In the next few days, the temperature kept dropping, but the villagers of Lijia Village were busy as ever. Standing in front of her house, Li Yan could see bursts of smoke rising from the foot of the mountain from time to time. That was the uncles and aunts in the village making charcoal.

Now that the villagers have mastered the method of making charcoal, there is no need for Li Yan to go down the mountain to provide guidance.

Seeing her daughter wrapped up tightly in front of the charcoal brazier, Mrs. Lin couldn't help but smile: "This child seems to be more afraid of the cold than before!"

Li Xiaomei joked, "It's good to be afraid of the cold. If you're afraid of the cold, you won't be away from home all day and make you worry!"

The three of them were chatting idly when the little grandson of Patriarch Li came running into the house. "Is your sister Erya here? Grandpa asked me to go down the mountain to look for you!"

Li Yan immediately stood up and responded, "Coming, coming, I'll go right away!" After that, she hurried out of the house.

When Li Yan rushed to the foot of the mountain, she saw Chief Li standing in front of the first pile of wood that had been made that day. He stretched out his hand to test the temperature. When he saw Li Yan, he waved to her to come over.

Chief Li asked expectantly, "I've counted the days and it's been here for seven or eight days. Can you come and see if the charcoal is ready?"

Li Yan stretched out her hand to test the temperature of the mud outside, then said confidently, "We can break it open and see, it should be done!"

The villagers couldn't help but gather around, looking at Li Yan expectantly as she cracked the outer shell of the clay sculpture. They stretched their heads to see what was inside.

Li Yan carefully peeled off the mud covering the outside. As the mud peeled off layer by layer, the black charcoal gradually appeared.

The villagers exclaimed in amazement as they witnessed the pieces of wood turning into black, hard charcoal.

These charcoal blocks are uniform in size and solid in texture, and you can tell at a glance that they are high-quality charcoal.

The villagers were amazed by the sight. They had originally wanted to give it a try, but they had never expected that they could produce such high-quality charcoal.

Chief Li said to the villagers beside him with trembling hands, "Take apart the five piles of clay sculptures we built that day and see what happens!"

Upon hearing this, the villagers immediately took action. They couldn't wait to break open the clay sculpture to reveal the shiny black charcoal inside.

These five small piles of charcoal weighed at least five or six hundred kilograms. Clan leader Li ordered Li Wenshan and Li Wenle, who were standing beside him, "You two are fast runners. Go back home and get some bamboo baskets to carry the charcoal back first!"

Then he turned to his grandson and said, "Go home first and get the ox cart to bring the charcoal back."

The young man ran away as fast as the wind after receiving the order.

At this time, everyone had lost interest in working. They gathered in front of the mud seal and looked at the fresh charcoal that had just been baked.

After a while, the three of them came back. Chief Li asked the onlookers to pick up the charcoal into bamboo baskets and then load them onto the ox cart.

After several baskets of charcoal were loaded onto the truck, Chief Li said to the villagers, "As you can see, the charcoal produced this way not only meets the quantity requirements but is also of high quality. Don't worry about it anymore. Let's work hard together and make money to have a prosperous year!"

The villagers were delighted by what Chief Li said. At this moment, they no longer had any doubts or concerns in their hearts and truly believed that this method could be used to make charcoal.

Chief Li waved his hand and said to the villagers, "I'll take my men back to weigh the charcoal. Don't gather here, get busy!"

After saying that, Patriarch Li took the reins from his grandson, drove the ox cart, and took Li Yan home.

The ox cart stopped in front of the clan leader's house. Clan leader Li returned home, took out a scale, and weighed the charcoal one by one.

Chief Li looked at the raised scale and said to Li Yan with a smile on his face, "Second girl, it weighs a full 650 kilograms!"

Li Yan glanced at the scale and asked, "Grandpa Clan Leader, do you want to take this charcoal to the city to sell later? Or should we stock up a little more?"

Chief Li hesitated for a moment and said, "I want to sell it today, but none of the villagers have ever sold charcoal before, so I don't know what the appropriate price is."

Li Yan thought for a moment, then offered her own suggestion: "Grandpa Clan Leader, I think we should first understand the market for charcoal in the city. Only by knowing the price of charcoal in the city can we set a reasonable selling price!"

Chief Li nodded and said, "You are right, girl. It is very important to understand the market conditions. However, most of the villagers are illiterate and have never done any business. How about this? I will ask my grandson to go with you to the city to find my eldest son. I will ask him to take you two to ask and find out the price of charcoal in the city. Although he only runs a pastry shop in the city, he must know more than us farmers in the countryside. What do you think?"