kingnovel Chapter 454 Successful Trial of the Waterwheel
Chapter 454 Successful Trial of the Waterwheel
Chapter 454 Waterwheel Trial Successfully Completed
Just as she was about to ask Wen Muchuan for help at the dinner table, a soft piece of fish belly meat suddenly appeared in her bowl.
"I've lost weight after this trip. If I don't eat more, I might not grow taller."
Xie He awkwardly served her food, and when Wen Luozhi looked at her, she glared back.
“Mother…” Wen Luozhi felt even more aggrieved and raised her hand to wipe her eyes.
Xie He couldn't bear to see her acting so pitiful yet trying to be strong, so she gently patted her back and said softly, "Mother isn't angry with you anymore, just don't be so reckless."
"There are so many people in the family, you can't be so selfish, honey."
Wen Luozhi nodded, pulled her sleeve to wipe her tears, which made Xie He angry.
"You brat! My new clothes!"
"Hehe," Wen Luozhi sniffed, "I'll buy Mom two things next time I go to town."
"No! Two hundred pieces!"
The people at the table burst into laughter; now things were finally settled.
After resting for two days, Wen Luozhi got down to business. The rice seedlings in everyone's fields in the village had already grown very tall.
The village chief came to my door again today, urging, "Brother Wen, why aren't you busy sowing rice seedlings yet? It's getting late, it won't be appropriate!"
Wen Muchuan was sharpening the iron rake when he heard this. He looked up and laughed, "Just let it fall apart, my daughter said she has a way."
They said the millet that grows there won't be blown down by the wind, so it's okay if it's a little late.
The village chief's eyes lit up. "Not afraid of the wind? Is there such a good idea?"
Every year when the millet grows to about half its height, there is more rain. More rain is a good thing because it can be used for irrigation, but strong winds also blow, and many of them fall over every year. They break and cannot grow much, resulting in significant losses.
Just as he was about to ask what method it was, Wen Muchuan said, "My daughter went to another place and got some new rice seeds, different from what we sowed in previous years."
"Oh!" The village chief suddenly realized that there was no way to deal with it. However, he was looking forward to seeing if the rice would grow up to be as windproof as Wen Muchuan had said.
Wen Zizhong has recently been pondering the waterwheel described in the book Wen Luozhi gave him. Although there are pictures, it is still a bit difficult for him, after all, he is a wood carver, not a carpenter.
Wen Luozhi examined the parts he had figured out and worked with him on them whenever she had some time.
The two siblings spent more than a month figuring out how to make the seedlings, and by the time they finished, the seedlings had already been planted in the field.
Even though it's been almost a month since the seedlings were sown, the lush green seedlings look as tall as those in other households.
Even though the method was the same, the village chief noticed that the children in Wenmuchuan's fields were much stronger.
Is it because the mud in the field is more fertile?
But our field and theirs are connected, separated by a line drawn along a field ridge, so they should be the same.
He kept moving his hands, squatting by the river, holding a long pole and a manure ladle, watering the fields.
He hadn't been watering the plants for long when his back started to ache. Just as he sat down to rest, he saw Wen Muchuan and his two sons pushing a large object over, with Wen Luozhi following behind.
When he got closer, he stood up, looked at the strange, round thing, and asked, "What are you guys doing with this big, round thing you're pushing, Brother Wen?"
He walked around the waterwheel, but couldn't figure out what was going on.
"This is a watering device my daughter came up with. My brother's fields are next to ours, so if it works, we won't have to water them ourselves."
Upon hearing this, the village chief scratched his head. Although he was happy, he felt it was a bit unreliable. He had never seen it before, and he was very much looking forward to it.
Next, Wen Luozhi directed them to adjust the position of the waterwheel, first aligning the lowest water bucket with the direction from which the river was flowing.
The final adjusted position is to face the farmland sideways. When the river flows by, it drives the spoke scraper to scrape water and fill the bucket with water. The bucket is then raised step by step as it is filled with water.
When the water reaches the top of the waterwheel, the buckets naturally tilt to pour water into the long aqueduct, which eventually flows into the fields.
"It's done!" Wen Luozhi clapped her hands and jumped up excitedly as she saw the water flowing in.
"We did it, Second Brother! We're amazing!"
Wen Zizhong nodded, relieved that he had managed to figure out half of it first, otherwise he would have fallen behind.
Because the village chief's fields also needed irrigation, Wen Luozhi placed a stone at the end of the water trough so that the water would split into two streams when it flowed out, ensuring that both fields could be irrigated.
The village chief was overjoyed to see such a capable and efficient fellow, as this was much faster than watering the fields one ladle at a time.
"This is good stuff, really good stuff!"
He gave a thumbs-up to the group, and the commotion alerted the other villagers who were working.
Seeing the waterwheel turning with a gurgling sound, they all came over to join in the fun and see what it was.
Everyone was amazed to see the waterwheel delivering water to the fields by itself; they had no idea it could do that!
They wanted one too, but this big plant looked expensive, so they figured they'd better just water it themselves.
Those with many fields at home are often too busy to manage everything, so when they see this, they can't help but ask, "Village chief, where can I buy this?"
“We have several plots of land, and we can’t irrigate them all, so we’re buying one to use,” someone asked.
The village chief looked at Wen Muchuan and the others and said, "This was made by Luo Yatou and Zizhong after a long time of thinking. You can't buy it! You can't buy it!"
He chuckled and said he felt a little regretful, as this looked very complicated and probably wouldn't be easy to do.
Wen Luozhi thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "Once my family's and the village chief's family's fields are irrigated, we'll make room for everyone to use them."
"It doesn't matter if it's far away, this water collection trough can be extended."
The man chuckled upon hearing this and immediately said, "That's great, girl! I can't just sit around using this good stuff for free, can I? You set a price, and I'll pay you!"
Others also expressed their opinions, saying that if it's free, they must pay money.
Wen Luozhi winked at Wen Muchuan, meaning that he would make the decision.
Wen Muchuan smiled and said, "Then it'll be two copper coins a day! Everyone, line up and come on over."
There's one more at home that hasn't been finished yet. Once it's done, it won't be so tight anymore.
This price is practically free. Every household has someone working in the workshop, earning hundreds of coins every day. These two copper coins are nothing to them.
"Sure! The price you gave me is practically free, haha! I'll send you some over when the new rice comes out."
At this price, it's practically free, isn't it? Everyone knows that.
With the waterwheel finally set up, Wen Luozhi couldn't help but feel happy looking at the lush green rice seedlings.
Remembering that Lang Batian was still waiting for her on Chicken Head Mountain, she greeted Wen Muchuan and turned to run towards Chicken Head Mountain.
Once she entered the mountain and confirmed that no one was around, she released Little Pink and Little White. The two siblings, who hadn't been out for a long time, excitedly ran around everywhere.
Wolf Overlord smelled the scent and darted down the mountain, playing with Little White.
Little Pink loved the fallen blossoms from the fruit trees, rolling around on the ground until they covered her whole body.
Looking at it, Wen Luozhi wondered if it was just her imagination, but it seemed to have grown quite a bit, and its scales looked even shinier.
She and Lang Batian hadn't been back for several months when they delivered the two little pythons to the entrance of Python Mountain.
"Your parents must miss you. Go back and see them, and then come back to play if they miss us."
The two little pythons obediently nodded, walked a while, looked back once, and finally disappeared from the two people's sight.