Soon, Liu Ruoling finished cooking and told Liu Ruoxi to eat first and then think about it. Actually, Liu Ruoxi had already thought about it quite well, so she explained it to Liu Ruoling while eating. Liu Ruoxi's idea was similar to Wu Jing's, but while Wu Jing used a fence as a framework to build the wall, Liu Ruoxi thought of using a fence as the outer edge, then tamping down the soil inside, similar to Wang Lun's method. However, Wang Lun used dry grass mixed with soil and water before building the wall. Liu Ruoxi's idea was to directly tamp down the soil, with a fence on the outside, then a layer of stones, and finally tamping down the soil in the middle. This was easier than using stones all the way, and much easier than mixing water and then building the wall. After all, stones and water had to be fetched from the stream, which was very time-consuming. It was much faster and safer and more secure to follow the current idea.
Liu Ruoling agreed, saying that just from Liu Ruoxi's description, she knew the wall was very secure. Although it sounded complicated, it was the only feasible and fastest solution for the two of them. According to the plan, they would dig for wild vegetables in the morning and prepare materials or build the wall in the afternoon, which would probably take about ten days to complete. After all, they only had half a day to work, and they were both working during their periods, so their stamina was low. Even this timeframe was limited because their enclosed campsite was relatively small, only about forty square meters. It consisted of just four trees, roughly six meters wide and seven meters high, with a treehouse in the middle measuring about four meters by four meters. It was still quite cramped, but enough for two people to live in. It certainly couldn't compare to the activity space of Wu Jing and Wang Lun's teams, which was unavoidable given that they were both girls and the surrounding conditions limited their space.
After hearing Liu Ruoxi's idea, Liu Ruoling said, "Sister, let's carry the stones back these next couple of days. I'll carry the stones, and you can dig up some more soil in the camp." Liu Ruoxi immediately refused, saying, "No, we have to go together. If we're going, we'll go together. And I suggest that before your period starts, we cut down enough branches first, and then slowly carry the stones later." Liu Ruoling thought for a moment and said, "Okay, then after we finish eating, we'll go cut down trees first. We'll collect them and pile them up by the roadside on the uphill slope, and then slowly carry them back." Liu Ruoxi said, "Good idea. Cut enough first, then carry them slowly. We can even bring one or two stones with us each time we carry them, which will save us one or two trips." Liu Ruoling said, "Then let's eat quickly so we can go cut down trees." The two then hurriedly ate their meal.
After finishing their meal, the two packed up, took their knives, bows and arrows, and wooden spears, and also carried a basket on their backs filled with two bamboo tubes of water, before heading into the woods to cut down trees.
On the other side, Wang Lun and Li Ling continued to add walls to the mud house after breakfast, and installed the beams. By the end of the morning, they had installed three of the remaining six beams. The remaining three beams would be installed after the walls built in the morning had dried and the forks were removed. However, the walls were already built, and even the doors and windows were installed while the walls were being built.
So Wang Lun planned to cut some purlins in the afternoon to make a roof later. Since he needed quite a few, and he had two knives, Wang Lun decided to take Li Ling with him. Wang Lun would be in charge of cutting the purlins, while Li Ling would be in charge of trimming the branches and tidying them up.
After lunch, the two entered the jungle and found a previously chosen spot to begin cutting branches. Wang Lun chopped the thicker branches, while Li Ling trimmed off the thinner ones, setting them aside neatly. The purlins Wang Lun chopped were mostly about four meters long, requiring about thirty pieces. Splitting them later would save a lot of material.
The two of them worked together, one chopping and the other trimming. Although they worked quickly, there were so many that it still took them three or four hours to cut enough tree trunks. Then Wang Lun came over to help trim the small branches, and it took another half hour to finish. After that, Wang Lun told Li Ling to rest for a while while he bundled up all the tree trunks so they could be carried back.
Wang Lun first bundled the thick branches into bundles of eight. He had originally planned to bundle ten, but after testing, he found that some branches were too thick, so he shortened the bundle by two, making it just right. However, since he had only cut thirty branches initially, he cut two more, making four bundles of eight each. Then he sorted the thin branches by thickness and bundled them as well. Later, Li Ling, having rested, joined in. After finishing all this, Wang Lun rested for a while, then carried a bundle of thick branches back to the camp. Li Ling had originally planned to carry a bundle as well, but Wang Lun stopped her, so she had to take two bundles of thin branches back.
When the two returned to the camp, it was almost five or six o'clock. Wang Lun decided to go again by himself, but Li Ling insisted on coming along. He had no choice but to disregard his own rest and take Li Ling to carry the load back again.
Then they'll move the rest back tomorrow; since everything's ready, there's no rush. When the two returned, it was already getting dark.
Li Ling started preparing dinner, while Wang Lun first went to check on the earthen house, then took a walk around the campsite before returning to rest, also tending to the pot on the campfire. However, Wang Lun seemed restless, thinking that now that the earthen house was built, he would definitely need to climb onto the roof. He could climb up from the back wall now, but once the roof was finished, it wouldn't be possible. So he decided to make a ladder. He initially considered using mortise and tenon joints, but after trying, he found that with his current tools, it was too difficult. So he decided to use vines instead. He placed two thick tree trunks on the ground, then took out some thinner branches, cut them to the same size, and tied them to the trunks. However, before he could finish, Li Ling called him back for dinner, so he had to finish it after dinner.
After dinner, Wang Lun initially planned to continue tying the ladder, but then he remembered that splitting the thick tree trunk in half beforehand would make it easier to use later. So he had Li Ling continue tying the ladder while he took a military knife and a machete to chop the tree trunk. Since they intended to split it, they used the military knife as a wedge, separating it little by little. By the time Li Ling finished tying the ladder, Wang Lun hadn't even split the third tree. So Li Ling said, "Instead of going through all this trouble, why not just chop down a few more?" Wang Lun thought about it and realized that splitting the tree trunk was much more troublesome than he had imagined, so he gave up and planned to chop down some more the next day, which would be enough. Then the two of them stopped working on it, rested for a while, washed up, and went to bed.
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