Chapter 2: First Project (Six Years Old, Closer To Seven)

First Person PoV)

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In my past life, because I studied engineering I used to do construction work for my father's relatives side. Whenever I was around at their house, my grandfather would call for me whenever there was a large or small construction job.

Starting from scratch, I dug the ground beside the yard. The excavated soil was moved to the site for the ondol. Every time, the soil was dug carefully and firmly. If I move a lot of soil at once and build the foundation at once, it's going to get messy later.

That is a common mistake to make when building a foundation. The soil is being hardened very well but the bottom part isn't done properly. So, what would happen if the soil was piled up thickly and was pressed all at once? The upper surface would look solid, but the inside would remain soft. A few years later, it will be disastrous if the building gets tilted.

I, Yamanaka Tobias, who knew this fact well, scooped the soil, moved it, and pounded it over and over again.

(Third Person PoV)

Tobias wiped the sweat off his forehead. Mud was smeared on his face. But, he didn't care.

He looked around. A small ondol room with an area of 4,7 meters in length and width. Within a few days, the foundation and the walls had been built.

'It was hard.'

Making an ondol room was not easy. In fact, it was even harder than expected. First of all, it was because there were no advanced modern tools used to work in the field like in the modern world.

'Because I don't have any electricity-powered tools.'

Because of the fact that Tobias do not have any electricity-powered tools, everything had to be done by hand. He established the foundation by utilizing his past experiences working for his family — father's side — and part-time jobs. The process took three full days. Full-body muscle pain was a bonus.

He processed the wood that Vū obtained from who knows where. It was used to make a traditional wooden frame— It's a traditional Asian construction method by making the frame using heavy wooden logs. He even built a gable roof— It meant triangular-shaped roof. Gable's definition is referring to the triangular part of a structure— to the frame. Reinforced wood was woven between the pillars. Then, he applied the sticky clay and straw mixture. The walls were completed just now after working for four days straight, only resting when it was meal and sleep time.

Tobias layed on the ground panting heavily, his eyes so wide that a speculator would assume that his eyeballs would pop off its socket.

Huff~

Huff~

"That was fast." Vū remark, touching the clay wall.

Tobias hastily sit-up, as he shouted, "THOUGH IT TOOK A FULL FUCKING WEEK!"

Tobias was tired after working for a week straight, there was still a lot of work to do. Tobias felt himself being struck by lightning in realization, his eyes glinted with mischief as an evil grin bloomed on Tobias face.

"... Vū."

"Tobias-sama?"

"Are you tired?"

"How could I be tired? I didn't do anything for the past week but only monitored your progress."

'I know that! You fucking tangerine-head! It was a rhetorical question!'

"Good. Then do as I tell you."

"There's still more?"

"Well-spotted!" Tobias sarcastically applauded for Vū's speculation.

"How come?"

"Duhh— we still haven't finished building the ondol room yet."

"But you already ask for help."

"That was a week ago."

"Bu—"

Tobias cut Vū off with his taunting words, "Guess you don't care enough for our clan's reputation that you'd not even bother to lend a helping hand."

Vū sighed in defeated making him smiled wickedly.

'Heh, you though you could defeat me in this child's play of a debate. Let me remind you boy, I've attended plenty of debate competitions and not once have I ever left a competitor not pissing in their pants.'

"What else can I do?"

"Go do some axing." He pointed outside the ondol room, "Did you see those logs in the corner of the tavern's backyard?"

"Hm..."

'Continue brooding, sooner and later you'll become one of those troublesome Uchiha's.'

"Yes, well done. Those are red pine trees. Cut that with an ax and make some panels for the roof."

"What is a panel?"

"It looks like this."

Scritch....

Scritch....

Tobias roughly drew a picture on the dirt floor.

"One-span width, two-span length, and one finger thick. If you think of it as a longer version of an iPad tablet.... Oh you don't know what a tablet is, do you? You can think of it as a plate but instead, cut the size evenly. Do you understand?"

"Wouldn't it be better to use a saw rather than an ax?"

"Yes, but no. The ax is better."

Of course, it's more convenient to cut it with a saw. It's easier to adjust the size to a specific size. However, abrasion will occur severely in the cutting process. The tree's texture is ruined as a result. When water seeps into the broken texture, it' rot away in no time.

"If you don't want to have to change the roof after less than a year, do it with an ax."

".... Alright. But."

"But?"

'The hell you looking at me for with that strange look of yours?' Tobias thought.

"Where did Tobias-sama learn things like this?"

"Like this? Building a building?"

"That's right."

"Let's just say that I have quite a wild imagination." Tobias giggled as he saw the effect that his answer had on Vū.

He shooed Vū away as he took a good rest. Tobias began the next phase of his work. It was the alpha and the omega of the ondol room. The gleam, salt, and red bean paste of a sweet red bean bread. The graphic card of a high-end gaming computer. It was the floor of the ondol construction.

'It's really important from now on.'

No matter how good-looking the building is, if the ondol doesn't work properly, it would be a disaster. Knowing this fact very well, Tobias exerted his utmost concentration.

'It'll be from here to here as designed.'

When he was still residing at his grandparents house, his grandmother's friend's son was suddenly stuck on a clay sauna. Then he was called by his grandmother to build a red clay sauna room. What was the result, you ask? The happiness index of his grandmother's friend's son's wife had risen dramatically. He was even rewarded a huge sum of money thanks to the grace of his grandmother, who was very satisfied.

Tobias made use of his experiences and memories from that time. He dug the floor to build a passageway where the heat and smoke from the furnace will flow inside.

'So the heat can circulate around the longest path and pass through the floor.'

He carved his way around the passage. Meanwhile, he didn't forget to carefully adjust the height of the passageway.

'This is how the heat stays as long as possible without escaping all at once.'

First, when the fire is lit in the fireplace, the heat and hot smoke will pass through the passageway under the room. With the arrangement of the flat stones, the heat that comes will stagnate. The clay will spread the stagnant heat effectively to the flooring. Then, the heat will be caught one last time before escaping. Finally, the chimney's formation will prevent rainwater and cold air from coming inside the passageways.

'It's hard.'

Be even more careful. Reduce errors as much as possible. Dig and check it. Check and refine it again.

After that, the passageway's walls were coated with red clay, Tobias dried the red clay sufficiently and then placed flat stones meticulously on the passageway.

'Thick stones on the lower end near the furnace and thin stones on the opposite upper end.'

It was laid out carefully. The upper part was too far from the furnace so it would be heated more slowly and less warm. Therefore, if the thickness of the stones were different, it was possible for the floor to be warmed evenly.

'Now, it's your turn.'

The crevices between the flat stones were filled with rocks. The surface was covered with clay dough. Dry mud was laid on top of it and then was packed again. It was applied again as a plaster to flatten the floor and then it was dried thoroughly. After that, the surface was scraped and finished with the thinnest layer possible.

It took him five full days to get to this point. The core of the ondol construction was completed but he had to postpone the opportunity to test it.

Because...

"Excuse me, Tobias-sama?"

Tobias was happy seeing the newly-made ondol floor, when a shinobi with a familiar clan crest behind their back came inside.

"The Patriarch is looking for you."

Fuck..... How troublesome.

__________________

"Hello my Dear Readers! Author-san here! I've been checking the progress of how many readers have read this book and I am surprised to say that there were a lot of you guys reading WOSIN!"

"So, Dear Readers— awkward laugh*— I, unfortunately, have bad news for you all! Sob* Sob*! My friends tricked me and force me to accept a bet that I have to recieve a 50k Readers and 50 collectors until the end of April! And if I were to fail their bet, I'd have to postpone publishing chapters for a whole month! 😭 😭!"

"Everyone, please help me, this is my life's work! And if I were to fail to follow my schedules, no doubt I'd be breaking my schedules. It's be like— uploading two chapters per week and sometimes I'd upload one chapter per month!"

(P. S. They are currently holding my secret against me and tell You-Don't-Know-Who-But-Somehow-I-Got-The-Feeling-You-Know-Who about my attractions towards You-Don't-Know-Who-But-Somehow-I-Got-The-Feeling-You-Know-Who!)