"Captain, what do we need to build this kang? Do we need to pay for it?"
Song Yuangang waved his hand: "No need, as long as you have the materials, Aiguo Aimin and I will help you build it, no need to spend money."
Hearing it was free, Cheng Xingfei became delighted and quickly said, "Captain, then my family needs to build this...what is this called, a kang? Yes, a fire kang!"
Song Yuangang asked Li Fengchun to write it down.
After that, people went to Song Jianye's house to see the kang. Some of them came out and immediately looked for Song Yuangang and said they wanted to build one, while some were a little hesitant. They felt that the kang was good, but were afraid of other hazards and were unwilling to be the first to experiment.
Song Yuangang stopped trying to persuade them. With so many families in the brigade, building a kang would take time, and they were already too busy to handle it. So whether or not to build the kang was up to them.
Song Yuangang asked Li Fengchun to take note of all the people who were willing to build a kang, and then told them the materials they could use. He told them to go home and prepare them first. When they were ready, they could come over to help, which would save time.
Moreover, because it is already very cold, every household in the brigade has a large population. Song Yuan thought for a moment and said:
"Time is tight now, so each family can only build one. Go back and think about which house to build it in. After you build one, you should have learned it. If you want to build more later, you can do it yourself."
"Come to me when the things are ready. Let's do it in order and try to finish it as soon as possible."
The Chinese New Year is just a few days away, so let’s get it done sooner so that everyone can have a good New Year.
When the people in the team heard that they could only build one at first, although they felt a little regretful, they also understood it. And after they learned it, they could build it themselves later.
Afterwards, everyone hurried back home, not daring to delay for a moment, thinking about setting up the warm kang as soon as possible. As soon as they entered the house, they hurriedly called their wives to move bricks and dig soil.
However, compared to their eagerness, another group of people were not in a hurry at all and walked behind, saying, "It's only cold for a few days, and the weather will warm up soon. There's no point in setting up this kang, it just takes up space for nothing."
"The team leader doesn't know what's going on. A few days ago he asked people to clear the snow, and today he asked people to build a kang. It's really tiring."
"Anyway, I won't build a fire kang with a fire burning underneath.
I was terrified. What if a fire started while I was sleeping at night? What would I do?
"That's right. And since we're using this kang, does that mean we don't need the bed anymore?"
"It's better to be cold than to lose your life."
“…”
Song Yuangang didn't care what those people thought. After registering, he found a few brothers from the Song family and said, "I'll have to trouble you brothers to help them and give them some guidance later."
"It's okay. It's what we should do." Song Aiguo waved his hand and said.
While it was still some time before dark, Song Yuangang asked, "If you guys are free right now, come with me. Let's go to the cowshed and build a kang for Lao Xu."
This idea was proposed by Xu Zhijin, who also helped in the process. It was impossible for him to be thrown aside now that he was no longer needed, so Song Yuangang thought that while everyone in the team was preparing, they should go to the cowshed and build a kang for him.
Song Aiguo, Song Jianye and the others certainly had no objection, and soon the five of them dragged bricks and tools towards the cowshed.
Xu Zhijin was a little surprised when he saw them coming. He didn't expect Song Yuangang to take the initiative to come and build a kang for him, so he was very surprised to see them.
"Let's not say anything more. Time is running out, let's get started." Song Yuangang raised his hand to stop Xu Zhijin from speaking, and started to get busy as soon as he entered.
This cowshed is built simply. Although it can shelter people from the wind and rain, it is freezing cold inside. So the kang must be built quickly, otherwise if it gets even colder later, Xu Zhijin really may not be able to survive.
Before nightfall, the base of the fire kang was ready. After all, Xu Zhijin was the only one living here, so the area was small and the work could be done quickly.
"Let's stop here for today and come back tomorrow." Song Yuangang said as he patted the dust off his hands.
"No need to come, the things are all here, I can clean up the rest myself." Xu Zhijin didn't want to trouble them anymore, so he said quickly.
Especially since Xu Zhijin knew they would have to help the other members of the brigade later, and with so many households, it was already enough for them to be busy. Now that he had everything he needed, he could do it all by himself, at most he would be a little slower.
"How long will it take you to do this by yourself? Before we get here, you should be busy on your own first, and then continue after we arrive. If you come earlier, you can probably finish this by tomorrow."
"Then we'll go first." Song Yuangang took
Song Aiguo, Song Jianshe and other brothers went back.
Xu Zhijin stood at the door and watched them leave, then went into the house to tidy up a little. After resting for a few minutes, he went to light the fire and cook dinner.
For fear of being seen, he hasn't been to Zhao Rongsheng's place in the past few days. After all, he doesn't know when someone will come to his place, so it's better to be careful.
......
While working with the red bricks, some wives asked, "Is the kang the team leader is talking about really warm? Can people sleep on a bed made of bricks and mud?"
She had never seen it with her own eyes, so she couldn't imagine what it was like. And in her entire life, this was the first time she had heard of the term "fire kang."
"We'll know if it works after we try. Anyway, I went to Old Song's house and saw that the kang there is really good. It feels especially warm to the touch. Besides, the captain must be confident and won't harm us."
The daughter-in-law thought about it and agreed. Besides, it was too cold today. If the kang could really be used for sleeping, this winter would not be so unbearable.
Thinking of this, I felt more motivated when working and didn’t feel so cold anymore.
After an afternoon, several families in the brigade packed up their things and went to find Li Fengchun before dark. They registered everything with him and could start tomorrow.
After dinner in the evening, the children of Old Song's family all ran to the west room. No matter how they were called, they refused to leave and kept clamoring to sleep on the kang.
"Wenjie, Wenzhi, come back here! You're both older brothers now, so why are you still fighting with your younger siblings for the bed?"
"Yuanbao, we'll have a kang in our house in a few days, and you'll be able to sleep on it then. Come back with mom today. Don't you want your sweet sister anymore?"
"Yun Duo, let's go back to the house and sleep."
The little ones all lay on the bed, hugged the quilt tightly, and started to act like a spoiled brat: "No, I want to sleep here, I don't want to go back."
"It's warm here. It's too cold to go back and sleep."
"I want to sleep with my sister Xiaobao and my fifth brother. I won't go back."
“…”
Chen Xiuxiu, Sun Suyun, and Li Qingyan looked at each other helplessly, cursing angrily: "These little bastards..."
Yang Yulan smiled gently and said, "I think we should let them sleep here. This bed is big enough for them to sleep sideways. Jianye and I will sleep on the bed over there and keep an eye on them at night."
"Yeah, they are
"The brothers and sisters have never slept together before, and it's just right that we have this kang today, so we can let them sleep on it and experience it, and it's warm here too." Song Jianye also echoed.
Upon hearing this, the little ones on the bed became excited, their eyes lighting up: "Mom, Uncle and Auntie agreed! Can I sleep here?"
"Mom, Third Auntie agreed!"
How could Chen Xiuxiu and Li Qingyan refuse now? Moreover, seeing the eager eyes of the little ones, who could still be so hard-hearted as to take the person back? They could only shake their heads and warn:
"Then you all go to bed early tonight and don't make any noise. If you keep your uncle and aunt awake, I'll come and take you back. Do you understand?"
The little ones nodded quickly and rolled around on it happily.
When Tian'en and Baoya heard that their brothers and Yunduo were staying to sleep together, they were so happy that they couldn't even see their eyes from laughing.
Afterwards, several small people were making a lot of noise on the kang. Chen Xiuxiu, Sun Suyun and the others did not leave immediately. They sat in the room and talked with Yang Yulan for a long time.
Because of the kang, the temperature in this room is higher, so we don't feel cold even though we are sitting here. Plus, the kids are making noises nearby, and the room is warm and harmonious.
After they had finished chatting, Chen Xiuxiu, Li Qingyan and the others went back to their rooms. Bowen Boyu also left and did not stay. After all, they were older and felt embarrassed to stay and sleep here.
The little ones had been making a lot of noise happily for a long time, and now they were a little tired. They lay down in their beds one by one. Yang Yulan went over to tuck in the corners of the quilt for them and said softly, "Go to sleep."
Baoya's eyes were misty, and she looked at Yang Yulan and said, "Mom, go to sleep too~"
"Okay, Mom will fall asleep soon." Yang Yulan patted Baoya's shoulder with a smile, watching her slowly close her eyes, her little face peaceful and tranquil.
Song Jianye returned to the room and saw that the children were all asleep. He lowered his voice unconsciously: "Are they all asleep?"
Yang Yulan responded.
Song Jianye walked over and looked at the stove below. There was firewood in it, so the fire wouldn't be too big. He fiddled with it a few times and felt it should be enough to burn until tomorrow morning. The temperature above was also just right, not too hot, just right.
"Let's go to sleep too." Song Jianye said as he turned and walked towards the bed and yawned.
Yang Yulan blew out the kerosene lamp, and the two of them came up.
Go to bed and rest.
Everyone slept exceptionally soundly tonight, especially the little ones, who all had happy smiles on their faces.
......
Song Yuangang got up early the next morning. After breakfast, Li Fengchun came to him with a notebook. Song Yuangang looked at the names registered on it, then went to call people. After allocating the manpower, he began to build kangs from house to house.
Each of the four brothers of the Song family took care of one kang, and then they called three other men who also wanted to build a kang. The five people in the family started to work, and it was done in about two days.
In this way, at least four families can set up their kangs at the same time, which can save a lot of time.
However, thinking about the cowshed, Song Yuangang and the brothers from the old Song family did not go to the brigade this afternoon, but went to the cowshed instead. They hurried along, and with Xu Zhijin adding some more in the morning, they finally managed to build the kang before nightfall.
"Okay, we can use it once the adobe bricks are dry." Song Yuangang said with a smile after wiping the sweat from his head.
"Thank you, Captain, and thank you, brothers Song." Xu Zhijin expressed his sincere gratitude to them.
"Thank you for nothing. We should be the ones thanking you."
"Yes, don't be polite with us." After these few days, the people in the old Song family have become familiar with Xu Zhijin, and now they waved their hands and said.
"It's getting late, we're going back, no need to see us off." After saying that, Song Yuangang, Song Jianye, Song Aiguo and others returned to the team.
However, when Song Yuan walked outside and looked at the cowshed next to him, he suddenly remembered something and turned around and went to the Yuejin Production Brigade.
"You guys go back first, I'll go over there."
Song Aiguo, Song Jianye and the other four brothers started walking home after separating from Song Yuangang. When they got home, Feng Guizhi had just finished cooking.
"Hurry up and wash your hands, it's time to eat."
The four brothers were really tired these two days, especially now that the weather was cold. Although the snow was lighter, the cold air was still biting when they were working.
So tonight Feng Guizhi cooked a big pot of spicy soup and fried a few dishes so that they could have a good meal and relieve their fatigue.
"How's things going with Old Xu?" Feng Guizhi was thinking about what Yuanbao had said before about Xu Zhijin helping them, so she asked a few words of concern.
"It's done. The adobe will be dry tomorrow and we should be able to sleep on it tonight." Song Jianye drank a
He took a big sip of spicy soup and replied.
Feng Guizhi nodded, and then thought of Zhao Rongsheng, Shen Yibei and others. However, they really couldn't help at the moment.
Song Jianshe saw what Feng Guizhi was thinking, and recalling what happened before they came back, he said, "When we were coming back from the cowshed, the team leader didn't come with us. He went to the Yuejin Production Brigade and must have talked to their team leader about the kang. Their production brigade should also be able to build a kang later, and then Uncle Zhao and the others will be able to help. If they need anything, we can just deliver it to them."
Feng Guizhi felt relieved when she heard this, and then asked, "Which families in the brigade did you help today?"
"Erdan's family, Yincao's family, and..." Song Aiguo listed them one by one.
After hearing Feng Guizhi's thoughts about Baoya's dream, she frowned slightly and asked, "What about Hongxing's family? When can we get it for her family?"
"Aunt Hongxing's house should be at the back. I didn't see their name on it." Song Aimin said.
But it makes sense. The Hongxing family that Feng Guizhi mentioned only has her, a son, and a daughter-in-law. Even if they work fast, they can't compare with other families, so they must be ranked behind.
However, Feng Guizhi thought about Baoya's dream and said, "See if you can arrange breakfast for her family. She is old now. If she doesn't have a kang, I'm afraid she won't be able to bear the cold weather in a few days."
Song Aiguo and the others didn't say much, just nodded and agreed.
......
The team worked feverishly for three days, building a total of six kangs. During these three days, many people learned how to build a kang, and they became faster and faster at it.
On the fourth night, a hailstorm suddenly hit.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
