She Became A Downfall Noble Lady
Chapter 500 - 498 She Saw Nothing

Chapter 500: Chapter 498 She Saw Nothing

Madam Yin also looked at Jiang Yifan, and the expression on Jiang Yifan’s face as he spoke with Zhao Gang was clearly not just a casual conversation. "Yuanfan was bowing and scraping to you just now, has he entrusted you with some task? Is it very difficult?"

Isn’t it difficult? It’s incredibly difficult! Jiang Yifan felt like crying. Your Ah Yan, what a name to have, of all the names that exist, also called Ye Xinyan, sharing both the name and surname with Ah Yan. If a girl from Clear Water Village is called Ye Xinyan, does that mean Ah Yan is the incarnate of that Clear Water Village girl from a past life? All he would need to do is to treat Ah Yan with wholehearted devotion, then have his mother come to Qingyuan County to propose marriage, right?

Zhao Gang’s expression wasn’t much better than Jiang Yifan’s. "Nothing much, Miss Cousin gave us two extra whole blocks of cheese. I feel that she should save up more silver for herself, and then the more I talked about it, the more I said."

This, indeed, sounds trivial. Madam Yin complained, "Ah Yan has silver to hand, it’s just two blocks of cheese, you should just go ahead and take them, there’s no need to talk so much about it." Saying so, she turned towards Jiang Yifan, "Thank you, Yuanfan, for making the trip so early. You get along well with Uncle Zhao, you know he’s a straightforward person by nature, though he speaks frankly, he’s very pleasant to deal with."

What the mother-in-law says is always right, Jiang Yifan quickly nodded, "Madam is right, Uncle Zhao has always been good-natured, very kind towards us younger generation."

Zhao Gang’s brow was still furrowed. When did he ever notice this brat being such an unabashed sycophant? Whose younger generation was he?

Ye Xinyan nodded; if he hadn’t shown shamelessness before, it was because there was no need. Now that there was a need, he revealed it without reservation.

Madam Yin was immensely relieved. Yuanfan really was an understanding and considerate child. The two children hadn’t gotten along well before, but in the future, she should advise Ah Yan more often; she shouldn’t always show Yuanfan a cold face, as that would hurt the child’s feelings too much.

......

After seeing Zhao Gang and his people off, Ye Xinyan’s life returned to its normal course. Besides accompanying Madam Yin to supervise their businesses daily, she spent the rest of her time with Wong Qiao and Zhou Biyao, experimenting with the creation of rail-track movable gantry frames and small hoisting machines.

Compared to the small hoisting machines, the making of movable gantry frames was relatively simple. A sufficiently tall and sturdy movable gantry frame that could support heavy weight would save a lot of labor on construction sites and increase efficiency significantly.

Pulley blocks could be used on the gantry frame, which would facilitate many things. But for transporting heavier materials and items, other lifting devices were still necessary.

The best tool to use in combination with the gantry frame was the Chain Inversion Device, another name for a purely mechanical lifting device, capable of lifting small heavy objects. Mounting the Chain Inversion Device on a rail-mounted gantry frame would allow for the full utilization of the gantry frame’s capabilities.

Regarding the Chain Inversion Device, Ye Xinyan herself was not very proficient. She could only share her conceptual ideas and the principles of the Chain Inversion Device’s wheels and axles with Wong Qiao, letting him resolve issues according to his own understanding. Ye Xinyan would then give timely advice on aspects regarding the external shape, structure, and braking mechanisms.

In this way, even if this invention would shake the Construction Industry of the Great Xia Dynasty, no one would suspect her, but would think that it was the result of everyone working together collectively. Moreover, she really wasn’t an expert; she just had a general sense of the concept.

The things of this world are really so remarkable, with most things merely lacking in imagination. Once there is support from imagination and some key reminders, many seemingly impossible things become possible.

Although Zhou Biyao was a girl, she was very innovative in technology. Wong Qiao, on the other hand, was well-versed in the principles of various device mechanisms, excelling in imaginative power and unique vision, able to grasp the key points when solving problems.

Even though the Chain Inversion Device was a relatively complex piece of equipment, with many dozens of components for just a small device, Ye Xinyan believed that with the help of Wong Qiao and Zhou Biyao, they could make it.

She generally knew how the drag chain worked; as for the meshing of parts, dimensions, transmission, and braking, that required step-by-step experimentation to make gradual improvements on any discrepancies, culminating in ultimate success.

The first model was, of course, made from resilient wood, as the Construction Industry had plenty of skilled carpenters, and Wong Qiao was also proficient in this craft. If the wooden model could transfer motion successfully, then the wooden model could be used as a reference to fabricate various parts from pig iron or wrought iron.

Wong Qiao, with seven or eight craftsmen, worked tirelessly every day to cut material, grind parts, test, and scrap. Then they cut more material and ground new parts...

Five or six days passed, and after repeated trials and adjustments, the main components of the Chain Inversion Device were completed; they could interact and transfer motion, forming a simple prototype. However, it was still far from being usable.

Ye Xinyan was getting worried. At this rate, when would the gantry frame be truly operational? The creation of the Chain Inversion Device alone was exhausting enough, and there were other aspects of making the gantry frame to consider, such as universal wheels, track connections, and weight-bearing issues, all of which needed to be addressed.

......

When Jiang Yifan arrived, Ye Xinyan was fretting over her draft sketches. She had indeed oversimplified the task at hand. It was easy for her to think and speak, but in this era, with the current level of productivity and technical support, creating machinery that had never before existed in the world was incredibly hard.

At the start of the spring, when Qi Younian led people to start working in Yuyuan City, Ye Xinyan kept Wong Qiao behind. Although Jiang Yifan still felt somewhat uneasy—even though the wife of the heir apparent was present and he believed that Ye Xinyan wouldn’t persist obstinately over such matters—he visited several more times than usual.

When he saw Zhou Biyao staying behind and working with Ye Xinyan, he was completely reassured. Ah Yan was indeed an extraordinary woman; she exemplified a blend of cunning and straightforwardness, and her character was upright. Her open-mindedness was something even men couldn’t match. She didn’t let her previous unrequited feelings for Wong Qiao affect her work.

Jiang Yifan had just seen Wong Qiao and the others testing a wooden mechanical device outside. Curious, he inquired about it, but he was very skeptical that something less than a foot in size could lift a thousand catties.

Once inside the engineer’s office, he saw a large desk in front of Ye Xinyan covered with draft sketches. And Ye Xinyan’s gaze was fixated on a corner of the room, looking quite displeased.

Jiang Yifan gestured with his hands towards Zhou Biyao at the other end of the room, signaling her to remain quiet. He then approached the table and briefly scrutinized the visible sketches. Hmm, ... there seemed to be no discernible logic to them.

Jiang Yifan cleared his throat, and Ye Xinyan turned her head. She thought for a moment—she was the granddaughter of Duke An, her status was quite high, so there was no need for pretense with a mere County Official like him, right? Importantly, she was not in a good mood.

Then, she turned her head back and continued to stare at the corner of the room.

Zhou Biyao quickly lowered her head, continuing to work on the drawings that Wong Qiao had just brought back with modified sizes and shapes. She didn’t see anything; she didn’t notice Sister Qi’s disrespect toward Lord Jiang, nor did she see that Lord Jiang wasn’t angry or embarrassed. Instead, a smile appeared on his face.

Bearing a smile, Jiang Yifan looked at Ye Xinyan and picked up a draft that looked fairly complete in its construction. He said, "Can you explain to me what this is for? You can’t keep on like this. Whether the device works or not, you still have to finish and test it, to come to a conclusion. These delays don’t just result in unpaid work, but they also hold up other matters."

Ye Xinyan turned back, quite knowledgeable, huh? He didn’t speak like an outsider.