Hu Fan sighed again, "Yes, I didn't expect it to end like this."
"Sir, what about Sun Jian?" He Dali couldn't help but worry.
Without any witnesses, they could only rely on Sun Jian's confession.
"Fine, let both Sun Jian and him go." This was Hu Fan's helpless choice.
As dusk approached, Sun Jian, accompanied by Shi Gang, hurried back to Xiaojia Town.
As they reached the entrance of the inn, Sun Jian suddenly stopped.
In a corner by the inn's entrance, there was a signal left by Shi Yan.
This signal indicated danger inside the inn.
Just as Sun Jian hesitated whether to go in, the innkeeper, Old Wang, happened to walk out. He looked up and saw Sun Jian.
Old Wang was stunned for a moment, then recovered, "Oh, isn't this Master Sun? Why have you returned?" Su Dan Novels Network
Sun Jian was taken aback by the question and instinctively retorted, "Why can't I come back?"
Old Wang shook his head, took a couple of steps closer, and whispered mysteriously, "You probably don't know, but after you were taken away by the officials that day, the people who came with you were also captured."
Saying this, Old Wang directly offered a silver ingot from his sleeve.
"Master Sun, you should go somewhere else. I really don't dare to keep you here."
Sun Jian was alarmed upon hearing this. He grabbed Old Wang's shoulder, "What did you say? Where were they taken?"
Old Wang shook his head and roughly recounted the events of that night to Sun Jian.
This time, Sun Jian basically understood. According to Old Wang's description, the ones who came to arrest them were Yang Zhi and Liu Rumei.
Upon thinking of this, Sun Jian became somewhat enraged.
He grabbed Shi Gang and turned to leave, "Let's go, return to the county town and demand the people from Liu Rumei."
After walking a few steps with Sun Jian, Shi Gang suddenly said, "Brother, looking at it this way, Chen Xiaobei actually saved our lives. If we had been surrounded too, we would likely have become prisoners."
Hearing Shi Gang's words, Sun Jian stopped abruptly.
"What you said makes sense."
"So, I, Sun Jian, owe Chen Xiaobei a great favor."
Meanwhile, Chen Xiaobei was busily working.
He put glutinous rice into his iron pot and began to boil it to make a sauce. The glutinous rice had to be cooked thoroughly until it became a paste; only then would its juice be useful.
While the rice was cooking, Chen Xiaobei went to the village entrance and cut a few bamboo poles.
Chen Xiaobei chose bamboo poles that were as thick as his fingers. This thickness would result in chalk of the right size.
Chen Xiaobei split the bamboo sections in half and then tightly bound them together with rope.
This way, once the chalk solidified, it could be easily separated and taken out to dry.
Looking at the thick glutinous rice porridge, Chen Qiao'er couldn't help but lick her lips, "Brother, is this rice porridge delicious?"
Xiaobei smiled. He took a bowl and served a little for his sister separately, "Try it."
Chen Qiao'er took a small spoonful and put it in her mouth, "It's similar to rice."
It was evident that there was still a hint of disappointment in her eyes.
Chen Xiaobei's mind suddenly sparked. He remembered eating rice with sugar in his previous life.
Sugar was a rare commodity at this time, but as long as you had money, rare things could be bought.
So, the next time he went into town, he might as well buy some white sugar to let Chen Qiao'er experience sweetness.
Chen Xiaobei mixed the lime with the glutinous rice juice, stirred them evenly, and then poured the mixture into the bamboo sections.
Then, he used a wooden stick to tamp it down firmly.
Throughout the night, Chen Xiaobei made thirty to forty pieces of chalk, which would be enough for writing for some time.
The next day, Chen Xiaobei woke up early, skipped breakfast, and took the ink to the classroom to make a blackboard.
However, upon arriving at the classroom, he discovered that although the craftsmen had worked diligently to make the walls as even as possible, they were still not smooth enough.
Yes, although they looked flat, they were far from smooth enough for writing.
After much hesitation, Chen Xiaobei finally gave up.
Grinding these stones to the smoothness required for writing was beyond the technology of the time; in other words, it was too difficult.
So, he had to find another way, which was to use wooden boards. He would nail wooden boards to the wall and then paint them black.
Needing wooden boards, he had to find Carpenter Zhang. Thinking of Carpenter Zhang, Chen Xiaobei couldn't help but smile. He had promised to help him find two apprentices, and he hadn't done it yet.
Therefore, he had to take care of this matter first and headed straight for Lidong's house.
Since coming down from the mountain, Lidong had been catching up on sleep at home for the past two days, as he hadn't rested well in the harsh conditions on the mountain.
Upon hearing that Chen Xiaobei had arrived, he reluctantly got out of bed.
"Brother Xiaobei, I apologize. I've been feeling very tired these past couple of days."
Chen Xiaobei nodded, "There hasn't been much going on in the village these days, so it's fine for you to rest."
"I've come to tell you something, and I'd like you to help inquire about it later."
"Carpenter Zhang wants to take on two apprentices."
Upon hearing this, Lidong smiled, "He mentioned it before, but he charged five taels of silver for each apprentice. Who could afford to learn?"
"No, this time he's not charging tuition, and he'll provide food and lodging."
"Really?" Lidong's eyes were filled with surprise.
"Really. He told me himself yesterday."
After receiving Chen Xiaobei's confirmation, Lidong smiled.
"This is simple. I know Xiaowen has always wanted to learn, but his family couldn't afford the silver. I'll ask him later."
After finishing this matter, Chen Xiaobei changed the subject, "Also, you've heard about Sun Jian. He's gone, but he gave money, and we still need to repair the suspension bridge."
"Alright, you're the boss."
Chen Xiaobei stood up, "I want to assign the work of making wooden boards to Carpenter Zhang, as a form of our support for him."
Lidong listened and gave Chen Xiaobei a thumbs-up. It was killing two birds with one stone.
Chen Xiaobei turned and headed for Carpenter Zhang's house. Upon seeing Chen Xiaobei arrive, Carpenter Zhang seemed very polite and brought out two apples from inside to give to Chen Xiaobei.
While eating the apple, Chen Xiaobei explained his idea to Carpenter Zhang. The first task was to make blackboards for several classrooms.
Chen Xiaobei roughly described the appearance and dimensions of the blackboards he remembered from his past life to Carpenter Zhang.
The width should be from the floor to waist level, and the length should be at least one zhang.
Carpenter Zhang listened attentively, nodding continuously.
"Village Elder, please rest assured. For the sake of the children, I will do this job well."
After discussing the blackboards, Chen Xiaobei also roughly described the dimensions for the wooden boards to be laid on the suspension bridge.
"These are the wooden boards to be laid on the bridge. They should be at least one inch thick. Also, the suspension bridge is at least twelve zhang long, so you need to estimate the quantity."
Carpenter Zhang noted it all down and finally said somewhat apologetically, "Doing so much at once, I can't handle it alone."
Chen Xiaobei understood his intention, "Don't worry. I've already inquired about your apprentices. I'll give you an answer in the next couple of days."
Hearing this, Carpenter Zhang's face finally broke into a smile, "Good, thank you for your trouble."