CH 36

Exploding the furnace, this……”

“This matter……”

Chen Half-Immortal said to Lin Yuan with difficulty: “It will take some time.”

They can’t do anything about it if the furnace doesn’t explode.

Lin Yuan was in a good mood due to the fake jade that could pass as the real deal. He said, “There’s no need to hurry this, but the gunpowder recipe can’t be slacking, you have to work harder.”

Chen Half-Immortal: “Of course, we still have to rely on you, Boss.”

Lin Yuan waved his hand: “No need for flattery. Do what you are asked to do and there will be no lack of benefits.”

The reward for making jade had already been given to them. Everyone was rewarded with a bamboo rat, and how it was cooked was all up to them.

In the absence of meat, this reward was very attractive.

Jiang Guang left two days later. When he came, he brought carts of medicinal materials. When he left, he took away only the huge fake jade. Chen Baisong and others naturally followed Jiang Guang. After all, the job concerned half a month’s worth of food for the people back at their villa.

Now that the bandit dens near their place have long been raided by them, they must find a way to find other ways to support their livlihood.

“Occasionally when you’re free, come back and visit.” Lin Yuan said to Chen Baisong.

Chen Baisong nodded, and he turned to look at Lin Yuan: “Young master, if you have a problem, only send for me, this is where I am staying.”

Saying so, he handed over a map drawn on linen cloth. Chen Baisong pointed to a place and said, “This is where I am.”

Lin Yuan solemnly put away the map. It seemed that there were many talented people under Chen Baisong’s command. Normal people can’t draw such a map.

“Young master, take care.” Chen Baisong clasped his fist.

Lin Yuan smiled at him: “You too, be careful on the way.”

Mother Chen was watching from a distance, her hand covering her mouth, fearing she would break out into sobs in the next second.

“When a child grows up, he will always leave.” Yang shi said softly beside her.

Mother Chen wiped her tears: “This slave just didn’t expect that he grew up so fast.”

Chen Baisong’s arrival seemed to be just an insignificant episode, but it did make Lin Yuan feel much better.

After the beginning of the spring, the farmstead became more and more busy. Although the city wall was built, the land still needed to be opened up for farming.

Liang er wiped a handful of sweat from his forehead, holding a hoe in his hand, and with a smile on his face, he said to San zi next to him: “Wonder what we will eat today.”

San zi inhaled twice: “I don’t know, but there will definitely be multi-grain steamed buns.”

Liang Er said: “Wonder who the best worker is today.” Nowadays, the farmstead will judge one outstanding laborer every day. This person’s food will be much better than others. He can eat a bowl of white rice and a dish that not only contain vegetables, but also meat with plentiful oil. And it was not required to eat in the cafeteria, even if you take it away to eat elsewhere it was fine.

Therefore, the degree of enthusiasm for opening the land was very high now, and everyone hoped that the person who was evaluated as outstanding was himself.

Liang er was also very hardworking, but he looked at his progress and found that there were many people who were faster than him. Now he fell into a bit of a slack.

“It’s not us anyway.” San zi had envy in his eyes, “If only I had that much strength, I would definitely be able to eat meat every day.”

“The one who had been rated as excellent in recent days were all Tietou.” Liang Er looked at Tietou who was plowing the land.

Tietou was a big honest fellow, he didn’t talk to people much, and always worked by himself. He had a relative in the farmstead, his only sister. All the rewards he had received these days were brought back to the dormitory and given to his sister.

His sister was born with weak health, so he always does more work alone, lest his sister will be disliked.

“Tietou! You should occasionally relax and give us a chance!” Liang Er shouted towards Tietou.

Tietou stopped and looked around, wondering who was calling him. After seeing Liang Er, he said in a low voice, “No.”

Liang Er said angrily to the San zi: “This man is really stubborn. He had eaten special meals for so many days.”

San zi comforted him: “Don’t be angry anymore, his sister is not healthy.”

Liang Er: “Bullying me because I don’t have a sister, right?”

San zi said in a small voice, “I don’t think you would work just as hard even if you have a sister.”

That night, Tietou was the same as the previous day, carrying white rice and a vegetable meat dish, his honest face finally showing a faint smile.

“Brother.” Tietou’s sister does not have a formal name, only the nickname Xiaohua, which was very countryside. In any village, girls from nine out of ten households were called Xiaohua.

Tietou put the stewed vegetables with meat and the rice on the table, and then carrying his sister to the table in a gentle and considerate manner at odds with his big clumsy looking body: “Hurry and eat.”

Xiaohua had been eating it for several days, but seeing the rice and stewed vegetable and meat dish she still craved to eat some more, she swallowed and whispered: “Have you eaten yet?”

Tietou: “I have eaten it, this is leftovers I brought back for you.”

Xiaohua smiled at Tietou, she didn’t doubt Tietou’s words at all, and took the chopsticks to eat.

“Brother, eat a piece of meat.” Xiaohua picked up the meat and fed it to Tietou’s mouth, and Tietou opened his mouth to take a bite.

The long-forgotten meaty taste encroached on his taste buds, Tietou took a deep breath and rubbed Xiaohua’s head: “You need to recover your health, brother will let you eat meat every day.”

Xiaohua nodded vigorously. She liked her life now. She didn’t have to worry about where she will sleep tomorrow, she didn’t have to worry about being hungry. She still remembered that when they first fled, if brother only sold himself, he could definitely find a master but because he was taking along a sickly sister no one had been willing to buy the siblings.

Only when they met Boss did they finally have a shelter.

“The more I think about it the more I’m angry.” Liang Er returned to the dormitory and complained to San zi. “He had gotten excellent so many days so what if he missed for a few days. If it wasn’t the fact that I can’t beat him, I would definitely teach him a lesson!”

San zi turned over, not really wanting to talk to Liang Er. Although it was difficult for them to get an excellent, they could still eat meat every seven days.

Of course, meat is never too much, but when many people can’t even fill their stomachs, it was already something rare that they do not go hungry.

San zi reminded: “You can’t fight in the farmstead. If you are discovered, you will be locked in the dungeon.”

The so-called dungeon was actually a cellar that was remodeled and was not for torture. But there was no light in the dungeon, a veritable little black room. After being locked in, no sound or light could be heard or seen.

No one had been in it so far.

But no one in the farmstead wanted to try it in any case.

Liang Er immediately lost his nerve, and whispered: “It’s not like I really want to teach him a lesson. You’ll see, I will definitely surpass him tomorrow.”

San zi don’t believe it: “I’ll go to bed first.”

The roommates also laughed and said, “Liang Er, you will have to work hard tomorrow. We don’t dare to fight with Tietou on getting excellent because of how desperate he appears.”

Liang Er went to sleep with confidence, and prepared to let Tietou know how good he was tomorrow.

However——

“Tietou is simply not human!” Liang Er threw the hoe onto the ground viciously.

The person next to him laughed at him: “Did you not say you wanted to show him up yesterday? You give up so soon?”

Liang er also felt ashamed to just give up, and could only toughen his skin and go on.

At the end of the evening, Liang Er glanced at Tietou’s ground, and knew that he would be laughed at by his companions today.

When the excellent worker was announced, Liang Er was absent-mindedly wondering if he should secretly put some croton seeds in Tietou’s rice tonight (TN: croton seeds are a strong purgative).

“Today’s outstanding laborers are: Tietou, Liang Er.” Jiang Gui explained after announcing the candidates, “Tietou had worked hard and had been excellent for several days. After we considered it, we decided that the second place can also enjoy the same treatment as the first place.”

The people were all happy, after all, it was impossible to defeat Tietou, they were almost ready to give up and slack off.

But the second place can still be fought for.

When the crowd dispersed, Liang Er still stood there thinking. San zi urged: “Why are you standing stupidly? Aren’t you going to the cafeteria?”

Liang Er walked to San zi’s side and asked: “Do you know where to find some croton seeds?”

San zi: “Why do you want croton seeds? If you eat that stuff, you will need to go to the toilet. No matter how much you eat, it’s useless. Maybe you will even die.”

There were many examples of people eating croton seeds and dying.

Liang Er whispered: “I plan to get some for Tietou.”

San zi widened his eyes: “Are you crazy?!”

Liang Er: “So I can take the first place, eat white rice and stewed vegetables with meat, and I will share half of it with you then.”

San zi had a complicated expression: “You can eat it now too.”

Liang Er: “Are you kidding? You don’t mean that you want me to steal Tietou’s? I can’t beat him.”

San zi sighed, “I mean, you can go to the kitchen to ask for white rice and stewed vegetables with meat.”

Liang Er was shocked: “Why?!”

San zi looked at Liang Er who seemed to really not know, and he suddenly said playfully: “The Boss said, anyone can get it tonight if they want to. Didn’t you hear what Jiang manager said just now?”

Liang Er said suspiciously: “I indeed did not listen carefully……”

He was just thinking about how he could defeat Tietou.

San zi: “I will take you there.”

San zi took Liang Er to the cafeteria. Now the cafeteria was already full of people. They were chatting and eating dinner. Because it was still cold in early spring, there were charcoal braziers in the four corners of the room, and with many people gathered together they can feel a rush of heat when they go in, it was extremely warm.

The women who were serving the meals sat behind the counter, chatting while serving.

“This is my brother, Liang Er, he wants white rice and stewed vegetables with meat.” San zi said to the woman who served the meal.

The woman had received the notice before, that two people were rewarded today, so the stewed vegetables with meat and rice were already prepared and kept warm so when they saw someone come to get it, they passed them over naturally.

“Remember to take the bowl and plate back after eating, or eat in the cafeteria.” The woman reminded.

And Liang Er, who was holding the wooden dinner plate, was still a bit at a loss, not knowing what happened.

He looked around and found that everyone was eating ordinary multi-grain steamed buns and stir-fried vegetables. No one had white rice or meat.

Liang Er looked at San zi vigilantly: “Boss definitely did not say to eat randomly, don’t lie to me.”

San zi cupped his belly and laughed: “Hahahahaha, how can you be so silly hahahahaha, you should really look at your expression just now.”

Liang Er looked at San zi with a displeased expression, but he was reluctant to put down the food in his hand.

San zi said after having laughed enough, “Manager Jiang said, because Tietou is always the first, so there will be rewards for the second in the future. You are the second today, so you can also get it.”

Liang Er stood there sluggish for a while before reacting.

He took the dinner plate and found an empty seat to sit down, looking at the whole bowl of white rice and stewed vegetables with meat, he picked up his chopsticks while swallowing.

San zi was also feeling a craving, after receiving his share of multi-grain steamed buns and vegetables he sat opposite Liang Er: “Can you give me a piece of meat?”

Liang er’s chopsticks stirred in the stew, and a lot of meat can be seen.

So Liang Er said generously: “Eat.”

San zi did not bother being courteous with him, he picked the biggest piece of meat he saw.

Lin Yuan was currently observing in Chen Half-Immortal’s research lab, in any case Lin Yuan didn’t want to call this room the alchemy room.

Chen Half-Immortal said to Lin Yuan with a little nervousness: “Actually, the furnace exploded once, but trying again according to the recipe it didn’t explode though.”

There were no precise measurement tools at this time, and every measurement depended on the feel. There were many uncertain factors, and Lin Yuan could understand it.

“Is there enough material?” Lin Yuan asked.

Chen Half-Immortal: “Enough is enough, we don’t use much each time, but it is better to prepare early.”

Still have to send someone to buy. Don’t know that there is any town around that sell these materials.

Lin Yuan could only call Zhu Yuanzhang and brother Dao to go out, each leading a team and had Chen Half-Immortal tell them what was needed.

“If we all go……” Zhu Yuanzhang still had some worries, “There won’t be many people left in the farmstead.”

After all, they will be taking away all the grown men.

Lin Yuan said: “Now the city wall has been built. While there are not many people left, but in total it is enough. There is also food in the farmstead. Even if there really is danger, it will be enough to last a siege. So you can return in half a month if you haven’t bought what is needed.”

Now that communication and transportation were inconvenient, he could only make calculations and stipulated times.

For ten or so days, even if bandits really come over, they will still be able to last.

As long as it was not an official army.

If it were, Lin Yuan could only surrender to the unfortunate circumstance. After all, once an official army arrived, even if Zhu Yuanzhang and brother Dao were in the farmstead, they wouldn’t be able to be of much help.

Lin Yuan made it clear, so Zhu Yuanzhang and brother Dao could only leave with their respective teams.

They have to pretend to be ordinary people, and they can’t buy too much each time, buying in batches to avoid being targeted.

It was the tenth year of the current emperor’s reign already.

Lin Yuan let out a sigh as he looked at their leaving backs.

The time left was really running out.

If at the end of this year, the number of people in the farmstead cannot exceed 1,000, he will truly not be able to do anything. Maybe he might even have to take the people to join the Red Turbans.

Recruiting troops was imminent.

Lin Yuan took a deep breath, but those he weren’t unsure of their origins, he didn’t dare to let them in.

Even if Chen Baisong had such a close relationship with the original owner, Lin Yuan didn’t completely trust him either.

Ah……he was truly close to going crazy.

Lin Yuan turned his head and looked at Er Liang who was cleaning up the house, staring in a daze. Er Liang felt that there was a line of sight focused on him from behind, the gaze causing his whole body to go numb. Turning around, he found that his young master was looking at him intently, and asked uncomfortably: “Young master? What are you doing looking at me? What, what is it?”

Lin Yuan sighed.

Er Liang became more nervous: “Did something happen? Young master, don’t not say anything, it’s scary.”

Lin Yuan: “Say, if I think less, will it be easier?”

Er Liang knew that this was his young master once again being peculiar. He picked up the rag and continued to wipe the dust. While wiping, he said, “Young master, you are now responsible for a big farmstead of people, if you think less you will be feeling easier, but if something happens you will not be feeling easy. “

Lin Yuan continued to sigh: “What you said makes sense.”

Er Liang: “Young master, if you have time to think about this, you might as well think about what to eat tomorrow.”

Lin Yuan waved his hand: “Anyway, it has been the same every day recently, so I don’t have to think about it.”

Er Liang: “Young master, why don’t you think about your life’s major event?”

Lin Yuan didn’t react for a while: “What major event? Life’s major event?”

Er Liang sighed: “You are already at this age, if it was still like before, I should have seen your son by now.”

Lin Yuan: “……”

Er Liang blabbered: “Master is also talking about this recently. It is a pity that this place is too remote to find a lady that matches your status. It is better to arrange two tongfang (TN: a servant girl who is actually a concubine as well) for you first.”

Lin Yuan’s face blushed instantly, he turned his head and said, “This……”

Er Liang winked and said, “Young master, this is just the ways of men.”

Lin Yuan stretched out his hand and pushed Er Liang’s head away: “Speak if you must speak, don’t get so close.”

“Forget it.” After careful consideration, Lin Yuan rejected the proposal.

Although it was a servant girl who take on concubine duties if needed, in the eyes of a modern-educated person like Lin Yuan, this was actually no different from his wife who does housework for him and have his children.

Although she would not be a wife in legal terms, Lin Yuan still can’t overcome this hurdle.

Besides, what should he do when he gets married and finds a wife?

Have several women live under one roof?

He felt that he probably didn’t have the skills of Long Aotian (TN: archetype in c-webnovels where the male MC travels back in time and finds himself a harem of women), when the time came he would definitely be surrounded by ‘enemies’ from all sides. If there was an additional battle between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, he can just say goodbye early.

Er Liang can’t believe it: “Young master, forget it? But you are seventeen now?”

Lin Yuan became angry with embarrassment: “Er Liang, if you want yourself then go tell that to my father, anyway, I can’t, and if you ask me again, I will punish you to clean the toilet bucket.”

Er Liang closed his mouth, stretched out his hands, and made a gesture of squeezing his mouth close.

“Speaking of toilet buckets……” Lin Yuan’s thoughts were taken astray, “I think the farmstead really needs a public toilet, and it can even be used to accumulate fertilizer.”

Although the people in the farmstead also save fertilizer on their own, in fact, most of them still go to the woods to do their business.

Er Liang heard Lin Yuan mention fertilizer, and his whole person felt strange, his expression difficult to put in words.

He didn’t even know who told the young master about fertilizer.

Hearing the young master mentioning compost seriously, his three views were shocked.

In the eyes of Er Liang, his young master shouldn’t know these things.

Lin Yuan: “What is your expression?”

Er Liang sniffed: “Young master, Er Liang did not take care of you good enough!”

Lin Yuan: “……”

After listening to Er Liang’s explanation, Lin Yuan was deeply impressed by Er Liang’s brain circuit.

But the matter of creating a public toilet cannot be forgotten.

Lin Yuan immediately summoned some people and started digging the public toilet. The public toilet was also simple. He followed the same structure as the modern farm toilet in the 1960s and 1970s. Dig a deep hole and cover it with two thick boards. If you are afraid of falling, you can use bricks to line it instead.

As soon as Lin Yuan gave the order, the people in the farmstead started to work in full swing.

After all, good work meant meat to eat.

Although——everyone thought digging a toilet was unnecessary.

But it was not called just a toilet, but a public toilet now.

“The Boss is truly extraordinary, there are actually special ways to shit.”

“That’s right, I used to think that it was already good if you had a toilet bucket like those landowning lords, but I didn’t expect that we are now actually building a special house for shitting, and have to dig such a deep hole.”

“I heard that a bucket of water must be placed outside, and you have to wash your hands after finishing.”

“Boss also had people go find a recipe for making paper, papers for wiping the butt.”

“Ai, no wonder he is the Boss, even the butt is more noble and high-born than ordinary people. Like us, aren’t we just fine with wiping with a leaf?”

“I heard that the lords all use silk and satin to wipe at their butts.”

“……Those lords who wipe their butts just once and it is more valuable than us wiping our whole life.”

Everyone reached an agreement and felt that the butts of the lords were all valuable butts.

The toilet was made very quickly. Two toilets were finished in two to three days, one for men and one for women. Lin Yuan also drew signs outside because everyone was illiterate. In order for them not to go to the wrong toilet, Lin Yuan drew a hoe for the men’s bathroom and a flower for the women’s bathroom.

This way it will be made clear.

As for drawing skirts and pants——at this age, men also wear skirts.

Although it cannot be called a skirt strictly speaking.

Lin Yuan naturally didn’t know that his butt was very valuable. He only knew that it would be much more convenient after having a public toilet. At least there was no need to worry about walking in the farmstead and accidentally stepping into a pit, only to discover ‘gold’ had been buried in the pit.

Now many people have to be supervised to make sure they use the toilets as many people don’t bother to take the few steps to the toilet at night.

Later, Lin Yuan had no choice but to come up with a method where they supervise on each other.

If they reported on someone not using the toilets as they should the reporter would be rewarded a piece of smoked meat, while the one reported on will have to eat one less meal the next day.

Once the punishment measures and incentive measures came out everyday there were people being reported.

It was busy for a few days at first, but then some people suffered, and some people benefited, so they now all go to use the public toilet obediently.

Now that the rectification had begun, Lin Yuan decided to rectify everything that can be rectified in one go.

For example, no drinking raw water, they can go to the cafeteria to drink the water every day.

No throwing things casually. The garbage must be gathered and they must take it a little further away to bury them.

Fortunately, having had the experience of the public toilets, the following rules were implemented very quickly, and the people in the farmstead have no more complaints or adverse reactions.

Lin Yuan was relieved and gave himself a like in his heart.

After having no other ideas to implement, Lin Yuan began to think once again about how to recruit soldiers and buy horses every day.

Maybe he should……just go raid some bandit villas?

After all, they had a little experience in raiding, and they had figured out how to rehabilitate the people who were captured back.

Or go to find the poor who have nowhere to go?

They can discuss it after Zhu Yuanzhang and brother Dao come back.