CH 47

The cold wind was biting, and Yu Dameng washed up and brought some hot water back to the room from the kitchen.

As the days grew colder, it became increasingly difficult for his little husband to get out of bed in the mornings. Seeing Qiao Yuan struggling under the covers, Yu Dameng’s eyes crinkled with amusement. “It’s windy outside. Wash up in the room.”

Qiao Yuan grumbled and wrapped himself in a blanket as he crawled onto Yu Dameng, who was sitting on the edge of the bed. “I don’t want to get up.”

On normal days he would laze in bed and sleep in, but today he couldn’t.

The fifteenth day of the month was the big market day, and it was the day Qiao Yuan planned to sell stoves and honeycomb coals. He had to prepare early.

Although they had lit the stove at night, the fire had died out by morning. Concerned that his husband would catch a chill, Yu Dameng didn’t let him move and tucked the blankets more snugly around him. “It’s still early, sleep a while longer.”

Qiao Yuan loved it when Yu Dameng showed these small caring gestures. His eyes unconsciously curved into crescents as he teased, “You care about me so much?”

Yu Dameng was not good at speaking sweet words and his mouth was clumsy. He hid his care and love in the details and was very subtle. But Qiao Yuan was different, he always spoke so straightforwardly and asked directly. Yu Dameng could not resist and his ears turned red. He softly responded, “Mm.”

Qiao Yuan was overjoyed. He nestled against Yu Dameng and exclaimed loudly, “I want to go eat Grandma Niu’s head pot grit1头锅糁 (tóu guō sǎn) – head pot grit, 头锅 – “Head pot” – Refers to the first batch of broth in the pot!”

This soup was made with beef bones, chicken, wheat, flour and various seasonings, through several processes. The soup was thick and rich, spicy and fragrant. The first batch from the pot was always the best. A bowl on a cold winter’s day warmed you thoroughly.

Qiao Yuan had been craving for a long time, but several times Yu Dameng wanted to go out early to buy, he did not allow it, saying that it would not be warm without him in the bed.

However, it was too late to get the head pot now.

“If you want the head pot, you have to come right when the curfew is lifted in at the hour of the tiger2寅时 (yín shí) | 3 am to 5 am | tiger!” Granny Niu said with a laugh. Since buying the scraping and peeling tools from the Yu family’s iron shop, she saved at least a quarter of an hour every day and save energy.

She felt grateful and had a good impression of the cheerful and straightforward Qiao Yuan, so she deliberately sprinkled a lot of shredded chicken for him.

Qiao Yuan calculated that the hour of the tiger was equivalent to 3am in the morning, and he immediately dismissed the idea of having the head pot grit for breakfast.

Sleeping in was more important!

Though it was not the head pot, the taste was not bad either! The bone soup was rich and savory, spicy and fragrant. Qiao Yuan ate it with fried dough sticks and drank two big bowls.

“I’ll bring some for father and mother later.”

Yu Dameng nodded, but in his heart he was determined to let his little husband have the head pot tomorrow.

At this moment, just by looking at the number of pedestrians on the road, one could see how lively Yunshui county town was today.

At this time of year, most farmers had no work to do and had a lot of free time at home. Therefore, when there was a rare opportunity for excitement, they all came out to the streets, even if they could not withstand the cold wind.

People came and went. The rich gathered money and bought things everywhere, while the poor gathered people and enjoyed the sights.

Qiao Yuan had specially invited an acrobatic troupe to perform at the entrance of the iron shop. Now that one round of performance was over, it had attracted quite a crowd.

“Hello everyone, fellow villagers and elders. Today Yu’s iron shop is launching a new product. Please note, the first two hundred people who come in today to try this new product will get a two-wen voucher for Yu Qiao Ji.”

“Those who order now will enjoy five percent discount!”

The lively crowd immediately asked, “What is this new product exactly?”

Qiao Yuan smiled mysteriously, “It’s a new type of stove!”

“It has three benefits. First, this stove can be placed in the house for heating, and it can warm up a whole room without choking people; second, this stove can boil water and cook, saving the firewood for three meals a day in winter; third, if paired with our honeycomb coals, although the heating is slightly inferior to burning coal, but it can save half of the money spent on coal in a month.”

As soon as these words came out, the crowd was like a boiling pot, “Is this a lie? Is there such a good thing in the world?”

“That’s right, there’s no such thing as coal that doesn’t make you choke!”

“But that’s the owner of Yu Qiao Ji, he wouldn’t be telling lies to deceive people, would he?”

Qiao Yuan smiled and gestured with a bow, “Seeing is believing. Would you all like to follow me and take a look?”

“Let’s go, let’s go!” The curiosity of the crowd was aroused, and they had no mind to care about the two-wen voucher at the moment.

Qiao Yuan had asked Zheng Xin to clear out two empty rooms in the iron shop in advance. The one on the east side had a coal-burning stove, which was very hot at the moment. As soon as people entered, they felt a bit overheated.

Before Qiao Yuan could introduce anything, the people had already figured it out for themselves. “This pipe directly vents the smoke outside, and the room is indeed not choking.”

“A small iron pot or a kettle is just right to put on this stove, which can be used for both heating and boiling water without delay, and also saves firewood.”

“This stove is warm, but if you use it at home, you just need a bit of warmth, you don’t have to put so much coal.”

Everyone discussed animatedly until finally someone asked the question on everyone’s mind. “Boss Qiao, how much does this stove cost?”

As soon as these words were spoken, the room fell silent, and only the clear voice of Qiao Yuan could be heard, “The price is one and a half taels, which includes delivery and installation.”

The crowd gasped. That was too expensive!

But thinking about it, a kitchen knife weighing six liang31 jin = 10 liang = 500 grams = 1.10 pound; 1 liang = 50 grams = 1.76 ounce would cost thirty wen, this stove must weigh at least twenty jin, plus the complex workmanship, this price was not really exaggerated.

The people had different thoughts, those who couldn’t afford it at all just watched the excitement and learned something new, those who were tempted hesitated, and those who had some money made up their minds to buy it.

Suddenly someone remembered, “Where can we find the honeycomb coal that can save half of our coal expenses?”

At this, those originally hesitating seemed to glimpse a ray of light. Their eyes shone as they stared fixedly at Qiao Yuan. If it could save half the coal money, after saving up over two winters, the cost of the stove would be recovered.

Qiao Yuan always kept a smile on his face, “Then please follow me to the west room and take a look.”

At first glance, the stove in the west room was no different from the one in the east room. Perhaps it was because there were many people in the room, and they had just come from the east room. The people didn’t even feel that the heating was worse than the east room.

Qiao Yuan asked Zheng Xin to open the lid of the stove mouth and explained to everyone, “This honeycomb coal-burning stove is actually different from the one in the east room by having an inner liner. This inner liner can be removed. If you want to burn coal and firewood, just take it off. If you want to burn honeycomb coal, you need to put it on.”

The quick-witted person said, “No wonder it’s called honeycomb coal, it has holes all over it. Does it burn well?”

Qiao Yuan patiently explained, “We have tried it. If you put three coals at a time, and open the air vent fully, it can burn for two hours. If you open the air vent halfway, it can burn for three hours. If you open it slightly, it can last even longer. But of course, the heating is not as good as fully open.”

The people understood this logic, and couldn’t help but ask, “How much is the honeycomb coal?”

“One honeycomb coal sells for eight fen, and we deliver to your door. You can calculate the cost according to your own heating situation in winter. Ordinary households can save some, and they need to burn about eight pieces a day, which is six wen and four fen. If you burn charcoal, it would cost much more than that a day.”

Some people, after experiencing the benefits of this new stove without worrying about money, placed an order on the spot. Some people hesitated but eventually bit the bullet and bought it. Some people were tempted but wanted to continue observing how others were using it before making a decision.

However, despite this, after a few days, the orders in the store were booked until the end of the year, and those who came later could not make a reservation and could only book for next year in advance.

……

A craze swept through Yunshui county town.

Recently, whenever people saw someone from Yu’s iron shop going to install a stove on the street, a large crowd of people would follow to watch. The homeowners felt proud and most of them gladly gave permission.

This made the good reputation of the new stove spread even wider, and almost everyone in Yunshui County knew that the Yu’s iron shop had created a new stove that not only provided good heating but also saved money.

The market was in short supply, which gave rise to second-hand dealers. Several other iron shops also claimed that they could make this new type of stove, and the price was even lower than Yu’s iron shop.

Those who had money and wanted to use it right away were snatched away by these shops. Those who could barely afford it felt that this thing was made by Yu’s iron shop, and theirs was better. Most of them were patient and waited.

Qiao Yuan had no way to deal with this. It was not easy to crack down on piracy throughout history, let alone he was just picking up other people’s wisdom.

Yu Dameng had a big heart, and he devoted his mind to improving the stove every day. Old Man Yu was resentful for two days, and he dragged Yu Dameng to work in the shop at night, wanting to make more stoves.

This had gone on for just two days before Qiao Yuan put a stop to it!

He didn’t want his man to suffer!

“There’s no end to making money,” Qiao Yuan nagged as he helped Yu Dameng take off his dirty clothes.

Yu Dameng looked silly with a dirty face at the moment, but when he smiled, he revealed a set of big white teeth and said, “I’m not tired.”

“Hmph!” Qiao Yuan pouted, “You don’t know how to take care of yourself when you’re young. You’ll get sick when you’re old. I won’t take care of you then!”

Yu Dameng knew that his husband cared about him. His eyes were bright and shiny. He wanted to hug his husband in his arms at the moment. But he was dirty, and his husband was fragrant. He didn’t dare to move, so he just stole a kiss on Qiao Yuan’s face, and said pleasingly, “Don’t be angry, I’ll pay attention from now on.”

Qiao Yuan felt sweet in his heart, but he pushed Yu Dameng into the bathtub with disgust, “If you don’t clean up, don’t even think about getting on my bed!”

The two of them had a sweet and harmonious life, while chaos descended on the Qiao household.

“We can barely afford to eat, and you still drink all day!” Xu Xiuhua’s hair was messy, and she looked very haggard. It was because Qiao Guangzhi had been drinking heavily all day since he was fired from the dock, and he didn’t even leave the house.

Qiao Guangzhi looked at her coldly and drank another cup of wine, without saying a word.

Xu Xiuhua swept the floor and continued to nag, “Your mother has gone to enjoy herself, and doesn’t care about us anymore!”

She was angrier as she thought of how she had given Qiao Yuan a bad face when he came back, and how Qiao Guangzhi had scolded her when he came home, “You still blame me for not giving that little bitch a good face, isn’t that little bitch very capable now? How come he doesn’t help you when you are like this?”

Qiao Guangzhi looked at Xu Xiuhua with a cold expression, and Xu Xiuhua was frightened. She threw down the broom and ran out, but it was too late. Soon, her cries and screams rang out from the room.

Qiao Liye cowardly stayed in the room reading and didn’t dare to move. Qiao Lifan cried and protested as he stepped forward to protect Xu Xiuhua, but he also got beaten up.

Only Qiao Yingying watched the whole process with a cold eye. She knew that there was no hope for this family, and she only hoped that her brother Wensheng was reliable.

I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. If you want to show your support, you can buy me a coffee. It would make my day! For every five coffees I get, I will release a bonus chapter.