Leisurely Farmer's Family: A Strong Man and His Broken Leg Son-in-law

Early in the morning of the second day, the sky was bright.

The door of the Liu family's old house was pushed open from the inside.

The cold air has not dissipated in the early morning and it is still chilly.

Liu Yu wore a navy blue cotton coat, a blouse of the same color, and a pair of thick gloves. She went to the woodshed to get a shovel, pushed the cart and walked out of the fence gate.

After a hundred days of straining my muscles and bones, I could just do some light work in front of and behind the house. Digging was a laborious job, and the trenches were deep and far away. Due to Liu Yu's insistence, immortality did not come together.

Wrapped in a mist, Liu Yu went all the way to Gou'ao. When he arrived, the Liu Maolin brothers were already digging soil, and most of the cart supported by Liu Fan's cousins ​​was already loaded.

"Uncle, third uncle!"

After Liu Yu said hello, she found a place with sparse dead grass, put the cart down, inserted the shovel into the mud, shoveled off the top layer of dead grass and rotten leaves, and started digging up the soil.

The ditch has been dug by the villagers for so many years, and now it is a veritable ditch. It is a long and sloping ditch, and water accumulates in the deepest part.

"It's a good time for us to dig out the adobe. When there is a lot of rain in the spring and summer, it will be flooded here. It will be very troublesome to get the soil then!"

Liu Maoye hurriedly filled Liu Fan's cart with soil, glanced around and sighed.

The family didn't build a house or ram the soil. He hadn't been here for two or three years. The land seemed to be much dented, and it was unlikely that he would be able to raise fish in the dented area in a few years.

Until breakfast, Liu Yu had pulled back three loads of soil.

The land for rolling out the adobe was set in the open space on the west side of the old house, and Liu Yu's house was at the far west of the village.

Further to the west, there are no other houses. You can play with the mud and shade, and you can't hinder anyone, and you can't block anyone's way!

Liu Maolin and his men had five carts, and each of them also pulled back three carts of dirt. With nearly twenty carts of dirt piled together, it was not conspicuous.

After breakfast, Liu Yu pushed the trolley to Gouao again. This time, Qi Chunhua and Liu Meixiang went with them.

The two of them borrowed a cart from the village and joined in hauling dirt.

Liu Fusheng, Nian and others originally did not want Liu Meixiang to pull soil. Liu Maolin and a few of them would be enough for such heavy work!

However, Liu Meixiang persisted, and when Nian saw her third daughter-in-law, she personally pulled the strings. In order to prevent her eldest granddaughter from being criticized, she let her go!

Liu Yu and others were outside hauling away dirt, while Liu Fusheng, his wife, and Chang Sheng were not idle at home either. They pulled wheat straw from the firewood pile and chopped it into thumb-long pieces with a hatchet.

These wheat straws are broken and mixed into the mud. The resulting adobe can withstand the erosion of wind and rain better than those made of pure soil.

Several people spent most of their time hauling dirt from morning to night, except for three meals. After three days of this, the dirt they pulled back was piled up in a big pile.

Liu Fusheng made a rough calculation and asked them to stop and spread out the soil they pulled back. If it was not enough, they would dig in the trench later.

There are particular requirements for how much wheat straw a piece of clay contains. Liu Yu and the others did not understand this, so they only followed behind to carry water and pile soil. Liu Fusheng was responsible for the proportioning, and they added water and mud.

A pile of mud was piled into a circle, with the outer side bulging and the inner side concave. Liu Yu and Liu Shan poured buckets of water into the concave areas.

Liu Fan and Liu Yan took the pieces of wheat straw that Liu Fusheng put in the bamboo basket and turned the whole basket into the recess.

After Liu Fusheng shouted to stop, Liu Yu and Liu Shan stopped pouring water, and Liu Fan and Liu Yan also stopped throwing wheat straw.

When the water is enough for the straw, the next step is to mix the mud. The soil is heavy with the water, and the straw sections must be mixed in to mix evenly, which is a great test of arm strength.

Some held a spade, and some took a rake. After a while of busy work, they finally mixed all the wheat straw segments into the wet mud.

This is not enough. If you want to mix it into mud for making adobe, you have to continue mixing it to make sure that there are no lumps in the soil and that the straw is mixed evenly.

He He stopped letting the soil work, and Liu Fusheng took the shovel from Liu Yu's hand and turned it over. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when he said it was okay.

Qi Chunhua and Liu Meixiang moved the adobe rubbing board to the side, divided it among several people, and began to dig out the adobe.

Put the rubbing board on the ground, clear the dust and cover the bottom, place a spade of mud on it, and press it evenly with your hands until the edges and corners are horizontal and vertical, no more, no less. In this way, a piece of adobe is considered ready!

Gently remove the rubbing board, and then add another piece until all the soil has been added, and then add the next pile.

The excavated adobe can be moved after a few days of drying. They are placed layer by layer, leaving gaps in between, and then covered with thatched straw curtains. Just waiting for them to slowly dry in the shade, a new house can be built.

Everyone worked hard for fifteen or sixteen days before they finished laying out all the adobes of the two houses.

“These are enough, and it’s more than enough to build two more kitchens!”

Liu Maolin rubbed his sore arm, lightly touched the adobe block under the straw curtain, and turned around to talk to the crowd.

"If you still have some left, build a courtyard wall for Mei Xiang!"

Nian took over the conversation and said calmly.

Liu Maolin paused and nodded.

After the new house is built, Liu Meixiang will move to Liweizi. Although Liweizi is also in the village, after all, they don't live together, and they can't take care of them if something happens.

The families living in Qiliweizi all have courtyard walls. Liu Meixiang lives in a house with courtyard walls, so they can feel much more at ease.

No one had any objections, and the matter was settled.

"Has Shanzi's wedding date been set?"

After washing their hands, it was still early, so Liu Maolin and the others didn't go back for a while. They all sat in the courtyard of the old house, chatting for a while and taking a rest.

"Not yet. We have arranged to see the house on March 3rd. We have to see the house and get engaged before we can get married!"

After listening to my mother's question, Liu Maoye hurriedly said!

"March 3rd!"

Nian squinted his eyes slightly and did some calculations with his fingers. Today is February 19th, which is only half a month.

It’s not that I don’t know, it’s February 19th!

"Time flies so fast. It's already February 19th. In two days, it will be the 21st in our town!"

As soon as Nian opened his mouth, Liu Yu and the others suddenly remembered that it was not the day after tomorrow, so they could go to the town to join in the fun when there was a meeting.

From the Shuangliu Town Meeting on February 2nd to April 27th, several nearby towns hold town meetings every spring.

Shuangliu is too far away, so villagers rarely go to join in the fun, but they can go to the town meeting in Shangzhang Town to join in the fun.

Nian and Liu Fusheng love to listen to operas. The old couple perform three performances a day. Except for the one at night, which they cannot catch up with, the rest of the time, as long as it is not windy or rainy, they can attend two performances.

There are not only opera performances in the town, but also jugglers, monkey performers and storytellers hired by merchants to raise money.

Along with these, there are also small vendors from nearby villages and towns, such as candy sellers, sweet cakes, sweet soup sellers, and candy noodle sellers, which are most popular among children.

In previous years, Liu Yu would just go to the party on the first day to join in the fun, but this year was different. She thought that she might not have attended the party seriously when she was living in the Tian family.

Because I have a desire to make amends, I am even more looking forward to this year’s gathering.