Chapter 1119, Building a House from Paper

Translator: Silavin

 

Su Bai and the others returned to the Yong’an Building with the glowing insects in tow. Through the System, he learned that these creatures were called Night Glow Insects.

 

Though the different insects each emitted light of a distinct colour, they shared the same name across the board.

 

Upon returning to the Yong’an Building, Su Bai immediately set about gathering materials to construct lamp shades, since looking directly at a Night Glow Insect’s light for any length of time was still rather harsh on the eyes.

 

“Shaman, what are you planning to make?” Yu Ying asked from nearby, preparing the materials for tea.

 

“A little house for each of them. A comfortable place where these insects can rest,” Su Bai said, choosing a warm turn of phrase to explain it.

 

He did not want to call it a cage directly. That would sound a little grim.

 

“Shaman, couldn’t you just let the small insects fly freely inside the Yong’an Building? Why go to the trouble of building them a house?”

 

Yu Ying felt the scale of the undertaking was rather daunting. With so many insects, constructing individual enclosures for each of them seemed like an enormous amount of work.

 

“Ha! That wouldn’t do. If they’re flying back and forth throughout the Yong’an Building, how could they possibly function as a reliable light source?”

 

Su Bai laughed easily and continued, “Building them a house is precisely what keeps each insect fixed in one place. Only then can they produce consistent, usable light.”

 

He let the mental image of Night Glow Insects darting wildly through the building play out for a moment, then shook his head. It would be like a torch swinging around at random, producing nothing but confusion for the eyes.

 

“But even if you build them a house, wouldn’t their light be blocked by the walls?” Yu Ying blinked her pink eyes with genuine innocence.

 

“The house these small insects will live in is quite different from what you’re imagining. The light passes right through it,” Su Bai said with a smile.

 

He had guessed she would picture an ordinary sealed room, the sort with no gaps for light to escape.

 

“All right, I suppose I’ll understand once the Shaman has made one,” Yu Ying said, handing him a freshly prepared cup of tea.

 

“That’s right. Just wait and see,” Su Bai said, accepting it and taking a sip.

 

He set down the cup and began laying out his materials. On the table were several pieces of wood, some sheets of paper, and a measure of flour.

 

“Shaman, what is the flour for?” Yu Ying spotted the unfamiliar element at once, her sharp eyes catching it immediately.

 

She could not recall flour being a component of any kind of construction, even a small house for insects.

 

Yu Ying quietly wondered whether he intended to knead it into a sort of dough and shape the insects’ dwelling from that.

 

“The flour has a very important role to play. It’s mainly for making paste,” Su Bai said, setting down his cup.

 

“Paste? What is that?” Yu Ying asked, the word entirely unfamiliar to her.

 

“It’s used to bond the outer walls of the insects’ house, though it requires a bit of preparation first,” Su Bai explained.

 

“Do you need my help?” Yu Ying asked.

 

“Actually, yes. Pour some water into a pot, then measure out roughly one third of that water’s volume in flour and add it in,” Su Bai confirmed with a nod.

 

“Understood.” Yu Ying set about it immediately, and when the initial step was done, she looked back. “Shaman, what’s next?”

 

“Next, you heat it over a low flame. As it heats, stir it continuously in a single direction, gently, with a pair of chopsticks,” Su Bai continued.

 

As he guided Yu Ying through the steps, he began working on the other components himself.

 

He needed to shape the pieces of wood into the frame of the lamp shade. A small knife had been set out beside him for precisely this purpose.

 

His first instinct had been to send the work to the carpenters, but drawing up the design and then waiting for them to complete it would take quite a bit of time. By that point, he could have simply made it himself.

 

“Shaman, I’ve started heating it over a low flame. How will I know when it’s ready?” Yu Ying called out, a dusting of flour now visible across her delicate face.

 

“Keep an eye on how thick the flour mixture becomes as it heats up, and continue cooking it past that point.” Su Bai kept his gaze on the wood he was carving and continued without looking up. “When you see small bubbles forming on the surface, dip your chopsticks in and lift them out. If the mixture stretches into threads as you do, it’s close to ready.”

 

“Understood,” Yu Ying said, committing every word to memory before turning back to the pot with focused attention.

 

She monitored the heat with care, stirring steadily, and when the small bubbles appeared on the surface, she lifted the chopsticks and tested them just as he had described.

 

A moment later, her eyes lit up with a pleased smile. The mixture was behaving exactly as he had said it would.

 

Without pausing to wipe the flour from her face, she called out with bright satisfaction, “Shaman, it looks exactly like what you described. Does that mean it’s ready?”

 

“Not quite yet. Keep cooking it until the mixture has thickened into a fully cohesive paste.”

 

Su Bai had already shaped the wood into a rough model of a lamp shade handle. He looked up briefly. “The final sign is that stirring starts to feel noticeably harder than before. When you feel that resistance building in your hand, the paste is finished.”

 

The method he was teaching Yu Ying was the same old-fashioned approach used back in the modern world, one that most people resorted to when making paste by hand. The adhesion effect it produced was exceptionally strong, well suited for securing paper panels, curtains, and similar materials with lasting firmness.

 

“I understand,” Yu Ying said, nodding firmly, giving the pot her full and undivided attention.

 

Yu Ying watched the mixture closely and followed each step exactly as it had been laid out.

 

“Shaman, the paste is finished! Please come and check whether it’s right!” A few minutes later, Yu Ying drew the firewood back from beneath the pot with a pleased expression and looked up.

 

“Let me see…” Su Bai said, setting down his work and walking over to inspect the paste.

 

He stirred it and confirmed for himself that it had developed genuine resistance. He then tested the adhesion directly.

 

“Well done. The paste you’ve made is exactly what I was looking for,” Su Bai said approvingly.

 

He reached out with his broad hand and wiped away the flour dusting Yu Ying’s face, then gave the tip of her delicate little nose a light flick.

 

“It feels good to be useful to the Shaman. But can something called paste really be used to build a house? Does it work like cement, which bonds stones together?” Yu Ying asked curiously, crouching beside the iron pot with her head tilted.

 

“Well, you’re half right,” Su Bai said with a quiet laugh. “Paste does bond things together, just as you said. But it’s not stone it bonds together. It’s paper.”

 

“Does the Shaman mean the house for the small insects is going to be made of paper?” Yu Ying asked, her eyes widening with surprise.

 

She could not picture how paper could possibly be fashioned into a house. It seemed far too fragile, too easily damaged.

 

“Exactly. Paper is the primary material for the insects’ houses. Once it’s finished, you’ll see exactly what I mean,” Su Bai said with a note of quiet mystery.

 

One look at her expression told him she was not entirely convinced. There was no point in explaining further. It would be far more effective to simply show her.

 

“Let me help,” Yu Ying said at once, rallying herself with a bright and willing expression.