CHAPTER 145: CHAPTER 143 DO NOT GO

After Xie Liangchen saw the Fierce Fire Oil Cabinet, she spent her days tinkering away with Chen Yongyi, making "ding ding clang clang" noises.

Old Mrs. Chen secretly went to see it a few times. No matter how wide she opened her eyes, she failed to spot any difference between the new one and the old one, nor could she fathom why a wooden box required so much effort.

Alas, she’s getting old, never imagining a wooden box could involve two large yellow oxen.

Every day, Tie Dan and his mates eagerly awaited the wooden box to be completed so that they could stand tall and go buy the oxen.

"You never know the cost of firewood and rice until you manage a household," Old Mrs. Chen muttered to herself, beginning to ponder where to build the cattle pen.

"This plot won’t do; when the weather warms up, a courtyard will be built here. When there’s business in the village, people can discuss it here."

"This plot won’t do either; once we have silver coins, the thatched houses will all be rebuilt, everyone’s courtyards will expand outward, and the road at the entrance will be repaired for the convenience of mule carts."

"This space must be reserved for the Familiar Medicine Institute, this for building a granary."

"And here must be for building a school, with open space outside for villagers to practice martial arts..."

"This plot is about right."

Old Mrs. Chen looked at the large piece of vacant land: "Just to raise two oxen, is that much land necessary?"

Xie Liangchen smiled, "Who said it’s just two oxen? We’re starting with two. This place is perfect for raising livestock. Dig a pond there, and in the future, you can conveniently transport manure to the fields."

Every time Old Mrs. Chen heard this, she felt a jolt of fear, tightly clenching her hands and constantly sucking on her back teeth. After days of this, she felt like even her remaining back teeth were starting to wobble.

"Tsk tsk, listen to all the things that need doing."

Xie Liangchen clearly wasn’t done speaking: "We’ll build a few more rooms here, so when people visit the village, there’s a place for them to stay."

Old Mrs. Chen couldn’t understand why those people would want to stay in the village instead of going to a city inn. Was this so people could take a closer look at Chen Family Village?

Old Mrs. Chen said, "Aren’t there a few vacant rooms in the village? Just tidy them up."

Chen Yongsheng spoke up: "Those rooms must be reserved for new additions to the village."

The village chief, Chen Lizheng, was constantly calculating the village population. Chen Family Village was short-handed now, and nearby villages hoped to marry Chen Family Village girls. After a few visits from matchmakers, it was clear that instead of marrying girls away, it might be easier to calculate how to have sons-in-law move in, which seemed more manageable.

Old Mrs. Chen sighed; she couldn’t bear to listen to this, even the Kitchen God would frown at these words.

Hei Dan and the other children eavesdropped from the corner with endless curiosity: "Will they buy horses too? The horses General Song and the others ride are impressive, can we learn to ride horses?"

Old Mrs. Chen, huffing and puffing, went to find Mrs. Zhao to complain.

Though Mrs. Zhao was still confused, her complexion no longer looked as dark as before, indicating she might not only survive the winter but also see the New Year.

After talking to Mrs. Zhao for a while, Mrs. Zhao, who had been lying on the kang, suddenly said, "I heard there’s a big ship too, and you can go anywhere on it."

Old Mrs. Chen felt the entire Chen Family Village had gone mad, suspecting the ailment might have spread from Mrs. Zhao.

"Sister-in-law," Mrs. Gao tugged at Old Mrs. Chen’s hand, dragging her back, "Come quickly, Liangchen says the wind box is finished."

Old Mrs. Chen’s eyes lit up. That thing could finally be shown to people?

In Old Mrs. Chen’s courtyard, quite a few people had already gathered. Seeing Chen Yongyi and Xie Liangchen come out with the wind box, Hei Dan and the other boys immediately cleared a path as if guarding Xie Liangchen’s march forward.

Chen Yongyi’s face was full of smiles.

"Yongyi, is it ready?" Old Mrs. Chen couldn’t help but ask.

Chen Yongyi nodded, "Let’s watch a demonstration from Liangchen in a moment!"

After saying that, Chen Yongyi entered the kitchen, placing the wind box beside the stove as instructed by Xie Liangchen, fiddling for a while before finally getting it set up.

"Come take a look, everyone!" Xie Liangchen quickly walked in, grabbed the handle, and easily pushed and pulled it a bit. The fire in the stove, fanned by the breeze, "wooshed" into a roaring blaze.

The firelight illuminated everyone’s faces.

It took a moment before someone came to their senses.

"Miss Chen, pull it again."

"Did you see? Look, the fire’s bigger, bigger, have a look."

Old Mrs. Chen didn’t speak for a long time. She rubbed her eyes and continued to stare at the fire in the stove.

"Sister-in-law, be careful not to burn your hair."

After bending for so long, Old Mrs. Chen nearly couldn’t stand back up. The fire had made her face scorchingly hot. She truly hadn’t seen wrong; it wasn’t the Kitchen God manifesting, but the wind box in her granddaughter’s hand working its magic.

Mrs. Gao said, "This wind...this wind..."

Hei Dan reminded his mother, "Wind box."

"That’s right," Mrs. Gao said, "Is this wind box easy to make?"

"It’s easy," Chen Yongyi replied, "Once you figure it out, making another one is simple."

Mrs. Gao pondered for a while before sheepishly speaking out, "Once every household in the village has a big pot, can they all have a wind box? Then for cooking in the kitchen..."

Mrs. Gao didn’t finish her sentence, blushing, "Oh look at me, just thinking of that, it’s for the Familiar Medicine Institute."

Xie Liangchen laughed out loud, "Once we have big pots, we’ll put this in the kitchen. But for now, I need to take it to the blacksmith shop. Fourth Uncle will make two more for the Familiar Medicine Institute."

"Yes, yes," Mrs. Gao said, "Major affairs take priority."

Xie Liangchen said, "Eating is also a major affair. Aunt’s idea isn’t wrong, and it will be useful in the village later."

Mrs. Gao’s face turned even redder; being praised by Miss Chen made her feel light-headed, not knowing where she was.

Old Mrs. Chen kept looking at the wind box. The more she looked, the more she liked it. An item powerful enough to invoke the Kitchen God’s might was surely worth two large yellow oxen, she decided to buy the oxen.

Chen Yongyi said, "If we leave now, we’ll be able to reach the blacksmith’s shop before noon."

Chen Yongyi carried the wind box, and Hei Dan followed Xie Liangchen. The group set off for the town in a grand procession, traveling quite far. When Xie Liangchen turned around, she could still see villagers standing at the entrance of the village, waving towards their direction.

Upon reaching the blacksmith shop, Xie Liangchen saw Mr. Dongli and Chen Zigeng.

Xie Liangchen quickly stepped forward to greet Mr. Dongli.

Chen Zigeng said, "Sister said the wind box could be completed today, so I told the teacher, and he wanted to come and see it too."

Chen Yongyi took down the wind box and handed it to Mr. Dongli.

Mr. Dongli stepped forward for a closer inspection.

Ironsmith Wang, always curious about what Chen Family Village’s Miss Xie would bring him, stepped out to see a wooden box and was a bit stunned, murmuring, "Can this thing work like an air bag?"

Mr. Dongli stroked his beard, "To see if it’s functional, just take it inside and try it."

Only then did Ironsmith Wang come to his senses, "Then let’s give it a try."

...

Song Xian and Cheng Yanzhao were talking at the government office.

Chang An came in to report: "Young master, Miss Xie’s wind box is made and has been taken to the blacksmith’s shop."

Cheng Yanzhao hadn’t seen Miss Xie in a while, yet he often heard her name, and even Xiao Chi’s capture owed to her credit.

In short, he found himself very interested in the things this lady was doing.

"What’s a wind box?" asked Cheng Yanzhao, "Is she at the blacksmith’s shop?"

Song Xian continued dipping his brush in ink, seemingly not hearing him.

Cheng Yanzhao stood up and prepared to walk out: "You carry on with your work, I’ve got nothing going on right now, so I’ll go check it out."

Just as he was saying this, he heard Song Xian’s deep voice: "You’re not allowed to go."