Chapter 6 House
While there was still time, early the next morning, Wang Deming helped his godmother clean up the house inside and out. After chopping wood, fetching water, and feeding the chickens, he found the village bricklayer.

The bricklayer's surname is Yan. According to Wang Deming's godmother's husband's family, he should be called "Uncle".

"Uncle, my mother and I discussed it last night. We have saved some money in the past two years and plan to build a house with three brick houses. I would like to trouble you to call someone to arrange it."

After saying that, Wang Deming handed over a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes, but Uncle Yan pushed it back and confiscated it.

"I'm not used to it. It's boring."

Uncle Yan pulled out the pipe hanging from his waist, put it into a gray little bag hanging on the cloth string on his waistband, filled it with cigarettes, and asked Wang Deming to light it with a match.

"Building a house is a good thing, and building a brick and tile house directly! Deming, you are the one!" Uncle Yan gave a thumbs up.

"My brother and sister-in-law have suffered these past few years, but thanks to you, they have finally made it through. That's great!"

"Deming, go back and wait. I'll go find some people after breakfast and take them with me. Building a house is a big deal. Let's discuss it together."

"By the way, don't forget to find a Feng Shui master to check the direction first."

When the bricklayers and carpenters in the villages heard that Wang Deming's family was going to build a house, they all patted their chests and promised to do the job well, without asking for any wages, just a lunch.

After the autumn harvest, craftsmen from the countryside would go to the city in groups to find work to supplement their family income.

However, Wang Deming had a very good reputation in the area. He was an expert in farming and never hid his knowledge. He devoted himself to guiding and planning agricultural planting for each village. He also knew medicine and would come back from the capital every month to treat the villagers free of charge. He also collected herbs and gave them away for free. Anyone with a headache or fever would come to him for help.

One after another, bricklayers, carpenters, etc. from Wayao Village, Qinjia Village, and several neighboring villages were brought to Wang Deming's house by Uncle Yan.

It is not easy to learn a craft in this era. It takes three years to complete a festival. What does it mean? Three years is easy to understand, but what is a festival? The Spring Festival, May Festival, and Mid-Autumn Festival. Depending on the time of apprenticeship, after three years, one more festival is required before you can become a master. After becoming a master, you must serve the master for another three years.

This also leads to the situation that many villages have only one or two bricklayers or carpenters, or even none at all.

Because Wang Deming specifically specified that a brick and tile house should be built, Uncle Yan had to go to the nearby villages to call for help.

When people came one after another, the Feng Shui master had already arrived, holding a compass and chanting: "Huasheng opens the account, two ears sticking to the sky, shrimp whiskers and crab eyes."

"This is it!" He pointed to a slightly protruding open space ten meters away from Wang Deming's old house.

The Feng Shui master said with absolute certainty: "This is absolutely a great place for a house! There is no other place like this in the whole village!"

Wang Deming didn't say anything. He handed over the money with a smile and sent him away. In his opinion, the reason for inviting the Feng Shui master was just a psychological effect. The Forbidden City has the best Feng Shui, but in the end it became the Palace Museum, didn't it?

Uncle Yan signaled that everyone was present. After Wang Deming had smoked a circle of cigarettes, he picked up a branch and drew a simple diagram on the ground. While drawing, he talked about his requirements for the house. The appearance was very simple. He would just build three northern rooms, and then build a pigpen and a chicken coop.

But how to dig the foundation? How to build the structure inside the house? How to level the horizontal line? How to align the vertical line? How to put the beam together? Where is the chimney? Wang Deming casually told them all.

同时也提到建造过程中有几点要求：1、地基要挖挖到1米到1米2，用石头铺设，地面上再抬高1米；基槽回填要分层夯实；
2. Dry bricks are strictly prohibited from being placed on the wall. The fullness of the horizontal joints shall not be less than 80%, the vertical joints must be full, and the thickness of the mortar joints shall be 8-12 mm;

As for the blue bricks, cement and gray tiles used for building houses, Wang Deming pointed to the back mountain and said, "Uncle, there was a kiln factory in our village before, but it was closed two years ago. I went to investigate before. It can be modified to burn bricks and cement. There are also materials around our village. We can dig them directly, but we have to spend some money to buy coal. This is also a way to make money for our village."

"I'm going to ask someone in the city to buy some good wood. We'll be living in this house for many years, so I need to make it comfortable for Mom and get some durable furniture."

"How many blue bricks are needed? How much cement is needed? How much material is needed? I have calculated them all." After he finished drawing the house, he made the calculations at the same time.

Wang Deming stood up, clapped his hands, and bowed to the craftsmen: "It's that simple. I'll trouble all relatives and neighbors for the follow-up." "We should get the wages. Thanks to the Party and the government, my mother and I have saved some money in the past two years, which is enough." As he said that, he prepared to erase the place where he had just drawn with his feet.

"Don't!" Uncle Yan suddenly shouted, and then added nervously: "Deming! Don't move!"

The shout scared Wang Deming so much that he thought there were some snakes, insects, rats or ants on the ground, so he quickly jumped back and stopped.

"What's wrong?" Wang Deming asked nervously while looking around. He was so lucky to live a second life, but he hadn't enjoyed it enough.

"Deming," Uncle Yan breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the map on the ground was not damaged. He pointed at the map and said, "Deming, this map is a good thing that can be passed down from generation to generation."

"We know a little bit about bricklaying and tile work, and we can do the work, but we don't know why we do it this way. The most important thing is that we only know how to build the simplest bungalow, which is to build four walls and one room."

"We don't know what the three houses have in place, such as the pool, drainage, water supply, incoming wires, and fermentation tanks."

Wang Deming blinked his eyes, "."

At this time, a bricklayer from Qinjia Village walked out of the crowd and used the honorific "Mr. Wang," pointing to the diagram and calculation formula on the ground, "You are a scholar. The structure of these houses and the calculation of materials may be trivial to you and not worth mentioning."

Originally, among all the neighbors and fellow villagers, those who were distantly related to him usually called him by his full name: Wang Deming, while those who were older or closely related to him called him by the last two characters: Deming; when seeking medical treatment, they called him Doctor Wang, after all, he was young, and this was the first time they called him sir.

The bricklayers in Qinjia Village were particularly respectful: "But these are too important for those of us who go out to take on jobs."

"As long as we understand these, it will be much easier for us to find work in the city. We don't have to look for a foreman. We can earn little just by doing odd jobs like repairing things. We can directly take on the work of building houses for ordinary people."

"We originally thought that your family would build a bungalow with four walls, so we would have more than enough money."

"But after listening to your talk today, we now know that there are so many tricks in building a house, and we have learned a lot. But."

Uncle Yan then stepped forward to add: "But Deming, you spoke a little too fast just now, and we didn't understand a lot of it. Please explain it to us more when you have time."

"I'll take charge of your house. We'll be exempted from all labor costs. Also, after the kiln factory in the village starts burning again, I'll tell the villagers that the materials for building your house will also be exempted."

"You are not only building a house, but also helping our village find a way to make money. We can earn money from working outside and from selling materials. We can earn two kinds of money from one job."

The craftsmen from Qinjia Village hurriedly followed, fearing that they would not be taught: "Yes, we don't want money, and we dare not trouble you for too long, just tell us about these three ordinary rooms."

"Yes, we don't want any wages!" The craftsmen had previously said that they didn't want any wages but it was just a polite remark, but now they were sincere.

"Hey, don't do that!" What kind of person would Wang Deming be if he didn't give the money? He couldn't take advantage of him.

Wang Deming said to Uncle Yan and other craftsmen with a sincere face: "Fellow villagers, you can't do this. If you don't charge us, we dare not build this house. Uncle, the bricks and tiles in the village are the same."

"This knowledge is valuable only if it is spread. I won't hide it, it's not worth it. I just learned a little bit occasionally, and I will teach it all to everyone." Wang Deming was speaking from the heart. He had just received some secret knowledge that was very useful in the city, and he was just waiting to explore it on his way to the capital.

"Come, this three-room style is the simplest. I'll explain it to you bit by bit."

Whether in the countryside or in the city, building a house is a big event. Many people in Wayao Village had already gathered to watch the fun. Now when they heard that Wang Deming was going to talk about how to build a house, many people immediately ran home and called people to come and listen.

Soon, Wang Deming was surrounded by three layers of enemies.

(End of this chapter)