Chapter 825: Chapter 825: The Cruelty of Winter_1
At that time, there was no cotton, during winter, the rich would wear fur to keep warm, while the less impoverished could afford to wear rabbit or dog skins and other domestic animal pelts. Those utterly destitute had no choice but to stuff their clothes with whatever they could find to fend off the cold.
Some stuffed chicken or duck feathers inside, others filled their garments with soft, dried grass.
The original owner of the body that Zhuang Lühe now inhabited used to wear clothes stuffed with chicken feathers; as a village feast chef, when she worked in other people’s houses and they happened to be slaughtering chickens, she would ask for some feathers, over the year, amassing quite a collection.
But this “quite a collection” was relative to her family’s extreme poverty: the chicken feathers she gathered throughout the year were not enough to clothe everyone in the family with feathered garments.
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Their clothing was thin, and so were their nighttime covers.
Poor families filled their blankets with wheat straw, laying on straw mats, covering themselves with straw quilts.
...
But wheat straw wasn’t very warm and let the wind through.
Under conditions where they could neither wear warm clothes nor sleep warmly at night, the original body’s owner’s hands, feet, ears, and even her face, would freeze and fester every year.
Fetching these memories of enduring winter from her mind, Qiao Xiaomai grew somewhat uneasy.
Those memories, long sealed and even dusty in the corners of her mind, now came rushing out in droves like scenes from a movie on continual loop in her head, as she shivered twice.
“Third brother, don’t rush to assemble the cart when it’s sunny, think about the heated bed; discuss it with Father,” she said.
The house here, though newly built, also leaked air from all sides. There was no glass; the windows were papered, and the doors didn’t fit as tightly as those in the future, leaving gaps through which the wind would always find a way.
Given these circumstances, she needed to find herself a hiding place.
She had only seen heated beds on television and had never actually seen one in person, let alone knew how to make one.
But she understood the basic principle and knew what it looked like; with that knowledge, Qiao Changshun and Tong Tiehu working together should have no trouble figuring it out.
“Father’s leg is not good, and with the rain these past few days, it has started to hurt again; by winter, it will undoubtedly be even worse,” Qiao Xiaomai added.
Tong Tiehu bent over slightly and saw Qiao Xiaomai’s face turning pale and then blue, couldn’t help but laugh, “Winter is not as fearsome as you think.”
Anything that could be solved with silver was no problem at all.
With their current family resources, there was no way Qiao Xiaomai would be left to freeze in the winter.
“It is fearsome!” Qiao Xiaomai clung tightly to Tong Tiehu’s arm, nodding vigorously, “And once we figure out the heated bed, we can sell the design and make money!”
Making money is so delightful!
Tong Tiehu looked into Qiao Xiaomai’s sparkling eyes as she spoke of making money and couldn’t help but lean down to give her lips a gentle kiss, “Alright, when it’s sunny I’ll start researching with Father.”
If making money brought pleasure, then they would make money!
“Get Grandfather involved too,” Qiao Xiaomai continued.
Previously, when researching the cart, Tong Tiehu hoped she would teach the people of the village, but she assigned all the work to the guard team.
If they could figure out this earth pit, and it could benefit the people of the village, then let it benefit them!
“Alright,” Tong Tiehu agreed again.
“Now you should go back to your studies,” Qiao Xiaomai said as she let go of Tong Tiehu’s arm, “When the sheep’s milk is ready, I’ll bring it to you.”
Tong Tiehu agreed, kissed her lips gently once more, then straightened up and headed back to the Warehouse.
The Warehouse was large, stacked with sweet potatoes and other crops. For this reason, he had a new door installed in the Warehouse to separate his and Qiao Xiaomai’s living quarters from the agricultural produce stored at the back.
He also had a window opened in the wall. His desk was placed by the window, and through it, he could just see Qiao Xiaomai busily cooking the sheep’s milk.