ATPnovel Chapter 50: Another visitor?
Chapter 50: Another visitor?
"Knowing a little is enough. Go back and organize the people in the enclosure into a register by household, record everyone's attendance every day, and help Fengyi with the distribution of supplies and salaries. If you really don't understand something, just ask your sister-in-law for help."
Although Lu Xingzhou wanted to find something for Lin Fengyi to do, he couldn't let her be busy indefinitely, so arranging a small assistant would make things much easier.
"Okay, employer!"
Xian'er was overjoyed; this was also a job of managing things.
After the two left, Lu Xingzhou filled his bucket with fish and carried it into the enclosure.
He assigned tasks to Xian'er, partly to relieve Lin Fengyi's pressure and partly to prevent her from being idle.
All of humanity's troubles stem from having nothing better to do than to be well-fed and idle.
Some people, when they have free time, look up at the stars and dream of building airplanes, rockets, and spaceships. Others, with nothing better to do, just keep talking and become annoying troublemakers.
Back at the enclosure, they found that Lin Fengyi hadn't gotten up yet, but Na Wen had already started reciting the Thousand Character Classic with the children.
Lu Xingzhou reflected on himself for a moment, realizing he had been quite reckless last night. He then returned to the east side room to write and draw, waiting for his wife to wake up.
Time quickly came to noon.
When the farmhands returned from work, they heard that a school had been built in the village, and that the landlord had even given up his own main room for the children to study.
They all gathered at the doorway, craning their necks to look into the main room.
The school was set up in a hurry, and there were no teaching aids at all.
The writer, who was forced into the task, wouldn't tell his employer that he couldn't do it, or that there were no teaching aids or methods available.
Gather the children together and have them sit in a row, then teach them to repeat after you, sentence by sentence:
"Heaven and Earth, Dark and Yellow"
"Heaven and Earth, Dark and Yellow" × N
"The Primordial Universe"
"The Primordial Universe" × N
"The cold comes and the heat goes, autumn harvests and winter stores."
"The cold comes and the heat goes, autumn harvests and winter stores." ×N
The melodious sound of reading aloud brought tears to the eyes of many farmhands who had rushed back to watch.
Chen Damangzi looked at his third son in the front row, sitting next to Ni Yang, the master's attendant, looking serious and chubby, and felt a pang of sadness.
Finally, the Chen family isn't entirely made up of illiterate people like him who can't even write their own names; they're about to produce a cultured person!
The more he thought about it, the more excited he became, and he was about to rush in to find Lu Xingzhou when Shuanzi's father pulled him back.
What do you want to do?
"I...I want to go and thank my employer!"
Reading has never been associated with farmers.
Lu Xingzhou's actions earned the farmers more heartfelt respect than simply giving them an extra ten yuan a year.
Shuanzi's father had the same idea, and the two of them tried to break in together, but were stopped by the Three Rivers at the entrance of the main hall.
"What the hell are you doing barging in like that? No rules at all! The landlord said the children need to concentrate on their studies and shouldn't be disturbed!"
The two looked at each other.
Honest man Chen Damangzi knelt down directly facing the east side room, kowtowed three times, and then got up and went back to the courtyard to eat.
Following suit, several farmhands also kowtowed outside the east side room before going out to work.
The three rivers were dumbfounded.
"What are you all doing? The young master can't see!"
The petty thugs didn't understand the thoughts of the farmhands.
Zhu Kaishan, who was leaning against the wall smoking his pipe, understood and called over his eldest son with a sigh: "Be nicer to your wife in the future. Discuss with her more about everything, big or small, at home."
Na Wen was unaware that her father-in-law, Zhu Kaishan, had already found out about her background as a princess of the royal family and knew that her family had a profound scholarly tradition.
The old farmer respected him as a skilled farmer, but he respected culture even more.
If the daughter-in-law can continue teaching these children, her future status in the village will definitely be no less than that of the head of the village.
The carefree Zhu Chuanwen, who was shoveling rice into his mouth, laughed foolishly upon hearing this.
"Don't worry, Dad. Mom told me that Wen'er's salary is twice mine now, she earns more than me. I'll definitely listen to her!"
Zhu Kaishan: "..."
How could I, a man of such wisdom and wisdom, have given birth to such a stupid creature?!
No, there are two!
Chuanjie, the third son who stayed in Yuanbao Town and learned his craft from Manager Xia, was just as clever as him.
Too lazy to talk to his stupid son, Old Zhu took out the tobacco from his pipe bowl, tucked it into his waistband, and stormed off to work in the fields.
The focus of our recent work in the fields is on wheat.
More than a month after sowing, the wheat has reached the tillering stage, which is the key stage in the growth of cereal crops where branches sprout and divide from the leaf axils at the base of the stem.
Don't worry too much about this awkward way of saying it.
In layman's terms, it means that the main stem begins to sprout new buds, which affects how many ears of wheat a wheat plant can produce.
If the ears of grain are plentiful and of high quality, the autumn harvest will be abundant; conversely, if they are poorly grown, the yield will be reduced.
During this stage, rice is susceptible to diseases and pests such as rust, sheath blight, rice blast, and aphids.
If not paid attention to or detected in time, wheat production is very likely to decrease or even be lost entirely.
Lu Xingzhou, who was writing and drawing in the room, was not too worried about this.
Although he only improved the survival rate of the wheat seedlings, he did not tamper with anything else.
But if a real problem arises, the Tiandi Yuanqi can completely handle a mere 200 mu of wheat, and it's even more effective than chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
He's currently busy designing a groundbreaking hydroelectric project, but progress is far from ideal.
Neither the East nor West Liao Rivers are small rivers, but even 100 years later, no large hydroelectric power stations have been built there, simply because they are too gentle.
"That's how water turbines are designed, right? But how do you get the parallel water flow into the turbine to generate enough kinetic energy?"
"No, this isn't right either!"
How exactly do you design a flow rate controller?!
The more he thought about it, the more confused he became. Lu Xingzhou rubbed his hair in frustration, wondering why he was such a useless liberal arts student.
"Although I did well in physics back then, this kind of complicated stuff is just too much for high school knowledge to handle!"
I am feeling very upset and confused.
Lin Fengyi, who had finally woken up, put on her coat and walked to his side. She placed his head between his breasts and gently massaged his temples with her slender fingers.
"Sir, what are you thinking about that's causing you so much trouble?"
Lu Xingzhou's irritability vanished instantly. He stretched and found a comfortable position to lean back.
"A fantastic toy that would greatly improve our family's quality of life, but unfortunately, I realize how little knowledge I have when I need it! I just can't understand it!"
Lin Fengyi couldn't understand what the drawings on the papers on Lu Xingzhou's desk meant; she just hoped that her master would take care of his health.
"I'm hungry. Let's eat something and rest for a bit, then you can continue thinking, okay?"
If he didn't know, he simply didn't know, so Lu Xingzhou threw the blueprints aside.
"Let's not think about it anymore, let's go get some porridge."
"Mmm~~"
The two came out of the east side room. It was already afternoon. After lunch, Na Wen and the children started class again.
Looking at Na Wen, who seemed to be glowing.
Lin Fengyi was both pleased for her best friend and secretly resolved to manage her household well so as not to be outdone!
During the meal, Lu Xingzhou carefully fed her a bowl of porridge, which made Lin Fengyi feel flattered.
"Sir, I can do it myself."
Looking at her strange face, flushed yet pale, Lu Xingzhou felt quite guilty.
He might have been provoked by gossip, or he might have simply gotten carried away; in any case, he exhausted the other person last night.
"Sweetie, I'll feed you. If you can't take it anymore, just say so. Don't try to be a hero!"
Lin Fengyi lowered her head and whispered timidly:
"My lord, it's because Fengyi is useless. Fengyi didn't serve you well."
Lu Xingzhou picked up a piece of pickled radish, added a spoonful of porridge, and fed it to her:
"It's not your fault, just eat."
Lu Xingzhou was well aware of how abnormal his body was.
After he finishes these busy days, no matter how things go on with Ma San'er, he plans to go to Faku to see the Gong family.
He feared that if things continued like this, Lin Fengyi would die young due to excessive physical exertion.
In fact, he could continue to take concubines.
But he has standards for aesthetics; if he could accept any woman, he'd be like a teddy bear.
Besides, we still have to save face for Miss Bai.
They've only been separated for two months. If he takes one concubine, Miss Bai can tolerate it to some extent. But if he takes three or five, given Bai Xiuzhu's personality, she'll definitely turn against him.
Lu Xingzhou felt that although he was silly and sometimes reckless, dancing across other people's bottom lines.
But they are quite tactful in their actions; they won't push someone to the point of explosion before they back down.
Despite her frail health, Lin Fengyi ate plain porridge with a heart overflowing with happiness.
For women of this era, being fed by a man is extremely rare.
While eating, Sanjiangshui relayed, "Master, everyone was kowtowing to you through the window!"
Although he didn't understand the deeper meaning behind it, he knew it was everyone expressing their gratitude and wouldn't keep it to themselves.
Upon hearing this, Lin Fengyi looked at Lu Xingzhou with even more admiration in her eyes.
Aside from being moved by the simple and grateful nature of the Chinese people, Lu Xingzhou wasn't particularly pleased with himself and simply said, "I understand."
Then he asked the three rivers again:
"Are you sure you don't want to learn along?"
Sanjiang shook his head violently, his attitude so resolute he seemed to want to shake his brains out.
"I won't learn! I'm not a child anymore! Sitting inside, towering over everyone else, I'd feel ashamed!"
Lu Xingzhou indicated that he understood and did not press him further.
The couple hadn't finished their porridge when Shuanzi came to call from outside: "Master, someone's here. They say they've brought you a gift. Should we see them?"
Sanjiangshui wondered, "What's so special about these past few days? Why are they all coming to visit us in this desolate wilderness in droves?!"