The second sister-in-law handled this matter smoothly and smoothly. The carpenter she found was very skilled, and she was smart enough to discover the value of the set at once, not only did she not charge for her work, but she also asked if she could sell him the drawings, so she had to go home and ask Shuning. I have to say that there were still many clever people among the ancients. However, these things are not high-tech, and others can easily imitate them, and Shuning is not blackhearted to ask him for money, and he said that for every set sold in the first three months, he will take a profit of 20% from it, and the rest will go to the carpenter, but he is not allowed to pass on the fact that she is the inventor. After three months, all the money he earned belonged to him.

The carpenter thought that pie had fallen from the sky, how could he not agree? The second sister-in-law couldn't understand it, and felt that her own lady gave up the opportunity to make a fortune to outsiders in vain. Shu Ning didn't care, they would know when pirated products appeared in a few months. Now she finally has a little private money, but she must collect it.

Sure enough, the carpenter's shop took the four things on the drawings and added a fine broom to form a set of sprinkler cleaning utensils, which sold very well in the city. There are many small and medium-sized officials and well-off families in Fengtian, and they are willing to spend a little money to buy a set of such things, which is not only convenient to use, but also much cleaner to clean the place. Even high-ranking officials will look at the fresh purchase of one or two sets. The carpenter made a fortune, and Shuning's purse bulged a lot.

It's just that the good times didn't last long, and in this era without intellectual property protection, counterfeits soon appeared. Some are shoddy and sold cheaply; Some of them are very finely made, and they are also carved on the top, taking the high-priced route. The carpenter's business snubbed, and he was disappointed.

However, Shuning had expected this situation, she had received more than 20 taels of silver in the past three months, and gave eight taels to her second sister-in-law, and asked her to help her put the rest. If it is kept in his own room, he will inevitably be discovered by Xiao Tao, and the Tong family will also know, if he asks about the calendar, it is not easy to answer. The two husbands and wives are honest people, and they have always loved themselves. Before you grow old enough to have private money, it will be safer to put it with her first. The second sister-in-law hesitantly took the money, grateful for her trust in her, and swore that she would definitely keep it for a good time, and even Changfu didn't let him know.

The popularity of sprinklers and cleaning supplies quickly swept the city. Soon, more than half of the families had one. Even Shuning's own home, which was also led by the Tong family, and Changgui came forward to buy a set. Speaking before dinner one day, Tong complained: "The second sister-in-law had already bought a set at home, and she didn't say a word, but let me spend an extra money." The second sister-in-law hurriedly said: "I really once helped a carpenter with a small favor, and he did it for our family for free, and it didn't cost money." It was the slave who was confused and forgot to mention it to her grandmother. Tong waved his hand: "Forget it, it's just a trivial matter." But this set of things is really easy to use, I don't know who came up with it, it used to take two people an hour to clean the entire front yard, now only one person can do it, the time is much less, mop the floor with a wet mop, and don't need to wash with water, but save a lot of things. Zhang Bao agreed, and also mentioned that the government had also bought two sets of spares.

Shuning pretended to be nothing, bowed her head to eat, and only occasionally raised her eyes to meet the second sister-in-law, secretly looking at each other and laughing.

After eating, the whole family sat in the hall and talked, Zhang Bao said to the Tong family: "It's winter now, and it will snow soon, you have to prepare a New Year's gift to Beijing, right?" Tong nodded yes, and he said, "Don't send more wine this year." Because of the bumper harvest of Fengtian rice this autumn, the price of rice in the south of the Yangtze River fell sharply after entering the customs, and the imperial court was worried that the rice would hurt the peasants, and it had to prepare for future wars, so it ordered that Fengtian rice should not be allowed to enter the customs, and only be used as military rations outside the customs, and at the same time, only old rice that was more than three years old could be used to make wine. Nowadays, the major breweries are caught off guard, but I am afraid that the wine made this year will not be enough for outside the customs, so let's change it to something else. ”

Tong Shi was worried when he heard this: "What can I do about this?" In the past few years, this fine wine was the bulk of the New Year's gift, but now if you don't give it, there is nothing to get your hands on. ”

Zhang Bao also knew this difficulty, thought about it, and said: "The corn, potatoes, peanuts and other things that were tried to be planted this year have a good harvest, and the imperial court does not allow Fengtian rice to enter the customs, but it is not said that these are not allowed to enter the customs, so it is good to send some over." Zhou Fucheng loves to make potatoes the most, and the potatoes grown in a radius of hundreds of miles here are all planted on his initiative. He has a large potato recipe at home, and I asked him to ask for it, so you can copy a recipe and send it with fresh potatoes. ”

Tong nodded while listening, but still felt that it was not enough: "After all, these are not worth much, and now that you have been promoted, you can't be too stingy." ”

Zhang Bao sighed: "Think about it again, now my salary is much higher, and the people below often have filial piety, and the situation is much better than a few years ago. ”

Tong Shi responded, and talked about pickling Chinese cabbage this year. Duan Ning was already bored and slipped out, and Shuning couldn't sit still when she heard this, so she confessed to her parents and went back to her room.

Since the beginning of autumn this year, it has been blowing strong winds, and it is especially cold in the winter nights, and the window paper that blows on the window is fluttering, and it has blown a corner two days ago, but it was immediately made up. I miss the glass windows at such times. I heard that in the old palace of Fengtian, most of the palaces and pavilions are glass windows, and even the official residences of Fengtian Mansion and Fu Yin also have glass-lined windows. It's a pity that my family doesn't have the money to that point, so I have to continue to use the traditional white paper. Although it is not as strong as glass windows to transmit light, the advantage is that the cost is low and the fragments are safe.

Shuning picked up a book of Tang poems, flipped through a few pages, and just after the change, she couldn't hold it. Asked Xiao Tao to come in with water and wash her face, change her clothes and go to sleep.

A good night's sleep.

In a daze, she felt a little cold, and rolled up the quilt on her body, but the coldness still couldn't be eliminated, and when she opened her eyes, she saw a white light outside the tent. It turned out that it was already dawn! She was startled and was about to get up, but as soon as she left the bed, she couldn't help but shiver.

With a squeak, the door opened, Xiao Tao came in with something, saw Shuning get up, hurriedly put down the things, wiped her hands, and took out a thick dress in the box: "The girl is up?" ”

"Why is it so cold?"

"Guess girl?" Xiao Tao squeezed her eyes and helped her change her clothes, "Hint: It's still early, but it's very bright outside." ”

"It's snowing?" Shuning was pleasantly surprised. hurriedly put on his clothes, ignoring Xiao Tao's shouting behind him, and rushed out of the door.

Sure enough, there was a large expanse of white land outside, and the sky was obviously dark, but it was lined with snow as if it were day. The snow had stopped, and the snow on the ground was half a foot smaller, and it was almost filling the hallway. The small trees in the courtyard were covered with snow, and the branches were pressed low.

Shuning saw the beautiful snow scene, and before she had time to sigh, she sneezed and rushed back to the room. Xiao Tao chattered: "Told the girl not to go out, it's cold, right?" This morning, Brother Ma was so cold that he sneezed six times in a row, and I also sneezed two, and it snowed, so you have to be careful of catching a cold, and the snow can't melt for a while, and it's not too late to go out to see it when you wear a thick one......"

Only then did Shuning realize that what she brought in before was a charcoal tray, and it was already burning at this time: "Why do you burn it now, I have to go to the upper room to eat when I come back, it's not too late to go back to the room and burn it again." Xiao Tao smiled bitterly and said: "My little aunt, look at yourself, you haven't washed your face and combed your hair, this can take half an hour's work, it won't burn at this time, I'm afraid that I will catch a cold when I turn around, and my second sister-in-law will definitely fry my skin." She put down the charcoal plate, went out, and after a while brought a copper pot of water in, put it on the charcoal tray and heated it for a while, before pouring it into the face plate, brought a towel, and waited for Shuning to wash her face.

Shuning let her fiddle, but she was thinking about something else. This is the first snow since the beginning of winter, and it seems that next year's harvest will be good. It's just that the snow is so heavy, and the weather is much colder, you have to think of some ways to warm up this winter, it is best to be convenient and not troublesome and expensive, the winter of the past few years can be sad to death.

After freshening up, I went to the upper room, and breakfast was already on the table, because it was cold, and all the food was hot. Shuning asked for peace, and after sitting down, she drank a bowl of hot soy milk first. This is something that has only recently appeared in the city, it is made after the soybean harvest, the soybean flavor is very strong, and honey is added, which is much stronger than the thin soy milk mixed with water that is drunk in modern times, this is a healthy food!

Tong also drank a bowl, took the wowotou and broke it into a few pieces, added it to the Duanning bowl, turned his head and said to Zhang Bao: "I just asked someone to take out your pair of cowhide boots, as well as the sheepskin coat, and asked the second sister-in-law to find a sturdy oil-paper umbrella, and also told the old Wu Tou to put a stove in the car, and you go back to the yamen, but you have to be careful not to blow the wind." Zhang Bao nodded: "You should also be careful at home, burn the stove in the house for heating, and remember to open the window to let in the air." Tong answered.

After Duanning finished eating, he interjected: "Mr. has something to do today, no need to go to class, my son goes back to his own room to study, I just practiced calligraphy in the study for a while, the two big windows are open, blowing all over the house with a loud sound, closing the window, it is stuffy, dark, and cold, it is better to warm it in the room." Zhang Bao agreed: "It's okay, the study is colder than other rooms, but I'm afraid that the ink is not good, and it is difficult to write." ”

Shuning proposed: "It's better to let my brother come to the upper room with me, we will read and write in the right room, it won't disturb Eniang, and you can also save a stove, didn't Eniang say that now charcoal is more expensive than last year?" Zhang Bao Tong's family is called a great good, Duan Ning is also happy to smile, someone to accompany is better than a person lively, not to mention that the upper room is the warmest place for the whole family.