Chapter 93: Should Papermaking Be Put on the Agenda?

After Su Bai left the classroom, he walked towards the toilet area, wanting to check on the growth of the sweet potatoes and chilli peppers.“Shaman, I now know how to write what you’ve just taught us,” Yu Ying started looking forward to returning to the Teepee to write.

Yan Hua blinked her red eyes, looking smug, and said, “I know too, it looks very simple.”

The two of them had been listening attentively on the side while Su Bai was teaching. Sometimes, they would involuntarily gesture in their palms, while mumbling to themselves.

“Then when we go back, let me see how you write,” Su Bai said with a slight smile.

These numbers were not difficult, but the upcoming, Chinese Characters, would be a lot harder. In fact, Su Bai believed it would take a lot longer to learn, and would have to wait until they moved back to the Tribal Ancestral Land. At that time, they would need paper and pens too, the sand trays were not a long-term solution.

“Yes.” Yu Ying said softly with a smile.

“If you learn quickly, I can also teach you how to write your own names,” Su Bai said with a smile.

Yu Ying blinked her pink eyes, curiously asking, “Shaman, can you really teach us how to write our own names?”

Yan Hua kept raising her hand, enthusiastically saying, “Me, me too. Shaman, I also want to know how to write my own name.”

Su Bai looked at the cow horned girl constantly raising her hand, remembering what he had instructed the children in class. He nodded with a smile, “Alright, I’ll teach you how to write your names once we get back.”

“Shaman, I’ve taken good care of the sweet potatoes, come and see.” Yu Ying said expectantly.

When Su Bai and others left the Tribe to go to the Spotted Deer Market, she would come to check on the sweet potatoes every day. Of course, the fox eared girl originally wanted to water them constantly to make them grow faster, but remembering the Shaman’s instructions, she changed it to watering only once a day.

Su Bai looked at the row of sweet potatoes. They had grown considerably compared to when they were first planted. He nodded, satisfied, and said, “Yeah, they’ve been well taken care of. When it’s harvest time, you can eat more.”

“Yay,” Yu Ying immediately replied.

Yan Hua scratched her head, looking confused, and mumbled, “Very good? Why do I feel like there’s no change?”

Su Bai really did not know what to do with the cow horned girl. He smiled as he went to check the chilli pepper field.

Yu Ying squatted in front of the chilli pepper field, pouting and mumbling, “Shaman, I’ve been coming to check on these chilli peppers every day too, but I feel, I feel like there’s no change.”

“They do not grow that fast. They’ll need more time,” Su Bai said, feeling a bit helpless, thinking the fox eared girl was too impatient.

He had thought that things planted in this era would grow faster, but it did not seem to be the case. It was the same as the growth cycle back on Earth.

“How much longer will it take?” Yu Ying asked curiously.

Su Bai recalled the books he had read before, and said bitterly, “It will take a long time, about sixty to a hundred days.”

Yu Ying’s eyes widened in surprise, “It takes that long? By then, the rainy season will be here, and we won’t be able to eat them.”

“Yes, it’s a bit troublesome,” Su Bai said, pursing his lips. In his heart, he was still thinking that if there was a Shaman Technique to make plants grow faster. If there was, that would be great. This way, after planting the seeds, they could shorten the time it took to grow. [But, realistically, such a Shaman Technique probably doesn’t exist.]

“Shaman, what should we do?” Yu Ying asked worriedly.

“Let’s check again in a couple of days. They should sprout by then,” Su Bai said optimistically. [If it really does not work out by then, we can still transplant them since they would still be seedlings.]

After looking for a while, Su Bai turned and left, needing to go back to the Teepee to arrange some other matters.

*Tap tap tap…* Yu Ying, holding a piece of charcoal, asked, “Shaman, where should we practise?”

Su Bai took out a piece of Animal Hide and said, “Practice on this, first write today’s numbers. Later, I’ll teach you how to write your names.”

“Yes,” Yu Ying nodded.

Yan Hua also took a piece of charcoal, and followed the fox eared girl to lie on the table, the two discussing today’s lesson content.

Su Bai, at his own position, began to ponder on the Tribe’s future development plans.

He took a piece of charcoal, spread out an Animal Hide on the table, and muttered to himself, “The first thing should be papermaking, and pens, right? Without these, it’s very inconvenient for me to teach.”

Teaching, administrative work, etc., all required paper and pens, using Animal Hide and charcoal was very inconvenient. Using Animal Hide as paper was not only wasteful but also inconvenient for storage. Using charcoal as a pen was not a long-term solution either, the written characters would always be large and easily smudged.

Su Bai closed his eyes and began to ponder, recalling how handmade paper was made back on Earth.

He pursed his lips and thought, [Papermaking seems to be divided into several steps, it’s not difficult, as long as we have the materials.]

Su Bai began to draw diagrams on the Animal Hide. [The premise for papermaking is to have a stone mill.]

He first drew a large circular stone platform on the Animal Hide, then drew a cylindrical stone.

[This completes the general idea, what’s left is the fixed wooden stick,] He continued drawing at the bottom of the Animal Hide, drawing some wooden sticks for fixing and pushing the stone mill. [It’s good that this method is simple. Otherwise, I really wouldn’t have remembered how it was done.] Su Bai said gratefully.

“Shaman, what are you doing? We’ve finished writing,” Yan Hua stood up and asked.

Su Bai put down the charcoal and smiled, “Oh? Bring it over and let me see.”

Yan Hua dusted off the charcoal dust on the Animal Hide and handed it over with both hands, “We’ve been writing very carefully.”

Su Bai looked at the numbers written by the two girls, and said with satisfaction, “It seems like you’ve been listening carefully to my class. This is really written well.”

Although it was the first time the two girls wrote, the numbers they wrote were neat and tidy, not looking like it was their first time writing.

“Right! I wrote very carefully,” Yan Hua said proudly.

Yu Ying was a bit shy and asked weakly, “Shaman, we’ve finished writing the numbers, can you teach us how to write our names now?”

“Of course, come over and watch,” Su Bai picked up a charcoal, ready to write for the two to see.

Yu Ying nodded heavily. Both girls continued by enthusiastically leaning against the edge of the table to observe.

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