Soon, Li Ling and Liu Ruoxi finished preparing the meal and called Wang Lun to eat. Wang Lun washed his hands, sat on the kang (heated brick bed), and seeing the contents of the low table, exclaimed, "Wow, this is quite a feast!" On the table were a bowl of braised pork, a pot of stewed pig's trotters and wild vegetables, and a stack of flatbreads. Li Ling distributed the bowls and chopsticks, and Wang Lun first picked up a flatbread, then chose a piece of braised pork. He thought to himself, "Braised pork with so many spices is definitely much tastier than stewed fish."
This meal was both a celebration of having persevered for a month and a celebration of being together and not being swayed by the production team. So everyone enjoyed the meal. Usually, it's just wild vegetables stewed with fish, and we only eat other meats when we're having a special treat. Today, it was all wild boar meat, and most importantly, there were flatbreads, which are something you can't even get your hands on if you want to.
After the meal, Wang Lun continued making the door, while Li Ling and the other two continued weaving straw sandals. They had been working on construction at the camp for the past two days, so everyone was wearing straw sandals. At first, they weren't used to them, but they grew to like them more and more. After all, straw sandals were quite cool, much better than sneakers, especially since the weather was still quite hot. However, the straw sandals were wearing out quite a bit, especially Liu Ruoling's, as she had walked the most, mostly on rocky terrain, so it was normal for them to be more worn. Besides, while there wasn't much else, there was plenty of wild grass. However, while they had replacement shoes, they didn't have replacement clothes. The most important thing was the pants. They could rotate clothes for washing, since shirts and jackets could be worn separately, but not pants. This meant that if their pants got dirty, they had to wait until bedtime to wash them, dry them, and then sleep. Wang Lun had some ideas for these things, but he hadn't found suitable materials yet, partly due to lack of time. If he had time, he probably would have already gone to find suitable materials. Of course, the fact that there were now four people instead of just two before also played a role.
More than an hour later, Wang Lun finished making the door to the chicken coop. He then helped Li Ling and the others weave straw sandals for a while. After they finished weaving one, they rested, since they couldn't stay up all night.
The next day, Wang Lun got up and went with Liu Ruoling to install the door. The size was just right, and it opened and closed several times without any problems. After all, Wang Lun had made several doors before, so there were basically no issues.
After installing the door, Wang Lun noticed that Li Ling and the others hadn't finished cooking yet, so he asked Liu Ruoling to move some stones so that he could smooth out the steps and make them easier to walk on.
After digging the steps, Li Ling called for lunch. Wang Lun packed up his tools, washed his hands and face at the pool, and then went back to the house to eat. For breakfast, of course, it was wild vegetable stewed fish again. There was no other way; there were plenty of fish now, and it had been a while, so they needed to be eaten quickly. Besides, Wang Lun planned to go to the beach again after the campsite was built and boil some salt. He also planned to see if he could catch some more fish, and if not, he could collect some seafood on the beach. He especially wanted to collect plenty of seaweed, as it would be easy to store after drying and tasted quite good.
After dinner, Liu Ruoling was wallpapering the backyard by herself, while Li Ling and the other woman continued building the wall. Wang Lun, on the other hand, went outside to cut grass with a basket on his back. Since there were people doing most of the work, and he could walk while doing it, Wang Lun decided to go out. He was still a little worried about letting anyone else go out alone.
Li Ling and the other woman knew how to build the walls, but Wang Lun had specifically instructed them before leaving that the one-meter-high wall at the bottom of the rabbit pen must be covered with a layer of stones, and the stones must be firmly attached to prevent the rabbits from digging holes to escape. As for the top, Wang Lun would be back by then, and he could guide them through that as well. Actually, it wasn't very complicated; the most complicated part was the sink above the shower room, but the rest was quite simple.
Wang Lun arrived at the lawn where he had previously mowed the grass. The grass had grown back in the areas where it had been cut, though not very tall. Wang Lun walked to the uncut areas and, as usual, first stirred up the grass to alert the snakes before cutting it.
With practice, Wang Lun became more skilled, and in just over an hour, he had cut a whole basketful, including the three bundles of hay placed on it. After resting for a while, he shouldered the basket and began his return journey.
Back at the camp, Wang Lun carried the hay to the backyard and placed it on the open ground nearby. He glanced at the wall that Liu Ruoling had plastered; it was plastered inside and out, and not bad. He gave Liu Ruoling a small compliment and then left.
Once they reached the front, Li Ling was relieved and sent to work with Liu Ruoling to finish the roof of the chicken coop, hoping to move the two pheasants into their new home today. After all, they hadn't laid eggs for several days; they were probably frightened by being with the rabbit, and it certainly wasn't because they had only recently been caught. Wang Lun attributed the lack of eggs to the rabbit, thus giving the rabbit a reason to be killed later.
Wang Lun and Liu Ruoxi were building a wall together. Wang Lun was building, and Liu Ruoxi was mixing the mud. Liu Ruoxi couldn't keep up with Wang Lun's pace. At first, it was okay, as Liu Ruoxi had some stamina, but as it went on, she couldn't keep up anymore because Wang Lun didn't take any breaks and kept working. Liu Ruoxi didn't want to cause a shortage because of her, so she persevered, but she became increasingly breathless. Later, Wang Lun simply started helping to mix the mud, and Liu Ruoxi completely gave up; she couldn't keep up at all.
After a while, Wang Lun had built the wall to about one meter high. He glanced at the sky; it was noon. So he said, "Let's go back. Let's stop here for now and do the rest this afternoon." Hearing that she could stop, Liu Ruoxi immediately put down her entrenching tool, sat down on a nearby rock, and said, panting heavily, "No, I need to rest." Seeing how tired Liu Ruoxi was, Wang Lun said, "Why don't you rest if you're tired?" Liu Ruoxi rolled her eyes at Wang Lun but didn't say anything else.
After waiting for Liu Ruoxi to rest for a while, Wang Lun helped her back into the house. Liu Ruoxi then started the fire while Wang Lun cooked. While washing the vegetables, he called Li Ling and the other woman back.
Li Ling and Liu Ruoling had already laid some of the roofing material. Of course, Liu Ruoling had already plastered the walls before joining Li Ling in laying the roof. However, Li Ling wanted to lay a layer of dry straw on the roof first, so they basically started laying the roofing material together.
The roof is constructed the same way as the earthen house. First, a layer of dry grass or leaves is laid as a partition, then a layer of mud is laid on top, followed by a thick layer of dry grass. Three layers of waterproofing are generally sufficient. Besides, it's a chicken coop; a little leakage occasionally is to be expected.
Li Ling heard Wang Lun calling her back for dinner, but she waited until she had used up all the mud that Liu Ruoling had mixed before going back.
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