Standing in the bedroom, Jiang Yan looked at the collapsed fire pit. The bricks inside were scattered in pieces, but fortunately, everything was intact, so it would not be difficult to build it again.
"I'm sorry." Lying aside, Gao Chou looked at Jiang Yan with an apologetic face.
"Are you referring to the kang, or can't you help?" After hearing this, Jiang Yan spoke subconsciously.
"Both."
Raising the katana in his hand, Gao Chou pretended to hand it to Jiang Yan. Seeing this, Jiang Yan shook his head gently.
"I gave you the knife. You can practice after the injury heals."
Feeling Jiang Yan's trust, Gao Chou didn't say much, but the hand holding the knife was trembling slightly at the moment.
Cement was needed to build the kang, but Jiang Yan, who was rich in resources, did not store cement, which gave Jiang Yan a headache. It was already noon, and if the kang was not built before sunset, all the seeds in his hand would freeze to death.
"This is how to do?"
Scratching his head, Jiang Yan thought about how to build a kang. If he just put the bricks up one by one, it would definitely collapse again in a short time. Jiang Yan needed an adhesive similar to cement.
"Is loess okay?" Jiang Yan asked subconsciously, thinking of the thatched houses where the old people lived in the village.
Hearing Jiang Yan's subconscious muttering, Gao Chou turned his head and looked in Jiang Yan's direction towards the Tukang and said.
"Are you thinking about how to build a kang?"
The sudden sound interrupted Jiang Yan's thoughts. She turned around and looked at Gao Chou beside her. Jiang Yan nodded.
"If there is no cement, you can use hollow bricks, and put a few adobe bricks on the hollow part of the hollow bricks. This will mesh with each other like building blocks, and the load-bearing capacity will be stronger, and the whole will be stronger."
After receiving a positive answer, Gao Chou opened his mouth to explain his thoughts.
After hearing Gao Chou's method, the doubts in Jiang Yan's mind disappeared instantly, and she turned around to look at Gao Chou with surprise on her face.
"You are quite smart!"
Gao Chou was flattered by the sudden praise and scratched his head uncomfortably, not daring to look directly into Jiang Yan's eyes.
Hollow bricks are relatively rare in rural areas. In relatively remote villages like Shengjia Village, old-fashioned red bricks are still used for building houses, but Jiang Yan remembers clearly that there were some hollow bricks stacked in the original village detachment.
"Roar."
Zhao Dabai lazily returned to the farm in the courtyard. Hearing Zhao Dabai's voice, Jiang Yan hurried to the storage room and pushed out a small cart to greet Zhao Dabai.
"Gao Chou, Zhao Dabai and I are going out for a trip, and you can look after the house."
After saying a few words, Jiang Yan pushed the cart and left the farm with Zhao Dabai.
Zhao Dabai on the side jumped happily when he saw his master taking him out again. But the moment he walked out of the compound, Jiang Yan pulled Zhao Dabai and turned into the neighboring house not far away.
Putting the cart aside, he climbed up to the roof in three steps and two steps at a time, took out his binoculars and looked at Gao Chou inside the room.
Of course, Jiang Yan didn't completely trust Gao Chou. Although the latter acted sincerely, the last thing to trust in the last days was human nature, let alone a person he had only known for less than three days.
There was an unloaded pistol on the table in the storage room. As long as Gao Chou secretly took the pistol, Jiang Yan would fight back to the house and send him on his way.
In the past two days, Jiang Yan has not let anyone approach the storage room. Now that she is leaving, a careful person like Gao Chou will definitely open the door of the storage room quietly.
Looking at the telescope, time passes quietly.
However, Gao Chou in the farmhouse at this moment was already lying on the ground and fell asleep.
"Wait another fifteen minutes."
Looking at the quiet Gao Chou in the house, Jiang Yan, who was lying on the roof, was thinking secretly.
Time passed slowly. Jiang Yan, who was lying on the roof, felt a little tight in his chest. He moved his body a little. Jiang Yan opened the telescope and suddenly found that Gao Chou had woken up!
Gao Chou, who was inside the house, looked out the window and found that no one was there, then struggled to stand up.
Then he lay down next to the kang, stretched out his left hand, and tried to pick up a brick.
The fierce movements tore open Gao Chou's wound, and a trace of bright red was revealed through the layers of gauze.
"It seems I misunderstood again." Looking at the blood stains, Jiang Yan suddenly felt a little ashamed.
The pain from the tearing wound made Gao Chou stop collecting bricks and slumped down on the ground. Gao Chou breathed heavily with a pale face.
"OK, let's go pick up bricks."
Climbing off the roof in shame, Jiang Yan took Zhao Dabai to the village detachment. In the corner were not only hollow bricks, but also a pile of river sand and stone powder used for building houses, and even two-story coal stored in the backyard.
"How much money did this dog village official steal from us?"
Looking at the huge coal mountain, Jiang Yan pinched her waist and looked unhappy!
After putting away the hollow bricks, Jiang Yan took Zhao Dabai back to the farm. Gao Chou in the bedroom was still slumped on the ground as before, and his face was rosier than before after taking a short rest.
"What happened? Got shot again?"
Glancing at the bandages on Gao Chou's body, Jiang Yan asked knowingly.
"No, I moved just now and touched a wound." Gao Chou said in a weak voice.
Letting Gao Chou take a good rest, Jiang Yan stepped into the kang pit, carried the crushed cement and bricks out of the room, and then picked up the hollow bricks and started building the kang.
Just as Gao Chou said, the gaps in the hollow bricks just support three red bricks placed vertically. Jiang Yan built winding flues in the original kang pit like building blocks.
As the last hollow brick was placed, Jiang Yan carefully stepped out of the kang and admired her masterpiece.
"good."
The neat and orderly flue made Jiang Yan very satisfied. She rubbed her sore arms and looked out the window. It had only been an hour and a half. Jiang Yan, who had not had lunch, was a little hungry at the moment.
"Forget it, let's not eat it yet!"
With a sudden change of heart, Jiang Yan gave up the idea of having lunch. The kang was not finished yet. Although the flue had been built, the kang board still needed to be installed.
The earthen kang in rural areas is not complicated. The bottom is a flue. Above the flue is a thick cement board. Above the cement board is a layer of spliced wooden boards. The top of the wooden boards is a soft kang. Changed.
The original cement board had been smashed to pieces by Zhao Dabai. If he wanted to find a cement board that could be used as a kang board, he would have to dismantle the kang of the neighbor's house next door.
"Zhao Dabai, carry the Kang board with me."
Thinking of this, Jiang Yan pushed the trolley, kicked up Zhao Dabai who was dozing on the side, and walked towards the neighbor's bedroom.
After a lot of effort, Jiang Yan moved five cement boards next door. Fortunately, with Zhao Dabai's help, otherwise it would have taken a lot of effort for Jiang Yan to make the kang boards weighing more than 100 kilograms.
"Hey!"
After unloading the kang board into the house, Jiang Yan cooperated with Zhao Dabai to push the kang board onto the flue. As the last cement board was spliced, Jiang Yan collapsed on the ground and gasped.
Gao Chou looked at this scene and touched his wound with self-reproach.
After resting for a while, Jiang Yan spliced the wooden boards on the cement board, and then laid the kang leather on top. The back of the kang leather has anti-slip treatment. After a little fixation with thumbtacks, the kang leather with a large flower pattern was laid.
After wiping the dust off her face, Jiang Yan walked out of the room. It was almost evening and it was time to have dinner.
The stove pit was lit, the fire gradually became stronger, and Jiang Yan threw corn and potatoes into the pot.
These are the only two staple foods I have at home now.
"I really want to eat fried noodles."
Sitting on the Taishi's chair, Jiang Yan looked at the stove in a daze. She thought of the delicious food in the past. Everything made her forget about it, but now, Jiang Yan couldn't even eat rice.
"Rice?"
Thinking of this, Jiang Yan's eyes suddenly lit up.
