Chapter 22: Raising the Beam
"Brother Ziwen, this is for you to wipe your hands."
Seeing that Zhou Ziwen had finished eating the buns and his hands were stained with oil, Chen Qiaoyi handed him two pieces of toilet paper.
"Oh, okay." Zhou Ziwen was stunned for a moment, then a happy smile appeared on his face.
It's a nice feeling to have someone care about you.
What he didn’t know was that the toilet paper Chen Qiaoyi gave him was not simple.
There were no sanitary napkins in that era, so families with better conditions would use toilet paper with menstrual belts.
Those with poor financial conditions would just fill cloth bags with wood ash.
If the other person wasn't close to him, Zhou Ziwen wouldn't have been able to enjoy this treatment!
The journey home was somewhat difficult.
Zhou Ziwen is in good health, so he's fine. The main problem is Chen Qiaoyi.
It was already daybreak and people outside had come out to work.
On the way back, there were pedestrians passing by from time to time.
Even if Zhou Ziwen wanted to help, he couldn't.
As I said, this era is very strict about relationships between men and women.
Sometimes when the relationship is a little closer, some gossip will appear.
Although he didn't pay much attention to it, Zhou Ziwen knew that there were some rumors in the village that his relationship with the Chen sisters was abnormal.
After all, he and the Chen sisters were staying at Wu Dagang's house at the same time, and they were together every day going to and from work, so it was hard not to make associations.
But it doesn’t matter now. Zhou Ziwen can announce openly that Chen Qiaoyi is his partner.
In this way, no matter how close their relationship is, no one will gossip about it.
They walked and stopped along the way, and it was almost eleven o'clock when they returned to the village.
Chen Shiying was busy cooking on the stove built by Zhou Ziwen.
The construction team to help them build the house had arrived long ago.
The yard was filled with straw and beams, and the work would be completed as soon as the time came to install the beams and purlins and then lay the straw.
Zhou Ziwen took out a cigarette from his bag, walked around the team, and said some nice words.
After chatting with these men for a while, Zhou Ziwen also went to help with cooking.
He had agreed with Uncle Wu that he would make a dish of stir-fried eel for him to try.
Look, he even bought some seasonings specifically for making this dish.
Time always passes quickly when you are busy, and in the blink of an eye, it is almost twelve o'clock.
Just as the construction team was preparing to put up the beams, Uncle Wu and Aunt Chen came with two strings of firecrackers.
"Xiao Zhou, take these two strings of firecrackers and set them off. You and Xiao Chen's family can set off one string each." Wu Dagang said with a smile.
"Oh, okay, thank you Uncle Wu." Zhou Ziwen hurriedly took it.
He really wasn't prepared for this. After all, in this day and age, doing something a little bit out of the ordinary could easily lead to problems.
But since the firecrackers were brought by Uncle Wu, there must be no problem.
After all, people are the ones who know best whether it is allowed to set off firecrackers.
Soon, with the sound of firecrackers, Zhou Ziwen and his family's house was officially completed.
Aunt Chen left work early today and came to help them, worried that they would be too busy.
Zhou Ziwen doesn't have to worry about putting up the beams, as the villagers who are doing the construction are experts in this area.
The beams were installed in no time.
The next step is to lay straw on the beams to prevent rain from leaking.
Soon, the educated youth also went home from work.
Zhou Ziwen hurried out to distribute cigarettes and candies.
Building a house is a big happy event, and it is customary to distribute wedding cigarettes and wedding candies.
The educated youth also came to the door with food as agreed.
Among them, the two educated youth team leaders, Chen Yang and Liu Lingling, also brought them gifts, which was considered quite considerate.
After some pleasantries, the people at the Youth League Institute started to get busy.
Some people helped to arrange the tables and chairs, some helped to knead the dough and wash the vegetables, and they were busy in full swing.
Zhou Ziwen also took the opportunity to show off his cooking skills and made a dish of stir-fried eel slices.
Because of the abundant seasoning, the yard was filled with a strong fragrance as soon as the eels were put into the pot.
"Wow, you're really good, it turns out you can cook?" Wu Dagang said in surprise when he saw this scene.
Originally, he thought that Zhou Ziwen was just the kind of city boy who knew nothing!
I didn’t expect that he could actually cook, and the food looked and tasted pretty good.
"Hehe, I told you I can cook!" Zhou Ziwen said with a smug smile.
"I didn't expect that the eel, which we usually don't like to eat, would be so delicious after being cooked." Wu Dagang exclaimed.
"Yes, but I used enough ingredients. I wouldn't be able to eat it like this normally." Zhou Ziwen explained.
Yellow eel is delicious, but it consumes a lot of oil.
In this era of food and oil shortage, his behavior is a bit wasteful.
Zhou Ziwen also knew this, so he explained it in advance to avoid gossip.
"Brother Ziwen, it smells so good! I didn't expect your cooking skills are so good." Chen Qiaoyi stood next to Zhou Ziwen with a proud look on her face.
"Haha, if you want to eat it in the future, I will cook it for you!" Zhou Ziwen said.
Hearing the conversation between the two, Chen Shiying's eyes moved, but she decided in her heart that she would wait until there was no one around and then interrogate their relationship.
Her intuition told her that their relationship had changed since they went to the county town.
Soon, the house of Zhou Ziwen and the Chen sisters was officially completed.
The food in the kitchen is also ready.
Everyone sat together and had a lively meal.
Neither Zhou Ziwen nor the Chen sisters were stingy people, so the meals were very sumptuous.
Meat dishes include: scrambled eggs with leeks, braised pork with potatoes, and stir-fried eel slices.
Vegetables include: braised eggplant, stir-fried cabbage, stir-fried green beans, and stir-fried pumpkin.
Finally there is a small vegetable soup.
The staple food is steamed buns made of two-grain flour.
A total of eight dishes were served on the table, which was really a great honor.
Uncle Wu is the village secretary and the oldest person present.
Before the meal started, he spoke on behalf of Zhou Ziwen and the Chen sisters and said a few pleasant words.
"Today is a very happy day. Comrades Zhou Ziwen, Chen Shiying, and Chen Qiaoyi built a house in our village. This is a great thing for integrating into the collective, and it represents the educated youth..."
Amid the cheers of the crowd, everyone drank and ate.
As the protagonist of today, Zhou Ziwen must drink with everyone.
Fortunately, he has a good alcohol tolerance and basically accepts all drinks. He even finds an opportunity to toast everyone.
However, Zhou Ziwen obviously underestimated the drinking capacity of these men.
I drank a full twenty kilograms of 60-proof Red Sorghum Liquor, but there wasn't much left at the end.
There is basically one kilogram on each person's head.
As the protagonist of today, Zhou Ziwen drank the most. Even though he has a good alcohol tolerance, he was still dazed at the end and didn't even know how the party ended.
On the other side, while he was still sleeping soundly, Chen Shiying called her sister to their yard and interrogated her.
"Are you dating Brother Zhou?" Chen Shiying looked at her sister, observing her expression.
"Sister, how did you know? I haven't told you yet!" Chen Qiaoyi looked at her sister in surprise.
"Are you really in love? When did it happen?" After getting confirmation from her sister, Chen Shiying asked hurriedly.
At this moment, she didn't know what emotion she was feeling. She seemed to feel a little lost and relieved.
…
(End of this chapter)
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