Chapter 24: The Girl Next Door (1) 2/2

  About the title often appearing x/x, some friends have been saying they don't understand what it means.

  It actually means how many updates there are today and which update it is now. For example: 1/2, the "1" means it's the first update, and the "2" behind means there will be two updates today.

  Well, by the way, I'd also like some recommendations and collections...

  The recent plot may be relatively flat, but it's preparing for a bigger conflict later on. Little Cao is new to the Three Kingdoms and has a poor foundation, so there needs to be a process. But soon, things will heat up, stay tuned!

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  About the bellows, later dictionaries annotated: a device that compresses air to produce airflow. The most common is a wooden box, piston and nozzle, used to make the fire burn vigorously.

  However, the term "wind box" was first seen in the tenth year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty, in Song Yingxing's "Heavenly Creations". In Song Yingxing's explanation, he directly referred to it as a "wind box". However, at that time, what Song Yingxing called a wind box was a piston-type double-acting continuous bellows. Prior to this, during the Northern Song Dynasty, the Wujing Zongyao had recorded a type of wooden fan... Its principle is similar to that of the Eastern Han Dynasty's "tuo bo".

  The drawing made by Cao Peng is a piston-type double-acting bellows.

  Something that is ahead of its time by over a thousand years will inevitably have a huge impact once it spreads.

  Cao Peng wasn't worried about any impact, what he was worried about was that this thing was his treasured mountain treasure, related to his future plans...

  He didn't want what he had painstakingly drawn to become someone else's wedding dress.

  If it falls into the hands of someone who doesn't understand its value, it's just a worthless piece of paper; but if it falls into the hands of someone who does understand its value, it can cause big trouble.

  The more he thought about it, the more anxious Cao Peng became!

  "Dad, I'm going out for a bit."

  Cao Qu didn't know what had happened and was concentrating on forging iron.

  So he responded with a sound, and then didn't speak again. But Cao Jin didn't notice it, but that doesn't mean others didn't notice either. Wang Meng and Deng Ju both sensed something was off about Cao Peng! However, Cao Jin's side suddenly couldn't leave the crowd, Wang Meng furrowed his brow and said loudly: "Tiger Head, go take a look."

  "Got it!"

  Wang Mou hastily agreed and quickly followed up.

  The two of them almost simultaneously rushed out of the gate and ran towards the riverbank.

  "What's wrong with Ah Fu? He seems to have lost his soul."

  Deng Ji said: "Listening to what he just said, it seems like he's lost something... shouldn't be a big deal, I'll go find him in a bit."

  Cao Peng's status in the family is increasing day by day.

  At his age, in Deng Jie's eyes, he was still a child.

  Children often lose things and it's a normal thing, so Deng Ju didn't take it to heart.

  But Wang Meng had a different view. In his eyes, Cao Peng was not an ordinary child. He had many characteristics that his peers could not match. Brave, meticulous, knowledgeable and very calm. Even when Cao Peng killed Cheng Ji in Zhongyang Town, he still looked calm afterwards. If he's so flustered, something big must have happened... Although Wang Mai had left, Wang Meng was still worried.

  "Uncle Sun, you stay here and keep an eye on things, I'll go take a look. The weather isn't good, with such heavy snowfall, don't let anything happen."

  "Alright then, thank you, Father."

  Wang Meng walked out of the shed and looked up at the gloomy sky.

  The snow is getting bigger and bigger.

  Wang Meng put on his cotton robe and walked to the gate. Just as he was about to step out, he saw a horse carriage stopped outside the door.

  A middle-aged man walked up and saw Wang Meng first stunned, then cupped his hands and said: "May I ask the master of the house, have you lost something?"

  I lost something!

  A Fu just now was flustered and seemed to have lost something.

  Wang Meng looked at the middle-aged man with suspicion, "This... may I ask, who are you?"

  It's like this, I'm a steward of the Zhang family in Neyang. Today, I accompanied Miss to cross the river on business and found a leather pouch under a peach tree on the beach.

  There were no other houses around, presumably related to the owner's house.

  "So I was sent by the young lady to ask a few questions and also have some doubts that I'd like to consult with the master of the house... I'm intruding on your home, is it convenient?"

  Middle-aged people speak very appropriately and logically.

  The way he speaks makes people feel that his upbringing is good and it sounds very comfortable to listen to.

  Wang Meng turned his head and called out: "Shu Sun, come over here."

  Deng Ji heard Wang Meng's call and hurried over. After listening to Wang Meng's introduction, Deng Ji stood up respectfully, "It turns out it's Miss Zhang, I apologize for not welcoming you from afar, forgive me!"

  At this moment, the curtain of the horse-drawn carriage was lifted, and a young girl walked out of the carriage.

  The girl is about 14 or 15 years old, seven feet tall, with a slightly plump figure and an air of nobility. Her black hair is styled in a "falling horse bun", a hairstyle that was very popular during the late Eastern Han dynasty and was invented by Sun Shou, the wife of General-in-Chief Liang Ji. However, this girl's falling horse bun is styled with great creativity, as if it were a remnant of a fallen horse... In later generations, this type of falling horse bun would be called "Wo Diao Fa".

  Wearing a green jade hairpin, lightly sweeping the moth eyebrows.

  Wearing a bright yellow changshan, with a white cotton cloak draped over it. This changshan is also known as the upper garment.

  However, "Shang Fu" doesn't mean upper garment, but rather high-quality clothing. Just by looking at what she's wearing, you can tell that this girl is from a wealthy background.

  Skin color is slightly darker...

  Not black either!

  Wheat-colored

  A pair of bright eyes, a straight and elegant nose bridge, and cherry lips that are quite endearing.

  Deng Ji hastily stepped forward and bowed respectfully, saying: "I didn't know you were coming, Miss. Please forgive me."

  "This gentleman, I'm a young woman who has come to disturb you without an appointment, it's entirely my fault. There's no need for polite words, sir. I've come today with something specific to ask your advice on."

  "Ah, come on in!"

  As he spoke, Deng Ji stepped aside to make way, and the girl didn't stand on ceremony either, stepping up onto the stairs.

  As soon as I entered the door, I heard a "zip" sound.

  It turned out that Cao had already finished making the workpiece and put it in a water tank.

  A foul and stifling air suddenly filled the courtyard.

  The girl frowned slightly, and then her eyes lit up immediately, softly saying "hmm".

  She found that there were two water tanks in the shed. One was a quenching oil tank, and the other seemed to be a tempering tank. The girl couldn't help but stop in her tracks as she saw Cao take out the workpiece from the first water tank and put it into the second one instead of immediately putting it into the forge for further hammering.

  It seems that what's in the sink isn't water, but a special kind of **.

  Accompanied by the rising of cyan smoke, there is also a strange smell.

  In other words, these two sinks are specially designed for different purposes.

  The girl had seen many blacksmiths before, but this kind of quenching fire was really her first time seeing it...

  "May I ask, sir, why are you building two quenching furnaces?"

  Deng Jiyuan was taken aback, just about to respond, when Wang Meng spoke up and said: "Heh heh, don't bother, miss. It's just a rough fellow's humble abode, nothing worth looking at. Please, come inside!"

  Wang Meng remembered that Cao Peng had reminded him not to tell others about the purpose of that sink.

  Deng Ji seemed as if he was about to tell the truth, and hastily stepped forward to explain.

  "Oh, nonsense, utter nonsense."

  Deng Jia was initially intimidated by Nie Yang's reputation as a Zhang family member, and became somewhat flustered.

  He told Cao Peng that although the Zhang family of Nanyang was not a powerful and aristocratic family like Yuan Shao's, which had produced three high-ranking officials in four generations, they were still an official family. However, he was subdued by the reputation of the Zhang family, not out of fear, but out of respect. The Zhang family of Nanyang had been doctors for generations and had a great reputation locally.

  After the failure of the Yellow Turbans' uprising, the Nanyang Commandery was littered with corpses, triggering a massive plague.

  Neyang Zhang's family spent almost all their wealth to calm down the plague. Moreover, in order to save the people, the Zhang family also sent out many doctors to treat people everywhere. In just a few months, the Zhang family saved countless lives. However, in order to save people, the Zhang family paid with the lives of six sons... Not to mention Neyang and Jiyang, but the entire Nanyang County, as well as half of Jingzhou, who dares not respect the Zhang family?

  It was for this reason that Deng Ji almost forgot Cao Peng's entrustment.

  The girl's face lit up with a bright smile, her sparkling eyes twinkled, and she suddenly laughed: "In that case, I'll be bothering Mr. and his family."

  After finishing speaking, she walked into the living room accompanied by Deng Jie.

  "Who is that girl?"

  Cao Jiu only then noticed and asked Wang Meng in doubt.

  "I don't know, it seems like I picked up something that belongs to Ah Fu and came to return it... Oh, she's a member of the Zhang family from Neyang, you should go in and pay your respects too, or else you'll be impolite and invite gossip."

  Cao Ju hurriedly responded as soon as he heard it.

  He hastily changed his clothes and walked into the living room.

  The girl was holding a black leather pouch, "Excuse me, is this your family's belongings?"

  Cao Ju recognized it at a glance and hurriedly said: "That's right, this is indeed our family's thing..."

  "Ah, this is my father-in-law, Miss, please forgive me..."

  "Father, this is Miss Zhang from Neyang, she picked up a purse on the riverbank and has come to return it."

  "Is this really something from your house?"

  The girl seemed somewhat skeptical.

  In fact, this family made her feel quite strange.

  Looking at Deng Jie's speech and behavior, he seems like a scholar. But his father-in-law is actually an ironworker?

  Cao Jie heard the girl's tone of doubt and felt a bit unhappy, "Of course it's mine, would I still cheat you?"

  "Don't be angry, sir."

  The young girl hastily apologized and then said: "After picking up this wallet, I inadvertently found a few drawings... feeling curious, so I ventured to disturb you. I also hope that the old master can teach me what is the use of the things drawn on this picture?"

  As she spoke, she took out a few sheets of hemp paper and placed them on the desk.

  Deng Jiyuan was taken aback and walked forward to take a look, but he suddenly became furious.

  "How dare you, Ah Fu?"

  The diagram on the paper, he couldn't understand it.

  It just feels like a cabinet... What makes Deng Jisheng angry is that these hemp papers are hard to come by, and Cao Peng took them away, but actually drew randomly on them, which is simply a waste.

  "Isn't this painted by Mr.?

  "Oh... This is what my brother-in-law has done!"

  Deng Ji couldn't help but feel a little ashamed. To think that, although hemp paper wasn't as valuable as Zuo Bo's paper, it was still extremely rare for ordinary readers. As a reader himself, he naturally understood the hardships of being a reader... and yet such precious paper was actually being...

  Deng Jie got a bit angry!

  "Your brother-in-law?"

  The girl's eyes lit up, "May I introduce a few people to you?"

  As soon as she spoke, she felt something was wrong. Her pretty face turned red, and she hastily said: "I'm very interested in the things on this picture, so I'd like to ask for your guidance."

  "He... it seems like he's gone to look for something!"

  Looking for something?

  The girl was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said, "But what about this leather pouch?"

  "Exactly!"

  It seems that this blueprint is indeed extraordinary.

  The young girl also has a deep foundation in her family learning, and is extremely fascinated by the art of geomancy and construction.

  At first glance at the bellows pattern on the picture, although I don't know what it is, I keenly perceive that its purpose should not be small.

  The owner of this painting seems to be quite particular about it too...