From wilderness to palace

Chapter 35 Paving the Concrete Floor
Anyone who has built a house knows that moving bricks or mixing sand and sand is an extremely hard job.Today Liu Yaozu planned to re-pave the concrete floor, so those who invited to help were naturally mentally prepared.

It's just that Liu Yaozu even prepared such a rich breakfast, and he was young and strong who liked to joke. He also smiled and said: "Azu, the food is so good. If you eat too much later, you won't have the strength to work."

"Uncle Song, don't fool me. They say that you can work hard only when you are full. I never heard that you can't work if you are full!"

The villagers invited to work are all over 40 years old, some even over 30 years old.Young people in their [-]s and [-]s are really rare in the village now.Because of this, many villages in the countryside are usually old and small!
The few villagers invited to help now, although they were all greeted by Fifth Uncle Liu Shoushan, were also invited by Liu Yaozu himself.On the other hand, Liu Zhong, the village head who is nearly [-] years old, was invited to help guide the laying of the ground.

I invited the cooker who came to see the kitchen yesterday, but he didn't come today.Although he didn't come today, Liu Yaozu gave him two packs of good cigarettes yesterday.As for wages, you have to wait until he finishes his work before paying!

Amidst the laughter, everyone finished breakfast at Uncle Wu's house, and then came to Liu Yaozu's house to help with work.Except for the bedroom where he rests, Liu Yaozu plans to do it himself, the floor of other rooms in the old house is going to be resurfaced.

In some places where pits were made, Liu Yaozu dug them up and kept a hole according to Uncle Zhong's instructions yesterday.The few furniture left at home are now moved outside.Wait for the ground to dry before moving in again.

All in all, the amount of work and work required to renovate an old house will exceed many people's imagination.Similar to the tiles in old houses and kitchens, Liu Yaozu had repaired them earlier to ensure that his house would not leak.

For old houses, the most feared thing is water leakage.Once the water leaks in the house, many things in the house will be damaged faster.If left unused for a long time, these leaky old houses will easily decay or even collapse!

Although Liu Yaozu is not short of money, he can completely tear down the old house and rebuild a more beautiful and luxurious country villa.But in his eyes, the old house in front of him carries too many life memories, and if it is torn down and rebuilt, there may be more things lost.

Even if some people in the village don't understand, some old people agree with it: "It's rare for this child, Azu, to miss the old days!"

People are most afraid of forgetting their roots. No matter why Liu Yaozu returned to the village, his willingness to be a villager in Shantun Village and his willingness to live in an old house that others think is almost abandoned is enough to show that he has not forgotten his roots and still misses his hometown.

The villagers who were invited to help with the work, saw the cigarettes that Liu Yaozu prepared for them, and joked: "Azu, it seems that you really make money in the city. I have worked and smoked such good cigarettes. Is it necessary? "

"Uncle Song, you said that I have made money in the city, so isn't it reasonable for me to give you some good cigarettes? I really don't know whether this cigarette is good or not. I only know that this cigarette is more expensive than other cigarettes. Expensive, does it mean it’s a good smoke?”

Liu Yaozu, who doesn't smoke and drinks very little, entertains these villagers who help with work, but he seems extremely polite.If you really have to spend money to hire people, labor is not too expensive in a place like the countryside.But the tobacco and wine served by the host's house will definitely not be very good.

On the other hand, although Liu Yaozu doesn't pay wages, he buys cigarettes and alcohol carefully.And before starting work, he gave every villager a pack of Huayan worth dozens of yuan, and handed over the remaining packs to Bo Zhong for disposal.

When you are working, if anyone wants to smoke, he can get it himself.Villagers can smoke the pack of cigarettes they are given if they want to, or they can keep it and take it home if they don’t want to.It's just that as the host, Liu Yaozu didn't want to be too stingy.

As Liu Zhong started to speak, everyone first stirred the sand and stones.According to Liu Zhong's instructions, the crushed stone and sand were mixed with cement according to a certain ratio and started to stir.This pile of materials is used to fill up the hollowed out old ground.

Several young and strong work together, and the speed is naturally not slow.Liu Yaozu, who is the master, is responsible for picking the mixed mud and stones.Liu Zhong, the master chef, and another villager are responsible for filling those pits.

Looking at the cleared pits, each one was filled with sand and stones.Although it looks somewhat different from the ground next to it, all the old concrete floors must be covered with a layer of mud mixed with fine sand and cement.

Liu Yaozu, who was watching from the side, also asked curiously: "Uncle Zhong, don't you need to do moisture-proof treatment?"

"No! Your house is located on a high ground. At the beginning, the cement floor was covered with a waterproof film. Although it is a bit old, you should apply some cement slurry on it. After it dries, you should sprinkle some water from time to time. If it is too dry, it will crack. .”

"Oh! OK, so you can mix it with grout?"

"Okay! Start with the room first, and finish with the living room and the kitchen. Is there really no need for your bedroom?"

"No! In the bedroom where I sleep by myself, I plan to buy some wooden floor and lay it myself. Well, I will still do it myself!"

"Sure, then I'll do as you say. If we do it quickly, I think I can get some early work today."

If it is a new house with a concrete floor, it will definitely take a long time for an area as large as Liu Yaozu's old house.But right now, just adding cement slurry to the old ground for reinforcement, the amount of work is undoubtedly much smaller.

Following buckets of well-mixed cement slurry, they were picked into the room by Liu Yaozu and two other villagers.Liu Zhong, a master craftsman, also began to use tools to evenly smear the ground.After wiping the new ground, it really became moist and smooth.

When the water on the cement floor is dry, this old house, which has been built for decades, will be completely new.Even if it looks a bit old on the outside, the situation inside the house has changed a lot.

During the earlier renovation, Liu Yaozu also considered whether to re-polishing and whitewashing the exterior walls.But when I thought about it later, I realized that it was also a mark of the old house’s passage through the years.Why should we erase the imprint of time on this kind of sky?

Because of this, standing outside and looking at Liu Yaozu's old house seems to be no different from before.If you really want to say there is a difference, maybe the glazed tiles that were renovated before look a little brighter than before.

But these newly replaced glazed tiles will become the same as the old ones after soaking for a period of time.This also means that the appearance of the old house in the eyes of outsiders in the future will still be a quaint old country house.

And after Liu Yaozu finished renovating the kitchen, he would also re-plan the layout of the yard outside the old house.Even if he lives alone at home, he still likes this spacious yard from the bottom of his heart.

Rebuild the courtyard wall, and build a pavilion inside the courtyard wall to enjoy the cool and drink tea.Then pave the dirt road in and out with some sand and gravel, and plant some flowers and plants in other places.Although there is nothing to see in winter, it will be more beautiful in summer and autumn.

"In the imperial capital, if you want to buy such an old house with its own courtyard, you can't even think about it if it doesn't cost tens of millions! If those guys are willing to live in the countryside, they can live in something like this for just a few hundred thousand. Spacious farmhouse courtyard, comfortable!”

Even if you know in your heart, the situation in Guoshantun is different from that in Imperial Capital.But for most people, if they can live in a more spacious house, I am afraid no one would want to live in that kind of crowded building.The problem is that buying a villa in the imperial capital is really too expensive.

Not to mention villas with yards, even ordinary commercial residential buildings, ordinary young people may not be able to afford them all their lives.If living in the imperial capital is not easy, Liu Yaozu, who was invited to start a business after graduation, naturally has a very clear understanding.

Perhaps because of this, many young people who have worked hard in the imperial capital for several years suddenly find that they may not be able to buy a home that truly belongs to them in the imperial capital after working hard in the imperial capital for a lifetime.In fact, many young people have chosen to leave in recent years.

The ones who are really rare are probably young people like Liu Yaozu who have just graduated a few years ago and haven't really experienced the cruelty of reality.Because most young people in this age group are still full of longing for the future!
(End of this chapter)