Today's dinner is more casual because we have a banquet tomorrow night, and it would be best if there are no leftovers today.
The family of seven each had a bowl of noodles. Since the tables, chairs and benches had been moved over, everyone sat together on the doorstep and ate the vegetable, shredded pork and egg noodles that Liang Shengdi had specifically requested.
The cupboard in the kitchen was also moved there. The two tomatoes originally placed inside were chopped up by Chen Chunhua and fried into a paste to make the soup base. The sweet and sour soup noodles made people feel warm all over when drinking it on such an early spring night.
"Mom, can I not wash my butt and feet today?" The third child didn't even sit on the doorstep. He squatted in front of Shen Chunhua and asked while slurping noodles.
Then, Chen Chunhua rolled her eyes and asked, "Why didn't you say you don't need to brush your teeth?"
The third brother actually nodded and said, "I took my toothbrush over there, so I can't brush it."
As a result, Lin Guoqing slammed his chopsticks on the head and said, "Go get it back after dinner! You're too lazy! You're so dirty! Aren't the wash basin and foot basin here? There's plenty of hot water in the stove over here, so you can wash and scrub."
The third child was hit on the head, and he squatted down and moved to his brother's side in a wronged posture, which made Lin Shuquan laugh.
"Hehe! You deserve it! If you really don't want to wash your feet, just sleep on the floor at night and don't get under the covers! You'll stink!"
"Hmph! I'll stink you to death!"
Lin Guoqing ignored the little pranks and turned to look at Chen Chunhua. "I just saw a new toothbrush in the bathroom over there? Did you buy a new one?"
"Yes, there are new cups, didn't you see them?" Chen Chunhua looked up and was speechless when she saw her man's distressed expression as if he had dug out a piece of his flesh.
"Brother, if your toothbrush didn't have a flat head, someone would have thought it was a pen! Did you actually brush your teeth when you used it? And those cups, can you separate the drinking cup and the toothbrush cup? We don't need this little money right now."
Lin Guoqing disagreed, "He's not that bald! His hair is just a little shorter, so it's easier to use when brushing your teeth!"
Chen Chunhua rolled her eyes at him and said, "Yes, yes, you said it worked well when I painted my face like a sunflower. It works well even when I'm bald. If I smell your scent, go upstairs and sleep with the second and third brothers."
Between his male pride and being kicked out of the room, Lin Guoqing decisively chose a new toothbrush.
At night, Lin Shuying and Lin Shumei went to Liang Shengdi's room and slept in the same bed with their grandmother for the last time in the old house.
Lin Guoqing and his wife began to rummage through the box that they had hidden under the bed seven years ago.
There were a lot of miscellaneous cans and tin boxes, but they hadn't taken them all with them during the day, so they could take these worthless things later. That box...
"Have you turned out yet?" Chen Chunhua was lying on the bed with her butt sticking up, looking under the bed. Lin Guoqing had moved his whole body in.
"Found it, found it." He crawled on the ground, not daring to move at all, and finally got out. He was holding an oil-paper bag in his hand. After coming out, he kept spitting out ashes.
"How did I put it in for you last time? So inside!"
"I told you I wanted to go in and get it, but you wouldn't let me."
Chen Chunhua was a few steps away from him, covering her mouth and nose with one hand, and using the other hand to dust Lin Guoqing with an old piece of cloth. The bed had not been moved for decades, and the dust inside was almost three feet thick.
The last time she came out, she was also covered in dust. In the past few years, the two of them seemed to have forgotten what was inside. No one moved anything under the bed. The smell of dust was really unpleasant.
"Ahem, that's enough. I have to take off these clothes when I go to bed. Ahem, the more I shake, the more dust I get. Don't shake it all over the bed."
Lin Guoqing was also choked by the dust and kept coughing. As he said this, he still put the paper bag on the bed.
Chen Chunhua: "...You are poisonous!"
As he said this, he put the paper bag back on the footrest and said, "You told me not to dust the bed, but you threw the biggest dust on the bed. What are you thinking?"
Lin Guoqing chuckled, and now his tone changed again, "What does it matter? It's just one night anyway, so I'll just make do with it and sleep in my new bed tomorrow."
Chen Chunhua rolled her eyes at him, dusted off the dust on the paper package, and peeled off the layers one by one. The large red rosewood carved box still showed low-key dark patterns, and the white jade thin-body tea set inside, a pot and four cups, lay intact in the box.
Lin Guoqing and Shen Chunhua didn't realize that they were secretly relieved. It was still there, perfect, and very good.
"So should I take it over in the middle of the night or..." Lin Guoqing asked quietly. It wasn't like no one was home tonight. Someone had to be there to meet them tomorrow morning, so Lin Yulan was sleeping on the floor there tonight.
Chen Chunhua shook her head and said, "No, we're not staying there tonight. If you run over there with a box, what will you say if your sister asks you about it?"
That’s right, Lin Guoqing scratched his head. This thing is different from the dividends from working in a farm. The fewer people who know about it, the better.
"Then when you enter the house tomorrow morning, should you take it along with the incense burner for the Kitchen God?"
"Well, I'll find a piece of black cloth. It will probably be very dark when I enter the room. I'll put it in the room when I go in. If you ask, just say it's something I use personally."
No words were spoken that night.
The next day, Chen Chunhua got up at three o'clock. She first burned three incense sticks to the Kitchen God, and then quietly went to wake up the children and the elderly. For some reason, everyone was so careful.
Before leaving, Chen Chunhua repeatedly told the children that if they had anything to say, they should say it now and not speak again after stepping out of the threshold of the old house. They could only speak after they walked all the way to the new house, stepped over the threshold of the new house, and drank the sweet soup.
She didn't know the specific principle, but it was a rule passed down from generation to generation, so it was better to believe it than not to believe it.
The seven members of the family all put on new clothes and walked neatly on the village path. It was still very dark. Chen Chunhua was holding a flashlight and a black cloth bag, while Lin Guoqing was holding an incense burner in both hands. Behind them followed an old man and four children who looked sleepy.
Liang Shengdi carries a bamboo pole on her shoulders, carrying two buckets of water in front and back, with a pot of oil in the water, symbolizing wealth and power (oil, diesel, water). Lin Shuying carries a rice bucket filled with rice, probably symbolizing no worries about food and clothing.
Lin Shugan held a musket with charcoal in it, which he would light when he entered the house, symbolizing a prosperous life.
Lin Shuchao held a handful of incense in his hand, while Lin Shumei held a bundle of bamboo.
Lin Yulan should have gotten up earlier than Chen Chunhua. Today is an auspicious day to go into the house, and the auspicious time is roughly between 3 and 5 o'clock.
She had slept on the floor in her mother's room last night, and couldn't sleep on the bed until the host family arrived. She went to the kitchen to prepare the food for the Buddha, and then boiled water for the dumplings. Once cooked, she placed them in seven small bowls and set them aside.
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