I'm the Farmgirl You Can't Mess With

Chapter 1366: Side Story: Mu Bowen (4)

Mu Shi had already retired and moved back to Xingzhou Prefecture with his wife from Taiyuan. Mu Bosi was still in the army and was not by their side.

Right now, the only person by their side was their eldest grandson, Mu Feng.

On the other hand, Mu Feng could only accompany them for a limited period of time. This was because he was back to prepare for the village examination next year. From this, it could be seen how much the couple yearned to see their children.

Therefore, when he received his son’s letter, Mu Shi firstly felt displeased.

However, after the displeasure passed, he understood why his son was doing this. He only sighed slightly and let it go.

The older he got, the softer Mu Shi’s heart became. He also liked to reminisce about the children when they were young. He naturally knew that he and Bowen were not like ordinary father and son.

From the age of five to 15, he had only seen him for a total of less than a month in a year, let alone teach him. As such, it was normal for the father and son to be distant.

Other than Bosi and Kejia, he had not fulfilled his duty as a father to Yangling and Bowen, let alone when it came to work…

Mu Shi sighed slightly. If it was him ten years ago, if there was a war at the border, he would also choose to set aside his family matters and deal with state affairs instead. Hence, Bowen could not be blamed.

Shu Wanniang brought the tea over and was about to comfort her husband. Seeing that he had gotten over it, she couldn’t help but smile. “I thought you were going to complain about him for a couple of days.”

Mu Shi pursed his lips and said, “Am I such an unreasonable person?”

Shu Wanniang smiled without saying anything. “Ah Ling wrote to me. She said that she was coming back with our son-in-law this time. They’re specially coming back to celebrate your birthday.”

Mu Shi immediately looked worried. “Ah Ling is too playful. She’s already so old, yet she’s still running around. And to think our son-in-law is fooling around with her. Aren’t you afraid that her daughters-in-law will resent her in the future?”

After the sons married, the mother-in-law was supposed to guide the daughter-in-law for a period of time. Moreover, there were many things that she had to help with. However, ever since the children got married, Ah Ling had washed her hands off of everything. Regardless of whether they were doing well or not, she did not ask.

Even Mu Shi, her biological father, couldn’t stand it anymore. He said, “If I didn’t know that those children were really Ah Ling’s, I would really have thought that they were picked up from the streets. She’s paying too little attention to her children.”

“Perhaps the children are thrilled to be left on their own. Besides, I think Ah Ling is right. The children have their own path to walk, and they have their own lives to live. Since the children have already grown up, they should let them deal with the difficulties and glory on their own. They, too, have their own lives to live.”

Mu Shi was dumbfounded. He looked at his wife, whose face was glowing, and asked carefully, “Wanniang, do you want to go around and travel like Ah Ling?”

Shu Wanniang shook her head and said with a smile, “It’s too tiring to go out. I prefer to stay at home and go to the farm from time to time to admire the scenery.”

Mu Shi heaved a sigh of relief. At their old age, he was really afraid that his wife would have such a strange hobby.

Mu Yangling and Qi Haoran slowly led more than ten guards towards Xingzhou Prefecture. As the roads were blocked due to the heavy snow, it was not easy to walk on the road. At a slow speed, they walked for two days and rested for a day. Then, they admired the snowy scenery and observed the relief efforts of the local officials. The difficult journey forced them to walk out of their comfort zone.

Meanwhile, Mu Bowen and the officials from the Ministry of Works and Ministry of Revenue rushed to the north to preside over the construction of the relief shelters. He had already thought of a way to better utilize resources for heating and had designed several heating facilities with the other craftsmen from the Ministry of Works.

However, the situation was different in each province, thus slight modifications had to be made.

Mu Bowen had stayed in Xingzhou Prefecture, Hanzhong Prefecture, and Jingzhao Prefecture before, so he had already sent the design blueprints specifically customized to their situation. However, he still needed to investigate the other places with officials from the Ministry of Works.

At the same time, the Ministry of Works also sent other officials and craftsmen to react to the snowstorms.

This being only the end of October, their reaction speed was considered fast. The local officials knew that the Imperial Court valued this matter, so they did not dare to be negligent. They made adequate arrangements for the refugees, and so cases of people freezing to death were rare.

The houses designed by Mu Bowen were still communal dwellings. At the time, construction was difficult, so if any wealthy household was willing to sell their property, the court would purchase it. Then, they would knock down the interior walls and build a large heated platform along one side of the room. Inside the heated platform were two mechanisms: one to vent smoke outside the house, and another—a hollow channel along the wall—designed to carry water.

While heating up the brick bed, the boiling of water was done simultaneously. This way, everyone could have hot water at any time and this would also help to save on costs. The hot water would flow along the copper pipes in the house, causing the temperature in the house to rise. Then, it would flow into the large shed they designed at the back of the house.

It was a greenhouse designed to grow vegetables.

There were a lot of greenhouses like this in the north now, because there were only frozen cabbages in the north in winter. Ever since Mu Yangling popularized using greenhouses to grow vegetables, many families liked to build greenhouses in winter. Rich families did it for food, while ordinary families did it for money.

It could be said that Mu Bowen was trying his best to make use of these consumed resources.

As a water conservancy expert, he knew the disadvantages of destroying nature. Therefore, he said to the local officials who came with him, “After spring, you must organize groups to plant trees on the mountains. We have to replenish as many trees as we cut down. Otherwise, one day, there’ll be no tree left for us to chop off and all we leave behind for our descendants will be a scene of devastation.”

With a sigh, he said, “Moreover, we’re occupying the living space of so many creatures in the forest. I’m worried that if this cold current continues, the forest animals will become enemies with humans.”

The magistrate who came to receive them immediately said to the county magistrates, “Take note of this matter and start cultivating saplings in a few greenhouses. After spring, get your men to plant trees in the mountains. Next year, seal the mountain for ten more days so that the forest can recuperate.”

The county magistrates hurriedly agreed. The magistrate looked at Mu Bowen eagerly and asked, “Teacher Mu, when can we start construction? There are many people who have been settled down in the back office of the government office, but the thermal facilities there are inadequate and the space is limited. Seeing as the weather is getting colder and colder, I wonder if they can withstand it.”

“That’s right, that’s right. There are also 78 people arranged behind our county office. Although there are winter clothes issued by the Imperial Court and blankets donated by a few great philanthropists, it’s still bone-chilling to sleep at night. I truly fear those people would freeze to death in their sleep.”

Mu Bowen looked at the officials from the Ministry of Works and Ministry of Revenue.

The officials of the Ministry of Revenue replied with a straight face, “The money needed for the construction has been allocated. We can just go to the bank to collect it.”

The official of the Ministry of Works immediately said, “We can immediately purchase the materials needed, and start work tomorrow.”

Everyone heaved a sigh of relief.

Wearing a thick cotton coat, Mu Bowen gave instructions on the ground. Sometimes, he even had to run around the various counties to deal with various emergencies. Seeing this, the magistrate couldn’t help but remind him to rest enough and stay safe. He even deliberated and said, “Teacher Mu, this place isn’t far from Xingzhou Prefecture, a mere seven or eight-day journey. It’s said that General Mu’s birthday is in ten days. Why don’t you take the time to go back and take a look?”

Stunned, Mu Bowen asked, “What day is it today?”

The magistrate knew at a glance that he had lost track of time. He hurriedly answered, “It’s already the 27th today.”

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