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Lai Xiang shook her head. "The time was too short, and my parents' condition isn't good, so I didn't ask too many questions. I was originally planning to go and check on them again tonight."
Tang Yue understood that people living in cowsheds were bound to be bullied, especially since Uncle Lai and his family had been brought there for such a sensitive reason. But now was not the time to talk about that.
Tang Jianye didn't come in because he saw the two girls chatting. Tang Yue told Lai Xiang to stay inside while she went out to find Tang Jianye.
Do you know how to build a house?
"Huh? Little Yueyue, do you really want to build a house in the dead of winter? That's not realistic at all. I think we should just put a few more layers of mud bricks around the wooden house, that would keep it warm, and then cover it with some corn stalks or something."
In the dead of winter, the ground is impossible to dig. Houses without foundations are simply not sturdy and could collapse at any moment.
"How should the foundation be dug?"
"?" Tang Jianye didn't know what to say. Tang Yue didn't want to waste time, "Hurry up and tell me, or I won't be able to work properly when those people come."
Tang Jianye knew Tang Yue was capable, but he wasn't sure if she could do this. Nevertheless, he looked at the surrounding terrain, grabbed a piece of firewood, and started drawing on the snow to the left of the wooden house.
"Are you sure you want to build three rooms?" He asked, having already learned of Tang Yue's plan, though he felt it would be difficult to achieve. Since Tang Yue was going to do it, then he would.
Tang Jianye finished the drawing quickly. "Is this big enough to live in?" Actually, he wanted to ask if the mud bricks would be enough.
Tang Yue felt it was quite large. "How wide should it be dug?" Tang Yue regretted not having learned anything about architecture. In her previous life, they had always dug caves and built palaces; she had never encountered anything like this small-scale construction.
Tang Yue directly activated her spiritual power to dig in the ground according to the location drawn by Tang Jianye. Such a small matter was child's play for Tang Yue, but Tang Jianye was completely dumbfounded.
By the time the brigade leader arrived with his men pushing carts full of adobe bricks, Tang Yue had already dug the foundation. The brigade leader looked at the scene before him, then looked up at the sky. Had he been gone for several days? How could things have changed so much in such a short time?
Tang Jianye walked over and said, "Captain, shall we start laying the foundation?"
The team leader nodded blankly. None of them had seen who dug the foundation. Many of the villagers were newcomers and unaware of the current situation.
"My God, who is so amazing? They managed to dig out this huge block of ice? That's incredible!"
Those who had come before all looked dumbfounded, but they dared not speak of such a miracle. These days, supernatural phenomena were forbidden.
The whole production team was excited to hear that they would get a pound of flour for every day's work.
It seemed to melt away the cold winter day. People from every household came out; if it weren't for the village head's obstruction, which stipulated that only able-bodied men could join, the entire village would have come. Even now, quite a few people have come to watch the excitement.
Tang Yue looked at all these people; if they all built the house together, they would be standing side by side, forming a wall around it. She decided to assign a group of people to start building the wall around the house right now.
That's right, we just built a wall out of snow. We had no other choice; there were simply no other materials available. But it's extremely cold here, so after piling up the snow, we poured water on it, and this ice wall will last all winter without any problems.
Everyone got to work with great enthusiasm. Many educated youths also came to watch the spectacle. Tang Yue, who had been supervising the work, went out when she saw a large crowd of onlookers.
"Comrades, if anyone has a lot of firewood that they can't use up all winter, we can exchange it for some cornmeal."
The group looked at each other after hearing this. An old woman who was cracking sunflower seeds spat out the shells and said, "Young lady, do you keep your word? Look at all these people who helped us build houses and walls. Don't just run away after you've finished and not give us any food, okay?"
As she spoke, Tang Yue exchanged glances with several elderly women around her and smiled, "The grain is all in the truck. If it's not enough, we can drive back to get more later. Auntie, do you have any extra firewood at home?"
The old woman rolled her eyes at Tang Yue. Her family barely had enough firewood for themselves; how could they possibly give any to others? That firewood could freeze someone to death.
Almost no one brought out firewood. Although they had stored up quite a bit, the mountains here are snowbound in winter, and no one can go in to get firewood. If the snow keeps falling, a family can go without anything else, but firewood is definitely not an option.
Tang Yue wasn't discouraged by not getting any; she could always go into the mountains and bring back more for Sister Lai. She really didn't have any firewood stored in her spatial storage. The trees in her space were all growing so well; none of them were withered.
As dusk fell, the three mud-brick houses were officially completed. However, there were still some missing pieces of wood for the roof. The brigade leader promised to find some more the next day to complete the task, after which straw could be laid on top.
They'll have someone come and set up the kang (heated brick bed) in the next couple of days. Tang Yue agreed to build two kangs and give them six jin (3 catties) of wheat flour. The brigade leader was quite happy. The yard has already been surrounded by a 2-meter-high snow wall, which has been watered and is very sturdy.
Lai Xiang couldn't believe that her home in Yiwa Production Team had changed so much in just one day.
Tang Yue counted that there were 97 able-bodied men working today. She took two bags of flour from the car, weighing a total of 100 jin (50 kg). "Captain, thank you so much for today. We appreciate your help. We'll come to your homes later to express our gratitude. Please weigh the flour for each household."
The young people happily carried away the two bags of flour.
Lai Xiang held Tang Yue's hand tightly, "Little Yueyue, I... I don't know how to thank you."
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