Happy Little Scholar

Lao Fang felt that the money earned by lying in bed was not peaceful, but Li Yi disagreed.

It was a skill to make money by lying in bed. With Lao Fang's physique, he would definitely have a bright future in this line of work. Although compared with later generations, the overall atmosphere of society today is conservative, as long as he stood on the street with a sign, he would definitely attract many lonely ladies who would send their maids to secretly give him invitations...

Finally, I know why Lao Fang has been depressed these days.

It's just because he's idle.

"Do you know why you don't feel at ease with this money?" Li Yi asked him.

Lao Fang looked up at Li Yi, his face confused.

"Have you seen the second uncle sitting outside under the tree and taking a nap for a whole day?" Li Yi asked him.

Lao Fang nodded. These days, he would occasionally sit under the tree. The second uncle would nap for a whole day, and he would stay for a whole day.

But why did the son-in-law ask him this?

"Have you seen the Xu family's sister-in-law carrying candied haws and going out early and coming back late every day?" Li Yi continued to ask.

Lao Fang nodded again. Although Ruyi Lu made more profit, some women were bored at home and would go out to sell candied haws every day without interruption.

"Have you ever seen the sun rise from the east roof and set from the west roof?" Li Yi asked at last.

The expression on Lao Fang's face became more puzzled. He didn't know why the son-in-law asked these questions, but he nodded mechanically.

"That's your problem." Li Yi threw the bag of silver to him and said, "Why are you looking around all day without working hard? Take the silver back and call a few people over later. There will be work. Don't think about being idle in the future..."

Li Yi realized that not everyone can be as idle as he is. People like Lao Fang need to find something to do to live in peace.

The closer it gets to the end of the year, the colder the weather becomes. Even if the stove is lit in the room, it is still too cold to stretch out your hands. He plans to build a kang in the kitchen.

Almost every household in the northern rural areas has this thing. It is usually connected to the bottom of the stove. There is no need to add firewood to the fire. The heat generated by cooking every day is enough to keep warm for the whole day. If there is no temperature before going to bed at night, grandma will bring a pile of firewood, straw or corn stalks from outside, and it will become warm in a few minutes.

Because of this thing, when I lived in the countryside when I was a child, I never worried about heating in winter. I stayed on the kang for a whole winter, eating and sleeping on it. This situation continued until I graduated from elementary school. Since I went to middle school and moved from the countryside to the city, I have never slept on the kang again.

There is nothing to do in the winter, so the family sits on the kang and plays cards to kill time.

Lao Fang brought people over soon. There are now more than a dozen families living in the village. They all stick together in times of crisis. Li Yi did not treat them badly. The profits of Ruyi Lu have long been divided among them, and recently each family has been raised a little bit.

These men have been idle these days. After moving out of the village, they have nothing to do. Candied haws is now a small business. The wives and relatives of the family are doing it. It is not good for grown men to get involved. It is not a man's job to take care of children at home. Lao Fang just said that his son-in-law has something to do, and they all came over.

It's just a kang, two or three people are enough. With the labor of Lao Fang and his men, they can make it within today. More than a dozen people gathered together, and the kitchen can't accommodate them.

Including Lao Fang, five people were left here, and the others went back with regret. Fortunately, Lao Fang and his men discussed whether they could change before leaving, but Lao Fang flatly refused.

"Son-in-law, tell me, what are you going to do this time?" Lao Fang rolled up his sleeves. At this time, even if Li Yi asked him to go through fire and water and take a kitchen knife to chop people on the street, he would probably do it.

There is something to do, the money is safe, the knot is untied, and Lao Fang is resurrected on the spot.

After learning that the six grown men were busy in the kitchen, Lao Fang's excitement obviously weakened. He thought they were going to do something big, but he found that the gap between ideal and reality was too big.

Two people went outside to buy bricks and stones, and the rest of the people dismantled the original stove, and the stove also had to be modified. The stove at that time was not easy to burn. Xiaohuan was often seen choking in the kitchen and crying. She couldn't light the fire because the ventilation was not good. When burning the fire, she couldn't leave someone beside her. She had to pull the bellows beside her all the time, which was creaking and very laborious.

When Li Yi was a child, the stove at home was also like this. His favorite thing to do was to run to the stove to help his grandmother add firewood and pull the bellows when she was cooking. Later, when he built a new house and rebuilt the kitchen, he changed to a new stove promoted by the country. Without the bellows, the ventilation was better, the ignition was faster, and it was more material-saving. However, the feeling of pulling the bellows while smiling silly when he was a child could not be found again.

The kang had to be connected to the stove. At that time, the rural areas basically had such a structure. When he was a child, he saw craftsmen build this thing, but it was impossible for him to recall it completely now.

The blueprints had been found long ago. After Lao Fang and his team violently dismantled the stove and cleared out the garbage, his blueprints had already been drawn, with specific dimensions for each structure. This thing looks simple, but the dimensions cannot be wrong. If it is a little higher or lower, there will be problems.

"Son-in-law, what is this?" Lao Fang flipped the blueprint back and forth, but couldn't figure it out. He scratched his head and looked at Li Yi and asked.

"As long as you put this thing in your kitchen, Zhuzi won't cry out when he sleeps at night." After explaining too much to Lao Fang, he couldn't understand it. Li Yi said simply and straightforwardly.

"Okay, we'll do it tomorrow." Lao Fang has never doubted Li Yi's words. He heard from his uncle that lying on this thing is as warm as summer. It's quite beautiful to sleep on this kang with his mother-in-law and baby in his arms at night.

"Old Xu, we agreed to get this thing for my family tomorrow. Remember to come over and help. If your family wants to do it too, call me then." He patted the shoulder of a man next to him and said.

When he was dismantling the stove, he wiped the black dust with his hand. A big palm print immediately appeared on Lao Xu's coat. Lao Fang was kicked on the buttocks. The man cursed: "What a bastard! This My mother-in-law just washed it. It’s so cold that the clothes don’t dry well. You have to scold me again when you get back!”

Lao Fang patted his butt and was not angry. He said mockingly, "Your mother-in-law is used to it. If she dared to scold me, she would have slapped her away."

Old Xu laughed and said: "I don't know who was whipped by my mother-in-law with a broom in the yard yesterday and howled hard. By the way, who is Miss Xiaohong? Why have I never heard you mention it? When did we hook up? ?”

Lao Fang's face suddenly turned red as if he was about to bleed. In Lao Xu's proud eyes, he kicked him.

"Fang Laosan, do you still dare to take action?"

"Say that little red girl again and I'll beat you up!"

"Okay, I can't beat you. Now I'm going to ask your mother-in-law what's going on with Miss Xiaohong?" Lao Xu sneered and strode outside.

"..."

Lao Fang was stunned for a moment, his expression changed drastically, and he immediately chased after him, his voice reaching far away.

"Old Xu, Brother Xu, please don't. We brothers have something to talk about..."

Xiaohuan walked in from the outside mumbling, blinked at Li Yi with a pair of big eyes and asked, "Uncle, who is Miss Xiaohong?"

Before Li Yi could answer, he turned to his kitchen and found only a few familiar shadows. He was still fine in the morning, so he said in panic: "Why did our kitchen become like this!"