Famine and exile: I brought the Spirit Spring to save the entire Marquis's mansion.

Liu Dong stared in shock.

He looks just like his father, which is a bit scary.

"Keep your voice down. I only gave you these because I know you and your father are honest. Don't tell anyone."

"Besides, what we're giving you isn't cornmeal, it's corn. You'll have to grind it yourself when you get back," Sang Ning explained.

He knew that all he wanted was corn!

Three liters of corn, after being ground, will yield more than two liters! Two liters, mixed with some other ingredients, can last a family for a month!

"This, this..." I can't possibly accept this.

However, he didn't intend to charge for making a wheeled chair!

"Madam Sang, shouldn't you discuss this with your family? There's too much, too much..."

For him, it felt like a dream.

I dare not accept it.

"No need. I'm in charge here. If there are no problems, you can go back and finish the job as soon as possible."

Sang Ning then said seriously, "Don't tell anyone. We're new here and don't want to cause trouble. If we need anything in the future, we'll come to you again."

"Understood, understood, don't worry, Madam Sang!" Liu Dong's dark face flushed red as he excitedly assured her.

It felt like an invisible mountain had been lifted off my body, and I instantly felt refreshed and relaxed.

He carefully tucked the blueprints into his pocket, then eagerly carried the porridge home to tell his family the good news.

Halfway there, I was stopped by someone.

"Hey, Liu the carpenter, you don't know, do you? That house used to be occupied by Old Man Song's family, but they all hanged themselves! They moved in less than three days later, it's like they're cursed! And you still dare to associate with them!"

Liu Dong didn't know at first, but he overheard Master Wu muttering about it.

I was quite scared at first, but after seeing that family, I wasn't afraid anymore.

That family looks blessed; they're much more elegant than these starving, emaciated people.

What's with all this talk about being haunted? They're living like ghosts these days, practically on the verge of death. What's there to be afraid of?

Whoever feeds him is a bodhisattva!

"I've already taken all the jobs, there's no other way."

Liu Dong chuckled sheepishly, covered the bowl with his sleeve, and hurried over.

The man was left muttering to himself.

The Huo family courtyard.

Master Wu had actually been keeping an eye on Sang Ning and Liu Dong.

Later, I saw Liu Dong leave, his face beaming with undisguised joy.

Then I had a better idea of ​​what to expect.

Actually, he didn't want to come here. If it weren't for Old Cao, who sells bedding, talking to him, he wouldn't have taken this job at all.

The thought of building a kang (heated brick bed) in a house where someone has just died is chilling.

Even the seventh day after death hasn't passed yet, and his soul hasn't left!

I just talked to Liu Dong for a long time, and all we wanted was for the two of us to work together to raise the price a bit more.

That kid is simple-minded; he just can't understand.

Unexpectedly, she was someone who knew how to hide her thoughts.

Judging from his expression as he left, the price offered by the host family must have been reasonable.

"Madam Sang, are you really going to build two kang beds?"

"Yes, make them all kang (heated brick beds), make them spacious, make them all kang for four people."

"Such a large kang (heated brick bed) requires a lot of loess and straw to make the clay and adobe bricks, which takes a lot of work, not to mention the kang base..."

"Master Wu, just tell me if you can do it and how much it will cost. I don't understand any of that.

Sang Ning interrupted him calmly.

Actually, she understood it to some extent; at least she understood the principles.

This craftsman talks too much. All that professional knowledge he spouts is just a way of saying that setting up a kang (heated brick bed) is time-consuming and laborious, and he just wants to raise the price.

Long-winded!

“This…” Master Wu quickly calculated.

"For Lao Cao's sake, how about one hundred and fifty taels?"

Thank you so much!

Old Cao has lost all face and dignity!

"What if we trade it for grain? How much would that require?" Sang Ning asked calmly.

"The grain is better; we only need three bushels of rice."

Three dou of rice is more than 30 jin!

"If you don't have that much, half the money and half the rice is fine too."

Damn, that's ruthless!

This is not giving them a way to survive. They want to take advantage of the fact that they have something when they first arrive and squeeze it all out of them!

"Well, forget it then. We've almost used up our travel expenses on the road, and we're out of food. Let's not build this kang for now."

Master Wu: "..."

“Madam Sang, your family has just arrived in Liangzhou, so you may not know much about this place. In the past two years, even a quilt costs twenty taels of silver, and food prices are seriously inflated…”

Among the kang (heated brick bed) installers here, I'm the most skilled. The price will be even higher after autumn. If you don't install it… to be honest, this place isn't like Beijing; many people freeze to death here every year, and you're all frail women…”

Barabara...

Sang Ning politely asked the person to leave.

He even accidentally knocked over the bowl of porridge he hadn't drunk yet.

Drink my ass!

Everyone has their own struggles, and if he weren't so greedy, she would have turned a blind eye!

When Master Wu left, his face was a riot of colors; it was quite a sight.

As soon as I stepped outside, I ran into Liu Dong, who had come to return the bowl.

"Little Carpenter Liu, how much did her family pay you for your work?" Master Wu asked directly.

"Well, not much. I just had a bowl of corn kernels."

A bowl of corn kernels made him that happy?

What a fool!

"Let me tell you, this family isn't very honest. Be careful they don't try to renege on your payment after you've finished the work!"

Master Wu spoke very bluntly, leaving Liu Dong confused.

When he went in to return the bowl, Sang Ning asked him again who else knew how to build a kang (a heated brick bed).

“Both my dad and I know how to do it! Oh, but the way we do it in Lu is different from the way we do it here. We need to connect a stove there, which is a bit more troublesome. It’s simpler here in Liangzhou.”

Isn't this a coincidence?

Sang Ning then asked, "Can you cook something simple, without even connecting it to the stove?"

They left a hole in the outside of the wall here so that it would be convenient to add firewood and the fire would heat up quickly.

Every room has a kang (heated brick bed), and there's no way to connect it to a stove.

"I've handled stoves before, but I've never seen the structure underneath this kind. I'm afraid you might damage it."

Setting up a heated kang (a traditional heated brick bed) is a skill; if it's not done properly, the smoke won't pass through, or it will fall backward, and it won't get warm for a long time.

The clay he used was different from that used in Lu, and he was afraid he wouldn't be able to do it well.

"Hey, that's easy. Just take apart the kang (heated brick bed) in my mother's room and see the structure inside. The principle should be the same for all of them!"

Sang Ning waved his hand and said, "That's settled then."

Anyway, the kang (heated brick bed) in that room is no good either. Not only is it disgusting that someone else has slept in it, but it's also been there for who knows how many years. The adobe bricks at the corners are cracked, and it would probably smoke as soon as it's burned.

"Here are three kang trays, and I'll give you two bushels of corn!"

Two, fight? Fight?

Liu Dong was stunned.

"Fourth Sister-in-law! We're doomed! We're doomed!"

Huo Jingya rushed in, carrying a pottery jar, making a ruckus.

"Fourth Sister-in-law, the Moon Spring is producing even less water today; each family only gets half a jar! Moreover, the prefect said that since our family is all women, we also need to serve in the military. Tomorrow, two of us will go with everyone to find a water source!"

"Okay, let's go tomorrow."

Sang Ning thought for a moment, "Wait a minute, how can we mix mud without water?"

So he asked Liu Dong again.

Liu Dongjia also needs to serve in the military. He is thinking of having his wife fill in for him while he works to earn food.

When Sang Ning asked, he explained, "There is water for mixing mud. There is also a yellow earth river outside the city that hasn't dried up. It's very muddy, so you can't drink it, but you can still use it."