058, Snow
058, Snow
Because making hourglass timers takes too much time and effort, they have only made three so far, and the fourth timer has not yet been made.
Lu Mingfei had been preparing for next year's Tongsheng exam since the second half of this year, so he left these energy-consuming tasks to his father to do slowly. After all, his father knew the production methods and could complete them alone without his help.
However, making an hourglass timer requires repeated verification and redoing of the mold, which is a bit troublesome and the process cannot be completed in one or two days.
If his father can make a new hourglass timer by then, they can sell it at their stall.
But it is sold on the stalls instead of in the store, so why can it be sold at a high price?
So Lu Mingfei had discussed with his father before about renting a shop in the city to open a woodworking business. This way, they could hire a few more craftsmen to work together, take on some big orders, and make some products to sell in the store. It would definitely make more money than setting up a small stall now.
However, his father's intention was that if the family had enough money to rent a shop, it would be for his mother to open a braised food shop. Because the braised food stall was doing better business and was the family's main source of income, his father wasn't completely sure whether his own woodworking shop would be profitable.
Furthermore, since he was still in school, the annual expenses were considerable. In three to five years, when his younger brother grew up a bit, he would definitely have to be sent to a private school. Furthermore, their annual rent in the city and other expenses were not low, so their parents were very cautious about spending money and would not use all their savings to open a shop all at once.
The cost of setting up a small stall is completely different from that of opening a shop. The rent alone costs hundreds of taels of silver a year, not to mention other expenses. If the shop makes money, it's fine. But if it loses money, their family will have no money to continue supporting it. At that time, the family will have problems with food and renting a house in the city.
After all, for an ordinary family to reach the heights that others have spent three generations and a hundred years of hard work to reach, it takes time and accumulation of wealth. It is not possible to open a store in Kyoto Prefecture and become a big boss all of a sudden.
However, it was already pretty good that their family was able to live the life of an ordinary family in Kyoto Prefecture in just eight years.
So after thinking about it this way, Lu Mingfei was not so anxious about opening a store. "Forget it, let's go to bed first." He had to get up early to go to school tomorrow.
After putting the books on the table in order, he lit the small lantern on the table and went outside holding the lantern.
The cold wind blew and he shivered.
The wind mixed with snowflakes hit his face, and he realized that it had been snowing outside. "It's snowing?" Lu Mingfei held out the lantern in his hand. The wind made the lantern sway, reflecting a layer of silver on the ground, and snowflakes were falling around.
He knew his two younger brothers slept in the main room, and that their father and mother would light the fireplace at night, so he didn't worry about his parents' room being cold. If it was too cold at night, his father and mother would get up and add firewood to the stove.
I just wonder if many ordinary people in Kyoto and outside of it have stoves to heat their homes and quilts to keep warm. Because it snowed at night and the temperature plummeted, if you didn't keep warm, whether you could wake up the next day was another matter.
Thinking about the news that every winter, people would freeze to death or starve to death at home, and that several corpses would be pulled out of dilapidated temples, Lu Mingfei felt a little sad. In this era of low productivity and scarce food and supplies, there were too many cases of ordinary people starving to death, freezing to death, and dying of disease.
Not to mention the villages and towns outside Kyoto Prefecture, even in Kyoto Prefecture, people die of starvation, freezing, and disease every year.
If this is the case even at the feet of the emperor, what about other places?
So when he came into this world, his father and mother had raised him to this age, preventing him from starving to death or dying of disease. The two adults had already made great efforts and were very responsible. However, now he did not have the ability to help others. The best he could do was to find a way to keep his family well fed and alive in this city. When he was poor, he could only take care of himself. When he was rich, he could help the world.
After a quick trip to the toilet, he quickly retreated to his room, blew out the flame in the lantern, and put it back on the table.
There was an iron kettle with boiling water on the fireplace. He poured the hot water into the wooden basin, added a little cold water, washed his face and hands, hung the towel on the wooden rack, quickly took off his coat and shoes, and got into bed to sleep.
In the middle of the night, he felt someone enter his room. Lu Mingfei called out in a daze, "Brother Lang?"
"Yes, it's me." Zhao Lang took off his coat and threw it aside, took off his boots and threw them aside, then pushed the boy lying on the bed inside and lay down outside. He covered himself with the warm quilt that others had used to sleep, feeling warm and satisfied!
If he was still dazed just now, then when Zhao Lang, like a popsicle, crawled into his bed, Lu Mingfei was immediately woken up by the cold. He smiled and asked him, "Is the bed in your Dingwang Mansion not as good as mine?"
Zhao Lang stared at the roof for a while before turning to look at the boy lying beside him. His irritable mood eased a little when he met his smiling eyes.
"Go to sleep. Close your eyes and lie down for a while. You will fall asleep in no time." Lu Mingfei understood and did not ask why Zhao Lang came to him. He guessed that Zhao Lang must be suffering from insomnia, and he was afraid that the degree was not mild.
Three years ago, Zhao Lang first came to sleep in his room. After that, he liked to come to his room every few days, and every time he came, he would lie down on his bed and sleep. Since Zhao Lang was coming, he would give up half of his bed for Zhao Lang to sleep in, just like having an extra roommate.
The little bed he slept in as a child had long been put away and moved to his father and mother's room for his younger brother. He now had a large double-decker bed in his room. He slept on the bottom bunk, and the top bunk was for his two younger brothers. His two younger brothers would occasionally sleep in his room, and Zhao Lang would also occasionally come over to sleep there.
Outsiders would never have thought that the dignified prince would leave his own golden nest and run to his bed to share a bed with him. Thinking of this, Lu Mingfei couldn't help but chuckle, but he was really too sleepy and fell asleep after a while.
After a while, Zhao Lang said "hmm".
Listening to the even breathing of the person sleeping next to him, he turned his head and looked at the boy for a long time. As if infected, he also slowly closed his eyes.
***
When Lu Mingfei woke up in the morning, he reached out to touch the seat next to him, but it was empty. If it weren't for the slightly concave bed telling him that someone had slept there not long ago, he would have suspected that he was dreaming last night.
The room was still warm, and the wood in the fireplace was still crackling. He guessed that the young master must have added more wood to his stove when he left.
I just don't know what time the young master left, and whether he ran into his father and mother. I don't think that person would run into his parents, otherwise his parents wouldn't have been unaware that friends would occasionally stay overnight in his house.
The hourglass on the table pointed to the five o'clock mark. It was around five o'clock in the morning, not yet six.
In the summer, when the sun rises early, the private school starts at the beginning of Maoshi (5:00 AM). Now that the sun rises late in winter, it has been changed to the end of Maoshi (7:00 AM). Since it doesn't get light until 7:00 AM now, their school start time has been postponed by an hour.
The yard was quiet outside. Lu Mingfei knew that his father and mother had already gone out to do business at this time. After getting dressed and tying his hair inside, he came out. When he opened the door, he saw a thick pile of snow on the ground.
The snow was still falling outside, fluttering like goose feathers.
When they entered the kitchen and took a look, they saw that there was breakfast left for them on the stove: a large bowl of vegetable porridge, a few baked cakes, boiled eggs and two side dishes.
There was still fire in the stove, so the food in the pot was still steaming.
This was the amount for him and his two younger brothers to eat. Lu Mingfei found a flat winnowing basket, put the food into it, and brought it to the main hall of the main house. After putting it on the table, he went into the bedroom where his parents lived. Sure enough, he saw the two little piglets still sleeping soundly on the bed.
He came over and dug up the two little piglets, "Get up, get up, put on your clothes, and get up to eat."
"Um..." When Tanggao was dug up by his brother, his eyes were still closed and his whole body was like a tumbler. Once there was no hand holding him from behind, he fell back on the bed and rolled himself up with the quilt.
Doubao sat obediently and let his brother dress him, and he even yawned a delicate little yawn.
The child's chubby little face still has a little baby fat, and his cheeks are rosy from sleeping, so cute.
"Why are you sleeping again? Get up quickly!" Lu Mingfei was dressing his brother when he saw the other boy crawling back into bed to sleep.
By the time he had packed up his two younger brothers and taken them out to eat, his father had come back to pick them up.
"Why are you still eating? Mingfei, eat yours quickly and go to school after you finish. Don't worry about them." When Lu Youtian came back and saw that the two younger ones were still eating, he knew that the two younger ones must have stayed in bed this morning and delayed the eldest son from going to school.
"Okay, then Dad, you take care of them both. I'll be leaving first." With his dad coming back to take care of his two younger brothers, Lu Mingfei stuffed the last bite of food into his mouth, finished the porridge in the bowl, and said, "Dad, please put the dishes in the basin. I'll wash them when I get back from school." Then he walked out the door.
"Go to school, I'll clean up." Lu Youtian shouted at his eldest son's back, "Remember to take an umbrella when you go out."
"Okay!" Lu Mingfei went back to his room, took out his school bag, put it on his back, and put on his hat, scarf and gloves before going out. When he came out of the room, he remembered that he didn't bring an umbrella, so he went back to the room to get an umbrella, and then hurried out with the umbrella. Author's words: Thank you Bole 9492239 (9492239) for your support, mua! To know more exciting content, please leave me a message on Liancheng Reading
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