Although the chimney was not aesthetically pleasing, it finally solved the smoke-leakage problem, and fires could be made for cooking inside the cave.
...
After being busy for several days, once the stove was officially in use, Chen Zhou immediately started on the second project—
Constructing the fire barrier and kang bed-stove.
Before building these two "heating devices," he preemptively sealed off the relatively narrow crevice.
Meanwhile, during this period, Paul and Bi Kai continuously transported food into the cave and began moving quality firewood into the large crevice.
As for the best quality firewood, such as tree burls and roots, they were directly stacked inside the cave.
Chen Zhou specifically set up a "firewood area" for them, separated by a stone wall, to avoid having a disorderly pile of wood in plain sight.
