The daily farming life of the black-bellied young lady

Chapter 14 Drinking Shangliang Wine and Building a New House

"Pull, pull, pull." Several strong men stood on the shelf next to the house and lifted a main beam up, and a red rope was tied to the main beam.

The main beam was put away, and Lu Meng's mother took some steamed cakes and preserved fruits and stood on the table and sprinkled them down. For a while, everyone competed for each other, not because there was no food at home. Prosperity, and secondly, it also adds color and joy to myself.

Although Chu Ying was too young to snatch it, she also snatched two steamed cakes.

"Chu Ying, here you are." Chu Ying took over the candied fruit that Brother Wang had snatched up. These candied fruits were made because Lu Meng's own orchard couldn't eat up or sell them, and they could be put in next year.

"Brother Wang, you are so amazing. I just snatched two steamed pancakes." Brother Wang stood by Chu Ying's side, fearing that someone who would snatch her would push her down.

Originally, there was no need to slaughter pigs and sheep in Shangliang, but after a month or two, the Chinese New Year would be over, so Lu Meng's family held Shangliang wine and pig slaughter banquet together.At that time, every family will kill a pig during the Chinese New Year, and I am afraid that Han Da, who kills the pig, will be too busy.

So a pig only eats the internal organs and a few pieces of meat, and marinates the rest to eat during the Chinese New Year, but such delicacy is already very rare for Chu Ying.

And since there is no stir-fried vegetables here, the internal organs are boiled, chopped and added with ginger and garlic, and mustard greens are added to make a big bowl of soup.Everyone held cakes in their hands, drank soup, ate meat, chatted and laughed, Chu Ying felt that such activities were also very interesting.

"Chu Ying, take this piece of meat back, my mother has already marinated it. Thank you for your help today, if you don't have it, you don't know when you can eat it." Chu Ying pushed away the meat that Lu Meng handed over.

"No need, I just cut the meat. This pig was killed by Han Da." Lu Meng still put the meat in Chu Ying's back basket.

"Han Da's money has already been given. You must take this meat. Before your family cut grass and chopped bamboo in the city, you were the ones who recommended it. There is nothing to thank you for. You can take this meat today."

"Okay." Chu Ying didn't refuse after hearing what Lu Meng said. Only when there is contact and reciprocity can we get along for a long time.

After dinner, Chu Ying and Brother Wang walked home together, "Brother Wang, are you free recently? I want to hoe the burned bushes over there and plant bamboo."

"Tomorrow, there are still some vegetables to be pickled at home. My mother said that I must do it, and my sister will spoil it." Chu Ying was not surprised when she heard it. Some things are said by the older generation to be done by men and women. It will break, this is the age of patriarchy.

"Okay." Chu Ying returned home and picked up the stone ax to chop down trees, but she couldn't bear to do it, so she could only pick medium-sized trees.

But the stone ax was made of stone after all, not as sharp as iron. Chu Ying only cut down 10 trees in one afternoon, and by the time they moved the 10 trees home one by one, it was almost dark.

Chu Ying piled them all together first, and continued to cut down trees tomorrow. It would be great if there was a saw. I don’t know if Big Brother Wang’s family has one.

When Brother Wang came, Chu Ying hadn't woken up much, because she was too tired from cutting down trees yesterday, and her arms were so sore when she got up.

"Brother Wang, you're here." Chu Ying ate yesterday's steamed cakes with bamboo shoots, and went to Brother Wang who was digging the ground with a stone axe.

"I've been here for a while, did you cut down these trees? What are you going to do?"
"I want to build a house. The sides are piled up layer by layer with wood." Wang Naiyuan watched as Chu Ying walked through the bushes with a stone axe.

"Your small arms and legs, I'll come, how many are missing? Your ax is not good, I'll go home and get an ax and a saw." Chu Ying originally wanted to build it by herself and let Big Brother Wang dig the ground, but Big Brother Wang said That's right, doing this will slow down the progress.

After Chu Ying found the place, she placed the four pieces of wood on the first floor first, sawed them into pairs with a saw, and then chiseled off one-third of the wood’s thickness by 2 inches at the point where one end of the wood was retracted by 3 inches. , Do the same with one end of the other piece of wood, then put the length and width of the piece of wood on the ground, and cross the cut off part, so that the yin and yang are combined so that a foot is fixed.

After the four sides are fixed, the wood added to the top is also chiseled, and then a section of the original fixed wood is also chiseled, so that the superimposed wood is also fixed.

This is the most basic mortise and tenon joint, and Chu Ying doesn't know anything else, so this is also very practical.While Wang Naiyuan was chopping trees, Chu Ying was stacking the logs one by one.

"Chu Ying, what do you do with your roof? There are also windows. You need to get a carpenter to come. You don't know how to do that." Indeed, Chu Ying can only build up the walls of a wooden house. The beams are covered with straw and leaves, but that will not be strong and durable.

Chu Ying was sitting on one side of the wooden wall with her feet hanging, chiseling the wood, and it was almost two meters high, maybe she should find a carpenter, "Brother Wang, help me find one."
Even if Brother Wang looks for him, he won't be able to come until tomorrow, and I have to prepare the rest.I don't have money to buy tiles, but fortunately I asked Grandpa Li to move some of the useless bamboo back.Chu Ying used a stone ax to divide the bamboo into two parts, and then cut off the partition in the middle of the bamboo.

When the cut was almost done, it looked like it should be enough, so Chu Ying didn't cut it again, and didn't know if it was possible to use bamboo instead of tiles, and stack the split bamboos upside down to make a roof rainproof, but for long-term living Chu Ying hopes that the house will be stronger.

It was almost dark when Brother Wang came back. "Chu Ying, we have discussed it. Carpenter Qi from the next village will come to help tomorrow. He said that you have finished building the walls, and it won't cost much to build a roof and add windows."
"Okay." Chu Ying waited for Brother Wang to go back, and then used the saw he left behind to saw the thinner branches that could not be used to make wooden walls into wooden sections of the same length.

The ground here is still a bit damp when it rains here, Chu Ying wants to raise the ground and lay wooden boards on it.Because there is no spare money, it cannot be raised as a whole like Brother Wang's house, so these wooden sections can only be used as supports on the ground, and then planks are laid.

When Carpenter Qi came the next day, Chu Ying had already sawed the necessary pieces of wood, and Brother Wang had cut enough trees. "It's not bad, it will be warmer than a layer of wood in winter when stacked like this, but you have to put some mud in these gaps. This door opening is not strong enough."
Chu Ying saw that the door opening she had cut earlier was indeed not strong enough, "I took the window, and you guys chop and remove the wood here." Chu Ying and Big Brother Wang followed what Carpenter Qi said and cut the window in the middle of the south facing side. Partially cut out a window-sized rectangle.After installing, carpenter Qi fixed the windows and door openings with wooden strips.

Carpenter Qi chisels a tenon and groove on the top of each wood in the door opening, and then chisels the corresponding number of tenons on a piece of wood, and knocks the tenons into the tenon and groove with a wooden hammer.This is the dovetail tenon, which is said to be the "Mother of Ten Thousand Tenons" invented by Lu Ban.

"Use a planer to plan off the bark. Just plan off these three roots, and then saw the rest into boards. First dig a deep hole here and there." Fortunately, the carpenter Qi brought all the tools.

Carpenter Qi first took a complete look at the wooden wall made by Chu Ying, "You did a good job connecting it. It would be better to change the tenon, but this is already good." When Wang Naiyuan dug a deep hole, Chu Ying had already put a tree The tree was planed clean.

After Qi carpenter sawed the length of the wood and made the mortise and tenon joints, the three of them worked together to drag the wood into the hole, Wang Naiyuan straightened the wood, Qi carpenter filled the surrounding soil back, and the other one did the same.

The overall process is similar to what Chu Ying thought, that is, two pillars on the left and right are used as supports, a beam is placed in the middle, and wooden strips are placed on both sides.

"Uncle Qi, there is really no money at home, do you think the tiles can be replaced by these bamboos?" Carpenter Qi looked at the bamboos that had been split by Chu Ying.

"I've never done that, and I can try it. But I'll have to go to a mason for laying the tiles. I'll see if I can put them together without using mud."
"Thank you, Uncle Qi, can you put wooden boards on this side of the house, I can put some things when I think of it." Chu Ying had to say all the functions she wanted in advance, or else she would fill in some things when the time came It's hard.

"Here, let me try." Carpenter Qi has also done wooden buildings with several floors, so he can understand what Chu Ying said, but it is indeed the first time he has encountered what Chu Ying proposed. A small house that is 10 steps long and 8 steps wide can also understand.

(End of this chapter)