Chapter 176 The Feast for Raising the Beams in the New House
"Young Master Zheng is such a good young man. Not only is he good-looking, but he's also talented. I heard he'll definitely pass the imperial examination next year," Mrs. Zhang said proudly. "Such a talented man fell in love with our Xiuhong right away. He didn't come before because Lord Zheng didn't approve of the marriage, but Young Master Zheng just loves Xiuhong. He went on a hunger strike every day, so the Zheng family had no choice but to send a matchmaker to propose marriage. He married Xiuhong yesterday. Our Xiuhong will be an official's wife in the future."
She pulled a handful of candy from her bundle. "Xiuhong met a good match in our Dahe Village and specifically asked me to distribute wedding candy to everyone. Everyone should get some so we can share in the joy."
These wedding candies are pastries made of sugar and flour, and villagers can only eat them during festivals like the Lunar New Year.
Sun Shuiqin, standing in the crowd, clutched the hem of her clothes.
Li Xiuhong borrowed her clothes for more than ten days and refused to return them. Only now did she realize that Li Xiuhong was using her clothes to seduce Young Master Zheng.
If she hadn't married Zhao Shagen, she should have married Young Master Zheng.
"Shuiqin, here you go." Zhao Shagen stuffed the wedding candy he had received into Sun Shuiqin's hand. "This wedding candy is really sweet, you should try a bite."
Sun Shuiqin looked at the wedding candy, which Zhao Shagen had taken a small bite of and still had saliva on it. Disdain flashed in her eyes: "You eat it yourself."
Zhao Shagen laughed foolishly. His wife was so good to him; she saved all the good food for him.
Sun Shuiqin pursed her lips, squeezed through the crowd, and left.
A group of women were still talking about it.
Tie Zhu's mother couldn't help but ask, "I heard that Young Master Zheng didn't even go to pick up the bride in person. What kind of marriage is this?"
"You don't know this, do you? I heard that she's a concubine. Young Master Zheng already has two concubines, and Zhang's niece is the third."
"Such a beautiful young lady, why would she think of becoming someone's concubine? I heard that concubines are worse off than maids, having to follow rules every day."
"That's right, Zhang Po-niang has ruined her niece."
Zhang Po Niang originally wanted to show off and make the villagers envious of her, but most of them ended up criticizing her.
She put her hands on her hips and said angrily, "The Zheng family are officials, they have power, influence and money. Even if I were to become a concubine in the Zheng family, it would be better than you people who toil in the fields. If Xiuhong gives birth to a son for the Zheng family, she will never have to worry about anything for the rest of her life. No one in our village can compare to Xiuhong. What are you all so sour about? Humph!"
She took all the remaining wedding candies.
Cheng Wanwan saw Old Man Zhao returning with the beams from afar and changed the subject, saying, "Our house beams have arrived. I'll go take a look."
The crowd gathered around to watch the spectacle.
“This beam is good; it’s enough to be the central beam.”
"Grandma, your house is almost finished. When are you going to raise the roof beam?"
Old Zhao took a puff of his pipe and said calmly, "I've had someone calculate the auspicious date. Three days from now is an auspicious day for raising the roof beam."
Cheng Wanwan said with a smile, "On the day of the roof-raising ceremony, our family will prepare food, and everyone who has time is welcome to come and join in the fun."
Dahe Village has a long-standing custom of holding a banquet on the day of the roof beam raising, inviting craftsmen and relatives and friends to gather together, making it even more lively than a wedding.
Cheng Wanwan had been preparing for this day for a long time, and even specially invited Tie Zhu's mother, who was good at cooking in the village, to cook a big pot of food.
Dahe Village has a large population, but she doesn't have a good relationship with every household. Roughly speaking, there will be about fifty or sixty households coming to the banquet. Including the workers and craftsmen, at least twenty tables need to be prepared. This can be considered a big event in Dahe Village. The last time they had a banquet was last spring. In the past year or so, no one in the village has had a major event.
Cheng Wanwan laid out the menu, six dishes per table, neither shabby nor extravagant: a platter of braised meats, tofu and meatballs, pickled cowpeas, stir-fried eggs with wood ear mushrooms, stir-fried wild vegetables, and pork bone and radish soup. She also prepared wine for the artisans' tables.
Considering the overall quality of the dishes in Dahe Village, this is quite good.
The day before the roof beam was raised, two temporary large earthen stoves were built in the courtyard, one for steaming rice and the other for stir-frying large pots of vegetables.
Old Mrs. Zhao, along with Wen and Sun, were in charge of cutting meat. Tiezhu's mother and Tieshuan's mother were making tofu meatballs, and Cheng Wanwan was making braised dishes. All the children in the family went to the mountain to dig for wild vegetables, which were all ingredients for tomorrow's banquet.
Looking at the table full of pork, Mrs. Sun couldn't help but mutter, "Sister-in-law is too generous. Why buy so much meat? Two ounces per dish is fine, can't you leave the rest for your own family?"
"You short-sighted fool," Old Mrs. Zhao scolded. "This is the feast for raising the roof beam. If we don't let the craftsmen who are raising the beam eat and drink well, they won't be attentive when they're laying the tiles, and they'll suffer even greater losses later."
It's fine to be frugal in other areas, but the house-raising ceremony must not be taken lightly. It's a matter closely related to the prosperity of the household, so we must be careful and meticulous.
There's an old saying in the village: "A house with beams on the roof has plenty of grain. A house without beams on the roof will not thrive with livestock."
There's a saying passed down from generation to generation that makes sense. Old Mrs. Zhao hopes that the eldest son's family will prosper and that her four grandsons will become more and more successful. The better the house-raising ceremony is held, the more successful the children will be in the future.
That night, a group of women worked until very late before going home to rest.
Zhao Dashan and Zhao Ergou didn't go home; they stayed at the new house to guard the ingredients in the yard and the roof tiles that had just been brought back.
As dawn broke, the men from the village who were going to work arrived.
Old Zhao directed people to set up several large tables in the courtyard. The tables were covered with red cloth, and then offerings such as pig's head, rooster, and wine cups were placed on them.
Immediately afterwards, they took out the red paper couplets that Cheng Zhao had written the day before and pasted them on both sides of the main house.
Joy fills the air with happiness, and spring light fills the courtyard, bringing spring to a thousand miles.
After everything was prepared, almost the entire village had gathered to watch. The auspicious hour had arrived, and the bricklayers and carpenters stepped forward to begin the beam-raising ceremony. A pot of wine was poured on the ground, and they chanted: "Please invite the beam to the hall… The first cup of wine is offered to the ancestors… The fifth cup of wine is poured high, may the three stars shine upon us…"
After the beam-raising ceremony, the next step is to raise the beam. According to the custom of Dahe Village, eight young men with auspicious appearances need to climb onto the roof to pull the beam. After pulling the beam, the next step is to stabilize it. This is a technical job that requires a professional carpenter to check the position. There can be no mistakes. After the beam is in place, the most exciting part is to throw the beam, which is the most popular part for all the children in the village.
As the owner of the house, Zhao Dashan and the carpenters stood on the roof beam and threw down the prepared wedding candies, cakes, and red date pastries. The whole village would rush to grab them. At the same time, firecrackers would sound at the entrance of the house. They weren't firecrackers, but burning bamboo. The bamboo sections would crackle and pop as they burned, making it extremely lively.
Amidst the lively and joyous sounds, Old Man Zhao led his men to bring in twenty tables and set them up in the courtyard of the new house.
Grandma Zhao led the women from table to table, serving dishes. The enticing aroma made everyone's mouths water. There were six dishes and a bowl of millet rice for each person, enough to fill them up.
Of course, these people weren't there to freeload; they all brought gifts.
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