Back in the 1980s, hiking in the mountains was also a way of life

Chapter 1126 The Earth Fire Dragon is Really Good
And so, the three of them got busy again, some digging, some mixing mud, and some carrying bricks.
After completing the preparations, Wang Dazhu took out a lighter and lit the kindling in one of the cellars.

That's right, Comrade Wang Dazhu has also started using a lighter, and it's even windproof.

However, the windproof lighter in Wang Dazhu's hand was snatched from Wang An. In his words, Wang An was still young and should enjoy life later. Thus, the windproof lighter became Wang Dazhu's.

There was no way around it; it was only natural for a father to ask his son for things. So, Wang An took out the new lighter that Qiao Xiaohu had given him.

Actually, the reason Wang An snatched the lighter from Qiao Xiaohu was to prevent Wang Dazhu from taking it from him. Mainly, Wang An knew his father's hobbies all too well.

Seeing the chimney of the earth fire dragon begin to smoke and the kindling in the cellar gradually turning into charcoal, Wang Dazhu, holding a trowel in his right hand, turned to Wang An and Huang Zhong and said:

"Xiao An, put on the mud; Xiao Zhong, put on the bricks."

Wang An casually agreed:
"Okay, Dad."

Huang Zhong immediately responded:

"Yes, sir, the bricks are coming right away."

Once all the mud and bricks were in place, Wang Dazhu squatted at the entrance of the cellar and began laying bricks with mud.

The purpose of this brick wall is to completely seal the heat, smoke, and air inside the combustion chamber, and then control the air concentration inside the combustion chamber through the ventilation openings.

The main purpose is to burn the fuel in the kiln, like a mosquito coil, which is a smoldering process without a flame. Therefore, there can't be too much air inside, but it also can't be completely empty.

In any case, the air inside the combustion chamber is very thin, which allows the fuel inside to burn continuously, but it cannot ignite a flame, and smoke and heat are constantly billowing out.

Of course, in addition to this, to prevent the chimney from having too much draft or wind from flowing back into the chimney on windy days, which would accelerate the combustion of fuel in the combustion chamber, a movable baffle is installed separately at the bottom of the chimney, that is, at the flue. Locals call it a chimney baffle.

It's not just the flue of a traditional fire dragon that needs a chimney board; the flue of a heated brick bed also needs one, serving the same purpose.

With Wang Dazhu completely sealing the cellar door, the burning cellar for the underground fire dragon was now fully completed. If nothing unexpected happened, the cellar would remain unattended until next spring.

Just as Wang Dazhu and his two companions lit the second burning pit and were about to seal the second pit door, Huang Li ran out of the house and called to them:

"Grandpa, Big Brother, Little Brother, dinner's ready."

Since Huang Zhong also stayed at Wang An's house, Huang Li has been noticeably happier than before.

Perhaps influenced by her family, Huang Li treated her younger brother Huang Zhong better than she treated herself, as if Huang Baoguo's entire family had placed all their hopes on Huang Zhong, their only son.

Of course, this kind of thing was very common in those days, especially in cases like Huang Zhong's, where there was only one boy in the family.

However, when Wang An hesitated to let Huang Zhong move into the new house as well, he was met with opposition from both Huang Li and Huang Zhong, the siblings.

The reason is that Huang Zhong was perfectly fine living in the old house, and there was absolutely no need for him to move to the new house.

It's good that he refused, mainly because Wang An himself was in a bit of a predicament.

Although Huang Zhong is small in stature, he is already a grown man. Having such a grown man living in the same house and seeing him all the time is really inconvenient for Mu Xueqing.

After Huang Li finished speaking, Wang An said:

"If you're hungry, you can eat first. Xiaomei and Xiaoli have to go to school in the afternoon."

After Wang An finished speaking, Wang Dazhu also said:
"The kindling is already on fire, we should at least seal the door before we eat. You guys eat first, we'll be done soon."

After hearing this, the oriole ran back as she spoke:
"Then I'll go back and tell my aunt."

Ignoring what Huang Li was saying, Wang Dazhu and his two companions continued their work. Fortunately, the cellar entrance wasn't large, and in just over 20 minutes, Wang Dazhu successfully sealed it with mud and bricks. Then, admiring his masterpiece, Wang Dazhu chuckled and said:
"Come on, let's go back inside, wash our hands, and have dinner."

Wang An smiled and flattered him, saying:

"It has to be you, Dad. The cellar door was built perfectly straight, not a single wisp of smoke escaped."

Wang Dazhu waved his hand, and said with a hint of smugness:
"Absolutely! What job wouldn't I do with perfect precision? I'm a seasoned professional, hahaha!"

Although Wang Dazhu was praising himself, it must be admitted that Comrade Wang Dazhu is indeed quite capable. He can do all kinds of work, including carpentry, bricklaying, and stonemasonry. Most importantly, he can do it all properly and well.

Sometimes Wang An thinks that the reason he learns everything so quickly and can master anything is because he inherited it from Wang Dazhu.

After Wang Dazhu finished showing off, Wang An chimed in:

"Yeah, my dad's the best, he's amazing! Hahahaha!"

As they talked, the three of them walked into the house together.

Although Wang Dazhu and Wang An both said to let Liu Guilan and the others eat first, in fact, only Wang Xiaomei and Wang Xiaoli finished eating first because they had to go to school.

Liu Guilan, Mu Xueqing, and Huang Li only brought bowls and chopsticks to the table; the dishes and rice were still in the pot.

Upon seeing Wang Dazhu and his two companions enter the room, Liu Guilan immediately asked:
"Are those two cellars all finished?"

Wang Dazhu said with a happy face:

"Yeah, all done. Now that it's all set up, we don't have to worry about it all winter. Hahaha, this fire dragon thing is so convenient. We won't even need to light the stove in the house anymore. It'll be so warm."

After finishing setting up both fuel cellars, Wang Dazhu was clearly pleased. As he spoke, he squatted down, touched the ground with his hand, and continued with a chuckle:
"Look, the ground is already getting warm. If we forget to heat the kang (heated brick bed) in the winter, we won't be cold sleeping on the ground. Hahaha, this thing is really good."

Seeing Wang Dazhu squat down, Liu Guilan also bent down and touched the ground, then said with a look of surprise:

"Yeah, this floor is like a heated brick bed now, it's so warm, hehehe."

Mu Xueqing originally wanted to touch the ground, but now she wanted to sit on the chair and bend over to rub the ground, which was quite strenuous. So, Mu Xueqing got off the chair and squatted down directly.

To be honest, although bending over was difficult for Mu Xueqing, squatting was alright. After touching the ground, she said with a smile:

"Mmm, this floor is so warm, it's almost like a heated brick bed."

Hearing the adults' conversation and seeing their actions, the two little girls naturally wanted to join in the fun. Wang Xiaomei and Wang Xiaoli put down their chopsticks and slid down to sit on the ground.

Immediately afterwards, the two little girls, as if they were doing it quite well, also touched the ground, and then Wang Xiaoli nodded and said:

"Hmm, not bad, not bad, it's quite warm."

Wang Xiaomei, speaking like an adult, said:

"This earth fire dragon is great, really great."

Wang Dazhu and his wife, Wang An and his wife, and Huang Li and her brother were stunned for a moment, and then burst into laughter.

The main problem is that these two girls have absolutely no idea what a Fire Dragon is!

(End of this chapter)