The new house was large, and if one followed the river behind it, they could see a mud wall. However, since no one had moved in yet, the back door was usually kept closed. Lu Gu walked through the middle of the village and met many aunties and grandmothers along the way, so he greeted everyone he should greet.
Dabai and Dahei slept here at night. Before he even entered the gate, the two dogs came barking out to greet him. Shen Yaoqing was working in the spacious courtyard, his hands covered in yellow mud.
"Alright, I’ll head over right away," Shen Yaoqing said upon hearing his request. He washed his hands with a dipper of water and immediately went to the bamboo grove.
They had already gathered enough bamboo branches to drag home. Earlier, when Lu Gu came down the mountain, Shen Xuanqing had told Lu Gu there was no need to go back again. So, Lu Gu wandered around the new house.
Thanks to good food and care, Dabai’s leg had healed. He could walk and run, though occasionally a slight limp was still noticeable. However, since he would stay at the new house to guard it, his limp wasn’t a big concern.
As long as one worked diligently and didn’t slack off, the work could be done quickly. Whenever Shen Yaoqing had a break from fieldwork, he came over to build hutches and pens. By now, two rows of rabbit hutches had been completed, with twelve hutches in each row. These two rows were built against the wall, and if not for the gap in the middle, they could almost be considered one long row.
According to Shen Xuanqing’s earlier plan, these hutches were enough to house twenty breeding pairs of rabbits. With his previous experience in building hutches, Shen Yaoqing had made these hutches larger, providing enough space for the breeding rabbits and four or five young ones, as the baby rabbits needed to grow a bit and be weaned before they could be separated.
The courtyard was piled with wood, although they were not valuable, they could still be used for building the hutches. After Shen Yaoqing left, the gate remained wide open. Lu Gu decided not to leave, as the bamboo would soon be dragged over, and it would be troublesome to keep opening and closing the gate, so he might as well wait here.
The front hall already had tables, chairs, and tea sets moved in. Shen Xuanqing had asked a carpenter to make two beds, which would be brought over once completed. Given his tall stature, the beds needed to be sturdy. The makeshift plank beds they had used before wouldn’t hold up if they were to sleep here regularly. Since raising animals was now a serious livelihood, it was important to live and rest comfortably.
The saw was placed beside the pile of wood. With nothing else to do, Lu Gu, who had been staying at home these past few days, knew the required length for the wooden frames of the hutches. Using one of Shen Yaoqing’s cut pieces as a reference, he began sawing the wood.
The sound of sawing wood was far from pleasant, but when it was his own hands doing the work, he could tolerate it.
A layer of sawdust accumulated at his feet. Lu Gu was always meticulous in his work. After cutting one piece, he would pull the wood up, mark it with charcoal, and continue sawing.
The dogs, with their sensitive ears, didn’t like to hear the noise either. They either ran to the front yard to rest or played and wrestled in the far back yard.
Before long, Shen Xuanqing and Shen Yaoqing dragged three bamboo poles each into the courtyard.
The green bamboo was long and heavy with moisture. Shen Xuanqing tossed the three poles from his shoulder onto the ground and rubbed his shoulders to rest for a moment. Lu Gu had already poured water for both of them.
"We don’t cook here, but we should still make a clay stove. At least we can use a clay pot to boil water, so we don’t have to bring tea from home," Lu Gu said softly.
"Right, that’s a must," Shen Xuanqing replied with a smile. He added, "With a clay stove and pot, we can also stew chickens and ducks here."
Money and food were the greatest sources of joy. Lu Gu’s eyes curved into a smile. Indeed, with the poultry and livestock here, it would be so convenient to stew meat whenever they wanted.
They spread the green bamboo out to dry in the sun, as dried bamboo was less likely to attract insects. While Lu Gu sawed wood, Shen Xuanqing and Shen Yaoqing mixed yellow mud and worked together to build the rabbit hutches. Each of them had their own tasks.
By the time the wheat was ready to harvest, whether in Qingxi Village or others, everyone was out in the fields working hard to bring in the crop over the next couple of days.
At noon, golden waves of wheat swayed in the hot wind. The entire second branch of the Shen family was in the fields. Thirteen mu of land was no small amount, and even in the sweltering heat, they didn’t take many breaks, as the wheat kernels would fall to the ground if they overripened.
Ji Qiuyue brought water several times within an hour, worrying they might get too thirsty.
Lu Gu had a cloth towel hanging around his neck. Whenever sweat dripped down his face or forehead, he could wipe it off immediately. His neck was also sweating, and the heat in the wheat field was intense. Before long, the entire towel was soaked and needed to be wrung out. The dust in the field was thick, and his clothes were pricked by wheat awns that felt like thorns.
Shen Yan was so hot that she straightened up and took off her straw hat to fan herself. The sun was so bright she could barely keep her eyes open, squinting and frowning as sweat streamed down her forehead and stung her eyes. Yet, she didn’t utter a single complaint.
Country folk grew up seeing and doing farm work, living off the land. As long as they weren’t lazy, most simply kept their heads down and worked. In the midst of exhaustion, there was no room for complaints.
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