diskusbooks Chapter 50 The Fire-Hot Bed
Chapter 50 The Fire-Hot Bed
The snow had stopped these past few days, and Xiao Siyue, having nothing else to do, decided to talk to her grandfather about building a heated kang (a traditional Chinese bed-stove).
"Grandpa, do you know what a heated kang bed is?" Xiao Siyue asked directly as soon as she entered Grandpa Xiao's room. She knew that wealthy families had underfloor heating systems, so she assumed they must have heated kang beds long ago.
"A heated kang (a traditional heated brick bed)? I've never heard of that." Old Master Xiao was quite unfamiliar with the term.
"Haven't you heard of it?" Xiao Siyue asked, puzzled.
"Grandpa, wait a moment," Xiao Siyue said as she ran back to her room, took out paper and pen, and drew a diagram of a heated kang (a traditional Chinese bed-stove).
"Grandpa, look, this is it. After the kang (heated brick bed) is set up, you burn firewood in the kang hole, and the whole kang surface will warm up. We won't be cold sitting on it, and the room will be warm too." Xiao Siyue excitedly told Grandpa Xiao about the benefits of the kang while holding the blueprints.
"It's really good." From the blueprints and his granddaughter's explanation, Grandpa Xiao understood the benefits of the heated kang. If they had this heated kang, they wouldn't have to suffer from the cold anymore. As people get older, their bodies become less and less resistant to the cold.
Building a kang (heated brick bed) is very simple. The most important things are the internal structure and the direction of the flue. If it is not built well, not only will the firewood be difficult to light, but the smoke will also not be able to escape. So these two steps are extremely important. The rest are very simple.
Without further ado, Grandpa Xiao called his two sons to help him make the kang (heated brick bed). This was something they were very familiar with, as they had done it the same way when building houses before.
They use adobe bricks made from a mixture of yellow mud and some wheat husks. These bricks are not only sturdy and durable but also have good heat retention properties. However, it is winter now, and the weather is cold, so the surface of the kang (heated brick bed) doesn't dry easily; they can only warm it by burning a fire.
Once the adobe bricks were made, the next step was to build the walls around the kang (heated brick bed). As for the kang walls, there were some leftover bricks from the previous house construction, enough to build one kang per person. Xiao Siyue thought she should prioritize building the walls around her grandparents' rooms first, and they could build theirs after the road was completed and they bought more bricks.
Even though it's just the grandparents living there, they decided to build it as spacious as possible so it wouldn't feel too cramped.
Although building a kang (heated brick bed) is simple, it took four days to complete because the surface doesn't dry easily. Even then, it can't be used immediately; it needs to be heated for two days to remove moisture before it's comfortable to sleep on.
Two days later, the kang (heated brick bed) was finally ready to use. A woven mat was laid on it. The mat was made by Xiao Qili and was made of bamboo. Because the family often wove bamboo baskets and other things, they had always kept bamboo strips. So after Xiao Siyue successfully built the kang, she asked Xiao Qili to weave a mat according to the size of the kang surface.
After laying out the mat, a mattress was placed on top. In no time, heat rose up, and Xiao Siyue couldn't wait to take off her shoes and get on the kang (heated brick bed).
It's so warm! This is what winter should be like. She was almost frozen to death before.
"Grandpa, Grandma, come up on the kang (heated brick bed), it's so warm!" Xiao Siyue happily greeted the two old men.
Grandpa Xiao and his wife quickly took off their shoes and got onto the kang (heated brick bed). As soon as they crawled into the quilt, the thick heat swept over them, instantly dispelling the cold from their bodies. Their buttocks felt warm, and after a while, they even felt a little hot, but it was extremely comfortable.
"It's so warm here, much warmer than having a fire burning inside," Old Mrs. Xiao exclaimed comfortably.
"Yes, it's so warm I'm getting sleepy." Grandpa Xiao squinted, feeling a bit drowsy.
"Grandpa, Grandma, the heated kang (traditional Chinese bed) is perfect for this cold season, especially for the elderly," Xiao Siyue said.
Elderly people often suffer from dampness, and most of them have chronic leg pain or rheumatism. Although a heated kang bed cannot cure diseases, it can at least relieve pain.
Just like Grandpa Xiao, he had a foot ailment from his early years that would cause pain every rainy season and winter. Now that he has a heated kang bed, it can alleviate the pain to some extent.
"Yue'er, do you have something on your mind?" Old Master Xiao immediately perked up, squinting his eyes as he pondered.
“Grandpa, it’s like this, there are many elderly people in our village, and I’m thinking of passing on the method of building a heated kang (a traditional Chinese bed-stove) so that it can help many people.” That’s what Xiao Siyue was thinking.
She didn't consider herself a particularly kind person, but she wasn't a bad one either. She wouldn't be so generous as to use her earnings to help the villagers, but she wouldn't keep small things like this to herself.
Putting aside distant examples, most of the people in the village are relatives, and we can't just watch them suffer in the cold.
Upon hearing Xiao Siyue's words, Grandpa Xiao sat up abruptly on the kang (a heated brick bed): "Yue'er, your idea is good. There are many elderly people in the village. If we have a heated kang, they can have a good winter."
Grandpa Xiao put on his shoes and prepared to go out.
"Grandpa, where are you going?" Xiao Siyue asked as she saw Grandpa Xiao hurriedly getting off the kang (a heated brick bed).
"I'll go talk to the village chief right away and ask everyone in the village to sleep on heated brick beds as soon as possible." Grandpa Xiao was a warm-hearted man, thinking that in previous years, some elderly people in the village would not survive the winter and die.
He now wants to quickly rebuild all the heated brick beds in the village to prevent such tragedies from happening again.
"Grandpa, please be careful, the road is slippery," Xiao Siyue said after learning where Grandpa Xiao was going.
After Grandpa Xiao left, Xiao Siyue got off the kang (a heated brick bed) and called the rest of the family to come inside to warm up. Although there were many people in the Xiao family, the kang was big enough that they could squeeze in and sit down.
About 15 minutes later, Grandpa Xiao hurriedly led the village chief into the room.
The village chief was startled when he entered; why were all the Xiao family members gathered here? Upon seeing the village chief, the Xiao family members quickly got off the kang (heated brick bed), as it would be too impolite.
After the rest of the Xiao family left, Old Master Xiao finally spoke, saying, "Look, this is a heated kang bed. Why don't you go up and try it out?"
The village chief didn't stand on ceremony; he had come specifically to see this. After getting on the kang (heated brick bed), he realized that what Grandpa Xiao had said was true—it was indeed warm.
"It's really warm. As soon as I entered the room, I noticed that you hadn't lit a fire, but the room was still filled with warmth. You couldn't tell it was a cold winter at all. This heated kang is really good, no, it's really good."
The village chief was reluctant to get off the kang (a heated brick bed), but important business was at hand.
"Dayong, you said you wanted to teach the villagers how to make a heated kang (a traditional heated brick bed), right?" the village chief said urgently, afraid that Old Master Xiao would change his mind.
“Yes, we will be installing kang beds in the other rooms in a few days. When that time comes, you can call over anyone in the village who is willing to install kang beds, and we will teach them on the spot. It’s very simple,” said Grandpa Xiao.
"Okay, I'll come back then." The village chief received a positive reply and went back.
Not long after the village chief returned, villagers, having heard the news, began to visit the Xiao family. After experiencing the charm of the heated kang (a traditional Chinese bed-stove), they all said they would come to learn how to use it in a few days.