The stone slab path, estimated to be only three hundred meters long, took Chen Lan and her four companions a full two days to complete. The entire front yard now began to take on the envisioned shape, a stark contrast to its appearance when they first started renovations.
Before they could even admire the fruits of their labor, Chen Lan and the others moved on to their next task. Next to the south wall of the house, in the sunniest spot, they needed to build a twenty square foot inlaid stone path and erect several clothes drying racks of varying heights to air out the family's clothes and bedding.
Upon hearing they had to build another twenty square feet of inlaid stone path, Xiao Shan and Xiang Xi and the others let out a collective groan. "Ah! Another twenty square feet of inlaid stone path! Xiao Lanzi, are you sure about that?"
Chen Lan nodded seriously. "Yes! You heard correctly, another twenty square feet of stone path to build, to put up clothes racks and dry everyone's clothes and bedding." She continued, "Alright! Enough groaning. Let's get to work. We need to hurry and speed up the schedule. There are still a pile of things waiting for us to do. Come on!"
With the experience from the first stone path, the construction of the twenty square foot inlaid stone path was much faster. Everyone worked in sync. They used red bricks laid at a 45-degree angle to create the border, enclosing the twenty square foot area. Then, they dug holes to secure the clothes drying racks, facing them towards the sun and setting them up at varying heights within the brick-lined area. A layer of crushed stone was spread evenly on the ground, followed by a layer of fine sand, and finally, the stone slabs were laid. Xiang Xi and his group, along with Chen Lan and the other four, completed the twenty square foot stone path in half a morning.
After returning for lunch, they all headed back to the construction site with lunch for the builders. The afternoon's work involved setting up a swing set on the lawn next to the large floor-to-ceiling windows, near the corner of the wolfberry hedge. This also required laying a non-sinking base and placing a curved, rot-resistant wooden platform.
Laying the non-sinking base was quick. Xiang Xi and his men, now experienced, first used red bricks at a 45-degree angle to enclose an area according to the size of the curved wooden platform. Then, they spread a layer of crushed stone evenly on the ground, followed by a layer of fine sand, and the curved rot-resistant wooden platform fit perfectly. Chen Lan asked Xiang Xi to assign some people to help move the double wooden swing chair over. They found a suitable spot on the wooden platform, set it up, and secured the swing frame. Work was complete.
Looking at the swing frame on the curved wooden platform, Chen Lan couldn't help but imagine the joyful scene of children playing happily beneath it, and a wave of warmth spread through her heart. Sudana Novel Network.
The work that followed was now the women's responsibility. Xiang Xi and his group returned to help with the house construction.
Chen Lan and the other women's daily tasks now consisted of cleaning every corner of the house, watering the newly seeded lawn several times a day, and trimming the wildly growing branches of the wolfberry bushes in the front.
Indeed, after Hu Yuzhen and the others trimmed and cleared the overgrown wolfberry bushes, they became neat and shapely, looking quite presentable.
Chen Lan envisioned a beautiful scene where the flower hedges would bloom, filling the yard with fragrance.
Chen Lan noticed that July was already halfway over. If they waited until all four other houses were built before sowing grass seeds for the lawns, they would likely run out of time. The harsh winters of Changbai Mountain might arrive before the grass seeds even sprouted.
With this thought, Chen Lan immediately took action. She first practiced in her own backyard. Secretly, she transferred the tractor used for loosening soil in the front yard to the backyard using the system's warehouse and ran it back and forth three times with the cultivator attached. She left a section from the back entrance to the grape arbor unsown, planning to build an inlaid stone path there.
After sowing grass seeds in the backyard and watering it, Chen Lan estimated the amount of red bricks, cement, crushed stone, and fine sand needed for the path based on its length and width. She quickly transferred the required quantities of these materials to the backyard using the system's warehouse. Then, Chen Lan, along with Ming Wei, Hu Yuzhen, Cui Qiao, Zhao Xiaoyue, and four others, formed a female construction team and began building the inlaid stone path in the backyard.
Having gained experience from building the first inlaid stone path, Chen Lan personally taught Ming Wei and the others how to build the roadside borders with red bricks at a 45-degree angle, how to lay the crushed stone and fine sand, and finally, how to lay the inlaid stone slabs. To her surprise, their enthusiasm for the work was unprecedented, a stark contrast to the reluctant attitude of Xiang Xi and his men. Ming Wei and the others built the backyard inlaid stone path quickly and expertly, almost on par with professionals.
With this construction experience, Chen Lan's female construction team began working on the four houses under construction.
The five women divided their tasks. Chen Lan operated the tractor to loosen the soil, sow grass seeds, and water the front and backyards of the four houses. She also prepared the raw materials for the stone paths and transported them.
Ming Wei, Hu Yuzhen, Cui Qiao, and Zhao Xiaoyue were responsible for laying the inlaid stone paths.
The five of them worked diligently for a full month, completing the inlaid stone paths in the front and backyards of all four houses. Following the pattern of their first house, they also built areas for drying clothes and installed identical clothes drying racks and swing sets.
Looking at these houses that seemed like copy-paste replicas, Chen Lan couldn't help but smile. At the time, she had suggested they choose different shapes and styles for the swing sets, but they had all unanimously refused, saying this design was the best.
Now, it was mid-August, and the crops in the fields were almost ready for harvest.
One day, her mother-in-law said, "Xiao Lan, the vegetables in the garden also need to be harvested. Those that can be dried should be dried, and those that can be pickled need to be pickled. This is all preparation for winter. Your Aunt Liu and Aunt Cui will be busy with the tremella sheds and harvesting vegetables in the valley. Lin Mai alone is busy with cooking and pickling, she can't manage everything. If you're done with your tasks, please have a few people help at home. We need to quickly harvest the ripe vegetables so we can plant another round of cabbage, spinach, rapeseed, radishes, and cilantro."
Upon hearing about so many tasks, Chen Lan immediately replied, "Mother-in-law, give us three days. The vegetable harvesting will be handled by the five of us. We'll have the land ready! After three days, you can just focus on planting."
So, Chen Lan and her female construction team moved to the valley vegetable fields. This time, they divided their labor. Ming Wei, Cui Qiao, and two others were responsible for picking vegetables and putting them into snake-skin bags. Chen Lan was in charge of transporting the vegetables back and then using the tractor to till, furrow, loosen the soil, and create ridges in the vegetable fields.
Fulfilling her mother-in-law's request, three days later, after handing over the prepared vegetable fields, Chen Lan headed to the mountains. She planned to hunt for some game before the busy harvest season to improve everyone's diet during the farm work. If they hunted a lot, they could also dry or pickle the meat to eat during the cold winter.
She also wanted to check if the mountain goods were ripe and if it was time to go into the mountains to collect them.