Reborn in 1977

Chapter 76: An Eye-Opener

Chen Fan didn't bother with a chair, just squatting to the side to watch the excitement.

He had deliberately chosen this spot, as people wouldn't pass by and it was close enough to the construction site to clearly hear the workers chatting.

By this time, the foundation trenches for the house had already been dug. Next, piles of crushed stones were shoveled into the trenches. Before long, a cart loaded with something was pulled up from the bottom of the slope to the west.

The flatbed cart was loaded with four planks, pulled by one person and pushed by three others, making it clear that the load was heavy.

Chen Fan immediately ran over, but he didn't jump in to help blindly. There were already several people watching, and it wasn't his turn. If he rushed in and disrupted their balance, it would be a disaster.

He just stood not far away, carefully observing, and discovered that the cart was actually full of a very thick, black slurry.

What the heck was this stuff?

Someone next to him saw Chen Fan's expression and chuckled, "Master Chen, haven't you seen this before?"

Chen Fan smiled and shook his head, "I really don't know this one."

A man with an unfamiliar face laughed heartily, "Master Chen must be from the big city. They use cement mortar for building houses in the city, but the countryside doesn't have that much cement, and we can't afford it or get it. Our ancestors have been building houses with this kind of mud slurry for generations. Whether a house is good or not depends not only on the adobe bricks but also, more importantly, on this slurry."

Chen Fan's eyes widened, "This mud slurry is important?"

"Of course, it's important."

After much effort, the cart of mud slurry was pulled onto level ground, and he volunteered to help push it to the construction site, saying, "There's a mud slurry pit at the bottom of the slope. You'll understand when you see it."

Bottom of the slope?

Chen Fan looked back and was dumbfounded.

What was that cow doing?

Looking back at the construction site, everyone was shoveling the mud slurry into the foundation, mixing it with the crushed stones.

After watching for a while, he walked down the slope. Passing through a pile of adobe bricks about half a meter high, he stopped to take a look. These adobe bricks were all made of clay, and you could still see some straw fibers on the surface. The adobe bricks were quite large, bigger than ordinary red bricks, about a foot long, half a foot wide, and more than ten centimeters high. One brick could be worth several ordinary red bricks.

Moreover, all the adobe bricks were the same size, probably made from the same mold.

Continuing down, he soon saw a mud slurry pit of about sixty or seventy square meters at the bottom of the slope.

An artificial dike surrounded it, and the mud slurry inside was already very viscous. A large water buffalo was repeatedly trampling in the mud slurry, and with each step, someone would use an iron shovel to turn over the footprints it left.

There were also two people guarding a large pile of smelly black soil, occasionally shoveling the black soil into the mud slurry pit.

Chen Fan was a little curious, "Is this the mud slurry for building houses? This soil looks different?"

Several of the workers had already recognized him, and one of them smiled and said, "Master Chen, haven't you seen this before?"

Chen Fan shook his head, his eyes fixed on the mud slurry, not even blinking, "I really haven't seen it!"

The man continued, "This is the countryside's 'soil cement.' First, we dig up clay, pick it up, and spread it out in a flat area to dry. Every two days, we have to turn it over, so it's exposed to the wind and sun until all the soil is loose."

Hearing this, Chen Fan nodded suddenly, "Let the clay weather naturally."

The man laughed heartily, "Master Chen is knowledgeable; we don't know that."

After a pause, he added, "After it's dried, we pile it up, add straw, or other harder dry grass, add some water, and mix it evenly, then cover it with oilcloth to ferment. Before we had oilcloth, we had to build a thatched hut to cover it for fermentation. Actually, it's okay to just trample the mud directly without fermenting, but it's not as durable as fermented mud. Fermented mud can last for fifty years, while unfermented mud is only good for thirty years or so."

Pointing to the large pile of black soil, he said, "This is the fermented stuff. Shovel it into the pit, add some slaked lime and limewater, and then have the cow come over and trample it repeatedly. It's the same principle as mixing by hand, but humans aren't as strong as cows, and using a cow is faster."

Chen Fan was already listening in stunned silence. He thought that adobe houses were directly glued together with mud slurry, but he didn't expect it to be so complicated?

Today was truly an eye-opener.

After watching for a while, the cart of mud slurry above was used up, and another one was being pulled down. He greeted them and followed the cart up.

At this time, a row of foundations had already been laid at the entrance, all piled up with crushed stones and glued together with mud slurry. A layer of broken bricks was also attached to the outer wall, probably to increase its waterproof function.

Time passed slowly, and the workers gradually got into the groove, and fewer people spoke, all busy with their work.

The skilled workers were laying bricks and mixing mud slurry, while the unskilled workers were responsible for carrying materials.

Chen Fan also realized that all the skilled workers were hired bricklayers, while all the unskilled workers were members of the production team.

This was the norm for building houses in the countryside now.

After a while, suddenly there was the sound of a bicycle bell, and the cheers of children.

Chen Fan was surprised. He had been here for several days, and other than seeing bicycles at the brigade headquarters, he had never seen them anywhere else. Who was coming?

He got up and walked to the road, and saw three bicycles riding up the dirt slope, with a group of children chasing after them, scattering laughter along the way.

The first one was obviously from the post and telecommunications office, a dark green "Flying Pigeon" bicycle, with a green tool bag hanging on the frame. One person was pedaling in the front, and another was sitting steadily in the back, passing in front of Chen Fan and heading towards the back.

Needless to say, these two were definitely technicians here to install the loudspeakers.

If he didn't have to watch the house being built here, he would definitely have followed them to watch the excitement.

Looking at the two behind, they were also "Flying Pigeon" bicycles, but they were black. One bike carried two people, and the other carried one person, but the back seat was tied with a canvas tool bag, and there was a long saw. Both bikes also had tool bags hanging on the front bar.

Were these carpenters?

Sure enough, these two bikes arrived and turned directly in, then greeted everyone loudly.

Huang Laosi immediately took out cigarettes to greet them, first handing one to each, then respectfully striking a match to help them light up, and after exchanging a few pleasantries with a smile, he led them to a pile of wood nearby.

Chen Fan wasn't afraid of being annoying, and followed them happily, watching the carpenters assess the pile of wood.

"These few are good for the main beams, these can make a few doors and windows, these can make furniture. Your family has 8 people, I've made a plan, see if it's okay, ..."

After the carpenter finished speaking, Huang Laosi grinned and whispered, "I want to make an extra bed and a five-drawer cabinet. Please see if there's enough wood."

The carpenter frowned slightly, "It's barely enough to make one more thing. Which one do you want?"

Huang Laosi pondered, "Then let's make a cabinet."

The bed boards were easy to solve, and two benches could be used to make a bed, so it was more cost-effective to leave the wood for the cabinet.