Upon arriving at the blacksmith's shop, Lü Tu beckoned to Hu Delu: "Old Hu, come here for a moment."
Hu Delu wiped the sweat from his brow with a handkerchief from his shoulder: "Here I come."
Lu Tu squatted down and drew a cylindrical syringe on the ground, pointing at the drawing: "Can you use this thing?"
Hu Delu frowned: "This is too much to ask of people."
Lu Tu also knew that with the current smelting technology, it would be very time-consuming and skill-intensive to forge iron into such a thin sheet, but he couldn't make glass himself, so he could only place his hopes on Hu Delu.
He stood up, patted Hu Delu on the shoulder, and said encouragingly, "Old Hu, do you know why I've gone to so much trouble these past two days?"
Hu Delu naturally understood that Lu Tu was referring to the disinfection with quicklime and keeping the refugees out. He nodded in confusion: "I know, I think there was smallpox. Wasn't Guo Erniang in the cowshed infected?"
"But I've already discovered a cure for smallpox, and all we're missing is this thing. Don't you think we should overcome the difficulties and forge ahead?"
Hu Delu gave an awkward laugh, but his laugh looked more like a grimace: "But sir, you think too highly of me, old Hu. The finest thing I've ever made before was a throwing knife. It's not that I can't make the sheet metal this thin, but the key is how I'm going to connect them together?"
Lu Tu had already thought of this problem. Welding was definitely out of the question right now, so he could only use the most rudimentary method: "Drive nails in or melt them with molten iron!"
Hu Delu paced back and forth with his hands behind his back: "These two are solutions, but they are both a bit troublesome."
“Old Hu, the lives of more than 1,800 villagers and more than 1,000 displaced people are all in your hands.”
Upon hearing this, Hu Delu jumped up and down in a panic: "Stop talking, I'll do it, okay? But I can only try my best to make it according to your drawing, and you can't be angry if it's not done well."
Lu Tu waved his hand: "Then don't worry, I'm definitely not that kind of person. Go ahead and do it, I believe in you."
Hu Delu muttered, "I don't even believe myself, sigh."
Finally, the difficult problem was pushed out. Seeing this, Lü Tu quickly slipped away, leaving Hu Delu squatting on the ground, staring at the syringe map with a worried expression.
After wandering around the village all day, we finally completed a thorough disinfection under his strict requirements, especially focusing on the large latrines, which were key areas for prevention.
After all this commotion, even the snakes that had just awakened in early spring were dug up, killed, and eaten by the villagers. Even if they were skinny, they were still meat.
Lu Tu did not object to this, but when evening came, Nie Yun returned anxiously and reported: "Brother, something terrible has happened! Wuchuan City has been ravaged!"
Is it smallpox? How serious is it?
Nie Yun shook his head: "It doesn't look serious, but the whole of Wuchuan is in an uproar. People are saying there's smallpox, so everyone is staying home, and even the price of food has tripled!"
This was within Lu Tu's expectations. He knew that once a plague or war broke out, the price of grain would inevitably rise, and he didn't expect to be able to buy it back at the original price.
He patted him on the shoulder and said, "Alright, don't worry. Yun Tian doesn't care about this at all, so why should we worry? Just minding our own business is enough to do right by everyone."
"That's what I meant too, so I made a special detour to Changqing Mountain, wiped out a group of bandits, and stole about 5,000 catties of wheat from them."
Lu Tu's eyes lit up upon hearing this: "Good lad, is this really true?"
Nie Yun chuckled and scratched his head: "Well, I've already had people move it into the warehouse. They're just a bunch of petty thieves, how dare they have so much food stored up? Right now, we're in dire need of food due to the plague, it's better to give it to our people!"
“Well done! I can’t promote you in the military right now, but when Yun Tian dies of smallpox, I’ll make you a Po Rong Captain.”
Nie Yun clasped his hands in delight and said, "Nie Yun thanks you, elder brother!"
"Why are you being so polite with us, brothers? Come on, let's go to my house for a drink."
Lu Tu also kept several kilograms of strong liquor, and since he didn't usually drink much to stay sober, it was always there.
Nie Yun was genuinely happy. He was a person with a strong sense of self-esteem but also a deep sense of inferiority. Receiving Lu Tu's praise and recognition made him even happier than if he had been promoted.
Following Lü Tu with a cheerful expression, they arrived at the warehouse. Lü Tu looked at the bags of wheat and nodded, "Find a good day and husk and grind this wheat. The bran can be used to feed the warhorses."
"Yes, sir!"
Upon arriving at the house, Lü Tu invited Nie Yun to sit down, but Nie Yun stood there somewhat awkwardly, cupping his fists at Song Yuxi and Nangong Huiyu and saying, "Greetings, my two sisters-in-law."
Song Yuxi smiled and said, "Squad Leader Nie, there's no need for such formalities. Please have a seat."
Nangong Huiyu took a piece of mutton that she hadn't finished eating and threw it into the pot to start cooking.
Seeing his pregnant sister-in-law about to start cooking, Nie Yun quickly took over the task and couldn't help but ask curiously, "Brother, why don't you find a maid for your two sisters-in-law?"
"That's true. I've already assigned Ban Yingying and Jiang Wanyu to work, so it seems we really should find two new maids."
Lu Tu suddenly noticed that Nie Yun's eyes were darting around, and asked with a smile, "Do you have someone you recommend?"
Nie Yun scratched his head sheepishly and said, "Brother, actually Ye Xing'er came back to the village the day before yesterday. Could we ask her to come back and be my sister-in-law's maid again?"
Song Yuxi couldn't help but ask curiously, "Ye Xing'er? Didn't she leave our village to find her relatives? Could it be that she didn't find them?"
Lu Tu's words revealed Nie Yun's thoughts: "Ye Xing'er's previous home has already been allocated to other people. Where will she live after she comes back?"
Upon hearing this, both women in the house stared intently at Nie Yun. At this moment, Nie Yun lowered his head even further, showing none of the imposing demeanor of a squad leader who had wiped out the mountain bandits. He looked like a shy young virgin.
“She’s staying at my house. You know I’m an orphan, but please don’t misunderstand, brother and sister-in-law. She’s been sleeping on the bed these past two days, and I’ve been sleeping on the floor.”
Lu Tu laughed and cursed, "You beastly brat, you actually sleep on the floor?"
Nie Yun thought Lu Tu was scolding him for not being discreet, so he quickly explained, "Then I won't go back to stay tonight. I'll stay at Liu Yang's house for a few days."
Lu Tu patted his head: "You brat, are you really that clueless? Ye Xing'er is willing to live under the same roof as you, and you still don't take the initiative? Listen to your brother, sleep in the same bed with Ye Xing'er tonight."
"Huh? Isn't this inappropriate?" Nie Yunren was dumbfounded. He never expected that Brother Lü, who was usually so upright and righteous, could instigate him to do such a thing, which completely shattered his worldview.
Who knew that the next second Nangong Huiyu would sneer, "What's wrong with that? Other girls aren't afraid of ruining their reputations by living with you. If you don't take responsibility, then you're the real lecher!"
Upon hearing this, Nie Yun realized it made sense and slapped his thigh in sudden realization: "Big brother, I'll listen to you, I'll sleep with her tonight!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
