater is poured in thereafter. Seawater is naturally salty, and the salty ash mixture even more so, yielding a very salty brine. Once it’s boiled, it produces heaps of salt.

also their dedication to explaining chinese phrases! from the footnotes after the current chapter:

3 釜底抽薪 (fǔdǐ-chōuxīn): take away the firewood from under the cauldron — a fundamental solution; adopt full measures; cut the ground from under one’s foot; cut the ground on which someone stands

4 地头蛇 (dìtóushé) : a local snake — a rascal familiar with the place; a local tyrant; a local bully. Basically saying that no matter how powerful you are, once you get chucked into a new place you’re unfamiliar with, the local thug will always overpower you.