Lu Qiqi returned to the wooden house at the foot of the mountain with two large oxcarts full of porcelain.
Half a month ago, Lu Qiqi had Li Qingshan lead the Zhou brothers to dig a large pit in the backyard.
Before leaving home this morning, Lu Qiqi asked Li Qingshan to go up the mountain and cut down a few large bamboo stalks.
Lu Qiqi called the workers to unload the goods, and Li Qingshan and the Zhou brothers surrounded them.
The Zhou brothers wanted to help, but Lu Qiqi quickly said, "Be careful not to bump into anything."
Li Qingshan walked up to Lu Qiqi and said, "Qiqi, you asked me to cut bamboo on the mountain this morning, and now you've brought back so much porcelain. What are you planning to do with it?"
Lu Qiqi laughed and said, "I want to move our outhouse into the house."
After hearing what Lu Qiqi said, Li Qingshan's face stiffened. He didn't know what to say to dissuade Lu Qiqi, and his face was full of conflict.
When Madam Lu heard the commotion in the backyard, she went out to investigate and heard that Lu Qiqi wanted to move the outhouse into the house. She immediately became anxious.
"How could you move the outhouse into the house? Do you even want to get a good night's sleep? That filthy stuff can make someone faint from the stench, do you know that?!"
Everyone's eyes immediately turned to Madam Lu, who was also surprised to realize that she had spoken too loudly and blushed with embarrassment.
But Madam Lu's eyes remained fixed on Lu Qiqi, as if trying to get a convincing explanation.
Lu Qiqi rolled her eyes and chuckled, "Auntie, don't be in such a hurry. I guarantee this outhouse I made will be spotless and won't let you smell any unpleasant odors. You don't want to have to squat in the outhouse smelling awful every day, do you?!"
"Besides, if we move the outhouse indoors, we won't need to use a chamber pot at night anymore."
Lu was somewhat tempted by Lu Qiqi's words. If it were really possible to not have to endure the stench of squatting in the outhouse or use a chamber pot, then moving the outhouse into the house would be a great thing!
Although Madam Lu was deeply tempted, she kept it hidden on her face, looking at Lu Qiqi with a suspicious gaze, but appearing confident, she said, "Really? You can't be lying to me."
Lu Qiqi could tell from Lu Shi's appearance that Lu Shi would no longer stop her. Her aunt always thought she could keep things to herself, but she could see right through people.
Lu Qiqi couldn't help but chuckle and said, "Really, more real than real gold. Whatever I say, no matter how outrageous, have I ever failed to do?"
After thinking about it, Madam Lu felt that Lu Qiqi was indeed capable and could accomplish anything. She wished she had a child like Lu Qiqi, who was both obedient and sensible.
Madam Lu tapped Lu Qiqi's forehead and said, "Then I'll trust you this once."
This was the first time Lu Qiqi had been touched so intimately by Madam Lu, and she was momentarily stunned. By the time she came to her senses, Madam Lu had already rolled up her sleeves and gone to help unload the porcelain.
Seeing that Lu Qiqi had persuaded Madam Lu, Li Qingshan stopped talking and figured that he should just do as Lu Qiqi said and he couldn't go too wrong.
If it's really a mistake, we can just dismantle it again; it's just a waste of time.
Lu Qiqi was unaware that Li Qingshan and Madam Lu were both thinking it was impossible to succeed, but she was now very much looking forward to the toilet renovation.
Lu Qiqi walked to the large pit dug by Li Qingshan and the Zhou brothers, squatted down and touched the pit wall.
The reason Lu Qiqi had the pit dug in advance was so that the pit walls could be covered with clay, and then Manager Zheng would call the shop assistants to glaze it and fire it.
The large porcelain piece in this pit is certainly not as exquisite as the small porcelain piece, but Lu Qiqi's requirements are not high. As long as it can store the sewage without leaking, that's fine.
......
The following day, Li Qingshan, Lu Dahai, and the Zhou brothers started working under Lu Qiqi's direction.
Lu Qiqi held the freshly baked flatbread in her hand, taking small bites. The flatbread was a little hot, so Lu Qiqi wrapped it in a cabbage leaf to keep it from burning her hands.
Lu Qiqi swallowed a mouthful of flatbread and said, "Uncle, dig these four ditches into a straight line and connect them to that big pit."
Li Qingshan swung his hoe without looking up and said, "Alright."
After finishing the pancake, Lu Qiqi returned to the wooden house.
The bathroom that had been reserved earlier, near the back of the mountain, had two finger-width gaps chiseled into the stone slabs to prevent slipping.
In order to make it easier to convert into a squat toilet, Lu Qiqi specifically asked Li Qingshan to leave a stone slab-sized area to place the ceramic squat toilet.
Because the place was too small, it was difficult for adults to go down and dig a hole, but Lu Qiqi dared not say much about anything else, but she had a lot of children at home.
So Lu Qiqi put the Zhou brothers in charge of digging the pit.
When Lu Qiqi arrived at the bathroom, the Zhou brothers had already dug the squat toilet.
Lu Qiqi then instructed Lu Dahai to install a water trap on the squat toilet, connect it to a ceramic water pipe, and then place the ceramic squat toilet into the pit.
The ceramic squat toilet that Lu Qiqi ordered fits the dimensions that Li Qingshan left out perfectly.
Lu Qiqi had Li Changlong fill the remaining gaps with clay.
Lu Dahai learned how to operate it after just one try, and then installed squat toilets in several of the neighboring shower rooms.
Lu Dahai installed the squat toilets, and Li Qingshan, Zhou Yi, and Zhou Er finished digging the ditch.
Lu Dahai taught Li Qingshan how to connect the water pipes. Li Qingshan was very surprised and said, "This thing can be done like this. I used to use mortise and tenon joints when I helped people build houses. This is the first time I have seen such an exquisite thing."
"However, this thing is good, but it's not durable and wears out easily when used for carpentry."
After saying this, Li Qingshan lowered his head and did as Lu Dahai instructed.
Lu Qiqi stood aside and listened to Li Qingshan's insightful comment that the screw rotation technique was not as good as the mortise and tenon technique. The corners of her mouth turned up slightly.
Lu Qiqi was well aware of the role of screw rotation in industry, and she also understood the superb mortise and tenon techniques used in building houses in this era. Both had their merits, it just depended on where they were used.
Once all the installation and backfilling work was completed, Lu Qiqi asked Lu Dahai and Li Qingshan to use two stone slabs to block up the opening of the pit.
The pit that Lu Qiqi had dug was like a money bag, with a big belly and tight pockets. Putting two pieces in it would just cover it up. Now she doesn't care about the children, who might accidentally fall in.
Lu Qiqi said, "Third Uncle, I'll go to town tomorrow to buy a tarpaulin so we can cover this up and prevent the smell from spreading from underground."
"From now on, you can use the manure water from here to fertilize your fields."
Lu Dahai laughed and said, "If that strange thing you made can actually be used, it would be quite convenient."
Lu Qiqi was both amused and exasperated. Even after everything was done, Lu Dahai was still thinking about things in case they didn't work out.
Lu Qiqi suddenly thought of something and thought to herself, 'What kind of wonderful family did she meet that made her willing to give up the work in the fields and let the whole family accompany her in her foolishness?'
However, Lu Qiqi would not let them down. She smiled and said, "I'll prove it to you right now!"
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