Time passed by at a leisurely pace, and during this time, the group of people were constantly researching how to build a house.
The initial construction was indeed not smooth, because none of the people had done it before, which led to quite a few laughable incidents.
When they were building the wall for the first time, the Taoist priest and his team built it faster and faster. Then, when Xu Han came to bring them water, they found that the wall was crooked, and crooked in a very strange way.
"Taoist Master, stop right now! Come and see what you've done!" Xu Han shouted.
Upon hearing this, the Taoist priest stopped what he was doing, glanced at the work, and fell silent after just one look. He was speechless when he saw his own creation.
Finally, Xu Han made a line for everyone to measure the level. Before starting to build the wall, they first stretched out the line and then started building the wall according to the position of the line.
While building the wall, they observed the position of the horizontal line. After several demolitions, everyone gradually got the hang of it. Lu Chuan did the best because he had previous experience and quickly mastered the technique.
Grandpa Zhao was also very good. Only the Taoist priest couldn't do this job well, so in the end the Taoist priest withdrew from the bricklaying team and started helping with some simple physical labor.
Because of her previous experience in handicrafts, Xu Han built the wall very quickly, and the quality was also very good.
After Xu Han attempted to build the wall, the allocation of people in the house changed, and Xu Han and the Taoist priest switched places.
Finally, a month later, in mid-November, all the walls were completed.
During this period, Xu Han and her team decided to temporarily slow down the construction of the house because the weather was getting colder and sometimes it would freeze. They couldn't build the house when it was frozen, so they temporarily stopped.
However, the house couldn't be without a roof, so Lu Chuan and the Taoist priest covered the top with tarpaulin, which also provided a temporary place to store some things inside.
Another important reason for stopping construction is that the charcoal used last year is almost used up, with only a little left. The four of them need to quickly burn the charcoal, otherwise there will be no charcoal left, and it will definitely be very cold in winter.
Although it's not raining now, it's winter after all, and the temperature in the mountains is still very low.
Early that morning, Lu Chuan led everyone into the mountains to cut down trees, specifically the kind of dead trees that had already dried out and didn't need to be dried anymore, so they could be used directly to make charcoal.
“There are so many dead trees in the mountains this year! You can find them every few steps, no need to search for them,” Xu Han said.
"Yes! It hasn't rained for a year, and some trees that aren't drought-resistant have long since died. Now there's not much else on the mountain except for dead trees. But thankfully, most of the trees are still alive," Grandpa Zhao added.
“Yes, these are all good. They will grow back after some time and when it rains. After all, it’s impossible for all the trees to survive such a long drought,” Lu Chuan said.
"Alright, stop talking and hurry up and cut down the tree! Otherwise we'll freeze tonight," the Taoist priest said irritably.
"There's still the kang (heated brick bed) at night, so you won't get cold!" Grandpa Zhao retorted.
Upon hearing this, the Taoist priest did not respond, but instead began chopping at a large tree.
Four people are fast; after a day of chopping, there are enough trees for tomorrow's charcoal production, and they can still chop more during the charcoal production process.
They only stopped burning charcoal after burning three kilns in a row, because both rooms needed charcoal this year, so they burned even more charcoal than last year.
After burning the charcoal, the weather was still cold! It was already December, and they couldn't continue building the house, so Lu Chuan simply led the Taoist priest and the others to make doors and windows in the unfinished house.
The walls are now all built, and the dimensions for the doors and windows have been left out. It's just the right time to do this, so as not to waste the whole winter.
The backyard was built exactly like the front yard, even the doors and windows were the same style. Lu Chuan didn't know how to make the others, so he could only study the doors and windows of the front yard and try to make them exactly the same.
Fortunately, after trying to install it, it looks quite nice. Now all I need to do is brush a layer of tung oil on the top of the doors and windows for corrosion protection.
Life went on uneventfully, with things to do every day, nothing particularly exciting, but each day was filled with different tasks.
Before we knew it, it was already the 20th of the twelfth lunar month. Everyone felt that the temperature was very different when they got up early that morning.
"Why is it so cold today? Is the temperature going to drop again?" Xu Han asked.
"Why does the sky outside look so gloomy? Is it going to rain? I haven't seen this kind of weather in a year," Lu Chuan asked curiously.
Wasn't it supposed to be a three-year drought? Could it rain in the middle of it? Both of them were very curious about what was going on.
Unaware of what was going on, Lu Chuan and Xu Han got up and went to the main room, where they saw the Taoist priest looking outside, calculating something with his fingers.
The two rarely saw the Taoist priest like this, and dared not disturb him, so they stood silently behind him.
A moment later, the Taoist priest suddenly turned to the two and said, "It's going to snow heavily. It seems that more people will suffer. Alas! One hardship after another!"
"Isn't it a drought? How come it's suddenly snowing heavily?" Xu Han asked, puzzled.
"It's been a three-year drought, but it's not like not a single drop of rain has fallen! The drought will continue even after this heavy snowfall. I don't know how many people this heavy snow will bring hope to, or how many lives it will take."
"These things are beyond our control. Come and eat! I've cooked rice porridge and salted duck eggs," Grandpa Zhao called to the three from the kitchen.
Upon hearing this, the three of them put the matter behind them and began to eat breakfast.
After breakfast, everyone went to the backyard to make furniture as usual. Before they even had dinner, snow began to fall heavily, and then it snowed harder and harder.
Meanwhile, the people at the foot of the mountain were celebrating the arrival of the heavy snow.
"Good heavens! You've finally opened your eyes! If the drought continues like this, we really won't even have water to drink."
The situation down the mountain is getting worse and worse. The river has almost completely dried up, and the water level in the wells is getting lower and lower. If this continues, there really won't be any water left to drink.
"Great! Great! It's finally raining. Now we can survive, we won't die of thirst."
"It's snowing! It's snowing!" Even two- or three-year-old children are especially happy to see snow, because they know that when it snows, life will be better.
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