Chapter 132
Chapter 132
Seeing his little sister argue with a threshold, Xiao Jingmo could not help laughing, though it really was rather high.
Jin Bao was always carried whenever she went out, so no one had noticed. It seemed they would have to replace the threshold that evening with a lower one.
The door opened, and a small furry head poked inside first.
“Second Brother, your door is much easier to enter.”
Xiao Jingmo set down his brush, walked over, and picked up Jin Bao. He took out a handkerchief and carefully wiped the sweat from her head, then poured her a cup of warm water and added a spoonful of honey.
“Drink some water first. We can discuss everything else afterward.”
Jin Bao had been running outside for so long that her throat was parched. Without another word, she immediately grasped the ceramic cup in both little hands and gulped it dry.
“Phew! Second Brother’s room is so nice. It smells good and is clean, and there’s sweet honey water. Second Brother is also the most handsome Second Brother in the world.”
After drinking her fill, Jin Bao let out a long breath and showered him with flattery.
Xiao Jingmo laughed in spite of himself. “That little mouth of yours really did just drink honey water.”
“Tell me, what did you come to see Second Brother about?”
Whenever Jin Bao sought him out, she certainly had business. Ever since entering Black Pine Valley, the little girl no longer clung to him. She ran wild everywhere and had many playmates, so every visit meant she had something to say.
It truly proved the saying that no one visits a temple without a reason.
Only then did Jin Bao remember why she had come.
“Second Brother, Baby saw something pulled by moo-moos. It’s called a curved-shaft plow. Have you heard of it?”
“A curved-shaft plow? No, I haven’t. I haven’t studied farming tools much, but we can ask one of the older men to come over. They’ve farmed before and should know what you mean.”
Jin Bao hurriedly shook her head. “No. They haven’t seen it. Moo-moos have to pull it.”
Jin Bao listened to every bit of gossip in the valley, from fights to quarrels, and there was almost nothing she did not know. Thus, she was well aware that farmers in the Northern Frontier had no cattle; she simply never mentioned it.
Since cattle had to pull the implement, these people probably had never seen it.
Xiao Jingmo was equally confused. What kind of farming tool could it be?
Still, he took Jin Bao to the fields.
Jin Bao spotted the object from her vision at once.
Her eyes widened in delight, though this one seemed different from what she had seen.
“Second Brother, that’s it.”
Jin Bao cried out as she pointed to a plow working in the field.
Xiao Jingmo led Jin Bao into the field by the hand.
The farmers at work immediately stopped.
“Second Young Master, Young Miss, it’s dirty here. What brings you out?”
An elderly man was driving a bull that pulled a plow.
Xiao Jingmo gave the man a slight nod.
“Old Sir, my little sister wanted to see this plow. I don’t know much about it either, so I brought her to ask you. If she mentions any possible improvements, please help us evaluate them.”
The old man chuckled. “No problem. Receiving even a little guidance from the Young Miss is our good fortune. What would you like to know, Young Miss? I’ve spent my entire life working the land, so I can be considered an old hand at farming.”
Jin Bao had no interest in learning to farm. Farming required no study at all; with a wave of her small hand, she could make crops grow across this entire tract of land. But Daddy had said she could not remain in the valley forever. One day she would leave and return to the Capital, and then the valley residents would need land on which they could depend for survival.
That was why Jin Bao wanted to help everyone increase production.
Curious, Jin Bao crouched beside the plow and studied how it differed from the one in her mind.
“Grandpa, what is this called?”
Jin Bao pointed to the plow and asked in her crisp voice.
“This is used for plowing fields. Many farming households own one. Now that we have cattle, it works much faster. Before we had cattle, we pulled it by hand. One person held it from behind while several people pulled the straight shaft from the front, and that made the plow move.”
Jin Bao nodded in understanding. So it could be used without cattle too.
Xiao Jingmo also studied the farming implement nearby. He had been so busy managing the valley’s many affairs that he had overlooked something as important as farming tools. If he could develop better implements, it would greatly benefit the valley residents.
After examining it several times, Xiao Jingmo understood the plow’s construction and function.
But Jin Bao pulled Xiao Jingmo over beside the straight shaft.
“Second Brother, can we change this into a curved shaft so it can turn? And then add something here…”
Jin Bao rattled off a long explanation, and Xiao Jingmo seemed to grasp her meaning.
Xiao Jingmo still had not figured out exactly how to modify it, but the elderly man beside them excitedly stroked the plow and said, “The Young Miss is truly brilliant. With these changes, it will not only turn more easily but also control the plowing depth. Wonderful! This is wonderful.”
After hearing the old man’s explanation, Xiao Jingmo also seemed to understand the difference the modifications would make.
He immediately took the old man with him, picked up Jin Bao, and returned to the Xiao Family courtyard.
Following Jin Bao’s proposed changes, Xiao Jingmo drew a diagram of the modified plow.
Jin Bao tilted her head to examine it, then pointed out several details for him to revise.
After several rounds of changes, it finally looked exactly like the one in Jin Bao’s mind.
“Wow, Second Brother is amazing! It looks exactly like what Baby saw.”
The corners of Xiao Jingmo’s lips lifted as he gently stroked Jin Bao’s little head.
“How is Second Brother the amazing one? Clearly, my little sister is. Without you, my little teacher, guiding me, how could Second Brother ever have devised this?”
Xiao Jingmo handed the completed drawing to the old man.
“Old Sir, take a look. Will it work better after these changes?”
The old man accepted the drawing. He could not read, but he had no difficulty understanding pictures.
“That’s right. It will certainly work much better. Once this straight shaft becomes curved, the plow will turn more easily in the fields. No wonder the Young Miss called it a curved-shaft plow. So that’s the reason. The Young Master’s drawing is also remarkably lifelike – it made everything even clearer to this old man at a glance.”
After confirming once more that there were no errors, Xiao Jingmo immediately had the carpenters begin construction.
The curved-shaft plow was completed in a single day.
On the day it was formally tested in the fields, farmers crowded the edges of the plot.
Everyone wanted to see how this supposedly miraculous curved-shaft plow differed from the old one.
Even Xiao Che and Xie Chengyan heard about it. They set aside their work and hurried over.
In the field, the old man had just removed the straight-shaft plow and replaced it with the curved-shaft plow.
Everyone craned their necks and discussed the new implement, which they had heard was called a curved-shaft plow.
It appeared smaller and lighter than the original straight-shaft plow.
Under everyone’s tense, expectant gaze, the old man raised his whip and struck the bull.
The curved-shaft plow began moving swiftly.
It was clearly much faster than before and could even reach the corners.
After making several passes through the field, the old man finally stopped.
His face filled with excitement as he returned to the edge of the field.
“Old Sir, how was it?”
Xiao Jingmo felt somewhat nervous, but judging from the man’s expression, they had probably succeeded.
“Second Young Master, this implement is excellent. The old straight-shaft plow was long and cumbersome. It needed a wide arc to turn, wasting space, and could not plow many corners. Even one bull struggled to pull it.
“Now that we’ve changed to this curved-shaft plow, the entire implement is much smaller. It turns nimbly and reaches every corner. Most importantly, it doesn’t exhaust the bull. Everyone saw me make several passes just now, yet the animal isn’t even panting. With the old plow, it would not have reached the end of a single pass.
“More importantly, the old plow could not adjust its depth, while the curved-shaft plow can. It switches flexibly between deep and shallow plowing.”
Xiao Jingmo clenched his right hand into a fist and struck it hard against his left palm. With excitement written across his face, he declared, “It works!”
Xie Chengyan was equally thrilled. If the implement truly worked so well, it could be promoted on a large scale. This was an innovation worthy of being recorded in history.