The mutton was quite fatty. Li Long tried to pick pieces without fat, while everyone else did the opposite.
Eating mutton with nang felt wonderful.
The Old Lady and Jade Mountain River's wife brought over a plate of piyazi. Li Long picked up a piece to eat with his meat, and the others followed his lead.
Deputy team leader Adili had been helping earlier, so he stayed for the meal. Holding a rib and eating as he walked over to Li Long, he found a clean spot to squat down and said:
"We should be able to finish the work here today."
"Yes, we'll work here today, then go to Jade Mountain River's courtyard tomorrow," Li Long said. "Fix the place up a bit, and it'll be more comfortable to live in."
The houses were all built of earth. The difference between the Pastoral Team's houses and those of the Fourth Team was that these were a little lower, with more timber in the roofs, covered by a thick layer of Achnatherum splendens and finally a layer of mud plaster.
Years of disrepair, along with their proximity to the mountains, strong winds, and frequent rain, had left the roofs covered in grass.
They had to pull out the grass before plastering the roofs. At first, the young men from the team found grass growing on roofs rather unusual, but looking around, they realized everyone's roof was the same. The strong winds blew grass seeds onto the roofs, and one rain was enough to make them sprout. Some roofs had not just grass but little trees growing on them.
They pulled out the grass, swept away the debris, then used trowels to smooth out the mud hauled up to them. In particular, they had to fill the holes made by mice