The village was robbed
After all, there is strength in numbers. After twenty days, the main structure of the new house was completed. The Qin family asked Zhao Yinyang to find an auspicious day to prepare for the beam raising.
Raising the beam is the most solemn part of the entire house-building process.
The night before, Yang Xiu rushed back from the town carrying a variety of vegetables and meat.
The next day, the family got up early before dawn.
After the beam raising was completed, a banquet would be held for the craftsmen and guests. Yang Xiu and Huizi made preparations early, while Hu Yufeng and Qin Wenli were preparing the things needed for the beam raising.
8:18, the auspicious time has arrived.
In front of the main hall, offerings had been placed on two square altars.
Qin Wenli stood in front of the table where the altar was placed, holding three incense sticks and lighting them to pray, silently praying that the gods would bless his family with safety, health and prosperity. After worshipping, he respectfully inserted the incense into the square bowl filled with grains, and three wisps of green smoke rose up.
Then the craftsmen carried the main beam tied with red silk into the front of the new house. Qin Wenzhen led the skilled workers to bow respectfully in front of the table dedicated to Lu Ban, speaking good words and toasting.
After the worship, the workers were divided into two groups, one pulling from above and the other supporting from below. The moment the roof beam rose, Qin Shengtian quickly lit the firecrackers as instructed, and the firecrackers rang out all at once.
The important people watching below applauded and cheered.
The beam of the house was fixed, and Qin Wenzhen threw the coins that his second aunt had prepared in advance from the beam to all directions. Men, women, young and old who were watching the fun below scrambled for them. Qin Shu and Qin Sen almost fought over a fifty-cent coin. Fortunately, Qin Wenli was quick to grab his son.
When everything was over, everyone left the new house. A banquet was set up in the old courtyard and everyone sat down to eat.
…
More than half a month passed after the beam was put up. During this time, the work was suspended for a few days due to rain. But finally, the new house was completed before the Dragon Boat Festival.
On the day of completion, there was another burst of firecrackers, attracting many people from the village to watch. It was a brand new brick house, even the beams were made of cement. Everyone looked it over carefully inside and out, nodding as they looked, extremely curious.
"This house is really well built, very solid."
"Yes, I see that the cement joints are all filled. Wen Zheng is very careful when doing his work."
"I told you that Qin Er has become rich, but he still refuses to admit it. I've heard that this yard costs at least 20,000 yuan to get here."
"Oh, there are so many of them. I'm jealous. I'm planning to build a whole yard based on them."
"Build it? Your kid can earn half a thousand dollars a month outside, so building a place is a piece of cake. You can find Wen Zheng when the time comes. His craftsmanship is really good."
Qin Wenzhen didn't expect that the house he spent so much time on would bring him an order.
The house must be ventilated after it is built. In May, there was a dry heat in the air, and the moisture in the bricks and cement was completely blown away in a few days.
Qin Wenli contacted the company that makes doors and windows. He went to two stores in the town, and the aluminum alloy ones didn't seem very sturdy, so he preferred wooden doors and windows. When I got home and discussed it with Hu Yufeng, she had the same idea. It just so happened that Qi Xiaoping's father and his porter Luo Qi were a pair of carpenters, so he invited them to come and start working directly at home.
He started busying himself with pulling wires again. Our home is currently using underground cables. The new yard will definitely be paved with bricks in the future. If the cables are buried underground, it will be difficult to dig, so we might as well bury them next to the yard wall and run open cables.
He went to the hardware store and saw that kind of electrical wire box on sale, but the price was a bit expensive. I called my fourth brother and found out that the wholesale market in the city was almost half the price of that in town. After we got home and discussed it, we decided to take a bus to the city.
This time I not only bought electrical boxes, but also sockets, light bulbs, switches and a series of other items. When he was thinking about it at home, he thought he had listed everything completely, but when he arrived at the place, he was dazzled. Seeing that this and that were needed, Qin Wenli even regretted not bringing his old mother with him.
He won’t be scolded for buying a bunch of miscellaneous things, right?
…
She didn't scold him because Hu Yufeng had other things to worry about.
The village was robbed. The family lives next to the main road next to the village office. They came to see the house a few days ago. They are a well-known breeder in the village.
The son of the family was working away from home, and the elderly couple was living with their daughter-in-law, granddaughter, and big dog, so it shouldn't have been stolen. But the damn thief fed the dog with steamed buns mixed with rat poison, and the ignorant dog died after eating the big steamed bun that fell from the sky. Four of the six cows in the house were taken away, and it was because the thief's truck bed was not big enough, otherwise the other two would not have been able to survive.
The remaining two woke up and didn't see their companions. They also saw that the gate of the pen was wide open, so they broke free from the reins and went out for a stroll.
Someone who got up early and bumped into a cow taking a walk couldn't help but exclaimed: "Whose cow is this? Why is it running out so early in the morning?"
The shout startled the family, and when they looked, all the cows in the house were gone, the old woman collapsed to the ground on the spot.
The old man still had a glimmer of hope, but when he saw the big dog foaming at the mouth and falling to the ground, he was confused and fainted on the spot.
Only the daughter-in-law was left, looking at the fallen old man and the wandering cow, and she didn't know who to pull.
In the end, it was the enthusiastic villagers in the village who helped, pinching the Ren Zhong acupoint and calling the village cadres.
In the end, the two that were taking a walk were found, and the remaining four were confirmed to be lost.
Secretary Gou took people to report the case, but there was no surveillance those days and the possibility of recovering the money was basically zero.
This also sounded a wake-up call for every household in Murakami. Cattle and sheep are the lifeblood of the family. The thought of them being stolen by thieves is more painful than losing one's own life. Everyone used various anti-theft measures at once.
Hu Yufeng thought more deeply. She suspected that this was an acquaintance who committed the crime. There must be a thief or the thief's spies in their village.
Otherwise, outsiders would not dare to be so bold. The village had been robbed in the past few years, but the thieves were mostly from people living in remote areas. This is great. He committed the crime right at the village gate. She wouldn't believe that the thief didn't know that the family was full of old people, women and children.
Also, why did he steal only four? In their whole village, only this family and hers raise four cows. After hearing what the branch secretary said, it was taken away by a car. Hu Yufeng couldn't help feeling a little scared. The reason why that family was chosen instead of hers must be because his family was closer to the main road and there were more people at her house nearby.
If we are not acquaintances, who would know it so clearly?
She even suspected that it was the boy with a family history of theft. However, this thought only flashed through her mind for a moment, and she quickly put it out. We cannot doubt something without any evidence.
…
When Qin Wenli returned home, he saw his old mother standing around the courtyard wall looking at the house.
Without waiting for him to speak, Hu Yufeng pointed at the outer courtyard wall and said, "Wenli, can you put some glass shards on this wall? It's flat and easy for thieves to get around."
Seeing that Qin Wenli was confused, she remembered that Wenli left early and didn't know about this.
After saying this, Qin Wenli's face also became serious.
He thought more than Hu Yufeng: his family had been in the spotlight in the village in recent years, and had offended some people with ulterior motives because of the recruitment issue. If someone were to do something shady, they would have no way to defend themselves. So what if there are many people in the family? What if they can get some smoke?
Thinking of this, I became anxious. First of all, I couldn't keep money at home. Fortunately, I had spent a lot of money on building the house and I had no money left.
Secondly, the gate of the outer courtyard needs to be reinforced. The gate to the outer courtyard was a frame made of several pieces of wood. It couldn't keep out people, let alone chickens. Now I might as well change to a sturdy one that can be tied from the inside. The outer courtyard is about fifty meters away from the small courtyard, so if there is any movement outside, the dog at the gate of the small courtyard can discover it in time.
Finally, we need to set traps in the section of the cattle and sheep pen next to the outer courtyard wall. The outer courtyard wall was originally a rammed earth wall, which was specially rammed high and strong to facilitate the construction of a sheep shed. Later, the sheep shed was built against the wall shared by his family and Qin Wenzhen, and the rammed earth wall on this side was left flat and covered with grass.
Normally, a few children would use ladders to ride on the wall to play, which would be very convenient for thieves.
Qin Wenli did what he said. He put down his things and went to the town. There must be broken glass shards in the town where the windows were custom-made.
As soon as Qin Wenli left, Hu Yufeng quickly called Yang Xiu and Xizi, told them about the thief again, and reminded them to close the doors and windows at night.
As it was getting dark, Qin Wenli returned home with four boxes of broken glass.
The next day, Qin Shengtian and I started pretending. Qin Wenzhen and Qin Wenqing saw it, and a family came and asked for a box and started to decorate.
Qin Wenqing also said that if he wasn't afraid of killing people, he would have wanted to set up an electric fence.
Qin Wenli quickly stopped them after hearing this, saying that it was against the law and it was not worth it as they were just trying to prevent thieves.
Everything was arranged, and after ten days of anxiety, there was no news of thieves in the village. Gradually, everyone let down their guard and said that it must be a thief who knew that the villagers were on guard, and the police were also on the trail, so they had no time to keep their tails between their legs, so how could they dare to make any more noise?
Moreover, the villagers had no time to guard against thieves. The wheat in the fields was ripening, and it was time for the annual summer harvest.
…
The two carpenters in Lao Qin's family also went home. Everyone in the family is a farmer. Uncle Qi has three strong working sons. Luo Qi, who just separated from the family, is the main labor force in the family.
This year, Qin Wenli booked Qin Wenqing's harvester early, and also found Mancang and several other good helpers to bundle the wheat. It only took four days to harvest all the wheat in the house.
After drying it for a few more days, they picked a good day and threshed all the wheat.
Qin Wenzhen's family had a windmill, so they didn't have to wait for the wind to come like they did before. The four of them spent a whole day winnowing the wheat.
In just ten days, the wheat straw was piled up, the wheat husks were put into the grain room, and the wheat was stored in the warehouse.
Hu Yufeng feels that this year is much easier than in previous years, and it would be even better if there were a combine harvester on the field. With a beautiful vision, she washed away the dust on her body.
I heard from Wenli that everyone in the city is using solar water heaters, which can be placed on the roof to heat water for bathing. It would be great if I could buy one for my home someday.
Once the thought starts, there is no way to stop it. I remember the refrigerator I saw when I went to Wenli’s second brother’s house last time. The meat can be kept frozen in it. I don’t have to eat only pickled meat like them. It would be nice to have one.
There is also the television. I was so excited when I first bought a black and white TV, but now when I look at other people’s color TVs, the black and white TV is no longer so appealing to me.
There is also the washing machine. You just put the clothes in and pour water in it and it will spin automatically. It washes clothes quickly and well, but it is a bit wasteful of water. However, Yang Xiu needed this at that time, but it is not a necessity now. She was basically responsible for washing all the dirty clothes in the family. As soon as she left, everyone in the family suddenly became more capable and could wash their own clothes.
Oh my, what’s the use of thinking about it? I don’t even have the money to buy something like that. I’m just too poor!
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