Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Ondol

At seven o'clock, when Yuan Anping was still asleep, he dimly heard someone knocking on the door. He thought it was a dream, but he realized that someone was knocking on the door of his house. Although he didn't have much to get out of bed, he was definitely not in a good mood. He hurriedly put on his clothes, but he wanted to see who came knocking on the door early in the morning!

As a result, as soon as the courtyard door opened, he saw an old man and three strong men, standing at the door of his house. When the old man saw him, he immediately asked with a smile: "But Yuan Anping Yuan Gongzi?" ”

Yuan Anping stood in front of the door and nodded without understanding the situation.

The old man continued to say with a pleasant face: "The little old man is from Huaxian County, and I was asked by the people of Zhangfu to make a kang for you. ”

"Ondol!" As soon as Yuan Anping heard that the other party was here to make a fire kang, he immediately dodged away, "Please come inside." It turned out that he had asked the little guy in Zhangfu who sent him back that day if there was anyone who knew how to make a fire kang, and one of the little guys happened to know, so he asked the other party to help find someone. It's been five or six days since that day, and he thought that the other party's nobles were too forgetful to help find it. Originally, he was thinking that he would go to the city to look for it one day, but he didn't expect that someone would come to the door today.

The old man arched his hand and said, "Childe is polite." Then he entered the courtyard, followed by a donkey cart, pulling a cart of red bricks.

Yuan Anping led a few people into the bedroom, and let the old man look at the location, where to build a kang bed is more appropriate. After looking at the location, Yuan Anping told him the size requirements of the kang bed: "I want two meters five wide and three meters long." I wonder if you can build a stove as a chimney? ”

The old man nodded, "Yes, you're going to make a stove outside?" ”

Yuan Anping: "Yes, you can look at the position yourself." Can you pack up for the day? ”

The old man smiled and said, "Yes, don't worry." ”

Yuan Anping was even happier when he heard this: "Then you are busy first, I'll go to make breakfast, and if you don't dislike it, you can eat some together later." ”

A few people hurriedly politely excused themselves, and Yuan Anping went to the outside to get busy. As for leaving a few people in the house so reassuringly, or because the valuables are all in the space, although those cloths are quite valuable, it is not easy to steal them.

Yuan Anping, who thought that he could sleep on the kang bed, was in a very happy mood, and after washing, he began to prepare breakfast. Yuan Anping was busy working here, and a few people over there also started to work. Moving bricks and moving bricks, and mud and mud, looking at the work is very hard.

Speaking of which, this fire kang is said to come from outside the gate, which is much colder than them here, and the fire kang can freeze to death if you don't sleep. To put it mildly, it's a sneeze, and a layer of ice scum can immediately rise under the nose. According to Yuan Anping's way of understanding, they are analogous to North China here, and Naguan is analogous to Heilongjiang in Northeast China, which is not at the same level.

Yuan Anping fried a large plate of eggs, and fried a small pot of vegetables with cabbage radish and large pieces of fatty meat. burned a large pot of sweet potato porridge, a dozen white-flour steamed buns in a basket, and then beckoned the four fathers and sons who were working to eat.

The father and son who were working saw the food on the table, and it looked rich. felt that Yuan Anping was generous, and they were also very happy to meet such a master family who could have a good meal.

Looking at the four people eating, Yuan Anping felt that what he expected was right, they were all people who could eat. Fortunately, I prepared it according to the large portions, otherwise it would be too bad to look good if everyone didn't eat enough.

After eating a meal, everyone was happy. Yuan Anping learned that the old man's surname was Gao, and the three young men were his sons. It is said that he learned this craft a few years ago by going to the outside of the customs, and his life is not bad with this craft.

After eating, a few men quickly helped him pack up his things, Yuan Anping looked at it and felt that these were real people, which was very good.

After breakfast, Yuan Anping didn't have anything to do, so he read the book for a while as usual, and then moved the table to write outside. Just finished writing a pair of words, Li Zi, Fat Dun, Li Dongfeng and Fat Dun's cousin Chen Jun, the four children came to his house together.

Several people saw that Yuan Anping was writing, and immediately leaned over. Looking at the words on the table, I was very envious.

Fat Dun exclaimed with an exaggerated expression: "Brother Anping, your handwriting is so beautiful." The other three nodded.

Li Zi looked at the donkey cart in the yard and the brother surnamed Gao who walked by shoveling mud, and asked in a low voice, "Brother Anping, who are they?" ”

Yuan Anping was very curious when he saw them, and it seemed that he came to his house because of this. Then he smiled and said, "I'm here to help me make a kang bed." Without waiting for them to ask, he explained the function of the kang bed, and several children were envious after hearing it.

"A bed that can heat up must be very warm." Chen Jun said with emotion.

Li Dongfeng also nodded, "I heard my father say that this kind of bed is more expensive to build, Brother Anping, you are really rich." ”

Li Zi continued: "It should be said that the old man is really generous, just because of a poem, he gave Brother Anping so many things." ”

Then the topic of several people came to Zhang Linyi's body, and those legends of great achievements continued to drill into Yuan Anping's ears, and he found that this Zhang Linyi was really a talent.

Yuan Anping saw that a few people were chatting happily, so he picked up the pen and lowered his head to continue practicing calligraphy. After a while, I found that the surroundings were quiet, and when I looked up, I saw that several children were watching him write seriously, with envy in their eyes. Yuan Anping smiled and asked, "Do you want to write it yourself?" ”

When the four children heard him say this, they immediately looked at him with bright eyes.

Yuan Anping went into the house and took four brushes and distributed them to them, and each of them gave them a piece of A4-sized paper, "Just one piece of paper, is there too much." ”

Several people carefully picked up the brush, dipped it in ink, and looked very careful when putting down the pen. Then they found that writing with a brush was much more difficult than they thought, and the soft tip of the pen made them not know how to use force.

Yuan Anping taught them to write a word by hand, and said the way to write and the strength of the wrist. Then let them feel for themselves, and Fat Dun is too young to practice calligraphy, so let him play by himself at will.

One morning, I spent the morning teaching three children to write. Yuan Anping gave each of them a pair of words when they left, with the same content: "There is a road in Shushan and a diligent path, and there is no end to learning from the sea." The meaning of this sentence is to let you study hard, and as for the specific meaning, you will gradually understand it later. Also, if you want to practice writing, you can ask your family to buy you a cheap pen, no ink can be substituted with water, and you can write on the table without paper. You don't need to be fat, you're still too small, your wrists haven't grown well, and you'll practice when you're older. In fact, even if it was a trivial matter for him to give a pen per person, he would not do it. In many cases, one's own efforts are more cherished and forgiving.

After a few children left happily with the words, Yuan Anping looked at the progress of the kang bed, and most of it was done, and indeed as they said, it would definitely be done in one day. For lunch, Yuan Anping happily stewed a pot of meat dishes, opened a bottle of wine, and drank a glass of it. The father and son surnamed Gao were happy to eat, and they worked even harder.

"Heaven and earth are yellow, and the universe is desolate. ……”

In the original utility room, in the current classroom, the sound of Lang Lang's endorsement came from inside, and Yuan Anping was drinking a cup of tea in the hall.

Old man Gao listened to the sound of reading, and talked to Yuan Anping with a smile: "I didn't expect Yuan Gongzi that you are still a gentleman, it's really disrespectful and disrespectful." ”

Yuan Anping shook his head with a smile and said modestly: "Where are the gentlemen, just teach them to read." Our village is too poor for our children to go to private school. I once studied with my husband for a few years, I knew some words, and I didn't plan to test my fame, so I didn't care about those rules of etiquette and religion, and I took advantage of the winter to teach them to read and write. Some of them are beyond their means, but they are a joke. ”

Old man Gao shook his head and said with emotion: "It's the dolls in your village who are blessed." ”

Yuan Anping listened to the sound in the room and stopped, got up and said with a smile: "There are still some from other villages, I thought that one was collected, and two were also collected, but I didn't expect that in the end, forty-seven were collected. You're busy, I've got to take a look. Then he went to the next room.

The old man Gao listened thoughtfully, and the eldest son who was building the stove on the side listened to the words of the two, and as soon as Yuan Anping left, he immediately came to his father, and asked with great concern: "Dad, this Yuan Gongzi is different from other gentlemen, do you think he can accept our dolls?" The other two sons also came to ask with interest.

Old man Gao was thinking about this in his heart, but when he heard his son say this, he got up, "Don't worry, you work first, let me think about it." ”

Several people knew that their father had always had the right idea, and when they heard him say this, they knew that they were interested, so they were relieved to work, and their hands did their best to do the work more meticulously.

After Yuan Anping sent the last few children away, he looked into the house and saw that the kang bed and stove had already been built. He looked around and was satisfied. The old man Gao carefully told Yuan Anping about the things to pay attention to when burning the kang, and also demonstrated how to burn it, and seeing that Yuan Anping was very satisfied, he mentioned what he had been thinking about.

Old man Gao said with an embarrassed look: "Little old man has a reluctant request, and I hope that the son will not be surprised when he hears it." ”

When Yuan Anping saw him say this, he was curious about what was going on, "Please speak." ”

Old man Gao sighed, "That's right. Although my craft has made my family's life much better, I have no choice but to enter the craftsman's household, so that no one wants to teach my doll to read and write. Today, when I saw that my son was reading with so many dolls, I wanted to ask cheekily if I could let my dolls also recognize some words. We don't expect them to be famous and become big officials, we just want them not to be blind. You see......"

Yuan Anping understood that he wanted to send his children to study here. After reading the book for a few days, he knew that this Mu Yaoguo divided his household registration into official registration, military registration, agricultural registration, merchant registration, artisan registration, slave registration and prostitution registration. In comparison, artisan households are lower than peasant households. Although there is no law that stipulates that artisan households cannot be examined, it is not surprising that the literati of this dynasty are pretentious and high-minded, and they are unwilling to accept the children of artisan households as students. As for the descendants of merchants, they have money, no matter which dynasty, they can always do something that ordinary people can't do. What's more, Mu Yaoguo did not restrain businessmen in this regard, except for clearly stipulating that slavery and prostitution were not allowed to be examined. As for Li Mo's family in the village, although he did the work of a carpenter, he did not become a craftsman, mainly because his family had land, and he only took some work during the slack time, and their village was remote, and no one reported him. Old man Gao lost because his family was too poor at that time, and he had no land to plant, so in order to survive, he could only enter the artisan household, and he could do his work in a bright and bright way.

Yuan Anping saw that several people were looking at him expectantly, thinking that the law did not stipulate that the children of the craftsmen should break the law, so he nodded and agreed, "Yes, but don't be happy first, I don't accept everyone." At least I will accept it until I pass the exam. ”

Several men nodded repeatedly, "We know, we know." ”

Old man Gao even thanked him, feeling a little tearful: "Yuan Gongzi, our family is thinking of your kindness." ”

Yuan Anping hurriedly staggered away, he didn't dare to accept the salute, "Don't be like this, it's really tormenting me." And I really can't get used to hearing this Yuan Gongzi's call. ”

Old man Gao Lian nodded, "Listen to you, listen to you." Let's go home and bring the kids. ”

Yuan Anping hurriedly stopped, "Old man, don't be in a hurry for a while, it's not too late to come back tomorrow." ”

Old man Gao also felt a little excited, "Okay, good." Tomorrow, tomorrow brings. ”

Yuan Anping is not a local household after all, so he can't empathize with their excitement. watched them calm down, and then said, "Please calculate your salary." ”

Old man Gao shook his head: "No, no. The people of Zhangfu have already paid the money. ”

Although he was a little surprised that the Zhang Mansion actually paid all the money in advance, he was relieved to see that they didn't accept it, "Because I said before that I would no longer accept children, so if anyone asks in the future, I will sue them, because you made me a kang bed and confiscated the silver, I will accept your children." "Anyway, he is not afraid that others will think that he only accepts this person's children because of money, and don't those gentlemen in private schools also accept money.

Old man Gao hurriedly said, "Okay." But we still have to give this bundle of repairs, so don't be polite to us. ”

Yuan Anping refused: "These children will not have money, you are no exception, bring the children to my school tomorrow, if I am satisfied, I will accept it." ”

When several men heard him say this, they immediately spoke one after another.

"What kind of thing is this, it's a great favor that you are willing to accept my child, how can you not accept money."

"Yes, yes, this bundle of cultivation must be collected."

Yuan Anping hurriedly waved his hand and threatened: "If you don't accept it, if you say you don't accept it, you won't accept it, and don't send the child if you are verbose." "He's really not good at pushing things around, it's better to be direct.

Several of the men immediately shut up. The old man Gao thanked him with a smile, said that he would send the child tomorrow, and drove away. After Yuan Anping sent the people away, he immediately ran back to the house happily. I ran to the back room to look at the kang bed, thinking that if it snowed again, I could nest on the kang bed to read a book and drink tea, so I didn't have a good time. I went outside to look at the stove again, and sighed that there was finally a proper stove.