Don't panic in a famine, I live in the mountains with my golden finger

A simple high frame was built with bamboo, and the vines to be used were cut into appropriate lengths, tied into a bundle and tied around the waist.

After standing still and looking at it, I found that the height of the supporting bamboos was a bit consistent, so I took out two more bamboos, cut off a section, and filled soil to fix it back. This slightly inclined design is to facilitate the flow of rainwater. Then I tied the bamboo strips horizontally on the top with vines, and left a little gap between the bottom and the ground, and tied it up to reserve a door. I tied four more bamboos horizontally and vertically on the roof, and placed bamboo strips of the same length on top. The prototype of the roof is almost complete, and it is time to start capping it.

Xu Yuan looked at the thin bamboo strips that Xu Zhi had prepared, and began to teach him how to weave a large net. After seeing Xu Zhi quickly master the technique, he went to his two younger brothers and placed the cut long grass in small bunches, fixed them with vines, and made a bundle of grass of a length that could cover half of the roof. He then used the same method to make a bundle of grass.

He called the two little ones back to help mix the mud, and put it in a bamboo basket. Xu Yuan put the bundled grass on the roof, and came down to cover it with the two large nets woven by Xu Zhi, and began to pour mud and smear it. He just wanted to cover the grass, so Xu Yuan didn't take great care to make it look good, as long as it was covered.

Soon, the roof was ready. Xu Yuan threw the bamboo basket down and climbed down from the frame.

"Now all that's left is to surround it." Xu Yuan squatted on the ground and wiped his hands, which were mixed with yellow mud, with dry mud. His sleeves and trouser legs, almost his entire body were covered with traces of yellow mud, and he also smeared a handful of dry mud on his body.

"It's time to eat, sister. Guozi and Xiaoduo, come quickly and wash your hands and eat."

Xu Zhi went to cook while he was making a wish and smearing mud, and now it's just done.

There weren't many ingredients, so I just cooked some noodles and fried some wild bracken to satisfy my hunger.

At night, by firelight, Xuyuan and Xuzhi began to weave bamboo strips, and the two little ones fell asleep in the shed with a tripod.

"Sister, is this enough?"

"Almost done, I'll finish this one first, you go back and rest."

"Then I'm going to sleep first. Sister, you should also get some rest early."

Xu Zhi put down the woven bamboo strips and went back to rest.

Xuyuan quickly finished one, stood up and looked through his belongings in the light of the fire. The bag was full of building materials and tools, which were left by Xuyuan's father when he built the house. The tools were very complete.

Xu Yuan picked up a piece of wood beside him and chopped it into short and long pieces with a hatchet. He then split it in the middle, trimmed it slightly, and made it into a rectangular wooden frame. This was for making mud bricks.

After doing all this, Xuyuan went back to rest.

The next day was another sunny day. Xu Yuan dug some earthworms early in the morning, put them in a special backpack, tied them up with a hemp rope, and put them into the river. The river water was cool. Xu Yuan looked at the snails at the bottom of the river at his knees. They didn't have much meat, so it was troublesome to clean them up. Without pepper, they might not taste very good. He could only do it next time when he had time. He picked up Xu Zhi's fire stick. Yes, Xu Zhi found another good fire stick. This one was thrown into the firewood pile. Xu Yuan used the materials on the spot, sharpened the axe directly, and rushed to the river surface quickly.

Xuyuan came back from the river bank with three processed fish, which he put aside and marinated with salt.

Xu Zhi and his two younger brothers started making mud bricks. Making mud bricks is very simple and easy. You just need to add some water to the mud and hay and mix them. Then put them into the mold that Xu Yuan made last night and put them on a flat and dry land. A long strip of mud brick is formed and it only needs to be dried.

Xu Yuan took his hatchet and went up the mountain as usual. He saw the women coming down the mountain carrying fruits on their backs. He asked, "Aunties, are you going to pick them and sell them in the county town?"

"Yes, there are too many things to do at home in a short time. We have to work hard to eat some fat meat. Let's pick some fruits and sell them to buy some fat meat."

Aunt Li, who was walking in front, took out a handful of them and handed them to Xuyuan. "Xuyuan, take them and quench your thirst. How is the house being built? When I finish building it someday, I will go to your place to help."

Xu Yuan took the fruit and said, "Thank you, Aunt Li. You guys can get busy now."

Everyone said goodbye and started to get busy making wishes. The bamboo grew in large patches and there was no need to worry about it being consumed. After all, there were such large patches in the east, west and north. The villagers all went up the mountain to cut bamboo that was closer to their homes.

Xuyuan quickly chopped the wood into two bundles and carried them down the mountain.

……

Village Chief Gu chose to live near the entrance of the cave, close to the forest and river in the east. This way, he would be the first to know if there was any disturbance, but nothing had happened so far.

On the day when he made a wish, he came here to discuss building a fence and a gate around the cave entrance to block the entrance, plant vines, and plant some bamboo outside. Village Chief Gu was very much in favor of it, but it would take some time to build a fence and a gate, so Village Chief Gu planned to wait until everyone's house was built.

Gu Qinghan came down from the east mountain carrying bamboos. The frame of the house was almost finished. Gu Qinghan went back and forth and brought back a lot of bamboos. Gu Qingming was playing in the mud, and Xu Qing was splitting bamboo strips. Village chief Gu also carried some bamboos back and started to help split bamboo strips.

"Old Gu, let's build the toilet today so we don't have to go up the mountain."

"Ah Qing, why not build it farther away from where we live? We have enough bamboo materials now, so it won't take a lot of time."

Village Chief Gu called his eldest son, walked a little further away, and started digging a hole with a hoe. Gu Qinghan planned the size of the hut based on the size of the pit, and started digging a hole to stand bamboos. After four bamboos were ready, he started to make a supporting tripod, picked up a chisel and dug a hole in a bamboo, which just stuck, and after hammering and banging, the roof frame was soon completed.

Village Chief Gu dug the pit quickly and just put two wooden boards on top to complete the job.

"Dad, cover the area around with bamboo, leaving only one hole, and then fill it with mud. This way it will be beautiful and safe."

When Village Chief Gu heard that his eldest son built a toilet in this way, he thought it was indeed a good idea and started to work on it.

To build the roof, Gu Qinghan laid out bamboo strips one by one, fixed them in place, and then took another layer of bamboo strips and put them on top, just like tiles. When there were no more bamboo strips, Xu Qing cut them and split them up and continued to build the roof. Soon the roof was completed.

Next was the surrounding area. Bamboos were tied with vines on the top and the same was done on the bottom. Bamboo strips of appropriate length were nailed vertically up and down. After some more hammering, the surroundings of the toilet were gradually sealed.

……

Xu Yuan took the woven bamboo net, passed it through vines and tied it to the horizontal bamboo, repeated it several times, and three sides were completely blocked. He then blocked a part of the entrance with bamboo strips to leave an entrance and exit, made a door frame with bamboo, nailed bamboo strips inside to fill it up, and tied it with vines to make a simple door.

Looking at the space deliberately left empty on top, "Phew, it's breathable and ventilated. Not bad, not bad. It's perfect."

The mud bricks on Xu Zhi's side had been dried in the sun and stacked together, and the materials for the stove were also available.