si-mexico Chapter 10 Rebuilding the Pigpen
Chapter 10 Rebuilding the Pigpen
Zhao Yuan continued weaving the bamboo basket quickly. This simple bamboo basket was too easy for Zhao Yuan. The bamboo strips were thick and didn't need to be woven as tightly as bamboo hampers. So, in half a morning, Zhao Yuan had woven a tall stack. Soon, all the bamboo in the house was used up. Fortunately, there was a large pile of bamboo in the backyard. Zhao Yuan took a machete and cut down all the bamboo near Lin Xuemei's vegetable garden.
After tidying up the bamboo, all of it was moved into the main room.
"Fangfang, I'm going to the fields to get mud bricks."
"Ok."
Lin Fangfang sat on the bench breastfeeding, responding to Zhaoyuan.
Zhao Yuan, pulling his own cart, called Zhao Jieyuan and went to Zhao Qianduo's earthen brick field.
After paying, Zhao Jieyuan helped Zhao Yuan move bricks. Zhao Yuan pulled from the front, and Jieyuan pushed from the back. They worked from mid-morning until evening.
Rows of mud bricks were already piled up at the entrance.
The two sat down and smoked a pipe.
"You top scholar, stay for dinner."
Zhao Yuan finished his cigarette, stubbed it out, and said...
"Forget it, let's wait until Lin Fangfang is out of confinement before we make it up to her."
He patted Zhao Yuan on the shoulder and got up to walk home.
"Please come help me again tomorrow, thank you for your trouble."
"Good."
Zhao Jieyuan waved as he walked away.
Zhao Jieyuan can be said to be Zhao Yuan's best friend, always offering sincere help.
Looking at Zhao Jieyuan's retreating figure, Zhao Yuan vowed to lead Zhao Jieyuan out of poverty and into prosperity.
After finishing his meal, before it got dark, Zhao Yuan quickly split and processed the bamboo, making the most of every minute to finish making the bamboo baskets.
The next morning, Zhao Yuan finished breakfast early and went to Zhao Jieyuan's house.
"Hey, have you finished breakfast, scholar?"
"Let's go, we've been waiting for you."
As they spoke, the two men pulled a cart carrying mud bricks.
They quickly moved all the mud bricks to the front yard. Zhao Yuan and Zhao Jieyuan pulled some straw to cover the pile of mud bricks, and then placed a few more bricks on top, so that they wouldn't have to worry about rain.
In just over a month, the rainy season will arrive, and Zhao Yuan must complete the construction of the pigsty before it does.
After smoking a pipe, he drove the pig to Zhao Jieyuan's pigsty and locked it up.
The two men began dismantling the pigsty. Rural pigsties were very rudimentary, just low, drafty thatched huts. With a simple removal of the straw roof and a few planks, the roof was easily dismantled.
Next, Zhao Yuan stood on a stool to dismantle the mud bricks, while Zhao Jieyuan caught them below. The mud bricks used to be made of highly adhesive clay bricks stacked together, making dismantling them very convenient.
With the help of the two men, the three mud-brick cattle pens were finally demolished in the afternoon, and the removed mud bricks were neatly stacked in the yard.
"It's still early, I'm going to go dig in the field, I'll be going now."
Zhao Jieyuan walked home while smoking his pipe.
Zhao Yuan didn't stand on ceremony with Zhao Jieyuan; he would naturally repay this favor in the future.
Zhao Yuan then cleaned up the dismantled cattle pen area and went to split bamboo to weave bamboo baskets.
Aside from the occasional sound of a baby crying, the only other sound in the house was the soft clanging of bamboo strips being woven into a basket.
......
"Mom, Dad, we're back. My little sister is asleep."
Zhao Zhaodi and Zhao Laidi came home from school.
"Yeah, I just fell asleep."
Lin Fangfang agreed.
Zhao Zhaodi habitually puts down her schoolbag and goes to cook and wash vegetables.
"Zhaodi, put the rice in the pot. I've already prepared the radish dish on the stove. Put it on top of the rice to steam together. Your mother will light the fire. You and your sister should hurry up and do your homework. I'll cook the vegetables."
"Good."
Zhao Zhaodi quickly rinsed the rice and put it in the pot, placed a steamer rack on it, and put the diced radish on the steamer rack.
Lin Fangfang put the child on the bed and took over the task of starting the fire.
Zhao Zhaodi moved the table to the courtyard and started doing her homework with her younger sister.
Zhao Yuan quickly finished weaving a basket, put down his work, and came over to start washing and cooking vegetables.
It's just stir-fried vegetables.
After finishing their meal, Zhao Yuan checked the two sisters' homework and then instructed them to go to Zhao Jieyuan's house to feed the pigs.
Zhao Yuan climbed to the top of his family's earthen building to check the remaining wooden beams, which had been left over from a few years before his marriage for future house renovations. He roughly counted them and estimated they were enough to build a pigsty.
Zhao Yuan visited Zhao Jieyuan's house again.
"Hongmei, can you spare some time these next few days?"
"The top scholar told me that I'll go to your house to help out for a few days. It won't take long to repair the pigsty."
"Thank you both for your trouble. I'm making the pigsty bigger this time, so it will take a little longer to finish."
"What trouble? Fangfang is in her postpartum period and it's inconvenient for her. We'll help if we can. Don't worry, we'll come over to help tomorrow. It's not the busy farming season yet, so it's no problem."
Zhao Yuan thanked Zhao Jieyuan and his wife, then went to the fifth group to call Zhao Qiusheng, and also Zhao Qianjin, the best bricklayer in the village. Then he called Zhao San and Li Dawen, among others.
Zhao Yuan went to the village and bought some eggs and two ducks.
In rural areas at this time of year, when it comes to major events like building houses, apart from bricklayers and carpenters who are paid by the day, other laborers are paid on a rotating basis. It's like you help me out, and I help you out again for free if you need help.
Because he has to get up early tomorrow, Zhaoyuan went to bed as soon as it got dark today.
The next day, Zhao Yuan got up very early because he had to go to the commune to buy meat before everyone came to help in the morning.
When Zhao Yuan arrived at the commune, it was still early. Butcher Lu had just finished processing the pigs and hadn't started selling them yet.
"Old Lu, buy some meat."
As he spoke, Zhao Yuan handed Lu the butcher a rolled-up cigarette.
What important event has happened at home?
Butcher Lu took the pipe. Zhao Yuan lit a match and helped Butcher Lu light his pipe.
"We're planning to rebuild the pigsty at home."
Butcher Lu cut the gutted pig in half and placed it on the chopping board.
Zhao Yuan bought pig's feet, pig's liver, pig's lungs (Note: Pig's lungs are not eaten in many places, but locals love to eat them; they are very delicious when stir-fried with pickled chili peppers), and pork. The total weight was about ten jin (5 catties), and it cost 7 yuan. Butcher Lu also gave Zhao Yuan some pig's blood as a gift.
Zhao Yuan then went to the supply and marketing cooperative and bought some melon seeds and candy.
Zhao Yuan carried a large bag full of things and quickly headed home.
When Zhaoyuan returned home, everyone from the village who had made the appointment the day before arrived one after another. As soon as Yu Hongmei entered the house, she began to busy herself boiling water, killing chickens, and preparing ducks. Soon, Qiusheng's wife, Qiao Caiyun, also arrived. She was busy setting up a pot to cook rice porridge, while some of the men dragged carts to haul mud, and others began digging the foundation. Everyone was busy with their own tasks.
Most people in this era are very honest. They either don't help at all, or those who do are very honest people. Generally, people want to work with honest people. So everyone works as hard as if they were working for their own family.
"Hongmei, Caiyun, you've really gone to a lot of trouble."
Lin Fangfang put the child to sleep on the bed and sat down in front of the stove to start a fire.
"Oh, don't be so polite. Aren't you in your postpartum period?"
Qiao Caiyun put the rice paste into the pot. It would be used to mix with mud when the main structure was built later. This paste was more adhesive and stable than the paste made with water.
After the rice porridge was prepared, Qiao Caiyun went to the back garden and picked some cabbages, garlic, radishes, etc. There would be a lot of people at noon today, and the amount of rice for more than 10 people would be quite large, so she had to start preparing early.
The pigsty in Zhaoyuan was built according to 21st-century standards. The back wall and sides of the pigsty are about 1.8 meters high, and the middle is 2.3 meters high. The middle is made of wood as the roof beam, with a sloping roof. There are two windows on each side, no windows at the back, and four windows at the front. The top is covered with a layer of plastic, then a layer of straw, and the surface is covered with bamboo strips. This way, it is not afraid of strong winds and rain.
The pigpen is completely empty, measuring 20 meters long and 6 meters wide, like a huge house.
This was the first time such a pigsty had been built in the village. Since the main structure was completed, villagers of all ages would come to watch the spectacle from time to time. Everyone was puzzled as to why Zhao Yuan had built such a large and spacious pigsty, large enough to house dozens of pigs running around inside.
It's quite comfortable for several people to stay here.
"Zhaoyuan, you've built a playground for pigs! It's more comfortable than a human's living space."
Village Party Secretary Zhao Jianguo, with his hands behind his back, toured this new gadget and joked.
"Uncle Jianguo, it's not finished yet. It will be divided into small individual rooms."
Zhao Yuan agreed.
Zhao Jianguo circled the pigpen once, then walked away with his hands behind his back.
With more than a dozen people helping out every day, Zhao Yuan's pigsty was quickly built.
The whole village came to see what was going on. It was the first time they had ever seen a pigsty like this, neatly divided into small rooms.
Next, it was all the work of carpenter Zhao Sihai. Since it was all about making wooden fence gates, it was very simple, and the entire pigsty was completed in just 3 days.
Zhao Yuan read through the logbook recording the borrowers from each household, paid the bricklayer Zhao Qianjin 9 yuan and Zhao Sihai 3 yuan, finished recording everything, and then handed the logbook to Lin Fangfang for safekeeping.