On the morning of the sixth day of the eighth lunar month, An Qingbai's homestead was bustling with activity.

The brothers An Xiasheng and An Dongsheng were the first to arrive.

An Dongsheng called out as soon as he arrived at the door.

"Brother Bai, where are you? My brother and I are here!"

An Qingbai responded to Dongsheng's voice from outside.

"Here I am, in the yard. Please come in!"

An Xiasheng and An Dongsheng then entered the courtyard, where they saw An Qingbai squatting down and hanging red silk on both ends of the beam. Four large characters were already written on the red paper in the middle of the beam: "Great Fortune for Raising the Beam!"

An Qingbai looked up and greeted them separately.

"Xia Sheng, Dong Sheng, you're here so early?"

An Xiasheng shrugged helplessly.

"Oh dear, don't even mention it! As soon as our mothers heard that it was you who asked us to carry the beam, they urged us to leave immediately!"

An Dongsheng nodded vigorously.

"That's right, our mother has been urging us to come over as soon as possible!"

An Qingbai laughed when he heard this.

"Haha, then I really have to thank Aunt Cui'e!"

Just then, An Guodong arrived.

"Qingbai, I'm here!"

"Okay, Guodong, you wait here for a bit, there's still plenty of time!"

"Okay, you go ahead and do your work. I'm going to have a chat with Dongsheng!"

Zhuang Zhimeng, Su Mengmeng, and Jiang Yanxia came over together. Jiang Yanxia came purely out of curiosity to help and also to watch the excitement.

Su Mengmeng moved closer to An Qingbai.

"Brother An, what do we need to do in a bit? I've never done this before!"

An Qingbai stood up.

"You just need to do the same thing as us; we'll need to go up to the roof."

Su Mengmeng nodded.

"Oh, I understand now."

An Qingbai glanced at Zhuang Zhimeng with a sly smile.

"Hey, Zhizhi, you keep an eye on people. If anyone accidentally falls off the roof, grab them!"

Zhuang Zhimeng laughed in exasperation.

"Ha, so I've been given an important task?"

"Haha, yes, it has to be a big task, and only you, Zhizhi, can handle it!"

Zhuang Zhimeng rolled her eyes cutely.

"Hehe, I really thank Brother Qingbai for trusting me so much!"

Jiang Yanxia and Su Mengmeng couldn't help but laugh.

"Haha, Zhimeng, even your eye-rolling is so funny!"

"Haha, boss, that's hilarious!"

An Qingbai also laughed heartily.

"Haha, Zhizhi, you're so cute like this!"

Zhuang Zhimeng was completely speechless and wanted to roll her eyes again.

An Qinghua and his wife, along with An Qingsong and An Qinglin, arrived together at this time.

When An Qingsong saw his third brother laughing like that, he quickly asked him a question.

"Third brother, what are you laughing at?"

An Qingbai dared not say it aloud and waved his hand.

"We weren't laughing at anything, we were just joking around!"

An Leping came over and hammered a coin into the wood at each end of the main beam, securing it with red silk, symbolizing "peace and harmony".

The auspicious time was 8:16 AM, at which point the ceremony officially began.

An Tanxiao let out a long shout.

"The roof beam has been raised!"

After a burst of firecrackers, Zhuang Zhimeng stood a short distance below the roof, just in case someone accidentally fell off.

Jiang Yanxia covered her mouth and chuckled the whole time.

An Qingbai's eight young and strong men are all young people with both parents alive and good fortune according to Chinese astrology.

They were responsible for carrying the beams and also for climbing onto the roof to pull them up.

When pulling, one side shouldn't be higher than the other; you should try to maintain balance, otherwise you'll be scolded by your elders, who consider it a very unlucky omen.

As they were pulling up the beams, An Leping began to chant loudly: "Heaven and earth open up, wealth abounds, golden boys and jade girls help us move upwards, the roof is perfectly capped, and everyone gathers in the magnificent hall!"

After the beam is pulled onto the roof, its position needs to be checked. The left end of the beam should be raised slightly, following the rule of "left green dragon, right white tiger".

Anle and the others placed Liang in their mouths and began to say blessings.

"Today, the host raises the roof beam, a joyous occasion brought by the auspicious cycle; may the host's family prosper in both wealth and honor, and may their household be filled with glory and riches!"

As he spoke, he tossed down candies, peanuts, and small sorghum buns.

Those waiting below were already impatient, and as soon as An Leping tossed the ball, they began scrambling to catch it.

"Mine! I caught it! Haha!"

"Don't take it, it's mine!"

Amidst laughter and cheers, the raising of the roof beam was completed.

Next, a banquet was held to entertain all those who came to help build the house and raise the roof beam.

This thank-you banquet was personally hosted by Shi Meiling, and it was also her way of blessing Lao San and Zhi Meng.

The ceremony was only considered complete after the thank-you banquet was finished.

That evening, An Qingbai found his father.

"Father, have you decided on the date for digging the well?"

"It's all planned out; we'll dig the well on the tenth day of the month."

"Okay, I understand."

Zhuang Zhimeng replied with the same words the next day.

Zhuang Zhimeng asked An Qingbai curiously.

"Brother Qingbai, how's the furniture making going? When can we move into our new house?"

An Qingbai thought for a moment before answering.

"The house needs to be aired out for another two months before we can put the furniture in. The furniture also needs to be varnished, so the earliest we can do that is November!"

"November? Qingbai, don't you feel like you just want to move into the new house?"

"Yeah, I was thinking of moving in with Zhizhi!"

Zhuang Zhimeng smiled and patted him on the shoulder.

"Hehe, you're just dreaming. There are still five months until the wedding!"

"Huh? It's still so long? I never thought it would be that long before, but now that I think about it, it feels like forever!"

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