A copy of the Three Character Classic has already been copied. The first lesson is not to teach everyone to recite the Three Character Classic, but to have everyone write their own names. The paper was taken by Song Tantan from the supermarket. She deliberately chose older, yellowish paper, and the ink was poured into a bowl.

There was no problem taking out the brush directly. In the future, if you need to use ink, you can only pour it into the bowl in advance. Fortunately, when the grain was distributed earlier, some paper was also taken out. So when Ye Moxun took out the paper and distributed it, no one asked any questions, because many people had already received some paper.

Paper is a precious thing; people are reluctant to use it to wipe their bottoms after using the toilet and save it. Now it's just the right time to use it. We also have a writing brush, but we don't have an inkstone or ink.

Song Tantan's supermarket only had ink, not ink sticks, and she didn't have an inkstone to grind ink, so every time she took out ink, she said it was pre-ground.

Originally, Song Tantan had encouraged Ye Moxun to learn papermaking so that the source of the paper would not be exposed, and she could mix the paper from the supermarket with the paper she manufactured.

But Ye Moxun, who had spent the whole night studying the book, told her to look at it herself, "If there's a simpler production process, I'll teach everyone how to do it. The difficulty is too great, so it's impossible to implement."

Song Tantan looked at the production process: the first step was to chop bamboo and soak it for 100 days, and select new bamboo with fresh branches and leaves; the second step was to shake it into lime water and soak it for eight days and nights, then add alkali and steam it, then wash it, and soak it again; the third step was to pound it into a paste...

In summary, there are roughly five steps: steaming, washing, pulping, papermaking, and drying.

It seems simple, but in reality, the process and details are extremely complex and time-consuming, mainly because they don't have a complete set of tools.

So, the protagonists in period novels who could easily make paper were just fooling us? Well, novels are novels after all; there has to be fiction, and the protagonist always has to have some kind of cheat code.

However, she can't use her research cheat code for now.

"Here's what we'll do: you copy down the system and process, and when those people can read in the future, let them learn it. Let others make the paper." Song Tantan thought she was really clever for thinking of this.

"Fine, take it, you copy it. I'm not copying it." Trying to work him to death? The Three Character Classic and the Hundred Family Surnames are enough to keep him copying for days. Adding more burdens? Absolutely not!

Song Tantan choked, pouted, and decided to copy. She could already write quite a few traditional Chinese characters, and with another month or two of hard work, she would definitely be able to recognize them all.

Undeterred, she read several more books on papermaking and finally found a papermaking technique that she considered relatively simple, using paper made from trees and grass.

The wood and grass are chopped, sealed in a large pot, and steamed until tender. The steamed liquid is then ladled out of the pot, processed through a screening device, rinsed, washed clean, filtered to remove residue, and diluted...

Well, it's not that simple, but it can still be made by hand.

"It's so hard. It's so easy to watch others sing, but it takes so much effort to sing yourself. I really admire those live streamers. It's a wonder they actually invented paper." Although Song Tantan was a little discouraged, she did not give up.

There were plenty of notebooks in the supermarket, but only for her, her aunt, and Ye Moxun. Others could only use blank and slightly worn paper. Last time, she didn't take out too much paper, mainly because she didn't dare to take too much; the amount she could use was limited.

However, the demand for paper is still very high. We can't go back to the old ways and use bamboo slips, that would be too troublesome.

Therefore, papermaking is very necessary, and learning another skill is never a bad thing. In the future, when the world is at peace, the villagers of Songlin Village will need to contact outsiders to exchange for goods and so on. Young people will leave here to find other ways out.

Songlin Village is isolated from the outside world. In recent years, it has had to rely on itself for everything. There are many things to learn. However, it is unrealistic to expect to develop everything in one go. Right now, everyone is most concerned about food and clothing. Papermaking and printing are relatively high-end technologies that can be developed slowly in the future.

Right now, they need to learn to read so that they can translate simplified characters into traditional characters and copy them down. Ye Moxun really can't handle it all by himself, so Song Tantan decided to be more ambitious and share some of the burden with him.

Then Song Zhuiyan was also dragged into learning traditional Chinese characters every day, and was given a task: "Auntie, you only need to copy one book. This cookbook is for you. You should study traditional Chinese characters well so that you can copy the cookbook as soon as possible."

"Why copy recipes? If you want to learn how to cook, just look at them!" Song Zhuiyan would rather feed pigs than copy them.

"Of course, it's for getting rich. In a few years, when the world is at peace and everything is in need of rebuilding, it will be a great time to make money. We can open a restaurant then... We bosses don't need to work so hard; we can just train a chef." So, the recipes need to be copied down so that the future chef can learn them.

"You're thinking quite far ahead. Do you have anyone in mind? Who are you planning to train as your head chef?" Song Zhuiyan looked at her amusedly.

"That's a long way off. We need to get the village children literate first, and then select the best among them, each with their own strengths," Song Tantan said with a grin.

"It's best not to choose anyone from Linjia Village. I think Ah Zhu and Ji Xiang are quite good." Several times, people from Linjia Village had come to cause trouble because of the pigs. Although they were afraid of her strength and didn't dare to go too far, those people were too shrewd and liked to scheme, so she didn't like them.

Linjia Village has a large and powerful population; whatever they decide to do in the future, they will do it together as a group.

Those who fled with them first, Zhu Xiu and his dozen or so people, could be trusted, especially the children, whose elders had all passed away and who now relied on Zhong Qingyi and Song Zhuiyan for support.

Like farming, those children can't grow much on their own. Zhong Qingyi and Song Zhuiyan were a great help. Song Zhuiyan only cultivated three acres of land to grow grain, and planted some vegetables in the backyard and front yard. Just like in her hometown in her previous life, she didn't make things too tiring for herself.

In her past life, there were tractors to turn the soil, but now turning the soil really requires manpower, hoe by hoe, which is very tiring. So she planted one acre of sweet potatoes and one acre of corn, both of which are easy to grow, and left another acre to plant rice in the second half of the year.

Song Zhuiyan was used to farm work, and she planted the plants in three days. After that, she taught Azhu, Xiaomei, and Ayu how to plant them.

Zhong Qingyi was not used to farming. Before clearing the wasteland, he thought it would be easy. After all, he had practiced martial arts since childhood and was strong and healthy. It was only after clearing the wasteland for a few days that he realized what the hardships of farmers were.

If it weren't for Song Zhuiyan's help, he wouldn't know how to farm at all. But he wasn't stupid. After a few days, he gradually got used to it. After finishing his own land, he could also help others.

Of course, he only cultivated two acres of land. He would rather go hunting in the mountains more often than cultivate so much land. Working from dawn till dusk was more tiring than practicing martial arts, leaving him with a sore back, aching legs, and mental exhaustion.

"Don't worry, Brother Zhong. Two acres of land are enough for you and A-Xun to eat your fill. Sweet potatoes and corn are both high-yield crops. Although I've never grown millet before, I don't think it will be a problem. We have fertilizer."

The fertilizer Song Zhuiyan was referring to wasn't decaying leaves and mud. She planned to have someone build a biogas digester after the bricks were fired. Of course, burning biogas was impossible because there was no biogas stove, but accumulating fertilizer was possible.