“Whoosh~ whoosh~”
The furnace blazed fiercely.
Heiwa squatted beside it, vigorously pushing and pulling a stick with his hands.
At the other end of the stick was the pot lid he had obtained from his spouse, Zhuang, after much persuasion.
The lid was slightly smaller than the hollow cylinder’s inner diater.
To concentrate the airflow and send it into the furnace, Shitou, based on the Divine Child’s previous “wind gurgle” setup, had attached a ceramic pipe at the exit, extending it to the edge of the furnace.
The ceramic pipe tapered gradually toward the furnace.
The joints between the pipes were sealed with clay to prevent air leakage.
“Whoosh!”
Heiwa pushed the stick, transferring force to the lid, which moved along the pipe.
Air surged through the ceramic pipe network straight into the furnace, making the flas roar higher.
At first glance, Heiwa’s invention seed very successful and practical.
But when he pulled the lid back, a problem arose.
As he pulled, the furnace flas shrank, and if he pulled too hard, the fire was even sucked back into the pipe…
This was clearly not what Heiwa wanted. After trying various forces for so ti, he gave up, squatting to ponder the issue.
From the reaction of the furnace flas when pushing, his idea had clearly worked.
The only problem now was how to pull the lid back without sucking air from the furnace.
After thinking for a while, Heiwa stood up, removed clay from one joint of the connected pipes, and slightly separated them to create a small gap.
He pushed the lid again, sending air into the furnace.
This ti, pulling back didn’t suck the flas into the pipe, but a new problem appeared: much of the air leaked through the gap, weakening the fire.
After so more back-and-forth, Heiwa stopped, squatting to stare at the gap between the pipes and reflect.
If the pipes were sealed tightly when pushing, and the gap opened only when pulling, it would be perfect.
He tried this manually, but relying on hand operation was cumberso and ti-consuming. The airflow wasn’t smooth.
After more effort, he abandoned this approach and continued thinking.
If the gap could open and close automatically with the pushing and pulling, it would be much simpler…
Heiwa knew this was a difficult problem.
If the Divine Child were still in the tribe, his wisdom would surely solve it…
Thinking of the Divine Child in Jinguan City, Heiwa shook his head. He couldn’t expect the Divine Child to solve every problem.
Moreover, this was related to firing porcelain, and he was the tribe’s best potter.
Heiwa continued experinting, but none of his attempts succeeded.
That night, he stayed until late, returning exhausted and sleepless.
He took a natural sedative from Zhuang and finally fell into restless sleep.
The next day, Heiwa went to the carpenter, La, explaining the problem and its potential effects if solved, hoping La could help.
La, a craftsman accustod to complex tasks, was imdiately intrigued.
Solving problems could be painful, but success brought imnse satisfaction, like drinking celestial wine. He agreed without hesitation to assist.
La approached the device, understood its principle, and then returned to his workshop.
After so thought, he began work with tools. Soon, a hollow rectangular wooden box appeared in his hands.
He chose a rectangle because making a circular barrel from boards was too difficult, but the device’s principle didn’t depend on shape.
He then crafted a wooden piston to fit inside the hollow box. Pushing and pulling initially didn’t work well, as the open end allowed the piston to slip out.
La sealed the far end with a wooden board.
After this, pushing and pulling worked better, but air continued to leak through the gap between the piston and the box wall.
To fix this, he drilled a hole in the bottom. With the hole, the operation beca much easier.
Now, La faced the sa challenge as Heiwa: how to make the gap—or the hole at the bottom—open and close automatically.
This was difficult, or Heiwa wouldn’t have sought his help.
La worked all day and exchanged ideas with Heiwa, but still had no solution.
The breakthrough ca the next day.
A cold wind blew as stubbornly red persimmon leaves swayed on branches. Eventually, one spiraled down.
Children ran over, picked up the leaf, and laughed as they jumped.
They invented a new ga: holding the leaf under their noses, inhaling to keep it stuck, and seeing who could keep it stuck the longest. Only suction counted; mucus adhesion didn’t.
La, with his mind weighed by the unresolved problem, paused to watch the children play, letting the scene calm his thoughts.
Suddenly, his eyes lit up—an idea struck him. Excited, he dashed back to his workshop faster than an ordinary person could follow.
Instead of using the leaf, he cut a small piece of animal hide larger than the bottom hole of the wooden box.
He nailed one side of the hide over the hole with copper nails, leaving the other side free.
Gripping the wooden piston, he pushed it forward. Air pressure lifted the hide, allowing airflow.
Pulling the piston back, the hide automatically pressed tight, sealing the gap.
La was thrilled—he had made a tool where the gap opened and closed automatically with piston movent.
However, a new problem appeared: pulling the piston back required effort, and excessive force could pull the hide inward, preventing it from opening and closing automatically.
Clearly, the tool wasn’t perfected and needed refinent.
“Try making another hole at the bottom,” Heiwa suggested, arriving from the pottery workshop.
After consideration, La agreed and drilled a second hole near the first.
Pushing and pulling improved slightly. Air still escaped through the new hole, but the remaining issues were manageable and would be resolved over ti.
Soon, La covered the new hole with hide, nailing it on one side.
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