Chapter 51 New House Construction
The Ye family was not in a hurry to start construction because Ye Buwei said it would take a few days to conceive and draw the blueprint.
Country people never draw blueprints when building houses, but Ye Buwei is obviously worldly-wise.
He collaborated with Ye Yanshun, one spoke and the other drew, and they finished the painting in two days.
As soon as the blueprint came out, Ye Yanshun was surrounded by the Ye family.
The drawings are very detailed, and some places are marked with words.
"This is Dad's idea. If you don't understand anything, you can ask me." Ye Yan said.
The Ye family members opened their eyes and mouths wide.
Is this a house?
Is this a palace?
"Three, three floors?!"
Ye Yanan’s eyes almost popped out.
"Yes, the third floor. Dad said Xiaojiu will live in the embroidery building, so the third floor is prepared for Xiaojiu."
"And there are front and back yards?"
"Yes, Dad said that the front yard would be paved with bluestone, with a pavilion built, a small pond dug and lotus plants planted. It would be a great place to relax. The backyard would be used to raise livestock, build a toilet, and grow some common vegetables..."
The more Ye Yanping listened, the more excited he became. This was what the wealthy families in the town did.
But I was also a little worried. "It's good, but none of the bricklayers in our village have built a house like this before. I don't know if it can be built!"
"Don't worry about that. Dad has already thought about it. I guess what Dad meant is that the emphasis is on the artistic conception, not the form."
Ye Yan'an: "Third brother, why are you becoming more and more knowledgeable?"
Ye Yanshun lowered his head, "What good is it if I'm educated?"
There was an unconcealable melancholy in his tone.
When it comes to studying, the three brothers all have a big question in their minds.
Their father, Ye Buwei is such a weird person!
Logically speaking, when rural families have trouble even getting enough food, who would let all their children learn to read and write?
But Ye didn't understand.
When the three brothers of the Ye family were young, they all went to private schools to learn to read and enlighten themselves. Ye Yanlan was a girl and the private school did not accept her. So Ye Buwei, a blind man, insisted on teaching her at home.
Among them, Ye Yanshun was the most talented. The teacher in the private school at that time praised him to the sky and asserted that he would become the youngest scholar in the area.
Everyone thought that Ye Yanshun would take the path of imperial examination, but Ye Buwei made a decision that no one expected.
He made Ye Yanshun drop out of school along with his two brothers.
The teacher of the private school thought that the Ye family could not afford the tuition, and based on the principle of cherishing talent, proposed to waive Ye Yanshun's tuition. However, Ye Buwei said that it was enough for the children of the Ye family to be literate, know etiquette, and have a sense of shame!
For this reason, the teachers in the private school all thought Ye Buwei was a lunatic.
You may say he is short-sighted, but he knows to send his children to school;
You say he was far-sighted, but he cut off the path of a talented young man to the imperial examination.
For common people, the imperial examination is the only way to change their destiny and bring honor to their family, but Ye Buwei actually blocked his son's future that was within his reach!
Do you think this is a disease?
"Ah Shun, why don't we go talk to Dad together? Our family isn't short of money now, so we can reconsider your studies."
"Dad must have his reasons for doing this." Ye Yanshun said, "I believe he will give me an answer."
…
Three days later, construction of the Ye family's house began.
Although Heihe Village is poor, it does not prevent its sense of ritual from being extremely strong.
The day before construction began, the village head took the Ye family to choose an auspicious location on the homestead and laid a red cloth.
On the first day of work, the Ye family set up an altar on a red cloth, placed fruits, wine and food on the altar, lit incense and candles, and burned paper money to worship ghosts and gods.
According to the old rules, firecrackers should be set off, but now no one can find a firecracker, so the villagers use gongs and drums instead.
Boom boom boom, clang clang clang!
In one word, lively!
Heihe Village hasn't had a wedding for a long time. What's even more rare is that everyone is so united, and the scene is full of joy and peace.
The villagers of Heihe are grateful to the Ye family from the bottom of their hearts. If they may have felt some jealousy before, now all they have left is blessings and admiration.
Even a three-year-old child knows that if the Ye family does well, they can benefit from it.
You can offend anyone but not the Ye family.
After the gongs and drums stopped, everyone rushed to say auspicious words.
"Ahem, ahem, I'm happy today. Let me give you a few words of congratulations!"
The village head cleared his throat and everyone fell silent.
"First into the hall, then into the hall,
Congratulations to the Ye family on building their new house.
Jade is a blessing from heaven.
The golden brick house brings a thousand blessings.
All the gods came to congratulate,
May the good fortune of the new business continue to last!"
"Good!" Everyone clapped their hands loudly.
Someone joked, "Village head, weren't the congratulatory speeches supposed to be two sentences? Why is it so long? I guess you didn't sleep all night last night, right?"
The village head stroked his beard and smiled, "San Dezi, don't tell me, if you ever build a new house, I will give you a longer one!"
"That'll probably take a while! But I'm going to have a hole in my exterior wall repaired tomorrow. Could the village head repair a section for me as well?"
The village chief glared and said, "What our village lacks the most is holes. If there's a hole, there's a lot of talk. Then I won't be able to shut my mouth anymore!"
Everyone burst into laughter.
"Thank you folks for coming! Come and have some snacks!"
Luo Qiuyue called out, and a group of children led by Xiaojiu came over, each holding a tea tray in their hands.
There were snacks on the tea tray, which were rice candies made by Yunniang herself.
Ever since Yunniang fried locusts, her understanding of cooking has risen to a higher level.
At this time, Xiaojiu threw her a cookbook, which made her even more powerful.
Seeing that there was still a lot of oil and rock sugar left from Xiaojiu's last time, she had an idea. She used hot oil to fry the brown rice until it was crispy, then melted the rock sugar into syrup, mixed it with the rice crisps, poured it into a wooden box and pressed it down. After it cooled completely, she cut it into small pieces with a knife, and the rice candy was ready.
"Seven Sugars!"
Little Dumpling had a sweet smile on his face, his big eyes like black agate turned into crescent moons, and he greeted everyone enthusiastically.
"Xiao Jiu'er, this patchwork blouse really suits you!"
“The colorful ones are so cute!”
In order to welcome this festive day, Yunniang dressed Xiaojiu in a patchwork quilt made of scraps of cloth from all over the village. In fact, it was no different from the beggar's clothes worn by the leader of the Beggars' Gang. Fortunately, Xiaojiu's good looks supported it.
Xiaojiu: "Uh..."
She still has basic aesthetic sense.
But this dress embodies the love of her mother and grandmother, as well as the blessings of the entire village. She can't refuse it no matter how ugly it is!
Wear it, you’ll get used to it after it becomes ugly!
The villagers had never eaten rice candy before, and they were shocked after trying it.
"Mrs. Xiao Wen, this snack you made is so delicious!"
"How did you do that? You must teach me next time!"
"Why didn't I know you were so capable before?"
Yunniang stood among a group of women with a blushing face. She was quiet and didn't interact much with the villagers. It was her first time and she was not used to being surrounded by so many people.
The children ate delicious snacks and ran around happily in the open space, shouting, "Happy New Year, Happy New Year!"
The adults laughed out loud. It was so lively, even the Chinese New Year was not so lively!
After the ceremony, the men began to work.
The Ye family hired an old mason from the village, and about twenty strong men to work as helpers.
Each person was paid 20 cents a day, and lunch was provided, so everyone worked very hard.
The three brothers of the Ye family divided the work and cooperated with each other. Ye Yanping led half of the people to lay the foundation, while Ye Yanan and Ye Yanshun led half of the people to tamp the mud bricks.
The millet is about to be harvested, so we should use this time to build the foundation and add more mud bricks for future use.
Thinking about building the house before winter, time is quite tight.
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