Watching her quickly disappearing figure, several people present looked at each other in blank dismay.
"I haven't seen a girl who can ride a horse so well."
Whereas Wang San'er and Wang Xiaosi were in a bit of a predicament.
How were they to get back after their mother had abandoned them here?
"Third young master, fourth young master," Zou the manager said, "I'll have someone drive a carriage to send you back."
"No need," Wang San'er waved his hand and said, "I'll drive the carriage."
"You?"
"What, you look down on me?" Wang San'er said, "I can even drive my big brother's oxcart well."
Upon hearing this, Zou's face was completely dumbfounded.
There was still a big difference between a carriage and an oxcart after all.
But Wang Xiaosan and Wang Xiaosi had already jumped onto the carriage, and familiarly pulled the reins. Fortunately, the temperament of this brown horse was quite docile. After Wang Xiaosan drove it around in circles on the spot, he actually managed to get it to pull the carriage onto the road smoothly.
The scene was not much different from a veteran coachman of many years.
"Like mother, like son indeed."
...
Li Yao rode her horse galloping all the way, and soon returned to River Bend Village.
Seeing her return valiantly on a white horse, the villagers were full of praise, and Da Zhuang and He Xiaoya hurriedly came up to meet her.
"Mother, is this our family's horse?"
"Yes."
Da Zhuang was overjoyed. Their family finally had a carriage, and going to the market and such would be so much more convenient!
Initially, he had chosen an ox over a horse because of the needs at the time, but he actually preferred horses.
A carriage was much faster than an oxcart, and few men could resist that.
"Mother, where are San'er and Xiaosi?" He Xiaoya asked.
"Left behind at the market."
He Xiaoya: ...
But it was alright. Those two young uncles were grown up, and Wang Xiaosi was cunning enough, so there probably wouldn't be any issues...right?
At noon, Wang San'er drove the carriage back, creaking and rattling.
Before even getting off, Wang San'er eagerly called out, "Big brother, I drove this carriage back myself! Aren't I awesome?"
"Awesome, awesome." Da Zhuang indulgently ruffled his clever younger brother's hair. His own mind wasn't bright, only able to help his mother with chores, but he was very proud of this clever younger brother, "Keep up the good work, you'll be even more awesome than big brother soon."
"Tired? Come drink some water, don't get thirsty." He Xiaoya also came over to say.
The corner of Li Yao's mouth twitched. This loving couple Da Zhuang and Xiaoya really pampered the few younger brothers too much.
"The wheels are rattling, need to add some oil." Da Zhuang said, "Xiaoya, go get some lard."
Watching Da Zhuang slowly add oil to the wheel axles, Li Yao was lost in thought.
In this era, it was too normal for carriage wheels to creak and rattle, it would be abnormal if they didn't make noise.
This was because there were no bearings.
Also, the wheels were made of wood, so they collided hard against the ground. Even with an excellent road surface, the vibration of the carriage was still intense.
Since she had time now, Li Yao decided to modify it a little.
"Xiaoya," Li Yao asked, "when do you plan to go back?"
"The eighth day of the twelfth lunar month I guess."
Only then did Li Yao remember that unknowingly today was already the first day of the twelfth lunar month. The Lunar New Year was approaching soon.
But there were still a few days until the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. She should be able to modify the carriage by then right?
To modify the carriage, she needed a blacksmith and a carpenter.
The carpenter was easy. Qiu the carpenter who built the beams for their home had excellent skills. But the blacksmith was a bit tricky.
After all, she wanted to make bearings, it wouldn't be possible without exquisite skills.
So she decided to gather all the blacksmiths nearby and have them forge something on site. Whoever did the best would become her personal blacksmith from then on.
Being used to her innovative ideas, Village Head Wang Jiafu directly brought over all the blacksmiths within dozens of miles. More than ten stoves were set up in the open space for everyone to compete on site.
A total of 11 blacksmiths gathered, all with weathered faces.
Villagers who came to watch the excitement also crowded around, craning their necks waiting for the good show to start.
"Same as agreed before," Wang Jiafu said, "whoever wins first place will be rewarded with 2 taels of silver. The rest will each receive 500 wen, and lunch will be provided later."
To earn 500 wen in half a day, there probably wouldn't be an opportunity this good anywhere else.
The 11 blacksmiths were itching to get started, their hammers already impatient.
"What do you want us to forge?"
At this time, Li Yao walked out with a wooden bead that Carpenter Qiu had made in her hand.
She had measured it. Although the precision didn't reach thread-level, the margin of error was definitely within 0.5 mm.
"Make an iron bead the same size as this wooden bead," Li Yao said, "No matter what methods or materials you use, make an iron bead the same size as this wooden bead before noon. Whoever's is the roundest, smoothest, and closest in size to the wooden bead wins."
They were all experienced blacksmiths, and knew this would not be easy.
But each craftsman had an unyielding spirit, and also for the reward of 2 taels of silver, everyone racked their brains to think of ways.
Soon everyone got to work. The basic approach was similar, first using the wooden bead as a mold, then pouring molten iron to obtain a rough spherical bead.
This step was simple. The difficulty was in controlling the size and roundness.
Relying only on simple tools and methods, these relatively experienced old blacksmiths were clearly at a loss. After grinding for about an hour, they were still far from a perfect sphere.
"What's so difficult about this?"
Just then, a voice came from the crowd.
Looking back, it was an unfamiliar face, with an ugly scar on his face, probably left behind after being scalded.
"Who are you?"
"Talking so casually, can you do it?"
"I really can do it," the stranger said, "just don't know if the host will give me the opportunity."
Upon hearing this, Li Yao hurried over and asked, "As long as you can do it, I can give you the same reward as them, and even give you an extra hour."
"No need for extra time," the stranger said, "but I have a request, I wonder if the host can agree to it."
Li Yao's eyebrows rose slightly. "Let's hear it."
"I'm also a blacksmith, but one who goes door to door in villages and towns, specializing in forging hoes, sickles and the like," the stranger said. "Although I can get by, after a long time, I also want to find a place to settle down. So I think if I can meet the host's requirements, I wonder if I could find a place to live in this village."
Li Yao found it a bit strange.
She knew of wandering doctors and wandering Taoists, but a wandering blacksmith...this was the first time she had heard of it.
Seeing his confident demeanor, he probably did have some skills. But whether this person could be used...
Hmm, better be more careful.
"Why do you wander? And why do you want to stay in my River Bend Village?" she asked.
"Wandering is to gain experience. As for wanting to settle down now, it's because my legs can't take it anymore." The stranger walked out of the crowd with a crutch, revealing half an empty pant leg. Turned out he was a cripple. "Your place here looks decent, and I know your family business is big, and you like to do some new things. I feel I can help."
Li Yao kept looking at his eyes. He also didn't seem to be lying.
His eyes were very calm, and his breathing steady.
Just standing there answering, his fingers didn't fidget at all.
She didn't immediately draw a conclusion, deciding to observe him a little longer.
