Although it takes a little longer, it's not unacceptable. On the contrary, the benefits far outweigh the extra day or two.
Wang Lun saw that there was still some soup left, so he poured a bowl for each of them, just enough to fill the gaps. Li Ling and the other two glared at Wang Lun, their eyes seemingly saying, "Can't you see I can't even finish this? And you're still pouring more." But Wang Lun ignored them; even if he had seen it, he would have done the same, after all, waste shouldn't be allowed. The four of them slowly and painstakingly finished the soup, taking some time. Now they felt like the soup was already on their throats, and it was about to come up, so they didn't dare to make any big movements.
The four of them sat on the kang (a heated brick bed) and rested for a while before Li Ling and Liu Ruoxi slowly got up, cleared away the pots and pans, and went to the sink to wash them. Liu Ruoling and Wang Lun remained. Wang Lun took out the straw sandals he had been weaving and continued weaving. Seeing that Wang Lun was busy, Liu Ruoling didn't stay idle and started weaving straw sandals as well.
After Li Ling and the other woman returned, they joined the group and began weaving straw sandals. The demand for straw sandals was high, so they wanted to weave as many as possible. After each of the four had finished weaving one, Wang Lun told everyone to go to sleep, as they had work to do the next day. The three of them went out to take care of personal hygiene, and when they returned, they found Wang Lun already in bed. They had no choice but to close the door and go to sleep on the kang (heated brick bed).
The next day, Wang Lun got up early and first filled a basket with wood ash before heading to the back of the house. He began to determine the location of the modified fence, while also considering the area for raising pheasants and making use of the section of fence that Li Ling had previously constructed. Wang Lun had already planned these things out in advance, and now he only needed to make minor adjustments based on the site conditions. After some time, he finalized the location.
Wang Lun carried another basket of wood ash and began marking out the locations for the bathroom and the rabbit-raising area. At this time, Li Ling and the other two also got up. Li Ling and Liu Ruoxi were cooking, while Liu Ruoling stood on the earthen cliff watching Wang Lun work.
Since these steps had been taken into consideration, the process was quite quick; it only required adjustments based on the actual site conditions. Soon, Wang Lun had used wood ash to determine the location, and then excavation began along the wood ash.
Wang Lun returned to the camp, washed the basket, and also washed up before going inside.
Inside, Li Ling and the other woman were still cooking, but the aroma of fish and meat suggested it would be ready soon. Wang Lun stopped doing anything else and simply called Liu Ruoling over to organize the necessary tools and put them together.
After breakfast, the four split into two groups and went about their own business. Li Ling and Liu Ruoxi dug the foundation for the wall and cut some grass to feed the pheasants and rabbits. Wang Lun and Liu Ruoling went to the woods to cut branches and trunks to prepare materials for building the wall and the two breeding areas.
Construction can officially begin in the afternoon. Li Ling and the others can start building the wall, while Wang Lun and Liu Ruoling can start digging the pond.
Li Ling and Liu Ruoxi first took knives and went to the area around the camp to cut as much grass as possible, since there were eight animals and they had plenty to eat. They also knew that building the fence would be very tiring later, leaving little time for dedicated grass cutting. Liu Ruoxi hadn't worked with Wang Lun before and wasn't entirely sure, but Li Ling did. So, they spent most of the morning cutting grass, piling it up in the camp. If they weren't worried about it rotting, they probably would have cut even more. But that was about enough, so they immediately switched tools and started digging the foundation for the fence. The foundation didn't need to be too deep, but it needed to be there. They dug about 20-30 centimeters and then stopped, not digging any deeper. Going any deeper would require longer posts, which would be inconvenient to carry in the forest.
After breakfast, Wang Lun and Liu Ruoling each grabbed a knife and went into the woods to start cutting down trees. They chopped enough trees to build a fence and a toilet by the end of the morning. As for building a livestock farm, they wouldn't have enough, but they estimated that another hour or two of chopping in the afternoon would be enough. However, since the sun was already high in the sky, Wang Lun and Liu Ruoling bundled up the trees they had cut that morning and each carried two bundles back to have lunch. They would come back after lunch.
The two returned to the camp. Li Ling and the others had just returned as well. The water in the pot was just boiling, and Li Ling was cooking wild vegetables and fish. In the morning, Liu Ruoxi cooked while Li Ling tended the fire. They switched at noon. After discussing it, they decided to take turns. Liu Ruoxi asked her to cook first, so she cooked in the morning.
Wang Lun and Liu Ruoling rested for a while, then washed their hands and faces by the pool before eating. Since there was meat all around the hearth, and everything was dirty from a busy morning, they didn't eat on the kang (heated brick bed). They moved a table to the courtyard, and the four of them sat down around it to eat.
After lunch, Wang Lun took Liu Ruoling to continue cutting down trees without resting. As for digesting? It's a ten-minute walk, isn't it? That'll do as a digestive aid. Liu Ruoling wanted to call him a miser, but she didn't, because she knew Wang Lun was doing all this for their benefit. Besides, Wang Lun was much more tired than her; he hadn't stopped all morning, while Liu Ruoling had rested at least several times along the way.
After cleaning up the pots and pans, Li Ling and her companion returned to the lawn behind the house to continue digging the foundation for the wall. They had been digging together that morning, and a small section hadn't been completed yet, but they managed to get it done now, making it easier to start building the wall.
About half an hour later, Li Ling and her partner had dug through the foundation of the wall and connected it. Then they went back to get water to bring up the lawn to make it easier to mix the soil.
Soon, the water was brought up. The two began mixing some soil to prepare for securing the pillars. However, since the space was relatively small, they could do it simultaneously. So, Li Ling had Liu Ruoxi mix the soil while Li Ling first inserted some pillars into the foundation. After Liu Ruoxi finished mixing, the soil could be poured directly into the foundation.
In the woods, Wang Lun and Liu Ruoling chopped for more than two hours. Wang Lun estimated that it was enough, so he told Liu Ruoling to rest for a while and then they could tie up the branches.
After resting for a while, Wang Lun stood up first and started bundling the branches. Seeing that Wang Lun was up, Liu Ruoling had no choice but to get up and help him. It took them almost half an hour to finish bundling all the branches they had cut that afternoon. After bundling them, including the ones they hadn't finished carrying in the morning, there were now twelve bundles in total. At four bundles per trip, the two of them would have to make two more trips, not counting the trip back. It would probably take another hour or so. So Wang Lun and Liu Ruoling each carried two bundles and headed back to the camp.
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