Chapter 151 It's really dazzling
Sang Luo estimated that it was more than nine meters high, which was not bad for Chen Youtian.
The measurement standard of the Dagan Dynasty was about three zhang.
Shen Lie and Chen Dashan handled the rope skillfully, with Shen Lie holding the other end of the rope. Chen Dashan tied the safety rope for Chen Youtian and then accompanied him down the ladder. He stood on both sides of Chen Youtian, instructing him on posture, technique and foothold.
Chen Youtian went down smoothly, and soon the rope was pulled up by Chen Lie, and Chen Dashan also climbed up to the cave again.
It was Sang Luo's turn now. When Chen Dashan was tying the safety rope for Chen Youtian just now, she had carefully memorized the technique. However, since it was a matter of life and death, she decided not to be pretentious and let Chen Lie do it directly, and she followed and learned from him.
When tying a safety rope, it is inevitable that the waist or legs will be touched. Sang Luo was still calm, but Chen Lie was a little nervous. Fortunately, Sang Luo's attention was always on the technique of tying the knot, and she didn't pay attention to him at all.
After the safety rope was tied, Chen Lie took a step back and breathed a sigh of relief. He looked at Sang Luo and asked with a smile, "Are you nervous? There are actually two ways for you to go down. The first is like Uncle Arita. Dashan is holding the rope from above, and I will accompany you and teach you how to find the footholds and grip points. After going up and down a few times, you will be able to go in and out by yourself as long as you have the safety rope. The second way is that you go down by yourself, but I will hold the rope and lower you directly. You just need to pay attention to the footholds and use your feet to push off the protruding cliffs to avoid hitting them."
Chen Dashan was watching the fun nearby, and he laughed when he heard what Chen Lie said: "You should let my father walk behind, we can hold the ropes for you, you two can just tie them up together and go down together, don't be afraid, my sister-in-law will take care of it."
Neither Sang Luo nor Shen Lie paid any attention to him.
They both knew in their hearts that they were a fake couple and were far from being that close to each other, and there was no need for that either.
Sang Luo reviewed Chen Lie's two suggestions. The first one required some courage, but with Chen Lie by her side to guide her, she could practice it. The second one could almost land safely with her eyes closed, and required Chen Lie to have enough arm strength.
However, after seeing him move rocks and carry trees, Sang Luo believed that he had the arm strength.
Sang Luo clenched her hands, exhaled to encourage herself, and looked at Chen Lie: "The first one!"
Chen Lie's eyes curved, "Okay, let's go. Don't be afraid. The rock wall down from this cave is not bad. There are many footholds and places to grab. It's just a little steep. It's safe with a rope. The kind on the top of the mountain that is concave is really helpless."
…
Chen Youtian's attempt to surrender had already attracted the attention of the people in the valley. By the time Sang Luo arrived, a group of people were watching below.
Many people were eager to try, but Chen Lie and Chen Dashan were too busy to take the rope with them. They still had to go out of the valley, and the rope was taken away by the two of them.
Sang Luo and Chen Youtian, the two people who had experienced it first, were surrounded by a group of people and asked questions. Of course, the most curious ones were actually the children, especially the teenagers. Even Wang Yunzheng, who was always reading, came out to watch the fun.
When asked about Sang Luo's experience, it was not as scary as she had thought at first. Chen Lie had helped her find a foothold every time. She didn't need to look at the bottom of the valley, but only at her hands and feet. When she was afraid to cross, Chen Lie could help her. The only two times she didn't step firmly, Chen Lie protected her in time. With the rope, they were just false alarms.
As for the two strange heartbeats when Chen Lie hugged her, only Sang Luo herself knew it and could not tell others.
…
Chen Youtian and Sang Luo each brought back two baskets of wild vegetables. Sang Luo and Qin Fangniang discussed it and decided that each of them gave two handfuls. They also gave each of the other four families a handful of fresh broom seedlings, which were fresh at the time of the season, and distributed some fresh mugwort leaves.
Shen An and Shen Ning took on the task of picking and washing the two baskets of wild vegetables, and brought along Xu Wenyin, Chen Ershan and Chen Xiaoya who also wanted to join in the fun and help wash the wild vegetables for the family.
During this period, Chen Youtian came over and brought two bowls of glutinous rice to exchange for glutinous rice flour from Sang Luo. He also borrowed a mortar and asked Sang Luo how much rice flour she wanted to pound. He then brought out the quantities for both families.
This was strenuous work, and since Chen Lie was not around, Sang Luo did not refuse. She scooped out a bowl of rice and asked Chen Youtian to help pound it, while she boiled water and soaked the red beans to make bean paste.
When Shen An and Shen Ning came back from washing the vegetables, the red beans were already soaked in boiling water in a ceramic basin.
Chen Ning was most concerned about cooking, and couldn't help asking why the beans were soaked in hot water. Sang Luo was happy to teach her. First, she liked the two little siblings very much, and didn't think there was anything to be secretive about cooking; second, the two little siblings were really hardworking, and they would take the initiative to help Sang Luo share most of the things they learned to do. Even after Chen Lie came back, this attitude never changed.
So after she stopped selling food in the county, Sang Luo actually had an easy time doing housework, because her brother and sister rushed to do everything they could, and it was never her turn. That was also why Sang Luo was not shy about learning many things as long as Chen An and Chen Ning were willing to learn.
In the end, the bean paste was made with Shen Ning in mind throughout the whole process.
Seeing that Chen Lie hadn't returned yet, there was no rush to prepare dinner, so he simply took Chen Ning to continue processing the fresh mugwort leaves, and waited for Chen Youtian to deliver the rice noodles, and then taught the girl how to make green rice balls.
The aunt and sister-in-law were busy and happy. Xu Wenyin, who had just returned home, couldn't stay in her own cave, so she came over, and then one apprentice became two apprentices.
Chen Lie and Chen Dashan came back later than Sang Luo expected. It was only after they came back that Sang Luo knew why Chen Lie took the rope with him before leaving.
To transport heavy and large objects down from the high cave.
Shen Lie deliberately came down first and called Shen An to watch the position directly below the cave to be careful that no children ran over. Then he went back to the cave on the high ground and together with Chen Dashan, they used ropes to lower several bamboos and two baskets in batches.
The baskets were previously hidden outside the valley. Because the entrance was expanded, he and Chen Dashan went to the trap and cut some bamboo. Then they came back with the baskets that each family had not been able to bring in.
At this moment, one basket contained several large stones, and the other basket contained a dozen spring bamboo shoots, four pheasants, and a lot of fresh grass that could be used to feed chickens and ducks.
When the three families living here heard the noise, the children all went to the side with the chickens and ducks, while Sang Luo bent down to look at the stones in another basket.
This stone...
Does she always look familiar?
Chen Lie came over to move the stones, and seeing her looking at it, he smiled and said, "The stone mill at home is made of this kind of stone. You haven't had soy milk and tofu for a long time, right? I recently took the time to make a smaller stone mill for use at home."
Sang Luo's eyes lit up. She had been thinking about soy products for a long time.
She couldn't hold the stone, so she held a few bamboo shoots and followed Shen Lie, asking, "Can you make a stone mill? The patterns inside should be exquisite, right?"
Chen Lie nodded: "I lifted up the two grinding wheels and looked at them carefully before I came out. I should be able to make it."
If he didn't have this ability, he wouldn't have left the millstone outside.
"What about the biggest stone? For a mortar?"
The thing that Sang Luo could think of that was most lacking in the valley right now and that needed to be made of stone was this.
Chen Lie laughed, "Yes, leave this for the elders to slowly chisel, it will be shared by the six families, so that you can save energy when pounding rice in the future."
The small stone mortar can be used, but it is laborious.
…
In the evening, the aroma of stewed chicken wafted through the valley again.
It's not that they don't want to raise them. They can cut some chopped grass for chickens and ducks to eat, but they still need bran. The dozen or so chickens they originally raised were extremely difficult to raise, and they were supported by the bean dregs that were previously fried and dried. It would be difficult to raise more pheasants.
So except for the one that the Chen family found out could lay eggs and kept it, people like Sang Luo who brought three laying hens into the mountains could only cook meat and vegetables to replenish their bodies with nutrition.
However, for people like Chen Lie and Chen Dashan, there was no shortage of this kind of fish in the deep mountains, so the two families each slaughtered one that night.
Knowing that there was pheasant, Sang Luo asked Chen An to bring a few freshly cooked green rice dumplings to exchange for a bowl of pickled cabbage from Gan.
The Shen family’s dinner included pheasant stewed with spring bamboo shoots, stir-fried chicken offal with sauerkraut, cold-mixed broom sprouts, and a plate of cute, round, green, and sweet bean paste-filled glutinous rice dumplings.
Just based on the appearance of the dishes, Chen Lie felt that it was an injustice to not have a good table to serve such delicious food.
When Sang Luo brought Chen Ning back from delivering half a bowl of stewed chicken and a plate of green rice dumplings to the Xu family next door, Chen Lie had already put together the two rice buckets made by Sang Luo and placed the stone slab that had been used as a temporary table on top, thus making a simple stone table for him.
Move four more logs and you will have stools.
A futon was also placed where Sang Luo was sitting to ensure she was comfortable.
"Tomorrow I'll take everyone out of the valley to get some wild vegetables, and when we come back I'll start making the things on your blueprint, starting with the tables and chairs."
Sang Luo found it funny and placed the dishes on the stone table. Shen An and Shen Ning also brought the rice over. She smiled and sat down: "This stone table is also good to use. There is no rush to make a table and chairs. Make a bed first. I can't sleep well if you and Xiao An sleep on the floor every day."
This made Shen An and Shen Ning laugh.
The family sat down and had a lively and delicious dinner. While eating, Chen An suddenly sighed: "Except for not being able to leave the valley, we are actually doing pretty well here. We don't have to pay taxes or serve in the military. I can learn to farm and my brother can hunt. It's much more comfortable than before when we were outside."
Sang Luo laughed out loud when she heard it.
Young man, you have great ambitions.
"There will be a peaceful day outside. Study hard with Yun Zheng Wenbo. When the world is really peaceful, the more you know, the greater your chances will be."
Chen Lie, who was eating, paused when he heard this, and a thoughtful look appeared on his face.
…
After dinner, Shen An and Shen Ning went to wash the dishes. Sang Luo found Chen Lie rummaging through his mattress on the floor on the shelf.
She was a little surprised and was about to ask something when she saw Chen Lie took out a wolf skin, looked at it carefully, and then took out a pair of scissors from Sang Luo's sewing basket.
"what you do?"
She couldn't help but ask out loud.
Chen Lie turned around and saw that it was Sang Luo, and told her the idea that had just occurred to him while they were eating.
"I remember the brush you used looked like it was made of animal hair. I thought wolf hair would work too. I want to try making a brush head. Tomorrow I'll get some thin bamboo sticks that are similar to the pen holder to see if I can make a brush myself. If you can't afford ink, can you just use water to write on the stone slab?"
Sang Luo was stunned by what she heard.
How could she forget that she could practice calligraphy this way?
Isn't this better than writing on the sand table with sticks?
“Okay, that’s great.” He turned around and took out the brush he had carefully put away and handed it to Chen Lie: “You can think about it according to the pattern. If you can make it, it will be convenient for practicing calligraphy in the future.”
The weather quickly became hot, the words on the slate dried quickly, and water was readily available, so it couldn't be cheaper.
At this point, Sang Luo remembered the pheasant feathers she had collected after defatting them, and she took them out from a large bag on the shelf and handed them to Chen Lie: "Chicken feathers can also be used to make brushes. These have been defatted, and I can't think of any uses for them. You can use them to practice, and then use wolf hair when you are familiar with it."
Wolf skin! If Chen Lie were to use it to practice, he would definitely pluck it bald.
Chen Lie was stuffed with a bundle of chicken feathers, but his attention was on Sang Luo. He tilted his head slightly and asked Sang Luo: "Do you like wolf skin?"
Sang Luo was stunned by the question, not understanding how the topic turned to her, but she nodded anyway: "I like it. I don't remember where I saw it, but it said that covering with wolf skin can prevent rheumatism or cure rheumatism? I can't remember clearly, and I don't know whether it's true or not, but we live in this cave, isn't this wolf skin a good thing when it's cold?"
"Oh." He seemed to be thinking about something, remembering that since the bed was made, several wolf skins in the house had been used as mattresses for him. His eyebrows gradually curved up, and the corners of his lips couldn't help but rise.
He wanted to hide his smile, but he was really tall, and the two of them were standing face to face, so even if Chen Lie lowered his head, his smile would be seen by Sang Luo.
Sang Luo didn't quite understand why he was in such a good mood, but this smile...
It's so dazzling.
Does Shen Lie know what he looks like when he smiles?
Sang Luo stared at him for a few seconds before looking away: "Then you get busy."
Leaving these words, Sang Luo turned and walked away. After walking two steps away, she remembered something and took a step back. She picked out a few beautiful pheasant feathers from the bundle in Chen Lie's hand, and took out a piece of rag, two copper coins, and a hemp rope from the shelf.
"Make a little gadget."
Then he walked away.
But this time he couldn't take more than a few steps before stopping again.
She realized belatedly that Chen Lie had a lot of unfinished work on his hands, so she had to turn back and take the bundle of chicken feathers in Chen Lie's arms and the brush in his hand.
"I think about it. I can figure out how to make a brush. You should use your skills to carve stones and make furniture. That's the best way to make the best use of your talents."
The things that were stuffed into my arms were taken away again, and suddenly I felt empty again.
Chen Lie glanced at Sang Luo's back and his eyebrows curved again.
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