So, to prevent the monkey head mushroom from ruining the rice and flour, Emmanuel and the others assigned her a task: to press the cottonseeds from which the cotton seeds had been removed into sheets.
When Sang Ning and his group arrived, a considerable amount of cottonseed had been harvested from Emmanuel.
The harvest of monkey head mushrooms was equally fruitful, with baskets full of pressed cotton sheets.
That's right, it's not cotton, it's cotton sheets.
The cotton was burst open when it was picked, and then it was sun-dried for many days in a row, so each cotton boll was very fluffy.
Even after the cotton seeds are husked, they remain as fluffy as ever.
But now, the cotton has been turned into neatly stacked pieces of cotton in the basket.
Upon seeing these cotton pads, Sang Ning was almost dumbfounded.
She watched as the monkey head mushroom skillfully took the cotton from Emmanuel and the others, placed it in his palm, then covered it with his other paw and pressed it down hard, turning the fluffy cotton into a thin sheet which he put into the basket, repeating the same action. She simply didn't know what to say.
I picked up a piece of cotton and looked at it. It was really thin and pressed really firmly, but the pieces were too small.
"Stop pressing."
Reaching out to stop the monkey head mushroom from pressing the cotton, Sang Ning asked curiously, "Who came up with this idea?"
Emmanuel's lips twitched slightly. "A measure taken out of desperation."
As he spoke, he said seriously, "I feel that the monkey head mushroom's IQ has increased."
The monkey head mushroom exclaimed upon hearing this, "That's right, I can understand what you're saying now, so my IQ has definitely increased!"
But then again, what exactly is IQ?
Sang Ning and the others didn't understand what the monkey head mushroom's call was trying to express, but the intelligent bear in the live stream did. After translating, Sang Ning explained, "Intelligence is linked to intelligence; the higher the intelligence of a creature, the smarter it is."
It means "it's a compliment."
The monkey head mushroom was delighted and reached for the cotton again, but Sang Ning stopped it once more, "Can't we press it down?"
Why can't we press it down?
Monkey Head Mushroom looked bewildered, and Emmanuel and the others also looked at Sang Ning in surprise, "Monkey Head Mushroom pressed the cotton quite well, why didn't you let her press it anymore?"
Pointing to the thick stack of cotton sheets in the basket, Fimmonloa said sincerely, "I think it's pressed quite well."
"It's pretty good."
Sang Ning did not deny this and expressed high praise for the work done by the monkey head mushroom grower. However, he said, "If it is pressed too tightly, it will be difficult to fluff cotton quilts, spin yarn, or weave cloth."
"There's such a saying?"
Elliott asked in surprise, and Sanning paused for two seconds before replying, "I don't know, but I think it should be like this."
After all, she had never done this kind of work before.
"What if?"
She said, "What if I'm right? Will we have to soften each of these compressed cotton sheets again?"
As she spoke, she tore off a piece of cotton and said, "It looks like this after being torn apart. It's not a difficult or technical job; anyone with hands can do it."
"But it adds an extra step, and it's a pointless one at that. Doesn't that cause delays?"
Everyone stared at the cotton sheet she had torn apart in her hand, then at the neatly stacked pile of cotton sheets in the basket, and finally their gaze settled on the fluffy cotton.
Yes, if Sang Ning is right, their current behavior is no different from making trouble for themselves.
This extra step was clearly unnecessary, but because they wanted to reduce trouble and keep the monkey head mushrooms from causing problems, it increased everyone's workload. It makes me uncomfortable.
If I didn't know before, that was one thing, but now that I do, I have no choice but to stop.
"I quit!"
Emmanuel blinked and was the first to put the cotton away. "Let's continue when it's light. It's too dark to continue now."
This room, which served as a storeroom, was the largest room in the entire house. It was filled with the fruits of their labor over the past few months and the supplies they needed for survival, all of which were kept away from open flames.
Therefore, they couldn't light a bonfire, so they had to use torches.
Moreover, the torches were placed at the window, which was quite far from their current location. The torches were not very bright to begin with, and the distance made them even less effective.
In this situation, it's really not suitable to continue. It's better to wait until dawn to continue.
Most importantly, he noticed that the monkey head mushroom seemed to be quite addicted to pressing cotton pads. If they continued working but didn't let her, the bear, join in, given the monkey head mushroom's personality, she might cause trouble.
Therefore, to avoid unnecessary trouble, Emmanuel directly announced a work stoppage.
"Go wash up and go to bed. We'll continue tomorrow."
Peeling cotton seeds is a rather tedious job, and people like Luo Tianya and Mu Tao have long since given up on it.
Upon hearing Emmanuel announce the work stoppage, the group immediately stood up from their small stools, stretched, and remarked, "Shedding cotton seeds is quite a test of one's patience."
That's right.
Monet continued, "At first I was quite interested in peeling them, but later I don't know why I became irritable, and the thought of quitting kept popping into my head."
"Seriously, if the temperature hadn't dropped so much at night, I would have quit long ago."
Sang Ning laughed, "You have to put up with it even if you don't want to. Whether you can have a warm and thick quilt and soft and comfortable cotton cloth depends on this pile of cotton."
"We can't have the looms made, but then we won't have any cotton to use."
Speaking of looms, Elliott asked, "When will the looms be ready?"
Sang Ning and Louis exchanged a glance, and Louis calmly said, "If nothing unexpected happens, we can finish it tomorrow, but whether it will be usable is another matter."
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