Chapter 152 Construction in Progress

Shen An and Shen Ning had just washed the dishes and cleaned up the wooden table when they discovered that their sister-in-law had made some new things.

A very beautiful shuttlecock.

There was no need for Sang Luo to teach them, as every child in the village had them. Chen Ning had seen them and had played with them.

But this is the first shuttlecock that belongs to me.

The little girl was so happy that her eyebrows and eyes were about to fly up. She hugged Sang Luo and said, "Thank you, sister-in-law!"

While it was still light, he called Chen Xiaoya and Xu Wenyin from next door and started playing outside the cave. Soon, Shi Qiaoer, who lived opposite, also came over, followed by a group of little boys.

It was a rare opportunity to have something fun, so Chen Ershan, Wang Yunzheng and a few other older ones showed up. The rest of the group had no idea that shuttlecock kicking was a game for little girls, so they lined up on the edge waiting. It was quite lively outside the Shen family's cave.

Chen Lie filled a basket with mud, placed stones on the mud, and sat at the entrance of the cave to chisel the stones. Seeing this scene, a smile appeared on his lips.

It was no secret among the familiar families that Sangluo had to use a stone mill to make tofu. Chen Dashan already knew what Chen Lie was going to do with the stone, so after dinner he simply got a basket of soil and went to Chen Lie's side to help chisel out the shape of another piece.

…

Yungu's days became exceptionally busy and fulfilling.

The three older ones, Old Man Chen, Old Man Lu, and Zhou Cunzheng, would get up early every day to look at the large field that connected several families. In their spare time, they would take turns chiseling the stone mortar. Mrs. Lu and Mrs. Chen, who were skilled in weaving mats, felt that they could do anything at once, so they asked Chen Youtian to help them weave some bamboo strips and started to think about weaving baskets, scoops, and bamboo strainers.

Chen Lie asked Chen Dashan to help him. He chiseled the millstone at night, and during the day, he took out the two drawings from Sang Luo. It turned out that there were a few places that were difficult to handle and discussed them with Chen Youtian. As a result, as soon as the drawings came out, he directly asked Chen's father and son to come over to help make furniture.

It was really that Sang Luo's drawings were too attractive, especially in terms of space utilization. You know, everyone in the valley was still sleeping in a pile on the bed or on the floor. The beds could be divided into upper and lower layers, and there were many large and small cabinets for storing things. Moreover, they were arranged in an orderly manner and were so beautiful. It was more beautiful than the house they lived in in the village. Who wouldn't want it?

Not only can more people sleep without being crowded, but everyone has enough space.

No problem, just help us make it and see the result. If it is really good, not only those beds in the valley that have not been completed can learn from it, but also the two beds that have been completed in their home can be dismantled and modified.

In addition to taking the people from each family who were going to leave the valley for a walk every morning, getting some wild products and vegetables, and teaching them how to set some small traps, all the thoughts of the Chen and Chen families were on "decorating" the Shen family.

It's just decoration.

This is no longer just about making furniture. After the whole thing is completed, the floor, walls and ceiling are all made of wood. How can it still be the original dark and simple appearance of the cave?

For someone like Chen Youtian who was already interested in carpentry, taking on such a job was like getting a new toy that he could study in detail.

Every family was making furniture, so the noise here was not surprising, but the Xu family next door still heard the news, because Xu Wenyin was a frequent visitor to the Shen family, and she saw Shen Lie and Chen Youtian studying the blueprint.

The little girl was so excited to find out that the picture showed the bed that Shen An and Shen Ning slept on. She wanted to stay at Shen's house and watch Chen Youtian and the others make the bed overnight. However, what was more important was to let her uncle, brother and cousin, who were struggling to make a simple bed out of wood because they had no saw, come and have a look.

After asking Chen Ning and obtaining Sang Luo's consent, he ran back to his cave and dragged her grandmother, uncle, brother and cousin over.

After seeing the legendary drawing, Wei Qing and his nephew and uncle were all stunned.

Can the bed be like this???

It really opened my eyes.

Wei Qinghe swallowed his saliva. The cave life they thought of and the cave life run by the Shen family seemed to be completely different things?

Xu Wenbo was almost crying.

God knows, they couldn’t even saw boards without a saw. Well, even if they had a saw, they weren’t very good at carpentry work. The existing bed in the house was made by Uncle Chen from next door.

His uncle had just returned from transporting grain, so he didn't want to trouble him any further. He was ready to use an axe to chop out a few logs of similar length, put them together, fill the space with hay, spread out bedding, and go to sleep.

Compared with the Shen family, they live like savages.

He looked at the picture in his hand and hissed in his heart.

This picture is really beautiful.

But they can neither draw nor cook.

Wang Yunzheng took the drawing and took a closer look at it. Xu Wenbo then moved closer to Chen Lie and the others.

"Uncle Chen, Brother Dashan, Brother Lie, um, our family can provide some food. When you are done with your work, can you help us make a bed?"

Chen Youtian laughed when he heard this. Chen Dashan was closer to Xu Wenbo and tapped him on the forehead: "Did I ask you for food when I made a bed for your family last time?"

Xu Wenbo touched his head and laughed foolishly: "No, no, my uncle Chen is a great man. This looks difficult to do."

Shen Lie laughed when he heard this.

This kid is more smooth-talking than Shopkeeper Xu.

"Okay, I will help you, but your family has to wait in line behind your uncle Chen's family. I will come to your house when your uncle Chen's family is done."

Xu Wenbo was so happy that he almost jumped up. He thanked Chen Youtian, Chen Dashan, and Chen Lie, and his nice words seemed to be free of charge.

Old Mrs. Xu had just finished looking at the blueprints. Seeing her grandson coming over to ask someone to help him make the bed, she laughed and carried the person back.

But she really needs everyone's help with this, and her grandson did nothing wrong.

The old lady took the blueprint to find Sang Luo and found it in the Chen family cave.

"Our cave is a bit winding and crowded, so I thought I'd ask you to come to my house when you're free and help me draw a cave that's suitable for my situation. Do you think that's okay?"

"What's wrong with that? I'll finish painting for Grandma Chen and then I'll go to your house."

Sang Luo smiled and agreed to the task. In Yungu, housing is currently a difficult problem. Every family has many people, and it is really hard to feel happy living there. Of course, she would help if she could.

She could even imagine that the Shi family, Zhou family and Lu family would come over later, but if the three families had done it well, they could basically find a model and follow suit.

What happened later was just as Sang Luo had expected. The three families across the street also heard that the Shen family's beds were very different, so they all came over to take a look. Naturally, their own rough wooden beds were put on hold first, and the families consciously lined up at the back one by one.

In order to allow Chen Youtian, Chen Dashan and Shen Lie to free up more time, he took over some of the simple tasks.

The job of chiseling the stone mill that Chen Lie and Chen Dashan originally did every night was taken over by Shi Erlang and Zhou Dalang. After the rough outline was completed and Chen Lie was asked about the specific patterns inside, the two of them gathered outside the Shen family cave every day, and accompanied Zhou Cunzheng, Old Man Chen and Old Man Lu who were chiseling the stone mortar, with the clanging and making noises.

The only family that had fallen completely silent was the Lu family's eldest branch.

The Lu family still went out as usual, but the Lu family's eldest son, even Hu Zi and Shi Tou, came out less often.

It was only later that Sang Luo heard that on the night when Wang Chunniang was kidnapped, Lu Shuanzhu had a low fever in the middle of the night.

After taking a dose of medicine and lying down for a day, he finally recovered. Now he follows Lu Dalang every day to dig a small cave in the mountain. His younger brothers and sisters are also restrained by him to help dig the cave. The brothers and sisters take turns to look after Wang Chunniang.

Qin Fangniang learned the reason why Lu Shuanzhu had a low fever from Feng Liuniang.

I was scared to death by the old lady.

At night I dreamed of seeing with my own eyes my younger brothers and sisters having their flesh cut off alive and the flesh was put into their mouths and thrown into the cauldron.

She repeated to Qin Fangniang what Mrs. Lu had said about the two-legged sheep that day, and described in detail the taste of human flesh. She also pointed out the names of the children in the eldest house one by one who had the tenderest meat. Coupled with the tone and expression at that time, it was as if she was pressing Shuanzhu to follow her words and imagine her own brothers and sisters experiencing that scene.

Feng Liuniang was horrified when she heard this. Wouldn't Lu Shuanzhu, who had to face all this, be frightened to the point of falling ill?

After knowing this, Mrs. Chen went to see Mrs. Lu again and talked about her in private. Isn't she afraid of scaring Lu Shuanzhu and Lu Danniu?

Mrs. Lu looked back at her and said, "What else can we do? If we don't let the elders in the eldest house know the seriousness of the situation, if something really happens, it won't be as simple as just getting sick."

As for why it was the eldest grandson who faced all this, rather than the eldest son Lu Dalang, I'm afraid only Mrs. Lu herself understood the answer.

…

The finished wood accessories and semi-finished products piled against the right wall of Shenjia Cave increased day by day, but they were only semi-finished products. They had to be completed before they could be assembled, so the first thing to be completed was the set of tables and chairs that Sang Luo had painted.

By knocking down the wall behind the table and chairs, Sang Luo now has a place to sit comfortably every day. Although she hasn't had the time or found suitable materials to make a seat cushion and pillow, this is already a great enjoyment compared to sitting on a wooden stool before.

This attracted many families in the valley to come and see it. The children tried it out and were very happy to sit on it. Only then were they willing to leave, and they were eagerly looking forward to having such beautiful tables and chairs in their own homes.

After getting this set of tables and chairs, except for going out with Chen Lie, Chen Dashan and other families who were going out of the valley every one or two days, and cooking meals for the father and son of the Chen family who made furniture for their family, Sang Luo spent most of her time here.

Making brushes and drawing designs, Chen Ning, Xu Wenyin and Chen Xiaoya would stay here when they had nothing to do, helping out or watching Sang Luo draw.

During this period, Chen Lie brought back a lot of prey. In addition to the increase in various dried meats, Sang Luo also had more and more materials to try to make brushes, including pheasant hair, wolf hair, rabbit hair, and jackal hair.

To be honest, she didn't know much about brushes. She grew up in an orphanage, and her ability to write with a brush depended entirely on her original body's memory and her own foundation in hard pens. How could she be expected to make a brush? As for her original body, she could only use it but not make it. So Sang Luo had to figure everything out by herself. She took a few of the younger ones with her and used up most of the pheasant feathers they had saved before, and only then did she figure out the trick.

As I became more proficient in this technique, I began to try using hair from other animals. As I was doing so, I discovered that not only did pens made from hair from different animals have different writing feels and qualities, but even pens made from hair from different parts of the same animal would produce different results.

Pens made of wolf hair are too hard and not very good for writing. Pens made of pheasant chest hair are extremely soft. Anyway, Sang Luo herself is not used to using them. Rabbit hair is good. Pens made from the hair on the spine of a wild rabbit have the best elasticity.

I also tried mixing the hair of different animals in different proportions to make pens. In short, it was a mess of attempts.

Due to limited craftsmanship, she tried to make fifty or sixty pen tips, but only a dozen of them looked decent. After installing them with the pen holder made by Chen Lie, seven or eight of them fell apart. Fortunately, she still managed to make seven usable ones in the end, and Sang Luo was already very satisfied.

While she was finishing her brushes, Chen Lie, Chen Youtian and others also brought in the last batch of processed wood.

All the materials for the two-decker bed with cabinets in Sang Luo’s drawing have been prepared, and the only thing left is the last step: assembly!

The bedding and pillows on the bed that Sang Luo originally slept on had to be put away and placed on the shelf. The bed was quickly dismantled by Chen Lie and the other two. Since it couldn't fit in the cave, it was carried outside first.

Xu Wenbo, who had been coming over here from time to time to check on the progress recently, knew that the bed had to be assembled when he saw this situation, and ran back to call his uncle and cousin.

"Quick, quick, the bed over there is ready, go and watch it being assembled!"