A small plot of land in a mountain village

Chapter 37 Bamboo House

They went inside and sat down. Zhang Niu poured a cup of hot water and handed it to Brother Ma. "This place is simple. We just moved in. We haven't prepared much. We can only offer you a simple meal." He took a basket to the inner room and felt around in the wooden box containing rice for wild vine pears. The batch Zhang Niu picked from the mountain last time had already sold out. These were sent over last week. They were only starting to soften in the last few days. Wild vine pears only taste good when they're ripened in a pile of rice.

He took out a basket of rattan plows and let them try some.

Brother Ma gulped down a glass of boiled water. It tasted quite good. He couldn't resist pouring himself another glass. Watching the wild boar cubs playing in front of the door, he seemed lost in thought.

Zhang Niu, carrying a basket of wild vines, saw Brother Ma looking lost in thought. Following his gaze, he realized it was the wild boar cubs by the door. It seemed everyone was quite interested in these wild boar cubs.

He placed the basket on the six-immortal table. Only then did Brother Ma snap out of his reverie upon hearing the sound. "Sorry, I was a little lost in thought looking at your wild boar cub."

"It's nothing, people often do what you do."

When Brother Ma saw the rattan plow in the basket, he exclaimed, "Hey! This isn't a mountain rattan plow, I didn't expect you to have one here."

"It was a gift from someone. There probably aren't many left on the mountain now. A while ago, some outside traders bought up several thousand kilograms from several villages near Zhangjia Village."

Without any hesitation, Brother Ma casually picked out a relatively large rattan pear, peeled it, and put it in his mouth. He seemed quite experienced at eating rattan pears. He spat out the black, sesame-seed-like seeds.

"Eat as many as you like. Call your guys in to try some too. The bamboo hasn't arrived yet. It'll probably be here around noon. You can wander around here, but don't bother the animals in the yard. Otherwise, you'll get into trouble," Zhang Niu warned.

"Okay. I'll talk to them. Staying inside isn't very interesting. Show me around outside! This place is better than the place where I helped build the bamboo house before. That huge rock in front of Guangshan Road is so unique. I love it."

Carrying a basket, he approached the workers unloading the goods, placed the basket on the ground, and invited them to come and eat with him. The workers didn't stand on ceremony; they seemed quite fond of the mountain produce before them. Who wouldn't like to eat for free? The owner of the building seemed rather generous. Wild vine pears now sell for seven or eight yuan a pound in the market, which is a bit of a luxury for them, who are migrant workers.

After setting down a basket of wisteria vines, Zhang Niu led Brother Ma to the two ponds in front of the house. Reaching the ponds, he pointed to the open space beside them and asked Brother Ma, "What do you think of building a bamboo house there?"

When the topic of building bamboo houses came up, Brother Ma kept spouting technical jargon. Zhang Niu listened, completely bewildered. "Why are you taking advantage of someone like me who's only half-baked?" he thought. "Anyone would be confused by your jargon."

"Hey Ma, can you stop talking? Your jargon is just too complicated. I don't understand it."

"I almost forgot. You don't know the terminology for bamboo houses. It's all my fault. Talking about bamboo houses always leads to this whole thing." He paused for a moment and then continued, "My personal suggestion is that you build your bamboo house near this pond. There's no need to go through the trouble of building it on that open space over there. You can just plant some willow trees and other saplings by the pond later."

Zhang Niu had originally planned to build bamboo houses in these two locations, but now everyone saying that the area near a pond is better. So, he decided to build near the pond!

"Alright, three bamboo houses will do."

"No problem. As long as you provide enough bamboo, I can build it for you in a few days. So, do you want an A-frame bamboo house or...?"

A-frame? Are bamboo houses really that complicated?

Brother Ma, seeing Zhang Niu's confusion, laughed heartily, "It's nothing, because this bamboo house style originated from Yunnan. Although it's been a long time, the model is still based on theirs. However, nowadays, bamboo houses are built using more open and generous materials."

"Anyway, I don't really understand it. Just do whatever you want! As long as it turns out well, that's fine. Just don't build a bamboo house that people aren't satisfied with."

"Back then, if it had been built like this, even if you hadn't said anything, my master would have come looking for it. After all, you're one of the few villagers from the surrounding area who have come looking for us in recent years. If it had been a disaster, wouldn't that have been a disgrace to my master?" As he said this, Brother Ma's face became serious, and his tone became much more somber.

A few grunts came from afar, drawing Ma Ge and Zhang Niu over. At the inlet of the pond, near the small ditch they'd dug, sat a wild boar cub. Judging by its markings, it was probably the second oldest. It was jumping in and out, busily doing its business.

Look at that inlet. Zhang Niu has been noting that the reservoir has been releasing water these past few days. The main canal is full. The ditch head isn't very high, so a lot of water has flowed in, trickling into the pond. A group of blackfish are staying at the inlet. Right now, they're constantly swimming upstream towards it. And nearby, wild boar piglets are catching the fish. No wonder we can hear their squeals from time to time.

The snakehead fish now weighs about two pounds. They're jet black and shiny. The snakehead fish raised in this space are growing really fast. It must have only been a month. At the water inlet, dozens of jet-black snakehead fish are swimming upstream. It looks like the wild boar piglets failed to catch them.

Zhang Niu couldn't help but laugh when he saw this. Look at the piglet's clumsy way of catching fish, how could he possibly catch any? The blackfish had spent far more time in the space than the piglet had ever been.

Brother Ma, who was standing next to him, also saw the dark black fish at the bottom of the water. A little uncertainly, he asked, "Is that a blackfish?"

"Yes. We just raised them this year. I can't believe they're already so big. Even the piglets are starting to want to catch fish."

"This is the first time I've ever seen a wild boar catch fish. Especially a little one. Interesting."

The wild boar cub, caught in the act of fishing, turned its head and saw Zhang Niu and the others, thinking they were talking about it. It shook off the water droplets and grunted as it ran home. It seemed rather annoyed that people were watching it fish; perhaps it was too embarrassed to admit its poor skills.

Ma Ge, watching, also got excited and wanted to catch a blackfish for fun. However, Zhang Niu said, "That blackfish is cunning; it might be hard to catch. Look at the wild boar; it didn't even get a chance and suffered a crushing defeat."

"No problem, catching fish is a piece of cake. I just caught some blackfish swimming against the current. Watch me catch a few to show you." He then took off his shoes. He was already wearing shorts, so he didn't take them off. Standing at the water inlet, his height didn't even reach his knees.

Brother Ma tiptoed over, ready for a powerful leap. But when he was still a meter from the water's edge, the entire school of blackfish that had been swimming upstream suddenly swam back into the deeper water. Brother Ma was stunned. This was utterly ridiculous!

Dejected, Brother Ma returned home feeling incredibly frustrated. Those blackfish were really cunning; when he came back, he found the blackfish that had been swimming in unison earlier had gathered into a dark mass again. He shook his head in disbelief. Those fish were practically sentient.

First update! Please add to your favorites and give me recommendation votes. I'll give as many as I can. I'm enjoying my corn now. Happy Mid-Autumn Festival! Wishing everyone a joyful and happy holiday with your families.