As they were talking, Xiao Shan arrived with another cart of yellow soil and the plastering tools.
"Uncle De," Xiao Shan asked, "is this yellow soil enough? If not, I can fetch a few more carts."
Uncle De replied, "No need to go for now. It's not too late to get more later if we run short. For now, help Xiao Shan and the others fling the mud onto the wall with all your might."
With an extra person helping, plastering the mud onto the wall went much faster.
Uncle De and Uncle Fu began to level the section of the wall that had already been plastered, working section by section, and then smoothing it all over.
With more hands, everyone had a role: Grandma and Mama Liu and Mama Cui chopped straw, Xiang Xi and Lin Mao mixed the mud, and Xiao Shan and Xiao Shuan flung the mud onto the wall. If they got tired, Xiang Xi and Lin Mao would take over flinging, while Xiao Shan and Xiao Shuan would mix more mud.
Finally, Uncle Fu and Uncle De used their trowels to smooth the mud on the walls. The entire process was efficient, with everyone busy and no one idle.
It was quite a sight! Mixing, flinging, and plastering mud, everyone looked like a mud monkey, their faces and clothes speckled with mud.
Meanwhile, Chen Lan quickly entered the mountain forest from the day before and began collecting fallen branches into the system warehouse. She had been sawing non-stop yesterday and hadn't paid attention to how much she had cut. She got carried away!
She had cleared a section of the forest and hadn't realized how many branches she had cut. The ground was littered everywhere.
As she collected them into the system warehouse today, she discovered just how many branches she had indeed cut! After finally finishing, Chen Lan glanced at the system time and exclaimed, "Oh my goodness! It's getting late! Just collecting these branches took nearly an hour."
Now she had to quickly saw down two more pine trees. She needed to find two that were relatively thick and straight. As for why she chose pine trees over others, Chen Lan hadn't really thought about it; it was probably instinct.
Because she had collected so many branches into the system warehouse today, they were scattered everywhere. Chen Lan eventually found the chainsaw she had used yesterday. She then located two pine trees about a bowl's width in diameter. With practiced skill, she used the chainsaw to cut them down and quickly stored them in the system warehouse. Glancing at the system time, she realized it was indeed getting late!
This trip up the mountain had taken about an hour and a half. She had to hurry down and transport the wood back. Uncle De and the others were waiting.
Chen Lan retraced her steps back to the valley. As she passed her own yard, she first took out all the branches from the system warehouse and laid them on the drying ground by the entrance. Then, she used the chainsaw to cut off the branches from the two pine trees, leaving only the main trunks.
She then shouldered the two bare, bowl-width trunks and hurried towards the ear mushroom shed.
When Chen Lan reached the ear mushroom shed and dropped the trunks, she saw Uncle De and the others finishing up the last wall with their trowels, just as she arrived with the chainsaw. It was perfect timing!
Grandma, Mama Cui, and Mama Liu were no longer there. They had likely left because their work was done, and they were heading to the main kitchen to help Lin Mai with cooking.
Xiang Xi saw Chen Lan returning and said, "Xiao Lan Zi, you're always timing things perfectly. Couldn't you have come back a bit later? Let us all have a good rest."
Chen Lan was bewildered by Xiang Xi's words, not understanding what had happened or what he meant. She just stood there, frozen.
Seeing Xiang Xi scolding Chen Lan, Uncle Fu loudly rebuked him, "Rest? Don't you see what time it is? It's almost dark! Get up and lend a hand, and when you want to rest, you'll have more than half a year to rest all winter."
Xiang Xi pouted and stood up, muttering softly, "It's always like this, no matter how old I get. You always show favoritism. I'm starting to wonder if I'm even your biological son."
Uncle Fu reprimanded, "What are you mumbling about now? Hurry up and get to work."
Uncle Fu took the chainsaw from Chen Lan. Xiang Xi and Xiao Shan obediently stood by, helping to steady the logs so they wouldn't roll around. Uncle Fu, with his muddy hands, drew lines on the logs, then sawed along these lines, splitting the logs into boards about an inch thick.
Uncle Fu then instructed Xiang Xi, Xiao Shan, Lin Mao, and Xiao Shuan to climb onto the roof of the shed from the tractor. Working in pairs, one person would nail the new boards onto the old ones, while the other would receive the boards handed up from below.
With everyone cooperating and their tasks divided, the work went quickly. In a short while, all the sawn boards were nailed in place. Sudan Novel Network
There weren't enough boards. It looked like they would need to cut three more pine trees of similar thickness tomorrow.
Uncle De was preparing to transport yellow soil to the section of the shed roof where the boards had been nailed, but Chen Lan stopped him.
Chen Lan said, "Uncle De, Uncle Fu, it's almost dark. It's late, and we should stop for today. There's no rush; we can come back early tomorrow to continue."
Uncle De looked up and saw that the sky was indeed darkening. He hadn't noticed earlier due to their focus on the work. He nodded and said, "We'll stop here for today. Everyone come early tomorrow to finish the remaining work. The most important thing is for us to go to the mountain and cut more firewood for the winter."
Upon hearing this, everyone roughly tidied up their tools and materials, as they would be used again tomorrow anyway.
They all washed their hands and left one by one. Chen Lan washed her hands and turned off the faucet.
Turning around, she saw Uncle De and Uncle Fu waiting for her a short distance away. She quickly walked over and asked, "Uncle Fu, Uncle De, did you need something?"
Uncle De looked at Uncle Fu and nodded. Uncle Fu smiled and said, "Xiao Lan, ask your father-in-law how many more days the weather is expected to be clear. We need to know when the weather might turn so that your Uncle De and I can arrange for cutting firewood on the mountain and digging cellars for winter vegetables."
Chen Lan smiled slightly and said, "Okay! Please wait a moment. I'll ask my father-in-law about the weather forecast for the next fifteen days."
Saying this, she immediately used her mind to activate the system's search function for a fifteen-day weather forecast.
As she viewed the system screen, she said, "From September 20th to 22nd, meaning from tomorrow to the day after tomorrow, most areas of Changbai Mountain will see a temperature rise, with the highest temperature reaching 21 degrees Celsius and the lowest at 9 degrees. Uncle De and Uncle Fu, we can use these three sunny days to stock up on firewood."
Uncle De and Uncle Fu both nodded in agreement. "Yes, you're right! The weather is like this when autumn transitions to winter in Changbai Mountain. After that, it's likely to rain continuously."