The Daily Life of Farming and Raising Children in Ancient Mountain Residences

Chapter 43

There was no difficulty in borrowing the round winnowing baskets from the Chen family. The Chen family had two large round winnowing baskets, and there was nothing to dry at this time of year. Some of the vegetables that could be harvested were just placed in the yard and dried with hemp ropes.

Shen Ning was too young, only responsible for delivering meals to Shen An. Another winnowing basket was sent to Sang Lou’s house with the help of Qin Fangniang. After dinner, the villagers who were idling outside the house saw it and remembered that Sang Lou had also bought two at noon, and they exclaimed, “Why do you need so many round winnowing baskets?”

Sang Lou smiled and, rarely, replied to the woman she didn’t know, “To dry some ferns for storage, otherwise there won’t be any vegetables to eat in winter.”

Crowd: Oh, right, the Sang family seems to not know how to farm. They can only dry some wild vegetables for storage.

“You still need to know how to grow vegetables. At this time of year, you can plant some more. If you don’t know, you can ask Aunt Qin Fangniang.”

This was warm-hearted and well-intentioned. Sang Lou smiled and thanked them.

Previously having no interaction with the villagers, it seemed that she was gradually integrating.

Qin Fangniang smiled and watched as Sang Lou brought the things in. She didn’t enter the house or ask too much. After seeing the vegetable plot behind Sang Lou’s house, where several pieces of land were already usable, she went home.

…

After fifteen, when the night fell, the moon hung in the sky like a silver plate, particularly highlighting its presence, with moonlight sprinkling like silver frost.

The door of the grass house was closed, and a fire was burning inside, illuminating the house very brightly. Occasionally, there was a crackling sound of firewood burning. Compared to the silver frost everywhere outside, it brought out a warm color.

Under the glow of the fire, Sang Lou, accompanied by her two children, began making sour jujube cakes.

Fruits they had known since they could walk and run, after simple processing, turned into a completely different appearance in their hands. This feeling was still very novel. After kneading with sugar, Sang Lou smiled and said, “Now you can eat it. Try a bite yourselves; it tastes different from the ones dried out finally.”

With the sugar and sour jujube mixed together, Shen Ning hadn’t even started eating, but her mouth was already watering.

The sour jujube cakes that hadn’t formed yet were soft, but with a lot of maltose added, the sour and sweet taste made the siblings hold a piece each in their hands, eating it with great enjoyment.

“It’s really delicious; someone will definitely buy it!”

“What does it look like when dried?”

Sang Lou smiled and arranged the washed winnowing baskets, one in each hand, letting the two children watch as the sour jujube cakes slowly formed. Then she placed the two winnowing baskets outside under two trees before letting the two children tidy up and go to sleep.

The nights in the mountains gradually cooled down. Sang Lou simply made some fairy tofu and then prepared to go to bed.

The two children slept close to the bed, leaving relatively more space for her on the outside. Shen Ning slept in the middle, lying on her side. Sang Lou gently moved her to the outside before lying down herself.

…

This busy day, Sang Lou didn’t know, but tonight, the Shi and Lu families had made her the topic of conversation before bedtime.

About the house, about the food, about her conduct, and about the pastries she brought back for a group of children today, Huzi and Erniu became the most envied ones in the family today.

By the next day, the child labor team had grown from nine people to twelve, leaving Shen An and Shen Ning dumbfounded.

Shen An pulled Huzi and Erniu aside. “What’s going on?”

The two little friends scratched their heads awkwardly. “Yeah, we told them about the pastries your sister-in-law bought for us during the day.”

Shen An: “But I don’t have pastries to eat while working here; that’s something my sister-in-law buys occasionally.”

If everyone was here for pastries, they should go back quickly, right? He didn’t need so many people, did he?

Huzi hurriedly explained, “No, we made it clear to them. There’s no pay, and my grandpa also scolded me.”

Otherwise, there wouldn’t be only three newcomers from the two families, because the younger ones behind obviously couldn’t do the work and were suppressed by their parents and grandparents and not allowed to come over here. The ones who came were obviously older and could indeed help.

Moreover, like Huzi’s older brothers, Erge, and Erniu’s older brother, they are all semi-grown sons like Chen Ershan. They didn’t come here today to cultivate the land but to help Chen Ershan dig mud and make bricks.

On the other side, Shi Erlang was also explaining to Old Man Chen, “A few of us from both families heard yesterday that Huzi and Erniu ate pastries. Today, we all wanted to come over, but how could that be? We suppressed them all. Instead, these three older ones, I and Uncle Lu discussed and let them come along. They don’t need to worry about meals. They just need to come over for an hour every morning to help dig mud over there. It can speed up our progress a bit, so the house can be built sooner, and we can rest for a few days before the busy farming season.”

Old Man Chen nodded after listening. “That makes sense. We are a bit tight on time.”

Farming can wear people out several layers of skin. He thought for a moment and said, “If your kids are willing to work, they don’t have to avoid mealtime and only work for an hour before going back. If they can endure hardship, they might as well help out directly like my Erlang here. They can eat here too. I have the final say on this matter. I’ll talk to A’Lie’s wife about it. She’ll only be happy; she won’t think it’s inappropriate.”

During this period of contact, Old Man Chen also knew a bit about Sang Lou’s character. Originally, he was planning to call more people, but he was afraid of causing a commotion. In the end, he only called people from the Shi and Lu families. Now, only the children from these two families came to help. Although they were semi-grown sons, they were not bad at work. They were already half-laborers at home. The task of digging mud and making bricks could be completely handed over to these kids, and they could start digging the foundation today.

Shi Erlang and Lu Dalang glanced at each other, hesitating about what to do.

Helping others build houses in the village was common, but there was no precedent for semi-grown sons to come. After all, they were not adult laborers, but they didn’t necessarily eat much less.

Doing this might be a bit unfair.

Lu Dalang thought of what his father had told him when he left home in the morning, to have a few kids come over to help. The original intention was to please Sang Lou. If they really did this, trying to be friendly might end up taking advantage. Thinking of this, he shook his head. “Uncle, I think we don’t need them. Let’s calculate; these few kids have helped dig mud for over an hour. It’s about time.”

Seeing Lu Dalang refuse, Shi Erlang also shook his head in refusal.

Old Man Chen looked at the two of them and didn’t say much. He said, “Let’s get to work first. We’ll talk about it later.”

When Sang Lou came back in the afternoon, he would ask her opinion again.

…

Naturally, Sang Lou’s intention was good. She didn’t want too many people from the village to come and help because she was cooking at home and didn’t want to attract attention.

But if it was people from the Shi and Lu families, there were already a few of them. Where would there be any fear of having these three semi-grown sons?

Old Man Chen chuckled as he listened. “I thought you were also willing, but it seems they’re afraid that semi-grown sons helping to build houses might not provide enough labor, although they don’t eat much less than adults. They feel like they’re taking advantage, so they didn’t agree.”

Sang Lou smiled as she listened, her eyes curved. People who had a good relationship with the Chen family were indeed decent.

She smiled and said, “Then I’ll go talk to Uncle Shi and Uncle Lu. Originally, with the poor reputation my family had, when they agreed to come and help build the house, it was to support us. Among villagers, who cares about such trivial matters?”

Old Man Chen laughed. “That’s the point.”

If everything was measured so meticulously, not much camaraderie could be built.

They had spoken a bit further away. After Sang Lou finished speaking with Old Man Chen, she went to Shi Erlang and Qi Dalang. She always spoke with a smile and was sincere. Shi Erlang was better, but someone like Lu Dalang, who was similar in temperament to Old Man Chen, couldn’t withstand a few words?

It didn’t take long for this matter to be settled.

When she left, Lu Dalang was still a bit bewildered. Chen Youtian, who was dealing with wood, reminded him with a smile, “What are you staring at? Call your son back and bring those three kids.”

Lu Dalang nodded blankly, reacting. He hurriedly called his son back.

With a few more kids, they took over the task of digging mud and making bricks. Five adults, except for Chen Youtian, who was temporarily occupied, all dug the foundation. This sped up progress.

A foundation over half a meter deep was dug out in just two days. By the third day, when Sang Lou returned from the county, Old Man Chen and Shi Erlang had already begun to build the walls.

This was the first time Sang Lou had seen how adobe houses were built.

A set of wooden boards was fixed to the foundation to form a four-sided frame. Then, well-kneaded yellow clay was filled in, compacted with a heavy tool tied at the corners, and compressed repeatedly until the clay was solid inside the mold. The mold was then removed, leaving a solid block of earth. The process started again for the next wall.

So, this was how adobe walls were made.

From Old Man Chen, Sang Lou also learned that this was called “rammed earth construction.”

Two more days passed, and the basic structure of the kitchen, bathhouse, and the entire front yard wall came together. The adobe bricks made by the several semi-grown sons were put to use. With yellow clay and mud, walls were built. In just a few days, the kitchen and bathhouse were both finished, and the doors and windows were installed. Only the rafters and thatching remained.

Apart from buying a few reed mats from the county, Sang Lou didn’t have to worry about anything else. By August 22nd, the two small houses and the front and back yard walls were all finished and smoothed with a fine layer of straw mud.

The newly built adobe houses completely overturned Sang Lou’s understanding of rural adobe houses. They weren’t ugly at all; in fact, because Old Man Chen had chosen high-quality yellow clay from the mountains, they had a simple and beautiful red color.

Compared to the main house, which had been repaired simply before moving in, it was much rougher.

Anyway, the house was successfully completed. The villagers were truly talented; they even arranged the kitchen for her.

Apart from the bed promised to Shen An, everything else was ready. Beds, windows, tables, stools, even a wooden chest for storage—everything a normal household needed was gradually being acquired.

Sang Lou also asked Mrs. Chen to help borrow a big dried fish from the Li family. She looked through the almanac, chose an auspicious day, and decided to invite three families over for a meal. It was both a thank-you and a housewarming.

In the countryside around Qiyang County, because living conditions weren’t particularly good, it was rare to have separate ceremonies for the topping-out and moving-in. Usually, on the day the roof beams were raised, they would use alcohol to bless the beams. When the new house was completed, they would combine the topping-out and moving-in ceremonies into one.

The auspicious day wasn’t far off; it was August 25th.

On this day, every household in the village had to start the autumn harvest. However, Sang Lou also mentioned that they didn’t need to help with the chores. After finishing their fieldwork, they could just come over for a meal.

Several families agreed, but it was unlikely that the entire extended family would come. Usually, only the elders and those helping with the work would come, perhaps with a couple of children. Additionally, one family would send a woman to help wash vegetables and cook during the day.

Even so, it would still be lively.

There was also a group of young guests—the children—who had been helping to clear the land these days. In the backyard, Shen An had started planting under the guidance of the uncles who had been working here for the past few days. These children who had helped to clear the land were also heroes, so they couldn’t be left out.

They were all friends of Shen An and Shen Ning. Sang Lou left it to Shen An and Shen Ning to arrange, which excited the siblings immensely.

“Can we also invite people over for a feast?”

They wanted to invite a group of children.

“Why not?” Sang Lou smiled gently. “This is your home too, and it’s because of your hard work that our home looks like this now, right? You can invite the friends who have been helping you these days. If you have other good friends you want to invite, just let me know the approximate number, and I’ll prepare accordingly.”

Even though Shen An usually tried to imitate adults and appeared mature, hearing his sister-in-law’s words made him lose all his seriousness, and his eyes curved into crescent moons.

“Sister-in-law, just inviting the helpers is fine. My best friends have already helped me.”

“Alright,” Sang Lou turned to Shen Ning, “Does Ning have any friends she wants to invite?”

Shen Ning blinked, “I’ll just invite Xiao Ya.”

She usually followed her second brother around, and her close friends were also his friends. Besides Xiao Ya, there weren’t any other girls she particularly wanted to invite.

Sang Lou smiled and said, “Alright, I got it. You two go inform your little friends.”

Shen An couldn’t contain his excitement any longer. “Sister-in-law, can An Ning and I go now?”

Once Sang Lou nodded, he eagerly grabbed An Ning’s hand, and they dashed off like the wind.

The author’s note:

This information was found on Baidu. Additionally, the methods of building adobe houses vary slightly in different regions. I chose one of them for use in the text.