Time flies! It's already October.
Today happens to be the first day of the tenth lunar month, which is an auspicious day to start construction on the house.
Everyone got up early in the morning; today was the start of construction on the new house, so they definitely needed to make some preparations.
First, use lime to draw the layout of the house so that you can start digging directly according to the lines when you start excavating later.
Grandpa Zhao sprinkled white lime along the lines, while the Taoist priest and Lu Chuan pulled the rope and measured the dimensions. After measuring, they prepared to eat breakfast.
After everyone had breakfast, the auspicious time arrived. Xu Han set up the table and offerings and began the groundbreaking ceremony. Before starting construction, incense and firecrackers were set off according to local customs to ensure a smooth start to the project.
Then Lu Chuan was in charge of digging the first shovelful, and once that was done, the groundbreaking ceremony was complete.
Next comes the intense house-building phase. It's already October, and under normal circumstances, the weather is gradually getting cooler. Building a house becomes more difficult when it's cold, and the mud will freeze over.
However, because it hasn't rained this year, the weather is still relatively warm. The temperature isn't very low, and it's not too hot during the day, which is perfect for building houses.
The first step in building a house is, of course, digging the foundation. This step is very simple; all you need to do is take a shovel and dig.
When digging, follow the white lines you've drawn, and try to make the digging as even and flat as possible. Then, simply make minor repairs to any uneven areas.
Fortunately, everyone was energetic, and the foundation was dug very quickly.
Grandpa Zhao, the Taoist priest, and Lu Chuan were in charge of digging the foundation and building the house, while Xu Han was in charge of all the housework. She would help with the digging when she had free time, but most of the time, the three of them wouldn't let her do any work.
That day, after finishing her housework, Xu Han thought she would go to the backyard to help, but as soon as she got there, the Taoist priest advised her against it.
"Girl, you don't need to do this anymore. When you have time, cook more delicious food for us. Eating well makes us happier than you helping out here!"
“Yes, Xiao Han, you don’t need to do this little bit of work. We can do it ourselves,” Grandpa Zhao chimed in.
"Okay, then I won't bother. I'll go braise some meat for you guys. How about we have braised beef intestines today, spicy flavor?" Xu Han asked with a smile.
"Alright, alright, the four of us have the same taste, we all like spicy food, so you can make it! It'll be perfect to have with some beef intestines and a few drinks tonight."
"Okay, then I'll wash the beef intestines first, and then I'll braise them after I finish making lunch. They'll be ready to eat then." Xu Han said and walked towards the pool.
Recently, the water flow from the pipes has been decreasing, and the water in the tank only flows out the next morning. During normal daytime use, the tank is usually more than half full.
In a few days, the water in the pipes may not be enough for daily use, and then we will have to go to the waterfall to fetch water, or go to the valley we discovered earlier to fetch water.
Xu Han took out the beef intestines from her spatial storage, then peeled off the excess oil on the surface, and vigorously scrubbed them clean with wood ash until all the mucus on the surface was washed away.
After cleaning the beef intestines, it was almost lunchtime, so Xu Han went to the kitchen to prepare lunch.
I'll make something simple for lunch today. I haven't had savory rice in a long time, so let's make savory rice today!
"Dinner's ready! Come back quickly!" Xu Han shouted loudly towards the backyard after finishing cooking.
Upon hearing Xiao Han call for dinner, the three of them quickly washed their hands in the backyard, went into the main room, and sat down to eat.
"When I went out to pick sweet potato leaves, I saw that the sweet potatoes outside were almost ready to be dug up."
In previous years, the harvest would have been completed by this time. This year, the locusts ate them but they have reappeared and their growth period has been longer. Let's take some time to harvest the sweet potatoes first!
"Anyway, it's already quite big now, otherwise it would be quite troublesome to water it every day." Xu Han said while eating.
“Okay, let’s dig this afternoon! We’ve been so busy building the house that we’ve really neglected to dig up the sweet potatoes!” Lu Chuan agreed.
Grandpa Zhao and the Taoist priest didn't know much about agriculture. They just did whatever the other person said, since they figured they had to dig whatever they wanted, sooner or later.
Seeing that everyone agreed, Xu Han didn't hesitate. After finishing her meal and resting for a while, she immediately started organizing the three of them to dig sweet potatoes.
The group, carrying sickles and hoes, marched in a grand procession into the sweet potato field.
Sweet potato stalks are still edible! We can't waste them. We'll cut them off, roll them up, and put them in our storage space. When we have free time, we can take them out, pick them off, and bundle them together. We can eat them for a while when we don't have any vegetables.
After cutting the sweet potato vines, everyone started digging up sweet potatoes.
The Taoist priest, Grandpa Zhao, and Lu Chuan were in charge of digging, while Xu Han was responsible for putting the dug sweet potatoes into her basket. She then separated the rotten ones to eat first, so they wouldn't spoil later.
There wasn't enough time today. Although there were many people, we planted quite a lot of sweet potatoes. The four of us worked until it was almost dark before heading home.
"You know what, the feeling is different when it's harvest time. Although it's tiring, seeing such big sweet potatoes makes you want to keep going even when you're tired." Grandpa Zhao and the Taoist priest were both excited as it was their first time digging sweet potatoes.
“You’re satisfied with digging sweet potatoes? Wouldn’t it be even more addictive if you joined in digging bamboo shoots and picking mushrooms?” Xu Han laughed.
"Oh! Is digging bamboo shoots and picking mushrooms fun?" the Taoist priest asked with great interest.
"Of course it's fun! Digging bamboo shoots or picking mushrooms are much more addictive than this. I'll take you to experience it sometime, and you'll see," Lu Chuan said eagerly, recalling his previous experience picking mushrooms.
"Then we must experience it properly after the drought," Grandpa Zhao said with a smile.
"Okay, I'll take you all to try it out. I guarantee you'll want to keep going and won't be able to stop," Xu Han said excitedly.
Then everyone started eating dinner. Xu Han didn't want to cook dinner today, since everyone was tired after working all afternoon.
For dinner, we ate the braised beef intestines from lunch, along with some pickled chili sauce to cut through the richness, and a little wine with noodles. It was a truly delightful meal.
"I'm so full! Even though I'm tired from working every day, I still have an appetite. This kind of life is much more comfortable than in the capital. I can even eat half a bowl more rice!" Grandpa Zhao said contentedly.
"Yes! Even the Manchu Han Imperial Feast in the capital doesn't taste as good as this."
"We agreed not to eat too much at night, but you ate too much again without realizing it. You can't eat like this in the future. Xiao Han, make less for dinner. It's not good to eat too much at night," Grandpa Zhao reminded Xu Han again.
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