Chapter 327 Chapter 328: Going up the beam
On National Day, Wang Zhen's department store opened, Zhou Yiding got engaged, and Yang Chunyan and Zhou Huaian became busy people.
The two had to act separately.
Yang Chunyan went to Ning'an to congratulate Wang Zhen, Zhou Huaian and Xu Erchun, and several brothers from the same clan went to the Wan family together.
The "three turns and one ring" prepared by Zhou Yiding's family, a bicycle, a sewing machine, a watch and a tape recorder, made the mothers-in-law in Wan Xuejiao's village jealous.
Yang Chunyan saw that as soon as Wang Zhen’s department store in Ning’an opened its door and the sound of firecrackers had not stopped, many people rushed into the store.
Nowadays, even if you have money in your pocket, you can’t buy anything without tickets or coupons. Suddenly, there is a shop that doesn’t require tickets and the prices are not much different from those in department stores. People’s purchasing power is really amazing.
Some people buy watches, some buy radios, and some look at tape recorders... The store is even busier than a vegetable market.
…
In a blink of an eye, it was the ninth day of the ninth month. On this day, all the men in the family had to go to the new house to hold the two-day ceremony. The task of delivering the food was given to Li Qiuyue and Zhang Xiuxiang.
Due to some rural customs these days, Yang Chunyan and her daughter-in-law did not go to the new house to watch the fun, but prepared food for the beam-raising wine at home.
The old man took Zhou's father and Zhou Huaian's brothers, who were all in high spirits, and carried the eight-immortals table to the new house.
After the three generations arrived there, they hung red silk on the new house and pasted big red couplets on the beams and the main door.
On the beams of the four brothers' houses, there was a plaque that read: "The family business is revived with hands; the pillars of the house are lifted up with unity." The horizontal banner read: "Good luck in raising the beams."
Then the eight-immortal table was placed outside the main entrance of the main hall, and the offerings and incense and candles that Zhou's mother had bought in advance were placed on it. They lit the incense and kowtowed respectfully.
Father Zhou looked at the four new brick houses lined up in a row, tears welled up in his eyes, and he thought to himself: Finally, I have built houses for my four sons...
The old man looked at him and patted him, "Okay, you don't have to worry about it anymore."
"Yeah!" Father Zhou wiped his eyes with his sleeve, "Old man, thank you for your hard work."
The old man's eyes wrinkled, "So corny."
After hearing this, Zhou Huaian and his brother looked at the two of them and said in unison with a smile: "Grandpa, old man, thank you for your hard work!"
The old man waved his hands happily, "It's not hard, it's not hard! Just be well with all of you."
Father Zhou rubbed the goose bumps on his arms and said, "Stop being so cheesy. Show some respect to me in the future and let others see that I, Zhou Dasong, did not raise the four of you in vain."
"Got it!" The four Zhou Huaian brothers looked at each other, and their smiles bloomed like flowers.
After Zhou Huaian lit the firecrackers, he waited for the time chosen by his master to arrive, and the beam-raising ceremony officially began. The chief carpenter who presided over the beam-raising ceremony walked towards the main hall.
These days, when building a new house, the chief carpenter who performs the beam-raising ceremony is always a master carpenter.
At the time set by his master, the head carpenter put his tools in a dustpan, nailed a banner with the words "Crape Myrtle Shining High" on the beam, and hung the red silk prepared by the Zhou family on the beam.
Early in the morning, the outside was filled with villagers who came to watch the fun, some of whom brought their children with them, all waiting to grab the peanuts and candies that would be scattered after the Zhou family's beam-raising ceremony.
At 6:06 in the morning, the beam is officially put up, which means everything will go smoothly.
The chief carpenter lit some incense and candles and began to sing, "I am Zhou, a commoner. I have worked hard for half my life and finally built my own house. Now it is time to put up the beams. Thank you for your hard work, and we are about to start working..."
After the chief carpenter finished singing, his brothers handed over red envelopes one by one, and each of the carpenters, bricklayers and helpers who helped received one.
Everyone said auspicious words and put away the red envelopes.
The chief carpenter grabbed the big red rooster that had been prepared long ago, held the rooster's wings in one hand, and pinched the rooster's comb in the other hand to carve on the beam, chanting "The sun and the earth are auspicious, the heaven and the earth are open. The purple star is shining brightly, it's just right to put up the beam..."
"Great!" Three generations of the Zhou family, relatives, friends and onlookers responded in unison.
The chief carpenter and the carpenters used ropes to pull the beam up slowly, shouting, "Go, good luck!"
"Great!" The people below cheered in unison, with Zhou Jiaming and his brothers shouting the loudest.
"The master's family is prosperous and wealthy, and the family is full of glory and wealth."
"OK!"
Zhou Huaian and his brothers lit firecrackers. Amid the festive sound of firecrackers, the beam rose to the roof. Peanuts, candies, and glutinous rice cakes were sprinkled on the beams...
The children who had been waiting there started to grab the items with laughter, and Zhou Jiaming and his brothers followed suit.
After the beams were installed, the carpenters began to install the main purlins and nail the rafters to the purlins...
The structure of the roof includes purlins, beams, rafters, and inner columns. The roof base is the wooden foundation layer that supports the roof tiles. It is composed of rafters, lookout boards, flying rafters, eaves, tile mouths and other components.
The rafters are the lowest components of the roof and are placed vertically on the purlins. The rafters on the purlins cannot be placed randomly, as it is unlucky if they are placed randomly.
The beam structure of a tiled house is triangular. The lower beam is the horizontal main beam, and the two upper purlins separated in an "eight" shape are secondary frames, which together support the entire house.
The joints between the beam and the two main purlins are fastened together with mortise mortise to form a whole. After the mortise mortise is fastened, a beam fixing iron is used at the interface to add an extra layer of security.
The beam fixing iron is also called a rivet, one end of which is fixed on the beam and the other end is fixed into the purlin to increase stability.
Carpenters these days seldom use nails when doing carpentry work, because people believe that carpenters who use too many nails have poor craftsmanship. Once this gets out, no one will ask you to do carpentry work for them.
…
Zhou Yiding and Xu Erchun also came to celebrate. Looking at the busy craftsmen on the open space, they said, "It looks like we can move into the new house early next month!"
Zhou Huaian nodded happily, "The master said it will be finished by the end of the month, it's better to finish it earlier! I've been exhausted these past few months, you see I'm just skin and bones now."
Xu Erchun rolled his eyes. "You're still skinny! Haven't you seen Dakuan? He's even skinnier than dried cowpeas that have wilted in the sun."
"I haven't seen him since the last time he came to ask me to go to the mine to haul coal."
"I heard that he broke up with that girl, and her sister introduced him to someone, and they are getting engaged next month."
"That's good." Zhou Huaian changed the subject, "I picked up some limestone to burn. If you two want to paint the house, come with me to pick it up."
"Fuck~" Zhou Yiding looked at him as if he didn't know him, "How can an illiterate like you recognize limestone?"
"Tsk~ You think I'm like you, with a negative five points!"
"Haha!" Xu Erchun laughed and pointed at Zhou Yiding, "Ding Ding Cat, I still don't understand how you got that minus five points?"
"That's how it happened!" Zhou Yiding pointed at the two of them, "I warn you not to tell anyone. If my Jiaojiao finds out, hmph!"
"Oh my goodness~Jiaojiao!" Zhou Huaian and the other man pointed at him and laughed.
"Get lost~" Zhou Yiding raised his foot and then retracted it, "Youngest, your mother-in-law and father-in-law are here."
(End of this chapter)
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