The emperor would rather have a

Chapter 93 Hardworking Chen Yaer
New Year's Day holiday, seven days off.

Li Yi had a rare chance to have a good rest for a few days, and he slept until noon.

But after getting up, he felt a little guilty.

There is a famous saying in my previous life: If you don’t work hard at a young age, how can you sleep well?

Of course, occasional indulgence does not affect hard work, especially the hard battle last night. Although Li Yi cured Guo, he also consumed a lot of energy.

After washing up, Guo personally brought Li Yi's breakfast.

"I saw Erlang was sleeping so soundly this morning that I didn't ask anyone to wake you up. This is breakfast I left for you. It's warming on the kitchen stove. Eat it while it's hot."

"I got up late, so there's no need to save breakfast for me. It'll be noon soon anyway, so I can just eat both meals together."

As he spoke, Li Yi looked at Guo a few times.

The other person's face was rosy, and her eyes were full of spring. It was obvious that she had been well nourished last night.

It's strange to say, but women's physique seems to be different from men's. Men usually consume a lot of energy when doing that, and they will look a little tired after excessive use.

But it is different for women. The more satisfied they are, the more delicate they become, and they recover faster than men.

However, according to later generations, this is because women have relatively strong thresholds and higher tolerance, and the upper limit of the number of times they can float into the clouds is greater.

"By the way, Erlang, why don't you go check on Ya'er later."

Guo was sitting at the table watching Li Yi eat, when she suddenly remembered something and spoke up.

Li Yi was stunned: "Who is Ya'er?"

"Who are you talking about?" Guo rolled her eyes at him. "You brought him back from Luzhou and never took care of him. Now you've forgotten about him again."

"Oh, you are talking about Chen Yaer..." Li Yi then remembered who it was.

He couldn't help feeling a little ashamed. If Guo hadn't mentioned it, he would have really forgotten about Chen Xiaoniang.

Li Yi thought carefully and it seemed that the last time he saw Chen Xiaoniang was before he reorganized the imperial guards.

That morning at the door of the house, Chen Xiaoniang seemed to have something to say, but she hesitated for a long time and didn't say it.

Li Yi was in a hurry to attend the court meeting at that time, so he just said something perfunctory to the other party.

I didn't expect that this busyness would last for several months.

Thinking of this, Li Yi asked, "What happened to Chen Ya'er?"

"She's nothing special, but... never mind, Erlang, you should go and check it out yourself later."

After hearing what Guo said, Li Yi's curiosity was aroused.

I finished breakfast in no time.

Li Yi followed Guo to find Chen Xiaoniang.

Waited until we reached the side courtyard.

Li Yi discovered that three thatched huts had been built in the side yard at some point.

In the open space at the door of the hut, there was a stove with a lot of firewood stacked next to it.

Not only that, there were many empty jars of wine scattered on one side of the open space.

Li Yi looked at Guo Shi and asked in confusion, "When was this thatched cottage built?"

Guo explained, "Ya'er learned that distilled alcohol thing from you, and you told her to let her do whatever she wanted. But she took it seriously and lived and ate in the side yard all day long. The alcohol she made kept piling up, so I had this hut built to give her something to do."

As he was speaking, a thin figure walked out of one of the huts, holding a jar of wine in his arms with great effort.

Li Yi was immediately startled, not because the man looked scary, but because his appearance was really not flattering.

He had messy hair and a black face, and it was hard to tell what he looked like.

"Chen Ya'er?"

Li Yi shouted tentatively.

Hearing the shouts, Chen Xiaoniang finally noticed Li Yi and the other man.

She seemed stunned for a moment, standing there holding the wine jar, a little at a loss.

Li Yi waved at her.

Chen Xiaoniang finally reacted, quickly and carefully put down the jar of wine, and then trotted over.

When he got closer, Li Yi finally saw clearly that the dirt on Chen Xiaoniang's face was probably the black ash from the firewood.

Chen Xiaoniang lowered her head and called softly, "Ah, Alang."

Li Yi looked at the little girl for a few times and said with a smile, "Did you just escape from a black coal mine?" Chen Xiaoniang didn't understand the teasing and didn't know how to respond. She could only stammer and couldn't speak.

After a long while, he managed to utter: "I helped Ah Lang burn a lot of alcohol."

Li Yi didn't expect that Chen Xiaoniang had learned to call herself "slave", unlike when she first came and spoke with a strong Hedong accent.

Although the dialect is still noticeable in the accent, Mandarin is no longer spoken so haltingly.

As expected, children of primary school age learn everything quickly. To have reached this level in less than half a year, he is considered to be quite smart.

Li Yi shook his head and said, "You are so stubborn... Take me to see how badly you are burning."

Following Chen Xiaoniang into the thatched cottage, I saw wine jars piled up in half the room.

Chen Xiaoniang walked over to the dozens of sealed jars in the corner and whispered, "All the alcohol A-Lang wants is here."

Li Yi walked forward and opened the seal of a jar, then put his nose to the mouth of the jar and smelled it.

Suddenly, a strong and pungent smell of alcohol rushed into my head.

"Did you do this all by yourself?"

Li Yi turned to look at Chen Xiaoniang, and was a little surprised when he saw the little girl nodded.

I didn't expect that the little girl could learn everything and make so much alcohol by herself after just following me for a few days.

Although it seems not difficult, there are ready-made distillation tools, which were all made by someone hired by Li Yi.

However, the steps and precautions cannot be ignored. Without careful observation and understanding, it may not be possible to grasp the key points in a short time.

At this time, Chen Xiaoniang whispered: "The alcohol has been burning less and less these days. It will take a long time to burn it."

Li Yi pondered and said, "It's probably because the glue that seals the distillation equipment has been heated for a long time, causing tiny cracks to appear, affecting the sealing performance."

Having said that, he shook his head again. Even if he told Chen Xiaoniang about this kind of thing, she wouldn't understand.

Although she followed the steps and distilled the alcohol, she certainly had no idea about the specific principles.

as predicted.

Li Yi went out to check the distillation equipment on the stove and found that there was indeed a crack visible to the naked eye at the connection between the lower heater and the upper condensation area.

Moreover, the copper guide tube on the side was also slightly loose.

The distillation equipment used by Li Yi is actually very simple in structure. The lower part is a steaming jar with a large belly and a small mouth, and the upper part is a special-shaped steamer with an inward-retracted collecting trough. The middle is connected by a circular copper plate with openings on both sides, and then sealed with glue made from animal tendon glue.

The upper steamer has a small opening on the side, and a thin copper tube is connected to it to guide the cooled alcohol and collect it into the container.

It is a simplified version of the hand-kneading glass distiller used in modern laboratories.

Although the efficiency of this set of distillation equipment is relatively low, as long as it is distilled several times, it can still ensure a sufficient alcohol content. At most, it will consume more firewood.

"Well done." Li Yi praised.

Chen Xiaoniang seemed happy after hearing this, and the corners of her mouth curled up slightly, revealing a hint of a smile.

But combined with her dark face, it looks a little creepy.

Li Yi sighed when he saw this.

To be honest, he didn't take Chen Xiaoniang too seriously at the beginning, otherwise he wouldn't have forgotten about her so easily.

The reason he initially brought Chen Xiaoniang back to Tokyo was simply because of his promise to the old woman.

After that, he kept Chen Xiaoniang in his mansion with the intention of building a good reputation for himself.

In history, there was an anecdote about Zhao Kuangyin sending his daughter to the capital for a thousand miles. Li Yi felt that he might also have an anecdote of entrusting his young mother to raise an orphan for a hundred miles.

But now think about it carefully, Chen Xiaoniang is a little girl without parents, no one loves and cares about her, and she is helpless in this Tokyo city. She is indeed quite pitiful.

Li Yi didn't take her seriously, but she regarded Li Yi's every word and action as an imperial decree. She must have wanted to contribute some effort, fearing that she would be abandoned because she was useless.

Maybe Chen Xiaoniang doesn't feel safe inside.

Thinking of this, Li Yi slowed down his tone and said, "You don't have to be busy distilling alcohol for the time being. Take a good rest for a few days."

However, Chen Xiaoniang seemed to have misunderstood something and cried, "Did I do something to make Alang angry? I, I..."

When she got anxious, her thick hometown accent came out again.

"I'm not angry, it's just that there's too much alcohol and I can't use it for now. I'll let you continue when you need it later."

Li Yi comforted her with a few words, and Chen Xiaoniang finally felt relieved.

(End of this chapter)