109 – New Carriage

“……Qiu Chuji was just going to answer before his expression abruptly changed and said, ‘someone is here for me. No matter what happens, you two stay inside and don’t come out, understand?’ Guo and Yang nodded. Qiu Chuji bent over to pick up the human head, walked out of the door, jumped on a tree, and hid among its branches and leaves. Who is this incoming person? Why did Qiu Chuji’s expression change? Predict what will happen and listen to the for an explanation.”

With a ‘pa’, the gavel struck again.

At this time, the tea room customers collected their thoughts from the tale after being surprised, and could not help feeling that time passed too fast.

Nie Heng and Mu Chen looked at each other in amazement. They had heard a lot of story-telling, but this was the first time they were so absorbed in hearing it. All the pastries were eaten but the tea was forgotten – they didn’t drink even a mouthful.

A customer disgruntledly shouted, “Storyteller Lin, today’s tale is too little! Please tell us a bit more! It’s not easy for us to come from far away!”

“Yes, Storyteller Lin, it’s still early. Please tell us the !”

“Storyteller Lin…”

Seeing this situation, how could Lin Qiang not understand that today’s storytelling was very successful? He was so excited but he didn’t dare to show it on his face. He cupped his fist and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, please come again tomorrow, please!”

There was another sound of protest.

Qin Mian and Lei Tie slipped out while no one was paying attention to them.

“I thought Lin Qiang would have some stage fright but didn’t expect this boy to perform so well. It seems that I have a pair of eyes that are good at discovering [talents]!” With hands clasped behind his back, Qin Mian took measured steps and lifted his head, aiming an incline look at Lei Tie with a smile in his eyes, “[Am I] right?”

Lei Tie nodded.

“Lin Qiang has no problem, so Ye Fengqiu should also have no problem.” Qin Mian felt a little worn out after being in a state of nerve-racking for most of the day, “Let’s go home after taking today’s large amount of income?”

“There’s no hurry to return home. Go to the carpentry shop and change the carriage.” Lei Tie added, “The old carriage doesn’t work well.”

He was not a professional carpenter. The carriage that he made was used too often that the boards frequently loosened and shook several times, very likely to fall apart. It was troublesome to constantly repair it.

“Sure. Since it needs to be made, let’s make the best one. Go back to the lounge and I’ll tell you in detail.” Qin Mian had another idea. He pushed the man’s back and urged him to go quickly. Back in the lounge, Qin Mian began to draw.

The main problem with ancient carriages was that the wheels were not very good at shock absorption because it was either made of wood or iron without tires. The basic function of the tire was to buffer the vibration. It was fine if the road was level, but if one encountered an uneven road surface, one’s internal organs could change positions while sitting in the bumpy carriage. Qin Mian thought that rubber could be obtained from rubber trees. Rubber trees liked high temperature, high humidity, calm wind, and fertile soil, belonging to subtropical plants. In his understanding, the climate of Green Mountain Village was like central China, which most likely didn’t have rubber trees. He didn’t plan to spend time on the mountain near Green Mountain Village, so he decided to go directly into the space to look for it when he was home.

After completing the drawing of the carriage, the two came to the Rich and Honor Woodcraft Shop.

When Liao Zhifu saw them, he got up to greet them warmly, “Boss Lei and Boss Qin; such rare visitors! You two have not come to patronize my business for a long time.” It seemed that not long ago, the two men were still wearing patched clothes to sell their small inventions in his shop. At that time, who could have thought that they would become the famous big bosses in the whole county? From this, one could see that no matter what, one should not look down on anyone. Liao Zhifu was very glad that he did not offend Qin Mian and Lei Tie at the beginning, and even had a few pleasant associations.

Upon hearing Manager Liao’s tone sounded a little intimate, Qin Mian took advantage of that and walked as he said with a smile, “How can Manager Liao say that? Am I not here?”

“Please have a seat, gentlemen.” Liao Zhifu nodded to Lei Tie as a greeting.

Lei Tie nodded.

Although he didn’t speak, he also gave a response. Liao Zhifu cheerfully called the shop assistant to serve tea.

The shop assistant stepped back after serving tea.

“Do you want to buy furniture or order a custom-made?” Liao Zhifu asked.

Qin Mian took out the drawing and handed it to him, “We want to order a custom-made carriage.”

After looking at the drawing in detail, Liao Zhifu looked at Qin Mian and Lei Tie with admiration and said, “Our shop can do it. But since Boss Qin requires the wheels to be made of iron with notches in the middle, it may take more time. Does Boss Qin in a hurry to get it done?”

“No hurry. If there is no mishap, this carriage will be the exclusive carriage of mine and Lei Tie. It must be solid and fine,” Qin Mian emphasized his statement.

Liao Zhifu knew that these two were rich people now, so they paid more attention to the quality of things, and the price was secondary. Thus, he guaranteed, “Rest assured. I will ask the master carpenters to do their best! In case some places don’t meet your requirements, we’ll redo it at any time until you are satisfied.”

“Also, I hope Manager Liao will not disclose the drawing.” Qin Mian said with a smile, “I’ve had so many contacts with Manager Liao that I can absolutely trust your moral standing.”

“Don’t worry, Boss Qin.” Liao Zhifu was interested in the drawing, but since Qin Mian had said so, it was not good to discuss other things.

Qin Mian told him to send the carriage to Leisurely Farmhouse of Green Mountain Village when it was ready. Then, he left with Lei Tie.

After seeing them out, Liao Zhifu rushed to the workshop at the back of the shop with the drawing and told the master carpenters to start working on it as soon as possible.

Four days later, the staff of Rich and Honor Woodcraft Shop sent the carriage to Leisurely Farmhouse.

The new carriage had four wheels, 8 chi (2.7 m) in length and 6 chi (2 m) in width. The decorative carved patterns were extremely exquisite – let’s not mention it for the moment. There were two hooks on the left and right sides of the front awning of the carriage. Above each hook was a square wooden placate. On the left was the word ‘Lei’ and on the right was the word ‘Qin’ in gold. Wind-proof lanterns could be hung on the hooks to facilitate the trip at night. The doors on both sides of the carriage had three-layered steps suspended in midair, unlike ordinary carriages, and had to be equipped with a footstool that could be retracted to the bottom of the carriage when not in use. There was a small window on the front wall of the carriage with a screen curtain, convenient for people inside to communicate with the driver, and a large window was on the rear wall. The front wall of the carriage could slide up and down. In summer, the front wall could be opened for cool ventilation.

In the carriage, under the small window was a vertical cabinet fixed on the carriage floor, with three drawers for storing snacks, books, and other small items. There were two rows of seats close to the left and right walls respectively, with three compartments under the seat. In the middle of the carriage was a long table with the same length as the seat, which could be lifted and lowered. In normal times, the long table was left as it was. When one wanted to rest, one had to lower the long table and flipped it over to turn into a big bed combined with the two seats. There were two luggage racks above the two seats for storing bedding, baggage, and other things.

The small carriage was practically a small room.

When the carriage was completed, the master carpenters of Rich and Honor Woodcraft Shop, all without exception, admired it. However, the construction cost of the carriage was not low. This carriage cost nearly 15 silver taels and sold to Qin Mian and Lei Tie for 22 silver taels.

Qin Mian and Lei Tie were very satisfied with the new carriage and paid the money in a frank and straightforward manner. They repaired the old carriage for the servants to use.

After sending off the staff of Rich and Honor Woodcraft Shop, Qin Mian and Lei Tie went into the space to look for rubber trees, bringing along knives, buckets, and irons that were wrought into tubes.

Although all the dangerous animals in the space avoided Qin Mian, the space was too large that it was quite lonely to walk in it alone. Therefore, he had never walked too far. This time, he imagined himself standing at the foot of the mountain. In the next moment, he and Lei Tie appeared at the foot of the green mountain.

“Wife, do you recognize the rubber tree?” Lei Tie asked.

“Yes.” Qin Mian taught him, “The leaves of rubber tree are oval with a glossy surface and the fruit is also oval. There is a longitudinal groove on the top and a beak tip at the peak. If you can’t recognize it, you can slice the tree bark with the knife. If there is a white emulsion coming out, it is most likely a rubber tree.”

Lei Tie nodded and went in the other direction. White Spot followed Qin Mian.

After searching for more than an hour, Lei Tie was the first to find the rubber tree. When Qin Mian heard the call, he ran over.

From the piece of bark of the rubber tree that was cut off obliquely, milky juice flowed down in a gush. Lei Tie inserted the iron pipe, making the juice flowed along the iron pipe and into the bucket below.

This area was all rubber trees. Qin Mian picked the thickest one for rubber tapping.

Eventually, they collected two buckets of rubber.

Qin Mian only knew that the main raw material for making rubber was natural rubber. Natural rubber was made by solidifying and drying latex from tapping the rubber trees. However, it was unclear what method was used to solidify and dry latex. He hadn’t paid attention to this point before.

With no other choice, he and Lei Tie had to think about it themselves. Solidification could be done by airing or cooling, while drying can be done by air-drying, sun-drying, or roasting… There was so much latex in the space that they tried one by one and truly succeeded after struggling for several days.

They had prepared a thick bamboo. The diameter of the bamboo was close to the width of the wheel. After clearing out the bamboo, the latex was poured into the bamboo tube. Next, it was solidified and dried with the methods they had tested. The freshly made functioning rubber was quite elastic.

The two men installed the ‘tires’ into the notches of the wheels and reinforced them before harnessing the horses. Lei Tie test-drove the carriage on the uneven road in the village.

The villagers watched the carriage running back and forth in wonderment.

“Old Four Lei, your eldest brother and eldest sister-in-law are amazing. We old folks have never seen such a beautiful carriage,” said Uncle Jiang to Lei Xiangli.

Sister Zhang jokingly said, “Hey Fourth Brother, when is your mother going to betroth you? Later, it will be a great honor to pick up the new bride with this carriage!”

Lei Xiangli’s face was red, “What are you saying, Sister Zhang?”

The villagers all burst into laughter.

“Why are you blushing?” An aunt said to Lei Xiangli with an ambiguous smile, “If I remember correctly, you are 18 years old this year, right? It’s time to get married. Do you want us to rush your mother for you?”

Lei Xiangli’s red face was on the verge of bursting flames, “Cough, you don’t have to worry about it.”

The crowd laughed again.

Qin Mian personally experienced it in the carriage. He could hardly feel the vibration, which was quite apart from the previous carriage that was able to toss people around.