Chapter 157 A Carriage is Here
Early in the morning, Qin Yao was still doing morning exercises in the backyard, and Dalang and Erlang picked up the bamboo baskets and ran out.
Sanlang and Si Niang were howling in the room. Their brothers thought they were in the way and ran away with them on their backs. Si Niang was so angry that her face was puffy all day long and her mouth was pouting. Qin Yao raised her hand and scratched it, "You can hang an oil bottle on it, right?"
The little girl screamed and opened her mouth to bite her hand, but she missed and stuck to it again, telling Qin Yao not to pay attention to Dalang and Erlang at night.
"Why?" Qin Yao asked deliberately.
Si Niang snorted, "They won't play with me and my brother!"
Qin Yao looked at her angry expression, and then looked at Sanlang sitting on the doorstep, facing the cold wind and looking at the east end of the village, and nodded seriously, "Okay, then we won't play with them, we can go to the county town to play by ourselves, okay?"
Sanlang looked over immediately, his eyes shining like the blazing flames in the stove.
Si Niang was also stunned for a moment, and asked in disbelief: "Are you going to take us to the county town?"
Qin Yao nodded and looked at the sky. It was still early. Jiajia had just finished breakfast. There was still most of the day left. She could go on horseback and be back in the evening.
The carriage that she ordered last time and the stuffed tiger head that she asked Shopkeeper Fan to prepare were both ready, and she had to go get them.
By the way, I'll go into the city to buy some daily necessities to stock up on, as the temperature will drop further, so I'll stay at home if possible.
How can you spend the winter without staying in bed?
The surprise came too suddenly. At Qin Yao's urging, Sanlang and Si Niang went into the house to put on more clothes to avoid being frozen on the way.
Qin Yao also prepared a thin blanket, which the two younger ones could cover with to keep warm. There would be a carriage on the return trip, so it would be more comfortable to sit in the carriage with the blanket spread out.
The two after-sales guys who were staying at home had gone to the water mill early. Qin Yao put on the saddle, locked the door, put the twins on the horse's back, led the horse to the water mill first to inform the two and left the key for them.
After finishing the instructions, he climbed onto the horse, covered the two excited little people in front of him with a thin blanket, shook the reins, and shouted "Gee!", and Old Huang, who had not had fun for many days, immediately rushed out.
The exciting speed frightened the two children so much that they screamed loudly.
Qin Yao lifted the cloth around her neck to cover her face, hiding the smile on her lips.
The mother and her two sons rode their horses at full speed all the way to Kaiyang County. Sanlang and Si Niang, who were excited when they set out, were even more excited now.
Qin Yao lowered her head to look at the two chubby pink faces sticking out from under the quilt. Two pairs of big eyes like black grapes stared at her, as if they still felt it was not stimulating enough.
"Is your butt still broken?" Qin Yao asked with a smile.
The brother and sister shook their heads and almost shouted, "I want more!"
Qin Yao told the two men to sit down, dismounted, and led the horses into the city.
When they arrived at the place where the carriages were parked, they picked up the two short-legged siblings and, holding them one on each side, walked towards the carpenter's shop that made the carriages.
The carriage had indeed been completed, and was made of the most solid wood, so it was quite heavy.
While the adults were talking, Sanlang tentatively stretched out his little hand to lift the edge of the carriage. He used all his strength and even shouted "Hey" to encourage himself, but he failed to move the carriage at all.
Si Niang widened her eyes in surprise and wanted to try it too. The brother and sister worked together, but the carriage did not move at all.
The two thought that no one knew about their little actions, but they didn't know that the adults had already seen it. They just thought it was cute and funny but didn't point it out.
Qin Yao negotiated with the shop owner and asked her apprentice to help pull the carriage to the bottom of the city gate and load it up.
Old Huang was not used to it and stomped the horse's hooves restlessly, not liking the thought of carrying such a heavy weight on his body.
But in the end, he calmed down after being comforted by Qin Yao, and obediently cooperated with the apprentice to put him on the pack rack.
Qin Yao looked at the brand new carriage and nodded repeatedly, "Not bad, not bad."
The apprentice has completed his task and will go first.
Qin Yao took Sanlang and Si Niang to the carriage and sat for a while. The space inside the carriage was very small, less than two square meters.
There are seats on three sides. The seats on the back are fixed and have storage space. The seats on the left and right sides are not fixed. Two right-angle plates can be stored and fixed on the arms of the car, making the car space appear larger.
If there are many people, you can lay out a mat so more people can sit cross-legged.
In the middle of the carriage is a small fixed storage table that Qin Yao specifically requested.
Just like the right-angle panels on the left and right sides, it can be folded up. The middle part of the car will only bulge upwards by five centimeters, which will not affect the use of the entire large surface.
If it is stood up, it is a small square table, 30 cm long and wide. When the top cover is opened, it can hold a lot of small items.
The craftsman also provided a base tray for placing the charcoal stove. The four vertical panels are hollow carved to facilitate heat dissipation and ensure a certain degree of fire safety.
The more Qin Yao looked at it, the more she loved it. She put away the small hollow table in the middle and the seats on both sides, and lay down. If the length of the shaft was included, it was just enough space for her to lie flat.
"Sanlang, Si Niang, how is it? Do you like it?" Qin Yao asked with a smile.
The two of them followed her example and rolled twice on the carriage floor which was covered with a thin blanket, nodding excitedly, they loved it!
When she heard Qin Yao say that she would use this car to send her brothers to school next year, Si Niang was filled with envy. She hugged A Niang's arm, pouted her lips and sighed like a little adult, "Why can't Si Niang go to school?"
Qin Yao's smile froze.
Yes, why couldn't women take the imperial examinations?
"Ahem!" Qin Yao coughed twice to divert the little girl's attention. "Let's go get the tiger head. Haven't you been clamoring to see it?"
Children's attention is quickly diverted. Si Niang immediately became interested again. She took the little brother's hand and followed her to get the tiger head.
Qin Yao had never seen what animal specimens of this era looked like, so she didn't dare to have too high expectations.
But unexpectedly, Shopkeeper Fan gave her a surprise.
The tiger head that Manager Fan returned to her looked exactly like the one she handed to him. It didn't look like a specimen at all, but rather like a tiger head that had just been chopped off, so lifelike.
Except for the broken neck and head, the specimen was sealed with special wax, and a wooden support was added to the bottom so that it could stand directly on a flat surface.
It was the first time that Sanlang and Si Niang saw a tiger head that was bigger than their two heads put together. They were frightened and shocked, and hid behind Qin Yao, not daring to get close.
Qin Yao encouraged them to come up and touch it, but Sanlang resisted and shook his head like a rattle, almost crying.
Si Niang was a little braver, but she only dared to get closer and take a look, not to touch.
Shopkeeper Fan, who had bad intentions, made a deliberate noise, which frightened the little girl so much that she shuddered all over and retreated behind A Niang, resting her face on the back of her buttocks, trembling.
Qin Yao immediately glanced at Shopkeeper Fan in annoyance. Shopkeeper Fan touched his nose awkwardly and said, "I'll find a bag for you to put on, so as not to scare passers-by on the road."
But before turning around, he couldn't help but ask again, "Are you really not going to sell this tiger head? Someone has offered a high price, why don't you let it go?"
Qin Yao said firmly, "Not for sale."
Shopkeeper Fan sighed regretfully: "Okay."
(End of this chapter)