Seeing her puzzled look, Cui's mother explained, "If the cellar isn't well insulated on a hot day, the ice will melt. But if you want to insulate the cellar properly, you need to cover it with oilcloth, and then cover it with animal fur and cotton. This way, you can preserve the ice to the greatest extent possible."
She paused, tucked her fallen hair with the back of her hand, and continued, "If it were in a cave halfway up the mountain, the cost would be much lower."
At Grandma Sun's family home, Wu Biao came to her again and asked, "Why haven't you taken action against the Tong family yet? Someone in the county is urging me to do this. If I don't act now, your son will die."
Mrs. Sun thought that her son still owed so much money. If she killed the Tong family, the official in the county would give her fifty taels of silver, which was enough to pay off her son's debt. Then she could take her son to live somewhere else.
"Give me two days, and I'll definitely find the right opportunity to sneak in."
Sun Biao glanced at her and said coldly, "I'll give you one last chance. When your son dies, don't blame the people in the gambling house for not giving you a chance."
After hearing that there was a chance, Mrs. Sun looked more relaxed. She took the scented handkerchief she had bought for two cents and brushed it across his face, saying, "I see. You've given me this opportunity, so why don't I seize it?"
Wu Biao felt itchy when he saw her, and quickly reached out to pinch her chest and said, "You only know how to seduce me, little hoof, wait and see how I bully you."
Granny Sun put her arms around his neck and panted softly, "Hmph, you're so annoying. You only know how to bully me."
When Wu Biao heard such a tingling sound, his lower body reacted immediately. He could no longer bear it and undressed her in the yard. Although Mrs. Sun was a little angry, she was hot from the pressure of Wu Biao's lower body and could do nothing about it, so she could only let him undress her.
People who were working at Grandma Sun's house heard the unbearable noises coming from inside and couldn't help but curse inwardly: "Doing this kind of thing in broad daylight is simply shameless."
Seeing his own child peeking through the crack of the door out of curiosity, he could not help but pull his ear back and said, "You are so young, if you don't learn well, you will end up as a peasant like your father."
The child broke free from his hand and said, "If you don't let me go to school, you will be a peasant in the future!"
"You little bastard, how dare you talk like that!" After saying that, he wanted to grab his collar and spank him. But when the kid saw that his father was serious, he immediately ran away to avoid being hit by his father.
After Cui's mother finished making the pastries, Lan Cui steamed them, and Tong Wen Yao and Second Aunt packed the better pastries and put them in a basket.
Qian's mother had been staying in her room for the past few days, needing to go to the bathroom from time to time. She was heavy and there was snow in the yard, so she wouldn't let her out. The steamed cakes cooled after a while, so Cui's mother took them and put them in a paper bag.
The shapes of the pastries were like lotus flowers with pink petals, peony flowers, and peaches. Cui's mother made five or six kinds of pastries and gave her some of each to pack. Xiaohua then took them into the city to deliver them to the county magistrate's office.
"Your mother said the county magistrate's wife likes lotus cakes. I know how to make them, so I made some for her. Only Qingxianglou in the capital makes lotus cakes, but I was born with a talent for cakes. After eating them two or three times, I knew how to make them."
When Tong Wenyao heard Second Aunt say this, she laughed and said, "No wonder Wen Jiang has such a sharp nose. It turns out she inherited it from Second Aunt!"
After hearing this, Cui's mother smiled and said, "Wen Jiang has the same personality as my mother. She is usually happy and has no worries. Even if she is sad, she will stop crying immediately if she is given something delicious."
In the afternoon, the village chief asked Tong Wen Yao to go to the cave on the back mountain to see if there was anything that needed improvement. Tong Wen Yao took the blueprint and went up with Xing'er and Tong Bo.
Next to the village chief was a villager named Wu Dagen. He used to like carpentry, and then his father sent him to learn it. Now he has more than 30 years of work experience and usually likes to study some small gadgets.
The way up the mountain was difficult to walk on, so Tong Wenyao found a wooden stick to support herself and climbed up. After turning a corner, she stopped in front of a rocky mountain. Wu Qing said, "We chose to stay inside to prevent others from discovering us. Follow me."
Wu Qing walked in front. In front of the stone was a dense cluster of climbing plants. Tong Wenyao had seen it in her master's medical book. It was called iron wire vine and was mainly used to treat injuries from falls.
Wu Qing walked to a stone wall, knocked on the door a few times, and listened to the movement inside. After a while, he stood up and stepped back. The stone wall in front of him turned over, and the door slowly opened.
Wu Qing glanced at her and said, "To keep it secret, they made them make this. There's enough space inside, enough for making paper."
Tong Bo had heard Yaoer talk about it before, but he didn't know how to make paper. How did Yaoer learn it?
But he didn't ask. The stone gate was about two meters high and three meters wide, which was a good size for oxen and donkeys to pull the goods out. Wu Qing reminded Wu Dagen, "Dagen! I've watched you grow up, and I trust you. That's why I brought you here. This will be our village's property from now on. Don't make a fuss when you go out, or others will find out and steal it."
After hearing this, Da Gen said with his lips tightly pursed: "Uncle Qing, I won't tell anyone else."
Wu Qing patted his shoulder and said, "Good boy, your uncle was not wrong about you."
Tong Wenyao followed Wu Qing. After about a cup of tea, they saw a light coming from the cave entrance and the sound of people outside. Wu Qing said, "When the time comes, you'll be the carpenter. Wu Dagen, you'll build it here. I'll find a few people to dig two holes nearby, and you'll do the work there."
Tong Wenyao stood at the entrance of the cave and looked over. It was a flat expanse with a large lake in the middle. She estimated it was as big as three playgrounds. There was also a flat area surrounding the lake, at least twenty meters higher than the lake. Wu Qing pointed at the location and said, "Don't worry if the lake floods with water when it rains heavily. We have a sluice gate on the other side. We can just open it and release the floodwaters!"
Tong Wenyao was surprised that there was a floodgate here to release the floodwaters. She asked, "Who came up with this flood release method?"
When Wu Dagen heard this, his face flushed and he smiled shyly, saying, "I was just bored at home and did this. At that time, many crops in the village were flooded, so I thought about whether I could make something that could release water when there was a lot of water, and store it when there was less water."
Tong Wenyao gave him a thumbs up after hearing this. "That's a great idea." She thought of the waterwheel! At this time, there seemed to be no waterwheels here, but she had only seen pictures. She still had to discuss the details with Wu Dagen to see if he could make it.
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