Chapter 220: Bog Wood Furniture Complete, Lin Heng Gets a Small Study |
Chapter 220: Bog Wood Furniture Complete, Lin Heng Gets a Small Study
Lin Heng finished preparing the rice cake and noticed some malt syrup still sticking to the pot. He quickly added a bit of water and some glutinous rice, planning to make a bowl of porridge.
“This is delicious,” Xiao Xia said in her childish voice while eating the malt syrup.
“If you like it, I’ll make it for you again next time,” Xiulan said, gently patting her daughter’s face. She stored two bottles of malt syrup in the cabinet, knowing it wasn’t good for her daughter to have too much.
Once the malt syrup cooled and solidified, Lin Heng poured it out and sliced it into half-centimeter-thick pieces, packing them into plastic bags. This was the rice cake he fondly remembered from his childhood.
Back then, the family couldn’t afford sweets or cookies. They only got to enjoy a few pieces during the New Year, mostly reserved for guests. Lin Heng and his elder brother, Caiyun, could only have a taste.
He put a piece in his mouth, savoring the crunch and aroma of the puffed rice and peanuts, along with the chewy sweetness of raisins and red dates. The rich flavors were a nostalgic delight.
“Try one,” Lin Heng offered a piece to Xiulan.
“It’s delicious,” Xiulan said, her eyes smiling. In this era, sweetness was the best taste.
“Here you go,” Lin Heng said, giving her a piece. He sliced the rest into small pieces, weighing them. They amounted to six jin, much more than his mother used to make, and now with raisins added, unlike the simple puffed rice and peanuts of the past.
Xiulan took a plateful to share with Father Lin and Carpenter Liang, and distributed the rest among their nephews, letting Mother Lin and Caiyun have a taste as well.
When Xiulan returned, Caiyun came over too, carrying a basket of konjac tofu. The gray tofu looked gelatinous and had a unique taste.
It was clear this was made from the konjac Lin Heng had dug up earlier.
Floating the konjac tofu in water, Xiulan blinked at Lin Heng and said, “I’m going to visit Tian Yan with Caiyun. She’s invited me several times, and I can’t keep refusing. Can you watch Xiao Xia?”
“Sure,” Lin Heng nodded, adding, “Take some rice cake with you.”
After some thought, Xiulan took half a jin of rice cake and left with Caiyun for Tian Yan’s house.
In the front yard, Father Lin and Carpenter Liang were polishing wooden boards with a planer. They had already smoothed out several pieces.
The Bog Wood boards were exceptionally fine. The red cedar, known for cracking and having a loose grain, had transformed after being buried underground in a high-pressure, oxygen-free environment. It became denser and more durable, with a more appealing grain. Of course, it couldn’t compare to woods like golden nanmu or rosewood.
Lin Heng turned to his father and said, “Dad, let’s go to the back mountain to bring some wood over and make the stairs.”
Previously, when they had help moving firewood, they also brought some large logs to dry in the shade on the back mountain. By now, they should be ready for use.
“Alright,” Father Lin agreed, and they headed to the back mountain together.
There were twelve logs drying there, each six meters long. Three were maple, and the remaining nine were pine.
“Which wood do you want to use?” Father Lin asked Lin Heng.
“Let’s use the maple. It’s hard and less prone to cracking,” Lin Heng decided.
With the decision made, they carried the wood back, measured it, and began cutting.
After they finished cutting, Xiulan and Caiyun returned and went to the kitchen to prepare lunch.
After lunch, they resumed their carpentry work. Lin Heng didn’t feel tired; in fact, he found it fulfilling.
After a day of hard work, they finally completed all the wooden parts needed for the stairs.
The next morning, they spent the day polishing the wood with a planer. By the afternoon, they had installed the stairs in the house, finishing the handrails by evening.
“Looks good,” Lin Heng said with satisfaction as he looked at the wooden stairs. He then took out the clear varnish he had bought in town and applied a coat. The stairs remained their original white color, which he didn’t change.
With the stairs done, Father Lin continued assisting Carpenter Liang in the following days, while Lin Heng used leftover wood from the stair project to build a nice little house for their two dogs.
Xiao Xia watched him the whole time, and once Lin Heng finished, she crawled inside before the dogs could.
“This is for the dogs, not for you,” Lin Heng said, exhaling as he looked at her.
“Daddy, I want a little house too,” Xiao Xia said, poking her head out of the small house and pleading with Lin Heng.
“You already have so many toys. I’ll make you a little tent next year, okay?” Lin Heng replied. He was a bit lazy; making a house for Xiao Xia would require precision to avoid splinters and injuries.
Such a delicate little house would take a lot of effort.
“No, I want a little house,” Xiao Xia insisted, tugging on Lin Heng’s hand.
“How about I make it for you next year?” Lin Heng suggested, thinking he could take his time with it next year.
“Okay,” Xiao Xia agreed after a moment’s thought, then made a pinky promise with Lin Heng.
After playing with her for a while, Lin Heng went to install the doghouse.
Xiong Ba’s doghouse was set up in the front yard, and Lin Heng placed the female Qinglang Dog’s pup there too, right next to Xiong Ba’s. After all, since it was meant to be a companion for Xiong Ba, it was good to start fostering their bond early.
The black hound, on the other hand, was placed in the backyard, right under the window of Lin Heng’s master bedroom. This way, there were dogs guarding both the front and back, making it harder for anyone to steal anything.
Once the doghouses were set up, Lin Heng lined them with warm brown fur. However, he didn’t plan to tie the pups there just yet. Unlike Xiong Ba, these two puppies weren’t as smart and needed to learn from Xiong Ba. Lin Heng also needed to train them himself.
First, they had to be taught not to relieve themselves indoors, and they needed to learn some basic skills from a young age. At the very least, they should understand commands. For now, they all slept in the front yard, with the two puppies squeezing into one doghouse.
Besides this, Lin Heng crafted a maple box measuring 93 cm long, 43 cm wide, and 39.5 cm high. He had painted it in the morning, and by now it was dry.
That night, after putting Xiao Xia to sleep, Lin Heng and Xiulan moved the bed aside, removed the wooden board beneath, and checked the hidden compartment. The plaster inside had fully solidified, making it ready to store treasures.
“Perfect fit,” Lin Heng said with a smile as he placed the maple box inside. It fit just right.
“I’ll go get the money,” Xiulan whispered, turning to retrieve the money from the cabinet.
Excluding the money Xiulan had saved up before, Lin Heng still had 25,000 left from selling the ginseng. Xiulan wrapped the money in thin film paper and packed it all into the box, filling the remaining space with scraps of cloth. Finally, she covered the box, placed a layer of film paper on top, and sealed it with bluestone tiles.
They casually tossed some dirt and lime powder into the gaps between the tiles, making it look just like a cement-filled seam from a distance, all gray and white.
No one knew they had so much money hidden underground. Even if a thief came, they’d probably leave after taking the money and jewelry from the wardrobe.
“Alright, now I can rest easy,” Xiulan said softly as they moved the bed back.
Lin Heng found her caution amusing, but he understood. It wasn’t easy to come by so much money.
After washing up, Lin Heng went outside to use the bathroom. The cold wind was biting, and the sky was void of stars, suggesting tomorrow would be overcast.
Returning indoors, Lin Heng added some firewood to the fireplace. Fortunately, they had it for the winter; otherwise, they’d freeze.
Winters in this era seemed colder than those in later years.
He climbed into bed, embraced Xiulan, and they both drifted into dreamland.
Time flew by, and soon it was the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, less than a week before the New Year.
In the past few days, Xiulan and Mother Lin had gone to town once, taking a horse-drawn carriage to buy New Year’s goods.
Lin Heng had ventured into the mountains twice with his bow and arrow but returned empty-handed, not even spotting a golden pheasant. The village fields were lush with rapeseed and wheat, and there was no sign of antelope coming to graze.
However, there were rumors of wild boars descending from the mountains. Tian Baishun, Wang Kaidian, and several other hunters teamed up to chase them and invited Lin Heng along. But with plenty of wild boar meat already at home, he wasn’t interested in hunting more.
As for Carpenter Liang, he had polished all the wooden boards over the past few days. Yesterday, he assembled the tabletops, and by this morning, two tables were already installed.
Both tables were made from red cedar, displaying a beautiful dark red hue. They only needed a coat of clear varnish.
Lin Heng placed the long table in the side room of the main hall, which used to store sanghuang and lime. The room was now cleared out, and he planned to use it as a study and tea room.
In addition to the large table, Lin Heng and his father had made two pine bookshelves to place there.
The small square table was moved to Lin Heng and Xiulan’s bedroom for use.
The main hall, serving as the living room, had a dining table made of pine, painted a deep red, which Lin Heng didn’t intend to replace.
In the afternoon, Carpenter Liang first assembled a large armchair for Lin Heng’s long table. It was slightly larger than a regular chair, perfectly matching the long table.
Once the chair was ready, Lin Heng moved it over, sat down, and felt the smooth tabletop, leaning back with a sense of comfort.
It would be even better once he added a soft cushion.
That evening, Carpenter Liang finished the remaining nine chairs. These were official hat chairs, with simple lines, yet exuding a classic elegance.
Five were made from camphor wood, while the other four were crafted from red cedar.
After finishing, Carpenter Liang smiled and asked, “So, Lin Heng, do they meet your expectations?”
Lin Heng gave a thumbs up. “They’re excellent, Carpenter Liang. Your craftsmanship is impeccable.”
“Haha, tomorrow I’ll finish the tea tray and the bookshelves, and then we’ll be done,” Carpenter Liang replied with a grin.
“Thank you for your hard work. Let’s eat; Xiulan has already prepared dinner,” Lin Heng said, inviting Carpenter Liang over with a smile.
Father Lin also chuckled, saying, “Today is the Northern Little New Year, so it’s like our New Year celebration.”
“Alright, alright,” Carpenter Liang nodded repeatedly, his appetite whetted by the eight dishes on the table, which were even more lavish than his family’s New Year’s Eve dinner.
After the meal, Carpenter Liang and Father Lin, both having drunk a bit too much, staggered back home.
Early the next morning, Carpenter Liang came over with the completed bookshelf and tea tray. The camphor wood tea tray emitted a subtle fragrance.
There were some leftover materials, so after some discussion, they decided to make several small wooden boxes, as there wasn’t enough to make anything else.
In the afternoon, Carpenter Liang helped install the wooden bed Father Lin had been working on for days. Lin Heng placed it in the bedroom behind the kitchen.
“Do you want to use the leftover pine boards to finish the second floor? It might be useful for future living space.”
Father Lin asked Lin Heng. Lin Heng’s house was small, with just three bedrooms and a living room. He had already converted one bedroom into a study, leaving only two bedrooms, which might not be enough in the future.
“Let’s just leave the boards for now. If we really need them later, we can use them then.”
Lin Heng shook his head, thinking that by the time he needed them, he would have built a new house.
Even if they had a second child, the two kids could share a room for the time being.
“Alright then.” Father Lin didn’t insist and helped move the remaining pine boards to the second floor for storage.
Carpenter Liang began packing up his tools, ready to head home for the day.
Lin Heng gathered all the wood shavings in the yard. They were useful for kindling or drying tofu.
With the yard tidied up, everything looked more pleasant. The two puppies frolicked and played on the bluestone ground.
Before dinner, Lin Heng handed 12 yuan to Liang Gui, smiling as he said, “Carpenter Liang, you’ve worked hard. This is your pay, with a little extra as a bonus. You’ve done an excellent job.”
Carpenter Liang had worked there for exactly seven days. The original pay was ten yuan and fifty cents, but Lin Heng added an extra one yuan and fifty cents.
“Thank you, Lin Heng!”
Seeing the extra money, Carpenter Liang accepted it with just a bit of polite modesty.
After having Carpenter Liang stay for dinner, Lin Heng took him home on his motorcycle.
Lin Heng didn’t linger at Carpenter Liang’s house and quickly returned home. On the way back, many families were busy slaughtering pigs for the New Year, creating a lively atmosphere.
The past few days had been overcast, with occasional snowflakes drifting down. When Lin Heng got home, Xiulan was inside admiring the new furniture, lost in thought.
“The New Year is almost here. Let’s go buy some things the day after tomorrow,” Lin Heng suggested to Xiulan. There were only two market days left before the New Year, on the 26th and 29th of the lunar month.
They had bought most of what they needed, except for some firecrackers and door decorations. In those days, people usually wrote their own couplets or asked someone to write them, as rural folks generally didn’t spend money on buying Spring Festival couplets.
Lin Heng planned to write the couplets himself this year.
“Alright.”
Xiulan nodded, sitting down on a chair. This year’s Spring Festival promised to be a happy one.
“By the way, Dad and Elder Brother are slaughtering a pig tomorrow. Make sure to help out,” Xiulan reminded him.
“Sure thing.” Lin Heng nodded and then asked, “Do you think we should slaughter our sheep? It’s grown quite big now.”
The little ewe now weighed around thirty to forty jin, so it was ready for slaughter if they wanted.
Xiulan thought for a moment and said, “Let’s not. We can just buy some lamb and let her have some lambs next year.”
“That works too.”
Lin Heng agreed. They still needed to buy other meats. Although they weren’t short on pork, they needed to buy pig heads and innards to braise for the New Year.
(End of Chapter)
— Translator’s Notes —
– Spring Festival couplets: Spring Festival couplets (chunlian) are pairs of black-ink poetic phrases on red paper, pasted on door frames during Chinese New Year to invoke blessings, prosperity, and protection from evil spirits.
– official hat chairs: Official hat chairs (guanmao yi) are a traditional Chinese furniture style with a tall, straight backrest resembling the winged hat worn by ancient officials, symbolizing authority and elegance.