Xiao Yunying first took out the blueprints for the drainage pipes: "Father, do you know where there are kilns that fire porcelain?"
Xiao Yunbai quickly replied, "Little sister, you've forgotten, your second sister-in-law's family makes porcelain."
Uh... that's a little embarrassing. She didn't forget; she simply didn't know.
The original owner had no interest in caring about what his two sisters-in-law did for a living.
"Look at my memory. Ever since I was sick last time, I've been so forgetful. I always forget things. I'd like to make some things. I wonder if my second sister-in-law's family can make them."
"Wait here, I'll go and call your second sister-in-law in."
After Wang entered, she called out to her parents-in-law, glanced at the things on the table, and walked to Xiao Yunying's side: "Your second brother said you want to burn something. What kind of porcelain do you want to burn?"
"I want to fire some rough porcelain tubes, like this."
Xiao Yunying handed the blueprints to Wang Shi. The characters marked on them had been changed to traditional Chinese characters by Luo Yang. The drawings were also very detailed, including side views of the joints, making them easy to understand.
Wang asked, "Did you draw this?"
"Yes, Second Sister-in-law, you can ask me if there's anything you don't understand."
Xiao Yunsong asked from the side, "Little sister, when did you learn to write?"
Mu Lianrong placed two large bowls filled with snow fungus into Xiao Yunsong's hands: "Your little sister learned this at the embroidery workshop. Go and call your wife in. I'll teach her how to prepare the snow fungus so we can make porridge for dinner tonight."
Xiao Yunsong responded and went out. Xiao Yunbai muttered to himself, "How come I didn't know my little sister could read?"
“There’s a lot you don’t know. Didn’t your father send you to school before? You went for half a year and then refused to go anymore. None of our family members are stupid. If you had studied hard with your older brother, you might have become an official by now.”
Both brothers disliked studying, so they were most afraid of Mu Lianrong bringing up their past studies. Xiao Yunbai hurriedly said, "I'll go chop some chicken feed."
After calling his wife, Xiao Yunsong didn't go inside; instead, he found some work to do.
Mu Lianrong taught Zhang how to process snow fungus, then gave her a copper coin to soak glutinous rice and go buy goji berries.
Xiao Yunying reminded Mu Lianrong, "Mother, don't be reluctant to eat them. Let's cook both of them tonight. Snow fungus can't be soaked in water for too long. It will lose its nutritional value if it's soaked for more than two hours. It's best to eat it all at once after it's cooked. This stuff is very delicate and will spoil if left until tomorrow morning."
Mu Lianrong felt a pang of pain at the thought of spending eighteen taels of silver tonight: "I know, there are so many people in the family, how could we not finish it all?"
Wang had already looked at the blueprints. She couldn't read, but Xiao Yunying's drawings were clear and concise, so she could understand them.
She had been going in and out of the kiln with her family since she was a child, and had some understanding of porcelain making: "This thing is not difficult, I should be able to make it. What are you going to use this for?"
"I find it too troublesome to carry buckets of water to empty dirty water every day. A while ago, I saw that the Yang family next door had used bamboo to divert water for washing wood. I thought I could use it at home too. As long as I bury the pipe underground and connect it to the ditch, I can pour water at home. It doesn't take up much space and is very convenient."
Bamboo rots easily when buried underground, so I thought of using thick porcelain tubes to make them last longer.
"Keep the blueprints here. I'll take them back to my parents' house tomorrow to show them to my father."
"Thank you for your trouble, Second Sister-in-law. Don't worry about the price. As long as you can make it, it doesn't matter if it's a little more expensive."
"Let's discuss the price with my dad first."
Wang waved her hand and left.
Xiao Shanhai sat down and looked at the blueprints, saying, "This method is good."
He'll go take a look once his daughter's house is built, and if it's suitable, he'll build one in his own home too, which will save the women in the family some effort when they do housework.
"Did Father only see the surface and not think about the deeper aspects?"
Xiao Shanhai thought about it carefully. Could it be that he hadn't praised her enough?
"My daughter is so smart, just like her mother."
I've praised two people at once, so this should be the right answer.
Mu Lianrong rolled her eyes at him and went to the kitchen to get a small bamboo basket filled with apples and persimmons.
"Dad, this thing can be used to irrigate the fields. Just make a small hole at intervals in the porcelain pipe, and when burying it, make sure the side with the hole is facing up and sticking out of the ground. When irrigating, just pour water into the pipe at the top, and the water will flow evenly to each field on its own. Then you won't have to carry water back and forth."
After hearing Xiao Yunying's words, Xiao Shanhai suddenly stood up, knocking over his chair in the process.
Their climate is more northerly, with cold winters and hot summers. Ox carts cannot get off the crops planted there, as they would damage the seedlings. The crops also cannot be without water, so when it doesn't rain, they can only rely on manpower to carry water back and forth to irrigate them.
Watering the plants once a day during the hottest days is really unbearable.
This time, Xiao Shan Hai genuinely praised her, saying, "My daughter, you are so smart."
Mu Lianrong understood that this method would really save farmers a lot of effort, and with a sense of pride, she said, "My daughter is just like me, of course she's smart."
"Yes, you and your daughter are both smart."
After praising his wife and daughter, Xiao Shanhai hesitated whether to say what was on his mind.
"What does Father want to say?"
“Daughter, your idea is brilliant! I want to tell the village chief about it…”
Xiao Shanhai's voice grew softer and softer under Mu Lianrong's angry glare, until it finally fell silent.
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