It's broken, and was picked up by a femme fatale

Although Shen Beixuan's explanation of the cause and effect was quite convincing,
After hearing this, Judy still found it unbelievable.
However, without evidence, I can only bury my doubts deep in my heart.

"Well, now that you're back safely,
Just have a good rest! I have something else to do...bye!"

Days are like flowing water, flowing along in the changing time...

Zhu Yingjun continued to recruit soldiers and spent a lot of money to buy foreign guns.

The Zhu family's power was further enhanced, becoming the second largest entity in Qilabang after the government.
Under pressure from the Zhu family,
The three Zhang heroes and the Li couple finally put aside their prejudices and formed an alliance to fight against the unfavorable situation.

The leader of the state who occupies the core position adopts an ambiguous attitude to maintain the balance between the north and the south.
Facing the first snow of winter, the Shen family moved back to Chihe Village from Zhuxiantai.

Judy spent money to build three large tiled houses on the original site of the Shen family.
The front and back yards were also expanded, and the front yard was smoothed with cement, so it can be used as a drying yard, which is very convenient.

The Shen family courtyard has become the most beautiful scenery in their village.

In winter, Shen Beixuan couldn't go fishing like he did in summer.
He is studying coal recently... Dushan Town has rich coal and iron resources.

However, due to its remote location and difficult transportation,

Therefore, the prices of various minerals are relatively high.
Winter is coming, snowflakes are whistling along with the north wind,

The five-month-long winter has caused the prices of various fuels in Qilabang to rise rapidly, and the people are welcoming the increase!
One hundred kilograms of coal can be bought for twenty cents in Dushan Town.
The price at Sanchapu was 40 wen, but when it arrived at Bangcheng, it became 50 wen.
In an era without large trucks and roads, the pure labor cost was naturally not cheap.

Of course, the rich can afford it no matter how expensive it is.

The poor and destitute people at the bottom of society can only sing the "Douluoluo Song" in the cold wind.

Why did Lu Yuan study coal?

By chance, he saw many children from poor families picking up coal cores at the doorsteps of rich people's homes every morning.

Some people may not know what "coal core" is.
In this era, the rich burn coal by grinding it into powder and then adding water.

Make small briquettes, dry them and store them for use whenever you want.

Because solid coal briquettes are often not burned through, the center of about one-fifth is still useful.
The rich don't care and just throw it away, but the poor see it as a good fuel that can turn waste into treasure.
This scene is like triggering some kind of memory switch.
Lu Yuan immediately recalled the original world.

When I was young, my family used a coal stove to burn honeycomb coal.

Lu Yuan remembered clearly that honeycomb coal could burn 100%.

Moreover, the combustion heat value is 40% higher than that of solid coal balls.
The most important thing is that one third of the honeycomb coal is mixed with yellow mud.
The ground was covered with yellow mud, and it was like picking up mud for free with just a few cents.
Sell ​​10,000 jin of honeycomb coal,
At the very least, I could earn three thousand kilograms of coal for free.
This is real huge profits!

Well, let’s stop being a stinky fish seller and become the “honeycomb coal king” to make a fortune!
Lu Yuan did what he said, and carried 100 kilograms of coal home from Sanchapu without spending any money...

why?
Because the coal business has been monopolized by the Zhu family,
Judy, the boss of Sanchapu, felt that it was too embarrassing to accept dozens of cents from a "good friend"!
Just as Lu Yuan picked up the loess and was tinkering with the "honeycomb coal" in the yard,

Neighbors who were already off work during the farming season came rushing to see the "new" things.

"Xuan Zi, coal, soil, wood and iron sheets, what are you doing with this?"

"Aunt San, I'll make the coal stove and honeycomb coal..."

"Coal stove? Honeycomb coal? What's it for?"

"With a coal stove and honeycomb coal, you can cook rice, stir-fry vegetables, and boil water..."

"What? You don't use a clay stove at home?"

"Yes, but this is more convenient, and there's no need for smoke or fire..."

Someone else laughed and said, "Brother Xuanzi is a rich man and lives in a big tiled house, which is different from us!"

Lu Yuan looked at it and smiled:

"Mantun, when I asked you to catch fish and sell them for money, you refused.
You are ashamed to say such weird things now?"

Mantun's surname is Zhao, he is seventeen years old.

Two years younger than Lu Yuan, and a little smaller in stature, he is considered the strong laborer in the family.

In the summer, I was busy working in the fields.

His father also said that Lu Yuan was not doing the right thing, so he did not work with Lu Yuan to earn extra money.

Now, seeing that Lu Yuan's family is living a better life, it would be a lie to say that I don't regret it.

"Brother Xuanzi, I didn't say anything weird.

I really think you are quite capable...but it's too cold to go swimming now.
Otherwise, I will definitely help you!"

Lu Yuan said with a smile:
"It's not too late now. If you really want to help,
You just break up the mud and coal... and I'll treat you to a drink at noon!"

I have nothing to do, and I heard there is some wine to drink.

Zhao Mantun acted as a "human grinder", smashing the coal and mud with a piece of bluestone.

After a while, he asked, "Brother Xuanzi, what did it look like?"

"Smash it into powder."

"what!"

"If you don't want to, just pretend I didn't say anything!"

"Don't! I can smash it!"

"Hangchi, bangchi!"

Zhao Mantun started to work diligently. Farmers are the kind of people who never cheat or slack off.

Lu Yuan took a pair of large scissors, a hammer and wire, hammering and hitting.
Father and Mother Shen were pickling vegetables in the backyard.
There are no green leafy vegetables to eat in winter, so we have to survive on cabbage, radishes and pickled vegetables.

In fact, Lu Yuan had also thought about building a greenhouse.

Unfortunately, I didn't have enough money and no plastic film.
I can grow mushrooms in a large sealed pot covered with straw, but I don’t have anywhere to buy mushroom spawn…

He was not very knowledgeable about spore crops, and when he arrived in this world, he returned Shennong to the system.
Lu Yuan can only rely on the most primitive memory.
Groping forward, alas, I can only take one step at a time!

Suddenly, someone asked, "Hey! Brother Xuanzi, what are you doing?"

As soon as Lu Yuan raised his head, Mantun responded enthusiastically:

"Xiuniang is here. Brother Xuanzi wants to make a coal stove and honeycomb coal for cooking. I'm helping him smash the mud!"

Sun Xiuniang, the same age as Mantun, is diligent both inside and outside the house.
In fact, Shen Beixuan and Mantun both liked Xiuniang at the beginning.
However, the Sun family disliked Shen Beixuan's dishonesty and would never agree.

However, Sun Xiuniang did not like the simple-minded Zhao Mantun.
This triangular relationship is still entangled.

But then again, in the past six months,
The villagers have witnessed Shen Beixuan's great transformation.

Who wouldn’t drool at the sight of three brand new tiled houses?

Moreover, the relationship between the Shen family and the old Zhu family had long been known throughout the area.
So, when the Shen family came back,

Sun's parents urged their daughter to come and keep in touch with him whenever she had time.

In fact, Sun Xiuniang had always liked Shen Beixuan.
But, my parents bullied each other a lot in the past.

Now that he is rich and successful, I don’t know if he will still like me.

"Oh, I see……"

Although Sun Xiuniang agreed with Mantun's words,

But his eyes were always on Shen Beixuan, paying attention to the changes in his expression.

Lu Yuan's memory naturally includes fragments about Xiuniang.

There is even a scene where the two of them secretly hold hands.
He smiled and said heartily:

"Sister Xiu Niang, don't stand outside.

Come in and sit down...it's just that the yard is a bit messy..."

Sun Xiuniang was delighted and immediately responded with a smile:

"I don't have anything to do either, so I can help clean up..."

With Xiuniang's joining, the Shen family yard became lively.
Mantun would occasionally try to strike up a conversation.
While dealing with Mantun, Xiuniang sought answers from Shen Beixuan.
Shen Beixuan directed the two people in an orderly manner and worked together.

One is for smashing, the other is for sieving, the coal and soil are divided into 70% and 30% respectively.

Gradually, Lu Yuan finished the frame and iron sheet of the coal stove according to the blueprint.

He made a pile of soil, water and mud.

Zhao Mantun looked very strange.
"Brother Xuanzi, what are you doing again?"

"Well, this is used to make the furnace core, it doesn't need to be so thin..."

The sample coal stove does not need to be so delicate, just rub it by hand.
In a short while, a cylindrical clay furnace core was made.

Lu Yuan used a ruler to measure the inner and outer diameters, and they were just OK.
So I plugged in the bottom grid and left it aside to dry.
The key to making honeycomb briquettes is a single portable briquette machine.

Lu Yuan had seen a triple-loaded coal briquette machine before, but it was too troublesome, so the simpler the traditional method, the better.

Originally, the briquette machine should be made of cast iron.

However, Lu Yuan only made one out of wood for temporary use. Once it was successful, he would mass-produce it out of cast iron.

"Ping ping pong pong!"

With the help of Sun Xiuniang, they chopped with axes and cut with knives, and hammered with nails...

Ding ding ding, the wooden briquettes machine is fresh out of the oven!

Seeing that the coal and yellow mud were almost the same, they began to mix them evenly.

Zhao Mantun asked doubtfully:

"Brother Xuanzi, this coal is mixed with mud, can it be lit?"

Sun Xiuniang was also a little worried. In this world, she had never heard of using mud to make fire.
Lu Yuan smiled mysteriously: "Wait a minute, I'll let you witness a miracle!"

Feeling that the wetness and viscosity were about the same, he took out the coal briquette machine and inserted it straight into the coal mud pile until it reached the bottom.

Then he ground it and put it on the open space beside.

Lu Yuan held the handle with both hands and pressed the protruding wooden pole in the middle with his thumb.

As the coal briquette machine gradually rose, a black cylindrical coal briquette appeared before everyone's eyes.
Mantun stuck out his tongue.

Wow, this honeycomb coal is really big, three or four times bigger than small coal balls... Who can afford it?

Sun Xiuniang was more careful and saw that there were ten round holes neatly arranged in the order of "three, four, three" on the coal briquettes.
"Brother Xuanzi, there's a hole on it...what's going on?"

Lu Yuan couldn't help laughing:
"It is easier to burn because it has holes in it, otherwise why is it called 'honeycomb coal'?

Think about it, isn't that beehive full of holes?"

"Oh, I thought so! So that's what's going on! Now, can we burn it?"

Lu Yuan shook his head while making the second coal ball.
"The coal briquettes are still wet and won't light up. We need to dry them out first...

The coal stove has to dry out anyway, so it will be almost done by the afternoon!"

Lu Yuan worked faster and faster, and in the blink of an eye, he had already done more than a dozen.
Zhao Mantun thought it was fun and offered to make the briquettes.

Lu Yuan didn't care, he was happy to be free.

He handed the briquette machine to the other party and explained a few operating points.

"Okay, I've remembered it all!
Brother Xuanzi, just wait and see, I will definitely do it faster than you!"

However, the more this guy wanted to show off in front of Xiuniang, the worse the result was.

The coal briquettes are either crooked or short.

What’s amazing is that each coal ball is of a different height. I really don’t know how he did it!
Anyway, compared with the neat and tidy coal briquettes made by Lu Yuan,
It's like the difference between an oil painting master and a child's graffiti.

This scene made the villagers who were watching laugh so hard that they fell backwards and pointed and talked.

Zhao Mantun was at an age where he had to save face, so he couldn't save face at that time.
He said the briquette machine was broken and not working well.

Sun Xiuniang said, let her try.

Anyway, making a few coal balls doesn't take much effort.
Zhao Mantun said: "Don't disbelieve it, it's really broken...Okay, if you want to try it, then try it!"

As a result... the coal briquettes made by Sun Xiuniang were naturally the same as those made by Lu Yuan, full and thick, and comfortable to look at.
Now, Zhao Mantun was speechless and stared at the coal briquettes he had made, puzzled.

He couldn't say that Brother Xuanzi was partial, because the other party didn't secretly teach the embroidery girl tricks.

Ugh!
What the hell is going on here?

After a busy morning, Shen Niang went to the front yard to invite people to have lunch.
Sun Xiuniang was a little shy and said:
"Brother Xuanzi, I'll go back to my room and have a good meal, then I'll come back to help you make honeycomb coal..."

Lu Yuan smiled and said, "What are you going to do when you get home? Just eat at my house..."

"Isn't this bad?"

"Hey! You've been helping me with work all morning, so what's wrong with having a meal?
Now that you are at my house, just listen to me. Let’s go to the backyard and wash our hands…”

While eating, Sun Xiuniang saw Shen Danfeng and asked curiously:

"Xiao Feng, are you at home? Why didn't I see you all morning?"

Shen Danfeng sighed:

"Don't mention it! I have to memorize the text and practice calligraphy.
My brother said that I wouldn’t be allowed to eat until I finished copying… I still feel dizzy now!”

Lu Yuan looked at the stack of papers.
It says "big and small, sun and moon, sky, mountains and rivers, spring, summer, autumn and winter..."

"Hmm! The stroke of the word 'big'
There is also progress in the above points about 'light' and 'flow'. Keep it up! "

Shen Danfeng felt relieved and took the paper back to the backyard room.
He rushed over again: "Hurry up and eat, I'm starving!"

A half-grown woman, eating me out of poverty...

In fact, it is used to describe the development stage of young people, when their metabolism is extremely fast!

In the living room, four children each sat on one side.
Three dishes and one soup, steamed salted fish, cabbage stewed with tofu, stir-fried shredded radish with spicy sauce, and a pot of kelp and egg drop soup,

The portions are generous, and each dish is rich in oil.

Shen Niang usually eats in the kitchen, while Shen Dad likes to eat squatting on the steps at the door.

Shen Beixuan keeps his word.
He took out the ten-jin jar of old wine that Judy had sent him and poured a big bowl for himself and his brother Mantun.

The taste of the old wine was so rich and fragrant that Zhao Mantun was craving for it.

"Suck it!"

He couldn't help but take a sip.
Squinting his eyes, he raised his thumb after a while and praised it profusely.

"What a nice smell! Great wine!"

Lu Yuan put down the wine jar and said with a smile:

"Nonsense! Treat your brothers, can I give you bad wine?
Come on, brothers, let’s have a bite!”

So the two of them ate, drank, talked and laughed, and the atmosphere was very harmonious.

Shen Danfeng ate until she was about 80% full, scooped up a bowl of egg drop soup, and drank it slowly.

Suddenly, she asked, "Brother, can this thing at the door really make money?"

"Shh!"

Zhao Mantun and Sun Xiuniang all looked at Shen Beixuan.
what?
You actually use this thing to make money?

Lu Yuan smiled and said, "It's about right.
If you can’t sell fish, you have to find a way to make money…”

Now, in Chihe Village, only Shen Beixuan has seen the world, so what he says is more reliable.
Zhao Mantun immediately said: "Brother Xuanzi, can you take me with you?"

Having missed the opportunity to sell fish, he doesn't want to miss the honeycomb briquettes business opportunity!
Xiuniang asked tentatively: "How do you make money?"

Lu Yuan took a sip of wine and said with a smile:

"It's very simple. Buy low and sell high. We act as the middleman and make the profit from the difference!"

The three young men stared at each other in confusion.

"Brother Xuanzi, why do you sound like a profiteer..." (End of this chapter)