I happily agreed, "I'll ask someone to go back and call my son. He'll be here this afternoon. I'll ask him to come find you."
"Well, I'll wait for him at home this afternoon."
Old Man Ma looked at the little devil's back, hoping it was true, then he would really make money.
At noon, Zhou Xiang told his parents about building a kang. His father asked, "It's going to cost a lot of money, right?"
"Yes! Bricks, cement, sand, and prefabricated panels all cost a lot of money."
"Where did your family get the money to build you a kang?"
"I earned this money myself, so don't worry about it, Dad. I'll make it back when I go out again."
You still have to coax your father, not harm his interests, and not do anything wrong to embarrass him.
Father Zhou thought of the Ashima his daughter brought him last time and the five dollars he gave her yesterday, so he said nothing more.
Zhou's mother knew her daughter must have a lot of money, otherwise how could she buy two houses at once? So she didn't blame her, but just asked, "Who are you looking for to build the kang?"
"Ling Ran said that the gatekeeper at the post office used to be a bricklayer. He asked his son to come and build a kang for us. He didn't pay us, but he could learn the craft."
When Zhou's father heard this, he didn't want any wages and didn't care anymore. Zhou's mother felt that they should ask the man to do the work properly and not let anyone smoke.
Zhou Xiang nodded, then said to his father, "Dad, take me to your blacksmith friend to make some things!"
Father Zhou nodded and said, "Well, I'll take you there after your nap."
"Dad, someone will deliver materials this afternoon. I'll go after dinner. After you take me there, you can come back and sleep."
"All right!"
Zhou Xiang felt that the effect of coaxing his father recently was quite good. In the past, he would never give up his own welfare to help others, even if that other person was his relative.
After dinner, Zhou Xiang followed his father to the northernmost end of the town. In a small alley, he found the fat uncle who would always pick up food for him every time he ate at his house.
"Fat Uncle!"
"Hey! Think about it, girl, you're here? It's your first time here with Fatty Uncle!"
The fat uncle’s surname is Guan, and he is from Guanzui Village, not far from the town.
There are several villages near the town, including Dawu Village, Xiaoxie Village, Dawangzhuang Village, Guanzui Village, Majia Village, Chenxiang Village, Zhongyang Village, Xiahuang Village, Zhuwa Village, and Xueji Village. Each village has a different ancestor from five hundred years ago.
"I came to see Fatty today because I have a few small things to make. Take a look at this blueprint."
Fatty Guan took the blueprint and said with a smile, "There are still blueprints. It seems that Xiang Xiang is working on something very delicate."
He then looked down at the blueprint in his hand. "Hey, isn't this the iron grate from the stove? Why is it so dense and sparse? Oh? What is this? It looks like a sealing plate. What is it for? This other sealing plate rotates?"
"Yes, Fatty is amazing. You can tell what it does at a glance. You're right. How long will it take according to the size?"
"Two or three hours is enough."
"Then I'll come get it in the evening or tomorrow."
"Okay, you can come get it anytime."
After the two of them agreed, Zhou wanted to leave five dollars, but when he turned around and saw his father was still there, he asked, "Aren't you going back to sleep?"
"No need to sleep, go back first, I'll play here for a while."
Zhou Xiang saw two people playing chess in the shop next to the blacksmith shop. He guessed that his father was distracted by the chess.
"Then I'm leaving."
Father Zhou stared at the chessboard and waved his hand.
Zhou Xiang had no choice but to leave. His father just loved to play and would always hold his feet to play anything.
Fatty Guan looked at Zhou Quan and shook his head. With such a head of the family, everyone in the family was tired.
At around two o'clock in the afternoon, materials began to be delivered. These materials were a small business for the three factories, and they were brought in on a truck.
There are a lot of idle people in the food station. They all get up early in the morning to work, finish their work in the morning, and are free in the afternoon.
Seeing three carts going to Zhou's small courtyard, people came over in twos and threes to see what was going on.
Looking at that little bit of material, it’s not enough to build a house and it can’t be used up for the stove. Could it be that he is going to build a partition wall for his kitchen?
The materials were unloaded in the small yard. After Zhou Xiang paid the final payment, he waited for Ling Ran to bring his men.
"Zhou Xiang, why did your family buy so little material? It's so expensive."
"That's right. It doesn't look like much, but it costs a lot! These prefabricated panels are only seven or eight yuan each!"
"Oh, this place must cost at least a hundred dollars. This place is really good at making things."
"Think about it, tell Auntie, what is your family going to do?"
Zhou wanted to know the temperaments of these women and would not leave until he had found out.
So I told them: "Build a kang. The kitchen is too cold. I was so cold that I had a fever a while ago."
"A kang? It's a thing from the Northeast. Who here knows how to build one?" Aunt Wang asked suspiciously.
"That's right, this guy might pour cigarettes into the house if he's not careful." Aunt Feng agreed.
"Wait until it's built and lit, and then everyone can come and see if the smoke will fall out."
"What are you guys doing here?"
The voice was still in the voice-changing stage, but it scared several women so much that they turned around quickly. When they saw that it was really the little devil in town, they all made excuses to slip away.
Ling Ran was still very satisfied with his unyielding and devilish nature as a child, which was intimidating.
When Zhou Xiang saw a man in his thirties following Ling Ran, he guessed that he must be the gatekeeper's son.
"Zhou Xiangxiang, this is the gatekeeper's son, wearing a mandarin jacket."
Zhou Xiang couldn't help but burst out laughing, then quickly covered his mouth.
"It's okay, it's okay. I've been laughed at for my name for over thirty years. I'm used to it."
Zhou Xiang was relieved to see that he was really used to his name and it wasn't just a polite remark. He just hoped that it wouldn't hurt his pride.
Ling Ran walked up to Zhou Xiang and asked, "Do you know the name of the old gatekeeper?"
Zhou Xiang saw the mischievous smile on his face and said, "Isn't that called Ma Jia?"
Ling Ran took the opportunity to touch her head and said, "You're really smart. You guessed it right."
Ma Gua said beside him, "These are all named by my grandfather. They are easy to remember. You will remember them after hearing them once."
Zhou Xiang nodded, yes, and was impressed.
Zhou Xiang took out the internal structure drawing of the kang and discussed with Ma Gua several important aspects of building the kang, including the return air tunnel under the chimney, the smoke plugging plate, the height relationship between the stove mouth and the chimney mouth, the energy-saving principle of the middle decorative tiles, and the heat retention principle of the slow-flow herringbone smoke partition wall on the kang.
After hearing this, Ma Gua slapped his thigh and said, "Okay, this is good. I have thought about building a Northeast kang before, and even went to the Northeast specially. The kangs built by masters who are not particularly skilled are either smoke-filled or not warm enough. Masters with good skills do not take apprentices casually.
This herringbone wall is great, and you're only starting to build the kang about thirty centimeters below the surface. Just looking at the blueprint, I know it's definitely energy-efficient. Shall we start now?"
Zhou Xiang nodded.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
