Chapter 22 Chapter 22 Consecration? Incense?
It was just the beginning of March, and the daytime temperature had risen above zero degrees. Uncle Cen, in the lead, rushed to finish building Little Fairy's house. He had worked for the county construction team for nearly ten years and was incredibly familiar with the building business. He asked his nephew, Cen Dazhu, to take him back to the construction team's shed. Not only did he gather all the tools, he also used his connections to procure a string of firecrackers at the county department store.
When the firecrackers go off, it brings in a fortune!
This is when construction began. Building a new house in the countryside is a major undertaking, so no outside help is hired. Friends, relatives, and neighbors volunteer to help, asking for no wages, just food. The owner of a house is honored when many people come to help, as it demonstrates the good character of their hometown.
Unlike the last time the team leader called for repairs to the dilapidated houses, since these were collective property, Lin Xinghuo didn't need to oversee them; he could simply go from house to house and deliver some gifts to those who came to help. This time, he couldn't do that. He had to prepare a big pot of food and carry it up the slope using mud helmets. Many strong laborers showed up, and women like Wei Chunfeng and Jin Zhaodi, who were familiar with Lin Xinghuo, also came to the foot of the mountain to help with the cooking.
Jin Zhaodi tore off a piece of cabbage leaf and stuffed it into her mouth, marveling: "They are all grown in the same soil and water, but why do the ones here at Little Fairy's taste so much better? They are so sweet even when chewed raw."
Aunt Cen pointed at a cabbage on the kang table in the east room and said, "When I first came in, I thought it was a jade carving. It's so bright and beautiful, as if it had been blessed."
"Not bad at all?" Jin Zhaodi said mysteriously, "I was thinking about that, too!"
"What is it?"
"It's consecration!" Jin Zhaodi said, "I'm telling you, Auntie, you haven't seen the bricks on the slope. If you had, you'd know it's real! But I just can't figure out how to describe it. You're the one who knows. It's consecration!"
Aunt Cen was a little confused by her sudden surprise: "What's wrong with the bricks? Aren't they blue bricks brought from your mother's side?"
"I went with them the day they were hauling bricks. The bricks used to be gray, but now they are smooth and glossy. Uncle Cen even praised the bricks from Jinjia Kiln. That's not the case. These bricks are blessed by the fairy lady!" Because her parents had thought of introducing the fairy lady to their brother Jin Gouzi, and after accepting Lin Xinghuo's request to buy blue bricks, Jin Zhaodi took it seriously and was worried all the time: first, she was afraid that her mother would not give up and offend the fairy lady; second, Jinjia Kiln mostly fired red bricks and rarely fired blue bricks, and she was afraid that the bricks would be burned into flowery ones, which would be embarrassing.
Wang Huzi and Cen Dazhu came down to help carry the helmets and pots. Wang Huzi said to Jin Zhaodi, "Stop talking to me. Bricks covered in snow for half a winter are bound to be slippery!"
He thought to himself that his wife was ignorant. The blue bricks were just so-so. It was the large logs used for the purlins and beams that were truly remarkable. Last December, when the brothers from the Autumn Hunting Team were trapping rabbits on the west slopes, they had helped the Little Fairy get a branch of ash tree for beams. They also said that they might not be able to use new wood for crafting next year, so they had some wood saved at home and could give it to the Little Fairy when the time came.
Wang Huzi's family also had one, made in a leap year or leap month, and "cured" in the shade for five or six years, perfect for lumber. Wang Huzi had been waiting for the right time to create something new, so he could grab it first. Unexpectedly, the fairy lady had quietly gathered all the wood herself. He didn't know how she had tinkered with it, but Wang Huzi thought it was much better than the ones he had at home.
What can Lin Xinghuo do? Just borrow some wood to practice.
Originally, she'd only felt the benefits of her practice, but now it was even more enjoyable. After she successfully eliminated the superficial impurities in her tendons and meridians, her practice took on a completely different quality. When she circulated the Small Circulation of Qi, the pain and swelling she'd previously felt vanished. She felt like she was soaking in a hot spring, incredibly light and airy, practically floating in the air. If Lin Xinghuo's Qi Sea weren't currently only capable of three complete Small Circulations of Qi per day, she wouldn't have been willing to stop practicing.
After handling more fruits, vegetables and grains, Lin Xinghuo gradually discovered the benefits: the process of washing away impurities in coarse grains and fruits is similar to the way she practices qigong. Following the veins of the plants step by step not only saves more spiritual energy than forcing them randomly, but also has the effect of sorting out and stimulating the plants' own efficacy; fresh and whole fruits and vegetables will also feed back a trace of plant essence to her!
It was this imperceptible amount of plant essence that had greatly helped her, greatly accelerating the initial process of cleansing her tendons and marrow. Lin Xinghuo had now at least reached the average level of an early Qi Refining cultivator.
Before she knew it, Lin Xinghuo had developed the habit of "playing with" plants. Apart from practicing, Lin Xinghuo would always hold something in her hands, sometimes a cabbage, sometimes a persimmon... The only pity was that the herbs in her hands were basically dried and processed. The caracal braved the snow to find her a small ginseng as thick as a fingertip, and the pure medicinal energy fed back to her directly helped her force out a piece of dirty black impurities the size of a fingernail on her spiritual root.
Fresh wood carries a hint of life, something Lin Xinghuo naturally couldn't miss. The blue bricks were merely stained by the wood's light and imbued with spiritual energy. In fact, if someone were to dig up the wall of the old house at the foot of the mountain, they would find that the adobe inside was solid and smooth, far superior to the bricks and stones.
Lin Xinghuo and Wei Chunfeng each carried a large bowl of cabbage and shredded pork soup, while Wang Huzi and Cen Dazhu carried two loads of steamed buns made of three-grain flour to deliver food to the slope.
Huang Dazhuang sniffed: "It smells so good!" He looked up and saw that everyone was looking down the slope with their heads stretched out like geese about to peck people.
Wei Chunxing put down the planer in his hand, went to the shade, grabbed a handful of remaining snow and rubbed his hands clean, took out the aluminum lunch box from his bag on the rock, and waited eagerly for dinner.
Second Uncle Cen jumped down from the wall and sneered, "Look at what you have accomplished!" Chunxing, this young man, is really an honest man. Not only is he willing to endure hardships, but he also has a really steady temperament. He even wanted to take him in as an apprentice, but this brat was so attracted by the food at the fairy lady's house that he was determined to help out at the health station just to get a bite to eat.
Who told the fairy to say that the health station would provide free meals? Uncle Cen thought sourly, but it didn't stop him from pushing others aside and rushing to get his own food bowl.
Wei Chunxing smiled innocently. He really enjoyed the food at Little Fairy's house, especially the vegetables like cabbage, black fungus and mushrooms. They tasted as good as the small piece of honeycomb he had picked up years ago at the risk of being hit by a blind bear.
After the first heavy snowfall of last year, Wei Chunxing was invited by some relatives at the forest farm to explore the mountains behind the farm. Pine trees abounded there, and the old forest in the valley wasn't too dense, so there wasn't much danger. Unfortunately, Wei Chunxing was led astray by the sweet smell of honey, and stumbled upon a black bear, awakened from hibernation, digging out a beehive from a rock crevice. Wei Chunxing himself didn't know how he had the audacity to pick up the honeycomb fragments the bear had dropped. He'd intended to leave some for his niece, but he devoured them before he even left the forest.
Giving up the first place to eat to Uncle Cen, Wei Chunxing scooped up a bowl of shredded pork soup for himself. Cen Dazhu said, "Give me more meat, Chunxing! Don't be embarrassed. You've done a lot of work in putting up the beams today!"
Wei Chunxing embarrassedly scooped another half spoonful of cabbage, took two steamed buns made of three-grain flour and went to eat aside.
Uncle Cen picked up a piece of meat with his chopsticks while shoveling rice into his mouth and handed it to Wei Chunxing: "Silly! You can't even eat properly. If you work with me for two years, I promise to change your shameless behavior!"
"As the old saying goes, 'A blacksmith's smoke can outlast a carpenter's work for several days!'" Someone nearby laughed, "Uncle, you don't do much carpentry work yourself these days, so why are you still insisting on Chunxing asking him to learn carpentry from you?"
Wei Chunxing was a quiet man who ate while listening to other people's laughter. After finishing his meal, he rinsed his lunch box, wiped his mouth and went back to work.
Uncle Cen saw this and thought more of him. Wei Chunxing didn't think he was working too hard; he was grateful to Lin Xinghuo from the bottom of his heart and wanted to help more.
Wang Huzi waited until everyone had finished their meal before he went to look for his own bowl and chopsticks. Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of a sneaky figure out of the corner of his eye and immediately became furious: "Golden Dog! Why don't you go home and ask your sister for a bowl? You use mine, and I eat with my hands."
When Lin Xinghuo heard this, she hurriedly took off the basket on her back. Although everyone said they brought their own bowls and chopsticks, there was a possibility that some had forgotten or broken some, so she exchanged a few large coarse porcelain bowls from the sales outlet to prepare them.
Wei Chunfeng felt that the little fairy was really a considerate person.
Wei Chunfeng called Jin Gouzi over and filled a bowl with food for him. Jin Gouzi thanked her repeatedly.
Wang Huzi still disliked Jin Gouzi, so Cen Dazhu pulled him and said, "Gouzi has done a lot of work these two days, so don't laugh at him!" Moreover, Jin Gouzi came to testify about Chen Laifu's previous incident, and he seemed to have changed a lot for the better.
Last year, Chen Laifu was found with Jin Guafu's perfume powder, a fact he denied. Jin Zhaodi, returning to her parents' home to buy bricks for Lin Xinghuo, inquired about it. Unexpectedly, Jin Gouzi had seen Chen Laifu knocking on Jin Guafu's door a few days earlier. After Jin Zhaodi's return, Jin Gouzi made a special trip to testify, ultimately stopping the clamoring Chen Laifu.
Helpless, "If you want to catch an adulterer, you have to catch two people together." Widow Jin insisted that Chen Lai Fu knocked on the door to ask for water, and the commune police station did not agree with the so-called duck egg powder smell. The village could only teach Chen Lai Fu a lesson and then let him go.
When the people on the slope finished their meal and went down with their empty basins and buckets, Wei Chunfeng said to Lin Xinghuo, "Xiao Lin, I want to move the homestead over here, just to the east of the old courtyard down below. What do you think?"
Lin Xinghuo was planning the layout of the valley behind her when she heard this and asked, "Sister, you?"
Wei Chunfeng smiled bitterly: "It's not a good idea to live in my aunt's house all the time. When I was still a family with Chen Lai Fu, I lived with my aunt to take care of her. Now that I'm not living with Chen Lai Fu anymore, if I continue to live there, it would be like coveting those nice tiled houses." Although my aunt has only one granddaughter, the Wei family has other relatives. She really doesn't want to do this, but she can't guarantee that others don't think so.
"Thanks to the medicine you prescribed, my aunt has been in better health this winter. I feel relieved now that she's moved out. I really don't plan to go back and get involved with Chen Laifu anymore. We have our own homestead anyway, so we might as well move farther away and have some peace and quiet." Chunxing even urged her to go home, but Wei Chunfeng didn't want to go back and live with her brothers. Chunxing was almost twenty, and it would be hard to talk about a wife with her older sister-in-law at home. Instead, they preferred living in Nanshan. When the old house at the foot of the mountain was converted into a health center, Chunxing could help out there, which would be convenient.
Lin Xinghuo smiled and said, "There are plenty of wood and bricks on the slope. I'll bring them back to you later."
Wei Chunfeng waved her hands and said with a smile, "That pile of wood in the Chen family's yard was all collected after I got married. Chunxing also has three piles of adobe bricks, which is more than enough! It's just the two of us, so we can build two houses. Xiaolin, when you go to the commune to take the exam one day, call me and I'll go with you to divorce Chen Laifu!"
"Then I'll call you next Saturday? Is the commune's household registration office open on Saturdays?" Lin Xinghuo wasn't good at persuading people, and she didn't think there was much to persuade. It was just that divorce was so rare in the village these days that Wei Chunfeng's choice seemed a bit shocking.
Building a house in the countryside was quick at that time, especially with so many people coming to help. Laying the foundation took a day or two, and building the house took a few more days. After that, there was the delicate work of painting the house white, drying it, and so on.
The day before the Waking of Insects, a row of three main houses and two side rooms were neatly built. The old-fashioned doors and windows made by Uncle Cen were very skilled, and even the stone walls of the courtyard were made to look particularly beautiful.
Lin Xinghuo's compound was spacious, and the east and west sides of her house were nearly four meters away from the wall. This was compensation from the brigade. Lin Xinghuo had paid for the renovation of the old house, and no one cared about it. On the contrary, they felt that Lin Xinghuo had taken such good care of the old house that she was at a disadvantage by giving it up now.
On the day of completion, after the crackdown, everyone helped to collect the remaining bricks, tiles and stones and piled them against the back wall for future use. But unexpectedly, Jin Gouzi took a brick and ran away without anyone noticing.
His brother-in-law Wang Huzi was so angry that he glared.
Cen Dazhu laughed so hard he couldn't straighten his back: "I was wondering why this kid was so hardworking, it turns out he had this idea in mind!"
Someone nearby asked, and Wang Huzi wiped his face, "Didn't a group of thieves get shot before the New Year? There was a new recruit in the gang named Mazi, who was from Jinjiayao Commune. Jin Gouzi used to play with him, and was even called in for questioning by the police. He was scared out of his wits. Mazi was brought to justice, and his parents complained about this and that. They even went to my father-in-law's house to make trouble. I don't know what they said to Gouzi. He is so old and a man, but he was so scared that he didn't dare to sleep at home. He went to his three sisters' homes, staying at one for two days, and then at that one for a few nights... I heard that the fairy lady in our village was building a house in the spring, so my father-in-law sent her to my house after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. So this is what he had in mind!" Did he believe what his sister said about blessing, and the fool just picked up a brick and ran away?
The people present were also a bit nervous. They were too embarrassed to take the bricks and tiles. After all, they had bought them with money and would need them again in the future. Most of them just touched the brick wall and left it alone. Only a few picked up some broken tiles and took them back to the main hall.
Wang Huzi picked up a few thick branches that the carpenters had cut and discarded and said, "I'll take them back to use for the fire."
He then hid them all in his own kang chest, picked out the thickest log, and carved two wooden oxen into it. He gave one to his own daughter and one to Cen Dazhu's daughter, Cen Lingdang. He even whispered to Aunt Wang, "You don't know what you're talking about! We Caidan treasure our little oxen so much that we even hold them when we sleep. I think they make us sleep better."
Aunt Wang bowed toward Nanshan Mountain, muttering a few words: "May the Fairy Lady bless you." "The Fairy Lady's residence isn't a temple, but it's better than a temple! Next time your wife secretly burns incense, tell her not to ask for the Fairy Lady's blessing, but to pray directly toward Nanshan Mountain!"
There are many people who do this in private.
Without Lin Xinghuo knowing it herself, her house, which belonged entirely to her and was built halfway up the mountain, had become the default place for burning incense and praying for blessings in the minds of the middle-aged and elderly villagers in Bushan Village.
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The author has something to say: See you later for the second update~
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