Early the next morning, after breakfast, Li Wei left Katie and the others to build the ice castle and headed off to Ovelia's manor.
After promoting agricultural machinery and developing the radio industry, Ovelia had come to understand something: to get the people of Delicate to accept certain things, she often had to lead by example. Once she did, plenty of people would follow. Agricultural machinery, for instance, was now used throughout Delicate, and nobody spouted nonsense about it poisoning the land anymore.
Now that Li Wei had brought her this plastic sheeting, Ovelia naturally intended to be the first to use it, setting an example for her subjects and letting them see the results for themselves. Honestly, perhaps because of the nature of Delicate's territory, every conversation Li Wei had with Ovelia made him feel as though he were talking to a rural development official. Her concerns always revolved around agriculture, rural communities, and farmers...
Still, there was no denying that food came first for the people, and the Empire was no exception. No matter how incredible the steam machinery people built, that hardly meant they could stop eating.
By the time Li Wei arrived at the manor, Ovelia had already gathered a group of workers to get started. It was winter, after all, and most people had nothing to do. Naturally, they came when Ovelia called.
The next question was how to build it. Li Wei did not really know either, but he had at least seen one before, so he drew a diagram for the workers. They quickly understood after looking it over.
"So you want us to build a frame out of these steel pipes, then cover it with this strange cloth to make a simple house?"
"More or less."
Li Wei knew little about civil