Chapter 231: Threshing with Water Power
The old grandfather followed her around, sickle in hand, wiping the sweat from his brow. "Xuanxuan, are you going to sort through all these rice ears one by one?"
The two greenhouses cover four acres of land. The total weight of the harvested rice ears and rice stalks is close to 700 to 800 kilograms. I wonder how long it will take to screen such a huge quantity one by one?
Gu Yuexuan was well aware that the workload was huge, but faced with such a harsh breeding environment, she could only smile bitterly and nod firmly.
“I have to.”
Under the already harsh conditions, if we slack off in the manual screening process, who knows when we will see results?
She didn't want to wait so long.
Although the old grandfather did not quite understand the complicated breeding knowledge, the good thing about him was that he would never easily interfere when he encountered things he did not understand, but was willing to help others.
Because he was old, his waist could not bear the long hours of bending over, so he simply stepped on the rice stalks on the ground and slowly walked to the other side.
"Please explain to me the tricks of selection in detail."
Gu Yuexuan cleared a small space for her respected grandfather to sit comfortably. She held up the rice ears she had sifted and whispered softly, "Grandfather, look, these rice ears are well-shaped, the grains are extremely full, and the surface of the rice husks is smooth and flawless, without any black or gray spots.
Then look at the compactness of the rice ears when they are hanging. The distance between them is even, and the size and shape of the grains are almost the same. Such rice ears are the best choice."
Tu Suyanting, who had been squatting and listening, stood up, turned her body gently, carefully picked out two rice ears, and handed them to Gu Yuexuan: "Sister-in-law, is this right?"
Gu Yuexuan gave a thumbs up in appreciation: "How clever!"
Tu Su Yanting smiled shyly, turned around and slapped Tu Su Minyang on the back of his head while he was playing in the mud.
"Stop being naughty, come here, I'll teach you how to pick rice ears!"
“Come and help!”
Under the guidance of Tu Su Yanting, several children walked forward together and got into the bundled rice stacks. They played and picked at the same time, and actually selected out many qualified rice ears.
Gu Yuexuan conducted a second screening of the results of their initial screening. Her movements became more and more agile, and the rice stalks in the field kept falling down under the swing of the sickle.
Tu Subo arrived a little later, but was quick in his movements.
Tu Suting worked hard for half a day, but was easily surpassed by Tu Subo. He held his aching waist and smiled bitterly.
"Who says it isn't? After all, youth is our capital! Look at this energy!"
Tu Subo, having grown from a novice to a skilled one, quickly tied the cut rice ears together and arranged them neatly before speaking: "Uncle San, are you lamenting the passing of time?"
Tu Suting's eyes widened in dissatisfaction: "You little bastard, are you questioning my age?"
Tu Subo just smiled and said nothing, while Tu Suting roughly wiped his sweaty hands on his clothes and muttered unhappily, "Nonsense!"
"I, your third uncle, am in the prime of my life. As the saying goes, I am young and strong. How can a young boy like you compare to me?"
"I'm humoring you, understand?"
Tu Subo sighed softly, a hint of dissatisfaction igniting the long-dormant competitive drive within Tu Suting. As night fell, he straightened up from the rice paddies, each breath of air feeling labored.
Fortunately, the hard work was not in vain.
In just one day, all the rice in this greenhouse will be harvested.
Tu Suting sat exhausted on the edge of the field, his mouth twitching slightly in a pained expression. Li, who had been working alongside him all day, handed him a bowl of water. "In just three to five days, we'll have harvested all the rice from these two greenhouses. But I've heard rumors that the threshing process is the most laborious, but I'm not sure if that's true."
Gu Yuexuan gently pressed her aching neck and sighed, "That's absolutely true."
In this era of scarce farming labor, every grain of rice is earned with hard work and sweat.
She had personally observed the most common threshing tool in the village. It was a very primitive human-powered thresher, which was inefficient and had almost no effect unless the machine was used with full force.
Although the rice in the two greenhouses was difficult to grow, it was finally harvested. However, what about the future?
They reclaimed hundreds of acres of wasteland. Now, in the golden autumn season, do they still have to continue doing the work manually?
Gu Yuexuan thought about it for a moment and felt a headache.
She tried to recall the various threshing tools she had seen, stroked her chin and said, "We don't have to rush into threshing for now. I'll go back and study them carefully and find a carpenter to try to make some new tools."
"carpenter?"
Yu wiped the sweat from her forehead and smiled playfully: "Tu Subo is already back, what else do you need to find a carpenter for?"
She raised her chin in Tu Subo's direction and said, "Tu Subo's carpentry skills are already quite good. If he still can't solve it, your third uncle can help!"
At this time, Mr. and Mrs. Hu Hongsheng, who came to help, had not left yet, so it was inconvenient to explain in detail.
Tu Subo slowly stepped forward and whispered in Gu Yuexuan's ear, "Third Uncle worked in the Ministry of Industry for ten years. He was fascinated by all kinds of mechanical techniques and was known for his ingenuity. If you're talking about ingenious designs for farm tools or carpentry, Third Uncle is indeed far more proficient than the average carpenter."
Most of the superb skills he mastered were learned through playing with Tu Suting.
Gu Yuexuan was secretly amazed in her heart and couldn't help but glance back. She saw Tu Suting covered in dust and sweat, looking very embarrassed, but still smiling with great pride.
"Niece-in-law, do you underestimate your uncle's abilities?"
"Anything related to artifacts, as long as you can describe it, I can roll up my sleeves and build it for you on the spot!"
"Just speak!"
After receiving Tu Suting's promise, Gu Yuexuan couldn't help feeling a sense of peace in her heart. On the way back, she even moved closer to talk to him for a few words.
After listening to her idea, Tu Suting couldn't help but sigh.
"Are you planning to modify the threshing barrel to be powered by running water? I've never seen such a design before."
A sketch of a waterwheel appeared in Gu Yuexuan's mind, which could use water power to thresh grain and irrigate the land.
After a moment's thought, she said, "If we can create it, doesn't that mean we've witnessed its birth?"
"Third Uncle, think about it. We have a field right upstream of a river. The water is turbulent and flows rapidly. If we could convert this constant rush of water into the power to propel the threshing bucket, wouldn't we save a lot of labor?"
At that time, we can transform that piece of wasteland into a threshing ground, transport all the rice harvested from other places here, complete the threshing work at one time, and then transport the rice back home. Wouldn't it be more convenient?
Tu Suting pondered for a moment and asked doubtfully, "Using water power? Can such an idea really be implemented?"
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