The little one's purse connects the two worlds, turning a desolate village into a paradise.

"Oh my goodness!" Old Sun grabbed Xiao Shuanzi by the collar and lifted him up, taking two steps back with his arms outstretched, afraid that he might get covered in horse manure if he wasn't careful.

Little Shuanzi was unwilling to give up. He twisted his body and struggled hard, his big black eyes still staring straight at the dung mountain, and he was clearly unwilling to give up.

Old Sun raised his hand and slapped Xiao Shuanzi on the bottom. "Behave yourself, don't move! Hey, hey, hey! Hands! Put them down. Nannan, come here and watch Xiao Shuanzi. Don't let him put his hands in his mouth or rub them in his eyes. I'll go get some water."

Ya Ya slowly moved over and stood still two steps away.

Little Shuanzi is so stupid; she never played with poop when she was little.

"Sister Ya Ya, let's build a house." Xiao Shuanzi reached out to grab Ya Ya's hand.

"Don't touch me, you stinky bastard. You can't play with poop anymore. If you do, I won't play with you anymore."

"It's not poop, it's mud." This was Xiao Shuanzi's first time at the stables, and he had never seen horse manure before.

Ya Ya put her hands on her hips and pointed at the big white horse: "It's poop. I saw it come out of Bai Bai's butt."

"Come wash your hands, scrub them a few more times." Old Sun came over with a ladle of water, followed by Grandma Li.

"Oh dear, what are you doing here?"

Grandma Li wrinkled her nose in disgust as she rubbed Xiao Shuanzi's hands: "You can't touch horse manure anymore, you hear me? There are bugs in that stuff, and it'll make the little one sick if he touches it!"

Xiao Shuanzi tilted his head, staring intently at the pile of horse manure. He had initially decided not to catch it anymore after hearing Sister Ya Ya say it was poop, since he was a particular kid. But there were bugs in it!

There aren't many insects left in the bowl in the yard.

Shouts echoed from the low-lying area in the distance. Da Niu rode his tricycle, loaded with a full bucket of cement, past the stable. He glanced at it and grinned, "Hey, Little Shuanzi, caught playing in poop?"

Xiao Shuanzi turned his head away and hid behind Grandma Li.

Ya Ya stared at the tricycle: "Big Brother Da Niu, are you all ready to build the pigsty? I want to go too!"

"OK."

Da Niu stopped his tricycle and was about to move the cement bags to make room when Ya Ya winked at him, and the cement that had been piled up in the tricycle bed disappeared.

"How could I forget that our little girl has such a magical space?" Da Niu chuckled, then hopped on Ya Ya and Xiao Shuanzi, who had been handed over by Grandma Li, and slowly pedaled the tricycle toward the direction of the shouts.

The sheltered, low-lying area in the northwest of Lotus Village has become lively.

The village chief used a long hemp rope to mark the boundaries of the pigsty and the stable.

"First, clear away the weeds and remove the gravel! The foundation must be leveled; it can't be uneven, otherwise it will easily flood on rainy days!"

The village chief gave a loud command, and everyone immediately went off to do their jobs.

Some people, armed with sickles, cut down the wild grass and thorns growing in the low-lying areas, gathered them into piles, and then took them to the composting site to be mixed with horse manure and composted together.

The other group, consisting of strong and capable individuals, wielded shovels to remove the loose topsoil, flatten any raised mounds, and then filled and compacted the low-lying areas.

After Old Sun finished shoveling the manure, the men from his side also came over carrying wooden rammers.

After the foundation outline was cleared, groups of three or four people worked together to lift the heavy wooden rammer and slam it down heavily onto the soil.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

The dull thumping of tamping soil rose and fell, as the loose soil was repeatedly compacted.

If the foundation is not compacted, the walls will easily settle and crack later. Everyone dared not slack off and compacted it again and again.

The foundation was compacted and the sun gradually climbed overhead, but no one had any intention of going to eat. They took a breather and then started mixing mortar again.

Ya Ya sat on a small stool to the side, her eyes fixed on Uncle Zhao's movements.

Cement and yellow sand were mixed in proportion, a small hole was dug in the middle, water was poured in, and the mixture was stirred constantly with a shovel until it turned into a large lump of gray mud.

She had watched this process twice, and she didn't know why she never got tired of it; she found it fascinating every time she watched it.

Zhao Hu mixed the mortar, filled a small bucket, and prepared to build the wall. As soon as he looked up, he saw Ya Ya's little head.

Weren't we sitting quite far apart before? When was it moved over here?

"What's wrong, little one?"

Ya Ya rubbed her fingers together: "Uncle Zhao, can I help build the wall too?"

Zhao Hu was slightly taken aback, then smiled and said, "Okay."

He picked up a neat red brick from the side and handed it to her. "This brick is the first one we used to build our pigsty. Nannan, take this. You start, let's wish for good luck!"

Ya Ya grinned and carefully stretched out her two little hands, steadily holding the brick.

Seeing this, the village chief stepped aside to make room for her: "Nannan, come on, just put it on this line."

"First, apply a layer of cement to the ground as a base, then place the bricks on top, and then apply another thin layer on top. This will ensure that the bricks stacked on top will stick firmly. Once the cement dries completely, it will be stable," Zhao Hu instructed softly from the side.

Ya Ya squatted down, holding the brick, and carefully placed it under the line drawn by the village chief. Only then did she pick up the trowel that Brother Zhao had given her when she bought cement.

Although I've seen it a few times, this is the first time I've tried it myself.

Ya Ya didn't dare to scoop too much cement. She only used the flat trowel to scrape a small corner of gray cement slurry at a time and carefully spread it on the line until the gray cement on the ground was smooth and flat before carefully pressing the bricks on.

As soon as the brick hit the ground, several slicks of mortar immediately gushed out from both sides. Seeing this, Ya Ya didn't even need Zhao Hu's reminder; she carefully picked up the trowel and scraped away the overflowing mortar bit by bit.

Building walls is so much fun!

Ya Ya placed a brick, stretched out her little hand, and looked at Uncle Zhao with lingering interest.

"Sister Ya Ya, here you go."

Xiao Shuanzi came running over, carrying a brick, his legs churning.

Seeing this, Zhao Hu smiled and waved his hand: "Then you two can build it over here, and your uncle and the others can go to the other end. Uncle Village Chief, keep an eye on the kids, don't let them get cement all over themselves, it'll be a hassle to clean them up later."

The village chief nodded.

Fang Tiesheng patrolled and coordinated along the marked lines.

With Zhao Hu and Da Niu, two skilled workers, the brick wall was built at a rapid pace. Villagers who had learned how to build it joined in, while those who didn't know how took turns helping to pass bricks and carry buckets, working together in an orderly manner.

They planned to build six pigsties, one for each of the two large, fat pigs. However, the pigs had many piglets, and one piglet would definitely not be enough by next year. Dividing the pigs into several more compartments would simply mean building more walls.

With more piglets in the future, the mountains and fields will be full of pigs. It's wonderful to think about.

"Remember to reserve space for the feeding trough on the inner side, and dig a drainage ditch in the corner! The pigpen floor should slope slightly outward so that sewage can flow along the ditch to the outer sedimentation tank. Keeping the pen dry will prevent the pigs from getting sick."

Dr. Chen nodded repeatedly.

The village had never raised pigs before, but fortunately, among the books that Nannan brought back, there were several articles specifically on how to raise pigs.

Construction began simultaneously in the stable area, with round wooden pillars being erected one after another.

The sun slowly slanted westward along the mountainside from overhead, and the air was filled with the unique scent of cement, soil, and grass.

"Everyone, stop what you're doing and let's eat!" Ji Chuntao jogged over, her face still a little flushed. She had been so busy that she had lost track of time, and it was already past noon.