By linking my account to the check-in system, I became a leisurely traveler.

Chapter 189 Shelter: Commonplace, Yet Tested by Time and Environment [Second Update!]

For the next two days, Li Younan continued to go out to find food in the morning and come back in the afternoon to tinker with his shelter.

Because all his energy was still focused on the shelter, Li Younan did not stray too far from the shelter area and foraged for food in the vicinity.

Although there were daily harvests, there were no traces of large animals, but fortunately Li Younan was not in a hurry at all.

The first day's smoked fish turned out quite poorly; it wasn't smoked thoroughly enough. By the second day, the taste had changed somewhat.

Fortunately, Li Younan didn't mind and said directly in front of the camera, "This rainbow trout has gone slightly off, which means our smoking technique is not good enough. Although it's not spoiled yet, in order to ensure the best taste, we should not eat it."

Regardless of whether the phrase "in order to ensure the best taste" will anger the audience... I'm standing up for the other contestants who are starving and freezing.

So the rainbow trout he didn't finish eating on the first day became his fishing bait on the second day.

Li Younan's fishing skills ensured that he always had a good catch every time he went fishing, and the fishing spots were so close to his camp.

So here's the question: if you can eat fresh fish, why go through all the trouble of eating leftover fish?

With that thought in mind, Li Younan had made up his mind: whenever he wanted to eat fish, he would go fishing, catching as much as he wanted to eat.

You should know that even in winter, you can still catch fish by ice fishing, so there's no worry about not having fish to eat.

For Li Youran, ice fishing is even better than the current fishing method... In winter, when food is scarce, fish are more likely to bite.

It's currently summer, and besides rainbow trout, the best fish to catch are sockeye salmon and bullfish.

Li Younan caught rainbow trout on the first day, and planned to try other flavors on the second day.

After catching his first rainbow trout, he thought for a moment and said to the camera, "Guys, today I want to try a different kind of fish. We can keep this one as bait to lure other large animals, like bears... so we need to catch another one today."

He then continued fishing with his superb skills, explaining to the camera as he fished: "Compared to rainbow trout, sockeye salmon and bullfish are easier to catch this season. For sockeye salmon, it's best to use a float with a reversing swivel to lure them, but our conditions are limited, so we'll mainly focus on bullfish today. Our fishing gear is relatively limited, so we need to use some special methods to ensure that the bait reaches the water layer where these fish are located."

After a series of dazzling maneuvers, and an hour or so of effort, Li Younan finally managed to catch a bullfish.

Since fishing never takes up too much time, Li Younan would continue searching in the forest near the shelter during the rest of the morning, mainly collecting tuberous stems like cattails, which are an important source of carbohydrates later on.

In addition, berries should also be collected, but the amount of berries is too small, making collection inefficient. It's best to collect them as a side activity, but it's okay if you don't find any.

Nevertheless, he still managed to collect a full basket of blackberries and two full baskets of tubers in those three days.

To make gathering easier, he wove two new wicker baskets at night by the light of the campfire, one of which was larger, to store the food at the camp.

His gains were extraordinary, thanks not only to Li Younan's meticulousness but also to the essential boost in his abilities provided by the system.

Only then did Li Younan truly realize how much his botanical skills had helped him—he had a very precise and clear understanding of the habits of this type of plant, and subconsciously knew which environments were more likely to yield such tubers.

Over the past few days, he has searched almost the entire fan-shaped area, about one kilometer in radius, extending inland at a radius of about 270 degrees, centered on the camp.

That is to say, he has the ability to do this. If it were any other contestant, relying solely on luck to search, even if they were given 20 days, they might not be able to complete the search.

After all, Li Younan could tell at a glance whether a certain area had tubers or not, making him far more efficient than other contestants.

He currently has two and a half baskets of tubers, which is enough for him to grind into a lot of starch. However, he doesn't have the right tools yet, so he will store the tubers for the time being.

This is roughly all the food he has gathered, and he has spent all his afternoons over the past three days continuing to run his shelter.

Unlike others, Li Younan had a clear plan in mind before building his shelter, knowing exactly what it would look like and what materials were needed.

Over the past three days, the main task has been to prepare the frame materials for the beam-lifting frame. Peeling the wood that has been transported over is only the first step. Next, the beam-lifting frame will be made using mortise and tenon joints.

The factor that prevented Li Younan from doing this work was the tools. After all, he didn't have a special carpenter's plane, only a saw and an axe, which made it quite troublesome. However, for Li Younan, the one thing he had in abundance right now was time.

After peeling off all the necessary wood to reveal the smooth heartwood, Li Younan began assembling the beam frame.

Specifically, Li Younan first used mortise and tenon joints to connect the main supports on flat ground, and then pushed the wooden frames at both ends of the house up in one go, temporarily fixing them with a piece of wood.

It's worth mentioning that at this point, the scaffolding could be erected using mortise and tenon joints without requiring holes. Given Li Younan's woodworking skills, he would naturally use the most suitable mortise and tenon joints for each situation, even if it could be done with just an axe and saw. Before that, Li Younan didn't forget to further compact the existing foundation, especially the planned foundation site. He dug a pit and filled it with stones to ensure it wouldn't sink.

Looking at the show, most of the shelters built by the players were particularly low, but Li Younan was different. Although his shelter was also for one person, it was built with a raised beam structure, so the height was guaranteed to be two meters high, which made it feel less cramped.

While working, Li Younan explained to the camera, "This is the most traditional and common wooden building structure in China."

"In fact, when building structures in the wild, my advice is to choose the most common building structures and avoid trying niche structures as much as possible."

"What does it mean that this type of architectural structure is widely distributed from the northernmost to the southernmost part of our country?"

"This shows that it has stood the test of history and can adapt to any climate or environment."

Built with mortise and tenon joints, the entire beam frame of the house is very sturdy and stable even without any special treatment or reinforcement. The main beams are made of wood as thick as a thigh, and the interlocking force of the mortise and tenon structure itself is enough to support the entire frame.

This process doesn't look complicated in the video, and even seems quite quick, but no other contestant could have done it.

First of all, Li Younan's woodworking skills are already superb. Even using only non-specialized tools such as axes and saws, he can make usable mortise and tenon joints. If it were an ordinary person, let alone using these simple tools, even if they were given a full set of tools and followed the blueprints, they might not be able to make such a precise structure.

Secondly, after undergoing layers of skill enhancement, Li Younan's physical fitness is now far superior to that of ordinary people. Even after long periods of high-intensity work, he still maintains abundant energy.

On the third day, Li Younan had already erected the two sets of beam-lifting frames. The next step was to stand the two sets of beam-lifting frames upright and add timber to prevent them from falling over. The entire frame of the house would then be complete.

That evening, Li Younan looked at the two sets of beam-lifting frames on the ground and said to the camera with some emotion, "Guys, while I was working today, I suddenly had an insight about the protection of intangible cultural heritage."

“Every country has its intangible cultural heritage, and this Chinese-style house building structure is also a precious intangible cultural heritage of our country. Today, I am able to replicate this skill of my ancestors here, and I feel an indescribable emotion.”

"With the development of technology, reinforced concrete is gradually replacing this traditional construction technique. I think that in a few decades or even a hundred years, this traditional construction method will also be eliminated."

"After all, even after thousands of years of historical testing, it is still not as advantageous as modern reinforced concrete houses in every aspect."

"Perhaps only in survival shows like this can we see its splendor again... But I still hope that these skills can be passed down, because if one day we can only see these skills in museums or old videos, it would be quite sad, wouldn't it?"

After resting overnight, on the second day, which was his fourth day here, Li Younan began to formally set up the frame.

That morning, Li Younan had a simple breakfast and then prepared to start work.

He said to the camera, "Guys, do you know that in our country, building a house is a very important thing? We have a grand groundbreaking ceremony on the day the wooden frame is erected, especially for traditional wooden houses. We burn incense to worship our ancestors and pray for their protection."

The more Li Younan was in this foreign land, the more he cherished those traditional rituals. Before setting up the frame, he also performed a simple groundbreaking ceremony in front of the camera.

There are cypress trees here, which are excellent raw materials for making incense. Li Younan burned some cypress incense. Although it was simple, he still paid homage to his ancestors. He placed the heads of the three fish he had slaughtered on a wooden stump, inserted three sticks of cypress incense, and in the swirling smoke, Li Younan respectfully bowed three times towards the east.

The first rays of morning sunlight shone on Li Younan, and then the setup began.

Because sufficient preliminary work has been done, this step actually doesn't take much time.

Li Younan had already set up a temporary wooden stake before erecting the frame. After pushing the beam frame up, he placed it against the stake. Then, he did the same to erect the second beam frame.

The next step is the most important: placing the pre-made timbers on the two lifting beams will allow the entire log cabin to stand upright.

The whole process went very smoothly. Li Younan then removed the temporary supporting wooden stakes and continued to put the rest of the timbers on top to further stabilize the structure.

To make the structure flawless, after the beams were laid, he added the purlins and the topmost purlin, called the "dragon beam," in one go. In this way, the formal framework of his shelter was completed.

However, only the framework has been built so far. The next step is to continue to improve the rafters and walls of the house.

The entire building is much smaller than a real traditional Chinese house. Li Younan estimated that it was about 3 meters by 3 meters in size and about 2 meters in height. However, in the context of a solo living in the wilderness program, such a building can be considered a behemoth.

With an area of ​​about 9 square meters, Li Younan could easily build a fireplace, fill the corner with firewood, make a large bed, and even place a dining table inside.

After finishing all that, it was past noon. Li Younan looked at his masterpiece with great satisfaction and said to the camera, "Guys, next we need to lay purlins on the roof, and then we can lay waterproof cloth or thatch on top, and then it will be perfectly sheltered from the wind and rain."

However, the building is still in its infancy and is drafty.

(End of this chapter)