Chapter 1561 The Bronze Stove and Bronze Po (1/2)

Driver showed admirable skill at repairing the mechanical arm. With the tools by his side, he quickly got to work. He filled the oil tank with diesel oil and started the ignition. Soon, the engine of the arm roared to life and started working.

The same afternoon, the engineers worked with the mechanical arm to dig through the mountain boulders. With this trump card of a tool, the engineers made quicker progress. In the evening, Maung Kyaw Zin and his family brought tools up to the mountain, along with a feast for the men. They carried it all up on shoulder poles. When they reached the top of the mountain, they set the things down and warmly urged everyone to start eating.

Aside from the food they had already cooked, they also brought with them stoves, pots, food, and fuel so they could cook some more food on the mountain. Maung Kyaw Zin's wife and daughter set out the dishes. The crowd sat down and prepared to eat while Maung Kyaw Zin busied himself with setting up the stove and pots.

Li Du waved at the man. ”Mayor, sit down and eat with us. This much food is more than enough for us all.”

Maung Kyaw Zin shook his head and smiled. ”Please start eating. I'll just make some soup. You can't have a meal without soup, but it's difficult to transport soup up the mountain so I wanted to cook it here instead.”

Li Du walked over and said to the man, ”That's a lot of trouble.”

Maung Kyaw Zin waved in dismissal. ”Not at all. You're paying for this, remember? I have to give you what you paid for.”

As he was talking, he set the pot on the bronze stove that was covered with patterns. He opened the door to the fire pit of the stove and took what looked like wooden shavings from a bag he brought up with him.

Li Du's interest was piqued as he stared at the bronze stove and pot. They looked like ancient relics with an air of primitive simplicity. The patterns resembled clouds, along with carvings of little reptiles. It was an extremely dense pattern and undeniably pretty.

Maung Kyaw Zin chuckled as he noticed Li Du looking at his stove. ”Haha, you must think this is amusing. We don't have the modern outdoor stoves they use these days, just this old relic, but it works just as well as the new ones.”

Li Du said, ”You're too modest, mayor. This stove is much better than the modern kind. It's pretty old, isn't it? I feel like it's an heirloom.”

Maung Kyaw Zin managed to light a fire. He replied, ”You're right, it's kind of old, old enough to be considered a relic. Heirlooms, however, are works of art; this stove and pot, they're just regular appliances, however, so how can they be heirlooms?”

”That's not true. Regular appliances from the old days are considered heirlooms today, like vases, bowls, chopsticks and different types of porcelain,” Li Du said. ”Mayor, how old is this stove set?”

Maung Kyaw Zin pursed his lips and said, ”I'm not too sure, actually. My grandfather said it existed in his grandfather's time. It's been around in the family for so long that no one actually pays attention to how old it is. All we know is that it's a really sturdy item, so we've been using it all along.”

Li Du could tell the man was lying.

This stove and pot were old as time. There was practically no use for it in day-to-day living, because items made of bronze did not last long, especially since they were difficult to properly maintain if frequently used. After many years of use, it was completely impossible to avoid regular wear and tear, and this was especially so for this specific pot. It had a smattering of patterns carved upon it. There was no way the patterns could still be in such good shape despite years of daily burning, roasting, and exposure to oil and smoke.

However, this was all just his own conjecture and might not actually be true. For all he knew, Maung Kyaw Zin and his predecessors might have really cherished the stove set and took really good care of it every time they had to use it.