OBS Chapter 319 Paper
Chapter 319 Paper
"That's the reason. We have already agreed with Mr. Jiang of Qingfeng Bookstore in the town that if the quality of the paper is good, we will sell it in his store. We won't look for too many stores. Apart from anything else, our quantity is not enough. He also said that there is only one family named Chen in Shangyang County that makes paper, and the paper in Shangyang County is not enough for his store. Every few months, he asks someone in the capital to send some paper with the caravan. I told him at the time that we are not in a hurry to make a name for ourselves, and it's okay to reveal it when the opportunity is right."
Old Yang was a little worried when he heard her making paper, but now he was relieved to see that she had considered all these issues. "It's better to be careful."
Gu Qingqing understood the other party's good intentions, and nodded and said, "Yes, I will, Uncle Yang."
"Old Yang, don't worry. I and my brothers are here. If any random people come to the bureau, we can teach them a lesson." Zhao Dong patted Old Yang's shoulder. At this moment, he exuded a confidence that could not be ignored.
This seemed to be his area.
"Well, there's us." Zhao Nan said.
"Me too." Zhao Bei was not willing to be outdone.
"Ah! Hahaha, how could I forget about you brothers. Oh, when we get old, we tend to worry too much!" Old Yang sighed belatedly.
"Grandpa, you are not old at all. Didn't you teach me today that time waits for no one and that the old man's beard will turn into white hair? You said that the old man's beard means white hair, but you don't have a lot of white hair." Erhua, who was eating in the kitchen, heard Old Yang say that he was old, and she hurriedly spoke up.
Gu Qingqing looked at Erhua in surprise, "Erhua, you can recite poems now?"
"Hahaha, Mom, I don't know. I just saw a few white hairs on Grandpa's head today, so I pointed them out to him and he told me this."
In Gu Qingqing's opinion, they should still be learning "Three Character Classic", "Thousand Character Classic" or "Rules for Being a Good Pupil and Child", but she never thought that these two sentences would come out of Erhua's mouth.
"That's great too." Gu Qingqing gave her a thumbs up to encourage her.
Old Yang outside also laughed out loud, "Hey, you can't remember some things in class, but you can read clearly what I said casually."
Erhua was still happy in the previous breath, but when she saw that she was about to talk about her studies, she immediately shrank her neck like a quail.
We managed to get through the dinner with some chatting, laughing, and discussing.
This meal is for the people to take care of their work, as there are four new piglets in the backyard crying for food.
Gu Qingqing added some of the bamboo shoots that were cut off from the edges when pickling sour bamboo shoots yesterday into the boiling water for washing the pot. She chopped the bamboo shoots into small pieces and put them in the pot to boil, and finally added a handful of wild vegetables.
Then she scooped the hot water together with the wild vegetables and bamboo shoots into a basin with two scoops of wheat bran in the basin. She stirred it and waited until it was almost cool. Erhua carried the oil lamp in front and she followed behind to carry it to the backyard.
Looking at the four little piglets scrambling for food, she wondered how other households in the village took care of their entire families and livestock.
Oh, she is so incompetent!
......
The next morning, Gu Qingqing went to the backyard to check the paper. As soon as she entered the backyard, four little pigs ran over to her with grunts, and it was obvious from their expressions that they were asking her for food.
"Hey, hey, wait a minute, it's not time for dinner yet, go play for a while." Gu Qingqing used her feet to poke the piglets that were circling around her, and walked through the fence towards the paper-making area.
After she passed by, she quickly closed the bamboo door to prevent the piglets from running over and causing trouble.
She saw that the basin she had placed on the ground was already half full of squeezed paper pulp. The water was useless. The reason she was still using the basin to collect it was simply to let the water from the fermented bamboo flow all over the yard.
She reached out and touched the edge of the pile of papers, which was still damp. She had to figure out on her own how long to keep the paper pressed.
However, there is no rush for these.
She went to the other side of the fence again, led the donkey, bleated at the lambs, and led them out through the back door to graze.
The lamb now recognizes its home and follows Gu Qingqing out every day. They don’t even need to be tied up. The two little guys will eat grass on the hillside or in the open space by themselves.
Sometimes they would come back after eating, and sometimes they would lie down there together and take a nap.
Raising sheep is good because it saves time.
When she returned to the front yard, she saw Daxin and Dahua carrying bamboo baskets and about to go out. She shouted at their backs, "Come back early to eat in the morning."
"I know mother."
"I know, Auntie."
After dinner, Gu Qingqing used the remaining rice soup to cook wild vegetables and wheat bran to feed the pigs.
Daxin and Erhua know how to feed the rabbits and chickens, so she doesn't have to worry about them.
Gu Qingqing, who finally had some free time, rushed into the backyard and asked Zhao Dong and Zhao Nan to help untie the stirring rope on the pressure plate.
Zhao Nan looked at the half-foot-high, hard, grayish-colored thing that felt like a large stone slab, and asked in confusion, "Is this paper?"
"Not really." Gu Qingqing asked.
Zhao Nan shook his head, “I can’t tell where the paper is.
"That's right, you can't tell. It's just a semi-finished product now. They will be peeled off one by one and exposed to the sun. Only then will they become paper." Gu Qingqing said with a smile on the side.
After placing the squeezed paper in the place designated by Gu Qingqing, Gu Qingqing scooped up some water with a ladle and poured it upwards in a circle.
Zhao Dong, who participated in the whole process, was confused, not to mention Zhao Nan. "We were trying to squeeze the water out yesterday. Why are you pouring water on top now?"
"Yesterday was to set the shape, and now we are watering it so that we can peel off the paper one by one later.
This step is called pouring and pasting, which is to use water to make the pressed paper semi-transparent.
Then you need to use a bamboo stick to hit the paper surface. The purpose of hitting the paper surface is to soften the paper board and make the squeezed papers no longer rigid. This also needs to be done on the four sides. This step is called posting.
It is helpful to pull the paper later.
To pull the paper, just press your wet finger on the thick cardboard to peel off the papers one by one.
The peeled paper needs to be dried in the sun. A long-bristled brush is needed when drying the paper. Whether the paper is smooth or not depends on whether the brush has brushed the wet paper well when drying the paper.
Until the pieces of paper were pasted on the smooth wooden board, slowly turning white and drying, the final bamboo paper appeared in front of the three of them.
Gu Qingqing looked at the finished paper and felt relieved.
Although Zhao Dong and Zhao Nan knew that they were making paper, they were amazed beyond words when they saw the paper being formed so magically. They touched the first piece of paper that Gu Qingqing peeled off the wooden board.
Just when they were busy here, a mule cart from the town was rumbling towards Niutoushan Village.