Chapter 101
101 Rice Machine
Li Yu slept for a day and two nights. Zhou Jia took Li Yu’s pulse every two hours. Only when he felt Li Yu’s stable and strong pulse did he feel slightly at ease.
The next morning, everyone waited uneasily outside Li Yu’s room, worried that she would continue to sleep.
When Li Yu woke up, she had never felt so refreshed. She dressed and walked out of the house. When she saw everyone sitting at the door, she smiled strangely and said, “Eh! Aunt, Xiao Xi, why are you guarding the door?”
Li Mei heaved a sigh of relief and clapped her hands with a smile. “Aiyo! You’re finally awake. I’ll get someone to heat up your meal.”
Li Qing pushed Zhou Jia aside and stood in front of Li Yu. He looked at Li Yu happily. “Sister, you almost scared us to death. You slept for two nights and one day. Look, Sir’s eyes are bloodshot.”
Li Yu looked at Zhou Jia’s tired appearance and said guiltily, “I made you guys worry. Did I really sleep for so long? No wonder I’m so hungry!”
“Go wash up and eat something,” Zhou Jia said gently to Li Yu.
Li Yu ate two bowls of lean meat porridge and looked at Zhou Jia, who was eating porridge, with a smile. “You’ve been watching over me and didn’t go anywhere, right?”
Zhou Jia swallowed the last mouthful of porridge and watched as Li Yu sat beside him and held her hand. “Yu’er, promise me that you won’t be so rash next time. What if the reinforcements hadn’t come?”
Li Yu looked at the bloodshot eyes and exhausted look in Zhou Jia’s eyes and nodded. “Alright! I won’t act rashly again in the future. Go and rest first.”
Zhou Jia kissed Li Yu’s forehead and took out the ebony sword to tell Li Yu what Shen Wu had said.
Li Yu took the ebony sword and saw that there was a golden lotus engraved on one side of the hilt and a sun on the other. Li Yu played with the small sword and looked at Zhou Jia. “I decided to save him at that time because I saw that he stopped the guards from retreating with the crowd and reduced the casualties of the innocent people. I felt that he was a kind person and decided to save him. Xiao Xi, you’re tired too. Go and rest for a while!”
“That’s worth saving, but compared to your safety, I’m still unwilling to let you take the risk.” Zhou Jia paused for a moment. “Have a good rest. I’ll bring Ah Qing to the private school first. I still have to talk to Su Quanyou about the price of wool this year. After that, I plan to go to the East City to hire two weavers. Rest at home. I’ll be back soon.”
Li Yu nodded. “Alright, it’s safer for you to bring Ji Xiang along.”
Zhou Jia nodded and returned to the house to change his clothes before bringing Li Qing out. Laidi moved the rocking chair to the courtyard and smiled eagerly. “Cousin, come and bask in the sun.”
Li Yu smiled at Laidi. “Why are you so obedient? Did you do something bad?”
“I’ve always been so obedient.” Laidi looked at Li Yu holding her hand. “Cousin, don’t sleep so long in the future. I was so worried.”
“Okay! I’m sorry! I’ve made Little Laidi worry.”
The sisters sat together and chatted for a while before Laidi couldn’t sit still and ran away. Li Yu smiled and shook her head as she looked for a charcoal pencil. As she recalled the structure of the small pedicab threshing machine at home, she painted on the paper until Zhou Jia returned.
Zhou Jia brought three men who looked to be in their forties and three women of about the same age. There were also two seven or eight-year-old girls and three eleven or twelve-year-old boys. All of them were sallow and thin, and their clothes were tattered. They stood there uneasily and shivered from the cold.
Zhou Jia pointed at them and said to Li Yu, “They all fled here from Qingzhou. Three of the families know how to weave and dye. One family knows how to plant lotus roots. The women are very good at weaving, so I bought them all.”
Li Yu saw that they were trembling from the cold. “Get something for them to eat first. Let them wash up before getting them a cotton shirt.”
The families stood there with their heads lowered when they heard Li Yu’s words. They all looked up in surprise. Zhou Jia turned to them and said, “Did you hear what Boss said? As long as you know your place and work well, you will be fed and clothed.”
Everyone knelt when they heard this. “It’s the owner. We’ll work hard.”
Li Yu looked at Zhou Jia uncomfortably. “Let them go first! I have something to show you.” Zhou Jia nodded and let Ji Xiang bring those people down.
Li Yu took out the blueprint and handed it to Zhou Jia. “Take a look. This is the rice grinder that my master drew for me. I want to find someone to make it and try it. We’ve planted so much land this year. If we can’t find short-term workers during the harvest, we’ll have to delay the harvest.”
Zhou Jia looked at the threshing machine on the blueprint and was indescribably surprised. He pointed at the hook on the roller and asked curiously, “Is this made of iron?”
Li Yu pointed at the components on the blueprint and explained to Zhou Jia, “This is a barb made of wire. This is a rack. The pedals, the connecting rods, the big gears, the small gears, the surrounds, the rollers, and so on are formed. This is only the approximate size. You can discuss the exact size with the craftsman.”
Zhou Jia looked at it for a while but still did not understand. “Then how does it knock the rice grains down?”
“Look, this is the barn. These are the pedals. The rice beater holds the rice straw tightly and pushes the pedals hard, causing the pedals to rotate. The rocker that connects the pedals rotates to drive the connecting rods. The connecting rods push the big gears, causing the small molar wheels that bite with the big molars to rotate at high speed, thus driving the roller shaft to turn quickly. At this time, the rice beater puts the rice straw on the roller, and the barbs on the roller will knock the grains into the barn.”
Zhou Jia looked at Li Yu with starry eyes and secretly held her hand. “Yu’er, your master is too magical. I even suspect that your master is a god.”
Li Yu nodded guiltily. “Maybe! Otherwise, why would it suddenly appear every time?”
“Yes! It might be some otherworldly expert. This is also your good fortune. I’ll go with you later to find a craftsman to make the rice grinder. I also have to buy rice seeds.”
“There are still a lot of seeds to buy! Beans, green beans, chili, and various vegetable seeds,” Li Yu said as she counted on her fingers.
The two of them were discussing when Ji Xiang brought the three families out. They said to Zhou Jia, “Young Master, they’ve all eaten. Auntie Li and Uncle Liu went to buy cotton clothes.”
Zhou Jia looked at them and said in a low voice, “Come over and meet your boss.”
More than ten people hurriedly knelt on the ground and kowtowed to Li Yu. “Greetings, Boss.”
Li Yu looked at the person kneeling on the ground in discomfort. She hesitated for a moment and said, “Come one by one and tell me your names and what you’re good at.”
A loyal and honest man knelt in front with his wife and two children. He said to Li Yu, “Greetings, Master. I’m good at mixing dyes. I know how to dye cloth and plant dye grass.”
The delicate-looking woman glanced at Li Yu and hurriedly lowered her head. “Greetings, Master. I know how to weave and dye. I know some housework and needlework.”
The heavyset youth said, “I, He Tiezhu, can dye cloth and grow grass.”
The round-faced, big-eyed girl said in a clear voice, “Greetings, Master. I know how to weave and embroider.”
The next man was called She Fu, and the woman was called Liu Yuezhen, who knew how to spin and weave. The two of them had two sons, the older one was called She Chun, and the younger one was called She Dong. They both looked honest and dutiful.
There was also a man called Jin Jiu who knew how to raise fish and plant lotus roots. He was thin and honest. His wife was called Zou Xishui, and her voice was loud and clear. There was also a daughter called Jin Cuicui, and she was thin and small like his father.
Seeing that they were done, Li Yu looked at them and said, “We are just an ordinary farming family. There’s no problem as long as you know your place and eat well. No one will beat you up casually. However, there are two rules in my family. You have to remember that firstly, you have to keep your job and not gamble or fight. Secondly, you are not allowed to spread the news of the main family. If you violate the above two rules, you will be sold.”
In this world, one could eat their fill and not be beaten up. They could do as much work as they wanted. Everyone thought to themselves and knelt down with a thud to kowtow to Li Yu. “Boss, we’ll remember.”
“All of you, get up! Go down and wash up and change your clothes.”
Ji Xiang led them towards the bathroom. Li Mei said to Li Yu, “Yu’er, your uncle and I will bring those people back to the village. Buy the seeds here and come back.”
“Sounds good. I’ll be back when I’ve bought the seeds.”
After everyone agreed, Li Mei went to pack up and prepare to go home. Li Yu and Zhou Jia went out to the blacksmith shop.