As soon as Jiang Yuwei opened her eyes in the morning, she didn't even bother to make breakfast and went straight to Aunt Zhou's house. She ran into Tie Zhu and Ning Wu, who were just about to leave, and immediately stopped them.
"Where are you two going? We're starting papermaking today. Can you come and help in the courtyard?"
Seeing Jiang Yuwei say this, Tie Zhu quickly nodded and said:
“It’s nothing. I was just thinking that since I’m just sitting at home doing nothing, I might as well go and weed the fields. Since there’s work to be done in the yard, let’s go and do it.”
Jiang Yuwei nodded and led the two to the pond to collect the soaked tree bark. She then taught them to throw the soaked bark into a row of connected stoves built outside the paper mill in the backyard, pour in an appropriate amount of wood ash, and have Tiezhu and Ningwu watch the stoves and keep the fire burning continuously for eight hours without letting it go out or dry out, so that the fibers could be properly degummed and the bark fibers could be made softer.
Jiang Yuwei watched the two men tending the fire and said with a smile:
"The boiled bark should be taken out and rinsed clean with running water to remove any impurities before it can be pulped. When pulping, you should pay attention to the force and technique. It should not be pulped too coarsely or too finely. It is best to pulp it into a paste. Then, add an appropriate amount of water to break up the bark, chop it up, and put it into a large stone mortar to crush it."
Tie Zhu frowned and scratched his head after hearing about the complicated procedure, saying:
"Sister Yuwei, I'm afraid I won't remember it. Can I ask you if I don't understand something?"
Jiang Yuwei smiled and said:
"Of course you can't remember it all at once. Practice makes perfect. You two need to practice more. If our paper mill hires new people in the future, you two will be responsible for teaching them. So you two must study hard and practice hard. In the future, you will be the master craftsmen of our paper mill!"
After hearing Jiang Yuwei's words, Tie Zhu and Ning Wu exchanged a smile and said:
"How could someone like us become a master chef?"
Jiang Yuwei nodded very seriously and said:
"Of course, as long as you are capable and willing to learn, you will definitely become a master chef!"
Ning Wu smiled and nodded, saying:
"Okay, from now on we'll listen to Sister Yuwei. I was wondering why Sister Yuwei had so many pots and mortars in the yard at first, turns out they're for making paper!"
Jiang Yuwei nodded, looking at the ten pots and stove in the backyard, as well as the four large stone mortars, and continued:
"After you've crushed all the bark, you can take it out and dry it in the sun. I'll teach you the rest of the steps after it's dried. If I explain too much at once, you might not remember it all."
Jiang Yuwei taught diligently, and Tie Zhu and Ning Wu also learned diligently. Seeing that the two were willing to learn, Jiang Yuwei planned to hire them as long-term workers after the paper was made and sold. In the future, the paper mill could hire more people to increase production.
Seeing that the two had learned enough, Jiang Yuwei went to the front yard to cook. Most of the workers in the back yard had already left today, leaving only a few people to do the finishing work. Jiang Yuwei thought that if the paper mill were to be established in the future, it would be unsightly for the poultry raised in the back yard to always run around, so she asked these few people to build another fence between the area where she raised poultry in her back yard and the paper mill to keep the poultry in place.
Jiang Yuwei was thinking that she could make some stewed green beans with pork for lunch, and also make a cucumber salad. She happened to have some lean meat at home, along with water chestnuts that she had dug up by the pond that morning, which she could use to make some four-happiness meatballs. She could also cook a pot of rice, which would be enough for lunch.
Jiang Yuwei was busy cooking when she saw Ning Wan returning from outside with a basket on her back. Thanks to Ning Wan's help in taking care of the chickens and ducks at home, these poultry, which she fed by cutting grass on the mountain every day, were growing very fast. Seeing that the chickens and ducks she had bought earlier had grown up and would soon be laying eggs, Jiang Yuwei was very pleased.
He hurriedly beckoned Ning Wan over, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and then picked out a large four-happiness meatball from the pot, put it in a bowl, and handed it to Ning Wan with a smile:
"Wan'er, you've worked so hard these past few days. You've taken such good care of our chickens and ducks. Here are some Four Happiness Meatballs that I just made. Come and have some!"
Ning Wan smiled and took the bowl, saying:
"Thank you, Mother!"
After saying that, he hugged the bowl and skipped over to sit on a small stool under the eaves and ate contentedly.
Now, all that's missing in the backyard shed is a few more pigs. If they're raised in the spring, they can slaughter a pig for the New Year. With that in mind, Jiang Yuwei made up her mind to buy a few piglets to raise next time she goes to the market. Anyway, the crops in her space grow quickly, so she can plant more corn, dry it, grind it into flour, and keep it to raise poultry.
Jiang Yuwei brought the prepared food to the table and went to the backyard to call everyone to come and eat. Ning Wu and Tie Zhu kept an eye on the pot and couldn't leave it unattended, so Jiang Yuwei scooped some food into each of their bowls and told them to stay and eat in the backyard.
The villagers who were in charge of the work left after lunch today. The backyard is now completely repaired. Since Jiang Yuwei had invited the villagers to a hot pot meal when the small courtyard was repaired before, she doesn't plan to bother them again this time. She wants to focus on getting her paper mill up and running first.
Jiang Yuwei went to the backyard and saw Ning Wu and Tie Zhu still watching the pot, so she instructed them:
"We must keep a close eye on the heat of each pot. Papermaking is not easy. The previous steps have taken nearly a month to get to this point, so we must be careful. We can turn the pots over more often to avoid burning them and ruining everything."
The two nodded repeatedly upon hearing this, and Tie Zhu laughed:
"Okay, Sister Yuwei, don't worry. You've had a long day, go and rest in the front yard. My brother and I will take care of things here!"
Jiang Yuwei smiled and nodded, then collected the bowls and chopsticks and took them to the front yard to wash along with the leftover bowls and chopsticks from lunch. She also tidied up the yard. In the future, when there wouldn't be so many workers to do the housework, she could remove all the dining tables inside and return the benches borrowed from the neighbors.
Jiang Yuwei thought that since she had borrowed the stools for so many days, it would be inappropriate to deliver them empty-handed. So she decided to first grind the soybeans she had soaked that morning into tofu, and then deliver a piece to each household as a token of her gratitude. Therefore, Jiang Yuwei called out in the courtyard:
"Huaizhi, hurry up and come out to make tofu with me."
After saying that, Jiang Yuwei filled a basin with water and washed the millstone, then washed the pot. Ning Wan saw that they were going to make tofu, so she rushed out to help. Ning Huaizhi helped pour the soybeans, while Jiang Yuwei was in charge of turning the millstone. Soon, the soaked soybeans were all ground.
As soon as the soybeans were ground, Ning Wan started clamoring for soy milk. Jiang Yuwei had no choice but to have Ning Huaizhi squeeze out some of the soybean pulp and pour it into the pot for Ning Wan, so that Ning Wan could start the fire and cook it herself.
Jiang Yuwei continued working with Ning Huaizhi to squeeze out the soybean pulp. After they finished, Jiang Yuwei started another stove to boil soybean milk. But just as the soybean milk boiled, Tie Zhu rushed to the front yard in a panic, shouting:
"Sister Yuwei, something terrible has happened! Quickly go to the backyard and check on my brother..."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com