Druid's Country Retirement

Chapter 183 Carpenter
The two walked side by side in the alleys of the village. Except for the warm greetings from the villagers, they had their own concerns and lost the mood to talk for a while.

"elder brother…"

"Myolie..."

Suddenly the two spoke at the same time, breaking the embarrassment between each other.

Li Hongbing smiled, motioning for Shan Xing to speak first.

"Brother, when the new house is built, can I bring Sister Cui to live here? She is very lonely, and no one around talks to her."

"Okay, then we'll go pick her up together." Li Hongbing nodded, for the kind woman beside him, he only had love and pity in his heart, and he was always thinking of others.

"Brother, what do you want to say?" Shan Xing turned his head sideways.

Li Hongbing didn't want to say anything now, he directly grabbed Shan Xing's hand and held it tightly in his palm.

"There is someone!" Shan Xing shyly looked left and right, afraid that a villager would pass by.

"What are you afraid of, I will hold my wife's hand."

Li Hongbing deliberately amplified his voice, and suddenly thought of something, "Let's go to Dakui's house. The construction team has arrived at our house and we are going to start construction tomorrow. There are more than ten people eating, and you can't do it alone. Please ask Mrs. Guifeng to help cook."

Da Kui's house.

The couple were busy spreading the seven spices to the chicken coop, not to mention that the powder had just been sprinkled, and a lot of chicken lice, watermelon bugs, and ground beetles were smoked out from the corners of the chicken coop. These insects seemed to have encountered something extremely scary. , Running out desperately, this is cheap chicken, one by one happily cooing, enjoying a hearty protein meal.

"Uncle Hong Soldier's medicine powder is really strong, what are you doing with so much?"

Da Kui held the bucket containing Qixiangsan, and just planned to sprinkle it all, but after seeing the effect, he complained distressedly that his wife used too much.

Guifeng is not used to Da Kui either, so she raised her eyebrows and prepared to start a small business for her man, earn some money these days, and forget who is the big and small king in the family.

"Da Kui, are you at home?"

Hearing the shouts of Uncle Red Soldiers outside the yard, Dakui dodged the water scoops flying towards him and hurried to the gate of the yard.

Opening the door, I saw Uncle Hongbing and Shan Xing standing at the door holding hands, and joked, "Should I be called Aunt Shan Xing or Shan Xing."

Shan Xing's face was flushed with embarrassment, and she wanted to pull her hand out, but Li Hongbing held it tightly.

"You guys, I don't care." Li Hongbing looked past Dakui, "I'll ask Mrs. Guifeng for help."

"Uncle Hongbing, why don't you come in and sit down? What's the matter?" Guifeng happily walked to the door, knowing in her heart that it would be beneficial for Uncle Hongbing to seek help.

Li Hongbing explained the purpose of his visit, "Isn't the old house going to be remodeled? There are a group of workers living there. I'm thinking of asking you to bring a few people to help with the cooking."

"Your house should have been demolished a long time ago. It's been so many years. Who still lives in a wooden house now? It's damp and wet. How many people do you need?" Gui Fengxi raised her eyebrows.

"Four people, three meals a day, a salary of 100 yuan a day. Guifeng's sister-in-law don't worry about it, just ask Xinger to pay the bill for how much money is spent. By the way, please bother to prepare the pots and pans, and the first meal will start tonight. "

"It's so fast, yes, it will be the rainy season in a while. That's fine, I will prepare things."

Watching Li Hongbing and Shan Xing leave, Guifeng's heart is as beautiful as the wild flowers blooming in the meadow. She manages to find someone to buy vegetables and cook by herself.

Who should I ask to cook.

It must be Yuzhi, Tiemei, Xiu'e, and Chunlan. These four are old sisters with broken bones and tendons. If they do something by themselves, they will not talk too much.

I chose the manpower in my heart, and I was going to enter the house to change clothes and let me know.

Raising his head, he suddenly saw the dark old face of his man, and was startled. Before he could speak, Dakui's eyes widened.

"Damn girl, I warn you, don't play tricks when you work for Uncle Red Soldier, do whatever you want, and don't hurt the relationship between the two families just for some ignorant money."

"Go away, my wife is that kind of person."

After being reminded by her own man, Guifeng came to her senses, cursed inwardly, got dizzy, and cheated on Uncle Hong Soldier.

……

Back at the old house, Wang Hai was holding the blueprints in front of the door and assigning tasks to the workers.

But there was a man squatting by the ditch, out of tune with the construction team.

Li Hongbing looked at it for a moment, "Dayou?"

Hearing someone calling him, Liu Dayou turned his head, saw that it was Li Hongbing and immediately stood up, carrying a bamboo basket in one hand and a woven bag in the other, and walked over quickly.

"Dayou, why are you squatting at the door, entering the house and waiting!"

Liu Dayou looked down uncomfortably at the patched clothes he was wearing, then at the gate of the old house, and smiled shyly.

"It's okay, I'll be fine at the door."

"What are you talking about?" Li Hongbing pulled the woven bag angrily, "Come on, go into the house and drink a bowl of water, even blind people, and don't even call me when there are guests."

After finishing speaking, he forcibly took the heavy woven bag and walked into the gate. Liu Dayou grinned at Shan Xing first, and hurriedly followed behind.

In the yard, workers were busy marking the house to be demolished. Various tools were messed up in the rice field. The chicken coop had been demolished, and the animals in the house were gone. They were probably taken to the meadow by a blind man.

Li Hongbing took Liu Dayou to sit by the well.

"Is your mother-in-law better?"

When he mentioned his mother-in-law, Liu Dayou smiled, "It's much better, I can walk on the ground now, and my body is not cold anymore. I went to the Guangming Medicine Hall to grab the medicine two days ago. The general doctor said that it will be good after two courses of treatment." gone."

Hearing that the patient was getting better, Li Hongbing was also happy for Liu Dayou.

"That's good, let your mother-in-law have a good rest and don't do heavy work. When you get better, your family will be better."

Liu Dayou is really grateful to Li Hongbing, and it is not an exaggeration to say that he is a savior. If there is no Li Hongbing, a good family will be over.

Thinking of the purpose of coming today, he hurriedly dragged the bamboo basket in front of him and tore off the covering cloth on it, "Doctor Li, there is nothing good at home, this is homemade dried peaches, very delicious."

"I've seen you, what else do you want to bring back?"

Li Hongbing quickly refused. Originally, there was a patient in the family, and the money was spent, and life was tight, so he relied on selling the dried peaches to support the family.

"My father said that Dr. Li must accept it. You are my family's great benefactor." As he spoke, Liu Dayou opened the bulging woven bag again, and took out two sets of cowhide saddles from inside.

From the very first sight, Li Hongbing fell in love with it.

There are no exquisite patterns, the simplest and rustic style, the leather feels extraordinarily soft and smooth, the pores on the surface are clearly visible, and it feels like satin when held by hand.

If it is placed on the back of the black wind, it will definitely pull the wind.

Seeing Li Hongbing's satisfied expression, Liu Dayou secretly heaved a sigh of relief, took out a stack of money from his pocket and put it on the saddle.

"You are?" Li Hongbing frowned.

"Doctor Li saved my mother-in-law. My father knew that you spent money on the saddle, so he scolded me and said that the money cannot be accepted, so he asked me to send it back."

"One yard, one return." Li Hongbing didn't say much, just when Shanxing brought tea, he whispered a few words into Shanxing's ear.

When Shan Xing turned back, he had an extra wad of money in his hand.

Li Hongbing combined the money on the saddle with the money from Shan Xing and handed it to Liu Dayou.

"Doctor Li, you can't do it." Liu Dayou waved his hands in panic.

"Take it, it's my duty, Li Hongbing, to treat illnesses and save lives. I never thought of taking advantage of anyone. If you don't accept the money, take the things away, and we'll pretend we haven't seen each other in the future."

Seeing Dr. Li's serious face, Dayou Liu panicked. If he didn't pick it up, he would be a passer-by. If he picked it up, he would be scolded by his father. After weighing the pros and cons, he finally took the money.

Li Hongbing's expression changed instantly, and he patted Liu Dayou's shoulder cheerfully.

"That's right, why are you doing so many messy things, Xing'er, cook some good dishes tonight, and someone will come over later, let's have a drink together."

The voice did not fall.

Da Kui's voice sounded outside the courtyard gate.

"Uncle Red Soldier, we are here to help."

……

The renovation of an old house sounds simple, but it is exhausting to do.

Except for the main house, all other houses that were added later will be demolished.

First of all, all the things have to be cleaned out. Regardless of how few rooms there are, there are not so many things to clean up, especially the farm tools that have been accumulated in the warehouse for many years, and now they are almost invisible.

Like a windmill, older than Li Hongbing, it used to be used to turn grains, dust, leaves, and impurities in grains such as rice, wheat, and corn.

Threshing machine, the harvested rice is directly threshed in the paddy field with a thresher.

And rakes, plows, buckets, back racks...

Even Li Hongbing couldn't name more farm tools.

Throw it away.

Reluctant, these are the memories of the old house.

If they are lost, grandpa will probably beat himself up in his dreams at night.

I was so busy working until the sun went down that I finished cleaning up the house, leaving only the kitchen untouched.

Li Hongbing slapped his forehead, "It's over!"

Everyone cast puzzled looks, and Li Hongbing said awkwardly, "The idiot and the blind have no place to sleep tonight."

Hi!
That's it.

Dakui laughed and said, "It's okay, go to sleep at my place tonight."

The blind man shook his head, "I can't leave the house unattended, and the idiot and I can make a bed in the backyard."

This kid is benevolent.

Everyone nodded silently when they heard the blind man's answer. Everyone likes those who know how to repay their kindness.

Li Hongbing stared, "You and Shawa go to sister Cui's room to sleep at night."

Teacher Cui still has a room at Uncle Hongbing’s house.

All the gentlemen showed gossiping smiles.

you…

Li Hongbing shook his head and smiled wryly, there will be a new topic in the village tomorrow.

The meal is brought to the table.

Calling everyone to sit down, Li Hongbing specially called Wang Hai and Sun Qiang over.

After all, they will stay in the village during this period of time, and they will be familiar with each other, so they can handle anything in the future.

A dinner was deliberately guided by Li Hongbing, and the two groups got together as brothers and sisters.

Halfway through drinking, Sun Qiang received a call, and when he came back, he looked worried.

After inquiring, I learned that the carpenter I hired was temporarily unable to come to Caogou Village due to the death of an elder in the family.

Wang Hai almost jumped up after hearing that, the most important thing in the renovation of an old house is the carpenter.

The entire renovation plan follows the principle of repairing the old with the old. All the new houses are made of wood, and nails cannot be used, and all of them are made of mortise and tenon.

If the carpenter is not in place, it would be too much to start construction, not to mention renovation, and the old house has already been demolished, so we can't wait until the carpenter arrives to start construction.

Li Hongbing frowned after hearing this.

Wang Hai cannot be blamed for this matter. After all, death is the most important thing, and the dead are the most important. It is understandable that other things that have nothing to do with it must give way.

"Shuisheng, you haven't lost your carpentry skills!"

Wang Hai and Sun Qiang's eyes fell on Shui Sheng, and they shook their heads secretly at the same time.

It's not that he looks down on Shuisheng, but that the tool carpenter is different from the rural earth carpenter, and this Shuisheng looks a bit out of date.

With a big bald head, an old black face, a stooped waist, and a homemade jacket with two collars, a dry tobacco pipe with a red cloth pipe hanging obliquely on his waist, he takes a sip from time to time, exhaling choking earthy smoke.

If it is said that he is good at farming, the two believe it, but if it is said that he is a good carpenter, forget it!
Bang Bang Bang!
Shuisheng knocked the cigarette pot against the leg of the stool to get out the soot, and put the cigarette stick back into his waist in a leisurely manner, "How can you lose the craftsmanship passed down by Master Lu Ban?"

Li Hongbing deliberately asked, "Show me something?"

Shui Sheng knew that Uncle Hong Bing was carrying him, so he was not polite, and said to the blind man, "Ride to my house, and ask your grandma to bring over my food."

After a while, the blind man returned to the yard carrying a wooden box half a person's height.

Everyone lost their interest in drinking, and they got up to watch the excitement.

Shuisheng opened the cover of the wooden box, and the carpenter's tools were neatly placed inside, caressing these buddies who had been with him all the time with a little drunken sadness.

Then Shuisheng found a rough log from the ruins of the house and returned it to everyone.

"Being a horse stool is showing your ugliness."

After speaking, pick up a charcoal pencil and make a mark on the rough wood.

Sun Qiang and Wang Hai looked at each other with no concealment of contempt in their eyes.

The rural carpenter is a bull nose, but you don't even use a ruler, which is a bit of a pretense and looks down on people.

After making the mark, Shuisheng took out the ink fountain box from the wooden box, looked around, picked up the wine on the table, poured it into the ink box, and stirred it with his fingers.

This is what Li Hongbing saw, and a sentence popped into his mind.

Get out of the way, I started pretending.

Shuisheng pinched the ink fountain pendant and pulled out an ink thread to hang on the wood, and lightly picked it with his fingers, leaving a black line on the surface of the wood.

The movements were smooth and smooth, without any hesitation, and soon black lines were left in disorder on the rough wood.

After playing the ink thread and fixing the rough wood at an angle, Shuisheng took out a long saw and started sawing, changing several saws of different lengths in the middle.

With the splashing of sawdust, the rough wood is decomposed into wood of different sizes and lengths.

Then Shuisheng took out the wooden drill, chisel, and various planes, and started working on the wood.

Time passed little by little.

Unknowingly, there were more people around, not only Li Hongbing and the others, but also the workers next door also ran over to watch the commotion when they heard the news.

Soon the wood gradually revealed its shape. The horse stool is simply a piece of wood with four stool legs underneath.

If you use a sawing machine to cut the wood, and then use nails to nail it, you can finish it quickly, but Shuisheng is purely handmade.

After the accessories are finished, it is necessary to modify the shape with a plane and make grooves with a chisel. This depends on experience and eyesight. If there is a little asymmetry, this horse stool will be useless.

Willow head on the moon.

Shuisheng took a stool leg and stuck it into the groove on the panel, and then tapped it with a hammer a few times to fix it. Then there were the remaining three stool legs.

In the end, Shuisheng seemed to intend to show off his skills by adding a wooden bar between the legs of the stool to fix the structure.

Finished.

A horse stool that does not need nails and is purely handmade.

"Look!" Shuisheng handed the horse stool to Sun Qiang with disdain, picked up the pipe and pot himself, and smoked.

Sun Qiang, who took over the horse stool, checked it over and over again. He found that the structure was stable, the mortise and tenon joints were regular and smooth, and there were some burrs on the surface, but he could make a stool by hand under the dark conditions. These problems can be ignored.

Putting the horse stool on the ground, Sun Qiang stood up and bent his knees deliberately to make a downward movement. The horse stool was as stable as Mount Tai, perfectly enduring the sudden increase in strength.

Wang Hai said to a worker watching the excitement beside him.

"Bring me the spirit level, test it."

The worker takes the spirit level, puts it on the stool, turns on the switch, shoots a green light, and reads out the parameters after it is flush with the surface of the stool.

"The error is 0.3 millimeters."

Whoa!
The surrounding workers included Wang Hai, and Sun Qiang was in an uproar.

Immediately cast an impressive look at Shui Sheng.

bull nose.

It's too bull-nosed.

Purely handmade, there is only a 0.3 mm error.

It should be known that the tolerance range of the level meter is only 0.2 mm.

Hearing the result, Shui Sheng sighed sadly.

"I'm old and my eyesight is not good. If the master finds out that the horse stool is crooked, I will have to be boarded again."

……

(End of this chapter)