Thinking of this, Chen Xiaobei had no choice but to perfunctorily say, "Okay, Brother Dacheng. I'll discuss this matter with Brother Dayong. After all, only the two of us are registered with the authorities; the rest are just nominal."
Chen Dachun didn't say anything further and bid farewell to Chen Xiaobei with a smile.
Chen Xiaobei couldn't come up with any good solutions on the way. He arrived at the vegetable patch where the villagers had already started harvesting cabbage. He called out to a few villagers and they followed the route Mao Laoda had taken with him yesterday, climbing up the mountain to the cave. Upon reaching the cave, the villagers marveled, having lived in Hetou Village for so many years and yet not knowing of such a place.
Chen Dayong crawled into the stone cave to inspect it and couldn't help but exclaim, "Excellent, it's truly a feng shui treasure land, and a natural large warehouse at that."
Chen Xiaobei pointed to a corner and said, "Right, there's some dried game there. It was left by an old hunter. He's been watching me specifically, so please don't disturb it."
Chen Dayong finally understood that Chen Xiaobei had also found this place after being guided by an expert.
Soon, someone used a long rope to lower a basket. Those below filled the basket with cabbage, and those above pulled it up with force.
After a few pulls, Chen Xiaobei noticed a problem: the efficiency was too low, and it was very strenuous. The villagers worked in pairs, and each pull could only bring up four or five cabbages before they were panting. At this rate, they wouldn't be able to harvest much in a day.
Chen Xiaobei's mind raced through all the methods he had learned in physics class in his past life to save effort, such as the principle of leverage and pulley systems, and various other techniques.
After much thought, Chen Xiaobei finally came up with the simplest solution.
It was to install pulleys, and not rely on human power, which was too slow. They needed to use oxen to pull.
A pulley would be installed above the cave. The rope would go over the pulley and down to the ground. Then, it would go through another set of pulleys to change direction. The ox would simply pull the rope forward on the ground, and the basket would naturally be pulled up. With this arrangement of two sets of pulleys to change direction, the ox could easily pull a dozen cabbages at a time.
Without delay, Chen Xiaobei explained his idea to Chen Dayong and asked him to lead people to cut down some trees nearby. They would use the low cave as a support structure, ensuring that the wooden frame was stable and wouldn't fall apart. After all, the pulling force was directly upward, and the horizontal force required for pulling was not significant.
As for the pulleys, that would require some effort. Chen Xiaobei went down to the ground and returned home to get some paper. He drew a few simple sketches and then went to find Master Carpenter Zhang.
Ideally, cast iron would be best, but time was short. Casting iron would take too long, so they would have to make wooden ones for temporary use and also make a few spares.
Master Carpenter Zhang looked at the drawing and smiled slightly. "This is simple, just making a few wooden wheels. I make wooden wheels for plows all the time, so you can rest assured."
Master Carpenter Zhang gestured with his hands. The wheels would need to be about the size of a millstone. Chen Xiaobei initially wanted them smaller, but then thought better of it and let Master Carpenter Zhang proceed.
It took them all morning, and soon after lunch, the simple pulley system was completed. Chen Xiaobei examined it carefully. To his surprise, Chen Dayong and the others were quite clever. At the cave entrance above, they had first built a bent frame with wood. A piece of wood extended from inside the cave out to the ground, where the pulley was fixed. Inside the cave, another piece of wood was used to secure it, acting as a counterweight. On the ground, multiple layers of wooden frames were used to secure the pulleys.
A villager brought over Old Yellow Ox to test it. The basket was lifted easily and happily, carrying over a dozen cabbages at once.
This significantly improved their efficiency.
While everyone was busy, Chen Xiaobei took two cabbages home.
Chen Xiaobei wanted to experiment with making kimchi. As he walked, listening to the chanting of the village guard members working, Chen Xiaobei's mood was not as joyful as he expected. With so many cabbages planted and this whole ordeal, it was possible they might even lose money, let alone make a profit. This proved that relying solely on growing vegetables to become wealthy was too difficult. If he hadn't had the reward money he earned from working for various factions earlier, selling these cabbages for only two cents each now wouldn't even cover the wages of these people. Therefore, he needed to think of other ways.
As he walked and thought, images flashed through Chen Xiaobei's mind: Mao Laoda giving him dried chicken and snakes. That was it. He should consider high-priced, high-value-added products. In this era, raising chickens, pigs, and sheep had many advantages with the Qing Mountain nearby. Therefore, he needed to get started on these in the spring. As the village's industries expanded, they would need more labor. These were all things that needed to be figured out.
Back home, Chen Xiaobei removed two layers of cabbage leaves, then chopped the cabbage into several pieces with a knife. He then sprinkled some salt, placed it neatly in a ceramic washbasin, and added some dogwood leaves. Chen Xiaobei had read some history books; dogwood leaves were the best choice for spiciness in ancient times.
Seeing Chen Xiaobei busy with this, Cui Hongyu looked astonished.
"Husband, what are you doing?"
Chen Xiaobei chuckled, "Well, I met Boss Mao yesterday, and he told me a new way to eat cabbage. I wanted to experiment with it." He then brought another basin over and covered the cabbage.
Suddenly looking up, Chen Xiaobei saw Cui Hongyu looking as if she had something to say but hesitated.
"Hongyu, do you have something you want to say?"
Cui Hongyu nodded. "Brother Xiaobei, tell me the truth. Is Miss Liu going on a long journey in a few days?"
Chen Xiaobei was taken aback for a moment. He quickly understood that Cui Hongyu was worried about Liu Rumei going to the front lines.
"It shouldn't be, right? She told Zhou Quan the other day."
Cui Hongyu let out a soft sigh.
This sigh sent a tremor through Chen Xiaobei's heart.
"Hongyu, why are you sighing?"
"Brother Xiaobei, I have a premonition that Miss Liu will still go to the front lines."
Chen Xiaobei looked at Cui Hongyu. "Hongyu, what you're saying is possible, but it's unlikely in the short term."
Cui Hongyu leaned closer. "Brother Xiaobei, have you and Miss Liu...?"
Seeing her hesitation, Chen Xiaobei knew what she meant. Several days had passed, and he still hadn't consummated his marriage with Liu Rumei. Cui Hongyu was clearly referring to this. Thinking of this, he replied with some difficulty, "Well, Rumei has been staying in her own residence these past few days, and I..."