The fake daughter married into the mountains and had meat to eat every day during the famine

Song Jinbao, his son 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 are you back?"

Song Jinbao put the bucket and 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 would be better to rest. It was safer to rest than to run around.

Noticing the expressions of the father and son, Zhao Qiao'e frowned and looked outside the kitchen.

"Why do you suddenly ask Tang'er?"

Song Jinyuan didn't want his mother to worry too much, so he said first, "It's nothing. I'm just worried that Huang Heyu's commotion in the village this morning will make my sister feel bad."

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 led Song Yuntang out.

The two came to Song Mazi's house and Song Jinsheng knocked on the door.

"Brother Mazi, are you there?"

"Who?"

A woman's voice came from inside the door.

The woman opened the door from the inside. It was Ma Zi's mother, Cui, who had depended on him for many years. Cui lost her husband at an early age and raised Ma Zi alone with great difficulty. Now, at the age of just over forty, her hair had already 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 some custom carpentry."

Song Mazi, who was busy in the kitchen, seemed to have heard the noise.

"Mom, are you looking for me?"

Cui replied, "Jinsheng's sister is here to ask you to do some carpentry work. 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 blemishes all over his face and had carpentry skills, 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's a tool for irrigating farmland during 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's about ten feet tall. Next to it are twenty-four wooden spokes that extend outward in all directions. Each spoke has a water bucket and 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 reaches 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 quite 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. I 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 scorching sun just to relieve the burden on her father and their two brothers, but she said nothing and was misunderstood by them. It was really wrong.

Song Mazi looked at the blueprint and pointed to one of the places.

"What is this place used for?"

"When there's no water flowing, we can use manpower to turn the waterwheel. People will then stand here." Song Yuntang added, "This waterwheel is quite heavy. We might need to prepare all the parts and move them to a well or river for assembly. For safety reasons, the person in charge of assembly had better be able to swim."

Song Mazi waved his hand. "This is all trivial. More than 80% of the men in Rongshu Village know how to use water. It's just that the construction of this waterwheel is a bit large. If Jinsheng can come and help me, it can shorten the construction period."

Song Jinsheng nodded, "That's no problem."

He was still vaguely looking forward to it. What would the villagers' expressions be like if they saw that the waterwheel designed by his sister could save people so much trouble? Would they 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, "In order for the waterwheel to last longer, it must be coated with tung oil several times to prevent corrosion. 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. She didn't ask for any wages, and she just had 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 at 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 fresh fragrance emanating from the kitchen, Song Yuntang's stomach growled.

Zhao Qiao'e happened to be walking from the kitchen to the main room, carrying a large bowl of porridge. "Are you hungry, Tang'er? Go to the kitchen and get a bowl for the porridge."

"it is 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 others only drank half a bowl of slightly salty soup and the egg drops, which were so scarce that they could be ignored.

However, being able to drink a mouthful of salty soup is better than eating nothing.

After drinking half a bowl of egg drop soup, Song Yuntang drank a bowl of porridge. The soup went into his stomach, relieving his initial hunger, but he still felt hungry.

But this is how I’ve been getting through the past two days. Just bear with it and you’ll be able to have breakfast tomorrow morning.

……