Chapter 37 Land (II)
After a long conversation, Huo Chong said to Liu Sijin in a serious tone: "Brother, I said something wrong. I apologize to you."
After hearing this, Liu Sijin looked aggrieved and didn't even answer. It was unclear whether he was just showing off. Huo Chong observed Liu Sijin carefully and was somewhat puzzled. Was Liu Sijin still not satisfied with this?
If in the 21st century, Huo Chong would not dare to say "you are a good person" no matter what. "You are a good person" is an insult in this industrialized age, representing naked negation and bitter ridicule.
But Huo Chong was ready to give it a try, and he mustered up all his courage and said, "Fourth brother, you are a good person. I said something wrong, please don't mind it."
After hearing Huo Chong's evaluation of him as a "good man", Liu Sijin suddenly calmed down. His aggrieved look disappeared and his face looked much more energetic due to his satisfaction.
Seeing that the matter was finally solved, Liu the Hunter was relieved and said to Liu Sijin: "I said Brother Huo is not a bad person. Look, it turns out to be true."
"Yes, yes, yes!" Liu Sijin responded quickly.
Huo Chong could only take this opportunity to say: "My two brothers, since you are here, I will treat you to a drink."
When they heard the word "wine", their eyes lit up. Half an hour later, they both frowned and looked at the strong liquor in their bowls. Huo Chong didn't say much, but just sipped it slowly. Drinking strong liquor without meat is really torturous.
Putting down the wine bowl, Hunter Liu changed the subject and asked, "Why did Brother Huo want barley?"
"Making maltose." Huo Chong answered .
"Brother Sijin, have you never grown barley?" Hunter Liu asked Liu Sijin again.
Liu Sijin quickly shook his head, "I've never planted one."
"Forget it then." Hunter Liu sighed.
Huo Chong felt that he had finally found a way to communicate with Liu Sijin, so he asked in a humble manner, "Fourth Brother, I want to plant some ground beans. Can you help me? If I can't grow them, forget it. If I can, we can split the profits in half. What do you think?"
Liu Sijin shook his head like a rattle, "It's already June, how can we grow anything?"
"Fourth brother, I'll take a look at this. How about you help me?" Huo Chong continued to ask for help.
Liu Sijin obviously refused. However, Liu the Hunter slammed the table and said, "Sijin, are you being disrespectful?! They've already begged you, so what if you just help them?"
Being interrupted by Hunter Liu, Liu Sijin said with a bitter face: "I'm afraid I can't help. I've never heard of planting in June!"
"Brother Huo, if you can't grow anything..."
Hearing that Hunter Liu was helping him, Huo Chong patted his chest loudly, "If you can't grow anything, it's all mine. So, this time I'll plant beans and give you two kilograms of wheat a day. What do you think?"
With the actual benefits, Liu Sijin's expression finally eased. After drinking another half a liang of wine, Liu Sijin finally agreed.
The wheat had not been harvested yet, and there were still many things to do after the harvest. Huo Chong continued his work. On the seventh day of the sixth lunar month, a furnace of relatively clear colored glass was fired. Huo Chong tried his best to make the colored glass as smooth as possible, but he was still not satisfied. But how could he make it smoother? Huo Chong thought of the term "ground glass".
Anyway, there was plenty of time, so Huo Chong made a hand-cranked transmission device that drove a belt that could rotate continuously. In the past, it was ground back and forth, but with the belt grinding, it could go in one direction.
Two days later, a slightly distorted lens came out. Huo Chong had already added pine smoke to the lens during the grinding process, and now he had a smoked lens.
Wearing this thing and looking directly at the changes in the furnace and crucible, the feeling of your eyes being pricked by needles is greatly reduced.
As soon as he finished, Liu Sijin came to find Huo Chong. When Huo Chong reached the edge of the field, he felt a dull pain in his waist. Even though he knew it was caused by fear, Huo Chong still felt a lingering fear. But there was nothing he could do, he had to act when it was time.
Fortunately, Liu Sijin was not lazy when he was farming. Even though he was full of doubts, he was not affected when he was working. Moreover, Huo Chong only had more than 300 potato sprouts. He had planted some on the small piece of land that was destroyed before. The workload this time was not large, and the remaining potato seedlings were planted in two days.
On the 15th day of the sixth lunar month, Huo Chong was still burning the stove at home when Liu Sijin came running in again. Huo Chong was startled and asked quickly, "Is someone doing something bad again?"
"I built a shed next to the field and kept watching it." Liu Sijin replied.
Huo Chong became excited, "So you saw it?"
"No. No one has been there these days." Liu Sijin said ramblingly, "I just saw that the beans on Brother Huo's field are growing well."
After hearing Liu Sijin's words, Huo Chong thought that this was nonsense. Earthworm soil is used to fertilize fruit trees and nurseries. Fruit trees and nurseries that use this stuff are growing well. It is natural that potatoes with strong vitality grow well after using earthworm soil.
However, Liu Sijin kept repeating the same thing over and over again. Huo Chong felt something was wrong, and after thinking about it carefully, he asked, "Fourth brother, do you want to use my fat?"
"Really?" Liu Sijin responded immediately. But after that, he shook his head again and again, "I'm just talking, talking."
Huo Chong found it funny to see Liu Sijin like this. He thought that Liu Sijin was renting his land after all, and if the yield increased, he could do more. "Fourth brother, when we plant wheat this year, come to my place and get fertilizer."
Liu Sijin was willing, but he was very shy. This made Huo Chong confused about what he wanted to do. After Huo Chong asked, Liu Sijin expressed his concern, "Will I have to give Huo Chong more food if I use his fertilizer?"
Huo Chong thought that people of this era were really adorable, and answered straightforwardly: "Let's not talk about this before the autumn harvest next year! Next year will be the same as this year!"
After seeing off Liu Sijin, Huo Chong felt that the people of this era were too much. Whether it was the way of thinking or the customs, Huo Chong didn't like them. After thinking for a while, Huo Chong was relieved. There was no comparison between the two eras. If Huo Chong collected land rent from Liu Sijin in the 21st century, he would still collect 50% of the rent.
Liu Sijin posted this on the Internet, and probably the leaders of Zibo City would have to personally supervise and handle this matter. Huo Chong would also become a nationally famous " local celebrity" representative and be criticized by the industrial party. If Huo Chong's personal contact information was published again, Huo Chong would be scolded to death by phone every day.
The times are different, the social systems are different, and nothing is comparable.
Besides, Huo Chong had his own things to do, as Xu Youlin would be here in a month. Huo Chong had to hurry up with the production of colored glaze. His accumulated experience was indeed getting richer and richer, but Huo Chong was still far from being able to produce something that would make people want to buy it.
Porcelain and pottery are made by making molds first, so the molds can be made very delicately. After firing, at least the round ones are round. To shape colored glaze, high temperatures are required, and the methods used to make porcelain and pottery cannot be used at this temperature. So although firing colored glaze is not particularly difficult, making colored glaze itself is really technical.
Can molds be used to make glassware? Huo Chong had never read any information on this topic and had no confidence.
On the seventh day of the seventh month, the day when the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl meet, Huo Chong poured red-hot glass paste into the groove of the hot iron plate, then used a large pair of tongs to pick up an iron thing heated in the furnace and covered it on the glass paste.
After more than a dozen modifications, the iron thing was added with pillars of the same length on all four sides. When the four pillars were firmly inserted into the bottom of the four corresponding holes in the iron plate, a glass bowl was pressed out.
When the temperature dropped slightly, Huo Chong quickly removed the mold and took out the solidified glass bowl, scratching off the excess while it was still hot. When the temperature of the glass bowl dropped to room temperature, he began to polish it with a belt grinding wheel.
Just after finishing a bowl, someone knocked on the door again. After resolving the issue of Master Liu coming to support Zhu Youquan, Li Tongshan also expressed his willingness to continue cooperating with Huo Chong. He was responsible for making the glass bottles and called the small workers back to start work.
Huo Chong didn't want anyone to see his new thing, so he quickly covered it up and went to open the door. He saw Xu Youlin standing outside the door. This was really beyond Huo Chong's expectations.
Unexpectedly, Xu Youlin's face was gloomy. After he came in, he directly pulled Huo Chong to the main hall and said, "You failed to rescue Master Hong's people!"
Huo Chong was shocked , then cursed in his heart: Damn it! Sure enough, some of those people died.
"I'm not a doctor, how can I save lives?" Huo Chong immediately retorted. After saying this, Huo Chong felt that he was right again, "When those people left, the wounds on their bodies were treated by me!"
Seeing Huo Chong so arrogant, Xu Youlin sighed, "Brother Huo, I saw two brothers who didn't die. The wounds on their bodies were so big, they were lucky to survive. But Captain Hong was like that. His words seemed to say that I recommended you and you were not kind enough."
Finally, he could use "I" instead of "I". Huo Chong just wanted to say a few more words to Xu Youlin, "I..."
Xu Youlin interrupted Huo Chong, "I know you tried your best. The man's death was definitely not caused by that woman. I also know you don't want to kill anyone. It's just that I'm not happy about what Master Hong said to me. I can't help but say it."
