These are agricultural tools from her time in the 1970s and 80s, and they have long been obsolete since then.
But for this era, it was an invaluable production tool. Waterwheels were too late, but this threshing machine could keep up.
"What?! A hundred pounds of rice can be husked in just half an hour!"
Lin Li was so startled that he stood up abruptly from his stool, stammering, "Fengnian's mother, you, you're not lying to me, are you?"
At this moment, Lin Fenghe said earnestly, "Grandpa Village Head, my mother said she read it in a book and she's definitely not lying to you."
My mother was the daughter of a scholar, and we also had an uncle who was a student in the county academy. My mother had read many books, and my uncle, who was also a student, greatly admired her.
Even the scholars in the academy admired his mother. When Lin Fenghe returned, he had already heard from his elder brothers what had happened at the academy gate. His mother was truly amazing; she had read such impressive books.
Lin Lizheng asked in surprise, "You, your mother really is the daughter of a scholar!?"
Realizing his lapse in composure, Lin Lizheng quickly turned around and coughed awkwardly twice.
It wasn't that he didn't believe it; he had heard from the deceased Brother Lin that his wife was the daughter of a scholar from the county.
But after marrying into the family, Fengnian's mother was nothing like a scholar's daughter. She was even more unruly and dramatic than a country woman. There were countless times when she had to deal with Fengnian's fights and squabbles with the villagers.
However, at Lin Jiugui's house last time, Fengnian's mother was not the same as before, and she had a method for handling things.
His words were reasonable and well-founded. I heard from Dazhu's nephew that after Erzhu died, Fengnian's mother wanted to live a good life. Could it be that she really hadn't shown it before?
Seeing Lin Li's disbelieving expression, Lin Fenghe picked up a small booklet beside him and said:
“The village head is real. My mother is still at home teaching us to read and write. I recognize the words on this: ‘Ningdu County Village Governance Manual,’ the first article….”
Song Anxin covered her face. She really had to thank her third son for helping her prove that the original owner had such a bad image in the village, not at all like someone who was educated and trustworthy.
Lin Lizheng saw that Lin Fenghe had indeed recognized all those characters. There were many characters that he himself couldn't recognize. It seemed that his deceased older brother hadn't lied to him after all.
He said with a serious expression, "Fengnian's wife, this matter is of utmost importance. You must quickly tell me what that threshing machine looks like and how to make it, so that I can report it to the yamen."
Song Anxin said, "Just talking might not be clear enough. Does the village head have paper and pen? I'll draw and explain as I go."
A pen needs ink and an inkstone. Although Lin Lizheng was a village head, he was still a farmer and didn't have such precious things. However, in order to better report things to the government, the village head would use charcoal to make some marks. Of course, he wouldn't write anything; he would just draw marks.
He brought over a few rough sheets of paper with some symbols he had drawn on them. The village head looked a little uncomfortable. Fengnian's mother was the daughter of a scholar, so she must be able to write. His drawing was so bad that it was embarrassing to look at.
Song Anxin didn't care about any of that. She picked up a charcoal pencil and started drawing on it, explaining things in detail as she drew. Lin Li was unconsciously drawn in, and his awkwardness disappeared.
Lin Fenghe watched and listened attentively, and felt more and more that his mother was amazing. He was determined to study a lot in the future so that he could also know what his mother knew.
The village head's wife was doing chores at the door, but she had been listening to their conversation with one ear, intentionally or unintentionally.
Hearing that Fengnian's mother was the daughter of a scholar and could read... and even taught Fenghe and the others to read, they were so surprised they almost fell off their stools. Seeing how serious and earnest the old man was, it seemed that Fengnian's mother really had some skills.
"That's roughly it. There are some parts I'm not entirely sure about, so we can have the carpenter try to do it first," Song Anxin said after finishing the drawing.
Lin Li held the blueprint in her hands, her excitement trembling: "Fengnian's mother, if this thing is successfully made, you'll deserve a huge credit!"
Song Anxin didn't care about any merit or achievement; she simply didn't want the autumn harvest to be too tiring. After carrying water for those few days, she fully realized how much technology changes lives.
Of course, it would be even better if we could help alleviate some of the burdens on the lower classes of this era and make their lives a little easier.
After saying goodbye to Lin Lizheng, Song Anxin took Lin Fenghe to a random hilltop to pick mushrooms. They planned to pick more in the cool morning so they could help pickle duck eggs at home in the afternoon, and then go up the mountain when the sun wasn't so strong.
Three days passed, and then Old Man Zhang delivered another batch of duck eggs, this time more than two thousand. Lin Fengnian and Lin Fengshou delivered the first batch of duck eggs separately and also brought back news from the restaurant.
When Lin Feng returned home, his face was beaming with undisguised joy: "Mother, Manager Meng and Manager Liu both said that our salted duck eggs are so popular that they were all sold out in less than three days."
The shopkeepers all asked if we could increase the quantity. Shopkeeper Meng said he wanted to increase it to nearly five hundred pieces, and Shopkeeper Liu also said he wanted to increase it to over four hundred pieces.
Song Anxin shook her head and said, "No, next time when you deliver the goods, tell the shopkeeper that you can only add one hundred more for each household."
Sometimes, fully satisfying customers' needs isn't necessarily a good thing. Only when this "rich and oily egg" is a rare find will customers rush to order it, allowing the goods to sell quickly and boosting sales of other dishes and drinks in the restaurant.
Lin Fengshou thought his mother had a really good business sense; how come he hadn't thought of that? He turned around and told the shopkeeper.
When Song Anxin had accumulated a certain number of duck eggs, she would ask Sister-in-law Lin, Granny Han, and Stone Mother to help out. Since they weren't available every day, Song Anxin would pay them in cash.
That morning, Sister-in-law Lin and the others arrived early to pickle salted duck eggs. Song Anxin was preparing to go up the mountain with Lin Fenghe. After Lin Fengyao finished digging grass to feed the rabbits, he would also go up the mountain to find them.
At this moment, a commotion broke out in Linjia Village as a horse-drawn carriage sped towards them from the village entrance. Ox-drawn carriages were rare in the village, let alone horse-drawn carriages; many villagers who had lived in Linjia Village their entire lives had never even seen a horse.
The weather was cool in the morning, and everyone was working in the fields. They poked their heads out and started talking:
"Why is a horse-drawn carriage coming to our village?!"
"My God! I can't believe I've ever seen a horse-drawn carriage in my village in my entire life! Am I seeing things?"
"Uncle Lin, you're not mistaken. I don't know what that carriage is doing here."
"Look, that carriage is going to Aunt Lin's house at the end of the village. My goodness, isn't that our village headman getting off the carriage?"
There were four people who alighted from the carriage. Apart from the village head, the other three all possessed an distinguished air. The young man, in particular, was dressed in obviously expensive silk and satin.
Normally, everyone would have already gathered around to watch the excitement by this time, but now they only dare to watch from afar and don't dare to go over.
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