Without the two Song sisters, although the labor force has decreased, I have also had fewer worries. If I were asked to discipline the soldiers, I could do it, but if I were asked to discipline women, especially those who are cunning and disobedient, I really can't do it. The saying "only villains and women are difficult to raise" is true.
Therefore, although I was a little hesitant halfway, I soon felt relieved. Sometimes separation is a protection and fulfillment for the other party, and this is true for both of us.
When we arrived at the fence of the post station, I dismounted and opened the temporary fence door, and Yunwen rode in. After entering the fence, Yunwen also dismounted and tied up Sanfu. Although I had cleaned up the room, there were still too many messy things, and the stones that had rolled down from the mountain were particularly unsightly. Since we decided to rebuild a house here, we had to clean it up and get rid of the old before welcoming the new.
Yunwen was just the same as before. After getting off the horse, she waited for me to assign tasks.
"It's easier said than done. There are so many tedious things to do right now. We must do our respective duties and do them one by one. The first is the issue of accommodation. Although it is almost April and the temperature has risen rapidly, it is still relatively cold if you live there often, and there is no wind protection on all sides, which makes it easy to get sick. So you will be responsible for bringing food and clothing into the tunnel, watering the farmland, burning some chrysanthemum ash to prevent insects, and finding a way to plant the potato seedlings in the bag. This is your task today. I am mainly responsible for moving the debris outside, and finding a way to build a temporary straw shed. The rain will slowly increase in the next few days, which will be convenient for daytime work." I said.
"I'll do whatever you say." Yunwen said with a smile.
So, we each had our own responsibilities. She was mainly responsible for some small jobs, while I was responsible for preparing a big project.
The place where the wooden house was originally located has now become a pile of rocks and wood. I put the useless wood in a remote place for future use for burning. Other relatively useful wood, such as cylindrical and relatively complete board-shaped wood, are placed in another place. These can all be used to build temporary sheds. Finally, the fallen rocks from the mountain are basically useless and should be moved away.
Just these took me nearly an hour, but I gained a lot. After cleaning up, I found that everything that should be left was left, such as the stone mill and the stove, but the blast furnace I built before was not tall enough and collapsed, while the other parts built by our ancestors were intact.
After finishing the cleaning, I rode my horse to Diaolou Mountain and then to the underground factory, where I found a metal cart used to transport things on the first floor, as well as rubber gloves for work. I also found a pile of tools in a more hidden place, and also found what I had been looking for, a mechanic's hammer, a screwdriver, and a lot of spare screws.
I also found a pair of scissors and a small saw, which I put in my backpack. Then I let the dragon's tail of Sanfu hook the cart, and I sat on its back. We went all the way back to the post station, tied up the horses, and unloaded the things. As the saying goes, if you want to do your work well, you must first sharpen your tools. Now the tools are ready, and we can start working.
First use those vines to fix the frame. I happened to find four woods of different lengths and thicknesses that could be used as beams. Some of them might be the handrails of the previous stairs, and some might be broken beams. But now everything can only be done with make do. After all, there is no saw and the tools are insufficient. I can only use it to provide a temporary cover.
So on top of the stove and the millstone, they stabilized the wooden poles around them, then used a small saw to saw some branches of appropriate length all around, sawed a mortise and tenon on the wooden poles, then simply processed the branches, clamped them in, and tied them up with vines, so that all four branches were placed on the wooden poles to form a rectangular block.
Next came the roof part. I sawed out about eight wooden poles of roughly the same length in the front and back, placed them diagonally on the beam and crossed them in pairs, and then fixed them at both ends with vines to form a triangle. The rough shape was done. The shed was not high. I could reach the highest point with my hand, and the beam part reached my forehead, so the height was about 1.8 meters, and the width was about enough for me to walk three steps in length and two steps in width.
A step of my legs is about 70cm, which means it is more than 2.1m long and 1.4m wide, so the total floor space is almost three square meters. If you don't stand often, you can stay here. This shed can be used for cooking, storing things, and roasting fires, etc.
After that, I got some hay, dug a hole, mixed some mud and water, and started to spread it on the wooden frame. After it dried, it formed a temporary eaves that could block the rain, but not the wind.
After the temporary shed was formed, I brought the deformed stainless steel pot over and temporarily placed it in the shed. After I finished all this, it was almost dark. Yunwen finished her work earlier and just took Sanfu out to eat. Now, she and I put the pile of useless wood in a cart and transported it to the shed, ready to use it for cooking tonight.
Afterwards, Yunwen went to wash the pot alone in the spring pool in the backyard, and then filled half the pot with water, intending to use it to make soup tonight. At present, the only food was wild mushrooms and vegetables, so Yunwen used some dry ingredients to prepare the soup base. We simply rinsed it and the two of us ate it.
I just saw Yunwen seemed to be in a trance while eating, and I guessed that she was still thinking about the Song sisters, so I asked her while eating: "Do you miss Bailu's cooking?"
She shook her head and said with some emotion: "After all, when we left, Sister Bailu acted a little extreme and was a little worried. Although we all know that leaving them now is the best way for each of us to survive, but as Sister Bailu said, how can we forget those little things? After all, we have lived and died together so many times."
I put down the chopsticks I had made from willow branches, held her in my arms, and she snuggled up to me.
"Everyone has their own choices. This time it seems that we left her, but in fact it was her own choice. If she had not been determined to exclude you and plot for her sister, I don't think the situation would be like this today. She always chooses to sacrifice us and protect Yingchun over sacrificing us. This is her subtle choice, and it is also the reason for the current situation. If something really happened to her, the reason is not you, but herself." I said.
After some counseling, she sighed and felt a little better, but still said: "I took a tough stance this time, and now I think about it, I'm a little scared. Can I go and see them secretly tomorrow? They won't be a problem if they're not around, and I'll feel better."
"That's fine, but don't add any unnecessary details, okay?" I asked.
She immediately smiled and looked much more relaxed.
Afterwards, we both had a simple meal and then cleaned up together, washing and collecting what needed to be collected. We talked about many things under the moonlight, discussing what should be built and done in these places in the future, how to design them, etc. I also mentioned that I plan to start collecting stream mud and firing red bricks tomorrow.
They talked until they were both tired, so they went to the fountain in the backyard, washed up, and went to the tunnel to rest.
The rope ladder in this tunnel is still there. A part of it was collapsed before, but I cleared it a long time ago. Now it's just exposed in a lot of places. Also, there are a lot of broken soil, debris and stones at the beginning of the tunnel, so it's no problem to cross over it.
When we got to the tunnel, Yunwen had already laid out animal skins, sheets and quilts on the floor of the bookshelf area in the tunnel. It was well ventilated and had a relatively constant temperature, so it was really great for sleeping at night.
We then slept in each other's arms. There were only two of us in the cave at this time, and we thought of this problem. After all, there is a difference between men and women. Now that a man and a woman are alone in a room, it is inevitable that we will think of other things. As a result, both of our faces turned red, and we could hear each other's slightly rapid breathing.
Under the ever-lit lamp, she looked particularly pretty, attracting me. This was a great opportunity. I couldn't help but want to do something. She closed her eyes nervously...