After tying down the bottom horizontal stick, Han Cheng picked up two 55-centimeter sticks.
He joined one end of each stick with the top of the vertical stick already nailed in place while having Lame tie them together with a rope, supporting him as he worked.
Once secured, he used the rope to tie the other ends of these two sticks, which served as the slanted sides of the triangle, to the ends of the bottom horizontal stick.
Triangles are inherently stable, and the solidity was beyond question with three triangles constructed by Han Cheng.
The process wasn't complicated. Once Han Cheng and Lame tied down one triangle, Mu Tou and Hei Wa followed suit with the other two.
In no time, all six were securely tied.
Looking at the ‘mountain' shapes every 1.5 meters on top of the wall and then at the houses they lived in, Lame suddenly realized the similarity between what they were doing and the roofs of their homes.
When they built the houses, after raising the walls, the next step was to put up the roof beams. Would it be the same now?
This primitive carpenter was straying further and further from his ancestral path. Who knew if he'd eventually make a flying wooden kite…
As Lame had leg trouble, Han Cheng didn't ask him to go down this time. Instead, he sent Hei Wa and Mu Tou to find straight branches, about 1 to 3 centimeters in diameter, to serve as ‘roof beams.'
Such branches were abundant in the Green Sparrow Tribe's area, and it didn't take long for them to gather a small bundle.
Han Cheng first selected the straightest ones and set them aside. These would be used for the topmost beams, serving as the ‘ridge' of the roof. When he tied the triangular beams earlier, Han Cheng deliberately carved a minor groove at the top where the top beam could snugly fit. With a quick tie of the rope, it was secure.
Then, on the bottom and middle of each ‘tripod,' he tied two long sticks, similar to when they constructed the roofs of the houses.
With these in place, the frame for this 7.5-meter wall section was complete.
Han Cheng then instructed Mu Tou and Hei Wa to fetch two bundles of thatch.
Now that the frame was ready, the two understood the purpose of their task and were delighted. After listening to Han Cheng's instructions, they hurried to fetch the thatch.
Lame, however, hesitated a bit. Based on experience building roofs, the next step should be to tie rafters, lay lath, apply mud, and add thatch. So why skip all these steps and jump straight to the last one?
After some thought, he voiced his question.
Han Cheng explained that they were only building this to keep the rain out; no one would be living underneath, so there was no need for such high-quality construction. Furthermore, the roof on top of the wall was very small in scale, with the length of one slope not surpassing the growth of the thatch. The frame alone was sufficient; they didn't need so much else.
Lame nodded in agreement after hearing Han Cheng's explanation, realizing the wisdom in adapting to specific circumstances.
Of course, this was just a vague awareness; he couldn't say it.
Bundles of thatch were densely tied onto the frame with ropes, leaving no gaps, somewhat resembling the process of thatching a hat.
The final step of thatching was meticulous work, and it took several people a good while to finish this 7.5-meter-long section.
With the addition of the golden ‘thatch,' this wall section immediately appeared remarkable. Compared to the surrounding walls without ‘thatch,' it looked much more noble.
Indeed, just as people rely on clothes to enhance appearance, walls also rely on ‘thatch' to add charm.
The ‘thatch' extended beyond both sides of the wall, so when it rained again, the water would drip directly to the ground along the edges of the ‘thatch,' preventing the wall from getting wet.
Shaman, who had spent more and more time watching the rabbits by the rabbit pen, stood there looking over from a distance. With the presence of houses and deer pens, he quickly understood the significance of what Han Cheng and the others were doing.
Shaman couldn't help but slap his head. If the deer pen and the houses could have roofs, why couldn't the wall have one, too?
Why hadn't he and the others thought of such a simple idea and solution before the Divine Child did?
Han Cheng's addition of a roof to the wall temporarily caught Shaman's attention, diverting his gaze from the rabbits in the pen. He and Shi Tou, who stayed up late at night, often gazed at the stars and drew moon shapes on pottery, and went to Han Cheng and Lame to inquire about adding a roof to the wall.
After getting the details, he entrusted Shi Tou with recording the information and returned to look at the rabbits.
With this demonstration of the 7.5-meter-long wall roof, Han Cheng didn't have to worry about the rest. The Eldest Senior Brother and others, who had built more than ten houses, would have no trouble with such a small-scale project once they knew the specifics.
As Han Cheng was on his way to check on the charcoal burning, he suddenly realized a problem regarding the wall.
While adding the roof could protect the outside of the wall from rain, it wouldn't help the inside.
Because right next to the wall's inside was another wall, wider than the wall itself.
When it rained, water inside the wall would drip directly onto this wider inner wall.
Han Cheng smiled helplessly. Damn, he had neglected one thing while focusing on another.
They seemed to have to wait until the elder brothers finished the roof atop the wall. Then, they could create a small ditch on the top of the inner ‘eaves' of the wider wall and have Hei Wa burn some arched tiles and lay them upside down inside, using clay cement to seal them, creating a drainage system on the top of the wider wall to guide the water down.
Fortunately, it was now winter, with less rain and more snow, so there was no rush to make the drainage ditch.
With this plan in mind, Han Cheng stopped thinking about it. He reached out and felt that there was not much heat left in the kiln and on the pottery boards covering it. Together with Hei Wa, who had come with him, he removed the pottery boards covering the kiln.
With just a glance inside, Han Cheng knew that the wood in this kiln had burned out again.
In the middle, a large area of firewood had turned into ashes, and some pieces still hadn't burned yet. Along the edges were some well-burnt charcoal and many pieces of wood that hadn't entirely burned…