Don't farm, cultivate immortality!

"Speaking of which, how is Little Jasmine?" Zhuang Xing asked. "It's so lively this year, did she go to the temple fair too?"

Xiao Moli stayed on the mountain for more than two years. Although he sent Xiao Moli back home, he still regarded her as a distant cousin and cared about her.

“Sigh, I dare not take her there again.” Brother Wu shook his head. “She was kidnapped by thieves at the temple fair that year. Although the thief was beheaded and displayed in the city, my brother and I even went to see the thief’s head. We are still still scared.”

"Our family hasn't set up a stall at the temple fair for seven years. We just want to manage our own business and live a peaceful life."

"That's true," Zhuang Xing said.

That year, when Xiao Moli was three years old, she was abducted and waited on Qingxuan Mountain for two whole years before she was reunited with her family.

It's completely understandable that the Wu family is traumatized by this incident and doesn't want to repeat the same mistake.

"So, Little Jasmine is at home right now?" Zhuang Xing asked. "Has Brother Wu arranged for her to learn any musical instruments, chess, calligraphy, or painting?"

He also wanted to ask the Wu family for their experience in raising a younger sister, since this was his first time being an older brother and it would be good to get more advice.

“We didn’t really push her to study much at home. We’re not a scholarly family, just a business. If she were a boy and wanted to study, my older brother and I would have gone to great lengths to find her the best teachers in the city. But she’s a girl, so as long as she’s doing well, that’s all that matters. But in the last two years, she’s become very serious about her studies. She’s not as playful as she used to be, and she doesn’t just sit under the eaves daydreaming anymore.”

Wu Erge said, "She originally told her parents that she was going to help out at the tea shop, but the tea shop didn't need a little girl like her serving tea and water. Her parents felt that the child had grown up and had her own ideas, so they invited an old woman who used to be a maid in the prince's mansion to come back and teach her needlework and poetry on a regular basis."

"I heard from my elder brother that she used to help manage the accounts at the tea shop. She spent time on the mountain with the Taoist priest. She's been clever and quick-witted since she was little. I'm not worried about her not finding a good husband in the future. From what my elder brother said, he plans to take in a few more scholars who are going to take the imperial examinations in the next few years so that my little sister can get to know them. Maybe she'll marry a scholar in the future."

Brother Wu said jokingly, mostly in jest, but you could tell they doted on Xiao Moli.

Zhuang Xing smiled upon hearing this; he was relieved that Xiao Moli was doing well.

He looked down and saw his little sister eating candy. Just now, Sister Wu had given her a piece of candy. She held the square piece of candy in her hand, reluctant to swallow it all at once, and licked it in small bites, like she was eating a lollipop.

Zhuang Xing carried his little sister across the threshold, and Wu Erge, who was walking in front, suddenly shouted twice.

"Little sister, come out quickly and see who it is."

"Second Brother, are you closing up shop?" a lively female voice came from inside. "It's still early. Is Sister-in-law back too?"

Just then, a girl wearing a light yellow cotton dress came out.

"We haven't closed up shop yet," said Brother Wu. "We just have some important guests arriving."

Hearing the sound, the girl looked to the side and was suddenly stunned when she saw the visitor.

Zhuang Xing smiled and waved to Xiao Moli while holding his younger sister.

That's right, the little one is eleven years old this year. Although she is still very young, she is quite different from how small she used to be, as if she could be held in one hand. Zhuang Xing hardly recognizes her anymore.

It's not that her appearance has changed; her eyebrows and eyes are still familiar. But her temperament is completely different from before.

Back when she was in the mountains, she looked weak and timid. She spoke very softly, always walked with her head down, and often frowned. Even at such a young age, she had a worried and distressed look on her face.

But when I saw her again today, I could clearly feel that she was much more cheerful.

"Little Jasmine, don't you recognize me?" Zhuang Xing asked with a smile.

Brother Wu joked, "Didn't you always say you wanted to marry the Taoist brother? Today the Taoist brother brought his sister over to play, why are you silent again?"

"Second Brother!" Little Jasmine pouted.

"Alright, alright, stop joking around," said Brother Wu. "Go tell our parents that Master Zhuang has arrived, and have your eldest brother go buy some good food. I need to tidy up my room; the temple fair is coming up soon, and the Master and his sister will be staying with us for a few days."

"Okay, Second Brother, you can go and get busy now," said Little Jasmine.

She patted her chest and straightened her clothes; with just a few movements, she gave Zhuang Xing the feeling of a well-bred lady.

Zhuang Xing could clearly feel that she had changed a lot in places he couldn't see, and there seemed to be a sense of distance between them. He recalled the time when he shared dumplings with the little one in the woodshed where they boiled bathwater at Xuanqing Temple. Back then, they still treated each other as brother and sister.

As for Xiao Moli saying she wanted to marry him when she was little, that was just a joke. Zhuang Xing was no longer shy when he saw her.

"Brother Taoist, please come in and have a seat," Little Jasmine said with a smile. "I'll go tell my parents and older brother right away."

She was very polite, and Zhuang Xing also became polite.

"I'm sorry to bother you," Zhuang Xing said.

"I'm leaving Master Zhuang in your care," said Brother Wu. "Don't do anything reckless."

Little Jasmine rolled her eyes at him and said, "I know, Second Brother, go quickly. Once you're done, hurry up and help your sister-in-law. Don't upset her again, or I don't want to relay your messages anymore."

Wu Erge scratched his head, gave an awkward smile, and strode quickly into the house.

Although there is a seven or eight-year age gap between the siblings, it is clear that they have a very good relationship.

"Brother Taoist priest, please sit in the main room for a while." Little Jasmine brought over a stool. "I'll be right back."

"Thank you," Zhuang Xing said politely.

Little Jasmine didn't do anything special, and ran out without a thud.

Zhuang Xing noticed some papers on the table, which seemed to be Xiao Moli's notes. The things on these papers were a bit strange; they were drawn on something. He also saw some strange equations on the papers. It didn't look like a spur-of-the-moment drawing, but the scribbles and corrections made it look like random doodles.

Chapter 273 The Wisdom of the Ancients

The paper on the table piqued Zhuang Xing's interest. He noticed that the patterns on the paper were arranged according to a certain pattern, and it looked like a design drawing for something.

This drawing was created using a stiff-bristled fine brush. Unlike the bold and sweeping strokes of traditional Chinese ink painting, the use of a fine brush dipped in ink is primarily for precise drawing. After all, the finer the lines, the more detail can be depicted.

Beside him, Zhuang Xing also noticed a straight, thick piece of wood. Ink could be seen on the edge of the wood, which had been stained black. He was certain that this thing was used as a ruler.

He turned around and examined the heavily altered painting again.

He noticed something. Yes, that's right, it looked like a set of pulleys used for transporting goods.

The exact data and proportions are even marked next to it, accurate to the centimeter and inch.

Moreover, this is not a single pulley, but a pulley system consisting of two pulleys. Judging from the traces of alteration, it seems that the original owner of the painting intended to use three or four pulleys, but eventually gave up and only added a movable pulley to the fixed pulley.

The ink on this paper is not yet completely dry; it was drawn not long ago.

Not long ago, there should have been only Jasmine in this main room.

Could this have been drawn by Xiao Moli?

Zhuang Xing was a little surprised. How could an eleven-year-old girl be studying this kind of thing?

Although pulleys have appeared in this world, he doesn't recall ever seeing a pulley system consisting of two pulleys.

Ultimately, pulleys are not complicated in themselves. All you need is a rotating bearing and a groove to fix the rope, which can change the direction of force and move heavy objects on the ground to higher places or lower places.

You can see it everywhere, such as the pulley used to draw water from a well. It has a rope wrapped around it, so you lower the bucket down and then lift it up. This is a very simple pulley.

Zhuang Xing had also seen people use it on other walled cities, and at the river crossings at the gates of the capital and Yidu, but they only used single pulleys to facilitate transporting goods onto the deck or the city walls.

People in this era, although they are still in a state of ambiguity regarding many things, are not stupid; in fact, they are quite intelligent in many matters.

Take, for example, the thermometer that Zhuang Xing proposed to measure the temperature suitable for wheat growth. In just a few years, the thermometer has evolved quite dramatically, from a bulky and inaccurate large glass tube to one that has now been reduced to half its original size.

The craftsmen were very skilled, and after understanding the principles, they continued to improve their work.

Although they knew how to do it but not why, this did not prevent them from discovering how to make the thermometer more accurate.

Zhuang Xing remembered that he had also seen the Water Bell in the capital. During his month-long stay in the capital, he and Yunling had visited various places. Thanks to the token given by the emperor, he was able to travel freely even to places that were not open to the general public.

It was a clear summer day. On that day, at the suggestion of Eunuch Li, he went to visit the Astronomical Bureau, which was responsible for surveying celestial phenomena.

In the capital, there were officials specifically responsible for surveying changes in celestial phenomena. This was because the people of this land believed that changes in celestial phenomena would affect the rise and fall of the nation. In each dynasty, there was a dedicated group of people whose lifelong task was to record changes in celestial phenomena.

Whenever a major upheaval occurred in the dynasty, such as drought, flood, or severe cold, the emperor would summon the officials of the Astronomical Bureau to seek their advice.

They are also responsible for compiling the seasons, calendar, Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, and auspicious days of the year.

That year, Zhuang Xing and the old Taoist were at the White Horse Temple. The abbot of the White Horse Temple said that people in the capital observed the celestial phenomena at night and concluded that the Great Yu might be in a deep winter for the next few decades.

Most of the time, this group makes pretty accurate predictions, but they usually can't come up with any solutions and can only stare blankly at the emperor.

Zhuang Xing had some interest in the astronomy of that era, so he went with them to visit the Department of Astronomy that year.

Even today, he still can't help but admire human wisdom.

That day, he and Yunling saw an extremely complex water clock, whose full name was the Water-Powered Astronomical Clock Tower. Its most practical function was to tell time, but it also served to observe celestial phenomena. It was a machine as big as a small mountain, with three layers of intricate structure. Yes, although most of the structure was made of wood, Zhuang Xing could call the device a "machine".

The water-powered astronomical clock tower uses the flow of water to tell time, somewhat similar to an hourglass, but the main purpose of the water flow is to drive the wooden wheel inside to rotate, and its measurement values ​​are quite accurate.

Such a method of timekeeping is not surprising, but its most impressive feature is its accuracy.

The Water-Powered Astronomical Clock Tower is said to have been built by the old emperor when he was planning the treasure ship. He gathered skilled craftsmen from all over the country to build it, and it took a full ten years to slowly repair it to its current state.

Such a sophisticated device has been created by humans, so it's not surprising that some people would think of pulley systems.

A pulley system itself is not complicated. A single fixed pulley can only change the direction of force, but a pulley system can save effort.

If he had found such a design elsewhere, such as in the home of a craftsman, he would not have been surprised at all, but he found it in Jasmine's home.

He felt something was amiss, and while he was observing, Little Jasmine had already led the people back.

These were her parents, elders of the Wu family, who were over forty years old. Their eldest son already had a child, and their second son had also started a family. Little Jasmine was their youngest daughter. These two elders were much older than Zhuang Xing's parents, and their faces were covered with wrinkles.

Zhuang Xing quickly got up and exchanged a few pleasantries with the host. Xiao Moli helped her mother up, and Zhuang Xing said some polite words to them. After chatting for a while, Brother Wu Er finished tidying up the room.

That night, the Wu family warmly welcomed Zhuang Xing and his younger sister. It was the first time the younger sister had ever stayed overnight at someone else's house, and she was quite curious. During the meal, she even started playing with Xiao Moli. The two were eleven and six years old, a five-year age difference, but it didn't prevent them from becoming friends.

Little Jasmine took out a shuttlecock, and the two of them started kicking it around under the eaves of the house under the lantern, humming a folk song passed down in Yidu.

Zhuang Xing felt at ease letting his younger sister play with Xiao Moli. Although Xiao Moli was a little unfamiliar with him, he knew that Xiao Moli was a good child. At home, his younger sister didn't have an older sister to play with. She was very happy at the moment and didn't clamor to come to her brother's side.

After Zhuang Xing finished drinking with the Wu brothers and cleared the table, he finally found a chance to talk to Xiao Moli.

Chapter 274 Pulleys and Rollers

The layout of the Wu family's residence is somewhat like a traditional courtyard house. The courtyard has two gates. One gate leads directly to the teahouse and inn outside, while the other gate is separated from the street by old alleys and neighbors, giving it a more lived-in feel.

The courtyard is quite large. Under the eaves of the black-tiled roof, there are swallows' nests. They are nests built by mixing dry branches, grass roots and mud together. Unfortunately, the swallows that built their nests here are not the legendary swiftlets. Swiftlet nests are a kind of precious food. Most people are familiar with this name. It is bird's nest.

The nest in front of me is just an ordinary swallow's nest, but the swallow is not at home at the moment. The swallows in the nest have all flown to the warm south to spend the winter.

Swallows are summer migratory birds. When the season arrives, they migrate. Every early spring, they come to the north, and in the summer, they can be seen spreading their wings and soaring through the sky in many parts of this land.

When the weather starts to get cold, the swallows, having finished breeding, will migrate in groups to distant places. The distances swallows migrate are quite far. In another world, they can cross continents and oceans over several months to reach another land, a long journey spanning tens of thousands of kilometers.

However, the swallows are only making this journey for survival. They cannot adapt to the cold environment and would freeze to death in such snowy weather. So they have to flap their wings and follow the lead swallow toward the edge of the boundless horizon.

Zhuang Xing stood under the lantern in the courtyard and looked up to see the nest. Under the swallow's nest were two little girls with their braids swinging.

"Lift up, grab, clap your hands!"

"Four hands on hips, five lanterns, six flowers in hand~"