Juhua nodded.
She had always been extremely cautious, never hoarding profitable and conspicuous inventions. 'In my opinion,' she thought, 'that's just asking for trouble.' She preferred to popularize the invention, letting others study, develop, and profit from it. As long as she had one to use herself, that was good enough.
She asked, "Has Cousin Laifu started selling the rice threshers yet?"
Qingmu shook his head. "Not yet. I told him not to rush. First, we'll make a few for our own family to use. We'll start selling them here once we hear from Qinghui."
As they talked, Juhua noticed the sky had grown dark and hurriedly called out to the river, "Here, duckies! Here, duckies...!"
At her call, the ducks drifted toward the bank. They scrambled ashore, waddling unsteadily. Without a pause, their big webbed feet went SLAP, SLAP, SLAP as they scurried straight for home.
