Carpenter Liew added one more thing: Since the watermill had been designed by Clara, unless she personally approved it, he wouldn't make another one for anyone else.
With that, even Frank Liew dropped the idea. Renting from Clara would be far more cost-effective.
Clara and Carpenter Liew exchanged a subtle glance — a quiet agreement passed between them. From now on, his household could use the mill for free.
Once the excitement died down, the crowd slowly dispersed.
Only the Liew family lingered by the watermill.
Earlier, with so many people around, Kate had stayed back — she was newly pregnant and didn't want to get jostled. Martha and Doreen had also been pushed to the outer edges of the crowd.
Now, the three women finally got a chance to observe Clara's mill up close. Watching that massive stone wheel hum and spin on its own filled them with quiet admiration.
But upon hearing from Carpenter Liew that the whole thing had cost two taels of silver, they couldn't help but think: such a waste.
"This thing is impressive, no doubt," Doreen muttered, wincing as she watched the wheel turn. "But two taels? Sister-in-law, you sure didn't flinch spending that."
Old Walter Liew turned his curious gaze to Clara, who had gone back to block the river flow. "Clara, what made you think of building a watermill?"
After all, she and Lester only had two acres of loosely tended wheat. That wasn't even enough to justify a single run through the mill.
To Old Walter, it felt like overkill — like using a warhorse to kill a chicken. Total waste!
Clara placed the stone to block the river again. The water's force diminished quickly, and the spinning millstone gradually slowed to a halt.
She explained, "This watermill isn't just for personal use — I plan to make a business out of it. But of course, I wanted to make things easier for my own family too."
"For your own?" Doreen piped up, testing the waters. "So, if we — your family — use it, you won't charge us, right?"
Clara smiled. "Of course not."
Doreen did have a tendency to angle for freebies, but she was also warm and helpful. She'd lent Clara many small favors, and Clara wasn't the kind to forget such things.
This was a clan-based society, after all. Relationships could be messy, but there was no avoiding them. And when managed well, they brought lots of unseen benefits.
For instance, Clara didn't worry about leaving her waterwheel and mill unattended by the river. No one from the village would dare steal them.
Lester may have split from the old family home, but he still had three brothers living there. And both older sisters-in-law had good standing in the village. If anything were to go missing, the keen-eyed wives would find the thief in no time.
Grinding grain was backbreaking work. With men working the fields, it often fell to the women.
Now that Clara had given them the green light, Doreen and Kate eagerly declared they'd bring their wheat first thing tomorrow to test the mill's efficiency.
"No problem," Clara nodded.
She did have a favor to ask of the old house, though.
"Father, since I want to turn this mill into a business, I'm thinking of putting up a proper shelter over it."
Old Walter nodded, understanding. He turned to Lester. "Third son, tomorrow morning, bring your sickle and come find us. We'll go cut some thatch first, then head to South Hill to chop some bamboo. By evening we'll have a proper shed built."
At the mention of manual labor, Lester's face fell. He mumbled an unenthusiastic "Alright…"
Clara, meanwhile, beamed. "Thanks, Father. Tomorrow night, everyone come to our place for dinner. I'll head to Peddler Liew's and buy two bottles of wine — we'll have a proper meal."
Martha, Doreen, and Kate all smiled. They knew Clara didn't really know how to cook, so they planned to show up early and help prepare dinner.
Just then, Rosie and Deb popped their little heads out and asked in hopeful whispers, "Auntie/Mom, can we have meat?"
"Yes!" Clara agreed without hesitation — she'd been craving some herself.
By her count, tomorrow was exactly the fifth day — their scheduled "meat day."
The only problem: no pork in the house. Lately, everyone in the village was too busy with harvest to go into town and bring back meat.
But Clara wasn't worried. She could fish or hunt — no problem getting meat on the table by tomorrow.
Wine and meat? The kids could hardly contain their excitement.
The two households agreed on the next day's plans before finally heading home.
That night, Lester helped draw hot water for foot-soaking. As Clara settled into the chair, he stood nearby, eyes shining.
"Wife," he asked eagerly, "how are you planning to charge for use? That watermill's a gem — we can't go easy on the villagers!"
Clara pulled off her shoes and socks, dipped her feet into the warm water, and leaned back with a satisfied sigh. Eyes half-closed, she asked, "What do you think we should charge?"
Lester grinned. "Well, since it's your watermill, you should decide, of course."
"…But," he added, "if it were me, I'd charge by the hour. Say, five copper coins per hour."
"That's sixty a day. Multiply by thirty — that's 1,800 copper coins a month!" His eyes sparkled like treasure chests.
Clara snorted. "You wish."
Lester blinked, stunned. "What'd I do now?"
But he didn't dare protest. After all, Clara was the one bringing in the money. If she actually made 1,800 coins a month, she'd be the household's patron saint!
"Okay, then what do you think is reasonable?" he asked.
She gave him a look as she wiped her feet with the towel he handed over. "Let's try five coins an hour for now."
"But that's exactly what I said!" Lester grumbled. "And you yelled at me."
Clara rolled her eyes. "Yes, the price is the same — but the difference is you're assuming we'll be booked twelve hours a day with zero downtime. Realistically, five or six hours max. And don't forget the wear and tear. That wheel will need repairs."
That thought had never occurred to him. "It'll break down?" he gasped.
"Of course," Clara said. "It's made of wood. And with weeds and debris in the river, it's easy for things to get jammed. We have to be careful."
Lester's enthusiasm instantly deflated. He dumped the foot water and slinked away.
Clara went around to check the doors and windows, peeked in on the four kids, and finally returned to her own room. Lying in bed, she started doing some mental math.
If the watermill ran for five hours a day, that was twenty-five coins — 750 a month.
At eight coins per jin of fine rice, that would buy 93 jin — over 23 kilograms. Not bad at all.
Of course, that was the ideal scenario. The real outcome? Time would tell.
With that in mind, Clara drifted off to sleep.
The next time she opened her eyes, it was around six in the morning.
From the kitchen, the scent of rice wafted in. Lester usually got up around 5:30 to cook and tidy up. While the rice cooked, he'd sneak off to wash the laundry by the river.
That early, most women were still home, so no one would see a grown man doing the wash.
They had an unspoken agreement about it: Clara never mentioned it, and Lester never admitted it.
So far, no one knew that aside from cooking, Lester was also in charge of all the housework — including laundry.
Clara got up and headed to the backyard for her daily workout: 200 pull-ups.
After working up a sweat, she washed up and sat down just in time for breakfast.
(End of Chapter)
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