After he finished, Wu Qing turned on his knees and kowtowed towards Tong Wenyao, startling her so much that she quickly helped him up. "Grandpa Wu, you don't have to be like this. I had selfish motives in teaching you how to make paper. Didn't we agree that you'd give me 10%? So it's a mutually beneficial relationship. There's no such thing as a benefactor."

Wu Qing, leaning on his cane, trembled slightly as he spoke, "If you wanted to make money, you could have started your own production workshop, but you brought us along, allowing us to earn money beyond our imagination. In that way, you are our benefactor. Without you, our descendants would all be facing the earth and working hard. It is you who gave us a decent life and gave us hope to survive."

Tong Wen Yao didn't expect that Grandpa Wu valued her so much. She felt a little guilty about wanting to earn that 10% of the money. However, she taught Wu Cun how to make paper so that poor students could afford cheap and good paper, so this did not deviate from her original intention.

She held the paper in her hand, and saw that the light green paper was a little rough. Then she said, "Uncle Wu, when you ask people to cut the bamboo later, please scrape off the outer layer of bamboo green. This paper is a little rough." After that, she took a brush from the main table next to her, dipped it in ink, and began to write on the paper. The ink quickly spread on the paper. According to the standards of paper, this can only be inferior paper. Good paper will not spread after writing with a brush.

He looked at Village Chief Wu and said, "If you take these papers to the market, they will only cost fifty cents each!" Village Chief Wu was stunned when he heard this and asked, "Why?"

She pointed at the words on the paper and continued, "Writing on this paper is easy to smudge, so it can only be used as draft paper. When you cut bamboo to soak it later, have someone scrape the bamboo greens clean and then soak it in the lake."

"Okay!" To ensure the production of high-quality paper, Village Chief Wu immediately agreed and said, "Wu Dagen, you supervise them from now on. I'll come up to check from time to time." When Tong Wenyao said she would teach them how to make paper, they didn't believe it at first, until they actually produced it. After making paper, they wanted to do other things.

Village Chief Wu asked, "Wen Yao, you said that after the New Year, a teacher will come to the village to teach. When is that? This will help us villagers prepare. Welcome the teacher!" After hearing this, the men following the village chief asked uncertainly, "Teacher? Come to our village?"

Village Chief Wu turned his head and glared at them, saying, "The teacher is coming to our village to teach. This is a good thing and a happy event for our Wu Village. Back then, he said he would use the money from selling pigs to build a house, and you were still making a fuss! Now the teacher is about to arrive, and the house is still not settled!"

Someone in the crowd said embarrassedly, "Village Chief, let the teacher teach in the ancestral hall first. Once the paper is sold and there's money, we can rebuild it." Village Chief Wu snorted coldly, "You have no vision, you're so short-sighted! Not to mention that the teacher despises you, can you even stay in the ancestral hall all day? Can the children in the village stay there all day without causing trouble?"

The last time we sold the pigs, we got a total of six taels of silver. I gave three taels to Brother Zi Yu, but he didn't want it. So we used the three taels he got back to build a house. Even if Brother Zi Yu donates money to build the academy, we will erect a monument at the entrance of the academy in the future, which will state who donated the money!

After these words were spoken, the others looked at each other and said, "Village head, you said that every family should have a share in building a village school! I'll contribute fifty cents, and I'll also have my name written on the monument of merit."

Village chief Wu snorted coldly, "We will gather all the villagers under the big elm tree tonight to discuss this matter. You can then decide whether to donate or not." When Tong Wen Yao said she wanted to use the money from selling pigs to build a village school, Village chief Wu did not say anything because he didn't know whether paper could be made at that time. Now that the paper has been made, he dared to bring it up.

If the paper business turned a profit later, he wouldn't ask the Tong family to pay for the tutoring. His Wu family would pay for it. However, he kept these words in his heart and didn't tell her.

Tong Wenyao said, "Master will probably come over in the next few days, maybe around the Lantern Festival. If you want to build a house, what kind of house do you plan to build?"

Village Chief Wu replied without hesitation: "How much does it cost to build a house like yours?"

Tong Wenyao asked, "How big a building should we build?" Village Chief Wu thought for a moment and realized that the village still had a piece of public land. He thought it would be best to use that space for the village school. He said, "We'll build three large rooms: one for elementary school, another for the more advanced students. One can be used as the teacher's office, and there's also a residence for the teacher."

Village Chief Wu continued, "The open space next to the big elm tree in the village belongs to the village collective. Let's use it to teach the children!"

Tong Wenyao listened to Village Chief Wu's plan and said, "If the construction workers are paid for by your villagers, then you only need to buy the materials. The materials will only cost three taels of silver."

When Village Chief Wu heard this, he realized it was much lower than the estimated price. After thinking for a moment, he said, "How about this? Those in the village who have money will contribute money, and those who don't will contribute labor. Let's work together to build a good village school!"

It just so happened that Wu Feng and his colleagues had no work to do. Although they would not be paid if they worked in the village now, the village chief would provide them with food, so she didn't have to worry.

When going down the mountain, Wen Ziyu followed her. Tong Wenyao gave him the three taels of silver and said, "Keep your money!" The materials for building the houses in the village cost more than three taels of silver, but she only collected the cost and returned the silver to him. She didn't need this little money now.

When the time comes and the county magistrate's house is built, she will have a steady stream of orders.

On the way home, Xing'er ran up to her and said, "Miss, your wife is about to give birth!" Hearing this, Tong Wenyao became anxious. She picked up her skirt and ran home. As soon as she got outside, she heard her mother moaning from time to time in the room.

She had checked her mother's belly two days ago and everything was fine. Plus, her mother had given birth to two babies before, so she didn't wail. Instead, she clenched her teeth to conserve her strength, which made Tong Wen Yao relax a little.

If it is the first time to give birth, it usually takes several hours. Some people can feel pain from day to night before giving birth, but some people give birth in just ten minutes. But her mother can probably give birth in two or three hours now!

"Xing'er, go to the warehouse and get some ginseng for my mother. If needed, cut a piece for her to hold in her mouth." Second Aunt didn't let her in, worried that she would be scared by what she saw, so Tong Wen Yao waited outside. She sent Xing'er in so that if something went wrong, she could go in and take action immediately.

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