A Time-Traveling Mishap: I Became an Ancient Nobleman

Chapter 69 Rubber is a type of material

Li Xianda and Gu Qingfeng looked at each other with disdain.

Unfortunately, everyone was around Zhou Hanzhang, so he couldn't lash out and had to pretend to be very warm and friendly.

Zhou Hanzhang couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you all uncomfortable doing this?"

"what?"

"What?"

The two spoke at the same time.

"Never mind, forget I said anything."

Seeing that they couldn't leave, Zhou Hanzhang had no choice but to take Li Xianda inside and immediately start drawing the blueprints.

A moment later, a running shoe appeared on the paper.

After finishing the last stroke, Zhou Hanzhang put down the pen, blew on the ink on the paper, and then handed it to Li Xianda.

Li Xianda took the shoe and examined it closely, looking at the design with great confusion. "Cousin, where did you see this? Can this thing really be worn?"

After he finished speaking, he continued to himself, "But since you've drawn it, cousin, it should be usable. Wait here, I'll go find a craftsman to make it."

Li Xianda, who had just picked up the blueprints and was about to leave, suddenly found his hands empty. When he looked again, the blueprints were already in Gu Qingfeng's hands.

Li Xianda: ? ? ?

"Senior Brother Gu, what's going on?"

"Oh, I just wanted to take a look. I'll return it to you later."

Chen Moran seemed quite interested and went over to join them.

"These shoes have a novel design. How did you come up with that idea?"

"That's none of your concern, Young Master Gu, is it?"

"How can you talk like that? I was praising you."

Zhou Hanzhang forced a smile, "Thank you so much, Young Master Gu."

Gu Qingfeng: !!!

"Can I have my blueprints back?"

Just as Gu Qingfeng was about to hand it over, Chen Moran took the drawing first and noticed the material label on the side. "What is this rubber?"

He stared intently at Zhou Hanzhang.

"Rubber is a type of material..."

As Zhou Hanzhang spoke, she suddenly remembered that rubber soles seemed to have appeared only in the 19th century. They probably didn't exist at this time, even though she knew they needed to be extracted from rubber trees. At that time, rubber trees seemed to mainly grow in South America, and in her memory, they didn't exist in the Great Zhou Dynasty either.

"Rubber?" Li Xianda then noticed some small print next to the blueprint, indicating what materials the shoes would be made of.

"Is it made from the sap that flows from a tree overseas?"

Just as Zhou Hanzhang was thinking about how to find a solution after failing to find rubber, Li Xianda suddenly said something like this.

“Yes, that’s the one. My cousin actually knows?” Zhou Hanzhang was also somewhat surprised.

"Yes, I've seen some overseas merchants bring it to our Great Zhou for sale. I was curious and bought some myself. But isn't this stuff used for bonding?"

"This stuff has a wide range of uses; it's not just for bonding. It has many other uses too."

"Then how should rubber be used to make shoe soles?"

Zhou Hanzhang racked his brains for the little knowledge he had and carefully explained the production method to Li Xianda.

Li Xianda listened for a long time without understanding what he was saying, and Gu Qingfeng was even more confused. As he listened, he began to feel sleepy and yawned.

Chen Moran, however, carefully examined the shoe pattern on the drawing and said, "I think I've seen this rubber sole before."

"Where have we met before, senior brother?" Li Xianda asked quickly.

"It's a small border town where people seem to wear shoes made of rubber, but they don't seem to call them rubber."

Li Xianda was somewhat excited. "I wonder if Senior Brother Chen could give me some directions? I'll find someone who knows how to make these shoe soles."

“This town is quite far from here; it would probably take about half a year to travel there and back.”

"That's alright, senior brother, just tell me."

Chen Moran nodded, picked up the pen Zhou Hanzhang had placed on the table, took out a piece of paper, and began to draw.

Before long, a map appeared on the paper.

He handed the paper to Li Xianda, who took it as if it were a precious treasure and carefully put it away. "Thank you, Senior Brother Chen."

Chen Moran's calligraphy is worth a fortune.

Li Xianda was very pleased.

"You're too kind. But this is the first time I've seen your shoes. They look quite novel. I wonder if Junior Brother Li could make an extra pair for me if he succeeds?"

He handed over the blueprints as he spoke, and Li Xianda took them blankly, replying, "Okay, okay, of course no problem."

Fearing he would be taken advantage of, Gu Qingfeng quickly said, "Then I'll take one too."

“Of course, of course, I’ll make an extra pair for Senior Brother Gu.”

Li Xianda began to carefully observe the other materials Zhou Hanzhang had written on the blueprints because of the rubber. He breathed a sigh of relief when he found that the rest were materials he was familiar with.

So now the issue is rubber.

Li Xianda was rubbing his hands together, ready to set off to find rubber, when Zhou Hanzhang's voice came from beside him, "It doesn't necessarily have to be rubber."

……

"We've been talking for ages, and you're saying we don't necessarily have to use it?"

Zhou Hanzhang was also somewhat embarrassed, "Finding rubber would be ideal, but Senior Brother Chen said that town is so far away from here, and the search and transportation would probably require a huge amount of manpower and resources..."

“Cousin, this is nothing. Our family has the most manpower, material resources, and financial resources, but nothing else. If the shoes you make are good, you can earn it back in a short time.”

"Look at our Tianan Academy students, they're all sons of high-ranking officials and wealthy families. If I give each of them a pair, they'll promote us in their elite circles for free. We can then hype it up, and the money will roll in! Don't worry, I've got it all planned out."

Zhou Hanzhang thought to himself, no wonder he made such a promise to Meng Yunqi so easily back then, to give each of his fellow disciples a pair; so that's what he was planning.

She was too shallow.

With someone as talented as Li Xianda around, the Li family's wealth will likely only continue to grow.

Even so, Zhou Hanzhang still suggested a substitute, "We can try using leather first. My cousin has many capable people around him. If we can find a substitute, wouldn't that be better than going all the way to that remote town to find someone?"

"That's true."

Li Xianda nodded in agreement, "Then I'll take the blueprints and find someone to try it out first, make a few pairs, and you can see how they are. If they don't work, I'll go find some rubber."

Zhou Hanzhang nodded in agreement.

Li Xianda had something on his mind, so he didn't linger and left with the blueprints.

Seeing that Li Xianda had left, Chen Moran pulled Zhou Hanzhang aside and asked, "Now, Junior Brother Zhou, can you come with me to see Master?"

Seeing that there was no way to avoid it, Zhou Hanzhang had no choice but to follow Chen Moran.

Gu Qingfeng watched them leave, but insisted on following them.

Just as he stepped out the door, he ran into Shen Moli. Zhou Hanzhang's heart skipped a beat, fearing that this person was going to follow him too.

However, Shen Moli only glanced at them silently and said, "Going out?"

Chen Moran nodded slightly to him, and he didn't say anything more, going straight back to the courtyard to continue working on his medicinal herbs.

Chen Moran brought Zhou Hanzhang to the dean's residence. Just as they were about to pay their respects to Mo Xuan and Xuan Lingzi, Xuan Lingzi's voice came from inside.

"You've arrived? Come in."