Shen Mingqing didn’t return to the mountaintop until the evening of the next day, as the round trip took considerable time.
He brought back rather unsettling news – he had discovered droppings from some large animal halfway up the mountain, likely from a bear or tiger.
Fortunately, they now had enough people and wouldn’t be traveling alone, so there was less to fear.
But Zhao Nuan’s proposal to build brick houses needed to be implemented immediately. Otherwise, the elderly, weak, and children of the Zhou Family would be in great danger here.
“I still went to Liu Chen to buy the dagger, making it an official transaction.”
Zhao Nuan nodded in agreement: “Next time, help me send a message to Lord Liu. We’ll deliver this year’s charcoal after the snow melts next year – there’s no time now.”
To her surprise, Shen Mingqing smiled: “How could that old fox not have thought of that? He already told me that newcomers don’t need to submit charcoal for the first month.”
That was good. Zhao Nuan frowned as she gazed into the distance.
The leaves on the trees were almost all fallen, and she wondered how the Zhou Family was doing now.
All she could do now was prepare to welcome them.
When the Zhou Family arrived, they would have warm houses to live in and hot meals to eat.
The mountaintop covered a large area. Duan Zheng suggested leaving the two children in the shack under Zhao Nuan’s care while he and others searched for suitable soil for brick-making.
But Zhao Nuan disagreed: “Since we’ve come to this place, the children and I should become thoroughly familiar with it. Let’s all go together.”
They left three or five youths to chop trees nearby and guard their supplies.
Zhao Nuan took the two children, Shen Mingqing, Duan Zheng, and several other youths to search for soil suitable for brick-making.
Luckily, they had good fortune. On the backside of the mountain at mid-slope, they found an area with sparse vegetation.
After sweeping away the fallen leaves and digging about twenty centimeters down, the soil layer changed from black humus to yellow clay.
Continuing to dig about thirty centimeters deeper, the color began turning red.
Zhao Nuan poured water and kneaded the soil, quickly forming a smooth ball with almost no impurities.
“This is red clay. It can be used not only for making bricks but also for pottery and utensils.”
Shen Mingqing scanned the surroundings and spotted a small platform nearby where water flow had carved out a small pit before forming a small waterfall down the mountain gully.
“Shall we fire them nearby?”
Zhao Nuan had the same thought. Dried bricks would be much lighter than wet clay.
They immediately got to work. Zhao Nuan suggested digging kiln-like spaces directly into the platform cliff face to serve as furnaces.
Such kilns would have better sealing and might even be used for firing other things later.
Fearing collapse, they dug the kilns two meters high and two meters deep.
Then they hollowed out another half meter downward, creating two levels.
Each kiln was spaced two meters apart to provide adequate support.
Unexpectedly, the excavated soil was also clay, killing two birds with one stone.
While the adults worked busily, Yan’er played with Zhou Ningyu nearby.
Yan’er wouldn’t run off mischievously, and Zhou Ningyu wouldn’t cry as long as he wasn’t hungry or wet.
Worried they might encounter danger, Zhao Nuan thoughtfully inserted wooden sticks into the ground to create a fence enclosure.
She called it a human pen, confining them both inside.
The youths laughed heartily, saying it was like raising little lambs.
“Yan’er, play with this.”
Zhao Nuan suddenly had an idea. She formed a smooth ball of kneaded clay for Yan’er to play with.
Yan’er hugged the clay ball: “Mother, how do I play with this?”
“Like this.” Zhao Nuan explained while demonstrating, quickly shaping a somewhat dog-like figure in her hands.
Yan’er’s eyes sparkled with keen interest.
So while Zhou Ningyu was sleeping, she played with mud in the human pen.
Zhao Nuan never expected that by afternoon, Yan’er would have molded a remarkably lifelike Zhou Ning’an.
This pleasantly surprised her immensely – such natural talent!
“Mommy’s precious, I’ll fire this for you later as a decorative piece.”
Encouraged by the praise, Yan’er continued with renewed vigor, producing new creations almost daily.
These teenagers were still children at heart. Seeing Yan’er having so much fun, they too started playing with mud during breaks, and indeed two of them showed considerable talent.
Even Duan Zheng felt the itch to try, molding a rather peculiar-looking cow.
They worked on digging the kiln during the day and continued through the evenings.
They would plane a tree trunk smooth on both sides, then chisel out brick-sized holes.
Thinning the sides made it lighter, while adding handles at both ends.
Placing the mold on the ground, they’d fill it with clay and compact it firmly. Lifting the mold would leave twenty neatly arranged brick blanks on the ground.
“Sister Zhao, you’re so clever,” the teenagers marveled as they gathered around her.
“Just keep watching and learning – you’ll become skilled too in time.”
Zhao Nuan’s heart ached for these children. They weren’t stupid at all, just numbed by daily labor that left no time for anything else.
After digging the kiln, they coated the interior with clay slurry.
Finally, they sealed it with brick blanks, leaving only a small door.
Then they piled up firewood and burned it once to harden the structure.
While waiting for the brick kiln to harden, everyone worked on expanding the platform. They didn’t waste the excavated soil, using it to make more brick blanks.
By the time the first batch of brick blanks was ready for firing, four or five sturdy log cabins had been built on the mountaintop.
Worried about moisture damaging their supplies, they raised the cabin floors by one chi.
Zhao Nuan hadn’t been idle these days either – she had grown plenty of bean sprouts using beans.
Occasionally, they’d catch mountain rats or wild rabbits to make soup with bean sprouts – absolutely delicious.
But the unidentified animal droppings appeared again, and this time from more than one creature.
Everyone remained vigilant while working even harder to fire more bricks quickly and build sturdy houses sooner.
The brick-firing process – from sealing the kiln to opening it – took three days, during which no one needed to tend it.
Using this interval, everyone intensified their efforts digging foundations.
They planned four rooms in a row, with an additional side room at each end.
Three wing rooms extended horizontally on each side, each ending with an open-sided structure.
These open structures could serve as kitchens, storage areas, and also prevent rain driven by east or west winds from eroding the walls.
Duan Zheng dug until sweat poured from his brow: “Ten rooms are perfect – complete in every way.”
Zhao Nuan piled the topsoil they excavated onto nearby open ground, planning to use it as fertilizer later.
They also stored the subsoil properly. Though less sticky than brick-making clay, it was still suitable for making clay stoves.
Zhao Nuan generously provided them with food, and the teenagers worked with growing energy.
Within just a few days, they no longer looked frail and weak – muscles were developing on their arms and legs.
The mountaintop was open and bright, turning golden whenever the sun emerged.
Today was the day for opening the first kiln of bricks. Zhao Nuan stood outside rubbing her sore back.
She smiled wryly looking toward Suizhou City still shrouded in darkness in the distance: “Dawn comes early here – no sleeping in.”
“Wow, it’s so cold.”
Yan’er hugged her arms and exhaled a breath, watching the wispy white vapor dissipate in the air.
“Wow-woo, mama ah-woo…”
Zhao Nuan tapped Zhou Ningyu’s nose: “Little foodie, demanding ‘wow-woo’ food the moment you open your eyes.”
The bonfire had not yet completely died out, and the whole potatoes simmering in the earthen pot above it were still piping hot.
Zhou Ningyu wasn’t a picky eater, enjoying mashed potatoes with goat’s milk just the same.
Zhao Nuan, worried everyone might grow tired of eating potatoes, sweet potatoes, and chestnuts, had stewed whole garlic cloves with salt and chili peppers the night before.
By now, the water had evaporated completely, leaving the garlic cloves with wrinkled skins and a soft, tender interior.
She split a potato in half, placed a garlic clove on top, and mashed them together with a spoon.
“Mmm, delicious.”
The youths lined up one by one. The aroma of garlic and chili peppers blended together, transforming the otherwise bland potatoes into a savory treat.
“As long as it tastes good,” Zhao Nuan said with satisfaction.
This was actually a method for making oil-braised garlic, but with oil being scarce here, she had to substitute it with water.