Chapter 152: Progress in Construction

Just as Shen An and Shen Ning finished washing the dishes and tidying the wooden bench, they discovered their sister-in-law crafting something new.

A beautiful chicken feather shuttlecock.

No need for Sang Luo to teach; in a village where there are children, there are shuttlecocks. Shen Ning had seen and even played with them before.

But owning a shuttlecock of her own was a first.

The young girl was so delighted her eyes seemed to fly, hugging Sang Luo tightly and exclaiming, “Thank you, sister-in-law!”

Taking advantage of the remaining daylight, she called over Chen Xiaoya and Xu Wenyin from next door and started playing outside the cave. Soon, Shi Qiao from the opposite residence also joined, trailed by a string of young boys.

A rare amusement like this attracted even the slightly older kids like Chen Ershan and Wang Yunzheng. Soon, a crowd gathered, waiting for their turn to kick the shuttlecock, with no concept of it being just a girls’ game. The area outside the Shen family's cave was bustling with excitement.

Shen Lian, seated at the cave entrance, preparing a slab of stone on a pile of mud, couldn’t help but smile at the lively scene.

Knowing Sang Luo's tofu-making required a stone mill wasn’t a secret among the familiar families. Chen Dashan, aware of Shen Lian's intentions with the stone, joined in after dinner to help shape another piece.

……

Life in Yun Valley had become exceptionally busy and fulfilling.

Each day, the elder men like Chen Lao Han, Lu Lao Han, and Zhou Cunzheng started by checking the large communal field. In their free time, they took turns carving the communal stone mill. Expert weavers like Lu Popo and Chen Popo, inspired by the versatility of their skills, asked Chen Youtian to prepare bamboo strips for them to craft items like bamboo baskets, dustpans, and strainers.

With Chen Dashan’s help, Shen Lian focused on the stone mill at night. By day, he worked on the furniture pieces depicted in Sang Luo’s drawings, which he initially intended to discuss with Chen Youtian. However, the designs were so appealing that even the Chen father-son duo was roped into assisting.

Sang Luo's drawings were captivating, especially in terms of space utilization. Everyone in the valley was still cramped, sleeping on beds and floors. The idea of bunk beds and various sized cabinets, arranged beautifully and more appealing than their village houses, was too tempting to resist.

Not only would there be more sleeping space, but everyone would have their own area without feeling crowded.

Naturally, everyone pitched in to help create the furniture and assess the outcome. If it turned out well, not only would those in the valley with unfinished beds take note, but even the already-made beds in homes like theirs could be dismantled and redesigned.

Aside from the daily morning trips guiding others from the valley to gather wild goods and vegetables, and teaching them to set small traps, the Chen and Shen families devoted all their attention to the 'renovation' of the Shen household.

It was indeed a renovation project.

This was no longer just about making furniture. A complete set included a platform, wooden walls, and a ceiling, transforming the dark, crude cave into something entirely different.

For someone like Chen Youtian, who already had an interest in woodworking, tackling such a project was like receiving a new toy to explore in detail.

While all families were busy crafting furniture, the neighboring Xu family caught wind of the activity, mainly because Xu Wenyin was a frequent visitor to the Shen house and had seen the drawings when Shen Lian and Chen Youtian were discussing them.

The novelty thrilled the young girl, especially knowing that the beds she saw in the drawings were for Shen An and Shen Ning. She couldn't wait to stay over at the Shen’s to watch Chen Youtian and the others build the bed overnight. But more importantly, she wanted to show her uncle, brother, and cousins—who were struggling to make a simple wooden bed due to lack of tools—the plans.

After consulting with Shen Ning and getting Sang Luo's approval, she rushed back to her cave to bring her grandmother, uncle, brother, and cousins to see for themselves.

Upon seeing the legendary drawings, Wei Qing and his nephews were astounded.

Beds could be designed like this???

Their horizons were broadened.

Wei Qing swallowed hard, realizing that the cave life they envisioned was entirely different from what the Shen family was creating.

Xu Wenbo was almost in tears.

Heaven knows, without a saw, they couldn't even cut boards properly. Okay, even with a saw, they were hardly skilled in carpentry. The bed they had at home was actually made with help from Uncle Chen next door.

His uncle had just returned from transporting grain and felt uncomfortable bothering others again. They were already prepared to use an ax to chop some roughly equal-length logs, piece them together, fill the gaps with dry grass for leveling, pad it up, and lay the bedding down to sleep.

Compared to the Shen family, they were living almost like wild people.

He gazed at the drawing in his hands, his heart racing.

The design was really appealing.

But they neither knew how to draw nor build.

As Wang Yunzheng examined the drawings closely, Xu Wenbo eagerly approached Shen Lian and the others.

"Uncle Chen, Big Mountain Brother, Brother Lian, can we contribute some grain, and once you're done, help us make a bed too?"

Chen Youtian laughed upon hearing this. Chen Dashan, closer to Xu Wenbo, tapped his forehead lightly, "Did we ask for grain when we made your family's bed last time?"

Xu Wenbo touched his head, grinning sheepishly, "No, no, my Uncle Chen is really nice. It’s just that this looks hard to make."

Shen Lian chuckled.

This kid was slicker than Shopkeeper Xu.

"Alright, we'll help make yours too, but your family will have to wait until after your Uncle Chen's. Once theirs is done, we'll get to yours."

Xu Wenbo was so delighted he almost jumped with joy, thanking Chen Youtian, Chen Dashan, and Shen Lian effusively, showering them with compliments.

Grandma Xu had just finished looking at the drawings, saw her grandson rushing to ask for help making a bed, and chuckled as she pulled him back.

However, this help was genuinely needed by everyone, and the grandson did nothing wrong.

The old lady took the drawing to Sang Luo, finding her in the Chen family's cave.

"Our cave is a bit winding and we have more people. I was thinking of asking you, when you have time, to come over and help us design something suitable for our situation. Would that be okay?"

"Of course, it's okay. I'll finish the drawing for Chen Granny and then head over to your place."

Sang Luo agreed with a smile, considering that housing was a major issue in the valley. With each family having many members, living conditions were far from ideal, so helping out was a given.

She even anticipated that the Shi, Zhou, and Lu families would likely come seeking help, but once the three families here had their homes sorted, the others would essentially have a model to follow.

As Sang Luo predicted, the three families across did come over after hearing about the unique beds in the Shen family, pausing their own rudimentary wooden bed constructions and willingly waiting their turn.

To free up more time for Chen Youtian, Chen Dasha, and Shen Lie, they took on simpler tasks themselves.

The evening stonemasonry work, usually done by Shen Lie and Chen Dasha, was handed over to Shi Erlang and Zhou Dala. After consulting Shen Lie about the internal patterns, they joined the sound of chiseling with Zhou Cunzheng, Old Man Chen, and Old Man Lu outside the Shen family's cave.

The only household that had completely quieted down was the eldest branch of the Lu family.

The Lu family continued their usual activities, but those from the eldest branch, especially Tiger and Stone, were noticeably less present.

Sang Luo later learned that on the night Wang Chunniang was bound, Lu Shuanzhu developed a low fever in the middle of the night.

After taking medicine and resting for a day, he recovered and began spending his days with Lu Dala, carving small caves inside their cave. His younger siblings were also enlisted to help, taking turns to watch over Wang Chunniang.

The reason for Lu Shuanzhu's fever was relayed by Qin Fangniang, who heard it from Feng Liuniang.

He was literally scared sick by the old lady.

His nightmares were filled with vivid scenes of watching his younger siblings being butchered, their flesh fed into mouths and thrown into pots.

The old woman had chillingly described to Qin Fangniang how she talked about "two-legged sheep," vividly describing the taste of human flesh and listing the names of the children from the eldest family, emphasizing who would be the most tender, making Lu Shuanzhu imagine his siblings in such horrific scenes.

Feng Liuniang herself was terrified just hearing this. How could Lu Shuanzhu, who faced all this, not fall ill?

After learning about this, Mrs. Chen sought out the Lu matriarch to privately scold her, asking if she wasn’t afraid of scaring Lu Shuanzhu or Lu Daniu into serious harm?

The Lu matriarch retorted, “What else could I do? If the elder branch’s older ones don’t fully grasp the severity, a simple sickness would be the least of our worries should real trouble arise.”

Why the eldest grandson faced this ordeal, rather than Lu Dala, the eldest son, was perhaps only truly understood by the Lu matriarch herself.

……

The Shen family's cave gradually filled up with the wooden parts and semi-finished products stacked against the right wall. Only half-completed, they needed to finish everything before assembling. The first completed items were the set of tables and chairs drawn by Sang Luo.

Having flattened the wall behind the newly placed furniture, Sang Luo now had a comfortable spot to sit, a luxury compared to the wooden stools before, despite lacking the time and materials to make cushions or pillows.

This new furniture set drew the attention of all the families in the valley, with children eagerly trying out the chairs, reluctant to leave, and longing for such beautiful furniture in their own homes.

With these tables and chairs, Sang Luo spent most of her time there, except for occasional trips out of the valley with Shen Lian, Chen Da Shan, and other families, and preparing meals for the Chen family who were crafting their own furniture.

She busied herself making ink brushes and drafting designs, with Shen Ning, Xu Wen Yin, and Chen Xiao Ya often joining her to assist or watch her draw.

Shen Lian brought back various game during this period, resulting in an increase in cured meats and providing Sang Luo with materials for brush-making, including feathers from pheasants, wolves, rabbits, and dholes.

Truth be told, Sang Luo was not well-acquainted with brush-making, having grown up in an orphanage. Her ability to write with a brush relied on her innate memory and skills with hard-pen writing, so she had to experiment, initially wasting several pheasant feathers before figuring out the technique.

As she became more experienced, she started using hairs from other animals, discovering that each animal's fur, and even different parts of the same animal, produced brushes with unique writing feels and qualities.

Wolf hair brushes turned out too stiff for writing, while those made from the chest feathers of pheasants were overly soft, not quite to Sang Luo's liking. Rabbit hair, especially from the spine of wild rabbits, yielded the best flexibility.

She experimented with mixing different animal hairs in various proportions for brush-making, leading to a range of haphazard trials.

After crafting around fifty to sixty brush heads, only about ten seemed decent. Attaching them to pen shafts made by Shen Lian, several fell apart, but ultimately seven usable brushes emerged, much to Sang Luo's satisfaction.

While Sang Luo completed her brushes, Shen Lian and Chen Youtian finished processing their last batch of wood.

All the materials for the two-tier bed with cabinets, as depicted in Sang Luo's drawings, were ready; the only step remaining was assembly.

Sang Luo's bed, along with its bedding and pillows, was cleared to make space, temporarily stored on the shelves. Shen Lian and his companions dismantled the old bed swiftly as it couldn't fit inside the cave, placing it outside for the time being.

Xu Wenbo, who frequently checked the progress, realized the bed assembly was about to start and rushed back to call his uncle and cousin.

“Hurry, hurry, the bed is ready! Let’s go see it being assembled!”