My village can't be like this

Chapter 422 Picking up stones on the river beach
When everyone had just finished their lunch and was about to drink half a cup of tea and wine, they got up and started working.

The boss at the battlefield also drove a tractor to deliver the sand.

"Anzi, I'm afraid your two squares are not enough."

Zhang Jianjun is a senior mason, and he has led people to build so many yards this year.

He could roughly estimate whether the sand materials would be enough.

This is also a specialty of master craftsmen. It saves you from running out of materials in the middle of the work, which would waste too much time.

"The pond you dug is not small, and the bottom needs to be smoothed with mortar, and the perimeter needs to be built. The cement is enough, but just this car of sand will be too choked."

Two square meters of gravel and sand sounds like a lot, but in fact it is not much. It is only one bucket of the tractor, and the bucket is not even full.

Although the two fish ponds in Zhang An are not as deep as the fish ponds, they are dug to raise ornamental fish, so the bottom of the pond must be smoothed with mortar.

Otherwise, the bottom will be full of mud and it won’t look very nice.

"Second uncle, please make an estimate and see how much is missing. Otherwise, let him pull another cart over."

When Zhang An went to the beach to order sand, he forgot to wipe the bottom of the pool with sand, so he thought that two square meters of stone sand was almost enough.

"Send another car over. I won't be able to use it all, but there won't be much left in the end."

Hearing this, Zhang An nodded and negotiated with the boss of Lasha next to him.

When he heard that another truck was going to be delivered, the boss was very happy. He quickly dumped the sand in the bucket and then drove the tractor back to load it with sand again.

They are all small sand and gravel factories, not the kind of large sand and gravel factories contracted by big bosses, so every extra truck is a profit.

In the afternoon, everyone worked overtime for a while and dug out the pond at the gate.

Later, Zhang An started digging a ditch along the canal flowing from the backyard into the fish pond.

Because there is no water source in the yard, it is very inconvenient to raise fish. It is too troublesome to use tap water, and it has to be treated before it can be put into the fish pond.

Therefore, this canal must be dug so that there will be a continuous flow of living water into the fish pond.

Because the water in the canal is brought from the upper reaches of the river, the river water is the most suitable water source for the fish and does not need to be treated like tap water.

Not only did the aqueduct have to be dug, but a drainage ditch also had to be dug out of the front yard.

Zhang An has wanted to dig for a long time, but he has never made up his mind to do it. Once the drainage ditch is dug, not only the water in the fish pond can be drained out, but also the accumulated water in the yard can be quickly drained from the ditch when it rains. go.

Although the cement dam of Zhang An's house had been raised above the level when it hardened, it sloped downward from the gate to the courtyard entrance, so the accumulated water could flow out without the need for drainage ditches.

But every time it rains heavily, the water in the yard drains too slowly, causing the yard to still be flooded with a layer of water.

This time I happened to take advantage of the time when I was repairing the fish pond to dig the drainage ditch. Then I would buy a few covers to cover it, which would not affect the use of the courtyard dam.

Early the next morning, Zhang An was not asked to come to the door to invite him. The person who came to help yesterday came over by himself.

Those who came to help build the wall were basically the masons from the village who followed Zhang Jianjun.

Therefore, Zhang An and Huang Ming, who did not know how to build walls, could only follow behind everyone and act as small workers, helping to mix sand and cement.

The fish pond was built first in the front yard, and a circle of red bricks was first built along the dug pit wall.

It is still the same as what was considered before, and a [-]-centimeter-high perimeter is built above the ground level.

"Second uncle's craftsmanship is really amazing. I thought it wouldn't be perfect."

When the two layers of bricks were just laid on the bottom of the pool, Zhang An discovered that the bricks were made into a circle.

Although he wanted to build a round Tai Chi fish pond before, everyone dug the pit by hand, so it was impossible to dig it too regularly.

So Zhang An didn't think too much about forcing it later. Anyway, he just built it along the side and made it into whatever shape he could.

Unexpectedly, the second uncle Zhang Jianjun's wall-building skills were so profound that he could build the circular perimeter very regularly with just a wire hammer.

Looking at the fence that had been paved with two layers of bricks, Zhang An really admired his second uncle from the bottom of his heart.

No wonder the door heads of those old houses in the past could be built into circular arches with just a pair of heads and a pile of stones.

"Haha, this is Uncle Er's specialty. If I don't do it well, who will ask me to work in the future?"

Being complimented by his nephew, if Zhang Jianjun felt unhappy, it must be a lie.

Once upon a time, when they were young, the juniors in the family looked at them like this.

Although other people are more skilled at building walls, no one can build them to such a standard.

However, since Zhang Jianjun took the lead in laying the mold below, they only needed to follow the pattern and lay the bricks upwards.

After the fence was built, Zhang An mixed a bunch of mortar and poured it into the pool one by one with buckets.

After everything is smoothed, you just need to wait until the mortar at the bottom of the pool has absorbed the water. There is no need to clean it, because Zhang An still needs to do waterproofing.

The perimeter still needs to be smoothed and smoothed with mortar, but the wall is not dry yet, so it needs to be left for two days.

Although the Tai Chi fish pond in the front yard is smaller, it was noon after finishing it, so it was not labor-saving at all.

After dinner in the afternoon, we were almost rested. After Zhang Jianjun shouted twice, everyone started to take action again.

Instead of rushing to build the pond in the backyard, we first built the drainage ditch in the front yard and the aqueduct dug from the backyard.

Finally it was the turn of the large pond in the backyard. Although it was larger than the Tai Chi fish pond in the front yard, it did not take much time because of its simple shape.

By evening, it was mostly completed.

Of course, after the two fish ponds have been placed for two days, they will need to be waterproofed and the edges cleaned.

But at that time, a few people in the family were enough, so there was no need to trouble everyone.

In the next two days, Zhang An did not rest. Instead, he ran to the city and bought a bunch of polypropylene cloth.

This is the main material for waterproofing fish ponds. After all, waterproof paint is not available yet.

However, using this kind of polypropylene cloth and cement slurry is enough. As long as the polypropylene cloth is not bad, the waterproofing can last for many years without leaking.

When I bought the polypropylene cloth, the mortar on the bottom of the pool was not dry yet, so no one could stand in it, otherwise there would be big footprints all over it.

So we have to wait some more time before we can do follow-up work.

So Zhang An carried the dung basket to the river beach and started collecting pebbles.

There are a lot of pebbles on the river beach, everywhere, all coming down from the mountains upstream.

When digging the fish pond, Zhang An had thought of these natural pebbles, so he had no idea of ​​painting or tiling the pond.

The pebbles in the river are not only large and small, but also come in various colors, so you can choose from them.

Among them, there are off-white and blue-black pebbles. With these two colors of pebbles, what kind of paint should be used in the Tai Chi fish pond?

Go directly to the river beach to pick up some more and put them at the bottom of the pond. Purely natural things are definitely much better than those paints.

And in addition to these two colors of pebbles, there are also red and golden pebbles, which can be placed in the backyard pool.

When the time comes, we will have black and white carp in the front yard and golden and red carp in the back yard. It will be a perfect match.

It's just that although there are many pebbles on the river beach, the pebbles of these colors that Zhang An needs only account for a few.Fortunately, the riverbanks are very large, and you can still find quite a few of them as long as you spend some time.

"Uncle An, what are you looking for here?"

When Zhang An was looking for pebbles on the river beach, the furry children in Shangzhai saw him in the river and all ran over.

"I'm looking for rocks here. Why are you all here instead of going to class? Why don't you skip school and get whipped when you go home?"

Before Zhang An finished speaking, the kids became anxious.

"Uncle An, don't talk nonsense. We are not skipping school. There will be no classes today and Saturday."

After saying that, I didn't forget to glare at Zhang An. Is it okay to talk about skipping school?
If the adults at home heard it, they would definitely be punished.

In the village, no matter who the child is, if he hears that so-and-so skipped school today, his parents will take out his belt and give him a slap before asking about the situation without saying a word.

Even if the reason for the holiday is revealed only after being beaten, the beating will be in vain.

"Okay, okay, it's my fault. I forgot it's Saturday."

Zhang An quickly apologized. It is not easy to win the friendship of children.

Time is unknown in the mountains, and Zhang An really can't remember the specific day of the week on weekdays.

Just relying on whether Su Ying goes to work or not, we can judge whether it is a weekend or not.

But now Su Ying doesn't go to school very often in the morning, so he has no idea about this at all.

"Uncle An, what are you doing picking up these stones?"

The furry children were not skipping school, and quickly focused on these rocks.

"My family dug two fish ponds, so I picked some and put them in the pond."

Zhang An has a very good attitude towards children and is not impatient at all like other adults.

It is because of this that children are willing to get close to him.

Many people in the village say that Zhang An is the king of children.

"Uncle An, wait until I go back to change my sandals and come over to pick them up for you."

Hearing that Zhang An was useful in picking up these stones, the boys all volunteered themselves.

They usually get a lot of benefits from Zhang An, and now it's time to repay them.

Anyway, this is what they can do, and there is nothing to play with now.

Older children either go to the mountains to herd cattle and cut pig grass on weekends, or they work in the fields with the adults at home.

When they are younger, they have nothing to do. The adults are not at home anyway, so there is no one to take care of them. After dinner, they will be in groups of three and five, playing around.

Either go down the river to catch fish and shrimp, or go up the mountain and climb trees to catch birds.

In the past two years, the village has tightened its control over the river, and these children will be punished as soon as they get into the river.

So now they don't dare to go into the river anymore, and they usually dig eels and loaches everywhere.

It's just that the rapeseed in the fields has grown like a small forest these two days. It's not easy to dig out eels and loaches.

So they had nothing to do but run around in a hurry.

"Okay, then I'll wait for you here."

Zhang An did not reject the children's kindness and agreed with a smile.

Anyway, there is strength in numbers, and the kids can do this much faster than him.

Because he has been here since morning and hasn’t picked up much yet.

It also happens to consume their energy, keep an eye on them, and save them from running around.

"Uncle An, we are here to help you."

Not long after, the furry children had gone home, changed into sandals and ran back.

And there were even more people than before, so their small group should have been called over.

"Okay, okay, you see, we need stones of these colors. Just pick them up and put them in these piles. Also, just pick them up on the river beach. No one is allowed to go into the river, otherwise I won't let them Helped."

The furry kids have always adhered to the principle that whoever has milk is their mother. They had benefited from Zhang An so much in the past that they naturally obeyed Zhang An's words.

After listening to Zhang An's words, he immediately spread out on the river beach to help find pebbles.

Some children will run back and put it away when they find a piece, while others will put it back after they find a few pieces.

Not to mention, after there were more people, the efficiency really improved. After a while, I picked up a few small piles, which was much faster than when Zhang An was alone.

At noon, there was a shouting sound at the entrance of the village. It was the adults in the family calling them to go back for lunch.

"Uncle An, let's go eat first. After we finish eating, we'll come over to pick it up."

After finishing speaking, they all ran home without waiting for Zhang An to speak.

Because at this time, if you run slowly, you will get scolded even if you don't get beaten when you get home.

Zhang An couldn't help but shake his head. He was still thinking about taking these stupid kids home for dinner.

After all, they helped me with the work for a long time, so they must express their gratitude, but I didn't expect that their family would eat so quickly.

After the furry children left, Zhang An had no intention of continuing to pick them up.

Put everything you picked up in the morning in the dung basket, take it home and come back after dinner.

After the furry children returned home, the adults learned that they were helping Zhang An pick up stones on the river beach and didn't say anything.

There is no complaint because the children at home help Zhang An work.

On the contrary, they felt that with Zhang An helping to watch over these little naughty boys, they didn't have to worry about the children breaking their bones climbing up the mountain or getting drowned when they went down to the river to play in the water.

And they also know that Zhang An is usually not bad to this group of children, so the children in Shangzhai will obey Zhang An's words, so they don't have any thoughts in their hearts.

After dinner in the afternoon, Zhang An took Dahei directly to the river and let him eat grass here.

He definitely couldn't pick much by himself, and he didn't want to run back and forth, so he might as well just pick them all up and use the horse to carry them when he finally went back.

By the time Zhang An arrived at the river beach, the furry children had already come over and picked up a lot more.

"Come on, come on, don't pick it up now, come over and line up."

Everyone is so diligent, so they must be rewarded, so Zhang An called the furry kids together.

When he came from home, he brought some snacks, which were the children's favorite jelly.

But now the jelly is very expensive, you can only buy two for a dime, so not many children are willing to buy it.

(End of this chapter)