Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Chapter 375 Cutting Bamboo

The difficulty lies not in how to build it, but in where to build it.

The first option is the dent we just saw.

The recessed area is at the bottom of the cliff, about three or four meters deep. The ground is relatively flat, with only some gravel and dust. It can be used after a little cleaning.

Its biggest advantage is that it "has its own foundation". It is surrounded by solid rock walls on three sides and has a thick rock ceiling overhead, making it a natural semi-enclosed space.

All she needed to do was build an extension outward from the opening of the hole, using bamboo to construct a shed.

By enclosing the open space in front of the cave entrance, you can create a living space that connects the inside and outside.

The recessed area inside can be used as a bedroom; it's quiet, secluded, and warm in winter and cool in summer.

The bamboo shed outside can serve as a living room and kitchen, and is well-ventilated and bright, making it suitable for daytime activities.

In this way, she didn't even have to dig a hole; she only needed to build a bamboo shed, reducing her workload by at least half.

Moreover, the top of the sinkhole is a thick layer of rock, so even if someone looks down from above, they can only see a pile of rocks and bushes and cannot find that there is a person hiding below.

The second option is the hole she crawled out of, which is located in the northwest corner of the bottom of the sinkhole and is partially hidden by a thicket of bushes.

If she hadn't crawled out of there last night, she would never have noticed there was a hole.

The entrance wasn't large, barely enough for one person to squeeze through sideways, but once inside was the cave passage she had walked through before, and the space suddenly opened up.

She could expand the interior along the cave entrance; the passageways inside the cave were lined with limestone on both sides.

However, in some places the rock walls are relatively loose, so tools can be used to widen the passage and transform a section of the passage into one or more small rooms.

In this way, she doesn't even need to build any ground structures; she can simply erect a few bamboo fences or bamboo gates to divide functional areas such as bedrooms, storage rooms, and kitchens.

The downside is that there's no light!

The two options were locked in a tug-of-war in her mind. The cave solution was indeed convenient, secluded, and had a constant temperature. All the advantages were obvious and almost impossible to refuse.

But people need sunshine, and once that thought comes up, it's impossible to suppress it.

After spending so much time underground, her skin turned pale, and she lost all motivation to do anything. Only then did she realize that people can live without many things, but they cannot live without the sun.

If she lives in a cave, what's the difference between that and living in an underground base?

The same stone walls, the same dim lighting, the same days when sunrise and sunset are nowhere to be seen.

She finally managed to climb out of the ground, but now she's going to have to crawl back down?

Although a bamboo shed also needs to be built in the cave, at least the entrance faces south, so sunlight can shine in, and she can see the sky, the clouds, and the wind blowing through the bamboo forest.

After thinking it through, she stood up, brushed the grass clippings off her pants, and turned her gaze to the bamboo grove.

Xu Xiaoyan took out an axe from her spatial storage.

This axe was stolen from that person in Lintong City. It has a solid wood handle and a forged steel axe head, and it feels heavy in your hand.

The axe blade appeared to have been sharpened several times, making it more than capable of chopping bamboo.

She checked the axe again; the connection between the handle and the axe head was firm and sturdy, with no looseness.

She grabbed another pair of work gloves and put them on to prevent blisters from forming on her palms.

As she entered the bamboo grove, she didn't rush to start working. Instead, she looked up and surveyed the bamboo stalks, noting their varying thicknesses and ages.

She needs mature bamboo that is about three years old; bamboo that is too young is too soft and has too much moisture, and it is easy for it to deform and crack after being cut down and dried.

Older bamboo is yellowed and hard, with thicker walls that are difficult to split, and it is also less flexible and prone to breakage.

The three-year-old bamboo is greenish-yellow in color, with even nodes and a straight stem. It makes a crisp sound when tapped. She spent a while choosing one before finally picking one.

This bamboo stalk is about the thickness of an adult's wrist. It is straight all over, with even spacing between the nodes. Its greenish-blue skin has a thin layer of white frost on it, and it feels smooth to the touch.

Having chosen her target, she began clearing the obstacles around the bamboo.

There were some low shrubs and weeds at the base of the bamboo, as well as a few dead bamboo stubble.

Xu Xiaoyan squatted down, used her hands to pry things apart, and used the back of her axe to knock off the bamboo stubble, making room to step.

Then she stood up, gripped the axe handle with both hands, and stood with her feet shoulder-width apart to the side of the bamboo.

She first tried swinging the axe a couple of times to get a feel for it, then took a deep breath, aimed at the bamboo root about ten centimeters above it, and chopped down hard.

With a "crack," the axe blade cut into the bamboo about a third of the way, and bamboo shavings flew out, carrying a unique fresh fragrance of green bamboo.

She pulled out the axe and found some clear, sticky liquid oozing from the cut, which felt cool on the back of her hand.

Xu Xiaoyan didn't stop, and immediately chopped down with a second axe at a position slightly above the first cut.

This time the cut was made deeper, and the bamboo began to tilt to one side, making a "crunching" sound at the cut.

With the third axe blow, the bamboo finally gave way, making a crisp "crack" sound as it slowly fell to the ground.

The bamboo leaves rustled for a while, and then with a "thud," the entire bamboo crown fell onto the grass next to it.

Instead of rushing to cut down a single bamboo stalk, she first dragged the fallen bamboo to an open space. The bamboo crown was very dense, with branches and leaves, making it somewhat difficult to drag.

She grabbed the base of the bamboo with one hand and pushed aside the bushes along the way with the other, pulling it step by step backward until she dragged the whole bamboo out of the bamboo forest and placed it on a flat grassy area.

Next comes "pruning," which involves using an axe to cut off all the side branches and leaves from the bamboo. This task is even more tedious than cutting the bamboo itself.

She laid the bamboo horizontally on the ground, stepped on the bamboo with one foot to prevent it from rolling, and then, starting from the base, chopped off the side branches one axe at a time.

Thicker branches take two or three cuts, while thinner ones break with a single axe stroke. Each time she cut a branch, she bends down, picks it up, and throws it aside.

After about ten minutes of work, a smooth bamboo pole emerged, its body a yellowish-green hue, smooth and straight, with slightly bulging nodes.

She dragged the bamboo pole aside, propped it up against the rock wall, and then returned to the bamboo grove to select the next one.

She chose a slightly thinner one for the second beam and pillar.

The chopping process was much smoother than the first one; she had mastered the angle and force, and it felled the tree in three swings.

Pruning also became much faster because she found that it was easier to cut off the side branches when cutting at the bamboo node.

She chose a thick bamboo for the third one, intending to use it as a load-bearing pillar. This bamboo was harder than the previous two, and the shockwave from the axe chopping it made her hands go numb.

She gritted her teeth and chopped a few more times until she finally brought it down. The three bamboo poles leaned neatly against the rock wall, gleaming with a bluish-green luster in the sunlight.