Farming and reading family

I just want to say that Gao E's courage is commendable, but she is too overestimating her own abilities.

"What do you think, sir?" Gao E looked at Du Weiqing's expression which gradually became helpless.

Du Weiqing couldn't say that summer insects can't talk about ice: "Madam Chen is struggling to buy paper these days, right?"

He was reminding Gao E of the difficulty of running a college.

Gao E thought about it seriously and said: "After we finish this busy period, let's think about making our own paper."

Du Weiqing was stunned. Is this possible?

Gao E smiled and said, "Sir, you have reminded me that we can not only make our own paper, but if there are many famous scholars in the academy, we can also print books ourselves. We might be able to make some money."

Du Weiqing felt that this woman was too whimsical. How could she think of such a thing? Was papermaking so simple?

"If you can really make paper, you can consider the academy's affairs." Du Weiqing thought this was impossible.

"Okay." Gao E answered calmly.

After leaving Du Weiqing, Gao E turned around and went to find Chen Ke.

I told Chen Ke yesterday that he should go buy paper with Mr. Du today, but he disappeared when he left early in the morning. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been told that I was short of money.

Chen Ke and Master An were discussing the making of a cabinet in the school. When they saw Gao E coming over, Chen Ke gave Master An some instructions and then went out to meet Gao E.

"What's the matter, madam?" Chen Ke looked happy.

"We agreed to take Mr. Du to buy paper yesterday. Did you forget?" Gao E reminded.

Chen Ke glanced around the room and said, "It's not that I forgot. I just suddenly thought that I should build a cabinet to store it. Otherwise, it would be a shame if it breaks down due to improper storage."

Gao E took a deep breath and said, "My husband, you can work out with Mr. Du how much the school needs and buy a smaller amount first. We have to prioritize things."

Chen Ke didn't expect that all the children in the school could use paper, so he wanted to store it carefully: "Don't worry, my lady, it will be done soon."

"Then my husband must first buy the paper that Mr. Du needs." Gao E looked at Chen Ke. "Mr. Du is so famous in He County now. If people knew that he couldn't even afford paper, I'm afraid he would be asked to leave."

Chen Ke became nervous when he heard Gao E say this. Although Du Weiqing was a little frivolous, he was really knowledgeable.

He felt that with his current progress, if he took the imperial examination when his family conditions improved, he might be able to make the list.

"I understand. I'll talk to Mr. Du this afternoon." Chen Ke agreed.

When Old Man Yang came back in the evening, he was carrying a full load of mountain products. There were a lot of mushrooms at this time of year, and occasionally he would bring back one or two wild game.

Gao E had been waiting for a long time: "Old Man Yang, please sit down and have a rest."

Father Yang sat down happily: "These mushrooms are starting to crack, they will taste better."

Gao E saw Old Man Yang take out walnut-sized mushrooms. These should be called flower mushrooms. If the caps were cracked into white, they would taste better.

"Thank you for your hard work, Dad Yang." Gao E said with a smile.

"It's nothing, just this much ability." Old Man Yang said honestly, his remaining eye narrowed into a slit.

"Can we cut some mulberry branches from the old mulberry trees in the mountains?" Gao E asked tentatively.

A lot of mulberry trees had been cut down when they were grafting, and Gao E didn't know if there were any left.

"Yes," Old Man Yang said with a smile, "The rain this year is good, and the new branches of the trees are growing very long."

"No new branches." Gao E planned to make paper. "Three-year-old branches are needed."

It might be difficult for others to tell the age of a tree, but it was not a difficult task for Old Man Yang: "Then I have to pick one. How much do you want?"

"If you want... just cut down as many as you can find nearby." Gao E was not sure how many there were.

"Okay." Old Man Yang agreed.

Yang didn't know what Gao'e did every day. She wanted this today and that tomorrow, but her husband had told her so she didn't ask.

Old Man Yang brought two people to cut the branches back, and Gao E asked Qin and others to peel the bark.

The steps of papermaking are generally soaking, steaming, washing, pressing...

After pulping, the paper is scooped, dried, and cut...

Anyway, as long as she can make paper, the details can be improved later.

During this time, she also had to make a trough for holding paper pulp, a curtain bed for scooping out paper, a table for pressing paper, a place to dry paper, and knives for cutting paper...

Everything has to be made fresh, and it may not be possible to make a suitable finished product in one go.

This is also the reason why Gao E is reluctant to start a business casually.

Before traveling through time, these things could be easily bought as long as you had money, but now you have to make them by hand.

Fortunately, she has several craftsmen here. As long as it's not too outrageous, they can make it together.

At dusk, Old Man Yang came back with two people carrying large bundles of branches. They knew that Gao E only wanted the bark, but it would be a pity to leave the branches on the mountain, so they could bring them back and use them as firewood.

Gao E came over to look at the branches and noticed that a bundle of mulberry branches was tied together with bark. She looked at the bark carefully.

"Where did this bark come from?" Gao E looked surprised.

"It's from the qingtan tree on the mountain." Old Man Yang said directly.

"Is there a celtis tree on the mountain?" Gao E's eyes lit up.

"Well, there are more on the other side after the mountain pass." Old Man Yang didn't take it seriously.

"Then can you cut down three years old cinnamon tree branches and bring them back?"

"Yes, that's much more than mulberry trees." Old Man Yang agreed immediately.

"Okay." Gao E looked at the bark of the celestial being in her hand happily.

The Chinese celtis tree is used to make Xuan paper, and its quality is better than mulberry paper.

Because there are so many people in Batou Village, Gao E is now making kimchi, sorting the mushrooms that Old Man Yang and the others brought down, peeling the bark of the celestial sandalwood tree, and discussing with Master An how to make curtain beds...

Fall into bed at night after a fulfilling day.

Yunshuang didn't have much desire to go out and play. Every day she just watched Gao E arrange things for the family members to do and watched them live a fulfilling life.

Chen Ke finally took Mr. Du to buy some pens, ink, paper and inkstone. The two of them went to He County for two days before returning. When they came back, Du Weiqing brought back a lot of gifts from the scholars in He County.

It was a hot and humid day, so Gao E asked Lu Qingluo to carry Xiaowu on her back, and the two of them went to see the stream that flowed all year round beside the village.

Water is needed for soaking and washing paper, so it is best to build a paper mill near a stream.

These streams are also spring water flowing down from the mountains, and the quality should be good.

However, they had not been out for long when Wu drove over. When she heard that her elder sister-in-law had gone to the stream, she went to look for her.

"Big sister." Wu called out when she saw Gao E from afar.

Gao E turned around and saw Wu Shi, a little surprised: "Didn't you just take the kimchi away?"

Wu quickly walked over to Gao E and said, "There's a stranger who wants to buy your kimchi recipe."

Gao E was not very surprised. Once you know about this thing, it doesn't require much technical knowledge, but the taste, texture and storage time are quite different.

I guess I decided to buy it after trying it and it didn't work.

"What's the price?" Gao E asked directly.

This time it was Wu's turn to be surprised: "Are you planning to sell it, big sister?"