It's hard for my elder sister. I rely on the mountains to farm and pay off my debts.

In the early morning, an ancient horse-drawn carriage slowly drove into Xiaohezi Village. The wheels lightly rolled over the stone road, making a steady sound.

The villagers were also going to the Song family to help build the house. When they noticed the old man Zhou sitting on the shaft of the cart, they did not pay much attention to it at first, just thinking that he had hired a carriage to travel today.

However, when the carriage slowly stopped in front of Song Youshan's house, the villagers who came to the Song family to do work saw a dignified young man walking out of the carriage. Some sharp-eyed villagers recognized that he was not someone else, but their county magistrate Zhou Yu!

Suddenly, a low cry of surprise erupted from the crowd.

The villagers looked at each other, with a mixture of surprise and awe in their hearts. They stopped involuntarily when they were about to go forward and say a few words to Old Man Zhou.

They were excited about the county magistrate's personal visit, but also afraid that their actions would offend the official's authority. For a moment, everyone just stood there blankly, their eyes full of curiosity and restraint.

At this time, Song Youshan, who was busy in the yard, caught a glimpse of the county magistrate standing in front of his house.

At first he thought he was dizzy and saw it wrong, then he rubbed his eyes.

He saw that the young man standing by the door was indeed the county magistrate whom he had met in court that day!

Song Youshan was startled, and then he quickly stepped forward, his tone filled with a bit of nervousness and fear: "Sir, why are you here? Do you have any instructions?"

Seeing this, Mrs. Wu rushed into her granddaughter's room and eagerly pulled her hand out, "Azhi, stop knitting the hat! The county magistrate is here!"

After saying that, he dragged his people forward to meet them.

In her mind, after all, her granddaughter had dealt with the county magistrate, so she must be better than her honest and mute son.

Zhou Yu saw that the family was obviously panicked because of his arrival.

He smiled and waved his hand, signaling everyone not to panic. "Don't panic, everyone. We came here because we heard your family has a new kang that can be used for heating. We came to see what this kang is and how it can provide warmth."

Seeing this, Song Zhi immediately told her grandmother to go to the new house to heat the kang first, while she personally led people to the next door.

"Sir, please come with me!"

Song Zhi led Zhou Yu from the kitchen to the room with the kang, and introduced:

"The kang in this room is connected to the stove outside. When cooking, the heat can be continuously transferred to the kang through the kang hole."

After that, she led Zhou Yu to another room, "We have set up the burner here under the kang, and built a small stove next to it to put a stove to heat water, which is very convenient."

Zhou Yu looked at the structure of the kang curiously, but because its main body was closed, he couldn't see the inside at all.

They would ask some confusing questions, such as: "If I burn a fire in the house, won't there be a smell of smoke?"

"Or if you light a fire under the bed, won't you roast it?"

At this time, Song Zhi handed the task of explaining its structure and principles to Mr. Zhou.

After some explanation, the kang over there was also heated up. Zhou Yu felt it with his hand and found it warm, which was very magical.

At this moment, Song Zhi boldly proposed: "Sir, our Qishui County is bitterly cold in winter, and this kang is cheap. Why don't you promote it throughout the county?"

"I have an idea here, but I don't know whether I should say it or not."

What Song Zhi said coincided with what Zhou Yu was thinking. He said happily, "I heard that you were the first to come up with the idea of the fire kang. Miss Song, feel free to share your thoughts."

Song Zhi first said modestly, "The greatest credit for the construction of this fire kang goes to Uncle Zhou. If he hadn't put his ideas into practice, this fire kang wouldn't have been completed so quickly."

Then, he changed the subject and talked about his own thoughts, "It's like this, this kang is a new thing after all, and I'm afraid most people would have doubts about lighting a fire under the bed to keep warm!"

"Besides, it's not winter yet, and people's need for heating isn't that urgent, so even fewer people are willing to learn about kangs!"

"Even someone as knowledgeable as you would come here to see it for yourself after hearing about the kang, let alone ordinary people who know nothing about it!"

When Zhou Yu heard her praising him like this, he felt like laughing for some reason. Among all the people, Zhou Yu did not see any flattery in this girl's eyes.

For some unknown reason, Zhou Yu still cooperated and said, "Then do you have any good ideas?"

Song Zhi said, "I think it's better to strike while the iron is hot. Since it's not the summer harvest yet and everyone has some free time, why don't we use our village as a pilot and let those families who are willing to build a kang build one first?"

"By the time the kang is built, it will be the summer harvest time. After the summer harvest, people will have some extra money at home. At least they won't have to worry about the money and grain to buy a kang."

"When the time comes, Lord Zhou will summon the village heads, village chiefs, and clan leaders from all the villages to come to our village so that they can see for themselves the benefits of this kang."

"Once they've seen the benefits of this fire kang, there's no need for you to promote it. They'll definitely beg for it. Isn't that more efficient?"

Zhou Yu glanced at Song Zhi and realized that this girl had this idea.

Although he is fighting for the interests of the villagers in his own village, it has to be said that this proposal is the most appropriate approach at the moment.

Zhou Yu hesitated for a moment, then said, "Where is your village chief? Ask him to come over. I have something to tell you!"

Upon hearing this, Song Youshan immediately went out to look for someone. As soon as he left the house, he saw the head of the Song clan in the yard.

It turned out that when the villagers saw the county magistrate coming to the Song family, they did not dare to delay and quickly notified the head of the Song clan to come over.

When the Song clan leader heard that the county magistrate was looking at the kang in the house, he did not dare to disturb him and waited quietly in the yard.

Song Youshan rushed forward and grabbed the Song clan leader's hand: "Uncle, it's great that you are here. Come in quickly. The county magistrate invites you in for a chat."

Clan leader Song was startled when he heard this, and hurriedly followed, tugging at Song Youshan's arm. "Dashan, what happened?"

Song Youshan briefly told the Song clan leader what had just happened.

Patriarch Song was shocked. He didn't expect that Azhi girl could bring such a good thing to the village.

At that moment, the Song clan leader's legs stopped shaking and he hurried into the house.

When they really saw the county magistrate in the house, the Song clan leader's legs went weak and he was about to kneel down, but Zhou Yu raised his hand to stop him.

"This county has something to instruct you on. First, count the households in your village that are willing to build a kang."

"Gather some more people in your village. Once Craftsman Zhou finishes building the kang here, I'll have him take them to build the kang in your village first."

"After the summer harvest is over, I will have the village heads and village chiefs come to your village to visit the kangs. By then, many people will probably ask your people to build their kangs."

"I hope you can learn from Master Zhou seriously. Whether you can earn money and food in the future depends on your own ability!"

After hearing this, the smile on the Song clan leader's face did not fade. He repeatedly assured, "Thank you very much, sir. Thank you very much, sir. I will definitely urge the villagers to study hard and live up to your kindness!"

Zhou Yu raised his hand to stop him, "You don't have to thank me. If you want to thank someone, thank Miss Song for the opportunity she secured for you."

"But having said that, I'll have Craftsman Zhou teach several more villages how to build kangs later. I've given you the opportunity first. How many opportunities you can seize depends entirely on your ability!"

Clan leader Song did not dare to hesitate for a moment and nodded repeatedly in agreement.