Traveling through the famine, I stockpiled supplies like crazy

Chapter 209 Laying the Foundation

"How about I give you an extra sweet potato as a reward tonight?" Xu Han touched Peanut's head lovingly.

Seeing this, the other dogs also became very excited and started looking for prey.

"Don't run too far, just stay around here! Otherwise, what if you are caught and eaten by other wild beasts?" Xu Han shouted loudly from behind.

"It's okay, they will be back soon, don't worry! Dogs are very smart. Look, Heidian and Fantuan are still here!" Lu Chuan said softly.

Then the two of them continued to wash the sweet potatoes. They washed half of the sweet potatoes in the afternoon, and the remaining part would be washed again tomorrow afternoon.

When it gradually got dark, Lu Chuan and Xu Han took the dogs home.

Before I even entered the house, I heard the Taoist priest say loudly, "You guys have been out having fun all afternoon today. Are you happy?"

In response to him was a constant barking sound. It seemed as if the dogs were really responding to him and telling him what the Taoist priest had done today.

After washing her hands, Xu Han filled the big iron pot outside with sweet potatoes and water, wanting to cook a big pot of sweet potatoes. Everyone would use sweet potatoes as the staple food tonight.

It has been a long time since we had this kind of meal. We ate sweet potatoes and drank sweet potato porridge, and it was delicious.

"The foundation has been almost dug today. We just need to make some repairs tomorrow morning. What should we do next?" the Taoist priest asked while eating sweet potatoes.

"Are you almost done digging? The speed is quite fast. We can fix the edges and corners tomorrow morning and then lay the foundation!" said Xu Han.

"Well! The stones we found before already have handles installed! They can be used directly. And the press you mentioned is also ready. Let's try which one is more useful then." Lu Chuan continued.

Before starting to dig the foundation, Xu Han asked Lu Chuan to make a pile driver.

There are some that use the lever principle to press, which is more labor-saving. There is a lever on top, then a support column, and a pile hammer. The pile hammer is made of wood and stone, with a wooden handle and a smooth rectangular stone underneath, which is about the same width as the excavated foundation.

This one is quite heavy and for fear that it might not be easy to use, Xu Han asked Lu Chuan to make two smaller ones, one for the handle and one for the hammer. This one needs someone to hammer it bit by bit.

This is quite laborious and tiring. The key is that it is not easy to operate. In the later stage, not only the foundation needs to be hammered flat, but also the yard and the house need to be compacted and hammered flat before you can move in.

Generally, people who build houses here use hand hammers directly, but Xu Han felt that this method was too inefficient and laborious, so he made a pile driver with a labor-saving lever.

“Okay, let’s try it tomorrow morning, and then wash the sweet potatoes in the afternoon.

The water flow at the waterfall is not strong, so let’s clean the things that need to be washed with water while there is still water!

Although we have a reservoir, there is not much water in it, and it won’t last long if used normally.” Xu Han continued.

"I agree with what Xiaohan said. You just need to continue washing sweet potatoes tomorrow. We will take care of laying the foundation! You don't have to worry about it." Grandpa Zhao agreed.

"Yes! Although your Grandpa Zhao and I are not young, we are still strong." The Taoist priest also said.

Although the Taoist priest said so, he is not very old, only 43 years old, while Grandpa Zhao is 52 years old.

In modern times, this is considered a prime of life, but in ancient times, given the Taoist priest’s age, his grandson would have been already quite old, and Grandpa Zhao has even reached the age of being a great-grandfather, so isn’t he an old man?

Xu Han was very aware of the physical fitness of the two elderly people, so she didn't say anything. She just reminded them, "Take a break if you are tired. We are not in a hurry to build the house. We can make changes slowly. There is still a lot of time!"

"You don't need to ask this. We are not the kind of people who would tire ourselves out." The Taoist priest laughed.

After dinner, the four of them sat outside for a while and then went back to the room. The night in early October was still a bit chilly.

Although the temperature is still very high during the day, it is unbearable to stay outside at night.

Have a good night's sleep...

The next morning, after breakfast, the group went to the backyard with two different newly made tools.

Lu Chuan first tried the pile driver with the labor-saving lever. After trying it a few times, he felt it was really good. The Taoist priest next to him couldn't wait to try it too.

"Let me try it. Give it to me first." After saying that, he snatched the pile driver from Lu Chuan's hand.

"This is really easy to use and not tiring at all. Look how firmly it's pressed." The Taoist priest said while using the pile driver.

"Well, it is indeed much better than the traditional one. I have seen similar ones before, but they were not as convenient as this one." Grandpa Zhao also agreed.

"Have you seen this before?" Xu Han asked. She was very puzzled why Lu Chuan said he had never seen it before when they were doing it!

"Well, I've seen it before when I was in the Ministry of Industry, but it wasn't as useful as this. The principle should be similar!" The Taoist priest also joined the discussion.

"Yes, ordinary people still use large hammers to build houses. Only wealthy people rarely use these things."

"No wonder I've never seen it before! Maybe I haven't come into contact with these things normally! When we built this house a few years ago, we used this kind of big hammer." Lu Chuan also said.

“This is useful, but you can see that you still can’t hammer through the corners. You will still need to use a hammer to hammer them in when the time comes.” Xu Han said.

"Yes, then use this to hit it once and then use a hammer to find it. The house we build is for us to live in, so it has to be sturdy and we can't cut corners." Grandpa Zhao added.

"Well! I'll go and smooth the edges and corners first, and you guys can use the pile driver to dig the foundation first!" Lu Chuan said.

"I'll follow you and do it faster." Grandpa Zhao also joined the ranks of those returning to work.

No matter when you build a house, laying the foundation is particularly important. It is related to whether the built house is solid or not. If the foundation is not laid well, no matter how well the house is built, it will slowly collapse within a few years.

Therefore, the four of them wasted a lot of time on laying the foundation, and it was not until October 11 that the foundation was finally completed.

Early in the morning, Lu Chuan and the Taoist priest were in the backyard collecting the materials needed to build the house.

Not only that, today we have to transport the bricks outside the door to the backyard to start building the wall, which definitely requires bricks and tiles.

It was very convenient for Xu Han to carry the bricks and tiles by herself. Because she had to make breakfast, Xu Han did not get the bricks and tiles first. She decided to get them after breakfast.