Chapter 106: Beam and Tile Installation
In the morning, after delivering the wood to the carpenter's house by tractor, Gao Mingcheng went to the new house, of course, with Heihu.
The black tiger is quite stubborn and has not been tamed yet, but Gao Mingcheng is holding the rope of fate in his hand, so he can only follow.
When we arrived at the new house, the craftsmen were building the wall. Although the house only had three rooms, the yard surrounded by the wall was not small.
There were few people building houses at that time, and there were no other families around. Gao Mingcheng occupied more yard, and generally no one would come to check or complain.
Once the walls are built and the beams and tiles are laid, the house is considered completed. Next, wait for the carpenter to make and install the doors and windows, and then make the necessary furniture such as wooden beds, wardrobes, and boxes, and the house will be complete.
Although the progress is quite fast, Gao Mingcheng is not in a hurry to move in. There is no saying that new houses need to open windows for ventilation to dissipate formaldehyde. The main reason is that there is not much formaldehyde!
But it is definitely a little damp and not completely dry. It must be very cold to live in it in the middle of winter. They sleep on wooden beds here, unlike people in the north who sleep on kangs.
Once the kang fire is lit, the whole house will become warm and dry.
But the cold wind in the south is biting, and there is no magic heater, so the only way to keep warm is to have a healthy body.
Manyu Mei was squatting in the makeshift kitchen, washing vegetables, her hands immersed in cold water, frozen red. Upon closer inspection, her fingers were swollen; it turned out that she had frostbite.
This made Gao Mingcheng very distressed, and he immediately asked, "Didn't you apply the facial cream and clam oil I bought for you last time? Or have you already applied them?"
Although it was cold to wash the vegetables, seeing Gao Mingcheng caring about her so much, Manyu Mei felt as if she had eaten honey. She smiled and said, "I have applied it, morning and night."
Gao Mingcheng immediately said, "Every time you come into contact with water, you should reapply it! Feel free to use it. If it runs out, I'll buy you more!"
You don't have to go to the county town to buy clam oil, the cooperative in Junling sells it, and the price is not expensive. So Gao Mingcheng doesn't mind using as much as he wants.
"When you wash the vegetables in the future, just use hot water. I have a lot of firewood, so don't be reluctant to use it! Also, fry less green vegetables that need to be washed and more pickles. Do you have pickles at home? If not, I'll go find someone to buy some for you." Gao Mingcheng said, already thinking about changing the menu.
Green vegetables grow in the fields, they don't cost much, and you can eat them right away. Pickles have to be made in advance. Every autumn and winter, the village will start making all kinds of pickles, including spicy dried radish, pickled grapefruit peel, pickled mustard greens, sauerkraut, etc.
This dish goes well with rice and is easy to prepare.
Xuanyuemei said, "Don't buy them. I have spicy dried radish and pickled mustard greens at home! But pickled mustard greens taste better with meat."
It is best to use fattier meat, such as pork belly.
"Okay, there's a market in Junling tomorrow, I'll go buy some pork. You don't have to wash it, I'll do it." Gao Mingcheng asked Xuanyuemei to move aside and washed the vegetables himself.
If he knew how to cook, he wouldn't have asked many beautiful girls to help.
"Well, then I'll go home and get some spicy dried radish." Xuanyue felt sweet in her heart, and a faint smile appeared in her eyes.
“Remember to wipe your hands with clam oil!”
"good!"
"Haha, you two have such a great relationship! Don't worry, we uncles will definitely let you move in before the New Year!" The craftsmen who were building the wall laughed and joked, and the atmosphere around them became cheerful and lively.
Time flies, and in a blink of an eye, Gao Mingcheng's new house is about to be built. This is a big event, and there will be a set of rituals and procedures, and it is necessary to notify the villagers with gongs and drums, and then distribute peanuts and melon seeds to the villagers. Well, if the host is generous, candies can also be distributed.
On the day when Gao Mingcheng was going to the beam ceremony, the primary school had already gone on winter vacation, so when the gong was struck, the children in the village got the message and immediately ran over there.
Even adults came over to watch the fun.
After the ceremony was over, Gao Mingcheng started to scatter melon seeds and peanuts. He also prepared candies, and every child present could get one. As for adults, there were none.
Two large nanmu bamboos with roots were tied with red cloth and placed on the left and right sides of the middle of the house. This is also a local custom - hanging red.
Whenever a banquet is held, the host will put a piece of red wool on the guests' shoulders, which is called "pihong".
If there are children at the banquet, the red scarves they get will be different. At the end of the red string, a piece of red cloth will be tied with some money wrapped in it.
At that time, the money given was mostly one dollar, for good luck. In later times, there were more types of such amounts, depending on how the host arranged it. Some gave ten dollars, twenty dollars, and some gave one hundred dollars.
After the ceremony, the banquet will begin.
There is no housewarming party today, but we need to treat the craftsmen to a good meal, and Gao Mingcheng's parents and uncles will also be there.
Therefore, this meal was prepared by Luo Xiaohua, Gao Shufang, and many other people.
The big iron pot was steaming and the aroma of meat wafted in the air, making some people drool, but those who were more sensible left early to avoid embarrassment.
Only some children, smelling the aroma of meat, refused to leave and lingered around the big iron pot.
Gao Mingcheng looked at the longing in their eyes and couldn't bear it, so he specially prepared a plate of meat and vegetables and asked each of them to take a piece to eat.
After eating the meat, the children left with smiles on their faces, covering their pockets with their hands, because they were full of melon seeds and peanuts. If they didn't cover their pockets, the food would fall out when they jumped around.
At the table, Gao Yuanjian, who had drunk a little, became excited and said loudly: "Second brother, you have a promising future! When you were a child, I thought you were very smart, and now you have a promising future."
Gao Fanmao also drank, his face red, and he exposed Gao Yuanjian with a big tongue: "Hey, when Ming Cheng got into trouble when he was a kid, you were the first one to beat him up!"
Gao Yuan felt a little embarrassed when he saw him and glared at Gao Fanmao.
The two families are cousins and live next to each other, so they are familiar with each other's family situations.
However, beating children is a normal practice here. Unless you beat the child to death, no one will care.
For example, when Gao Mingcheng was naughty and got into trouble as a child, Gao Yuanjian hit him with a bamboo stick. Gao Fanmao saw it and laughed, saying to Gao Mingcheng: "Will you dare to do it again next time?"
Gao Fanmao laughed and drank another glass of wine. This wine was brewed by Gao Yuanjian himself and was very strong.
He looked at Gao Mingcheng and said, "Mingcheng, tell me the truth, how much money did you make? Last time your mother said that you used all the money you made to buy ginseng and wolfberries for them, so how come you built the house so quickly? Mingcheng, you have a way to make money, but don't forget your brothers!"
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone smelled gossip, and pairs of sparkling eyes turned to Gao Mingcheng.
(End of this chapter)
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