Chapter 340: Deliberately came to show off

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation  Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

Xi Rui and the others were very efficient.

They each brought two craftsmen with them after they went home.

Xi Rui also brought a lot of rubber from home.

Seeing that Xi Rui was a complete failure, Old Master Xi and Xi Xinheng were ready to talk about it.

However, when they heard Xi Rui saying that he was going to bring the rubber to the Xiao family to get a bicycle, the two of them swallowed their words.

They even told Xi Rui to do as he wished.

Xi Xinheng was the one who had found the craftsmen for his son.

Shi Qingluo also utilized their craftsmen, Xiao Mu and his son.

This time, when they came out from Xiaxi Village, they brought Xiao Mu and his family along.

After gathering the craftsmen and the rubber and iron materials were ready, Shi Qingluo also drew out the bicycle’s blueprint.

She explained the principle to these craftsmen.

These craftsmen were the better ones who were owned by these few families.

After listening to Shi Qingluo’s words, their eyes all lit up.

They gathered together to discuss and start work.

Xi Rui walked with his rubber-soled leather shoes for a round and went back.

The servant girls in his yard also made a few pairs of leather shoes.

He used a haversack to carry them to the old lady and his mother’s yard.

He coaxed them till they were very happy.

Then, he carried the other two pairs to the study room.

The old master was talking to his sons and grandsons.

It was not that he didn’t call Xi Rui in, but he was not interested in these things.

He just wanted to be a good-for-nothing, so no one called him every time there was a meeting in the study room.

After entering the door, the old man asked with a smile, “Why are you here?”

Xi Rui immediately opened the bundle. “Grandfather, I asked someone to make a pair of rubber-soled shoes for you and my father.

“Please see if they fit.”

Old Master Xi was not surprised.

He had seen Xi Rui wearing a pair of rubber-soled leather shoes during the day.

He smiled and waved his hand. “Okay, let me try them on.”

He had been curious about the rubber-soled leather shoes for a long time.

Xi Rui immediately handed over a pair of shoes as if he was presenting a treasure.

Old Master Xi put it on himself and walked around.

“It’s really not bad. It feels very sturdy. You can save a lot of trouble by wearing these shoes when you’re marching and fighting in the army.”

He had led soldiers in the war and knew that many soldiers’ cloth shoes were often worn out.

When their pay was low, they even wore straw sandals.

He asked, “When you step in the water, have you tried not to get the soles wet?”

Xi Rui walked over and casually grabbed a cup of tea and poured it on the ground. “Grandfather, you’ll know when you try it.”

Seeing this, Old Master Xi did not know whether to laugh or cry. “Okay, I’ll try it on.”

He stepped on the tea and walked around.

He did not feel that the soles of his shoes were wet, so he sat down on his seat and took off his shoes.

He asked a servant girl to wipe them with a handkerchief, and then wiped all the water that he stepped on.

He smiled and said, “This pair of shoes is very good on rainy and snowy days.”

Seeing this, Xi Xinheng immediately took his pair of shoes and tried them on. “It’s quite easy to wear. The soles of the shoes are solid.”

It looked even better on him.

Xi Rui smiled proudly. “Of course. If it’s not good, I wouldn’t have sent it to you.”

Third Master Xi could not help but say, “You little brat, you only think about your grandfather and your father. What about us?”

The other members of the Xi family were also jealous. They also wanted a pair.

Xi Rui raised his eyebrows. “Let the servant girls do it. It’s not like we don’t have rubber at home.”

Third Master Xi took a deep breath.

Fine, he would let the servant girls do it.

Then, he asked, “You’ve brought a lot of rubber out of our house. What are you doing?”

They had received the news that the emperor’s men had transported a lot of rubber back to the capital.

Then, the emperor summoned the Minister of Works and his assistant minister into the palace.

The two of them brought more than half of the rubber back to the Ministry of Works.

Then, the emperor had his people to open a workshop.

Hearsay was that they were going to specialize in making rubber.

From this, it could be seen that this rubber was a good thing.

Those people their family deployed were also very good.

They had also sent back rubber yesterday.

Who knew that before their family could discuss on how to use it, Xi Rui had already taken away 30% of it.

This made everyone somewhat dissatisfied.

After all, rubber was now the property of the Xi family.

However, because it was a prescription that Xi Rui had fought for and they had previously said that he would give him 30% , they tolerated it.

However, they were very curious as to what this kid was going to do with it.

Xi Rui chuckled. “I won’t tell you about this, third uncle. You’ll know about it in a few days.”

Everyone present felt that their hands were itching.

This rascal always kept them guessing.

The old man waved his hand. “Don’t ask around. Rui’er got my permission to transport that bit of rubber out.”

Hearing what he said, those present did not dare to ask any more questions.

The old master’s heart was getting more and more biased.

So he began to talk about the main topic again.

Xi Rui heard that the northern border had some ripples, and King Jin was getting more and more restless.

Besides Xiao Yuanshi, the emperor might also want to send other people to the northern border.

Xi Rui was not that interested, so he got up and left.

The old master did not bother, which made Xi Rui’s cousins extremely jealous.

If he were them, they would definitely have their legs broken if they dared to run away while talking about such an important matter.

This guy was a bootlicker.

In the past, he only coaxed his grandmother to treat him as a treasure.

Now, even the old master was coaxed by him.

The next day, it began to rain heavily.

When Old Master Xi and Xi Xinheng saw this, not only did they not find it troublesome, but they also happily changed into their leather shoes.

It was a long walk from the place where the carriage was parked to the morning court.

Because everyone kept stepping on the water with their shoes, not only was it easy to get wet outside, but it was also easy to wet their shoes’ soles. It was very uncomfortable to wear them.

However, they had to endure until after the court was over and go back to their own carriages to change into a pair of dry shoes.

Therefore, the ministers did not like rainy days.

They walked into the main hall with umbrellas and stepped on the rain puddle.

When everyone saw Old Master Xi, they were a little surprised. Why did this old man come on such a rainy day?

This old man worked in fits and starts. If the weather was too cold he would not come, and if it was raining he would not come too.

Did he have something for court today?

Old Master Xi went in and greeted his old friends.

He looked at their wet shoes in surprise. “Ah, why are your shoes all wet?”

2

They were all speechless.

Is this old man crazy? Aren’t shoes like this on rainy days?

Before they could speak, Old Master Xi raised his feet and showed off. “Look at mine. It’s not wet.”

After hearing Shi Qingluo’s words, Xi Rui’s shoes, which were made of leather and rubber soles, were waxed.

So as long as they did not soak their shoes in the water for a long time, they would not get wet after walking for a while in the rain.

Yesterday, he had only stepped on the water, so he did not have such a great feeling.

Today, after walking for such a long distance in the heavy rain, his shoes were still dry, which made the old master like them even more.

Seeing this, his old friends were all stunned. “Really? Is the inside of your shoes dry?”

Seeing that they didn’t believe him, Old Master Xi immediately took off one of his shoes and said, “Take a look for yourself.”

They really came over to take a look.

Then, they asked a young eunuch to take a handkerchief and wipe the outside.

Sure enough, after the water was wiped off, the skin didn’t seem to be soaked through.

One of the old men did not mind. He curiously reached in and touched it.

“It’s really dry.

“Old Xi, why aren’t your shoes wet? How did you do this?”

The others also surrounded him.

They finally understood why this old man came to the court today. He deliberately came to show off..

Old Master Liang had already heard from his grandson, so he asked, “Are these rubber-soled shoes?”

Old Master Xi smiled smugly. “Yes, they are rubber-soled shoes.”

Then, he deliberately asked, “That little brat of mine insisted on giving me this pair of shoes. Didn’t your grandson give you a pair this time?”

He was definitely the only one with this in the imperial court today.

As for his son wearing a pair of rubber-soled shoes, he directly ignored it.

Old Master Liang was speechless.

Why did he talk so much just now? It really pricked his heart now.