Chapter 738 - 734: Shaking Qingshan County

"Good, good, good. My son is so capable."

When Aunt Leng and Third Aunt Leng heard this news, their hearts bloomed with joy.

The better these pigs were, the more their work points would be worth, and the more money they would receive at the end of the year.

Aunt Leng was especially happy. "You’re the capable one after all. You managed to get into the pig-raising team even without relying on Leng Yuan. We went to ask Leng Yuan for help before, but he wouldn’t even give us the time of day. He’s the only one who thinks he’s a big deal."

Knowing she couldn’t gain any advantage from Leng Yuan, Aunt Leng reverted to her usual caustic self.

None of the Leng Family members refuted her.

After the wheat was harvested, it needed to be threshed. This was exhausting work. It required people to pull a stone roller back and forth over the wheat, so only the strongest men were assigned this task.

Leng Yuan worked at it for a day and came back with several red marks on his shoulders.

Gu Jiaojiao’s heart ached for him. That very night, she started pondering over some blueprints.

She wasn’t any kind of scientific researcher; she had just been around these kinds of machines a lot. She understood the principles and knew what they looked like. Plus, with her artistic background, her drawings were vividly lifelike.

Once Gu Jiaojiao finished drawing, she went to discuss it with Leng Yuan.

Leng Yuan glanced at the blueprint and roughly understood what Gu Jiaojiao had drawn. A hint of surprise flickered in his eyes, but he quickly composed himself.

"This is a threshing machine!"

Although it was phrased as a question, his tone was certain.

Gu Jiaojiao nodded. "Yes. As long as someone feeds the wheat into the machine, it will thresh itself."

Gu Jiaojiao had drawn a relatively advanced threshing machine. The principle was clear, but getting a generator at this time would be difficult.

But if they could build it, it would definitely save everyone in the brigade a lot of time and effort.

Besides the threshing machine, Gu Jiaojiao also designed a small gadget for planting corn.

Normally, it took two people—one to dig holes, and one to place the corn kernels and fill them in. But with this device, you could just step on it to bury a kernel in the ground. When you released your foot, the surrounding soil would automatically level itself.

If this device could be built, it wouldn’t just make farm work easier, it would also save a lot of time.

As for the issue of irrigation, Gu Jiaojiao also thought up a water pump that could draw water directly from the river to the fields, though it would need a waterwheel to generate power.

Waterwheels were relatively common, and the villagers knew how to make them. The principle behind the water pump wasn’t difficult either.

With these three farming tasks solved, the only one left was spreading manure.

For that one, Gu Jiaojiao figured it was best to stick to manual labor!

Leng Yuan looked at the required materials. Unlike the previous thresher, these projects were much larger in scale, required greater precision, and the materials would be hard to find.

Leng Yuan considered it for a moment, then went directly to find the brigade leader.

At eleven o’clock at night, the brigade leader was already in bed but was woken up by a knock on the door.

He pulled on a tank top and a pair of baggy shorts.

It was summer, so clothing was simple. The brigade leader quickly went outside.

"Who is it?!"

"It’s me."

Leng Yuan’s cool, clear voice rang out, and the brigade leader quickened his pace.

"Kid, what brings you here so late? Is something the matter?"

"It’s about a threshing machine that Gu Zhiqing designed. The materials are just a bit complicated, so I came to discuss it with you."

When the brigade leader heard this, his eyes lit up, seeming to glow in the darkness. He hurriedly welcomed Leng Yuan inside.

"Come, come, come, let’s go to the main room."

There was no one in the main room at this hour. The brigade leader went in, and, finding the kerosene lamp too dim, he specially lit a candle as well.

The candlelight illuminated the table. Leng Yuan placed the blueprints on it. The brigade leader wasn’t completely ignorant; one look at the drawing and he knew that if this thing could be built, it would cause a sensation throughout all of Qingshan County.