Li Zhouzhou got out of bed quietly. The pot of red date water had already gone cold. Li Zhouzhou carried the pot to the kitchen and looked at the sky outside. It was time to cook dinner.

　　Just as it was getting dark, Li Da came back carrying a bamboo basket.

　　Li Zhouzhou came out from the kitchen to greet his father.

　　Li Da unloaded the basket and said, “I’ll go get it again in five days. The eggs have been delivered, and the Zhu family has accepted them.”

　　Li Zhouzhou felt relieved. He poured some hot tea for his father to warm him up and quickly prepared dinner.

　　The family ate in the main hall with oil lamps. Li Da said, “The clay craftsman refused to pay for just one, so I decided to buy two pots and two stoves for a total of sixty coins.”

　　This is because it is snowy in winter and firewood is wasted. If you burn it in the summer, it can be five or ten cents cheaper. If you go to the town to buy it, a large clay pot is only seven or eight cents.

　　Five days later, it was a sunny day when we took the stove. The snow had melted and the ground was muddy, making it difficult to walk.

　　”It’s nothing. We agreed to pick it up today.” Li Da went there early with a bamboo basket on his back. It was said that it was difficult to walk on. Some roads were covered with snow but it was okay to walk on the snowy areas.

　　When Li Da arrived at Shili Village, he went directly to Zhunijiang’s house.

　　I knocked on the door and someone answered.

　　”I’m coming.” Zhu Nijiang’s son opened the door and called Uncle Li, “This is the first time my father has made this. Although the medicine furnace is a bit bigger, he is afraid that he can’t control the temperature well–“

　　”Why did it burn?” Li Da asked. Was this a wasted trip?

　　Zhu Nijiang’s son said, “No, please come in and have a seat, drink some hot tea, and let my father tell you.”

　　It turned out that it was fired a day ago. Although it was the first time for Zhu the clay craftsman to make this enlarged medicine furnace, with more than ten years of experience, he still controlled the temperature very well and fired the first furnace successfully. The Zhu family looked at this thing curiously and asked if it worked well.

　　Zhu the clay craftsman also wanted to give it a try, so he asked his wife to get some burned hardwood from the stove, lit a few sticks, and placed the burned pot on top. Unexpectedly, it worked. It really worked.

　　The stove is of course smaller than the hearth and easier to move, so it is placed in the main room of the house with a pot of water boiling on it. The grandchildren at home all love to get close to it, sitting on small stools and unable to leave, saying it is warm.

　　”…firewood doesn’t cost much, and whenever I want to have a hot drink, I can have it. Instead of boiling water, I can roast some sweet potatoes. My wife also used the stove to make a pot of sweet potato and yellow rice porridge. Although the fire is a little slow and not as fast as a big stove, it doesn’t take long for the house to be warm.” Zhu Nijiang said it over and over again, and his words were very useful.

　　Li Da drank the hot water and understood what Zhu Nijiang meant.

　　”Okay, you can use the extra set first, and I’ll come get it another day.”

　　Zhu the clay craftsman said with a smile, “Haha, that’s what I mean. I have used all my own at home, so I can’t give you my old ones. So, I’ll give you ten cents, and you can come back in three days. You said I’ve been burning pots and pans for half my life, and I also burned the medicine stove in the town, so why didn’t I think of expanding it?”

　　It’s clearly something very simple.

　　”I didn’t think about it. Who wants to put a medicine stove in their home?” Li Da said, “It was my son-in-law’s idea. He is a scholar. He usually reads books at home and burns the kang. He thinks it’s a waste of firewood. His room is warm, but Zhou Zhou and I can’t keep warm. So he thought if we could make a bigger one and put it in the main room to save firewood and keep warm.”

　　Zhu Nijiang gave a thumbs up and said, “No wonder, no wonder, scholars are smart. Your son-in-law is great and filial. I hope you will enjoy a happy life in the future.”

　　All the wrinkles on Li Da’s face were relaxed as if he was smiling, but he said, “We farmers just make do with our lives. My son-in-law is a little weak and can’t work in the fields, but he is a smart man.”

　　Zhu the clay craftsman naturally praised and praised him, saying that it was good to study hard, and that in the future he would be like Zhu Xiucai in their village. After passing the imperial examination, he would not have to kneel when meeting officials, and would not have to pay grain taxes on the crops in his fields.

　　Li Da was very happy with what he heard. Although he didn’t know what kind of fortune Gu Zhao would have in the future, he felt relieved and happy after listening to it.

　　After drinking hot tea and eating a meal of mixed grains at Zhu Nijiang’s house, Li Da returned to the village carrying the stove and pot.

　　It was already dark when I got home.

　　The oil lamp was lit in the main room. Li Zhouzhou heard a noise at the gate, thinking it must be his father coming back. He hurried to open the door and helped his father unload the basket. He felt the force and felt it was not right. Before he could ask, his father said, “The clay craftsman said it worked well. He left a set at home and asked me to go there in three days.”

　　The father and son entered the main room.