After breakfast, Shenzui and Mu Wan'er accompanied them to the woods not far away, while the hornbill flew away on its own, looking for grass to feed its appetite.
Carpenter Li came here early. It was still early in the morning and quite chilly. Mu Wan'er was already wearing heavy clothes.
But looking at Carpenter Li who was working, he had stripped off his upper body to only a mandarin jacket, revealing two strong arms and bronze skin.
Yesterday, the tree trunk was roughly trimmed and neatly trimmed. Today's main task is to finely plan it and cut holes to create a mortise and tenon structure.
Naturally, there were still many villagers surrounding Carpenter Li. In addition to some young people who want to learn skills, there are more elderly people and children who have nothing to do.
Carpenter Li picked up the plane, pushed it gently on one side a few times, then nodded, and with a wave of his arm, several young people jumped over to show their hospitality.
These are all people who want to become apprentices, but they also know that Carpenter Li never accepts apprentices. These hopeful young people come from our own village as well as from several nearby towns.
As long as Carpenter Li goes out to work, no matter it is windy, rainy, snowy or hailing, these young people will squat at the work place in advance as always, just to help out at such times.
No matter what, he is still a familiar face. If Carpenter Li gets caught in the door one day and changes his temper and wants to accept a disciple, wouldn't it be considered as someone who is close to the water and has gained the upper hand first?
Even if there is no such opportunity, it is much better to get a few words of advice from Carpenter Li while working than to squat on the ground and just watch.
It is a rare thing for a country person to have a craft that can lead to no loss at any time and may even make a lot of money.
Besides, they don’t ask you for money. You can watch and learn all the processes. Where can you find such a living Bodhisattva? Therefore, these people respect Carpenter Li more than anyone else.
After several strong men turned it over, Carpenter Li began to further plan the beam. Two arcs and two flat surfaces are the most striking features of Carpenter Li.
Other craftsmen plan the tree from all sides to maintain the overall curvature of the trunk. But he is different. There are curvatures on both sides and will be placed vertically in the corresponding position.
In this way, when the main house is viewed from below, the beams will feel rounded, comfortable and without edges and corners.
The other two sides are polished smooth because of the mortise and tenon joints.
Although most people who do carpentry work have good research on this craft. But after all, there are still high and low levels.
Taking this simplest shape as an example, low-level or not top-level carpenters will naturally try to maintain the integrity of the beams.
After choosing a good piece of wood, from felling to pruning the branches, to planing and polishing, to drilling, no extra inch was spared.
But Carpenter Li is different. He will remove all unnecessary places and make adjustments according to the purpose of the house while ensuring stability.
Take Mu Wan'er and Shen Zui's new thatched house as an example. It is not very big, so the load-bearing requirements are not very high.
However, when building a house in the countryside, it is required that it can withstand wind, frost, rain and snow, and be strong and durable.
Therefore, he will polish both sides of the beam, so that when the mortise and tenon are inserted, the connection point will be stronger and the service life will be extended accordingly.
Carpenter Li is now in his forties. The house he built alone when he was fifteen years old still has no problems at all. Not only is there no water leakage, not even a single flake of skin has fallen off the outside.
These are all real examples before our eyes, and they are also the reason why Carpenter Li is so able to get along so well in various places.
Shen Zui was about to say something to Mu Wan'er beside him, but he turned around but didn't see her. Then he shook his head slightly, thinking that he secretly went to the mountain to pick weeds.
It would not be wrong to say that Shen Zui did not understand the ways of the world. But to say that he didn't understand Mu Wan'er would be a big mistake.
Sure enough, Mu Wan'er followed the trail into the forest behind, followed by the hornbill, chirping all the way.
The canary bird with dull feathers on its head flew back and forth among the brown, gray, and white tree trunks around it, and occasionally stayed on the branches with a few green leaves left.
He pecked the small red fruit with his small beak, then skillfully held it in Wan'er's hand.
"Rhinoceros, you've been working hard with us during this time. I'm not going to do anything today, just help you find some weeds."
Mu Wan'er stroked the bird's soft feathers with her hands and talked as she walked.
As we neared our destination, the canary bird began to chirp. The girl raised her eyes and saw that there were indeed many lilac flowers blooming around her.
The hornbill was impatient, just like an ordinary pet seeing a delicious meal, it rushed to a plant, then picked the flower from the calyx and swallowed it into its belly. Then he went to find other flowers.
Mu Wan'er watched from the side and understood that the hornbill only eats small flowers, so even if they dig them all out, it is of no use.
Since this was the case, she began to collect these tiny flowers. Each wormwood plant will only produce one flower, so it is very troublesome to collect.
Besides, Shen Zui said, this thing can't compare with the spirit stones used in the Immortal Family before. The spiritual energy contained in it is so thin that the hornbill would have to eat a lot to get enough.
Mu Wan'er is not afraid of hard work, especially for the people around her. Even though the hornbill is not a human being, the girl has long regarded it as a friend.
Squatting down and getting up from time to time, looking back and forth, is actually quite energy-consuming.
So when it was past noon, Mu Wan'er felt her stomach growling a little, but seeing the hornbills still flying among the sage plants, she endured it.
She just ate a little less and did more work, so she was so delicate.
The hornbill was previously offered as an offering to the Immortal Family, and all it ate were spiritual stones, which were much more valuable than real gold and silver.
Nowadays, even if the meal is not full, there is no complaint at all.
Such a spiritual bird really makes the girl feel ashamed.
Just as Mu Wan'er lowered her head to think, several bunches of green fruits suddenly appeared in front of her eyes.
It was the hornbill that picked it up and placed it on the hem of her spread skirt while she was squatting.
Then the bird bumped the fruit with its little head, flew into Mu Wan'er's pocket, and looked at the red fruit inside.
"You mean let me eat something?"
The bird nodded repeatedly and jumped up and down on the skirt.
"Don't worry, I'll help you find some weeds first."
Unexpectedly, the usually obedient bird went out of its way and prevented the girl from getting up, and kept pushing the berries into the girl's arms.
"Okay, it's up to you, I'll eat it and you'll eat it too."
Mu Wan'er took out some of the wormwood she had just picked from her pocket and placed it on the grass next to her.
He wiped the red and green berries with his sleeve and put them into his mouth one by one.
Bite it open gently, the juice is sweet and the flesh is fragrant and soft.
Mu Wan'er extended her thumb towards the hornbill, and the bird opposite was chirping particularly cheerfully.
