Chapter 126 But I don't make a living from this
Six people stood separately beside the racks and began to shout as they lifted the load-bearing racks to the side of the foundation pit.
Here, Sang Yu's family of three was also busy. They mixed loess, river sand, lime, glutinous rice juice, and brown sugar together with water in proportion.
The originally unrelated things gradually turned into a large pool of sticky black-gray cement mortar-like substance after constant stirring.
Looking at the strange substance in front of him, which had a very strange color, shape and taste, Sang Xingjia couldn't help but question: "Little sister, can this thing really be used to make a wall?"
No matter how he looked at it, he felt it was unreliable. He was afraid that it would get stuck on the wall and flow onto the ground before it could dry.
Sang Yu had never tried it himself. After all, cement and sand in later generations were much more convenient than these things that were put together in a mess.
But she felt that since there was a precedent since the pre-Qin period, it must be correct, and what was mixed out was similar to cement mortar.
She replied uncertainly: "It should be... okay."
“…”
Sang Yongjing and Sang Xingjia on the side fell silent for a moment. Judging from her tone, it was unclear whether this thing was useful.
Carpenter Wang moved very quickly and with great skill, and he didn't look at all like a man in his fifties with blurry eyes.
Two or three square mortise holes are chiseled out at about one-fifth of the top of each pillar, and then they are fitted into the beam with tenons to firmly fix them. No nails are needed throughout the process.
He had just directed a few people to put up a rack and was about to stand up to take a break when he turned around and saw a pool of muddy adhesive that they had mixed. His eyes suddenly lit up.
"How did you make this? It looks better than the one made with clam ash."
As he spoke, he couldn't help but move closer to take a closer look, his face almost buried in the mud, and the more he looked, the brighter his eyes became.
"It's really good. It's smooth, even, and sticky. It will definitely be very strong after it dries on the wall."
After receiving his affirmation, Sang Yu's originally anxious heart was finally settled. She smiled and replied, "It's just ordinary things like loess and river sand. If there's anything special about it, it's that they added some glutinous rice juice and brown sugar."
She was quite frank about it. This method was not a secret that could not be told, and she did not plan to make a living by helping people build houses in the future, so it was okay to tell it.
Carpenter Wang was startled and looked around in panic. Seeing that he and the three of them were the only ones around, he breathed a sigh of relief.
He frowned and said to Sang Yu in a serious tone, "Little girl, how can you casually tell others such a confidential recipe? What if someone steals it?"
"Uh...wouldn't it be possible to build stronger houses after learning this?" Sang Yu was puzzled. Isn't this a good thing that would benefit everyone? Why should it be kept secret?
Carpenter Wang sighed softly, shook his head, and said, "If someone learns your livelihood skills, then you won't have anything to eat."
“…But I don’t make a living from this.”
Sang Yu has many more valuable ideas in her mind than this one. If she hadn't been worried about being robbed and killed, she could come up with a bunch of ways to make money in minutes.
"Hiss--" Carpenter Wang took a breath of cold air. He had been a carpenter for more than 40 years and had always heard people say that skills were not easily passed on. This was the first time he heard this statement.
He asked tentatively, "Can I use it later?"
Sang Yu smiled cheerfully: "Of course, you can use it yourself or teach others as you wish."
Carpenter Wang waved his hands repeatedly: "How can this be possible? At most, I will teach it to a few useless children at home, and I won't pass it on to anyone else."
Even if they were not good to him, there is no parent in the world who would hold a grudge against his own flesh and blood overnight. When good things happened, the first people he thought of were them.
Seeing that he attached great importance to this mixing method, Sang Yu taught him the proportion of each material to avoid uneven mixing and the resulting products being unusable.
Having received Sang Yu's help for free, Carpenter Wang worked even harder, thinking that he must build the Sang family's house straight and solid.
Soon, the four racks were placed in the originally planned positions. Six young men tied hemp ropes in the middle of several places on the racks. After fixing them, they passed the other end of the ropes around their shoulders and tied them to their waists and abdomens, ready to move.
Generally, large flat stones or earth mounds are placed under the base of the pillars to prevent them from directly contacting moist soil and rotting.
At present, stones have been laid at the bottom of the pit and everything is ready.
Carpenter Wang shouted, "Pull!"
The six people pulled forward at the same time, and the thick and sturdy frame rose up.
Sang Yongjing and Sang Xingjia were standing by to support the shelves. If the shelves were accidentally twisted or something unexpected happened, they would have to straighten them in time.
Fortunately, nothing unexpected happened, and the four pillar legs fell steadily into the pit that had been dug in advance and padded with stones.
Carpenter Wang looked around at the pillars and nodded with satisfaction: "The orientation is correct, let's start burying."
The next thing to do is to use gravel to pad the column base, and then backfill with soil to fix it.
In order to ensure that the building is more stable, after consulting Carpenter Wang, Sang Yu asked the father and son to fill the roots of the pillars where they met the stones with the mixture, one shovel at a time.
The next four rows of racks were erected one after another in the same manner.
Carpenter Wang brought two ladders with him and asked someone to hold the ladder legs steady. He connected the beams one by one with mortise and tenon joints, leaving only the top beam empty.
"This is the main beam, right? Why don't you go up?"
Sang Yu, who was watching from the side, was a little confused. She had seen the wood of the main beam being moved over, so why did it suddenly stop?
Carpenter Wang smiled and took out a piece of red coarse cloth from his tool box and handed it to Sang Yu: "This is the beam. The winner's family will hang the red cloth and take it down when the new house is completed."
Poor families did not pay as much attention to building houses as rich families, and did not have to hold any ceremony to raise the beam, so they simplified everything and finally just hung a piece of red cloth to bring good luck.
Sang Yu handed the red cloth to Sang Yongjing: "Dad, you go and hang it up."
Although she makes most decisions on all matters big and small at home now, Sang Yongjing is still the nominal head of the family after all, so it is most appropriate to leave this matter to him.
Sang Yongjing, who was standing next to him, had never thought about why Carpenter Wang handed the red cloth to Sang Yu while he was standing next to her. He happily took the red cloth, spread it out and hung it on the beam.
After he finished, Carpenter Wang directed several people to use a ladder to send the beam to the top, and then fixed it with mortise and tenon joints.
After everything was done, the outline of the house came into being, but the sky was beginning to darken, so it seemed that this was all we could do today.
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