She Became A Downfall Noble Lady
Chapter 518 - 516: Are They All So Unique?

Chapter 518: Chapter 516: Are They All So Unique?

The scarcity of iron tools in ancient times greatly dismayed Ye Xinyan, but fortunately there was still some time before the earth construction project in the Peach Grove was to begin, giving her time to await Jiang Yifan’s reply.

Left with no choice, Ye Xinyan temporarily set aside the idea of building a dedicated track and focused solely on her Mechanical Workshop. The Chain Inversion Device was just a start, and with the craftsmen procured by Jinrong, she could bring the production of the Hoisting Machine to the daily agenda.

After seeing Jiang Yifan off and having breakfast, Ye Xinyan, accompanied by Zhou Biyao, went to find Wong Qiao to discuss the production of the Chain Inversion Device and its archival storage.

Madam Yin was surprised that her daughter could supervise the production of mechanical equipment for construction projects; she had long wanted to see what it was. In the previous days, Ah Yan and the others had said that the craftsmen were busy rushing to make the trial parts for the equipment and it was chaotic, not showing much. Therefore, she did not insist on watching.

Yesterday, upon hearing that the prototype of the device had passed inspection, today, Madam Yin also followed Ye Xinyan to the workshop, curious to see what kind of device had merited the stay of Jiang Yifan, the county magistrate, to celebrate with the craftsmen.

The night before, Ye Xinyan had sent word to Wong Qiao not to dismantle his wooden core Chain Inversion Device, but to bring it to the workshop first for the wife of the heir apparent to take a look, and then take it out to disassemble and distribute the work.

In the workshop, around the desk near the window where the model of the Chain Inversion Device was placed, Madam Yin circled the desk twice and scrutinized it from different angles. Pointing at the small device she asked Ye Xinyan, "Is this the thing you all have been working on these days?"

"Ah," Ye Xinyan replied. She helplessly glanced at Madam Yin and the entourage of four maids and Nanny Huang that surrounded them. This was hardly the throng for inspecting engineering equipment; it was more suited for an excursion.

The Chain Inversion Device, a device that even the craftsmen in the Construction Industry had never seen before, had only just started to be half-believed and accepted since yesterday. Showing such a mechanical tool to the wife of the heir apparent, who lived a life of comfort in the capital’s inner quarters, was completely out of context.

"Such a small thing can lift a thousand catties?" Madam Yin’s eyes were full of deep skepticism.

Ye Xinyan secretly pursed her lips. It had to be a small device, of course; if it were as huge and heavy as a thousand-catty weight, what purpose would it serve to make it?

Wong Qiao explained, "Madam only sees the outer iron shell, but inside it is made of wood, so it cannot yet lift a thousand catties. Once we replace the core of the Chain Inversion Device entirely with iron, it will be able to lift heavy objects. At that time, I will definitely invite Madam to observe."

"What does the core inside look like?" Madam Yin was curious about what was inside this iron lump. She poked at the Chain Inversion Device’s shell and fiddled with its two iron chains, feeling the greasiness on them. She quickly withdrew her hand and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe her fingers.

Wong Qiao, somewhat embarrassed, explained, "The inside is full of transmission components that require lubrication with grease. Would the wife of the heir apparent like to see the core inside the Chain Inversion Device? Second Miss Zhou has the parts stored, you can take a look at them."

Zhou Biyao was going to number and file the parts and blueprints of the Chain Inversion Device today anyway. Hearing Wong Qiao speak, she quickly took out a box from the bottom of a cabinet in the corner of the wall, and said to Madam Yin, "Madam, here are all the internal parts of the Chain Inversion Device. I was about to number them and put them away, you can take a look."

Turning her gaze toward the box, Ye Xinyan then said to Wong Qiao, "Go ahead and hand it over to the craftsmen, and when you come back, let’s discuss the Hoisting Machine we talked about earlier."

Madam Yin looked at the various shapes of small wood pieces, wooden strips, and nails inside the box, and then at Zhou Biyao as she took them out one by one, corresponding them to the drawings, and introduced them to Madam Yin: "This is a baffle, this is a support board, this is a ball-bearing slice..."

Hearing Zhou Biyao introduce them one by one, Madam Yin was even more astonished, "Biyao, you recognize all these little things."

There were so many differently shaped little objects, and some were extremely small. It was expected that her daughter would understand these, as many people said her daughter was capable and skilled, but that Second Miss Zhou could recognize them was beyond her understanding. Were all young girls so unconventional these days?

"I do recognise them." Zhou Biyao immediately became proud. Finally, someone asked her with that tone. In the past, she was always compared to Sister Qi, and no matter what she did, no one was surprised because Sister Qi was a woman, and she knew and could do everything.

"I even drew the drawings for these parts myself. Look, madam." Zhou Biyao proudly showed one of the parts and the corresponding drawing to Madam Yin.

It was then that Madam Yin noticed those with the small wood pieces weren’t dirty papers, but rather papers with things drawn on them. She looked closely and found that she, a person who had studied painting and calligraphy since childhood, couldn’t understand what was drawn at all.

"You drew this? This irregular little wood piece? It doesn’t look like it at all, does it?" Madam Yin compared them several times but still couldn’t discern any logic.

Zhou Biyao giggled and said, "This is a drawing used by craftsmen when making parts, called an orthographic projection. Sister Qi personally taught Jiang Yifan and me how to read and draw them. How could you understand, madam, when you haven’t learned it? This isn’t like the paintings of flowers, birds, fishes, and insects, or romantic poems we learn in our boudoirs; ordinary people really don’t understand them." She was quite pleased with herself, wasn’t she?

Without missing a beat, Madam Yin immediately turned to Ye Xinyan, "Ah Yan, did you teach them this? This, this doesn’t look right, either. If you made something based on this drawing, wouldn’t there be problems?"

"There won’t be," said Zhou Biyao confidently, "Third Brother Wong said that the craftsmen used to work from old drawings and weren’t used to this kind of drawing. Sister Qi made a few and compared the new with the old drawings for the craftsmen, and they gradually got used to orthographic projections. Now the craftsmen are all accustomed to the drawings I make; they find them very convenient, simpler and clearer than the ones they used before. It saves effort for both the drawer and the reader."

Ye Xinyan took the drawing and the support board from Zhou Biyao, and said to Madam Yin, "Look, mother, like this, you see it now, right?"

Ye Xinyan showed the side of the wood piece to Madam Yin, while pointing to a diagram at the bottom of the drawing. Seeing Madam Yin nod, she then showed another side, "You see, like this, does it not look the same as this drawing?"

"It really does. When you look at it separately, it does take shape." Madam Yin, being raised in a noble and prestigious family from generations, could see some outline after Ye Xinyan pointed it out to her, "Ah Yan, how did you think of drawing like this?"

"How did I come up with it?" Ye Xinyan immediately made a troubled face, having to explain once again, "Isn’t it because I didn’t learn painting properly before? When it came time to have something made, I had to draw it out, didn’t I? And I couldn’t draw a real pattern like other girls, so I had to be sneaky and use this simple method to indicate it. Turns out, it accidentally worked."

Those predecessors of the modern age, I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to slander your orthographic projection, it’s just that these ancient people pressed too hard for answers. And since I traveled back in time, I couldn’t just sit on good things and not use them, right?

Madam Yin, as a lady from a secluded noble house, didn’t understand how difficult it was to create a new tool or a new way of expressing something. Hearing Ye Xinyan put it that way, she took it as an explanation and did not pursue the matter further, but instead asked, "The hoisting machine you were just talking about with Ah Qiao, what is that? Is it a device like the Chain Inversion Device?"