As the day's work began, the laborers starts with the roofing. Inside the central hall, the air was still cool, but it was entirely still. Both women stood in the center of the room as a disbelieving, emotional smile broke across Bai Ling's face.
"We have a roof over our head?"
"Better believe it!".
"Thank you Miss"
With a choked voice, Bai Ling hugs Su Xiao. Mu Wei abruptly enters interrupting their emotional moment. He looks approvingly at the structure before speaking.
"They have begun chiseling the sockets for the backyard veranda first".
"And the front?".
"Once the rear sockets are deep enough, we shift them to the front facing the courtyard".
"We'll lay the footing simultaneously?".
"Mm. By midday, the stone bases for both verandas will set, curing under the winter sun".
She had used thick cedar stakes and mapped out a massive symmetrical footprint. It was a classic dual-wing courtyard design. Two independent wings connected by a central porch and connected to a garden.
Outside the clearing, Lu Dan and Lu Tui stood with the laborers. "Young masters.... Are we breaking ground on foundation today?".
"We are".
Lu Dan's voice filled with pride rang out.
"My brother and I will be digging the trenches for the foundation with some of you, while the others focus on the Mistress verandas".
"Let's get moving!".
With that, everyone got to work. At the back of the master villa, the sharp rhythmic clink of iron chisels striking granite began. The masons worked carefully, carving deep, square sockets directly into the mountain spine to hold the massive river stone pillars that would support the veranda view.
With the grey river stone footing securely anchoring the structure to the bedrock, and then focuses on the decking. Massive cedar sleeper joists across the stone bases, framing a wide, elevated platform. Using a heavy wooden mallet, they drive hand-carved wooden pins into the joints, locking it down permanently.
Finally, they install the low, minimalist railing. It sits at a precise height just below chest level when sitting offering a paranomic view of the snow capped peaks of the backyard.
The now move to the front veranda facing the courtyard. The wide, sweeping steps chiseled from solid grey river stone, leading from the the courtyard up onto the elevated cedar platform.
Four grooved cedar pillars rise from their stone bases to meet the extended eave of the master villas roof, creating a beautifully covered, majestic porch. As the final plank is pinned down, Su Xiao steps in. With a wide bristle brush, she applies a thick, aromatic coat of homemade heated tung oil mixed with pine resin.
As the wood absorbs the oil, it instantly deepens from it's color to a rich, glossy, dark chocolate color. The sharp, scent of cedar and pine fills the entire rear. She looked at the work with immense satisfaction. It was exactly as she imagined it. Meanwhile, at the courtyard, a U-shaped trench have been dug to necessary depth by the men.
They began the gruelling process of filling them. First, a thick, heavy river gravel is dumped into the trenches and packed down using heavy iron rammers to create a perfectly level, self drainage sub-base. Next, they hauled in heavy, raw granite which all are packed tightly in the trenches.
Before they could dump the final layer of mortar over the granite foundation, she stops them. Under the confused gazes, she instructs them to lay clay poles end-to-end. A vent was installed to connect the chimney. After making sure the intricate pipe network was fully joined, she gave the order.
"Pour it".
The workers dumped the thick, dense sticky-rice and slaked lime mixture completely over the insulated pipes and gravel stones, locking it into an unbreakable subterranean slab. By the time, the work was done, the twilight was gone, replaced by a blanket of winter stars. The meals were served, then wages and everyone marched home.
Sitting together as they ate, the brothers felt their emotions running high.
"Brother, we finally have a home!".
His voice was choked up as he hugged his brother. With teary eyes, his brother replied.
"Yes. We finally have roots!".
Two adult men were bawling hard in front of the people as the hugged each other. Bai Ling feeling emotional hugged her husband and joined them crying. The kids snuggled to their mother and cried alongside them. Only Mu Wei and Su Xiao looked at the with understanding and let them have their moment.
After thirty minutes, they finally regined their emotions feeling embarrassed. They cleaned up, blushing awkwardly.
"I'm sorry everyone, we couldn't control it"
"That's right. We felt so touched".
Everyone laughed and the mood lightened.
"It's nothing to be ashamed of. You're human so you can express your emotions".
"Thank you mistress".
"We can't pack in right away. There are no furnitures and the house needs some final touching. After that, we can all pack in immediately"
Everyone cheered at the piece of good news and resumed bantering. Mu Wei clasped his hand over her hand in silent gratitude as they already sleepy kids rested in their arms. Soon, it was time to go back. They washed up and fell asleep contently.
The night passed by quickly and it was the next day already. The amber sun dispersed the mist and brought warmth to their bodies. Work had already commenced as everyone went to their assigned post. Today, they were focusing on the main house exterior and interior painting. She had come up with a color combination she wanted and handled the rest over to Mu Wei.
The painters arrived and took their assigned tools, delving into work immediately. They started at the foot of the villa, along the bottom three feet of the red brick walls. They applied a thick coat of pine-soot charcoal and slate-dust lime wash. It dried into a deep, matte slate-grey. Above the charcoal base, the main expanse of the brickwork were covered in a double-layer of pure slaked lime bound with sticky rice broth and fine quartz sand.