Chapter 15: Favor
Song Jinbao and his two sons came back a little early in the evening. They were already home before Zhao Qiao'e's brown rice porridge was even cooked.
Seeing the father and son, Zhao Qiao'e was full of doubts.
"Why did you come back?"
Song Jinbao put the bucket and the shoulder pole under the eaves and said, "That's enough for today. We'll continue tomorrow."
Song Jinsheng glanced into Song Yuntang's room.
"Mom, is Tang'er at home?"
Zhao Qiao'e, who was making a fire, didn't even raise her head.
"I'm resting in the house."
The father and his two sons breathed a sigh of relief. It was better to take a rest, which was safer than running around.
Noticing the expressions of the father and son, Zhao Qiao'e frowned and looked outside the kitchen.
"Why are you asking Tang'er all of a sudden?"
Song Jinyuan didn't want his mother to worry too, so he said first, "It's nothing. I'm just worried that Huang Heyu would be in a bad mood after making such a fuss in the village this morning."
Song Yuntang walked out of the house.
"Don't worry, Huang Heyu's affairs won't affect me." She looked at Song Jinsheng, "Second brother, are you free now? I want to go to the carpenter's house at the entrance of the village."
"Okay, I'll go with you."
Song Jinsheng didn't ask her where she was going, and just took Song Yuntang out.
The two came to Song Mazi's house and Song Jinsheng knocked on the door.
"Brother Mazi, are you there?"
"Who is it?"
A woman's voice came from inside the door.
The woman opened the door from the inside. It was Cui, the mother who had lived with Ma Zi for many years. Cui lost her husband at an early age, and raised Ma Zi alone with great difficulty. Now, she is only in her early forties, but her hair has turned half white.
"It's Jinsheng, is there anything you need from Mazi?"
"Aunt, it's not me who's looking for him, it's my Tang'er who's looking for him for something." Song Jinsheng said, looking at Song Yuntang beside him.
Song Yuntang said succinctly, "I came to ask Brother Mazi to order carpentry."
Song Mazi, who was busy in the kitchen, seemed to have heard the noise.
"Mom, are you looking for me?"
Cui responded, "Jinsheng's sister is here to order some carpentry from you. Go take care of it. I'll take care of the kitchen."
"Hey, I'm coming." Song Mazi untied his waistband and left the kitchen, "Jinsheng, sister Yuntang, come in quickly."
Although Song Mazi's face was covered with spots, his facial features were still quite regular.
If he didn't have spots all over his face and had the skills of a carpenter, he would have definitely been a hot commodity three or four years ago.
After Ma Zi poured a cup of tea for each of them, he looked at Song Yuntang and asked, "Sister Yuntang, what do you want to order?"
Song Yuntang took out the drawing hidden in his sleeve.
"I want to order a waterwheel."
"Waterwheel?"
This kind of thing has not yet become popular in the Great Xia Kingdom, and Song Mazi, as a carpenter, has never heard of it.
Song Yuntang hummed, "It is a tool for irrigating farmland in the dry season. It saves time and effort compared to carrying water."
She pointed at the blueprint and explained to Song Mazi, "This is the axle that supports the waterwheel. It is about ten feet high. Next to it are twenty-four wooden spokes that spread out in all directions. Each wooden spoke has a water bucket and a scraper at the top."
"When it rotates, the bucket will be filled with water and can be raised to a height of about two or three meters. When it rotates to the top, the bucket will naturally tilt so that the water will flow into the trough below and finally flow into the farmland along the channel."
Farmers really need things like this!
It's not just needed during droughts. In previous years, when we encountered droughts, everyone relied on manpower. With this water truck, wouldn't it be much easier?
Rongshu Village is close to Jingshui River, so the water source is relatively sufficient. It will be even more convenient with the water truck in the future!
Song Mazi looked at Song Yuntang in great surprise, "Sister Yuntang, how did you come up with this?"
Song Yuntang touched his nose and began to make up stories.
"Today I went to the farmland and the wells and rivers, and in the afternoon I spent a lot of time writing and drawing at home and came up with this."
Song Jinsheng looked at her in surprise. It turned out that Tang'er went to Jingshui River not to check the depth of the water, but to think about how to irrigate the farmland.
He felt a little touched. She went out in such a hot sun just to relieve the burden on her father and her two brothers, but she said nothing and was misunderstood by them. It was really wrong.
Song Mazi looked at the drawing and pointed to one of the places.
"What is this place used for?"
"When there is no water flow, we can use manpower to turn the waterwheel. Then, people will stand here." Song Yuntang added, "This waterwheel is not light. We may need to prepare all the parts and move them to the well river for assembly. For safety reasons, the person in charge of assembly had better know how to swim."
Song Mazi waved his hand, "This is all trivial. More than 80% of the men in our Rongshu Village know how to use water. It's just that the workload of this water truck is a bit large. If Jinsheng can come and help me, the construction period can be shortened."
Song Jinsheng nodded, "That's no problem."
He had a vague expectation in his heart. What expressions would the villagers have if they saw that the waterwheel designed by his sister could save people so much trouble? Will you still look at her the same way as before?
"How long will it take to be completed?" This is the question that Song Yuntang is more concerned about.
Song Mazi thought for a moment and said, "In order to use the waterwheel for a longer period of time, it must be coated with tung oil for corrosion prevention. At least it will take at least half a month."
It's all manual work, so it takes a little longer, which is understandable.
Finally, they reached an agreement with Song Mazi and did not ask for any wages. She only needed to provide the wood and tung oil. The blueprint she took away would be used to pay for the waterwheel.
Even if you order a waterwheel according to the price people know, it would cost at least five or six taels of silver.
Five or six taels of silver is a lot of money, but with the current conditions of the Song family, it is impossible for them to take it out. After all, Song Yuntang doesn't rely on this to make a fortune, so he simply gave the blueprint to Song Mazi as a favor.
Moreover, Song Mazi also promised that he would give Song Yuntang a commission of 300 coins for every waterwheel job he took in the future. It was always good to get money, so Song Yuntang nodded happily.
…
After discussing the matter of the waterwheel, Song Yuntang and Song Jinsheng returned home.
In the kitchen, Zhao's porridge was ready.
Smelling the delicious aroma wafting from the kitchen, Song Yuntang's stomach growled.
Zhao Qiao'e happened to be walking from the kitchen to the main room with a large bowl of porridge in her hand. "Are you hungry, Tang'er? Go to the kitchen and get a bowl for the porridge."
"good."
Song Yuntang responded and took eight bowls and eight pairs of chopsticks from the kitchen.
Today's dinner not only includes porridge, but also a big bowl of egg drop soup with a few wild vegetables left over from lunch floating on top.
The egg drops and wild vegetables mainly went into the bowls of pregnant Liu and her two younger brothers. The rest of the people only drank half a bowl of slightly salty soup and the egg drops that were so scarce that they could be ignored.
However, being able to drink a sip of salty soup is better than eating nothing.
After Song Yuntang drank half a bowl of egg drop soup, he drank a bowl of porridge. The soup went into his stomach and relieved his initial hunger, but he still felt hungry.
But I’ve been living like this for the past two days. Just bear with it and you’ll be able to have breakfast tomorrow morning.
…
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