Seeing that he couldn't get through to his parents, Zhao Zhiwei gave up trying to explain, skipped dinner, and went straight back to his room.

Seeing her son's attitude, Madam Yuan's heart sank, and she turned her anger towards Zhao's father, "Father, why aren't you saying a word?!"

Mr. Zhao glanced at Mrs. Yuan, but completely ignored her.

Having made a fool of herself, Madam Yuan stopped speaking.

Her son is so smart, he'll definitely be the top scholar in the imperial examination, and then she'll be the mother of a top scholar.

Who has ever seen a top scholar's mother working in the fields, carrying manure to cultivate the land!

Remembering that Rumei was in the kitchen, Madam Yuan picked up her mother-in-law's handkerchief and shouted loudly towards the kitchen, "Erya, is the food ready?"

"Mother, it'll be ready soon!"

Hearing Rumei's voice, Madam Yuan's expression softened a bit, but when she thought of Rumei's thin frame, she felt that Rumei would definitely have difficulty conceiving in the future.

Once her son becomes the top scholar in the imperial examination, the first thing he'll do is divorce this useless daughter-in-law!

When Zhao Zhiwei and Yuan Shi were arguing, Ru Mei didn't dare to come out. She knew that Zhao Zhiwei was angry and locked himself in the room.

She couldn't afford to ruin her health by not eating all night; her family didn't have the money to hire a doctor or get medicine.

"This is what the village head asked me to copy?" Zhao Zhiwei held the book, his face filled with barely suppressed excitement.

Ru Mei didn't know what was wrong with him, but she still nodded honestly.

Zhao Zhiwei held the book with great affection, finding the knowledge within quite helpful in his studies.

He picked up his pen, wanting to copy it down so he could read it repeatedly.

It was only after Ru Mei offered a few words of advice that he remembered he hadn't eaten yet, and that he could finish copying it after he finished eating.

When Ru Mei got up the next morning, she touched the bed board next to her and found it was cold.

Could it be that you spent the whole night copying books?

Thinking this, Rumei got dressed, went out of the room, and saw the closed door next door. She then understood.

She prepared breakfast and then got ready to go to work.

“Rumei,” Zhao Zhiwei called out to her, then handed her Lu Qiqi’s book, “please thank the village head for me, and tell her that I will not let her down.”

Mei nodded blankly and left the room.

Lu Qiqi got up early today. She had drunk a bowl of chicken soup with dendrobium last night and felt refreshed.

Because of this, Doctor Luo glared at her several more times, as if he were secretly cursing her for wasting medicinal herbs.

The village women came to work, and as soon as Ru Mei entered the yard, she returned the book to Lu Qiqi.

Lu Qiqi took the book, saw the cover, and couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "This book isn't good? Don't you want to copy it?"

Upon hearing Lu Qiqi's words, Ru Mei shook her head vigorously before slowly explaining, "No, my husband finished copying it last night. He asked me to thank the village head on his behalf, and he will certainly not disappoint you."

Lu Qiqi didn't have high expectations for Zhao Zhiwei. She just saw him reading while selling calligraphy and paintings and thought he must be a diligent scholar.

Whether having him copy this book ultimately benefits him depends entirely on his own cultural literacy.

If he can pass the imperial examinations and bring benefits to the people, unlike that greedy official in Heshun Prefecture, it would be a good thing for the Great Jin Dynasty and its people.

After listening to Ru Mei's words, she smiled and nodded to indicate that she understood, then turned around and went back into the house to put away the books.

It seemed that Lu Qiqi was going back to her room to put away her books, but in reality, she put the books away in her spatial storage as soon as she entered the room.

After having breakfast, Lu Qiqi went to find Lu Da.

Yesterday, Lu Da transported the limestone to the village's pit.

According to Lu Da, this pit was used to fire pottery. The family that made pottery was an outsider. When the plague raged, the whole family died, and the pottery kiln was naturally abandoned.

The kiln for firing pottery is made of bricks and used to burn lime. This method can maintain a high temperature and also eliminates the risk of it collapsing during firing, making it far superior to an earthen kiln.

The earthenware kiln is neither very big nor very small; it's about the size of a room. The production of earthenware is essentially a family workshop, with limited batch production.

However, it is more than enough for making lime.

The pottery kiln was far from Lu Qiqi's courtyard, so Lu Qiqi unloaded the carriage and rode there on horseback.

Seeing several villagers ahead carrying firewood and heading in one direction, Lu Qiqi dismounted and led the horse towards the pottery kiln with one hand.

Next to the pottery kiln was a small wooden house left by the family that made the pottery. Lu Qiqi led the horse directly into the yard and tied it up.

After asking the villagers, I learned where Lu Da was.

Having found Lu Da, Lu Qiqi watched as bundles of firewood were carried into the earthen kiln.

Lu Qiqi asked, "How did you manage to gather so much firewood in such a short time?"

Lu Da bowed to Lu Qiqi, and after a moment said, "This was left behind by that couple."

He added, "Xiao Dong said there are few children in the village, not many at the end of the day."

Not much?

oh!

Boy's urine.

“No rush,” Lu Qiqi said. “Let Zhao Xiaodong save them for now. The bamboo needs to be soaked in water for twenty days before it can be used.”

Then she thought for a moment, "Why don't you ask Zhao Xiaodong to go to the nearby villages and collect children's urine? If you think this is a viable option in the future, the more the better."

When Lu Da thought of Zhao Xiaodong complaining to him last night, a subtle change appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Even collecting boys' urine in his own village was a bitter experience for Zhao Xiaodong; asking him to collect it in other villages would likely cause a scene.

It's something I can't accept losing face outside the village right now, so I'll postpone talking to him for a couple of days.

Lu Qiqi was unaware of Lu Da's thoughts, after all, in her opinion, boy's urine was a good thing.

Not only can the nitrogen and ammonia in urine inhibit other bacteria on bamboo, allowing the bamboo to ferment.

In traditional folk remedies, children's urine is also a medicine that can be used to treat many diseases.

Zhao Xiaodong was naturally unaware of the wonderful uses of boys' urine. At that moment, he was letting the children who were lining up come into the house one by one to urinate.

Even toddlers who had just learned to walk were recruited by him.

Now he not only has to help the child urinate, but he might also have to wipe the child's bottom.

If he had known earlier that this was going to be a tough job, he would have definitely found a few scapegoats.

Instead of him fighting these troublemakers all by himself.

Zhao Xiaodong helped a four-year-old boy pull up his pants, saying, "That's enough."

Then he patted the little boy's round bottom and said, "Go on."

The little boy ran out of the house, and Zhao Xiaodong looked at the empty bucket of yellow soup and felt a little melancholy.

When will he be able to fill a bucket?

Suddenly, an idea struck him, and he called out to the outside, "Auntie, sister-in-law, go back and give the child plenty of water!"

Drinking too much water will naturally lead to more yellow soup.

Instantly, Zhao Xiaodong became somewhat smug, thinking that he was incredibly clever!