Transmigrated as a Stepmother: Time to Bring the Family to Prosper!-Chapter 61 - 60: Waterwheel

Chapter 61: Chapter 60: Waterwheel
Qin Yao stayed at Liu the carpenter’s house until around two or three in the afternoon, clarifying all the details. She then drew a detailed scale-down blueprint for him and returned home with a growling stomach.
The midday sun was perfect. Liu Dafu’s fields had finished harvesting wheat, and now the stalks were burning. The village fields were a busy sight, full of bustling farmers.
All the good farmland near the river to the east of the village belonged to Liu Dafu. Every spring plowing season, villagers would bring chickens and ducks to his door, hoping to rent his fields for cultivation.
Qin Yao remembered Old Liu’s advice: it’s best to rent Liu Dafu’s good land early.
But just thinking about the exhaustion from working in the wheat fields a few days ago made every cell in her body scream: Run away!
Forget it; there’s still time before spring plowing. First, she decided to make her water-powered stone mill and see how it goes. If it doesn’t go well, she can always talk to Liu Dafu later.
With a plan in mind, Qin Yao devoted herself to busying herself with her water-powered stone mill.
First, she cleared a flat area near her own home’s north riverbank bridge.
Then she went downstream and hauled back two giant stones weighing several hundred pounds each.
All day long, except for eating, drinking, and sleeping, she spent her remaining time knocking on those stones with a pickaxe.
After five days of banging, she had fashioned two grinding discs 80 centimeters in diameter and 20 centimeters thick.
She then drilled holes in the center of these grinding discs, installed axles and wooden handles, and the large mill was completed.
At the same time, Liu the carpenter sent word that the waterwheel components were finished and had someone call her over to assemble them, to ensure no mistakes.
After finishing breakfast, Qin Yao went over. Together with Liu the carpenter, they fussed over a whole day in his courtyard, assembling a human-height waterwheel.
The supporting shaft was finished as well. Eager to see the results, they hurriedly swallowed a few bites of dinner and carried the waterwheel and the shaft to the riverside.
The villagers, having just finished supper, were leisurely and curious about what Qin Yao was doing by the river, knocking and hammering away these past few days.
When they saw her and Liu the carpenter carrying the waterwheel towards the riverbank, curiosity drove them to follow.
By the time Qin Yao and Liu reached the riverbank, all those free village folks had gathered.
The people from Liu Family’s old house were among them. Qin Yao didn’t even need to invite them; her brothers and sisters-in-law voluntarily came over to help.
This was primarily to discover what exactly Qin Yao had come up with.
The adults shooed away the gathered children, and under Qin Yao’s direction, they placed the waterwheel into the river channel she had cleared. They piled stones onto the base, stabilizing it so that it could rotate steadily in the water.
This was just the first step. Next came the assembly of the stone mill and various axle parts.
No one else could help with this process; only Qin Yao and Liu the carpenter could operate it.
Fortunately, Qin Yao was strong; otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to lift these heavy wooden stakes solo.
After assembling it all, Qin Yao shook it to ensure it was stable, moved the giant stone she had previously placed by the river, and blocked the channel with it, halting the waterwheel’s rotation. She attached the wooden stakes at the other end of the stone mill to the waterwheel and wedged wooden blocks into the gaps, hammering them tight.
When the assembly was complete, the sky had darkened, leaving only a trace of orange sunset on the horizon.
Yet the villagers on the bridge hadn’t dwindled; instead, they had increased in number.
The village chief and Liu Dafu were drawn over by the bustle. Liu Ji brought down a torch from home, illuminating the area.
Qin Yao went into the river, removed the blocking stone, and quickly ran ashore.
"Splash!" The river water rushed into the narrow channel, generating a strong impact force. The waterwheel began to rotate, its speed rapidly increasing, driving the axle to rotate and transmitting the force to the handle above the grinding disc, which slowly started to turn.
"It’s turning! It’s really turning!" Liu the carpenter exclaimed excitedly.
Qin Yao quickly rushed over to view the grinding disc. Perhaps due to the current high water flow, the speed was quite fast.
"Is it really turning on its own?" The village chief, curious, approached. The crowd opened a path for him.
Qin Yao nodded, smiling, and asked Liu Ji to bring down the freshly sifted wheat from home.
More excited than anyone else, Liu Ji rushed home to fetch the wheat.
He had watched Qin Yao fiddling by the river for five or six days, and today she actually created such a big waterwheel and made the grinding disc turn by itself. It was astonishing enough to brag about for half a year!
"Here it comes, the wheat is here!"
Liu Ji rushed over, carrying two buckets; one empty, the other brimming with wheat.
He knew enough to bring an empty bucket for collection.
Qin Yao took the wheat, grabbed a handful, and placed it into the hole in the middle of the stone mill. Immediately, the sound of grinding was heard.
Soon, the crushed wheat kernels spilled out. Qin Yao nudged them with her hand, and they fell into the wooden trough beside the stone mill, automatically flowing into the empty bucket along the slope.
The village chief couldn’t wait for Qin Yao to do it slowly. He personally scooped up a ladle of wheat and poured it into the mill.
The pieces from the first grind tumbled out in a stream, and after two repeated grinds, they transformed into fine flour.
Night had fallen, and the torches by the river cast a glow, with intermittent sounds of surprise from the crowd.
"This mill grinds faster than people do, and it’s effortless. Miss Qin, how did you think of this ingenious machine?"
Qin Yao said she saw it in a book and took the opportunity to test everyone’s willingness to pay for using her water mill.
Jumping out from the crowd, Liu Huolang asked, "Miss Qin, would you be willing to let everyone benefit from using your water mill?"
Afraid that Qin Yao might think he wanted to use it for free, he quickly added, "I won’t use it for free. You set the rules, and everyone will certainly be happy."
Liu Ji immediately tugged on Qin Yao’s sleeve; such a valuable thing should definitely fetch a higher usage fee.
For the moment, Qin Yao hadn’t thought about how to price it. Seeing many eager faces, she responded loudly:
"It’s really too late today. Everyone should head home. My water mill isn’t completely ready yet. Once I finish it and come up with a set of rules, I’ll inform everyone."
Villagers thought about it. The water mill is indeed simple now, without even a shelter. If it rains, the grain will get soaked.
They reminded Qin Yao to remember to post the rules once she finished sorting everything out, as they were eagerly waiting to use her water mill.
Liu Dafu was especially keen to use it. He had a lot of grain, and grinding it with only one person would be exhausting, so he specifically hired five people to help grind the grain.
If he could use Qin Yao’s water mill, it would save a lot of trouble.
He would only need to assign one person to oversee the process, pouring grain into the stone mill while those originally tasked with pushing the mill could free up to do other tasks.
Someone asked Liu the carpenter to make one for their family too.
Liu the carpenter informed them, "To make such a water mill, the timber processing fee alone is at least two taels of silver, and that doesn’t even include the two large grinding discs—those were personally fashioned by Miss Qin, who found the stones by the river and chiseled them herself."
The villagers immediately gave up the idea of making a water mill for their own households.
With two taels of silver, there are better things to do than make a water mill. Must be crazy!