Li Mai was the first to notice that someone was walking towards them. She looked up and stared calmly at the two people, the chopsticks in her hand instantly changing direction between her fingers.
Upon closer inspection, the two men's gazes were primarily fixed on the wheelchair where Zhou Quan was sitting.
Li Mai probably understood.
Old Man Zhou also noticed the other person, and Zhou Quan also looked up at the two people.
The two men were quite polite. They bowed to the four of them and asked Zhou Quan, "Young master, may I ask where you bought this carriage seat?"
Zhou Quan glanced down at them, then looked up at them again, "Someone did it."
"Really? Where could a craftsman make something like this? Is it specifically for people with mobility issues?"
"Oh, let me introduce myself. We're from the capital. My name is Xu Che, and his name is Cheng Jianghai. We just happened to see this wheeled chair and wanted to know if it's convenient for people with mobility issues to sit in?" the young man in the white brocade robe said politely.
Zhou Quan nodded. "Yes, it's mainly to make things easier for people with mobility issues."
After saying that, he even maneuvered his wheelchair around the street a few times.
By this time, it was completely dark. The only reason we could still see on the street was because several lanterns were hung in front of each shop, illuminating the entire street.
In this kind of light, the two people were riding in a carriage through the street when they could actually see Zhou Quan's wheelchair on the side of the street. Li Mai knew that these two people must be martial artists with strong internal strength.
When Zhou Quan showed them the chair, the two men were very excited. "It's great to have a chair like this! One of our brothers has a leg injury and needs it right now. Could you tell us where it was made?"
Zhou Quan subconsciously looked at Zhou Lin.
Zhou Lin nodded, "It was made in Nanshan Village by Old Man Nanshan. He's an old carpenter who's skilled in ingenious mechanisms."
The two were overjoyed. The young man in the moon-white robe bowed again and said, "I see. Thank you all. If you ever have the chance to go to the capital, you can come to the Zhennan General's Mansion to find me. I will definitely help you if you need anything."
Zhou Lin waved his hand, "No need to thank me. Old Monster Nanshan is my master. He has a bit of an eccentric personality. If you go to him, you can tell him that you met us, and you will be more likely to get his approval to help you."
"I see. Thank you, gentlemen, thank you, old man, and thank you, young lady!" The four were delighted to receive the answer. After thanking them again, they turned and left.
They seemed very happy to receive this news.
Zhou Quan and Zhou Lin exchanged a glance and laughed together. In a way, they were helping Master Zhou Lin promote his work, right?
People from the capital, huh? Or is this the Zhennan General's Mansion? It seems it was built for people wounded in battle.
This scene was just a brief interlude for the family. After they finished eating, Li Mai paid the bill, and the family returned to the inn.
After washing up at the inn, everyone went to rest.
Zhou Quan lay down but couldn't fall asleep.
Li Mai leaned closer to look at him. "What's wrong? Can't you sleep?"
Zhou Quan pulled her into his arms and whispered, "I'm thinking about how to build our house to help us weather the autumn winds and rains."
Li Mai thought for a while, then suddenly got up and said to him, "How about we don't build on the mountain? We can wait for the village to allocate land, and our family will take a spot near the edge to build three rooms for us. We can buy the materials ourselves and hire people to build them. It will only cost a few dozen taels of silver, and we can build the three main rooms without any problem."
Zhou Quan thought for a moment and said, "Okay, we'll contribute our share of the money we agreed to give to the villagers, and we'll also help out where we can."
“Yes, and this time, I think we should also build a shack area. We can raise more chickens, geese, rabbits, and pigs, so that even if we don’t have farmland for the time being, Mom and Dad will have something to do, and they won’t feel uncomfortable being idle.” Since the fields were flooded, the Zhou couple had sighed several times, feeling uncomfortable having nothing to do.
Li Mai kept all of this in mind.
“That works too. We’ll live on the edge of the village, and we’ll pay for the rest of the land that the village should allocate to us.” Zhou Quan’s mind started to wander.
Now that he has money, he's more daring and has more ideas.
"Well, also, I'd like to set up a small workshop and see if it's feasible," Li Mai added, sharing her idea.
"What workshop?" Zhou Quan pressed her down onto his arm to make her lie down, worried that her neck would be uncomfortable if she turned her head to talk to him while lying down.
“Dyehouse, do you still remember those books that our families got back? I saw many dyeing methods for different colors in them, but now the clothes sold in cloth shops and clothing stores are very limited in color. Many colors that ordinary people could wear are no longer available.”
In this world, colors are naturally divided into noble and lowly. The royal color is bright yellow, also known as royal yellow.
People can wear other colors, but due to limitations in dyeing technology, many colors cannot be dyed yet.
For example, the book records more than a dozen kinds of red, but what you can see in fabric shops now are only a few kinds of red such as bright red, peach red, jujube red and pomegranate red. Many other reds such as begonia red, pink, lotus red, silver red, cherry red, water red, wood red, cinnabar, madder, and crimson are not available.
Furthermore, the blue that men in this era commonly wore was only a few shades such as dark blue, royal blue, light blue, and moon blue. Colors like sky blue, turquoise, galangal, and azure, as mentioned in the book, were not available.
Anyway, after finishing the book, Li Mai had an idea gradually forming in her mind. She had the book and some knowledge she had learned from the documentaries she had watched, so she wanted to give it a try.
This is the career she wants to pursue. Fortunately, her family is now well-off, and once they finish building the house and move in, she can finally get started on what she wants to do.
Moreover, she also saw an interesting story about a scholar named Shan Danqing who was suddenly summoned by the emperor because of a painting. He was from a poor family and the only decent thing he owned was a blue robe.
However, he worried that it would be disrespectful to meet the emperor in just a blue robe.
After much thought, a few days before he left home, while painting, he suddenly had a brilliant idea: to use the colored powder he usually used to paint on his blue robe and create a painting of bamboo in ink.
As expected, his distinctive ink bamboo robe earned him special attention and praise from the emperor. When the emperor learned that he had painted it himself rather than having it embroidered, he understood that the man had resorted to this tactic because of his poverty and his desire not to lose face in front of the emperor. This was enough to demonstrate the man's intelligence.
After praising him, the emperor also bestowed upon him a local official position, allowing him to return to his hometown to serve as an official and treat the local people well.
Later, the story spread among the people, and those astute businessmen saw the business opportunity and began to promote a trend of painting on clothes or fabrics.
It was given an elegant name, Shuhui, or Huahui.
However, there were very few people like that person who had the ability to paint on clothes and increase their value, and the trend gradually faded away.
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