During times of famine: I have a spiritual spring space

Chapter 12 Easy as Hands

Zhuang Lihui and Chen Jianan carefully selected the older bamboo they brought home, intending to craft some decent pieces of furniture, such as chairs and sofas.

Don't let your guests come to your door and not even have a place to sit; that would be too embarrassing.

Bamboo chairs, sofas, and other items can be made very beautiful and artistic with a little care.

Zhuang Lihui first sawed off several sections to make the legs of chairs and sofas.

The bamboo joints need to be trimmed; scraping them off makes them look nicer and prevents them from getting prickly. Then, lightly roast them over a fire, mainly to remove the oil from the bamboo skin. After rubbing them with something, the bamboo skin will have a glossy finish, as if it has been polished.

Some parts need to be bent, which also requires roasting over a fire until the bamboo softens. It's important to control the heat to prevent burning, as we all know that softened bamboo becomes more resilient.

Zhuang Liming helped split the bamboo to make bamboo strips of uniform thickness and length, and also trimmed the edges to prevent them from being sharp and cutting people.

"Brother, when did you start doing these things?" Zhuang Liming was very surprised.

"You'll get the hang of it after watching someone do it a few times! Isn't it just a matter of having hands?"

Do you think I watched these kinds of short videos in my past life and I'm telling you this? Craft videos are definitely a slowdown for men; many men watch an episode before bed.

Zhuang Liming: "..."

That's a perfect example of "anyone can do it".

Finally, Zhuang Lihui used mortise and tenon joints for assembly, drilling holes in the center of the bamboo tubes and reinforcing the joints with bamboo nails. Traditional techniques do not use iron nails to ensure a perfect fit.

The moment the finished product was completed, Zhuang Liming's eyes lit up. He suddenly realized that the bamboo chair was quite beautiful.

He couldn't resist sitting on it and even shook it; it was quite sturdy.

Zhuang Lihui made six of these chairs to ensure that his second uncle's family of four would have chairs to sit on when they came to eat.

Finally, the process of making a bamboo sofa is the same, only the style is different.

By the time I finished setting up those six chairs and one sofa, the sun had already set. Once the chairs and sofa were in the house, the room instantly felt different.

At least it no longer has that feeling of being destitute.

"Alright, go cook!" Zhuang Lihui instructed.

My younger brother is just someone I can boss around.

We ate the same thing for dinner, nothing changed.

After eating his fill, Zhuang Lihui slipped into his spatial dimension to harvest rice and peanuts. Looking at the piles of corn, rice, and peanuts, he felt he needed to build a granary in the space.

Not far away, the chicks had grown a bit bigger, and the day when we could eat chicken was not far off.

There were also more than a dozen eggs scattered on the ground, including chicken eggs and goose eggs.

So many eggs in just two days?

But upon closer reflection, it makes sense. In the spiritual spring space, crops can ripen within a few hours, so it's normal for chickens and geese to lay eggs quickly here, since the spiritual spring space itself cannot be measured by common sense.

If something doesn't make sense, don't waste your brainpower on it; avoid mental exhaustion.

Zhuang Lihui quickly collected the eggs, so he could continue to hatch chicks and goslings later; there was no rush to eat them.

The next day, Zhuang Liming asked his older brother in a low voice, "Brother, have you noticed? The water seems to taste a little better these past two days."

"Really? You don't feel anything? It must be your imagination." Zhuang Lihui's heart tightened, and he thought to himself that he should reduce the amount of spiritual spring water in the future.

Half a tank of water, add a cup of spiritual spring water and that's about right.

"Is it just my imagination?" Zhuang Liming began to doubt himself, and then stopped investigating further.

Actually, changes in water quality are normal. Some wells used to have sweet water, but it may become bitter for a short period of time, and then return to normal after a while.

"What are we doing today?" Zhuang Liming changed the subject.

Zhuang Lihui thought for a moment and said, "Just clean the kitchen and bathroom at home, and scrape off the dust in the kitchen."

The kitchens of this era were blackened by firewood, both the walls and the roof were covered in soot, which was said to have been used to make inksticks in ancient times.

"good!"

Zhuang Liming did not ask his older brother about his schedule and plans.

The two brothers had just finished eating when their second uncle, Zhuang Zhenmin, arrived with two sets of clothes.

"Lihui, Liming, try on the clothes your second aunt made. If they don't fit, ask her to alter them." Zhuang Zhenmin said before even entering the house.

As they got closer, they noticed that their two nephews were quite different, especially Li Hui, who had become cleaner, more refined, more energetic, and even more elegant.

That feeling is hard to describe; it can only be understood intuitively and cannot be put into words.

He was quite surprised.

"Second Uncle, come in quickly, have you eaten?" Zhuang Lihui asked.

Have you eaten?

This is the most common and simple way of greeting people in China. As we all know, food has always been the most important thing for the people in China.

Caring for someone starts with caring about their meals.

"I ate a big bowl of corn porridge," Uncle Zhuang Zhenmin said with a smile.

Actually, he stopped eating breakfast a long time ago.

Upon entering the house, Zhuang Zhenmin was surprised again. The room was not only clean and tidy, but also had several new bamboo chairs and a rather nice "bench".

"Who made this chair? It's quite nice!"

Zhuang Liming took the clothes from his second uncle and proudly told him, "My brother made these yesterday, aren't they nice?"

"Li Hui, you did this?" Zhuang Zhenmin was quite surprised and could hardly believe it.

Zhuang Lihui nodded: "Yeah! I saw others do it a few times, and then I tried to do it myself. It doesn't seem too difficult."

"That's because you're smart," Uncle affirmed.

Many people can't learn it even if you teach them step by step, let alone watch it several times. Zhuang Zhenmin never expected his nephew to have such talent; at least he can make a living with this skill in the future.

Zhuang Lihui and Zhuang Liming tried on the clothes, which were a little too big.

In this era, it's just right.

"Okay, then I'll head to the production team first." Seeing that the clothes were fine, Second Uncle didn't linger and had to hurry to work!

Zhuang Liming was reluctant to wear his new clothes, so he folded them up and carefully put them in the trunk. He planned to save these clothes for future holidays and festivals.

He hasn't had any new clothes since his mother passed away, not even today.

Zhuang Lihui ignored him and went out alone.

They hadn't gone far when they bumped into Chen Jian'an.

"Brother Hui, have you eaten? Where are you going?"

"I just ate and I'm planning to go out for a bit. Jian'an, are you free?" Zhuang Lihui asked.

"have!"

Since Brother Hui has asked that question, you have to say you're free even if you're not!

"Then come with me!"

"Wait, I'll go back and tell my mom." With that, Chen Jian'an ran home without asking Zhuang Lihui where he was going or what he was going to do.

About five minutes later, Chen Jianan returned.

"Let's borrow an oxcart from the production team!" Zhuang Lihui said to Chen Jian'an.

"What will it be used for?" Chen Jianan asked.

When you go to borrow an oxcart from the production team, you have to explain the purpose of the loan. The oxcart is an important asset of the production team, so it's best to be cautious.

"Just say you're going to the commune to pick up some things."

"Okay, I'll go borrow it."