Chapter 417 Fiber Pulp
The first thing they cut was bamboo, which was easier to obtain. Even if they failed at the beginning, there were still materials to remedy the situation. The bark of the mulberry tree was much more troublesome. They had to go to the forest if they wanted it. It was also difficult to find wild mulberry trees in the mountains as they were not planted in large areas. The number of mulberry trees known now was limited.
Mulberry bark can also be used, but compared to mulberry, mulberry is more difficult to find.
Neither of them was familiar with the papermaking process. At the beginning, Mu Xi only put a little fiber in the stone pestle, and after beating it hard again and again, it turned into a soft fiber ball.
Zhao Yeqing was processing the remaining materials on the side. The fermented materials had to be washed and cleaned to remove the obviously black impurities on the surface before they could be pounded.
Mu Xi couldn't grasp the right degree, so he hammered for a long time. Seeing that the fibers in the stone had not changed for a long time, he stopped and asked, "Is this all right?"
Zhao Yeqing stretched his neck to look closer, and his tone was a little uncertain: "I think... Let's try it first."
The fiber balls after beating look a bit like the cotton wool in an old cotton quilt that has turned yellow after many years of use. They are somewhat rough and somewhat soft, and the color is yellow with an orange hue.
Mu Xi took the fiber pulp to the backyard and broke it up in the sink behind the kitchen.
This water tank was originally a small water tower placed in the backyard to store water and supply it to the faucet. Later, after a water pump was installed, the water tower became idle. Mu Xi took the time to knock down the red bricks, and the two of them rebuilt a water storage tank with red bricks. Sometimes when they wanted to eat fish, they would catch the fish from the pond and keep them in it for a few days.
It won’t have too much earthy smell when eaten.
Now the square cement red brick sink had been cleaned in advance by the two people. Because it was only the first time, the fiber wood pulp they brought was not much, and they only filled it with half a pool of water.
The fiber wood pulp was put into the water tank and stirred. Zhao Yeqing took a bamboo pole and stirred it again and again, waiting for Mu Xi to bring the papermaking trough that had been prepared long ago.
The paper-making trough is made of bamboo, woven with thin bamboo strips, polished to be smooth, and rectangular. Its length and width are smaller than the water trough to facilitate the paper-making trough to swing inside.
The yellowish fibers stirred up in the clear water float in it. Immerse the papermaking trough in the water, scoop up the fiber pulp that floats up after being constantly stirred, and spread them thinly in the papermaking trough.
It was Mu Xi's first time, and his operation was a bit clumsy. The wood pulp fibers fell on the papermaking trough and were thin in some places and thick in others. He had to float the papermaking trough in the water several times before the wood pulp fibers were evenly spread.
He had already lifted up the paper trough for the nth time, and looked it over from top to bottom. He said to Zhao Yeqing, who had just returned from the drying room, "How is it? It seems to be okay this time?"
Zhao Yeqing's eyes wandered over it, confirming that there were no holes anywhere. "It's pretty good this time. Let's take it to the drying room and bake it out."
She had just gone to the drying room to light the fire. Mu Xi carried the paper trough to the drying room and placed it diagonally on the table, facing the burning brazier, about forty centimeters away.
Papermaking requires sun drying in summer and baking in winter. The sun doesn’t come out much in today’s weather, so we have to resort to manual methods.
"It shouldn't take long for such a thin paper. Just leave it here for now." Zhao Yeqing pulled Mu Xi, who was a little worried, out to continue pounding the wood pulp.
Mu Xi, who mastered the technique of pounding wood pulp for the first time, was even more adept at it the second time and directly put mulberry bark in it.
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