Chapter 125

Actually, when ordinary families build houses now, they prepare some wood as purlins and rafters, which basically have to be bought. The rest are prepared by themselves. Adobe is rammed by themselves, reed bundles are tied by themselves, stones for the foundation are picked by themselves, and soil is pulled by themselves.

So building a house with three rooms doesn't cost much money, it's mainly manual labor.

The houses in Northern Xinjiang now are adobe houses, high in the north and low in the south, but they are a bit different from the single-slope houses high in the north and low in the south in Gansu. The north side is usually only half a meter to one meter higher than the south side, so the height difference is not particularly obvious.

The reason for being high in the north and low in the south is to ensure that water doesn't accumulate on top, and when it rains, it flows down along the roof.

After the homestead is determined for the whole house, the alkaline soil on top must be dug away, and stones the size of volleyballs must be picked to pile up shapes according to the rooms, and then yellow soil must be dug from other places to fill the foundation.

The houses in the production team's residential area here are all built on alkaline beaches, so if the alkaline soil on top is not dug away, after the house is built, the house will return to alkali and grow white hair.

After the foundation soil is filled and tamped, the next step is to build the house with adobe.

Ramming adobe blocks is a necessary skill for adults and children here. Adults have to build their own houses, and children have to complete work-study tasks at school.

The specific steps are to find a yellow soil area, dig a pit to loosen the yellow soil, then add water to soak it. After soaking, use a hoe to dig out the yellow mud, forming a pile like a grave. Sprinkle wheat husks (the shells left after removing wheat grains) on top. After the yellow mud is slightly dry, use your hands to card out a suitable group, put it into the pre-prepared adobe mold, and flatten it—of course, your hands must press from top to bottom, which is a relatively dashing action.

Those who know how to ram adobe blocks will ram them into square and full shapes, while those who don't will look thin and dry.

After building the walls of the house with adobe, put wooden purlins and rafters on top, then lay a layer of reed bundles—that is, tie long reeds into small bundles to form a dense layer, then put house mud on top and smooth it out.

After the house mud is dry, the house is basically built, and the steps of installing windows and doors are among them.

And the house mud also needs to be applied every two or three years, because when it rains, the rainwater on the roof flows from north to south and will take away some soil.

Except for buying wood, the rest is basically manual labor. Therefore, in Xu Chengjun's eyes, the stable is only worth the wood. In this era, the strength of farmers is worthless, which is recognized.

At this time, Northern Xinjiang is still vast and sparsely populated. A production team has three residential areas, and there is really no one who has any thoughts about the homestead. After all, as long as it complies with the regulations, the team leader will approve it—a homestead plus a courtyard can be approved for two or three mu. Do you dare to believe this in the interior?

"Okay, three hundred and fifty." Li Long brought the money, and he immediately took the money out of the inner pocket of his jacket. "I'll give it to you now?"

"Don't! You really brought it?" Xu Chengjun realized it later. "Wait for me to call the accountant over!"

Saying that, he sent his son Mingwa to call the village accountant over.

After the accountant Chen Qiang came, hearing Xu Chengjun say that Li Long wanted to spend three hundred and fifty to buy the team's stable, he looked at Li Long as if he were looking at a fool.

What's good about that broken stable, and it still costs three hundred and fifty?

He thought if his own courtyard could be sold for three hundred and fifty, that would be great. Is this Li family's second son really a fool?

But since someone wanted to buy it, and the team leader had spoken and even wrote a note, then collect it.

Holding the receipt and certificate written by the village committee, Li Long put it into his inner pocket with satisfaction, and then said to Xu Chengjun:

"Director, I'll go into the mountains early tomorrow morning to pull the sheep back."

"Okay, in two days our village should divide the land, just waiting for your sheep. This trip doesn't need to rent the horse-drawn carriage. This is public business for the team. I'll give you a note, you go tell Old Luo."

Returning home, Li Long told Li Jianguo about buying the stable.

"Why did you think of buying the stable? Three hundred and fifty is not a small amount!" Li Jianguo sighed. "What are you doing with such a big courtyard? It can't be used as a home..."

"I heard from a friend that when spring comes in the mountains, the cubs of those animals are all born, so I thought about whether I could catch some and raise them. Even if I can't, I can raise pigs." "Raising pigs in the stable, you really thought of it." Li Jianguo shook his head. "Buy it if you want, maybe you can really catch something back."

Since Li Long proved his ability to make money and catch fish, and occasionally had valuable inside information, Li Jianguo no longer treated him as a child.

Therefore, whatever Li Long bought was his freedom, and he had his own considerations, so he wouldn't interfere too much.

After breakfast the next day, Li Long went to the stable, harnessed the horse-drawn carriage, and drove to the county.

He went to the big meat canteen first when he arrived in the county, still bought two buns, finished eating, saw that it was time for work, and went to the pharmaceutical company. There were no pharmacies in the county now, not even state-run ones, let alone private ones. If you got sick, the barefoot doctor in the village would see you, and you would go to the hospital in the county. If you wanted to buy medicine, you would go to the pharmaceutical company.

Li Long felt that the change of seasons made it easy to get sick, so he brought some common medicines for colds, inflammation, diarrhea, etc., for Halimu.

By the time he arrived in the mountains, it was mid-morning. Li Long saw Halimu tidying up things outside the winter nest.

"Li Long, Adaxi, long time no see!" Halimu called out happily when he saw Li Long, and the dog next to him also roared twice.

The horse-drawn carriage couldn't get to the winter nest, so Li Long tied it to a tree on the side of the road.

The snow in the mountains had also melted by half. Fortunately, the road here didn't form mud. The melted snow water flowed directly into the ditch, and the road surface was soon half-dry.

"I came here to buy a sheep for our team," Li Long said. "We are going to divide the land there."

!.

"I heard about it, our pasture here is also going to be re-divided," Halimu said with a smile. "This is a good thing."

After entering the house, while Li Long was drinking milk tea, he handed the boxes of medicine to Halimu one by one.

"You mark them yourself. This is for fever, that is, for when you have a fever. One tablet for adults, half a tablet for children. This is for diarrhea, take two..."

While Li Long was talking, he let Halimu make marks—he brought Li Juan's pencil when he came, and let Halimu make marks himself.

After resting for a while, Halimu took Li Long to pick a sheep.

"Don't worry, I'll pick a big one for you, for the sake of face, you know!" Halimu let Li Long rest assured.

Halimu pulled a big sheep out of the sheep pen. Looking at its body shape and weight, it must have been over twenty or thirty kilograms. Li Long was very satisfied.

Because it wasn't for eating at that time, Li Long had to pull the live sheep back. Halimu knew Li Long had things to do, so he didn't force him to stay and sent him down the mountain.

He turned his head and looked at the wood piled up beside his winter nest and smiled.

At this time, the matter of Li Long buying the stable had already spread in the village.

Li Long became the focus of discussion again—this Li family's Little Long, he can really stir up trouble!

(End of chapter)