"Wife, please help me mix some mud. I'll use it to paste the stove."
"Okay, I'll go now."
Zhang took Yun Yiyi to mix mud outside the shack.
Butcher Yun and the three brothers of the Yun family built a stove in the kitchen.
Yun the butcher chose to build the stove near the door so that he could see clearly while cooking during the day and the smoke would dissipate quickly.
Less than an hour before dark, Yun the butcher built the stove and covered the outside with a thick layer of mud.
He put the big iron pot on it, added water, put firewood into the stove hole and lit it. It burned well and the smoke dissipated quickly.
"Dad, it's not dark yet. Why don't you build a small shack with a pit toilet?"
Zhang immediately responded, "Master, a pit toilet must be built, and a small shed must be built. Remember to pave the ground inside the pit toilet with stones."
"Wife, you come and boil some water and heat up the buns. I'll take the children to build the shack. We have to hurry, or it will be dark soon."
"I'm going to prepare dinner, so all of you can go. It works faster when there are more people."
Butcher Yun first walked around the area, and finally he decided to build the latrine more than 20 meters away from the shack where the mules and donkeys were kept.
This location is still a bush and needs to be cleared first.
Fortunately, the shack doesn’t need to be very big.
Under pressure from Yun the Butcher and Brother Yun, Yun Yiyi and the others cleared the grass, bushes and stones on the ground.
In just over twenty minutes, they had cleared a small area nearby.
There are still a few trees left from the mountain that we just cut down, enough to build a small hut.
Yun the butcher first dug a deep pit and placed an old water tank in it.
After putting the water tank in, cover it with soil all around and press it firmly.
Butcher Yun found two large stone slabs and placed them on either side of the water tank. A simple latrine was ready.
Then, Yun the butcher built a small shed around the pit, and covered the roof with oilcloth.
The door of the shack was the same as the door of the kitchen, and did not reach the ceiling.
"Dad, after you finish your meal, tell the village chief to have the villagers build the pit toilet as soon as possible."
Butcher Yun laughed heartily, "Got it, Yiyi."
Finally, Yun the butcher paved the entire floor of the pit with stone slabs.
A clean and tidy shack was built.
Before it got completely dark, Yun the butcher used his hoe to clear a path for everyone to come over.
"Yiyi, third brother, call your father, your brother is coming to eat."
"I'm coming, Mom." Yun Yiyi responded loudly.
Everyone quickly arrived at the kitchen. Zhang had lit an oil lamp inside, and the fire in the stove was still burning, so the kitchen was warm and bright.
"Go wash your hands first and get ready to eat. Remember to throw the dirty water out the door."
"I understand, mother."
After a while, everyone sat down around the dining table.
Tonight's meal is simple. The staple food is the dumplings I made earlier, and the side dish is a plate of kimchi cut by Zhang.
Considering the cold weather, Zhang also cooked half a pot of sweet potato porridge.
Eating delicious buns and drinking hot sweet potato porridge, everyone had a happy smile on their face.
From today on, the Yun family settled down and no longer had to flee from famine.
The kitchen is quite large, and it is completely suitable for the whole family to eat in it.
After the meal, Yun the Butcher and Zhang moved all the water tanks, pickled vegetables, and some miscellaneous items in the carriage into the kitchen.
"Master, are we still moving the food to that room?"
Butcher Yun thought for a moment and said, "Move over there. But don't worry, wait for me to go outside and drag a few tree trunks, put them on the ground, and then put the food there."
"Put another layer of tarpaulin on top of the tree trunk so the food won't get damp."
"Just do as my wife says."
Butcher Yun went outside and dragged six pieces of wood, cut them into the same size, and lined them up against the wall.
After laying the oilcloth on the wood, Yun the Butcher began to put grain on it.
After such a long time, the Yun family's food supply was running low. Butcher Yun estimated that it was only enough for everyone to eat for a month.
"Wife, when we go to the city in a few days, we have to buy some food. We will be busy after the New Year and won't have time to go to the city."
"Okay, then ask the other people in the village. If anyone wants to go, we can go together."
"Wife, you have to find time tomorrow to pave the entire kitchen floor with stone slabs. This way it will be clean and easier to clean."
"Hmm. Then let's cover the sleeping room with flagstones as well. I'm just not sure if such large flagstones are easy to find."
Butcher Yun laughed heartily and said, "Don't worry, my wife. There is no shortage of stones on the mountain."
Zhang herself laughed.
Butcher Yun and Zhang took out a bag of flour and a bag of cornmeal and left them outside for daily consumption. They covered the rest of the food with oilcloth.
They put some miscellaneous items on top, and if you don't look carefully, you can't guess that there is food underneath.
After finishing all this, the children were all sleepy.
After they washed up, Zhang chased them to bed.
Butcher Yun quickly lit a fire in the sleeping room and brought some firewood over.
Yun the butcher carried hot water and Zhang held an oil lamp. They added hot water and grass to the mules and donkeys.
Zhang tied a long rope to the hen's legs and placed it in a shed with the mule and donkey.
After feeding the hens, the two of them yawned, came back to wash up, and then went to bed.
At this time, it was already midnight.
Most of the people in Yunjia Village sleep in their shacks.
The next morning, before daybreak, Yun the Butcher got up to open up the wasteland.
Zhang woke up at daybreak, put on her clothes, left the shack, and looked at the river below the mountain. She felt extremely happy.
After washing up, she started cooking.
There are many people in the village who get up early to open up wasteland like Yun the Butcher, but none of them work as fast as Yun the Butcher.
Yun the Butcher was strong and quick with his hoe. With the Lunar New Year just a few days away, he and Zhang had discussed the matter and decided to first cultivate the land and plant crops in the spring before considering opening a shop.
For everyone, it is not cost-effective to buy food that you can grow yourself.
Although it is the first year of land reclamation, the reclaimed land may not be very fertile.
However, the family has two mules and a donkey, so they can save a lot of fat when they plant crops in the spring.
In addition, you can also go to the place with lush trees on the mountain, dig up some leaves and fertilizer that have rotted into mud under the trees, and then spread it on the ground to produce more food.
What's more, the government stipulates that the government will not collect taxes on the grain that refugees grow in the first three years of reclaiming wasteland.
Calculated this way, it is very appropriate.
Brother Yun and the others were woken up only after Zhang had prepared the meal.
After breakfast, everyone started to open up the wasteland again.
Time flies when you're busy.
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