Chapter 189 The Bookstore's Treasure
Only now did Li Wenjing understand that Lin Zhiyi was not just playing around in the mud, she was doing something big: printing a book.
Moreover, he had never heard of this kind of printing technology.
The printing technique used by Da Gan was woodblock printing, in which the text of the manuscript was carved on a wooden board and then painted and printed.
However, one board can only print one page of a book, so as to carve as many boards as there are pages of the book, which is a waste of time and effort. Once there is a typo, the entire board needs to be re-carved.
The method used by Zhizhi is very good. You just need to arrange the words one by one, and they can be reused.
He opened the Story of the Stone and took a look at it. Zhizhi said to write it according to the book. So, does that mean she wants to print this book?
He had also bought Chang'an's storybooks, but he couldn't finish any of them.
But the more he read The Story of the Stone, the more astonished he became. He asked, "Where did Zhizhi get this book? Why haven't I seen it before?"
"A friend gave it to me."
"Which friend?"
Man or woman?
Li Wenjing became alert.
Lin Zhiyi made up a story and got away with it.
Speaking of which, this is a book that was published many years ago, it would be strange if he had seen it.
But Li Wenjing was attracted by the book.
Lin Zhiyi said, "You write first and we'll carve it. I can lend you the book later."
"good."
In order not to delay Lin Zhiyi, Li Wenjing had to write on the clay first.
Lin Zhiyi and Chai Ya used a knife to carve along the edge of the characters.
Carving is a job that requires patience, and women are more meticulous and have more dexterous hands.
But Li Wenjing wrote so fast that the stone table was soon filled with clay pieces.
Lin Zhiyi simply asked Chai Ya to call her elder and second sisters-in-law to come and carve together.
Fourth Aunt and Lin Xue also went to the fields. Otherwise, Lin Zhiyi would have called them over to help.
It took them three full days to finish carving the character blank.
Then put it into the cellar for grilling.
Finally, use millet, angelica dahurica, etc. to boil and fill the holes and gaps left after firing.
After cleaning and drying, you can start typesetting.
After being busy these past few days, Lin Xiuran and Lin Xiuyan would join in to help whenever they were at home.
The bamboo paper mill has been built, craftsmen have been recruited, and now it is on the right track.
Lin Xiuran is busy every day and is never home. I can only see him when he comes back at night.
Zhao Zhan’s handwriting was not good, but his carving was okay, so he also joined in.
There is strength in numbers. Otherwise, it would not have been possible to complete the carving so quickly.
Lin Xiuyan raised a question: "With so many characters, it will probably take me half a day just to find them."
Lin Zhiyi thought for a moment and said, "That's easy. I'll just group these words together according to their rhymes. That way, they'll be easier to find."
"What category?"
Lin Zhiyi then realized that it seemed that pinyin did not exist in this era.
Okay, then let her do it first, and then she will train a few people who know pinyin.
Mix rosin, wax and paper ash, heat them, pour them on the type plate, and then arrange the prepared type blanks in order according to the font of the first page of the text of "A Dream of Red Mansions" and flatten them.
She had the dial made by a blacksmith earlier.
After cooling, it can be fixed and used.
After printing, you can heat and disassemble the plate.
"Is this all right?" Lin Xiuyan asked in surprise.
"Yes, second brother, you can try."
Lin Xiuyan couldn't wait any longer.
The ink used for printing is pine soot ink, which Li Wenjing made himself according to the formula he found for Lin Zhiyi.
When the first page of "A Dream of Red Mansions" was printed, everyone's face was filled with joy.
"Sister, it's done, it's done..."
Lin Xiuyan was a little incoherent.
He was so excited at this moment that he didn't know what to say.
Lin Xiuran also looked at Lin Zhiyi with pride in his eyes.
This is their sister, the daughter of the Lin family.
Lin Zhiyi: "Big Brother, Second Brother, have you read this book?"
The two looked at each other and said, "Not yet."
"Look, if I were to use the first forty chapters of this book as our bookshop's treasure when it opens, do you think it would be feasible?"
Lin Xiuran and Lin Xiuyan then began to look through the books.
The more I watch, the more frightened I become.
"I think it's OK, absolutely OK!"
"What is this book, sister?"
Lin Zhiyi once again resorted to the same tactics she had used to deal with Li Wenjing. "Someone gave it to me, and I don't know the author. But judging by the brilliant writing, he must be a great scholar."
"Then can we print a large number of copies without his consent?"
"When the person gave me the book, he said that the author had passed away, so it was fine to print it. We definitely want to share such a good book. How can we keep it to ourselves?"
The two brothers also felt that what their sister said made sense.
After breakfast the next day.
Lin Zhiyi suddenly remembered that they had not been to the county in the past few days, and he didn't know whether Yaxing had asked hello or whether the landlord of the shop wanted to sell the house.
Lin Zhiyi looked at Li Wenjing, "Are you busy today? Accompany me to the county."
Li Wenjing agreed.
As soon as I changed my clothes and went out, Fang's mother came running over and said, "Girl, there's someone outside looking for you."
"Who's looking for me?"
"He said he was a young man from the county, and wanted to ask the girl about buying a shop."
Lin Zhiyi hurriedly said, "Please come in!"
This guy is really powerful. He can actually find Xishui Village.
Lin Zhiyi asked Fang Mama to bring the child to the living room.
When the man saw Lin Zhiyi after entering the house, he wiped his sweat and said, "Miss Lin, why haven't you been to the county these days? Why is the shop closed? It took me a long time to find it."
"Sorry, I've been so busy at home these days that I forgot about it."
Lin Zhiyi asked the boy to sit down and asked Chai Ya to serve him a cup of tea.
The boy already knew Lin Zhiyi's identity and no longer dared to neglect him.
He was still asking about the craftsman who was decorating the shop for Lin Zhiyi. That day, because of the bandits, Lin Zhiyi and Mrs. Liu could not go to the county to decorate the shop, so they specially sent a letter to the craftsman.
The man found out from the craftsman that Lin Zhiyi was from Xishui Village.
After arriving at Xishui Village and asking around, the villagers found out that Lin Zhiyi was actually the much-talked-about Lady of Jiahe County in Fangzhou.
No wonder she could afford a shop.
When he saw Lin Zhiyi again, his attitude was very respectful.
"Miss Lin, I've asked about that shop, and the landlord doesn't plan to sell it. There's another shop for sale these past two days, and it's in a better location than this one. If you're free, come with me to take a look."
"We're free now, let's go."
They originally planned to go to the county.
I bought the shop as soon as possible. The shop has been decorated, the books are almost printed, and the bamboo paper is also ready. Calculating the date, it will take two months to open the shop.
The boy came driving the shop's carriage.
Lin Zhiyi and Li Wenjing also drove the carriage out of the house.
It happened that two women from the village came to visit Fang Mama and asked Lin Zhiyi, "Miss Lin, is Sister Fang at home?"
Lin Zhiyi recognized them at a glance. These two people were very good friends with Fang Mama.
Whenever there is something happening in the village, they will definitely go to Fang Mama to talk about it.
"Ladies, please go in and look for her."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
