On the sixth day of August, after half a month of hard work by Yao Chunhua's house-building team, Hua Qingcheng's new house, which was converted from the old Hua family house, was finally completed.
After the new house was inspected and accepted, Hua Qingcheng was very satisfied and readily paid the wages of Yao Chunhua, the masters and the workers.
The original mottled and old low gray-yellow earth wall has been replaced with a high wall made of blue bricks mixed with cement, and a layer of cement is evenly applied on the outside to prevent erosion by rainwater.
The previous gate was no longer suitable, so a solid new one was built. Above the gate was a plaque with the words "Hua Zhai" engraved in gold, written in Mu Lige's regular script.
The top of the courtyard wall was embedded with some fragments of semi-finished glass that Hua Qingcheng had asked Zuo An to develop. Although it was still far from modern industrial glass, it was enough to prevent theft.
The center of the front yard was left empty, just as Hua Qingcheng had designed it. On the left were the cowshed and horse shed, and on the right were the sheepfold and chicken coop. A wooden swing sat under a large tree in front of the well, and beneath it was a stone table and chairs.
The front yard retained its original layout, with the largest room in the middle still serving as the main hall, but now used only for entertaining guests and no longer as a dining area for the family. To the left of the main hall were the kitchen and dining room, connected by a door. To the right were two utility rooms.
It is worth mentioning that the new kitchen now also has a hand-cranked well, just like the one in Hua's house. In the future, even if it is windy or rainy, there is no need to worry about water supply. Water can be discharged by simply pressing the joystick, which is very convenient.
A small cement pool was built below the outlet of the hand-cranked well, and the bottom of the pool was connected to the canal outside the yard by a pipe. In this way, the water used for washing rice, vegetables, and dishes can be directly discharged, without having to carry it outside in a basin, which is convenient and saves trouble.
In the backyard, the area that was once Hua Qingcheng's main house had been converted into a suite. In the center was a flower hall, connected to a master bedroom, with a study next to it. In addition, there were five side bedrooms and two guest rooms.
A spacious medicine house was now built where the east wing once stood. The west wing had been converted into a children's room, but it was currently empty and hadn't been filled with anything.
The vegetable patch in the backyard was transformed into a small garden, planted with flowers and plants. Two stone tables and chairs were added for daily leisure use, and three cobblestone paths were laid between the grass.
There is a swimming pool outside the small garden, and some heating facilities are placed around it, so if the weather is cold, the water can be heated.
Past the swimming pool, at the outermost part of the yard, there is a very strange house, which is Zuo'an's laboratory.
The laboratory was divided into an inner and outer room. The outer part was dedicated to research, while the inner room was a cozy little room, fully equipped with bedding and daily necessities for Zuo An to rest temporarily.
The next day, Hua Qingcheng and her five husbands cleaned the new courtyard inside and out. They also spent a day moving all the things that had been moved to Hua's mother and father's house back to the new home.
After closing the courtyard gate, Hua Qingcheng took her five husbands back to her mother and father's house to stay for one night.
The eighth day of the eighth month is an auspicious day for moving into a new home, and it is also a good day for Hua Qingcheng and several of her husbands to move into their new home.
Hua's father got up early and, with the help of Yu Xiaotian, prepared a hearty breakfast for the whole family. After the meal, everyone started to get busy.
At four quarters past noon, the sound of gongs and drums "Dong Dong Qiang! Dong Dong Qiang!" was heard in front of the Hua family's house in the east of the village. The people beating the gongs and drums were Huang Feifeng and several of her men.
Before Mulanjin returned to Beijing, she had already given all the mud pills she had saved to Han Yichen. Huang Feifeng and the others, who had received the antidote to the "Nine-Transformation Soul-Invigorating Pill" on time at the end of last month, were very well-behaved. Upon hearing that Hua Qingcheng and the others were moving to a new house today, they arrived early to help.
Just like when the store opened before, Huang Feifeng's men were all wearing uniform red lion dance costumes today. The whole scene was very festive, attracting many villagers to stop and watch.
"Ji Lang, are you ready?"
"Okay, Qingcheng."
"Dong-dong-clang! Dong-dong-clang!
At six quarters past three in the morning, to the rhythmic sound of gongs and drums, two majestic bright yellow lions, with Hua Qingcheng and Huang Feifeng as the lion heads and Situ Ye and Chen San as the lion tails, marched with vigorous and powerful steps, step by step towards the Hua house at the end of the village.
The festive sound of gongs and drums, and the two lions that were sometimes majestic and sometimes cute, attracted the curiosity of passing villagers, and many people followed them directly from the beginning to the end of the village.
At the hour of Si, two lions began to perform at the entrance of the new house at the end of the village. They performed jumping on stools, climbing poles, and stepping on plum blossom piles, which drew cheers and applause from the onlookers.
At four quarters past the hour of Si, the male protagonist Mu Lige opened the door of Hua's house with a brand new key.
On the door was a red couplet that read, "The house is full of spring breeze, the door is full of joy," and a horizontal scroll read, "Moving into a new home." Mu Lige's handwriting was elegant and graceful.
After the gate opened, two lions, with Hua Qingcheng and Huang Feifeng as their lion heads, entered the new courtyard. To the rhythm of the "dong dong qiang" (dong dong qiang) gongs and drums, the two auspicious lions paraded through every corner of the courtyard, bringing prosperity to every corner.
After the ceremony, Hua Qingcheng and Situ Ye also changed their clothes. As a few strings of firecrackers rang out at the door, Hua Qingcheng and her husbands began to move into their new home.
Hua's father, standing at the door, had already prepared everything. Mu Lige entered the new home carrying a three-quarters full bucket of water, complete with a pair of bowls and chopsticks. Situ Ye followed closely behind, carrying an eight-quarters full rice bucket with a red envelope on top.
Han Yichen entered the courtyard carrying a pair of dustpans tied with red cloth and a new broom, Yu Xiaotian carried several sections of sugarcane, and Si Chengfeng carried a pot of lucky bamboo. Hua Qingcheng, the head of the household, was the last to enter the Hua residence, carrying the stove.
After the entrance ceremony to the new house was over, Hua's father also came to the front yard and helped set up the altar and incense table, on which were placed roasted pigs and some fruits and vegetables as offerings.
"Come, Qingcheng, burn some incense to our ancestors."
Hua Rongsheng handed the three incense sticks prepared by Hua's father Ye Maochun to Hua Qingcheng. But strangely, when Hua Qingcheng took the incense and prepared to worship, the fire on the incense went out.
Hua's mother had no choice but to replace the three burning incense sticks for Hua Qingcheng. However, when Hua Qingcheng was about to put the incense sticks on the incense burner again, the incense went out again.
This went on for several times, but the ancestor worship failed. Hua's mother had no choice but to ask Hua Qingcheng's legal husband Mu Lige to burn incense for the ancestors.
What shocked Hua's mother, father, and everyone else was that the same strange thing happened to Mu Lige. He also burned incense three times in a row, and each time the incense automatically extinguished.
In the end, Hua's mother and father had no choice but to ask Hua Qingcheng's second husband, Situ Ye, to burn incense to the ancestors before the ancestor worship ceremony was finally completed.
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