Chapter 11 Brick House
Although there are only twenty educated youth in Jiangcheng, there are many talented people there.
When it came time to mix the soil and make bricks, someone else volunteered.
Hu Huanxin, the son of a brick factory, grew up in the countryside. He worked with his grandfather and father to mix mud and make earthen bricks. His favorite thing was playing with mud. He was of sturdy build, with a round face and big eyes, and he always had a smile on his face. He looked young, so the educated youth affectionately called him "Little Hudou".
Hu Huanxin led everyone to cut trees to make wooden molds, dig soil, mix mud, press soil, demould and stack them, all in one go.
Making bricks is a physical job. After a busy day, the brick-making team led by Hu Huanxin completed one thousand bricks. The loess bricks are neatly dried on the open space, and the scene is quite spectacular.
Several educated youth collapsed from exhaustion, but refused to rest. They stood aside, looking at the fruits of their labor, smiling brightly.
"Oh my, did we really make all these bricks?"
“It’s such a great sense of accomplishment!”
"Use this brick to build a wall, and you won't have to worry about strong winds and heavy rains."
Tao Nanfeng directed another group of educated youth to build a rubble stone foundation. After cleaning the trench, they spread fine sand on it and then piled the excavated stones into a stepped shape.
Tao Nanfeng was strong and the educated youth were very motivated, and they had completed one third of the task in just one day.
The setting sun casts a golden glow on everyone.
Qiao Yadong looked at the results in front of him excitedly and asked Tao Nanfeng: "According to this progress, when can we finish it?"
Tao Nanfeng's eyes were filled with joy: "Twenty days will be enough."
Everyone cheered: "Yeah! The weasel is going to be mad~~"
The house was built so quickly, all thanks to Tao Nanfeng's amazing power. If Tao Nanfeng hadn't used a hammer to chisel away the rocks, there's no telling how long the construction progress would have been delayed.
At night, the moonlight was dim.
All the educated youth returned to the office to rest. There was no sound of human beings at the construction site, only the croaking of frogs in the wetlands where spring water was dripping.
Two figures quietly approached the No. 6 educated youth site and touched the place where the earth bricks were stacked. Faint moonlight was shining down. One of them bent down, touched a brick, and raised his leg to step on it.
"Fuck! It's so fucking hard!"
"With so many bricks, how can I step on every one of them?"
"Stop talking nonsense and push it down first."
"You said our Section Chief Huang is the same. Why does he have to pick a fight with these bricks? I feel guilty about doing such a thing..."
It was late at night and the educated youth were completely unprepared. The two men sneaked around to wreak havoc and returned to the site to report. Huang Xingwu gritted his teeth triumphantly and said: Let me see what you are going to use to build your houses. You want to make your own bricks? Dream on.
When the educated youth woke up the next day and arrived at the educated youth site, they were ready to roll up their sleeves and work hard. But when they saw what was happening, they screamed, "Ah! Our bricks!"
Before going to bed, a thousand bricks were neatly stacked, but now they were kicked all over the place by people passing by. The wet mud had not yet dried, some of it was cracked in half, some was missing corners, and some was deformed, and it was obviously unusable.
The educated youth spent a whole day to make this batch of earthen bricks, but they were destroyed overnight!
Wei Min waved his fists and couldn't help cursing: "Damn it, it must be someone sent by the weasel. This bastard is afraid of losing, so he actually did it secretly."
Hu Huanxin's eyes were filled with anger: "Let's go! Let's settle accounts with the weasel."
However, Qiao Yadong had concerns: "We have no evidence, what can we do?" Everyone knew that Huang Xingwu was involved in this matter, but as for evidence... there really was none.
Hu Huanxin pouted and looked sad: "I worked hard all day, and it was ruined like this."
Qiao Yadong looked around with a sullen face, pointing to the location where the earth stove was originally built: "It's just a one-day delay, don't worry. From now on, everyone will take turns to be on duty at night, and we can't let others cause trouble again."
Wei Min stamped his feet fiercely: "Okay! Two people form a team and stay here."
Tao Nanfeng pursed his lips, rolled up his sleeves, bent down and moved a rock. Everyone worked together and soon built a small open-air stone house.
After it was built, everyone did not forget to spit in the direction of the site.
"The saboteurs deserve to die!"
"The weasel shall not die well!"
"I'm willing to sacrifice my life to bring down the weasel!"
Anger made everyone more motivated, and Hu Huanxin directed everyone to mix the mud again.
Ye Qin stood aside with a handful of wild flowers in her left hand. When the wild flowers fell into the wet mud, she hurriedly bent down to pick them up.
"Wait a minute." Looking at the extra stem and leaf growing in the mud, Tao Nanfeng suddenly had an idea.
Ye Qin stopped in a daze and looked up at Tao Nanfeng: "What's wrong?"
The more Tao Nanfeng thought about it, the more feasible it seemed: "Let's build a straw brick house."
Straw brick house? Hu Huanxin seemed to understand: "Adding rice straw to adobe bricks? We use straw for firewood in the countryside, and we can't bear to do it."
"That's right." Tao Nanfeng's eyes sparkled with joy.
She remembered that it was recorded in the book that in the extremely cold regions in the north, local farmers cut straw into finger-length pieces and added it to yellow mud. The bricks made from them could keep people warm.
Like thatch stalks, straw is hollow and the air layer it stores can keep you warm. The principle is the same.
Ye Qin raised his hand and rushed to speak: "The pig farm has a guillotine that is specially used to cut pig grass. It would be good to borrow it to cut the thatch stalks."
Just do it.
They are all teenagers, an age when curiosity and creativity are strongest. Some of the educated youth went up the mountain to collect thatch, while others went to the pig farm to borrow a scythe, piled up the grass stalks in the open space and started cutting the grass stalks.
The thatch stalks are hollow and you can cut out a large pile of them with just a few clicks.
The educated youth experimented with several proportions of adding thatch roots, and finally selected the most appropriate amount and began to make bricks seriously.
Three days later, the rubble stone foundation was completed.
The first batch of bricks are neatly stacked on the open space. They have been dried and are ready for masonry construction.
The Dongtou wetland, which was once overgrown with weeds and filled with the croaking of frogs at night, has now turned into a deep pit five meters wide and ten meters long.
The spring water flows slowly along a rubber hose. People usually rely on this mountain spring for washing and drinking. A large tank is placed at the end of the water source to store water. After it overflows, it flows into the wetland and nourishes lush aquatic plants.
Qiao Yadong asked Tao Nanfeng: "Do you want to fill this hole?"
Tao Nanfeng shook his head: "Let's divert water into the pit, and there will be more ponds."
When several educated youth heard this, they danced with joy and said, "Great, great, we can drink the water in the water tank, and the excess water can flow into the pond, where we can raise fish and swim."
Everyone discussed and worked together, and after a few days of hard work, they actually built a pond. Bluestone slabs are laid on one side, making it very convenient for daily laundry and face washing.
Although the pond was still slowly filling with water and there was only a shallow layer of muddy water at the bottom, the educated youth had already begun to imagine the scene of lotus fields and fish swimming in the water.
Qiao Yadong smiled and said, "Classmates, please take good care of this pond and don't make it dirty."
The educated youths patted their chests and assured each other: "Don't worry, squad leader Qiao, we understand."
After the promise was made, everyone turned to look at Tao Nanfeng: "How did you come up with this idea? Did you already plan to dig a pond?"
Tao Nanfeng's voice was very calm: "Let me tell you a story."
——The Northern Song Dynasty imperial palace caught fire, and Prime Minister Ding Wei presided over the restoration work. They dug ditches to obtain soil, diverted water to form a river, cut down trees to obtain water, and after the construction was completed, used discarded bricks and stones to fill the ditches. This achieved three goals in one go and saved tens of thousands of taels of silver. It is considered a model of engineering management.
After listening to her story, everyone suddenly understood.
"Take one step and think two steps ahead, Tao Nanfeng you are really smart!"
"I really need to read more."
"Books contain a thousand bushels of grain, books contain a golden house, ha ha ha."
Just as the flattery was rolling, Chen Zhilu came running from a distance, shouting as he ran: "The mountain road is open, we can go down the mountain to buy tiles."
Qiao Yadong breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this.
Seven days have passed since the bet was made. If the mountain road is no longer accessible and tiles and lime cannot be transported up, the progress of the project will be delayed.
Chen Zhilu brought five educated youth down the mountain and carried the small green tiles, lime, window frames and glass up the mountain one trip at a time. With everyone's collective efforts, the educated youth site gradually took shape.
Making bricks, mixing mortar, and building walls, everyone gradually became skilled from being clumsy.
Tao Nanfeng had the theory, and the educated youth were brave enough to put it into practice and they cooperated well. According to the basic principles of "horizontal and vertical, full mud, and staggered joints", the bricks are built upwards layer by layer.
Twenty days later, the brick house took shape.
The wall is three meters high, and the gable is built with a slope according to Tao Nanfeng's requirements, with purlins placed on it.
One piece of wood after another was cut down from the mountain, used to build a ladder to the roof frame, put on the purlins, nail and hang tile strips, and lay green tiles.
When Tao Nanfeng saw the knowledge and pictures he had learned from books turned into real objects, he felt happy unconsciously. With long eyebrows raised, eyes clear and a smile on the corners of her mouth, I really want to open my voice and sing a song.
She has already thought of the song title
——"All members are sunflowers."
"The Commune is a red sun
All members are sunflowers
Flowers bloom towards the sun, flowers are as big as millstones
No matter the wind or rain
We will never leave her."
Tao Nanfeng can't sing, he's tone-deaf, and usually doesn't dare to speak. Now feeling relaxed, she hummed a strange tune that seemed to be around some unknown corner, and carried a window frame to install it in the wall.
When this small window was inlaid with glass, the thick earthen brick wall suddenly came alive. It’s as if the building blinked and came alive.
Tao Nanfeng took a half step back and carefully appreciated everything in front of him.
My father often said that buildings have life. I didn’t understand it before. I always thought that these cold bricks, tiles, cement, and steel bars were dead things. How could they have life when put together?
But now, as she watched the buildings she designed and participated in gradually blossom in her hands, she understood.
On the evening of the twenty-sixth day, the sun set and the sky was filled with sunset glow.
The mud brick house was completed at the No. 6 educated youth site.
The last green tile has been laid on the roof, so there is no need to worry about rain.
After the ground is moisture-proofed, it is flattened and compacted, making it smooth and bright, and no longer afraid of moisture.
The walls are solid and thick, no longer afraid of strong winds or attacks by wild beasts.
The educated youth happily dragged their luggage into the assigned rooms, rolled around on the beds, opened the windows and screamed, ran to the eaves to dance, and shouted at the green mountains like they were crazy.
——Our house is built!
——Big tiled house, earthen brick house!
Echoes came from the valley.
The adobe house...is completed...
Xiao Aiyun laughed so hard that she fell down, and she held onto Tao Nanfeng's arm and shouted, "Crazy, crazy, Du Xi has gone crazy."
Li Huilan replanted the orchid and placed it on the windowsill. She looked at the slender green leaves with longing in her eyes: "Next spring, beautiful orchids will bloom."
Ye Qin was hammering nails into the wall while dividing the room into functional areas: "Put the towels and washbasin here, and the clothes boxes and baskets over there. We'll take turns cleaning from now on."
Tao Nanfeng crossed his arms over his chest, leaned against the door, and stared at the bright and clean room in front of him in a daze.
The curtains haven't been made yet, so the window glass is transparent. The golden sunset and the red sunset glow complement each other, and the orange light shines into the room through the glass, shrouding the whole house in a quiet warm tone.
A few close friends live in one room, and the setting sun shines on the new home.
This sentence popped up in Tao Nanfeng's mind, and the corners of his mouth curled up into a faint smile.
Xiao Aiyun suddenly remembered something, pushed Tao Nanfeng to the only chair in the room and sat him down, and said with a smile: "You are our greatest contributor, you have to enjoy our service today."
Li Huilan took out the teacup, Ye Qin brought the tea leaves, and Xiao Aiyun brought the kettle. The three of them poured Tao Nanfeng a cup of steaming hot tea, and three pairs of eyes flashed with eager light: "Tao Nanfeng, you have worked hard."
Tao Nanfeng had never been thanked so attentively before, and was a little uncomfortable. His face turned slightly red and he waved his hand: "You're welcome."
Xiao Aiyun smiled and said, "Drink this cup of tea. You have been busy these days, using both your brain and physical strength. You have made great contributions. If it weren't for you, how would we know how to build a house? We would still have to suffer the torture of the weasel."
When Ye Qin heard her mention Huang Xingwu, he immediately remembered: "Yes, I almost forgot if you didn't mention it. It only took us 26 days to build the house. Huang Xingwu lost the bet and can get out of his position as the head of the infrastructure department!"
The author has something to say:
Note: "All Members Are Sunflowers" is an excellent mass song created in the 1960s and widely sung throughout the country. The lyrics were written by Zhang Shixie and the music was composed by Wang Yuxi. The song is beautiful, cheerful, relaxed and lively, reflecting the optimistic spirit of the peasants at that time in overcoming natural disasters and their firm confidence in taking the socialist road.
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