It's hard for my elder sister. I rely on the mountains to farm and pay off my debts.

Mrs. Wu smiled and said, "You usually seem quite clever, so why are you acting so foolish now? Building a house with bricks and stones is the same as building a house with adobe. It's just that the materials used are different."

"Don't worry, I'll go to the village to find someone later."

Song Zhi was not worried about building the house. She was mainly concerned about whether her kang could be built.

But she couldn't say this out loud, so she thought for a moment and said, "Grandma, I actually want to build something in the house that can keep me warm in the winter."

"It's very cold here in the winter, and my little brother is weak. He gets cold easily in the winter."

"If we could build a heating device like a fire pit, we wouldn't have to worry about getting through the winter!"

"But the fire pit produces too much smoke when it's burning inside the house. Although it can keep you warm, it's not suitable for people to stay in the house for a long time."

"I heard there are places where they have fire channels laid underground. If you light a fire in a specific place, the house will be warm."

Song Youshan asked at the right moment, "Are you talking about the 'Fire Land'?"

Song Zhi nodded repeatedly, "Yes, that's the fire place. Uncle, can we build one too?"

At that time, wealthy families would lay fire pits underground for heating. Song Zhi had heard this from the villagers.

She couldn't bring up building a kang for no reason, so she had to guide them step by step.

Song Youshan was in a dilemma. "This fire pit is not something that ordinary people can build. Not to mention the money it would cost, I don't even know the craftsman!"

Currently, all the skilled craftsmen who understand these things are in the hands of the aristocratic families. Given his family's current status, where can he find such craftsmen?

Song Zhi didn't really want to find a craftsman. She said confidently, "Don't worry about finding a craftsman, uncle. I'm going to the county town tomorrow and I'll ask Shopkeeper Zhou about it then."

"As for whether to build a fire pit, we will discuss it with the craftsmen when the time comes to see if we can improve it or build a low-cost and practical heating device."

After hearing her granddaughter's words, Mrs. Wu stopped talking and simply said, "Let's give it a try. If it really works, it will be a good thing for Xiaokang!"

After discussing what Song Zhi was most concerned about, the next step was to hire someone to start the work.

"In the past, when we built a house, the neighbors would help us, but that was only limited to building a mud house."

"What you are building now is a brick and stone house. This is delicate work. We should not let the villagers work in vain. I think the wages should be based on the current market price, fifteen cents a day, and you have to prepare a meal at noon." Mrs. Wu said to her granddaughter.

Song Zhi, "Grandma can take care of this, but everyone has work to do at home right now. Do you have time to come and build a house?"

When Mrs. Wu thought about it, it was true. Their village was not big, with only thirty households.

In addition, due to the war in previous years, most families only have one or two adult males.

Now there is also the jelly business to be done, so it is hard to say how many people can come to my house to help.

But this is not a big deal. If you can pay the wages, why worry about not finding someone to build the house? Mrs. Wu said calmly:

"I'll go around the village and ask every household if they're interested in working at my house. If there aren't enough people, I can ask for help from the neighboring villages."

Song Zhi thought so too and stopped asking about these trivial matters.

After a simple meal, Song Youshan took Song Ping to the kiln factory to order bricks.

Wu also took advantage of the fact that the villagers were all resting at home and went out to look for someone.

My aunt stayed at home to steam mung beans and prepare pastries for the next day.

Song Zhi, on the contrary, had some free time.

It was not time to go to Doctor Zheng's house yet, so Song Zhi simply went to Uncle Dahe's house first.

She first took back some of the finished bamboo combs and spinning hammers and returned home, preparing to try spinning some yarn.

After Song Zhi returned to the house with some dried wool in a basket, she picked up a handmade bamboo comb that she had just taken back from Uncle Dahe.

The teeth of this comb are fine and even, and it feels light yet sturdy in the hand, making it perfect for combing wool.

She held one end of the wool in one hand and used the other hand to shake the wool up and down on a fine bamboo brush, making the originally tangled wool become combed and fluffy.

After processing the wool, Song Zhi changed the spinning hammer. A disc was hung on one end of the hammer, and a thin rod for winding the wool was on the other end.

She first hooked the combed wool on one end of the spinning hammer, and when she turned the spinning hammer, the wool was cleverly wrapped around it, gradually forming an even wool thread.

When it reaches a certain length, Song Zhi wraps one end of the wool thread around the thin rod and fixes the other end on the shaft.

As the spinning wheel turned, the originally scattered wool gradually turned into fine wool thread under her hands.

Song Huan, who had been squatting on the side and watching this scene curiously, couldn't help but exclaimed: "Sister, wool can actually be spun into thread!"

Seeing her younger sister's curiosity, Song Zhi handed over the defensive hammer in her hand, "Huanhuan, do you want to try it?"

Song Huan's eyes sparkled, "Can I?"

"Why not?"