Chapter 29: Selling Shower Pipes for Money

Chapter 29 Selling Shower Plumbing

Both the squat toilet and shower worked well, though the dark red earthenware glaze wasn't as aesthetically pleasing as the white porcelain. However, Zhao An had long ceased to care about such minor details.

Returning from the militia training grounds, he took a refreshing shower. While drying his hair, he asked Qintong, "Would you like to take a shower too?"

Qintong's eyes lit up with anticipation. "May I?"

"Of course, go ahead," Zhao An waved his hand. "Heat more water. Uncle Hai will surely want to shower later."

Qintong cheerfully agreed, "Alright!"

In summer, water heated quickly. Within fifteen minutes, a large pot of water was boiling. After adjusting the temperature, Qintong carried the bucket to the shower area, tied it to the pulley system, and easily hoisted it to the rooftop water tank using two ropes. Releasing the horizontal rope, the water poured into the tank.

While this semi-automated shower felt quite primitive to Zhao An, Qintong found it novel and entertaining. After carrying three buckets of water, sweat beaded on his forehead, yet he still wore a beaming smile.

By the time Qintong finished his shower, Zhao An's hair had nearly dried from the summer heat. As he combed his hair, he thought about heading into the city later to find Feng Shaoping and then visiting the bookstore to inquire about Hu Sheng.

Qintong suddenly spoke up, "Young Tang, Craftsman Tang's son, told me he'd like to make a shower set for himself. I wonder if the young master would allow them to do side work."

In truth, Qintong had already boasted to Young Tang that the young master was always generous and wouldn't blame them, but he still felt nervous bringing it up.

"Aside from the set I'm taking to the city today for the Feng family, there are five more shower pipe sets. Let them install one for themselves first." Excluding the day laborers who went home, there were nine workers living at the kiln site, and only one shower set was clearly insufficient. It wasn't that Zhao An was stingy; he intended to sell these shower pipes. He wanted to do so before chaos erupted. Later, when the kiln was operational again, they could keep them for their own use.

Zhao An felt somewhat stingy, but Qintong was overjoyed. "Young Tang will be thrilled to hear this. I'll go tell him right away!" With an apologetic smile at Zhao An, he tied his dripping hair with a headscarf and ran off.

Since arriving at Zhao Village, Qintong had been unfamiliar with the place. He used to enjoy gathering firewood and cutting fodder grass with the village children, but after nearly being sold by Zhao Tongming's family with no one in the village offering help, his relationship with the other children grew distant. When he learned there was a twelve- or thirteen-year-old boy among the kiln workers, the two outsiders often played together.

Watching the lively Qintong run off, Zhao An shook his head and smiled. Carefree children were truly wonderful.

Uncle Hai, who had gone to deliver meat to the kiln, walked in and shouted after Qintong to slow down. Turning around, he saw Zhao An heading to cut grapes with scissors and offered to help. Zhao An waved him off. "We're going to the city later. You should go take a shower now."

Liu Hu had loaded the ox cart with shower pipes, squat toilet pots, and two baskets of fresh grapes, leaving no room for Zhao An and Uncle Hai to sit. They had to walk briskly alongside the cart.

Liu Hu had been accompanying Uncle Hai and Liu Huan to buy grain over the past few days, making dozens of trips and tanning under the sun. He had grown familiar with Uncle Hai and, being naturally chatty, struck up a conversation on the road. "Do you think our village's recent high-profile grain purchases might make us a target for other villages if a famine really hits?"

Uncle Hai plucked a banana leaf to use as a fan, glanced at Zhao An, and said proudly, "That's why the young master is far-sighted, training militiamen early. No matter who comes, we won't be afraid."

"Old Uncle, you speak wisely. If someone comes to rob us, we naturally won't be afraid. But folks from nearby villages are all related by blood. What should we do if they come begging?" Liu Hu's smile faded as he spoke, his face growing somber.

This was his personal experience. His wife was from another village, and his brother-in-law had come the day before yesterday with his three-year-old daughter, waiting from morning until evening for Liu Hu to return, hoping to seek loans of money or grain. The girl suffered from chills, her hands cold even in summer. The brother-in-law lamented his family's hardships, with half the seedlings scorched by the sun, unsure how they would survive the second half of the year. The burly man even shed tears.

Seeing his brother-in-law's pitiable state, and with some spare money recently, Liu Hu lent him three strings of coins to take the girl to see a doctor. He also told him not to worry about repayment until times were better, effectively making it a gift.

Afterward, he felt both regretful and proud of being able to help a relative, his emotions tangled.

He brought this up casually to sound out Zhao An's opinion, his eyes fixed on Zhao An throughout.

Zhao An remained silent, but Uncle Hai's tone turned stern. "Of course, each family should take care of their own relatives. If anyone brings trouble to our doorstep, the whole village will drive them out together."

Liu Hu was startled by Uncle Hai's sudden severity, thinking the old man truly had the bearing of someone who had served a prime minister.

Then Zhao An spoke, "If a famine occurs, our village will allocate half of our grain reserves to set up a soup kitchen near the county town. This will help most of the famine victims while also drawing them toward the county town. With the county magistrate's presence there, along with constables and garrison soldiers, order can be maintained as long as there's food."

Zhao An repeated the same words to Feng Shaoping. Noting Feng Shaoping's uneasy expression, he added, "Don’t think I’m redirecting the problem. Relieving famine is the government’s responsibility."

Thanks to Hu Sheng, Zhao An understood Feng Shaoping well. As County Magistrate Feng's secondary son, Feng Shaoping was only allowed to manage business affairs. His father disapproved of his martial arts practice and had no idea how capable his son truly was. Consequently, Feng Shaoping held little respect for his father. For Hu Sheng's sake, as long as Zhao An didn't threaten County Magistrate Feng's life, Feng Shaoping could remain his ally.

Feng Shaoping nodded. "I won’t let County Magistrate Feng hide the existence of famine victims for the sake of political achievements. Besides, this time, aside from the drought, there’s also the threat of soldiers. I’ll have people prepare in advance. You can rest assured."

Feng Shaoping considered himself unlike Zhao Nanyu, who treated hundreds of thousands of lives as trivial for promotion. He had wanted to join Hu Sheng in ambushing Zhao Nanyu but chose to stay for the stability of Changxi City. He had no objection to Zhao An's plan to aid famine victims, even if it was to reduce Zhao Village's burden. He praised Zhao An for his wisdom, as disaster relief was ultimately the government's duty.

With neither famine victims nor rogue soldiers yet arrived, Feng Shaoping chatted casually with Zhao An. After the shower and squat toilet were installed, he immediately went to try them out.

However, Feng Shaoping's review was: "Your shower isn’t very practical. Families with servants don’t need it—bathtubs are comfortable enough. For families without servants, the price is too high. But this squat toilet is excellent. It flushes waste away immediately, far better than a chamber pot."

This was the opposite of Zhao An's impression. He found the shower quite convenient, at least cleaner than a bathtub, while the squat toilet paled in comparison to a flush toilet. However, flush toilets were far more complex and couldn’t be produced yet.

During his travels in the post-spiritual-revival wilderness, conditions were harsh. Basic hygiene was a luxury, and hot meals were often unavailable for ten days or half a month. But upon returning to New City Base, living standards nearly returned to pre-disaster levels.

Thus, Zhao An had experienced modern technology and could endure hardship, though no one would choose to suffer if given a choice. Once he had money, he immediately had showers and squat toilets made, only to find that ancient people considered manual labor cheaper and more practical.

After some thought, he concluded it was a ruling-class issue. Ordinary folks would surely find his inventions useful, but they lacked the means to afford them. Selling these to local gentry and wealthy households seemed impractical for now.

But Zhao An quickly thought of potential buyers. He looked up at Feng Shaoping and said, "What do you think about installing showers and squat toilets at Ruyi Restaurant?"

Besides its street-front shop, Ruyi Restaurant had a large backyard providing lodging for traveling merchants. Hu Sheng's horse was kept in the stable for guests.

Changxi County had no waterway port, so traveling merchants were few. However, being near the Jiaozhou border, horse caravans traveling between Shuzhou and Jiaozhou would still stop in the city to rest. While ordinary horse handlers slept in dormitories, managers would enjoy a comfortable shower and sleep at Ruyi Restaurant.

Feng Shaoping thought this was a brilliant idea. "Your shower is indeed well-suited for inns. How many sets do you have left?"

"Including the squat toilet, there are four sets of pipes left." Speaking business, Zhao An said to Feng Shaoping, "Aside from the few hundred taels spent building the kiln, I spend over ten taels monthly on workers' food, lodging, and wages. These few shower pipes are the result. If you want to buy them, each shower and squat toilet set must cost at least fifteen taels."

Feng Shaoping clearly didn’t consider dozens of taels a substantial sum. He nodded readily. "I’ll go with you to Ruyi Restaurant and speak with the shopkeeper. You dismantle and move the goods, and he’ll pay you."

Upon hearing Zhao An's description of the shower and squat toilet, Feng Shopkeeper of Ruyi Restaurant thought it would be great to set up a dedicated bathing and toilet area in the backyard. Guests would surely appreciate it, encouraging repeat business. With Feng Shaoping's endorsement, he directly advanced Zhao An thirty taels as a deposit, weighed the two baskets of grapes, and paid Zhao An 1.2 taels of silver.

Seeing the two baskets of fresh, plump grapes, Feng Shaoping popped one into his mouth. Sweet with a hint of sourness, the flavor was rich, surpassing any grape he had ever tasted.

He couldn’t help but exclaim again, "The fruits grown at young master Zhao’s home are truly superior to ordinary ones. I think we shouldn’t sell all these grapes. Keep one basket to make wine—it’s sure to produce premium wine."

Upon hearing this, Feng Shopkeeper's face immediately changed. Not daring to give Feng Shaoping too obvious a hint in Zhao An's presence, he could only shoot him a look, indicating that Ruyi Restaurant had already begun winemaking.

In fact, over a month ago, they had selected the best grapes from a basket brought by Zhao An to make wine. Now, more than a month later, the first jar was ready to drink. The ruby-red wine poured into white porcelain wine cups was visually stunning, with a rich aroma and clean, sweet flavor that would delight any wine connoisseur.

Feng Shopkeeper had already decided to sell the wine at a high price. Even if it didn’t sell in Changxi County, he could transport it to the prefectural capital or the imperial capital. Thus, he didn’t want Zhao An to raise the price of grapes because of this.

Zhao An had indeed noticed Feng Shopkeeper's look. Since fruit wine wasn’t regulated, he had already reserved a small portion of grapes to make wine himself.

He knew high-quality wine could fetch a high price, so he planned to let Feng Shopkeeper get a preliminary taste of success first. Once his own wine was sold out, he would negotiate privately with him for a better price.

Author's Note:

Dear readers, please add to collections, add to collections, add to collections!