Chapter 32 Chapter 32 Building a Heating Stove (I)
Geto Suguru once commented that Miya Chiri was impatient, but when she really started building the stove, she slowed down.
She first spread the waterproof plastic sheet in the living room, then fixed the plastic sheet with wide tape and taped the edges of the pit tightly.
"This furnace won't be dismantled easily. It's only maintained regularly, so the underground foundation needs to be well laid." Gong Zhili smeared the prepared mud on the refractory bricks and smoothed the surface with a trowel. He aligned the bricks with the drawn white lines and gently placed them, compacting the mud joints. The tip of the trowel picked up any overflowing mud and scraped it back into the bucket. "If the frame is crooked at the beginning, it will cause big problems later."
Glass sat backwards in the chair, crossed his arms on the back, and said, "That's not what I'm talking about. Why are you so skilled at applying mud?"
Gong Zhili: "Maybe it's talent?"
Glass: "The soul of the craftsman?"
Gong Zhili nodded seriously: "Maybe."
The place was not big, only 1.5 meters long and 1.2 meters wide. She quickly built the base protection and began to evenly spread a layer of gravel about ten centimeters thick inside. Then she added water to the semi-dried clay and stirred it again. She also added chopped dry reeds and coarse sand to increase the viscosity. The clay was also spread to a thickness of about ten centimeters, with a lot of thin iron wires inserted at intervals as reinforcement. She continued to pave it with refractory bricks and filled it with expanded perlite. Ceramic fiber cloth was laid on the top, and then covered with a stone slab about one finger thick.
This is the foundation of the entire fireplace and also the most critical fire-proof core. The stone slab is slightly higher than the floor, but when the moisture in the clay gradually dries, it should be just level with the floor, and then the above-ground part of the fireplace can be built on it.
She quickly and steadily completed the construction of the base. Nanako and Mimiko woke up from their nap and squatted on the waterproof plastic sheet to look at the hole. Mimiko asked, "How long will this take to fix?"
Gong Zhili took out a rag and wiped away the mud and dust that had settled on the plastic sheeting—plastic sheeting is also easy to clean—she observed the slab and said, "When the slab has fallen and is level with the floor, we can proceed to the next step."
The two children nodded as if they understood, and immediately pestered Xiaozi to play the reed pipe with her. Gong Zhili sorted out the list of things in her mind and got up to go to the orchard.
The transplanted fruit trees experienced heavy rain, but they grew very healthily, showing tenacious vitality. The kiwi vines were well wrapped around the supports, and the supports of other trees were still strong. She also harvested a lot of pepper, soapberry, kiwi, chestnut and hawthorn, and picked a lot of apples. The apple tree in the orchard really bears fruit.
The persimmons in the orchard can be picked and made into hanging persimmon cakes in a while, and the oranges and grapefruits will be harvested soon.
But I still want to eat meat.
Gong Zhili calculated the time. There were only four days left before the big rally. She had to stock up on enough meat this time. She really didn't want to go hunting wild boars in the mountains.
Now she had to wait for the foundation of the living room fireplace to dry. Other things were almost done, so she went to shovel gravel on the gentle lake shore.
She plans to pave the path between the terraces with gravel and compact the gravel so that the path won't be so slippery next time it rains.
She sprinkled water while paving the ground, and used her feet to press the stones into the soil. As she pressed, she simply took off her shoes and stepped on it barefoot.
When Xiaozi saw that she hadn't returned for a long time, she took her two children out to look for her. Standing on the top terrace, she asked her loudly, "Isn't the word 'rest' in your dictionary?"
Gong Zhili looked up and smiled happily: "It's very comfortable to walk barefoot on this kind of stone!"
Nanako immediately took off her shoes: "I want to come too!"
She walked along the path that Gong Zhili had paved, twisting her body as she went. Glass asked, "What does it feel like to step on stones?"
Nanako almost jumped up and down on the path: "It's very strange!" She felt itchy and painful, and didn't know whether to grin or shrug and laugh.
Seeing this, Mimiko stepped on it carefully with her shoes on without taking them off.
Glass watched the three of them laughing and shouting on the dirty gravel road. It was not until Gong Zhili paved the entire road with gravel and stepped on them firmly that she finally made up her mind, took off her shoes, and stepped on it carefully.
The soles of her feet rolled against the stone surface, the cracks in the stone pinched the gaps between her toes, the cold air seeped into the base of her toes, the skin and flesh tightened when the arch of her foot was suspended in the air, and when she landed, she rolled over the protruding tips, and the numbness and soreness ran from her heels to her calves. Occasionally, she stepped on a slightly sharp part, and the stinging pain mixed with a tingling sensation exploded. Glass unconsciously began to grimace. For some reason, she insisted on maintaining a distorted expression and walked the whole way.
When I was standing on the road, I felt that every step was a torture, but when I actually stood on the flat ground, I felt a sense of clarity, refreshment and relaxation all over my body.
"How amazing," Glass said sincerely, "Did you use any ability?"
Gong Zhili smiled and said, "No, there are a lot of acupuncture points on the soles of the feet. Stepping on the irregular stones can have a massage effect. This massage will extend along the acupuncture points into the body. Does it feel okay?"
Glass nodded: "Although it is very painful to walk, it is indeed good for the body. I just need to muster up the courage every time I walk."
Gong Zhili: "Actually, you can wait until the road is dry and then walk on it wearing thin-soled shoes. It will feel much better."
Glass's eyes shifted to the two children walking back and forth on the road and said, "Don't they feel uncomfortable?"
Gong Zhili tried to be tactful, "The acupuncture points on the soles of the feet are connected to the internal organs of the body. Children's organs are... healthier than adults'."
"You look relaxed, too," Nitro pointed out.
Gong Zhili took a deep breath and said, "Because I don't stay up late very often, and my lifestyle is also - healthy."
Glass laughed: "Ah, you found out."
Gong Zhili nodded: "Actually, Nishiko, your dark circles have lightened a lot." Compared to the first time they met.
Thinking about the sake "souvenir" that Glass bought, she could guess a little.
Glass stretched and asked, "If I walk on this path a few times a day, will it improve my...study skills?"
Gong Zhili nodded: "This is a foot massage, it must be good for the body."
Glass said regretfully: "But I have to go back to school tomorrow."
Gong Zhili: "You can also pave this kind of path in school. It's very simple."
Glass smiled: "That's right." And she felt that Gojo might really be able to fulfill his promise and give her the freedom to go wherever she wanted.
Early the next morning, Glass left the village.
Gong Zhili took the twins to the village to buy some vegetables and taught them to recognize money and types of vegetables. The two children learned so quickly that they could soon name several vegetables that were commonly eaten at home and recognize the prices written on the cardboard.
Of course, they met many villagers during the trip. Facing the villagers' gazes, both of them kept their faces tense, trying not to show any signs of weakness.
Gong Zhili did not force them to greet others. He occasionally responded to the villagers' greetings and walked all the way to the village's ceramic workshop.
Two gray-toned buildings stand interlocked on a gravel slope. The main house has a dark gray tile roof and fir wood exterior walls. The adjacent flat-roofed workshop is covered with gray-blue corrugated steel plates, and there are several exhaust fans on the wall.
The two buildings were connected by a concrete corridor, along which lay stacks of unopened sacks filled with clay. The main house's sliding door was closed, but the workshop's roller shutter was half-open, revealing the concrete floor within. Steel shelves lined the entire west wall, with unglazed pottery arranged in rows. In the corner, plastic buckets filled with various glazes sat atop each other. The owner was nowhere to be seen.
The courtyard shared by the main house and the workshop was paved with broken pottery shards. Gong Zhili observed that there might be little water accumulation in this area. After all, these fragments also had a certain effect in regulating dryness and humidity.
She simply stood by the workshop door to inspect the semi-finished products inside. After a while, the sliding door of the main room opened and the taciturn boss walked out. He didn't say a word until he was in front of her: "What do you want?"
After saying this, he tightly closed his lips, not looking at Gong Zhili, nor at the twins. He pushed the shutter up and said stiffly, "You can come in and take a look."
Gong Zhili didn't mind his silence. She had already learned about the character of the Jianggutian boss from the village chief before.
The boss only wanted to talk about pottery, which was perfect.
"I want a batch of vases, but each vase must be different. Here are the sizes and styles I wrote down. Can you make it?" She handed over the notebook she had prepared.
Jiang Gutian Liangping took the notebook and looked at it carefully, while he was thinking about the shape of the vase in his mind. After looking at the dozen sets of data provided by Gong Zhili, he said after he had a clear idea in his mind: "It can be fired, but I can only make simple patterns, no fancy patterns or drawings."
Gong Zhili nodded: "As long as it's simple."
Jiang Gutian put away the notebook and said, "Then you can come and get it the day before the big rally."
Gong Zhili paid the deposit and left. At this time, a mountain breeze blew, and the wind chimes hanging under the porch of the main house rang. She stopped and looked at the row of wind chimes under the porch.
She walked under the wind chimes, pointed at them and asked the boss: "Did you make these yourself, too?"
The boss nodded and added, "I can make two patterns for this: cherry blossoms and maple leaves."
Gong Zhili decisively added, "I want three of each of the cherry blossoms and maple leaves. By the way, boss, why don't you try to print them with bamboo leaves and burn them? If you succeed, I'll also want three."
They left with the sound of tinkling wind chimes. Gong Zhili asked the twins, "Will you come with me to get the vase the day after tomorrow?"
Nanako didn't hesitate: "I'll do it!"
Mimiko: "I'll come too."
Gong Zhili took them to the hardware store and bought ceramic flower pots. Ceramic pots would not accumulate water and were perfect for growing potted plants.
I took the flower pots home, and after lunch in the afternoon, I took them to the edge of the forest to dig plants, hoping to find some interesting plants to transplant into the flower pots.
The first thing to be selected is succulents.
The creeping grass is very good. After digging up a large plant, Cai Caizi simply held the plant covered with soil in her hands. She showed special fondness for the fleshy leaves and couldn't help but want to pinch them with her fingernails.
Mimiko prefers the emerald sedum with red leaves on the edges. She begged Gong Zhili to dig more and she would take good care of these plants.
Gong Zhili's surprise came from the Hoya orchid she found on the bark. The aerial roots of the Hoya orchid were all embedded in the folds of the bark. Gong Zhili carefully dug out the entire Hoya orchid that looked like a small waterfall. There were still waxy five-petal flowers remaining on it that were still at the end of their flowering period, with a sweet fragrance.
The remaining succulents are from the Sedum family dug out from under a sunny bush. Among them are the familiar chrysanthemums, various varieties of jade plants and striped Sedum.
The three of them returned with a full load. After returning home, they were busy transplanting succulents and carefully spreading the dug moss into the pots. They were busy until dinner time.
Miya Chiri originally thought that the day would pass peacefully until she received a call from Geto Suguru before going to bed.
The author has something to say:
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I don't win
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