Lu Yinghuai felt as if he were soaking in a honey pot, so sweet that even the cold wind blowing from the yard felt extra warm. He liked her, and she liked him. Was there anything more beautiful in the world than mutual love?
A short while later, Zifu brought in bathwater. Lu Yinghuai carefully handed him the letter meant for his future mother-in-law, his thoughts drifting away again.
It was previously said that the Yun family's new house was under construction, but I don't know if it's finished yet...
**
Zhang sneezed as she was being nagged. Today was the day the new family moved into their new home. Yun Ruochun had also returned from the county government after receiving the news. As for Yun Ling... she didn't know if she had actually gone to Bianjing. She hadn't received a letter since the last one. She didn't know if something had happened to her or if she had just forgotten because she was busy having fun.
"Chunniang, go back inside quickly, it's chilly at night."
"You mean Ling-jie, she..."
"It's alright, she's very clever. Go to sleep, you'll have to get up again in the middle of the night."
That's what she said, but Zhang was still worried, especially when the whole family was together and about to move into the new house, she would miss Yunling even more.
"Go back, go back."
Fearing that Zhang would overthink things, Yun Shenghua pushed her directly into their room. Inside, Yun's mother, Yun Ruochun, Yun Ruoxia, and Yun Chu had already retired for the night, so Zhang naturally couldn't say anything more and found a place to lie down.
According to Aunt Yun's calculations, the second half of the night was an auspicious time for moving into a new house. Zhang didn't know where this came from. She had been washing clothes by the river and heard the other women say that moving into a new house had to be done during the day, and before noon, to avoid attracting any unclean spirits.
But Granny Yun said that every family has its own methods. For their new home, considering the compass, the land divination, and the history of the previous inhabitants, the latter half of the night was the best time. Zhang didn't understand the intricacies of this, so she left it all to Granny Yun to do.
Perhaps because of the cold weather, everyone felt as if they had just gone to bed and warmed up their blankets, and now they had to get up.
Old Lady Yun picked up the things she had prepared beforehand, and Old Man Yun, holding a lantern, led the family out of the Fan family's house and towards the gate of their new home. Upon arriving at the gate, Old Lady Yun began to speak:
"They lined up, with men entering with their left foot first, and women entering with their right foot according to their age."
Everyone agreed and entered the room one by one, not daring to wander around, as it was pitch black and they couldn't see anything even if they looked around randomly.
Old Lady Yun then tugged at Old Man Yun's arm and first found the location of the main courtyard. She placed a crabapple, a handful of candies, a piece of raw pork with hair on it, a set of gold and silver paper money, a set of clothes for the Heavenly God, the Earth God, the Underworld, and four corners of the clothes on the ground, as well as a salted duck egg.
Then, place a piece of white radish, three small wine glasses, pour in white wine, and then light candles and stick them on both sides of the radish. This part is temporarily finished.
Next, in each of the four corners, place an apple, a handful of candies, a piece of raw pork with hair, a set of gold and silver paper money, a set of clothes for the celestial deity, a set of clothes for the earth god, paper money for the underworld, a set of clothes for the four corners, and a salted duck egg.
Then a piece of white radish was placed on each of them, and two candles were lit on each.
After all these preparations are completed, light the remaining twenty-one incense sticks in the basket, face the main entrance, and start from the left side to waft the incense around the entire house, including the stables, outhouse, kitchen, and so on.
After burning the incense, the twenty-one incense sticks were inserted into the five sections of white radish, nine sticks into the one in the main courtyard and three sticks into each of the other four corners.
Old Lady Yun brushed off the incense ash that had accidentally gotten on the back of her hand, then collected all the paper offerings and gathered them at the main courtyard to burn, chanting as she did so:
"We respectfully invite the Earth God and Earth Goddess, the Seven Brothers and Eight Immortals, the Door Gods, the Household Gods, the Stove God, the Three Aunts of the Pit, all the Immortals, and all our ancestors, old uncles, young uncles, old aunts, and young aunts, to come and take their seats in our new home."
May our family prosper, may the land be auspicious, may our houses be strong and tall, may every member of our family be safe and sound, may we be healthy, may we be free from disasters and difficulties, and may we all get what we want.
Following instructions from his mother, Old Man Yun walked around the fire, Yun Shenghua tugged at Zhang Shi to follow, Yun Ruoxia pushed Yun Ruochun to catch up, and Yun Chu jogged a few steps to catch up.
The family formed a circle, walking around the fire, each with their own wishes: some wanted a happy family, some wanted a blissful life, some wanted to become female constables, some wanted to be rolling in gold and silver, some wanted to become female doctors, and some wished Yunling a safe journey...
The wishes burned brighter and brighter on the ground, but after the fire gradually dimmed, it returned to calm until not a single flame could be seen. Only then did everyone pick up brooms and sweep.
There are specific ways to sweep the house. First, collect all the offerings and put them back in the basket. Then, sweep from the four corners of the house toward the center, and then sweep from the center toward the door. This way, all evil spirits and filth will be swept out the door and never return.
Finally, the basket of offerings is thrown away, and that's the end of it.
After the housewarming ceremony was over, the sky was already beginning to lighten, and the original appearance of the new house was revealed. Its large size and spaciousness were everyone's first impressions. After looking around and going into each room, they felt that the house was even more spacious.
They never dared to dream of living in such a big house before. They only thought about moving to the county town so that it would be easier for Yun Shenghua to go to work, Zhang could sell some snacks to supplement the family income, and Yun Ruochun could talk to other people more easily. They only thought about not going hungry and then taking steps to achieve their goals.
Unexpectedly, Yunling made her fortune selling mushrooms and raising bees, building such a large house. They can still eat fish and meat every day. Such a comfortable life is really thanks to Yunling.
Everyone silently praised Yunling, then found their own rooms. After daybreak, they returned to the Fan family home to move all their belongings over, made the beds, and busied themselves with the important matters of moving into the new house and hosting a feast...
**
Yunling had a wonderful dream. In the dream, her mother tapped her on the head and told her not to sleep, but to come with the family to visit their new home.
The newly built house was really big, with light in all four corners. The whole family stood in the middle to burn paper money. Yunling followed behind Yunchu, listening to her mother-in-law muttering things like "good health" and "everything goes smoothly." These were words she had heard since she was a child, words she was almost tired of hearing.
After the paper money was burned, they started sweeping the floor. The offerings were put away first. Yunling kept staring at the salted duck eggs. Just thinking about the runny, sandy yolks made her mouth water. But as soon as she grabbed one, her mother slapped her hand.
"You idiot, are you going to starve to death? There are so many good things to eat, but you insist on picking up these junks. You're asking for trouble."
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