"Alright, as long as you can make a perfect sphere that meets my requirements, you can stay," Li Yao said. "Not only can I build you a house to live in and pay you a monthly wage, but I can also set up a fully equipped blacksmith workshop for you."
"Thank you for your kind offer, madam. I'll get to work right away," Xia Xian replied.
Limping over to the furnace, Xia Xian began working like the other blacksmiths - first making a crude metal ball, cooling it in water, then taking out his tools to start polishing the sphere.
Time flew by and it was soon noon.
"Okay everyone, stop working for now!" Li Yao said. She had each person put their finished bead in front of them, then tested them one by one with a perforated wooden board.
"Not round enough, and too small," she remarked while testing.
"No good, this one's too big."
"Yours won't work either..."
Unsurprisingly, the beads made by the first 11 blacksmiths failed to meet even the minimum standards.
Finally she came to Xia Xian's bead, and her eyes lit up. Although he had started an hour later than everyone else, the bead he produced was the best looking, with a high degree of smoothness on the surface at least.
Li Yao placed the bead into one of the circular holes on the wooden board, rotating it in dozens of directions, and found it fit perfectly every time.
Clearly this man had some skill.
"You win," she declared.
"Thank you madam!" Xia Xian replied.
"I'll have some rooms built for you on the empty land near the workshop," Li Yao said. "In the meantime, you can stay in my family's old house, if you don't mind."
"Haha, I don't mind at all. Having a house is way better than sleeping in my ox cart," Xia Xian laughed.
And so Xia Xian came to live there. As long as he didn't cause any unlawful trouble within a year, he could officially become a villager of He Wan.
That very afternoon, Li Yao eagerly had him start working.
First was to make 32 steel beads of the same size.
"This will be tougher than iron beads," Xia Xian remarked after hearing Li Yao's request. "The size you want is very small, and steel is too hard - it'll be difficult to polish."
"Can't do it?"
"No no, I'm just saying it'll be a bit difficult," Xia Xian said. "I'll have it done in two days."
Two days later, Xia Xian presented Li Yao with 32 shiny steel beads.
After a simple inspection, each one was very spherical, with the size being quite uniform.
Next was to make the inner and outer rings for the bearings, a task relatively easier in difficulty. Xia Xian was quick to grasp the concepts, and with some brief instructions knew what to do.
In one day the inner and outer rings were completed, and in half a day more, he used brass to make the support frames.
But he still didn't know what Li Yao intended to use these items for.
"Watch closely, I'm going to assemble the finished product now," Li Yao said.
She combined the steel beads and rings together, then riveted on the support frames, and just like that - four bearings were born.
Seeing the completed product, Xia Xian was amazed.
He now understood what these were going to be used for!
"Are these going to be used on the wheels of carriages?" he asked.
"You're very clever," Li Yao replied. "But bearings aren't only useful for horse carriages - anywhere that needs spinning can use them."
After adding pig lard into the bearings, she handed them to the wheelwright.
These days, the wheelwright had already redesigned the axles and wheels of the carriage according to Li Yao's blueprints, and had no trouble installing the bearings at all.
"Give it a try and see how they work," Li Yao said.
"I'll do it," Xia Xian volunteered.
Grabbing the wheel, he gave it a forceful spin. The wheel turned with incredible smoothness, without any creaking noises, just a faint hissing sound. It easily spun at least thirty revolutions before slowly coming to a stop.
"It can keep spinning for so long!" Xia Xian exclaimed in wonder.
In her mind, Li Yao thought that these were still hand-made bearings, far inferior in precision. With modern bearings, spinning 180 revolutions would be no problem.
"Wheelwright, are the outer rims for the wheels ready?" she asked.
"Ready, they can be installed now," the wheelwright replied.
He brought out four outer rims for the wheels, made not of rubber of course, but sturdy ox hide.
With Xia Xian's help, the two fitted the outer rims over the wheels.
Testing it out in the yard, the entire carriage now traveled supremely smooth. The minor vibrations were absorbed by the ox hide, leaving passengers inside feeling utterly comfortable.
"This is absolutely the most comfortable carriage I've ever ridden in!" the County Magistrate's wife exclaimed after trying it out. "I'm going to have my husband modify our carriage when I get back too."
"No rush," Li Yao said. "The ox hide wheel rims won't last very long, they're just barely usable. I've already sent people south to buy rubber, and once it arrives we can have even better wheels."
In any case, the carriage Li Yao modified was absolutely the most advanced of this time period.
He Xiaoya understood that her mother had specially hired blacksmiths and wheelwrights, spending endless time and effort just so she could travel comfortably when going back home. Her gratitude knew no bounds.
"Madam, just let me know whatever you want made next," Xia Xian said. Though his name contained the character for "leisure", he seemed unable to sit still for even a moment. "I'll make anything you ask."
Li Yao thought for a bit then said, "Let's make a slide caliper next."
Under her guidance, Xia Xian began crafting the world's first slide caliper. With the high precision measurement tool, things made in the future could be even more standardized and accurate.
The eighth day of the twelfth lunar month soon arrived, and Da Zhuang and Xiaoya prepared to go back home and see how things were.
Riding the comfortable carriage, Xiaoya felt extremely uneasy as she watched He Wan village gradually disappear into the distance.
She didn't know how her parents would treat her and Da Zhuang this time when they returned.
...
Outside the gates of the He house, Xiaoya lightly knocked.
After some time, an elderly man with white hair and beard opened the door. Seeing it was Xiaoya, he didn't appear too happy.
"Father," Xiaoya softly called out. Noticing Da Zhuang was still dazed, she tugged his sleeve.
Only then did Da Zhuang regain his senses, remembering Xiaoya's instructions to him on the road. He walked up and formally greeted his father-in-law: "G-Greetings...f-father..."
He Shiyou's face darkened even more.
He had never liked Da Zhuang, and didn't even speak a sentence to him before. He didn't expect the man to be a stutterer.
But with his youngest daughter back home, he couldn't leave them standing outside either.
"Come on in," he grunted.
"Oh, then let me park the carriage," Da Zhuang obediently replied.
"The yard is small," He Shiyou snorted. "Just leave the ox cart on the roadside."
Da Zhuang: ...
Xiaoya knew her father's temperament. If someone dared oppose what he said, they'd never get a kind look from him. Not wanting Da Zhuang to anger him, she glanced at Da Zhuang and whispered: "Just leave it wherever father says. I can find someone to watch over it."
It was only because the family was wealthy now that she dared stop such a laden carriage outside. Otherwise, Xiaoya would never feel assured leaving it there.
Accompanying his wife back home, Da Zhuang of course had to listen to his wife. He simply nodded: "Alright."