After a casual meal, Zhang Laifu followed Zhou Daguang back to the village, leaving Zhong Yue at the old mo factory.

"Zhong Yue, right? You have to figure it out. Do you really have to learn how to refine ink?"

Zhong Yue nodded, "Director Liu, yes, I'm sure."

Liu Yongxin smiled intentionally and thoughtfully, "Don't rush to make sure, wait until you see the ink-making master, then you can make your decision."

Although it is now the era of industrial production, the old ink factory still retains the traditional ancient method of ink refining. This is also closely related to sales.

Zhong Yue followed Liu Yongxin into a somewhat grey factory, and Zhong Yue immediately realized what it means to be dirty. The working environment here is really bad. Everyone is dark, especially his hands, which are simply shiny.

Those ink makers carrying iron hammers were covered in ink, looking exactly like a black man.

"Director Liu... Is this ink making still so primitive?"

"Otherwise, what do you think? It takes at least one or two million to one. Now the production of old ink factories has been declining year by year, and the ink ingots made by machines are not as good as manual casting, so this traditional craft continues."

He took Zhong Yue to a tempered place and smiled and said, "Xiao Hu, I'll bring you a new apprentice, saying that you want to learn to refine ink, so you should not be affected by it?"

The middle-aged uncle, who was sweating all over his head, raised his head and glanced at Zhong Yue, "Learn from making ink? Director Liu, you're not kidding."

"I think I'm having a joke with you? I used to introduce my colleagues from the old pen factory and I'm still a college student, so I'll bring it to you."

"It's fresh, let me lead a college student like this uneducated? Lao Liu, aren't you making things difficult for me?"

Liu Yongxin waved his hand, "Come on, I don't know you yet, take him with me, I have something to do, Zhong Yue, just follow this Master Hu."

Zhong Yue nodded, "Okay."

Master Hu glanced at Zhong Yue's outfit and said, "Can you hold up this hammer with your body?"

"It should work."

Master Hu said: "This is not a hammer once or twice. It takes several hours and most people can't do it. There is also your white T-shirt. Not to mention hitting this ink ball, even if you stay here for a long time, the mo smoke will get your clothes dirty."

Zhong Yue said, "It doesn't matter, Master Hu, just teach me."

Seeing Zhong Yue's serious look, Master Hu stepped on the cigarette butt on the ground, "That's it, you can take over."

“Don’t you teach some tips?”

Master Hu grinned with yellow teeth, "Let me tell you the truth. There is no skill or skill in making ink. It depends on hard work. If you insist on saying something skillful, it is just using tricks. Come on, try it."

Zhong Yue put his schoolbag aside and picked up the big hammer on the chopping board.

"This hammer..."

"Twenty kilograms."

No wonder Lao Hu used his hands just now, and the hammer of emotion was really heavy. Zhong Yue hammered the ink ball dozens of times on the chopping board, and felt very tired.

Master Hu smiled and said, "Young man, you have insufficient strength. Let it go, I will take you to see the entire ink making process."

The entire process is completed in this workshop.

Master Hu lit a cigarette and took Zhong Yue to the corner, "The most important thing in ink making is the mo's formula. In the past, there were many famous mo's family in Z County, and the mo's formulas of each were secretly disclosed, but later they were gradually lost. Now the prescriptions from the old mo's factory are still incomplete."

Zhong Yue was stunned, "Incomplete?"

Master Hu nodded, "The Mo Factory was closed for a while decades ago, and later it was reorganized, and the Mo Fang disappeared. The Mo Fang is now pieced together by some of the master's memories."

Zhong Yue's heart skipped a beat. So, has the complete 500-pound ancient ink in his hand become a rare treasure?

Master Hu looked at the material cutting mixer and said, "The raw materials used to be grinded by stone mills, grinding them into fine powder, and then added to the smoke taken. So let alone naked eyes, even the most advanced instruments now, it is difficult to detect the ingredients in the ink ingot."

The stirred ink ball is like what you just saw, and it is manually beaten. Then it is like making rice cakes, and then it is divided into an ink board to press and mold it, and then dried.

Master Hu took Zhong Yue to the Yinfang and pointed to the ink ingots placed on the bamboo board, "These are finished products from three months ago. It will take at least three months to leave the factory."

Master Hu walked to the front, picked up a piece of ink ingot, and put it in front of his nose and smelled it, "Smell it, how does this ink ingot smell?"

Zhong Yue took the ink ingot and sniffed hard, "Don't smell?"

Master Hu smiled and said, "It's right that there is no taste. Good ink ingots will not emit the ink fragrance after they are dried. Only by grinding them with water will the original ink fragrance appear."

Zhong Yue asked, "Master Hu, if I will use my own ink square to make ink, I don't know if it's feasible?"

Old Hu, who was still pointing in Zhong Yue, was suddenly stunned, "You... your Mo Fang?"

Zhong Yue smiled and said, "Yes, mine."

"Can you show it to me?"

Zhong Yue now understood the preciousness of the Mo Fang at hand and said, "I'm afraid this is inconvenient."

"That's how... the assembly lines of the Ink Factory are all unified. If you really want to use your own formula, you can only tell Director Liu that I can't make the decision."

"That's OK."

"By the way, how many kinds of materials do you have in the Mo Fang? If there are not a hundred kinds, I advise you not to tell Director Liu."

Zhong Yue smiled and said, "It's almost the same." He slapped him. After all, Master Hu is not very familiar with him, and he speaks too carefully, which inevitably makes people covet Zhang Mo Fang.

He planned to be familiar with the ink making process in this workshop. When he was proficient in all operations, he probably found all the ingredients and could start the ink making process.

After one morning, Zhong Yue felt soreness in his back. This was really a hard work. He started to get oil smoke, which was to prevent the mixed oil scraped in the iron pot from burning completely. Because the old ink factory did not have any good collection equipment, Zhong Yue was disheveled and dirty. In addition, he made a handful of ink when he was tempering the ink ball. When he came out of the ink shop, Zhong Yue felt like he was fishing out of a coal mine.

Zhong Yue squatted by the well and rubbed it with wood chips and washing powder for a long time. The ink on his hands could not be washed clean.

Several masters smiled and said, "Young man, now I know that this bowl of rice is not delicious. Many young men can't hold on for a few days and are dirty and tired. I advise you to go back to study early."

Zhong Yue smiled with big white teeth, "It's okay, you're not tired."
Chapter completed!