Chapter 57: Making a Kang

The whole house is about 12 or 13 square meters, which is not big, but it is still spacious for one person.

She estimated the location and prepared to build a kang that was 2 meters wide and 2.5 meters long.

This length of kang is enough to place things at the end without affecting sleeping.

When the time comes, stack the boxes and place them at the end of the kang, and put the small kang table next to the boxes.

If you add one or two pieces of furniture as appropriate, your life will be perfect.

Even though it would probably cost some money, she didn't care about that. What could be more important than living a comfortable life?

There is a small window about one square meter at the end of the kang. It leaks a little, but it's not a big problem. It can be used after some repair. She will then get a piece of glass to install in the future.

Then I asked the master to build a wall at the head of the kang and insert partitions to make a fire wall, which divided the whole house into two rooms, inside and outside.

There is a small stove outside where you can heat water or cook something occasionally.

Just put a curtain in the middle as a door.

After deciding on the size, she went to Aunt Cui's house to have curtains custom-made for the entire house, so that they could be used once the kang was built.

The bricklaying master discussed with her and decided to use red bricks for the exposed parts and adobe bricks for other locations.

Including the materials, labor, and repairing the doors and windows for her, it cost 18 yuan in total.

No matter the meal.

Not cheap, but not expensive either.

After all, she needs to use a lot of red bricks, and if she uses adobe bricks, she can save a few dollars.

She didn't want to use earthen bricks because they crumbled and got dusty everywhere, which was very annoying.

All the details were discussed, and the kang maker said he would come over after work every day and work for her for two hours.

It will probably take a few days to finish.

Looking at the haggard faces of Meng Shengnan and the others, she said compassionately, "I see you haven't had a good rest these days, and you look very unhappy. How about I stay in that small room for the next two days?"

Luo Zhaodi's eyes lit up: "How can I be so embarrassed?"

Wei Zi pulled Luo Zhaodi's sleeve, and Meng Shengnan hit her with a stick.

Zhao Jinhua said hurriedly: "Luo Zhaodi means that you can't move the box by yourself, so we will help you carry the box over and put the two boxes together. You can sleep on it for the next few days."

"Well then." She sighed, "I can't help it. I don't want to sleep in a box, but I feel bad when I see you look haggard. I can only bear the pain myself."

They swiftly helped her lift the box over, and carried a roll of mat over to put on the box. They even considerately brought over her toothbrush, toothpaste, ceramic jar, washbasin, and towel.

"You are so nice!" She looked at the old educated youth with a smile: "I really don't want to leave you!"

Zhao Jinhua pulled the corners of her mouth stiffly: "It's okay, we are all in the same courtyard, we will see each other if we look up."

At dinner time, Han Youran saw that she had only eaten two steamed buns. He thought that this girl had a hard life. She was in poor health and had just been in the countryside for two days, but she was already excluded. She must be feeling very upset.

But Han Youran also lives in a dormitory now, so she can’t help her much.

I asked her with concern: "Why do you only eat so little? You are from the south, where people should eat more rice, right? Are you not used to eating glutinous rice?"

Wang Lizhen rolled her eyes speechlessly, saying that she could only eat two steamed buns at most in one meal.

I'm really not used to it.

No matter how well coarse grains are cooked, they are still coarse grains. Eating them once in a while can make you recall the bitter past and think of the sweet past. But if you eat them like this all the time, you won’t be able to eat them.

She had been exhausted from working overtime these past few nights, so she asked Ah Ju to stew a chicken for her early in the morning so that she could have a good rest after closing the door in her space at night.

But that certainly can't be said.

She shook her head. “No, the steamed buns made by Sister Youran are so delicious. I just had some biscuits in the afternoon, so I’m not too hungry now.”

"That's good." Han Youran felt relieved.

After eating, she went back to the room and locked the door. She entered the room and ate a chicken leg happily. Ah Ju peeled shrimps for her. After eating and drinking her fill, she took a good bath and went to bed smelling good.

You have to know that there is no separate bathroom in the educated youth camp, so taking a shower is very inconvenient. Female comrades can only use a basin to get some water and scrub in the room. They cannot move too much, otherwise the floor will get wet, and other roommates will have opinions. After a long time, people will get jealous.

The next morning, I got up, washed and brushed my teeth.

Today it is Jiang Xiurong's turn to cook with her.

Knowing that she was in poor health, Jiang Xiurong did not count on her, and he and Tang Mingli did the job together.

Jiang Xiurong took out rice and red beans and prepared to cook porridge. Tang Mingli took them, washed them, threw them into the pot and added water. When Jiang Xiurong packed up his bag of food and came over, Tang Mingli had already lit the fire.

In the morning, each person had a bowl of porridge, with two steamed buns left over from yesterday, and some pickled vegetables exchanged from the old educated youth.

While eating, Han Youran suggested: "Why don't we pickle some pickled vegetables or something? It's winter for several months, so we need to have some dishes to change up the food."

Jiang Xiurong said, "Okay, but it's too early now. Let's do it after the autumn harvest in two months."

Then he asked Han Youran, "Can you pickle the salted and sauerkraut here?"

Han Youran shook his head.

Jiang Xiurong said, "Then let's go to the village and ask the aunties for advice. I know how to pickle the sauerkraut we have there. I'll make some of each and eat them alternately during the winter."

The two heroines discussed the details of pickling salted vegetables.

Xia Zhizhi and Wang Lizhen, two useless people, didn't dare to say a word and just focused on eating.

In the evening, Jiang Xiurong made sweet potato rice, which was 80% sweet potato and 20% rice, and also fried a pot of eggplant.

Xia Zhizhi was lazy and didn't help, so she contributed two eggs and asked Jiang Xiurong to make egg and spinach soup.

During the meal, Jiang Xiurong picked out a whole fried egg for her and smashed the rest for everyone to enjoy.

Han Youran and Jiang Xiurong, one from the north and the other from the south.

When cooking, one person can make mixed-grain steamed buns, and the other can make mixed-grain rice. They take turns every day, which is pretty good.

After dinner, the kang-making masters came over. There were seven or eight of them, including the old and the young, all men. They pulled two loads of bricks on a cart and unloaded them in the small yard.

Young and old, they worked together for a while and finally unloaded all the bricks. Seeing that it was getting late, the master told her to come over tomorrow to start work.

The next day, the master came with his family, some digging the soil, some tamping the ground.

The youngest child was only four and a half years old. He was the bricklayer’s son, and his nickname was Tiedan. He also helped to move bricks, carrying three or four bricks at a time from the yard into the house.

She followed the child and teased him: "You are so young, why are you working outside?"

The child said, "My grandfather said that the man in the family is responsible for making money."

Xia Zhizhi put her hands on his shoulders and saw that he looked very adorable as he moved the bricks unsteadily with a serious look on his face. If it weren't for his dirty little face, she would have touched it a few times.

"But you are still so young. You can wait until you grow up to make money."

He looked at her with a look of "You don't understand this, do you? I will start making money now. When I grow up, I will make a lot of money. Then my mother can find a wife for me early. When I get married, we can make money together!"

Good guy, you are quite good at calculating.

The two heroines were tickled by her.

Xia Zhizhi went back to the house and took out a piece of candy. Seeing that Tiedan was still busy moving bricks, she directly peeled off the paper and stuffed it into his mouth.

He held the candy in his mouth, puffed up his cheeks, and frowned, "My mother said that I can't just ask for other people's things."

This is so cute. Xia Zhizhi raised the camera with one hand and said, "I'm going to take a photo of you. This is your reward."

Tiedan was even more confused: "Shouldn't I pay you for taking photos for me? But I don't want to spend money on taking photos. I want to save the money to get married!"

"Just listen to me. I'm well-educated and won't lie to you. Come on, carry the bricks and move forward." She directed the little model, "Yes, walk here and don't move. Turn your head and look at me, look at the camera, yes, don't move!"

Xia Zhizhi took a photo of him. The child was carrying three bricks. He turned his head with a serious look. Although his face was a little gray, his cheeks were plump like a cute hamster. His eyes were black and bright. In the background were his busy family members, all of them with smiles on their faces.