Beauty and the Beasts

Winston immediately went out to chop a tree while Bai Qingqing and Muir started handling the bark.

Given how fine paper was, they’d naturally have to break up the raw material. Bai Qingqing was still uncertain of the next step, so she only let Muir cut one-third of the bark and then chop up into fine pieces with a blade.

Bai Qingqing felt that the bark chopped up into the size of soybeans wasn’t fine enough, so she had Muir smash them flat with a rock. It still didn’t work, so they used the grinding stone, grinding the pieces into a bean-dregs consistency.

Bai Qingqing was somewhat satisfied after seeing them in this pulp-like state.

At this moment, Winston returned, dragging a small tree several ten meters tall. Bai Qingqing immediately said, “Make the tree trunk into this state too.”

“Okay.”

Winston swiftly peeled off the bark and chopped off a chunk of the tree trunk. As he chopped the tree trunk into fine pieces, Muir grounded the pieces into pulp.

The grounded pulp looked a lot better than the tree bark, releasing a faint and light fragrance of tree resin, sparking one’s appetite.

However, at the thought of how the blade used to chop the wood hadn’t been washed, Bai Qingqing rubbed her nose and managed to hold back on her curiosity to have a taste.

“What should we do next?” asked Muir, scraping the last bit of pulp on the grinding stone into the bucket.

Bai Qingqing scooped the pulp and took a look, her beautiful brows furrowed slightly.

Paper was something that existed from ancient days. What method did they use back then? Steam, cook, bake, or roast. Another more troublesome method would be to add chemicals.

Bai Qingqing hoped that it would be the first option. If it was the second, she’d still be able to do it.

Adding a material that had some cohesiveness might be able to make it a success. However, it’d be unknown if the final product would turn out like the paper in modern days.

After contemplating through the options of steaming, cooking, roasting, and sunning, Bai Qingqing said, “Let’s steam it first.”

She couldn’t possibly cook it in water. Sunning wasn’t an option right now, either. They could try leaving it to dry.

As for roasting… The paper she usually used didn’t seem to have any charred smell. But they could still give it a try.

“Winston and Curtis, the two of you will be in charge of steaming. Muir and I will try roasting it,” Bai Qingqing said. The reason she paired up with Muir wasn’t that she liked him better, but because Curtis and Winston were more familiar with the stove compared to Muir. She’d feel more at ease watching over him.

The three of them knew this and none of them objected as they got to work.

After the trunk pulp and bark pulp were mixed evenly, the two groups distributed the content equally.

The big pot was given to Winston and Curtis while Bai Qingqing and Muir made a small stove in the dining room, placing a pan on it.

Muir was in charge of starting the fire while Bai Qingqing was in charge of cooking… oh, no, to toast the paper.

After the pot was warm to the touch, Bai Qingqing added a small scoop of the pulp and carefully flattened it, like how one would fry pancakes.

This was extremely difficult as she was unable to make the pulp flat. However, as the temperature increased, it did show signs of coagulating.

Bai Qingqing was delighted and quickly said, “I’ll go find a flat piece of rock. Keep watch over the fire and don’t let it get too big.”

“I know.” Muir kept an eye on the fire seriously as if he had been tasked with great responsibility.

Bai Qingqing ran off quickly, anxiously looking around. The more panicked she was, the harder it was to find a suitable one.

“How’s this?” Parker’s relaxed and smiling voice suddenly rang out next to Bai Qingqing. Looking up and seeing a wooden round plate, her eyes instantly gleamed with delight.

“Is it the tray for the family portrait?” Bai Qingqing smiled and ran over, snatched the tray, and flipped it over to take a look. It was really the tray. The figurines’ bases were still carved onto it.

Having acquired a suitable tool, Bai Qingqing ran to the backyard happily.