Era-C52

Chapter 52: The Garden and Fish Pond

On the 13th day of the 4th lunar month, Lin Yue’s house, Lin Heng’s older brother, also had its main beam placed. The roof was completed in the morning.

In the afternoon, everyone continued helping to move stones. Lin Heng’s sister-in-law was envious when she saw the stone floor Lin Heng had made, so she decided to make one too.

On the 14th, with everyone’s help, the earthen walls of both houses were completed within the day.

By then, the main structures of both houses were completely finished. After paying all the workers and enjoying a big feast, there was no need for as many people going forward.

Only some relatives remained to help, mainly Lin Heng’s eldest uncle, third uncle, maternal uncle, and third father. The second uncle had already left the day before due to family matters.

On the morning of the 15th, Lin Heng’s father borrowed a wooden cart, pulled by the family’s ox, and went to the town with Lin Yue. They were getting gypsum powder and some other supplies.

Since the houses were made of earth, the materials were inexpensive, and including the workers’ wages and other expenses, the total cost was only a little over 300 yuan.

Lin Heng’s father decided to plaster the interior walls with gypsum and buy some kitchenware and other essentials for when they would eventually divide the family.

After breakfast, the carpenter continued his work at Lin Heng’s house, as he would need to stay for a while before finishing up.

Xiu Lan and Lin Heng went to tidy up the yard, while Lin Heng’s mother helped Liu Juan with her house.

“Wife, please hand me some stones. I’ll finish up the last bit,” Lin Heng said as he moved to the fish pond.

The stones around the fish pond were also laid by Lin Heng himself. He built a circle of stones along the inner wall of the pond.

The reason was simple: without cement, the only way to hold back the earth was with stones. Otherwise, when water was added, the soil walls of the pond would easily collapse.

“Alright!”

Xiu Lan nodded and handed him the stones stacked in the yard.

Lin Heng had dug a large rectangular pond, 4 meters long, 2 meters wide, and over 2 meters deep.

Originally, he had left only 30 cm from the edge, so it was a small task. He finished in half an hour.

“Is that all?” Xiu Lan asked, looking at him.

“Of course not. I also need to build stone walls along the stream near the pond.”

The water well and the fish pond were both on the west side of the yard. The back yard was 100 square meters, 12.5 meters wide and 8 meters long. The fish pond took up about half of the space.

From the secondary water reservoir near the well to the fish pond, Lin Heng had created a stream that was over 5 meters long, 1 meter wide, and 50 cm deep, with two bends.

The inner walls of the stream also needed to be built with stones.

After everything was roughly in place, Lin Heng placed the oddly shaped stones he had selected earlier, which were carried down from the mountain, along the edges of the fish pond and stream. These stones, which were volcanic rocks and natural water-absorbing stones, varied in shape, and many had moss on them. Placing them along the pond gave it a much more beautiful appearance.

“Alright, we’ll fill it with water and let it settle. Later, we can plant some water plants like water flag, put up a fence around it, and then build a small wooden bridge. A wooden pavilion nearby will make it perfect,” Lin Heng said as he turned on the water.

Xiu Lan looked at the pond. It didn’t seem like much when it was under construction, but after the decorations, it looked quite charming. With what her husband had suggested, she felt it would be a great feature.

“Husband, should we build a chicken and duck coop, or a pigsty in the yard?” Xiu Lan asked, looking at the remaining half of the bare yard.

“No, it would smell too much in the yard, which is bad for health. I plan to convince my brother and the others to build the coop and pigsty in the forest behind,” Lin Heng said, shaking his head.

In rural areas, people often build chicken and pig pens near the house for convenience and safety, but this poses significant hygiene risks and is harmful to health.

“But what if someone steals the chickens or poisons the pigs?” Xiu Lan expressed concern. Rural areas aren’t without bad people, and small disputes are common.

“It’s fine. It’s simple. We can just keep two dogs, and use firethorn trees to make a fence around it. No one will be able to get in,” Lin Heng reassured her.

“Alright, that works.” Xiu Lan nodded and looked back at the yard. “What should we use the two large yards for?”

“Of course, they’re for living in,” Lin Heng grinned.

“What do you mean?” Xiu Lan didn’t quite understand, looking a bit confused.

“I’ll show you the plan, and you’ll understand,” Lin Heng said, grabbing a handful of lime and starting to mark out the plan.

“As for the back yard, I’m thinking of planting a grapevine, putting up a frame, and planting some flowers and plants underneath. I’ll plant small trees beside it, put up a swing chair, and set up a table. It’ll be a garden where we can eat and relax in the future.”

Lin Heng casually marked two paths, which he planned to cover with small stones to create narrow, winding paths. The eating pavilion and grapevine frame would also be paved with stones he had picked up from the mountain.

Xiu Lan looked at Lin Heng’s plan with some surprise. “Where did you learn all this? It seems so new and creative. I thought only the leaders would do things like arranging flowers and plants.”

As her husband explained, Xiu Lan imagined a beautiful picture in her mind.

“As for the front yard, we’ll keep some land for a vegetable garden, plant fruits and vegetables, and plant a couple of trees. We’ll build a straw corridor over the path leading to the main gate for shade.”

Rural areas are still at a stage where people are struggling to get enough to eat, so there’s little pursuit of aesthetics.

But Lin Heng had experienced a lot in his previous life, including working for wealthy people to design gardens, so he had the skills to do this with ease.

A small garden is enough, and the larger front yard is better used for planting fruits and vegetables, which is more practical. You can just go out and pick what you need.

“That’s good,” Xiu Lan nodded enthusiastically.

This really struck a chord with her. She had just been thinking about persuading Lin Heng not to turn the front yard into a garden, even though it would look nice. She preferred to plant something practical, like fruits and vegetables.

“Hehe, I know exactly what you’re thinking,” Lin Heng chuckled.

“Let’s start tidying up the yard, and then we can follow your plan,” Xiu Lan said, holding a shovel, full of energy for their new home.

Today, Lin Heng focused on working on the back yard. He carried a basket and spent 50 cents hiring an old man from the village to help him carry pebbles from the river.

It’s funny, but when you’re working on something you’re interested in, even the heavy pebbles didn’t seem tiring to carry.

By around 4 p.m., they had enough pebbles to finish paving the two small paths in the back yard.

The middle of the path was covered with smaller stones, and the sides with larger ones to serve as curbs. Finally, they used a wooden mallet to tamp the stones into the soil and filled the gaps with smaller gravel. The paths were complete.

Before it got dark, Lin Heng placed the remaining stones he had brought from the mountain, tidied up the yard, and the basic layout of the beautiful farmhouse garden was now taking shape.

The paths were finished, the water in the fish pond had cleared, flowing out and draining outside the yard.

Now, all that was left was to build the grapevine frame, plant the grapes, and add flowers and trees, and the whole garden would be full of life.

(End of Chapter)