Siheyuan: The romantic and suave Xu Damao

After hearing this, Xu Damao stretched out his foot to measure it, then pointed to a piece of vacant land in front of him and said, "Start construction right here, where the gate is against the wall and one step back. The house will be against the wall."

"This house is divided into two rooms, one is used as the kitchen, and the other is used for living." Then, he gestured again and continued to describe to the middle-aged man: "The living room doesn't need to be too big, about ten square meters will be enough.

But the kitchen needs to be a little more spacious, about the same size as the house I live in, and it would be best if I could have a bigger stove so that it would be more convenient to cook!"

As for the toilet located in the far corner, Xu Damao only mentioned it lightly and said that he could ask the master to help build one in the place he mentioned, and the appearance could be anything he wanted.

"Okay, young man! Please wait a moment, I will let out the line and you can see if it is suitable." As he spoke, the middle-aged man walked skillfully to the position previously designated by Xu Damao.

It turned out that he had already made a mark there in advance. At this time, he held a thin rope tightly in his hand, handed one end to the apprentice beside him, and asked him to hold it and stand by the courtyard wall; while the other end was placed firmly at the mark at the end.

After everything was ready, the middle-aged man stretched the rope straight, then bent down to pick up a brick, carefully wrapped the rope around the brick twice, and gently placed the brick on the ground.

In this way, the rope always remains straight without any signs of bending.

Then, the middle-aged man picked up the shovel leaning against the wall and walked quickly to the wooden barrel not far away. He skillfully scooped up half a shovel full of snow-white lime powder from the barrel, and then walked back to the rope with steady steps.

With the gentle wave of his arm, lime powder fluttered down like snowflakes, slowly flowing along the taut rope, and finally formed a lime line as straight as if drawn by a ruler.

Time passed by minute by minute, and after just a few minutes, the entire lime line had been spread. From a distance, it was a neat rectangular pattern that was clearly visible.

However, the middle-aged man did not stop there. He picked up the shovel again, scooped up a small amount of lime powder, and sprinkled a straight line of lime in the center of the rectangle, cleverly dividing the rectangle into two areas of equal size.

One of them is the kitchen and the other is the living room.

"Young man, take a look at this wall. Is it built outside the line or inside the line? Also, are we going to build it 24/30 or 37/30?"

The sturdy, dark-skinned middle-aged man stopped what he was doing, turned around, and asked Xu Damao for his opinion sincerely.

After a brief thought, Xu Damao replied, "In my opinion, we should build the wall outside the line. In this way, the area inside the house can be more spacious, right? But the thickness of the wall... Brother, how thick do you think it should be?"

The middle-aged man stroked his chin with his hand, thought for a moment and said, "I think a 37-wall is more suitable. Think about it, this 37-wall is not only strong and durable, but also in such cold weather as now, the house will not be too cold. After all, the thicker the wall, the better the thermal insulation performance."

Xu Damao nodded repeatedly, expressing his agreement: "Well, what you said makes sense, brother. Let's do as you say and build a 37 wall!"

At this moment, the sound of horse hooves and wheels rolling came from far away. Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw two more carriages coming to the gate of the courtyard. One was loaded with golden sand, and the other was loaded with snow-white lime powder.

Xu Damao hurried forward, directed the coachman to drive the carriage into the yard, and designated an open space, indicating that they could unload the goods here.

In an instant, the originally quiet courtyard suddenly became noisy.

Workers were busy carrying bricks, sand and lime powder, with shouts and footsteps coming one after another. Some carried heavy sandbags on their shoulders with steady steps, while others worked in pairs to lift piles of red bricks and carefully placed them in designated locations.

The whole scene was bustling with activity and full of vitality.

About a cup of tea later, Zhang Tietou arrived at the scene in a hurry on his old 28-inch bicycle.

Xu Damao had sharp eyes and spotted him at a glance. He quickly waved his hand to signal him to come over, then pulled Zhang Tietou aside and whispered to him about the follow-up work arrangements.

"Tietou, this is roughly the situation here. We will officially start building the house tomorrow! Come here early tomorrow morning and report to the person in charge of building the house."

"When they leave, remember to give them the flour and let them divide it among themselves. By the way, you and Genwang can each keep one bag."

As Xu Damao spoke, he pointed to the second warehouse and pursed his lips to indicate that the flour was stored in that warehouse.

"Also, if there's anything missing for building the house tomorrow, you can help run around and get it, like water for mud or something. Don't be afraid to spend money. If you run out of money, tell me, okay?"

"Okay, big brother! Don't worry, I'll take care of this matter. I guarantee that I'll do it safely and beautifully!" Tietou patted his chest and said confidently.

"Well, that's good! Thank you for your hard work, brother. I'll leave first. I've already discussed with the big brother over there about how to build the house. Don't worry about it."

Xu Damao nodded with satisfaction, then turned and walked to his bicycle, skillfully straddled the seat, and pedaled hard, and the bike slowly moved forward.

At this time, the sun in the sky was gradually setting and the sky was becoming darker and darker.

Xu Damao rode his bicycle all the way and soon arrived at the door of a small restaurant. He stopped his bicycle, walked into the restaurant, found a seat and sat down, ordered a few dishes, and finished his dinner in a hurry.

After dinner, Xu Damao rode his bicycle back home. When he returned to the courtyard, he found Yan Jiecheng, the eldest son of Yan Bugui, pacing back and forth in front of his house with his hands in his sleeves.

"Hey, Brother Damao, you're finally back!"

When Xu Damao's figure appeared at the gate of the courtyard, Yan Jiecheng, who was anxiously waiting in the yard, immediately lit up his eyes and a happy smile appeared on his face.

He quickly ran towards Xu Damao, stretched out his hands enthusiastically, and helped Xu Damao push the bicycle into the yard.