Chapter 245: Waiting in Stillness for a Few Days

Now that Yan Yu had a proper handle, her movements while scooping the pulp became much smoother.

She dipped from the top, then from the bottom. The pulp spread evenly across the bamboo screen.

She removed the thin wooden slats on either side, leaving clean, tidy edges, then pressed the screen onto the stone slab with swift, precise movements. Her hands were gentle and steady as she lowered one side of the bamboo screen, laying it flat from one end to the other.

The entire bamboo screen adhered to the stone slab.

Carefully, she lifted a corner. The pulp began to separate from the screen.

Yan Yu held her breath and peeled it back slowly.

The pulp remained on the stone slab, perfectly intact, not a single corner out of place.

Yan Lao’er grinned so wide his eyes nearly disappeared, and Li Xuemei’s lips curved into a smile.

Qi Wu was utterly amazed. This… was paper?

With one near-perfect success, Yan Yu pressed on.

The bamboo screen danced deftly in her hands.

Layer after layer of pulp was stacked together. The edges were a bit uneven—she still lacked practice and hadn’t aligned them perfectly.

They didn’t have much waste paper at home. What little they had was tossed into the river, and even with constant soaking and stirring, some of it was inevitably lost. The pulp was limited, and by the time she reached the bottom of the bucket, the color had noticeably lightened.

Determined not to waste anything, Yan Yu scooped up every last bit she could.

When she finally stopped, Yan Lao’er twisted his neck—he’d been watching so intently that it had gone stiff.

“Next is pressing the water out of the paper,” Yan Yu said. Her last bamboo screen still sat on top.

To make the pressure more even, she didn’t use her hands. Instead, she grabbed the wooden board they used for kneading dough, set it upright, and pressed down—hard!

Water streamed out in all directions.

Yan Yu eased off.

Then, after a moment’s thought, she pressed again.

This time, only a trickle came out.

Judging it was about right, she removed the board and checked the results.

What had just been pulp now looked a lot more like wet paper.

The next step was peeling the paper off.

The bamboo slips had only four simple characters: Lift gently, peel slowly.

Yan Yu figured if she peeled them now and tried to carry them all the way to the fire wall, they’d probably fall apart. Better to move the slabs closer and peel and paste one by one.

She was just about to move them when she remembered Qi Wu was still there.

“Uncle Qi Wu, can you help me move this stone slab over there?” she asked, pointing toward the fire wall.

Qi Wu nodded solemnly.

He extended his arms, bent into a squat, and lifted the slab with the paper still on it, keeping it perfectly level as he moved at a steady pace.

Yan Yu: …

Okay, maybe not that careful.

Still, this was their first time. Everything was a learning experience. Next time, she’d know to do the earlier steps closer to the fire wall and save herself the trouble of moving things around.

Master Lu’s work had been meticulous. The walls were smooth and even. After deciding to make paper, Yan Yu had kept an eye on the fire wall construction. Every wall in the house now met the standard for paper mounting.

Using her pinky, she lifted a corner and began to peel.

The first sheet had thinner pulp. No matter how careful she was, it still tore, splitting down the middle.

Yan Yu pursed her lips and pasted the half-sheet on the wall.

No waste allowed. Even half a sheet was usable.

She had to peel from the other end. Once both halves were up, a crooked gap ran between them, the two sides staring at each other like estranged siblings.

Li Xuemei took out a homemade brush and gently smoothed the paper, trying to press every inch flush against the wall with no gaps.

Yan Yu didn’t rush to peel the next sheet. Instead, she watched her mother work.

The brush was made from horsehair her father had saved. About two inches long, the hairs were bundled tightly with thread into a round, double-sided brush—one side with longer bristles, the other shorter.

The fire wall had been preheated to a controlled, moderate warmth.

As soon as the paper touched the wall, it began to change before their eyes.

Moisture evaporated. The paper began to dry.

It was a satisfying transformation.

Yan Yu smiled.

With renewed energy, she carefully peeled and pasted the rest of the sheets.

The later ones came off easily, with almost no tears.

Every spot on the fire wall within Yan Yu’s reach was soon covered. Yan Lao’er joined in to help. He wasn’t very tall either, but at least he was taller than his daughter.

Finally, even Qi Wu stepped in.

He hadn’t planned to, but he was the tallest one there.

When the last sheet was pasted on the wall, a deep sense of accomplishment welled up in Yan Yu.

With her hands behind her back, she paced slowly from left to right, then back again, examining every sheet she had made.

That’s when she began to notice some issues.

As the paper dried, its final form became clearer.

The ideal thickness wasn’t from the early batches, where the pulp was thick and fully covered the screen. It was actually from the middle to later stages, when the pulp had thinned a bit.

That thickness best resembled the paper they usually used at home.

Yan Yu, however, preferred the slightly thicker sheets from earlier on. They were closer to modern paper and better suited for writing with charcoal pencils—less chance of tearing from pressing too hard.

The thickest sheets could be used as covers.

As for the thinner ones… hehehe!

They could finally make their own toilet paper. No more worrying about running out and having to debate whether to go back to using other means.

According to the bamboo slips, this stage was called baking the paper.

The baking time shouldn’t be too long, or the paper would wrinkle and become brittle.

Once baked, the paper needed to be hung on a drying rack for a few days to air out.

A few rods quickly became a simple rack.

Instead of peeling the paper in the order it was pasted, they removed it from thinnest to thickest, hanging each sheet one by one.

“Do we really have to wait? I think we could use them now,” Yan Lao’er said, feeling one of the thinner sheets.

“Let’s wait a few more days, Dad. No rush,” Yan Yu said, unusually patient.

This was her labor of love. Every sheet had been made with her arms raised, holding the bamboo screen.

Anyone who’s done it would understand—her arms were sore as heck.

Just then, Granny Rong came by to call them for dinner.

Qi Wu bolted like his pants were on fire.

Yan Lao’er had eaten late the previous night and wasn’t hungry yet, so he said he’d skip lunch. After thinking it over, he decided to follow Qi Wu back to his place.

“Yan Lao’er, lunch is ready at my house,” Qi Wu said seriously, his expression earnest.

Yan Lao’er: …

I didn’t come to drag you back to my place for a meal, don’t worry.

Master Lu had taken on the job of building a house for the Qi family. After getting Yan Lao’er’s approval, he sent his nephew over to help out, starting with fixing up the part that Qi Da and his brothers had built themselves.

The three brothers hadn’t held back when building their own home. The foundation was solid, but the leveling was a bit off, leaving the surface uneven.

They’d need to level it out first before they could start laying bricks properly.

“I just came to take a look, see if there’s anything I can help with.”

Truthfully, Yan Lao’er was hoping to help the Qi family plan things out a bit better.

Take the cellar, for example—if it could be made bigger, great. If not, then dig two smaller ones.

Qi Wu’s woodworking skills were one of a kind in their village, like a rare treasure. It would be best to build him a proper workshop, let him enjoy the perks of being the village’s prized craftsman.

Ahem, mainly because in the dead of winter, it was too cold to work outside. If he had a room with a heated wall, he could stay warm and spend the season indoors working with wood. Wouldn’t that be perfect?

Rather than buying furniture from outside, Yan Lao’er would much rather let his brother earn that money from his household.

No need to let outsiders profit off them.

Author Note:

Alright, we’ve got paper now~

Thin, thick, all kinds for different uses. Paper really is a wonderful thing~~

(*▽*)

(End of this chapter)