Chapter 13
The teeth and grooves on the lower part have been carved, and Wen Yi is now struggling with the holes on the upper part.
In fact, there was already a piece that was almost finished, but it accidentally cracked during the drilling process. Wen Yi had to replace it and start over, moving more carefully. Fortunately, there was no accident this time.
Yao Wenjun watched for a while, and when Wen Yi stacked two carved stones together and sprinkled a handful of sand into them to confirm whether the holes could allow things to pass through normally, he suddenly understood what this person was doing.
She had seen a lot of unusual things these days. Although Amu and the other kids were still somewhat hostile to her, at least they could chat with her when they were bored.
Yao Wenjun learned from the child named Amu how amazing her Wen Yi was. The child's words were always full of naivety and exaggeration, but the two little kids next to him nodded seriously, indicating that Amu was absolutely right.
After confirming that the problem was not serious, Wen Yi breathed a sigh of relief. Although there were still some sticky spots, they would gradually fit in during use, just like when there was no way to process an iron column or steel ball into a perfect circle, they could just be thrown into the bearing and it would become round after grinding for a while.
Well, why isn't it considered a form of processing?
Pick up the sharpened wooden handle from the side and hammer it into the reserved hole, then knock the small wooden strip into the gap between the handle and the hole, and finally saw off the excess part.
The wheelbarrow next to it had also entered the next version under Qingping's processing. Wen Yi moved the stone onto it and pushed it towards the yard halfway up the hill.
I had already selected a stone in advance to serve as the base, and together with Qingping who had just returned, I lifted the millstone up and finally breathed a sigh of relief.
The main difficulty in making the stone mill lies in the wooden frame and central axis of the cylindrical stone. The stone plate below is easier to chisel than the millstone's chassis. After the other parts were made, Wen Yi handed the work over to Qing Ping, who finished it much earlier than he did.
Seeing Wen Yi looking somewhat dejected, Qing Ping smiled and patted the young girl on the shoulder:
"Have a good rest. You've been dreaming about your arm hurting these past few days."
Originally, several people thought that the straight arc-shaped mill was not very troublesome to use. There was already a large stone mill in the village, but it was of a different design. It was indeed much faster to use than the small one, especially when there was a lot of grain that needed to be shelled.
When Wen Yi was away, Shan and Shu had already told them their speculation about her origins. Qingping and Zhongji pondered for a while and agreed with Shu's previous idea. After all, apart from that area, who else could know the manufacturing methods of so many different items? You know, most of the skills are secrets that cannot be passed on.
Only in another world after human beings disappear can everyone communicate with each other and get what they want to know.
Wen Yi didn't know that this group of people were justifying the irrationality of her behavior and had agreed to keep it secret for the time being and not mention it in front of her to avoid touching any taboos. However, even if this group of people wanted to do something to Wen Yi, perhaps she would just wait for it to happen.
*
Yao Wenjun naturally knew that the others did not live nearby, but since everyone was not very familiar with each other yet, they naturally did not leave the area.
In order to prevent being recognized when he escaped alone, he buried those items that could prove his identity somewhere in Yudi in advance. If he had the chance, he could go back and get them. There was no rush now.
At this moment, she was watching those kids fiddling with the car over there. It was Amu who told her the name.
Normally, this tool, which plays an important role in planting, is considered an asset, and few people would allow a group of children to play around it.
But they were not just playing. Yao Wenjun saw Amu take out a lot of parts from the bag he was carrying and started to assemble them according to the original. The two children next to him also found similar parts from the bags containing their most precious toys and started to assemble them.
Not long after, the boy next to him seemed to have encountered some difficulties and scratched his head in distress. The girl on the other side smiled and replaced a part for him. Amu also nodded and said that this should be it. The three children continued to puzzle together.
Yao Wenjun stood patiently in the distance. When she was learning martial arts, her master had taught her to be restrained and to wait. If she had not suppressed her impulse when she went hunting in the woods for the first time, she might have been eaten by a wolf.
But soon they seemed to be stuck in the same place. After discussing, Amu put down the parts temporarily and trotted to find Wen Yi who was tinkering with something by the stream not far away.
"Okay, let's see what's wrong."
When Yao Wenjun heard Wen Yi's voice, the man really put down what he was doing and studied with a few children to find out why something went wrong with the newly made parts.
"Yeah, that's it." Wen Yi took a charcoal pencil and drew two diagrams on the stone beside him. "Look, because the chain is relatively long, when it is laid flat, the upper paddle will droop and get stuck with the lower paddle..."
Having extracted almost all of Shan's knowledge, Wen Yi had made them some small parts during this time, which could be used to assemble different things. In this era of scarce entertainment facilities, toys similar to building blocks from later generations could make children very happy.
If they had questions, Wen Yi would explain them through practical application in a way they could understand. Theoretical understanding requires a strong foundation of basic knowledge, but no one had yet undergone systematic learning, so understanding through practice was the most effective method.
Seeing that Amu and the others had started fighting again, Wen Yi stood up and walked towards Yao Wenjun.
"How have you been feeling these past few days?"
"It's OK," Yao Wenjun replied, following Wen Yi to sit on a nearby rock. The sun warmed the rock, and as she sat on it, she could feel the heat flowing through her body, making her still aching body feel a little better.
"Actually, I thought you would find a way to leave." Wen Yi threw the stone at hand into the stream. "After all, you are different from us."
No matter what era, hidden beneath the so-called equality are nothing but more obscure privileges, but some of them may not be known to others at all.
Yao Wenjun was not one of them. They had no place to return to, so they chose a place to hide. Those with status and position could easily take up arms and establish their own place. Regardless of how long it would last, there would always be people who would flock there for such reasons.
"I thought you wouldn't save me, or that you would choose to kill me one day..." Yao Wenjun gestured at his neck, "to prevent any more trouble."
Wen Yi smiled and did not deny it.
"You must be forced to live here, right?" Yao Wenjun had seen many refugees in the mountains. Most of them were cruel and lived from day to day. If they couldn't make ends meet, they would resort to robbery. They would not manage their lives like this group of old and young. Instead, they seemed to want to isolate themselves from the world.
Wen Yi spread his hands, his tone filled with helplessness, "What do you think I can do? Run into those people's knives?"
She was only an ordinary person, with less strength than others, and no knowledge of martial arts or military tactics. She could play hide-and-seek, but a head-on confrontation would only result in her being a food deliveryman. "If you can live a good life, who would want to run around?"
"That's true." Yao Wenjun nodded, "But I'm a little curious about you."
Wen Yi lay down, the shadows cast by the trees above her made it difficult for people around her to see her expression. "You ask?"
"Could it be that you are also a disciple of some reclusive master, who, sensing changes in the celestial phenomena, has entered the world in search of opportunities?"
Wen Yi couldn't help but burst out laughing, tilting her head with some curiosity, "Do you often get tricked like this?"
In fact, it is not entirely true that they are deceiving. Those who can get close to that group of people must have some skills, and they can often use their intelligence to turn danger into safety. Therefore, some people are skeptical about these obviously nonsense.
In a sense, it is better to believe it than not to believe it. Even if the person has no means, you can still worship him as a lucky charm to seek peace of mind.
"Actually, if you put it that way, I might believe it." Yao Wenjun said casually. She had seen a lot of new and useful things during her time here. Although she couldn't figure out the connection between them because she rarely farmed herself, she was keenly aware of the importance of these things to development after long-term training.
Yao Wenjun couldn't even remember how many wars had ended in failure due to food shortages; there were simply too many. Furthermore, these things could free up some people trapped in labor, allowing them to do more and making it easier to exploit them further.
But of course she didn't dare to say the last sentence.
Something seemed to be telling her that if she said this, she might suffer a lot of bad things.
Wen Yi could tell what this person was thinking about. She didn't know the specifics, but by putting herself in the group's perspective, she could get a glimpse. Perhaps this was history's gift to every ordinary person in the future.
"Don't think, don't say, and don't do it." Wen Yi interrupted the man's wandering thoughts, "Otherwise no one can save you."
Shan used to be an extremely tolerant person in a broad sense. He was strict in official matters, but he would not refuse to help his neighbors in private. Just like when he heard the noise on the snowy night, other village heads would have just let the person fend for himself, but Shan went out immediately to help the person out.
However, after what happened last winter, even though his personality seemed to have not changed much, Wen Yi could sense that he had become more aggressive.
At the moment, he regarded Wen Yi and the others as his own family, but he had no good feelings towards Yao Wenjun. You know, the armor and copper alloy dagger on this man are still in Shan's hands.
Yao Wenjun smiled stiffly, didn't mention it again, and took the initiative to change the subject:
"Actually, if you said you were also a fugitive and were just living in seclusion here, I might believe you."
At this time, there are ordinary people who want to pretend to be nobles from some place, but behavioral habits and personal networks cannot be memorized and learned in a short time, and they will unconsciously shrink back when facing people who have been in high positions for a long time.
Although Wen Yi didn't seem to have the "atmosphere" that he was familiar with.
"It's a pity that he's not." Wen Yi lay back down, "He's just an ordinary refugee."
Yao Wenjun's right arm injury was quite serious and he was unable to work for a short period of time. He could only help to clear some weeds beside the fields, or carry a bucket of water with his other hand to water places that the simple canals could not reach.
Qingping and Wenyi had recently built a larger wheeled waterwheel and placed it in the stream. They also constructed a wooden trough to channel the raised water down the trough into the dug ditch. When the water was almost full, they would remove the trough from the support next to the waterwheel to prevent flooding in the fields.
Wen Yi once visited a water mill. Unlike the water mills that use human or animal power to rotate the upper part for grinding, some water mills have the upper part fixed by equipment and the lower part of the millstone driven by water to rotate.
It is difficult to achieve this now that metal is hard to find, but it can be combined with the pestle and mortar. She vaguely remembers that some places still use this method to make glutinous rice noodles, and it is said to be tastier than the ordinary method.
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