Tong Wen Yao looked at the soaked and mashed bamboo in front of her and fell into deep thought. She remembered to rinse it before, but the finished product was not like this. She also remembered to boil it in water.

Wen Ziyu said from the side, "Let me do it. I've made paper before." He put the pounded bamboo into a bowl and said, "This needs to be steamed. Tong Wenyao seemed to remember adding lime when steaming it."

Wen Ziyu nodded and said, "Indeed." After putting the bamboo in, Village Chief Wu asked someone to watch the fire. Wen Ziyu and Tong Wenyao sat by the side until the afternoon. Wen Ziyu lifted the lid of the pot and saw that the bamboo inside was cooked very soft. He said, "Pour the broken bamboo on the top of the pot into the mortar and start pounding it with the hammer."

After seeing this, Tong Wenyao felt as if something was missing. She looked at the green bamboo scraps on it, and it seemed as if the paper was white, not green. Green? Suddenly, she realized that it was no wonder that they said something was missing. The green bamboo scraps had to be scraped off, otherwise the paper would be green, which was not as good as white, affecting the quality.

On the other side, two big men were smashing bamboo with sledgehammers until it looked like fine sand, and then they began to pour it into the sink. Wen Ziyu was holding a water gourd, pouring water while observing the shredding.

Tong Wen Yao took the mesh-shaped gauze she had made before, and gently dipped it into the pulp suspension, allowing the pulp to adhere to the gauze. Then she took the gauze with the pulp from the sink and turned it upside down on a wooden board. She carefully uncovered the gauze, leaving the pulp on the board, forming wet paper. After covering it with a hardwood board and squeezing out the moisture in the paper, the paper would basically take shape, but the paper was not completely dry yet. The weather today made it difficult for the sun to penetrate it, so Tong Wen Yao started to bake it over the fire.

After hearing this, Village Chief Wu asked, "If we set up a rack to roast it, not only will it take up space, but it might also fall into the fire. Wouldn't it be better if we cut a fire wall like a fire pit and stick the paper on the wall to roast it?"

Needless to say, this idea won unanimous agreement from everyone. Village chief Wu called Wu Feng and three others and asked them to build a wall here, similar to the wall of a kang. At that time, they would leave some space outside for putting paper. In this way, the paper would have a place and would not fall easily, and it could be baked evenly.

The wet paper, taken from the sink, was pressed by gravity overnight, and during that same night, Wu Feng and his team had built a four-meter-long, two-meter-high wall. When Tong Wenyao arrived, Village Chief Wu said goodbye and told them to go back to bed. Only Wu Feng spoke up, saying, "Let's light the fire first to see if it's evenly heated. If it's not, we can adjust it. Otherwise, it'll be hard to adjust once it's burned."

Village chief Wu called Wu Dagen and asked him to light the fire first to see if the wall was heated evenly. Tong Wen Yao stood aside and touched the wall. The wall heated up quickly and evenly, worthy of being Brother Wu Feng and his friends. She also had other thoughts in her mind. Now, the kang business was not very good, but she was short of construction workers. She wondered if Wu Feng and his friends were willing to work under her.

Wen Ziyu came with her today. He carefully took the paper that was pressed under the board last night to the wall. You know, if the paper is not dry, it will not fall off the wall even if it is stuck to it. It will not fall off until it is completely dry, so Wen Ziyu asked someone to lay a layer of oilcloth underneath to prevent it from falling to the ground and getting dirty.

Tong Wenyao found Wu Feng and asked, "Uncle Feng, what kind of job are you planning to find after the Lantern Festival?"

Wu Feng's eyes were bloodshot and his voice was a little hoarse from staying up all night to build the wall. When he heard Tong Wenyao calling him, he turned around and said, "After the Lantern Festival, if there are people carrying bags at the dock, go and do it. In February, we will plow the fields and plant crops."

After hearing this, Tong Wenyao said, "I wonder if Uncle Feng is willing to work under me. I took the order before the New Year, which was to build a house. I thought Uncle Feng had built a house for our family before, so he would be able to get started quickly."

After hearing this, Wu Feng quickly asked, "Wen Yao, is what you said true?" Tong Wen Yao smiled and said, "Uncle Feng, it is true, but you may need to live with them in Changzhen Village until the house is built. Then you can come back to rest for a few days and then go back to work. Is that okay with you?"

After hearing this, Wu Feng thought that this was just like the temporary labor he had done in the landlord's house before, except that the landlord did not provide accommodation, so they just had to sleep on straw mats in the wild outside.

Unexpectedly, Wen Yao said that she would live and work with them. He was a little bit unconvinced. He said with a hint of disbelief: "Wen Yao, then I can work even before the Lantern Festival."

After hearing this, Tong Wen Yao couldn't help but think: "Uncle Feng is quite ambitious. She will definitely make the people under her miserable!" Since Uncle Feng said so, the two houses in the county are also under construction, so it would be a good idea to let Uncle Feng take his people to work together.

She said, "When the time comes, go to Rudong Street in the county. Some people are building houses there. The team leader is called Min Zhi. You can ask him to arrange work for you." After hearing this, Wu Feng hurriedly thanked her. He thought he would have to go to the dock to carry bags at the beginning of the year, but he didn't expect that Wen Yao would give them a job.

Tong Wenyao continued, "The wages are paid after a house is completed. If you sign a contract, you will have a fixed salary every month, but there will be no additional salary. If you are unemployed by then, you will still be paid. It depends on the contract you signed."

Seeing some hesitation on Wu Feng's face, Tong Wenyao said, "The payment for each building will be based on the amount of money given for the house. The bigger the house, the more money you will get. It depends on which one you choose."

Wu Feng said, "Then let's choose the one that pays you after you build a house!" She was not surprised when she heard that and nodded.

"I didn't sleep much last night, Uncle Feng, you guys should go back to sleep! You've worked so hard."

Wu Feng waved his hand to indicate that nothing was wrong.

After they left, Tong Wen Yao and others waited on the spot for the paper to be baked. Perhaps the green bamboo leaves on the bamboo had not been scraped off, so the paper on the wall had a greenish color. Wu Dagen burned the fire vigorously, and the paper on the wall turned from wet paper to dry paper, and then some of it began to fall off slowly.

Fortunately, there was an oilcloth underneath. After it fell, Wen Ziyu took a piece and handed it to Tong Wenyao. She frowned at the crisp sound. The paper seemed a bit brittle! However, it was still tough and didn't break at the slightest pinch.

Everyone present was thrilled when they saw the paper presented to them. Village Chief Wu asked in a trembling voice, "Is this the paper you get for one ounce per dollar on the market? I never thought our Wu family could produce it." His face was filled with excitement. He raised his hands, bent his knees, and knelt down, saying, "God has mercy on us. Thanks to Tong Wenyao, our Wu family is able to make paper today. From now on, Tong Wenyao is our great benefactor."

The villagers following Wu Qing also knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "Tong Wenyao is a great benefactor."

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