But now that a昏君 is in power and the imperial court is in chaos, combined with the oppression from the Water Dragon Society, most of the people in the village are quite poor and rarely have any extra food to give him.
Gradually, Xi Ya found it difficult to make a living in the village, so he went out to wander.
According to Xi Ping, Xi Ya had been wandering outside for five years and had only recently returned because the world had become increasingly chaotic; unfortunately, after returning, he could only manage to survive by helping others with farm work and similar tasks.
What Xi Ping meant by surviving was nothing more than being able to eat a little something each day, barely maintaining his vital signs.
As for going into the mountains or the sea to find food.. first of all, Xi Ya had no boat, secondly, everyone was so poor that any food found in the mountains had already been taken by others; there was nothing left for him.
After finishing her speech, Xi Ping said with some trepidation, "Young Master, this child's fate is a bit harsh, but he only clashes with his own kin and not with others. He has also worked for many other families in the village over the years, none of them were affected. Since you come from a background of great wealth and status, you can suppress this child's fate.."
There were actually many candidates in Xialiang, but after thinking it over, Xi Ping still wanted to give Xi Ya a chance.
This young master is kind-hearted; he doesn't look like the type to resort to beating or scolding, he doesn't expect to treat Xi Ya exceptionally well—he only wants her to have enough food to eat.
However, he also knew that sending a child with such a background could easily offend noble people and cause resentment, yet he did it anyway.
Zhu Ci sighed after hearing this and said, "It hasn't been easy for him to grow up this large. Fine, let him stay. At the very least, I can ensure he is well-fed and clothed."
Xi Ya was instantly overjoyed. Without even needing Xi Ping to speak, he knelt down and performed three sincere kowtows.
Zhu Ci hurriedly pulled him up. He felt the boy's arms, which were practically skin and bones, estimated that if he didn't take him in, the child might not survive the winter.
In that instant, he decided that even if Xi Ya failed to do things well, he would still let him stay.
At worst, he could just have him do some cleaning work; no matter how poor he was, he could still provide Xi Ya with a room and a meal.
Xi Ping breathed a sigh of relief, gave Xi Ya a few instructions, then left.
Zhu Ci assigned a room to Xi Ya, then turned to Fu Qiulu and said, "Qiulu, see if anyone in the village knows how to make clothes. Have them make two sets of winter clothing for Xi Ya—one for daily wear with cotton padding, one for working. As long as the fabric is thick enough to block the wind, it will be fine."
Hearing this, Xi Ya repeatedly waved her hands in a frantic refusal. She wanted to express that she didn't need them, but she didn't know how to say it, she grew so anxious that she began scratching her head in frustration.
Zhu Ci said with a smile, "Don't worry, this won't be deducted from your wages; consider it a uniform provided by your young master. Oh, right, Qiulu, you and Chunsheng should each have two sets made as well, while you're at it, place an order for spring clothing."
He only knew that the Ming Dynasty was during the famous Little Ice Age, but he didn't know the specifics, nor was he sure how long it would remain cold in the south, so he decided to prepare in advance.
Fu Qiulu said very decisively, "This bit of needlework is nothing; let me do it."
Zhu Ci didn't mind; as long as he paid for it, he didn't care who made the clothes.
As for now, Zhu Ci could only have Fu Chunsheng bring out a set of clothes for Xi Ya to borrow temporarily. Although they didn't fit quite right, fortunately, clothes these days were relatively loose-fitting, so they were at least better than what he was wearing.
Xi Ya held the clothes, then looked at the clean and tidy room.
Although it was a very small side room, this room was much better than his family's dilapidated old residence.
After changing his clothes, he obediently ran to stay by Zhu Ci's side, remaining quiet and saying nothing, merely watching Zhu Ci intently with those bright, dark eyes.
Zhu Ci took out a piece of paper, intending to hand it to Xi Ya, but then remembered that Xi Ya was illiterate, which he found rather troublesome for a moment.
He asked casually, "Is there anyone in your village who can read?"
Xi Ya thought for a moment, then nodded, then shook her head.
Zhu Ci didn't know what he was trying to express, so he could only ask tentatively, "Someone knows them, but not many people?"
Xi Ya's eyes lit up, he nodded vigorously.
This was the first time someone had understood his meaning so immediately; the Baochang had said it was true that the Young Master was a star descended from heaven!
Zhu Ci felt a bit melancholy after hearing this, but he dismissed the thought and decided to focus on the task at hand first.
He explained the method of making beehive coal in great detail to Xi Ya, it took him an enormous amount of effort when he reached the part about the proportions.
Zhu Ci discovered for the first time that his ability to express himself was rather poor; he always subconsciously used mathematical terms to explain things.
But to be fair, anyone who has completed nine years of compulsory education would basically be able to understand these mathematical terms.
In the end, the only way left was to use the crudest method, telling Xi Ping how much one portion weighed and how many portions each of these materials consisted of.
Xi Ping wasn't exactly stupid; even if he didn't understand at first, he understood later.
The reason Zhu Ci found it so exhausting was mainly because Xi Ping had no way to communicate with him, being only able to express his meaning through nodding, shaking his head, or even scratching his head.
Once everything was explained, Zhu Ci decided to personally guide him through the process.
He had no choice but to instruct him personally, because his recipe contained a few extra ingredients compared to the standard formula.
The original Beehive coal mold only required coal, clay, water, but if it only consisted of those three things, the formula would be easily cracked, he would be powerless to stop others from producing "pirated" versions.
Aside from everything else, he didn't believe that if it truly made money, Zhu Ying would cooperate with him honestly without having any ulterior motives.
So he directly created a new formula, a formula that included other ingredients, such as pine resin and lime.
Pine resin can increase stickiness, adding pine resin can also reduce the proportion of clay.
Pine resin itself dissolves and expands when it comes into contact with water, making it even harder to separate the clay from the coal ash or to determine the exact ratio between them. Furthermore, pine resin leaves no residue or odor when burned and does not change the color of the ash after combustion; even through ash analysis, the presence of pine resin cannot be detected.
Adding lime would change the color of the ashes, leading anyone trying to crack the formula to mistakenly believe that lime was part of the recipe.
Of course, all of this was merely inferred from the limited knowledge in Zhu Ci's mind; whether it would be useful or whether it would work remained to be seen through testing.
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Author's Note: Zhu Ci: Don't be in a hurry, everyone who eats from me must spit it all back out! Little kitty shakes the coal dust off its body. jpg
Next update tomorrow morning at six o'clock~
Chapter 29
To make beehive coal, besides the raw materials, one also needs a mold.
After all, there need to be holes in the middle, the distribution of those holes must be precise.
Zhu Ci had hand-drawn a production diagram, but he didn't know if it would be practical or if the resulting product would be suitable.
Xialiang had no blacksmiths, Zhu Ci didn't want to go looking for outside blacksmiths for the time being. Entrusting the coal stove to a blacksmith wouldn't be a problem, even if he obtained a stove, he might not necessarily know how this thing was made, but the beehive coal mold could allow him to deduce many things.
This thing is also easy to reverse-engineer; one can only say that the later it's done, the more money can be made.
The beehive coal mold consists of two main parts; strictly speaking, it could also be made of three. There is a cylindrical core of appropriate size in the middle, a detachable base at the bottom, a lid at the very top equipped with twelve punches.
The so-called punches are actually small cylinders; the holes in the beehive coal are created by pressing these into the material.
Xi Ya looked at the drawings and nodded after listening to Zhu Ci's detailed explanation.
Zhu Ci asked, "Do you understand? Do you know what needs to be done?"
Xi Ya nodded vigorously.
Zhu Ci patted his shoulder: "Then you keep working on it for now, take your time. It's okay if you fail."
Xi Ya patted his chest with great confidence.
After finishing his instructions, Zhu Ci took a small piece of wood and a small carving knife to the study.
Since everything had been handed over to others, no results would be produced for a while. Having nothing to do, he naturally had to find something to pass the time.
Sigh, if he weren't living in the final years of a dynasty, he suddenly felt that being a landlord in the countryside, with no worries about food or clothing, would be quite nice.
Unfortunately, such leisure was also an illusion; at least for now, not a single person by his side was someone who knew his true background, including Xi Ya.
However, compared to Xi Ya, the Fu siblings had even more suspicious points about them.
Using the excuse of saving coal, Zhu Ci made these three people sleep together with him.
Of course, it was not the same room, but rather the guest room next to the master's bedroom.
There was only one guest room, so Fu Chunsheng and Xi Ya squeezed in there, while Fu Qiulu rested in the outer chamber of his bedroom. It was essentially her turn for night watch, so as to prevent her, a young girl, from feeling uneasy sleeping in the same room as two grown men.
Of course, it might not have felt particularly safe to Fu Qiulu to sleep in the same room as him, but Zhu Ci was certainly going to keep them right under his watchful eye.
A few days ago, they had all been quite well-behaved, but once a few days had passed, on the very night Xi Ya successfully completed the Beehive coal mold, Zhu Ci heard some movement coming from the backyard.
Zhu Ci narrowed his eyes and listened for a long time. Once he confirmed that the sound wasn't coming from something like a rat, he couldn't help but let out a melancholy sigh.
It's the dead of winter, why can't things just be quiet for once?
It was freezing at night, with the snow falling from time to time these past two days, crawling out of bed in the middle of the night really required sheer willpower!
Zhu Ci climbed out of the blankets, threw on a cotton coat, then used a fire starter to light the oil lamp before walking out on tiptoe.
To his surprise, when he reached the outer room, he immediately saw Fu Qiulu curled into a ball, shivering.
Before Zhu Ci could speak, Fu Qiulu immediately jumped up from the bed, wrapped in her quilt, scurried over to Zhu Ci's side, whispering, "Young Master, did.. did you also hear those strange sounds?"
Zhu Ci nodded calmly. "It sounded like it was coming from the backyard."
Exactly, exactly, exactly," Fu Qiulu said in a low voice, "Do you think it might be.. a ghost?
"Where would ghosts come from?" Zhu Ci sneered.
Perhaps someone was just playing tricks.
After he finished speaking, he walked straight out. As he went out, he saw that the guest room door was slightly ajar, two heads were peeking through the crack, looking out with suspicious, shifty eyes.
“Little mute, do you want to go out and take a look?”
Xi Ya said nothing—well, he couldn't speak anyway—but the way he shook his head frantically already made his attitude clear.
Zhu Ci frowned, walked over, said, "Don't call him Little Mute."
Fu Chunsheng was startled first, his hand trembling so much that he nearly slammed the door shut; however, he forgot that his and Xi Ya's heads were on the outside while his body was on the inside, this tremor caused the door to catch him right by the neck.
Fu Chunsheng let out a sudden yelp, followed immediately by the sound of the backyard going quiet, then everything fell silent.
Zhu Ci gave them an exasperated look before turning and walking toward the backyard.
Fu Chunsheng immediately covered his mouth and, along with Xi Ya, put on padded clothes and hid behind Zhu Ci as they walked toward the backyard.
Zhu Ci walked at the front, looking back at the three cowards behind him, he was momentarily speechless.
Upon reaching the backyard, Zhu Ci stopped his steps under the corridor, without saying a word.
The three cowards behind him poked their heads out to take a look, all fell silent as well.
After a long while, Fu Chunsheng said tremblingly, "Young Master, this.. what is this?"
Zhu Ci did not answer, but instead observed it closely.
Because it was still snowing, the backyard was covered in a blanket of white snow. Only a crooked, human-width strip in the middle appeared somewhat abrupt, while others might not notice it, Zhu Ci could tell at a glance that this strip was a trail left behind by a primate crawling through the snow.
That long trail appeared from the northeast corner of the backyard, winding its way along in a crooked line before finally disappearing in front of the stone steps.