Lock and secure

After dinner, Luo Yao was ready to go out, this time taking Qing'er with him, leaving A Shi alone to guard the yard.

Maybe it was because he was tricked by Luo Yao last time, but after that, Wang Guangcheng didn't follow Luo Yao when he went out. Apart from the luxurious carriage prepared to show his deep love for the princess, with a few servants following and guards guarding him, there was nothing else.

To put it simply, guardianship means surveillance. Two guards were replaced to monitor Luo Yao.

"Young Master, is there something wrong that makes you want to go out suddenly?" After several people got on the carriage, Qing'er couldn't help but ask Luo Yao.

"You're going to the laundry room tomorrow. Of course, it's to help you survive better in the laundry shop."

Qing'er still didn't understand why going out for a while before going to the laundry room could help him gain a foothold in the laundry room.

Luo Yao didn't intend to explain to him.

He called out to the two guards who followed him: "Do any of you know where to find a carpenter in the capital?"

The two guards were carefully selected by Wang Guangcheng. Their parents also died in a tragedy ten years ago. Under pressure from public opinion, they could only be respectful to Luo Yao: "The carpenters and blacksmiths are all in Tiemu Street."

"Then let's go straight to Tiemu Street!"

Luo Yao gave orders to the guards, who had no choice but to drive to Tiemu Street.

Because Tiemu Street dealt in iron and wood, it looked very poor, with a grayish gloom everywhere and few people. Apart from a few people who needed to make farm tools, there was no one on Tiemu Street.

The iron and woodworking trades require time, and many items can't be delivered immediately. Therefore, many ironwork and carpentry shops simply accept orders and then fulfill them. They simply open a shop to work on-site, attracting customers. If a customer comes and is impressed by their skills, they'll likely secure a job or two.

Listening to the ping-pong sounds of iron hammering, Luo Yao pulled his brother into Tiemu Street. This street was quite interesting, with a wood shop on one side and a blacksmith shop on the other, and the middle was very wide.

In Luoyang, I went straight to the carpentry shops. These carpentry shops are very interesting. Some make furniture, some make ordinary toys, some do wood carving, and some shops only do custom work, requiring customers to provide drawings or plans.

Luoyang saw a white-haired old man from a distance, carving something?

When I walked over to take a look, it turned out to be a ghost ball!

"Grandpa, you are not made of wood!"

The ghost ball is carved from ivory!

The old man grinned when Luo Yao called him grandpa. "Young Master, this is ivory. I was just carving it for fun because I was bored. Are you planning to make something?"

Luo Yao saw that the old man was very old and felt that he was in his eighties or nineties. It was rare to live to that age these days. Luo Yao saw that he had white hair and was not in good health. She felt that he was not the owner of this store. "Grandpa, where is the owner of this store?"

"Oh, that's me, Grandpa."

Luo Yao didn't quite believe it, and seeing the old man was about to get up, he quickly helped him up.

"Don't look at my age, Grandpa. I'm in good health! If you want to make something, just tell me!"

Luo Yao saw that he was too old and didn't want to ask him to do it. After all, the old man looked like he was going to die soon... But after the old man asked this, Luo Yao had no choice but to stay.

"Old man, what I want to make is called a foot-operated washing machine."

A foot-operated washing machine? Never heard of it. A foot-operated machine that washes clothes? It sounded interesting. The old man became interested. "Young Master, do you have the blueprints?"

Luo Yao arrived in such a hurry that he had no time to draw, so he had to shyly borrow some brushes and ink from the old man to draw on the spot. He drew the blueprint of the washing machine according to his imagined functions while explaining it, and the old man, Qing'er, and even the two guards gathered around to listen.

The old man watched and listened to Luo Yao's explanation, nodding his head continuously. Even the two guards who were monitoring him understood the principle of the foot-operated washing machine.

Luo Yao actually had no research on machinery, but it seemed that ordinary machinery had something called a motor.

A simple human-powered motor can realize the function of a foot-operated washing machine.

After finishing the drawing for the washing machine, Luo Yao thought about the difficulty the old man had in getting up from the small stool, and quickly drew the drawing for a recliner. He felt that the old man should lie comfortably on a recliner and enjoy his old age. In his previous life, Luo Yao had bought several recliners for his grandfather!

"Old man, you can make one of these, too. It's very comfortable to lie on."

Luo Yao handed the two drawings to the old man. The old man took them and took a closer look at the structure of the recliner. The most critical part of the recliner is actually the parts that can be retracted and folded.

After some study, the old man suddenly realized that those places were made of bamboo strips, but although bamboo strips are tough, they may not be able to bear the weight. If they are made of wood, then they need particularly smooth wood, otherwise it will make it impossible to stretch, expand and fold.

If these two things are made, they will be a huge hit! The old man was very excited, "Young Master, have you ever thought about making these two things on a large scale? Such convenient things will definitely attract a lot of people!"

Luo Yao was a bit confused. He just wanted to buy Qing'er a washing machine instead of hand washing. As for the recliner, he only drew it because he saw the old man was uncomfortable sitting on the small stool. He didn't even think about selling it!

But the old man's words reminded him.

The two guards behind Luo Yao suddenly realized that they had actually seen the blueprints that the princess wanted to use to make money! And the princess even explained the principle to them!

There are no good people in the Duke's Mansion. The princess won't kill them to silence them! When the two guards thought of this, they subconsciously grabbed the knife at their waist. They killed their parents, and they still wanted to kill them. So why did they care about the rumors in the capital? They just killed Luo Yao to avenge their hatred!

"Although these two items can indeed make some money, you are old, so don't bother with them." Luo Yao couldn't bear to say that because the old man was too old.

The old man's eyes instantly filled with tears. "Young Master, to be honest, I really have no other options. My only son is now seriously ill in bed. No matter how much money we have spent on medicine, we still can't get him treated. I heard there's a miracle doctor in the capital, so I came here. But the doctor at Baoci Hall said that a cure would cost at least eight hundred taels of silver! I only know how to be a carpenter, so where would I get eight hundred taels of silver? But I only have this one son..."

The old man's face was still covered with tears after he finished speaking.

Luo Yao quickly comforted him: "Old man, don't worry. I put the washing machine and the recliner under my feet because you are old and have difficulty walking. If you want to do it, then do it. It's just that your son..."

One of the guards felt sorry for the old man and complained: "Old man, Baoci Hall is so cruel. Why don't you go to Qingxin Hall? The one in charge of Qingxin Hall is a friend of our Prince Yong'an!"

"Qingxin Hall... Prince, are you from the Yong'an Palace? I heard..." The old man wanted to say that the Yong'an Prince married a male concubine, but at this moment, he didn't have any prejudice. "Are you the princess?"

Luo Yao's heart tightened. He didn't want to be treated as an alien... as an alien who could only crawl under a man to receive pleasure. Ancient people had feudal thoughts, especially the elderly.

His limbs stiffened for a moment, and Luo Yao nodded mechanically.

The old man saw him nod and was about to kneel down tremblingly, "Your humble servant...Your humble servant pays homage to the princess..."

Luo Yao came to his senses the moment he knelt down and quickly pulled him back.

"Old man, please get up quickly."

After the old man knew Luo Yao's identity, he no longer dared to mention the expansion of the production of foot-operated washing machines and recliners.

However, Luo Yao took the initiative to ask, "Old man, if you want to do it, then do it. But I wonder how long it will take for me to get this foot-operated washing machine?"

The old man was very excited when he heard Luo Yao agreed. "I can finish this foot-operated washing machine today and personally deliver it to your palace at noon tomorrow!"

Luo Yao looked at his old arms and legs and couldn't bear to postpone it for a day. "Send it to the palace at noon the day after tomorrow. This is all the money."

Luo Yao directly gave the old man a bag of silver, estimated to be more than one hundred taels. The old man refused, saying: "Princess, please don't do this. No money, no money! You have already helped me a lot, so I won't charge you! Besides, your foot-operated washing machine is just a little trick, it won't cost that much, at most fifty coins!"

Luo Yao gave the money and left, "Since you don't want money, then this money will be considered as an investment by this princess. Don't you have a son who needs medical treatment? Once he is cured, he can help you with your work!" Luo Yao took a few steps and turned back and smiled.

The old man's eyes were filled with tears as he shouted at Luo Yao's back: "Then the princess doesn't know how to divide the money... How about 80%?"

Luo Yao had no intention of doing the timber business at all. The one hundred taels was just out of humanitarian concern for the elderly and widowed people. Although he himself was a poor man and no one cared about him, Luo Yao was still very happy to have done a good deed.

Unexpectedly, the old man wanted to give him 20% of the profits!

Luo Yao thought again: This old man is so cunning, he only gave him 20% of the profit. But even if he does nothing, 20% of the profit is still an income! Luo Yao immediately turned around and replied to the old man with a naughty gesture:

OK, you take eight and I take two.

The old man watched Luo Yao go away, and imitated Luo Yao's gesture and made an OK sign.

What does princess mean?

The old man scratched his head and touched his white hair. The princess was so kind that she actually gave him double the profit!

The old man thought about the few acres of thin land he had rented. The rent was also 37%. But because she was the princess, he didn't dare to say 37, so he said 28.

Who knew the princess would actually give him two! You have to know that the three percent they received from the 70%-30 split was still withheld by the landlord, and all the taxes from Dacheng were also collected from that three percent. They could barely get two percent back. Every year they lived a tight life, even after the spring, they had nothing to eat after planting the seeds in the fields!