Chapter Thirty-Eight: It's Better to Speak Frankly
Only after being reminded did Lu Jingbai belatedly raise his arm, the red mark on his sleeve particularly noticeable.
Xuan Yan was shocked to see this. He threw the rabbit he was holding aside, took out a delicate porcelain bottle from his bag, and a finely crafted dagger from who-knows-where. He said softly, "Young master, I'm sorry."
Xuan Yan gently parted his sleeve, revealing a white undergarment. He then carefully put away the porcelain bottle and dagger and stepped aside.
In short, it was a misunderstanding. Shen Zhiyi was slightly embarrassed and then noticed that it might be plant dye that got on her during the fall. If she looked closely, she would find that it was different from bloodstains.
But why did she admit her mistake back then?
"Phew, that scared me to death." Zhao Daya said with a sigh of relief as she came down the slope, "Thank goodness you're all alright!"
Shen Zhiyi looked up at Zhao Daya, knowing she could only wait to ask her privately.
"Let's hurry back so as not to worry Village Chief Chen," Zhao Daya said guiltily, carefully pulling Shen Zhiyi along and leading her ahead.
Lu Jingbai and Xuan Yan followed behind.
Along the way, Zhao Daya became more docile, and Shen Zhiyi, who was tense, also relaxed her worries.
As soon as we arrived at Village Chief Chen's house, we saw a group of people led by Village Chief Chen walking on the main road of the village. Judging from this, we knew that the villagers had been mobilized to find them.
"Village Chief Chen," Lu Jingbai called out.
He was hiding the torn sleeve of his robe behind his back, and in front of him was still the well-dressed Lord Lu.
"Lord Lu! Lord Lu! Thank goodness you're here. If you had disappeared in the village, I would have been too ashamed to face anyone!" Village Chief Chen rushed toward Lu Jingbai, grabbing his sleeve and almost bursting into tears.
Shen Zhiyi and the others felt even more embarrassed. They couldn't very well say that they had forgotten the time because they were catching rabbits, could they?
"I thought the scenery in Shunshui Village was nice, so I went to watch the sunrise on a whim," Lu Jingbai explained politely.
Zhao Daya, who had been holding the rabbit by its ears, now lovingly hugged it in her arms.
Seeing this, Shen Zhiyi was unsure whether she should remind Zhao Daya that Xuan Yan was carrying the rabbit with a blank expression. The two of them treated the rabbit in completely different ways, which would easily reveal something fishy.
However, no one dared to refute him directly; they silently followed Lu Jingbai into the courtyard.
Once the courtyard gate was closed, the curious villagers gradually dispersed.
Zhao Daya took the rabbit from Xuan Yan's hand and then secretly pulled Shen Zhiyi toward the kitchen.
"What are we doing here?" Shen Zhiyi asked.
"Of course we'll cook rabbit meat! Five rabbits this big are enough for everyone to have a meal!" Zhao Daya said happily. "Zhiyi, do you know how to cook rabbit meat?"
Shen Zhiyi wanted to say "yes," but she couldn't find all the ingredients she needed to cook here, and she had never cooked any elaborate dishes before, so she didn't know where to begin.
"I'll knead the dough, you cook..." Zhao Daya hadn't finished speaking when she saw Aunt Chen walk in, and suddenly stopped talking.
“Aunt Chen, we were just discussing making rabbit meat so that everyone can have a taste.” Shen Zhiyi said cheerfully, “We’re not very good at using this stove yet. We didn’t expect you to come, Aunt Chen. It’s a lifesaver. We’ll come and help you out.”
These words made Aunt Chen beam with joy, but she wisely replied, "You're too kind, young lady! It's just that I... I really don't know how to prepare this rabbit skin. I'll have to ask Hunter Qian from the end of the village for help..."
“I know how!” Zhao Daya replied. “My grandfather once saved a hunter, and he taught me! I used to skin the rabbits my dad caught!”
"That would be great, thank you for your help, young lady." Aunt Chen took out a wooden basin from the corner. "Just put the rabbit blood here, it's a dish too."
“Okay!” Zhao Daya said, glancing at the stove to find a kitchen knife, which Aunt Chen handed over to her.
The three of them got busy here.
The aroma of cooking is the true essence of life. Everyone is busy trying to fill their stomachs. The smoke carrying the scent of meat fills the entire courtyard, and even with the gates closed, it still makes the smells tempting to those nearby.
Shen Zhiyi carried a large basin of rabbit meat out of the kitchen and placed it on the wooden table in the main room. She smiled and said, "Lord Lu, you must try the cooking of Aunt Chen and me."
As other dishes were served, the only meat dish on the table was rabbit meat, which made Village Chief Chen swallow hard. He had to force himself to look away and only dared to put his chopsticks on the pickled vegetables next to it.
“Village Chief Chen, you should try some too,” Lu Jingbai said, gesturing with a chopstick of meat and vegetables into the bowl of the boy next to him. “If your hosts don’t eat it, how can we, the guests, dare to eat it?”
“Lord Lu…” Village Chief Chen wanted to say something, but stopped when he saw that gentle face. His eyes welled up with tears, and he silently ate a piece of rabbit meat, tears falling silently down his cheeks.
Every household in Shunshui Village was struggling to make ends meet, and they wanted to go into the mountains to hunt some game. However, it was as if they were under some kind of curse. Whenever a villager went into the mountains to hunt, a few days later, a terrible disaster would befall them. Therefore, they had to respect all the creatures in the mountains.
Outsiders mocked their village for being foolish, saying they couldn't even afford meat despite living in the mountains. But who could they tell about their suffering?
It was later discovered that only when the procedure was handled by an outsider could everything be resolved without incident.
But if outsiders catch prey in the mountains behind the village, why would they be willing to share it with the villagers?
After eating the rabbit meat, Village Chief Chen thought that since it was given by the county magistrate, it must have some scholarly air about it. He hoped that it could dispel the curse that had been passed down through generations!
His emotional fluctuations did not affect those around him.
When Shen Zhiyi caught sight of Village Chief Chen silently shedding tears, she quickly lowered her head and ate. The people here were hardworking but couldn't even get enough to eat. She couldn't explain what the problem was, so she could only do as much as she could. Perhaps it was just a matter of her own efforts.
After lunch, Aunt Chen and the others busied themselves wiping the table and washing the dishes.
Shen Zhiyi watched Aunt Chen sitting in the corner of the yard washing dishes. Occasionally, water droplets splashing from the basin caught her attention. Why didn't she think of that!
So Shen Zhiyi filled a small basin with water and, in front of Lu Jingbai, pretended to wash her hands, then said to herself, "If only there were a way to divert the water away, that would save us the trouble of emptying it."
As she spoke, Shen Zhiyi picked up some broken wood from the stove and used it to build a simple waterwheel, which she still had to manually move.
When Zhao Daya returned from chopping firewood, she saw Shen Zhiyi's side and said disapprovingly, "Just wash your hands, why are you playing in the water?"
As soon as she finished speaking, Zhao Daya diligently picked up the basin of water in front of Shen Zhiyi, and before pouring it out, she asked, "Lord Lu, do you want to wash your hands? Even though Zhiyi has made you so dirty, the water is still clean."
"No need," Lu Jingbai said in a muffled voice, sounding more like he was trying to suppress a laugh.
Zhao Daya washed her hands in the basin, then poured the water into another water vat in Village Chief Chen's house, which they used to wash other things.
During this time, Shen Zhiyi was still thinking about how to start the conversation when Lu Jingbai spoke up first: "Miss Shen, it seems you have something to say to me, why don't you speak frankly?"
Ever since watching the sunrise, or more accurately, the river, Lu Jingbai felt that Shen Zhiyi had something to say, and now she was giving all sorts of hints. If he still couldn't understand, he'd probably go blind.
"Ahem." Shen Zhiyi coughed lightly, sat back on the small stool, and moved closer to Lu Jingbai. The two stools were at different heights, and it was not easy to look up and talk if they were too close. So she lowered her head slightly and said, "I actually thought of using tools to make the water flow from the lower to the higher. Of course, we still need to dig or build a waterway to solve the problem once and for all."
"Hmm?" Lu Jingbai couldn't help but wonder. He wanted to scoff at the absurdity, but since it was Shen Zhiyi who said it, he suppressed the words that were about to slip out and changed to a gentler tone, "Miss Shen, please tell me more."
Shen Zhiyi secretly breathed a sigh of relief; thankfully, the listener was listening!
She found a slightly sturdier branch from the pile of broken wood and, using the muddy ground beneath her feet, began to sketch.
“This is a circle…” Shen Zhiyi explained, because her drawing skills were limited and some parts were not drawn to standard.
The next moment, Shen Zhi saw Lu Jingbai's outstretched hand. His dark, narrow sleeves made his wrists appear excessively white, and the veins beneath his skin were visible.
Suddenly grabbed by this hand, Shen Zhiyi came to her senses and quickly handed over the wooden branch. She accidentally touched his fingertips and was so frightened that she quickly withdrew her hand.
At the same time, Lu Jingbai's hand paused slightly, subtly tightening his grip on the wooden branch, and he quickly shifted his attention to the exceptionally ugly drawing in front of him. Comparing it with the explanation he had heard, he drew a new one next to it.
Upon seeing the new painting, Shen Zhiyi, forgetting the pounding in her heart, exclaimed excitedly, "This is it!"
She immediately chimed in to explain, "Look how round it is, just like a carriage wheel. It can roll along with a force, and the bamboo tube on top can hold water, which rolls around in this big circle..."
“Til the bamboo tube and then carve out a water storage area at a higher point,” Lu Jingbai continued.
“It doesn’t necessarily have to be a reservoir. We can split bamboo in half to connect the water transport, like this…” Shen Zhiyi said, pointing to the newly drawn diagram. Lu Jingbai drew straight lines following her train of thought.
The two of them continued filling in the gaps, and the waterwheel and its layout came into view.
“Yes, that’s how it should be!” Shen Zhiyi said happily.
Lu Jingbai suddenly fell silent, his gaze fixed on the picture. It could not only solve the problem of Shunshui Village, but also be used in many other places!
Seeing how easily it was drawn, Lu Jingbai slowly asked, "Miss Chen, have you ever seen the real thing?"
"Of course I..." Shen Zhiyi immediately stopped speaking and changed her words, "I've never seen it before! I just felt that this thing might be helpful, and then I saw the carriage wheels and... the water splashed out when Aunt Chen and the others were washing dishes... if they are connected, could it be..."
"I believe you," Lu Jingbai interrupted Shen Zhiyi's flustered words.
The fabricated lie stalled at this moment. Before she could utter a thousand words, she heard the words "I believe you," and the little deer in Shen Zhiyi's heart started to stir again.
"Then what do you think would be a suitable name for this, Miss Shen?" Lu Jingbai asked gently.
Shen Zhiyi knew that she had directly taken the wisdom of her ancestors and was even less willing to change its name, so she said, "Let's call it a waterwheel."
“Alright, let’s call it Waterwheel then.” Lu Jingbai then thought of something and added, “Should we keep the Waterwheel a secret from you, Miss?”
“Yes.” Shen Zhiyi replied without hesitation; she didn’t want to stand out.
“I understand, I will keep it a secret for you,” Lu Jingbai said earnestly.
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