2 Bet

◎Magical Farm Tools◎

Ye Yunzhao didn't sleep well last night. As soon as she closed her eyes, she saw the extremely sharp knife. She simply got up and thought hard for half an hour, and came to the conclusion that it was a deliberate threat.

It was obvious that the higher-ups were looking for a scapegoat, but if it were that simple, why would they even need to confess? And why would they let her go?

Doesn’t this just mean that I can’t move at the moment?

However, if the tragedy of Lingnan County happens again, the outcome will probably not be as lucky as it was during the day.

After thinking about this, Ye Yunzhao lost all sleepiness and felt that his life was in danger. He drew a picture by lamplight in the middle of the night and vaguely drew the general structure of the tripod. His eyes were naturally red from staying up all night.

This morning, Ye Yunzhao went out very quickly. Before he walked out of the county government office, a black shadow rushed towards him.

The man, dressed in coarse linen clothes and carrying a hoe on his shoulder, was about to walk outside the county government office. When he saw Ye Yunzhao, he asked, "County Magistrate Ye, Aunt Hu said you've recovered. Is that true?"

Ye Yunzhao vaguely remembered him - a government official in Lingnan County, named Liu Mazi because of his pockmarked face.

"Seriously." Ye Yunzhao glanced at Liu Mazi's hoe and asked, "Do you know where there's a blacksmith shop?"

"Aunt Hu's brother is a blacksmith. After leaving the county government office, walk east. When you see a big restaurant, turn south and you will arrive. County Magistrate Ye, what do you want the blacksmith to do? Make a hoe?" Liu Mazi asked curiously.

Ye Yunzhao said, "Let's talk about it when you come back," and rushed out with huge dark circles under his eyes.

It was the first time that Ye Yunzhao saw the ancient county town with her own eyes. Every household had a courtyard wall made of rammed earth. Although she was mentally prepared, her heart was still filled with ripples when she saw it with her own eyes.

Lingnan County is really too poor.

Ye Yunzhao looked at the road paved with stone slabs and secretly vowed in her heart: By the end of next year at the latest, she would have all the rural roads in Lingnan County paved with stone slabs!

certainly……

I have to live until the end of next year...

After turning several times, Ye Yunzhao finally saw a piece of wood hanging on a loess house. On the wood were five big characters "Hu Er Blacksmith Shop" written in charcoal ash.

It was very hot in the house. A man had a rag draped around his neck and his upper body was naked. His bulging muscles rose and fell with the movement of forging iron, making him look like a strong man with a broad back and strong arms.

Hu Erxian spotted Ye Yunzhao and asked, "But we need to buy something. We have kitchen knives and hoes. Can you take a look?"

Ye Yunzhao shook his head. Seeing him standing by the stove, he took out the picture of the plow cart he had drawn last night from his pocket, waved it at Hu Er, and said, "I want to order a few things."

Hu Er stopped and walked to her side: "What is it?"

Ye Yunzhao quickly unfolded the paper and pointed at the plow, saying, "This is the part."

Ye Yunzhao was afraid that he didn't understand, so he hurriedly explained: "The bottom is pointed, and the top is open. The wood can..."

"Isn't this a square plowshare?"

"Yes!" There was a hint of surprise in Ye Yunzhao's eyes. She didn't expect that there was someone in this remote place who could name the plow.

"I'll reserve three first. When you're ready, you can come to the county government office to find me." Ye Yunzhao took out a few copper coins from his pocket and said, "This is the deposit."

Hu Er pinched away eight copper coins and said, "Three plowshares don't require much iron. Forty coins is enough. Eight copper coins are enough as a deposit."

Ye Yunzhao placed the remaining copper coins in Hu Er's palm and said, "I need it urgently, so I'll make it tomorrow. Just take the money."

Hu Er nodded, looked at her drawings, and asked curiously, "Is this... a plow?"

"That's right, but it hasn't been made yet." Ye Yunzhao asked as he collected the drawings, "Do you know where there's a carpenter's shop?"

Hu Er walked out and pointed to a shop not far away. Ye Yunzhao saw a lot of wooden boards outside the shop, bowed to Hu Er to express his gratitude, and walked quickly towards the carpenter's shop.

There was an old carpenter sitting in the carpentry shop. When Ye Yunzhao came, he was sawing wood. Ye Yunzhao looked around and felt that the things in the carpentry shop were too simple.

"Can this be made?" Ye Yunzhao unfolded the blueprint and asked.

The old carpenter glanced at her sideways and said, "Are you the new county magistrate?"

Ye Yunzhao was confused: "That's right."

"I can't make this thing, you can go away." The old carpenter lowered his head and started sawing wood without even looking at the blueprint.

"How do you know it can't be made if you haven't even seen it?" Ye Yunzhao asked, "If this farm tool can be made, it can plow three acres of land every day."

The old carpenter sneered but said nothing, as if he treated her as a transparent person.

Ye Yunzhao looked for several carpenters, and the answer they all got was: I can't make this thing.

Ye Yunzhao knew that most of these people looked down on her. The county magistrate, whom the people had been eagerly waiting for, hadn't left the house or done anything for over twenty days. The initial expectations had long since turned into complaints.

By the time she had gathered all the carpenters in the county and returned to the county government office, the moon had already climbed up the branches. Ye Yunzhao looked up at the starry sky and sighed helplessly.

"County Magistrate Ye, what are you doing..."

Ye Yunzhao was startled by the sound and turned around quickly: "Aunt Hu, why are you here?"

"County Magistrate Ye, have you forgotten? Didn't we agree before that I would deliver you two meals a day?" Aunt Hu said with a shy smile on her face.

Only then did Ye Yunzhao remember the deal his original body had made with Aunt Hu.

Because the roof of the kitchen where the county magistrate lived was not repaired and often leaked, the original person asked Aunt Hu to send her some wild vegetable steamed buns at the price of 2 cents a day. This was considered a good job in Lingnan County.

Ye Yunzhao took the wild vegetable steamed bun brought by Aunt Hu and saw that there was a piece of boiled pork liver inside. He said with gratitude: "Aunt Hu, since I am in good health, I will get my own meals at the county office from now on."

Aunt Hu's face showed a bit of reluctance to part with the copper coins, but she nodded helplessly: "County Magistrate Ye, is the plow you mentioned finished?"

"How do you know?" Ye Yunzhao asked instead of answering.

Aunt Hu scratched her head sheepishly and said, "Hu Er told me that today."

Ye Yunzhao understood and answered the question: "It's just that we haven't found a suitable carpenter yet."

After he finished speaking, a black shadow suddenly jumped out from the side of Ye Yunzhao.

"County Magistrate Ye, you're looking for Old Sun's daughter! She's learned his craft, no doubt about it!"

"Liu Mazi, what are you talking about? Everyone in the county knows that Sun Ning has stopped doing carpentry work a long time ago. Aren't you causing trouble for the county magistrate?" Aunt Hu said angrily.

The two of them talked about the situation one thing after another, and Ye Yunzhao also roughly understood the specific situation.

Old Sun is the best carpenter in Lingnan County. He has only one daughter, so naturally she inherited his good skills.

The Sun family originally owned a shop in the city, but the previous county magistrate, who already had a wife and concubines, bullied men and women and took a fancy to Sun Ning. He almost wanted to leave, causing unrest in the Sun family.

To avoid suspicion, Old Sun closed his shop and returned to the village with his daughter. However, the county magistrate was not one to give up easily. He found a pretext to seize the Sun family's land, leaving Old Sun to starve to death at home.

The day had originally been set for the rogue county magistrate to take a concubine, but God had eyes and the governor discovered his corruption and immediately put him in jail. This was how Sun Ning narrowly escaped.

But Sun Ning never did carpentry work again after that.

Ye Yunzhao knew the reason and quickly asked, "Where does Sun Ning live?"

"County Magistrate Ye, you really have to go find her...Sun Ning hates officials, so I think you'd better not go..." Aunt Hu replied.

"Sun Ning should be living in the north end of Xixiang now." Liu Mazi added.

"I'll just give it a try." Ye Yunzhao asked, "Who among you can take me there tomorrow?"

The two people opposite were silent for a long time. Aunt Hu said in despair, "Then I will go with the county magistrate!"

After the three of them said their goodbyes briefly, Ye Yunzhao entered his own courtyard. The courtyard was square and not very big. To the north was the residence, and to the east was a small room, which must have been the kitchen.

Ye Yunzhao went in and took a look. Looking at the open roof, he felt a lot of emotion in his heart. No wonder the original body had to spend money to have food delivered to him.

This is too broken, it's more than just leaking...

Ye Yunzhao sighed and said that after the triangular plow was made, she would repair the broken kitchen.

At dawn the next day, Ye Yunzhao left the county government office.

She and Aunt Hu met at the city gate. Aunt Hu didn't lead the ox cart today. She explained, "County Magistrate Ye, the fields at home haven't been plowed yet..."

"It's okay. Farming is the most important thing right now." Ye Yunzhao smiled at her, "Let's go."

Lingnan County is backed by mountains. Although there are mountains in Dongxiang, it is not very close to the mountains. The opposite is true in Xixiang. However, the village heads of both villages have designated small hills for chopping firewood.

Further north, there are mountains with endless peaks and rocks. There are wild beasts in the deep mountains, so you can't go there.

At this moment, Ye Yunzhao and Aunt Hu were walking towards Xixiang one after another.

By the time they arrived at the Sun family's house, both of them were sweating from exhaustion.

Ye Yunzhao pulled up his sleeves to wipe the sweat off his face, calmed himself down, and raised his hand to knock on the Sun family's door.

Ye Yunzhao pricked up his ears and listened, but there was no other sound in the yard except for two roosters crowing.

Aunt Hu raised her hand and knocked again, calling out, "Sun Ning, Sun Ning..."

Seeing that no one answered the door, Aunt Hu said in surprise: "You shouldn't still be in the fields. You should be back for dinner at this time..."

Before he finished speaking, the shabby wooden door opened a crack, and a pretty woman, only half of her face showing, asked timidly, "Aunt Hu, what do you want to talk to me about?"

"It's County Magistrate Ye who wants to see you. She wants a carpenter to make a plow. I thought you were such a good craftsman, so I brought County Magistrate Ye here," Aunt Hu said cheerfully. "You might not know this, but this is our new County Magistrate."

Sun Ning lowered his eyes and said, "Aunt Hu, I haven't done carpentry work for a long time. You can go back now."

As she was about to close the door, Ye Yunzhao quickly raised his hand to stop her: "My plow cannot be made by ordinary carpenters, and it can plow at least three acres of land every day."

Sun Ning looked at Ye Yunzhao like a fool, and before she could speak, Aunt Hu tugged at Ye Yunzhao's sleeve and said, "County Magistrate Ye, you must not brag..."

"You'll know whether I'm bragging or not when you see it." Ye Yunzhao took out the blueprint from his arms and handed it to Sun Ning.

Sun Ning studied the blueprint carefully. This farm implement was indeed quite good. Although it was simply drawn, she could tell that it could be used for both digging furrows and sowing seeds.

She suddenly remembered how her father looked before he died. He was so skinny that he was just a bag of bones. If he had this farm tool at that time, her father might still have survived.

Seeing her expression slightly changed, Ye Yunzhao said sincerely: "I really need your help, young lady."

"This farm implement is called a three-legged plow. If we have it, people will no longer have to worry about not having enough food. Miss Sun is both a carpenter and a farmer, so she must understand the benefits of this farm implement better than I do."

Although Sun Ning didn't say anything, she loosened her grip on the door. She turned and walked into the yard. Aunt Hu said goodbye to Ye Yunzhao, and Ye Yunzhao followed Sun Ning into the yard.

"What's more, autumn plowing does not wait for anyone. If we can use this opportunity to expand the Sun's carpentry shop to Lingnan County, or even the capital... Besides, I will be in the city to look after you. If you are worried, you can hire a few guards. Don't worry, if you can do it, I will do my best to protect you." Ye Yunzhao said firmly.

Sun Ning's handsome face showed some courage: "I can do this."

After she said this, her mind flashed back to the days a few years ago when she and her father worked in a shop doing carpentry work for others. Thinking about it now, although those days were boring, they were very happy.

Sun Ning thought to herself that this was indeed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. She looked up at the young woman in front of her. She was willing to seize this opportunity and try again for the Sun family's skills.

Ye Yunzhao watched her saw the wood into pieces and then plane it until it was smooth. Sun Ning finished it in just two hours without even needing Ye Yunzhao to explain in detail.

"County Magistrate Ye, do you think this is the case?" Sun Ning asked, patting the wood chips off his body.

Ye Yunzhao stepped forward quickly, looked carefully up and down, and said with a smile: "Exactly!"

"But I think something is wrong here." Sun Ning pointed to an inverted trapezoidal open hopper on the plow cart.

"What's wrong here?" Ye Yunzhao looked up and took a closer look. She remembered that the plow cart in her fellow villager's house in her previous life was like this.

"What should I do if the wheat seeds in the hopper block the discharge port?"

Ye Yunzhao pondered for a moment and then spoke, "What if we add a horizontal bar to the top of the hopper, tie a small piece of wood to it with a hemp rope, and when the tripod plow is slightly shaken while digging the ditch, the small piece of wood will gently move the wheat seeds like a human hand. Will this solve the problem?"

When Sun Ning heard this, his eyes flashed and he hurriedly started to install the wooden pole.

In this way, the three-legged plow cart can be considered very complete.

The plow cart was first placed at Sun Ning's house, and Ye Yunzhao returned to the city at sunset.

She walked quickly, passed by the county government office but did not enter. Her figure shuttled between the loess houses and came to the familiar Hu Er blacksmith shop.

However, there were two people waiting in front of the shop. Ye Yunzhao stood quietly by the side, but heard the two people talking to each other.

The subject of discussion was precisely her, the new county magistrate.

"Have you heard? I don't know what the new county magistrate is up to. He spent the whole day looking for a carpenter in the city yesterday." said the thin man.

"You don't know, Carpenter Wang said the new county magistrate wanted to make a plow, and the county magistrate also said that the plow could plow three acres of land every day!" replied the man with a huge black mole on his face.

"Oh, it seems that this new county magistrate is also a guy who knows nothing about farming. He can only plow three acres of land a day, and what big talk is there!" The thin man sneered.

"Who says it's not true? These officials are all the same. They pretend to be wholeheartedly serving the people, but in fact they are full of evil intentions. They must want us to buy their farm tools at a high price, so they deliberately boasted and released the news yesterday." The man with the black mole said angrily.

"Yes, that's exactly it..."

Before the thin man could finish his words, Hu Er came out from the inner room with two kitchen knives. While handing the knives to the two people in front, he asked Ye Yunzhao who was behind him.

"County Magistrate Ye, you are here to get the plow, right? Wait a minute, I'll get it." After saying this, Hu Er turned and went into the inner room.

"County... County Magistrate..."

Ye Yunzhao froze as he looked at the two people in front of him.

The frail man calmed down and said, "County... County Magistrate... Please don't bother with me... I just said nonsense without thinking..."

As he was about to kneel down, he was grabbed by a large hand. The man with the black mole next to him had calmed down, but he said stubbornly: "What did we say wrong? Get up quickly! Does she dare to kill us? Is there any law in Lingnan County?"

Seeing his aggressive demeanor, Ye Yunzhao remained calm, a look of relief on his face. "How about we make a bet? If my farm implements can really plow three acres of land a day, you can shout in the East and West Townships for three consecutive days, 'The plow cart promoted by County Magistrate Ye saves time and effort!' How do you do that?"

"If it's not plowed out..." the man with the black mole said.

"If you can't cultivate it, I will buy five acres of good farmland and give it to you. How about it?" Ye Yunzhao raised the corner of his mouth.

"Okay!" said the man with the mole confidently.