Chapter 172: I Give You Half a Month’s Time

Having made up her mind, Leng Qing Yu immediately wrote a letter to her family.

As soon as she finished writing and went out, two more people entered the courtyard.

It was Chang Sheng and Lu Chang Qing.

When they entered, Ye Xin Ran was also quite surprised.

“You two came back together?”

Chang Qing, afraid that Leng Qing Yu would chase him away, quickly said, “Chang Sheng said he wanted to go home, and I thought it would be inconvenient for him to go such a long way, so I had the coachman send him back.”

Chang Sheng, hearing this, looked at him with disdain. “When did I say I wanted to go home?”

It was clearly Lu Chang Qing who had dragged him into the carriage.

Seeing Chang Sheng’s sudden change in expression, Lu Chang Qing quickly clasped his hands and whispered, “Young Master Xiao, didn’t we agree that you’d help me once?”

Chang Sheng didn’t have much of a good impression of Lu Chang Qing.

If it weren’t for Ye Xin Ran’s sake, he wouldn’t have ridden in his carriage!

But, since he had accepted the ride, he didn’t want to embarrass Lu Chang Qing any further.

He simply ignored him and turned to talk to Ye Xin Ran.

Leaving Lu Chang Qing standing alone facing Leng Qing Yu.

He hesitated for a moment, then softly called out, “Mother!”

Today, when Leng Qing Yu left, she hadn’t taken him with her, and he thought it was because she was angry with his father, even not wanting him anymore.

Lu Chang Qing’s personality had always been a bit twisted.

He was cold and lonely outside, but at home, he was over bearing and unreasonable, never allowing Lu Zhi Yi to have the upper hand.

In front of his real father, he didn’t dare to make a sound.

But in front of his biological mother, he always had this desire to be recognized and to be pampered.

Leng Qing Yu was very fond of this son.

But because his health was poor, she had never let him do anything from a young age, and she never wanted him to do anything.

Other children running and jumping were seen as progress.

They could even get praise for climbing a fake mountain or something courageous.

But for him, no matter what he did, Leng Qing Yu would always say, “No!”

She never dared to have high hopes for him. Her only expectation was that he could live a good life.

Lu Chang Qing was very good at studying, playing chess, and drawing, but he never received praise from his mother.

Leng Qing Yu always said, “You don’t have to try so hard, as long as you’re happy.”

In Lu Chang Qing’s view, if his mother didn’t have any expectations of him, it meant she didn’t need him.

She could easily discard him at any time.

“Mother, I came to see you. Are you feeling better now?” He asked cautiously.

As expected, Leng Qing Yu responded, “Chang Qing, why are you here? Stay and rest at your aunt’s house. You don’t need to worry about me here.”

The smile on Lu Chang Qing’s face froze instantly.

He thought for a moment and then said, “Mother, I just wanted to tell you that Father has already left with Lu Zhi Yi.”

“Mm.” Leng Qing Yu nodded.

Lu Chang Qing continued, “Mother, I told Auntie already. I’ll stay here with Sister to keep you company.”

“Stay here with me? What about your studies?” Leng Qing Yu asked.

“I’ve given the coachman money, so he’ll pick us up every morning to take us to school and bring us back in the evening,” Lu Chang Qing explained.

“It’s fine, I’ll wake up a bit earlier. I can review my lessons on the way,” he added.

Seeing that everything had been arranged, Leng Qing Yu agreed, “We’ll all live here. I hope it won’t cause your sister any trouble.”

She still felt a bit guilty when facing Ye Xin Ran.

She wanted to help Ye Xin Ran with something, but when she saw how well Ye Xin Ran’s house was organized, with the children each handling their tasks clearly, she wasn’t sure where to fit in.

Ye Xin Ran noticed her discomfort and, while working, subtly asked Leng Qing Yu to help her.

Gradually, Leng Qing Yu became more comfortable, and it felt much better.

Lu Chang Qing, however, wasn’t as lucky.

He had originally planned to go to school with Chang Sheng, hoping they would be companions.

But Chang Sheng was entirely focused on his studies, preparing for next year’s imperial examination. He often stayed up late reading, unable to keep up with Lu Chang Qing.

So, Lu Chang Qing had to come back alone, feeling a little embarrassed.

Fortunately, recently, Ye Xin Ran had given him something to do, which improved his mood a lot.

Ye Xin Ran had asked him to help with drawing designs.

“Today, I noticed that many families in the village still haven’t finished threshing their rice. I’ve been thinking about making a threshing machine for a while, but I’ve never had the time,” she explained.

Now that there’s finally time, but I can’t draw, could you help me with the drawings?” Ye Xin Ran asked.

Lu Chang Qing readily agreed.

Ye Xin Ran thought for a moment and began describing, “For the threshing machine I want, the center should be a round barrel, and we need to have the blacksmith attach curved iron nails to the barrel. There should be axle shafts on both sides, with fan blades, and leather straps connecting the axles to the pedal underneath.”

“Is it that complicated?” Lu Chang Qing asked, somewhat confused.

“Yes,” Ye Xin Ran replied.

She recalled the simplest threshing machine she had seen in books before and continued, “Make sure to leave an air intake on the left side. When the rice passes through the funnel valve into the wind passage, the full grains will fall directly into the grain mouth, while the empty grains and debris will be blown out through the wind passage.”

“Sis, have you ever seen a threshing machine before?” Lu Chang Qing asked, still finding it a bit abstract.

He assumed that since Ye Xin Ran could describe it so clearly, she must have seen the actual machine before.

“Yes, I’ve… seen it,” Ye Xin Ran said awkwardly.

The original person had only gone as far as the county town, and she really couldn’t make up a lie about seeing such a thing elsewhere.

“I’ve been thinking about how to make this thing every day, so I saw it in a dream.”

Upon hearing that she saw it in a dream, Lu Chang Qing didn’t argue. Instead, he obediently followed her description, using his own imagination to draw out the threshing machine, piece by piece.

Two days later, after several revisions by the siblings, the threshing machine finally looked like what Ye Xin Ran had envisioned.

“It’s almost like this!” Ye Xin Ran said happily. “You’re amazing, you drew it as soon as I said it!”

Lu Chang Qing felt a little embarrassed by the praise. Just as he was about to be modest, Ye Xin Ran said, “I need to find someone to make this.”

“Sis, I know where the biggest blacksmith and carpenter shops in the city are. I’ll go find someone to make it,” Lu Chang Qing offered eagerly.

He was pleased to be praised and wanted to be even more impressive.

“Do you have the time?” Ye Xin Ran asked, knowing that he still had to go to school during the day, and his time was already tight.

Lu Chang Qing waved it off nonchalantly. “Time? I can make time.”

“I used to think I could only study and couldn’t do anything else, but now I feel like there’s a lot I can do. So, sis, leave it to me. I know exactly what you want.”

This was the first time Ye Xin Ran had seen Lu Chang Qing so confident.

“Okay, I’ll give you half a month. In that time, let’s see if you can get it made.”