Return to 1983 Hunting Xing'an Mountains

Chapter 504: Congratulations on the Beaming
At this moment, Du Shoucai, Chang Danian and others gathered under the shed, sitting or standing and chatting. As there was not much work to do before the beam was put up, Hu Zhibin, Lao Qian, Liu Xuemin and others also gathered around, smoking and chatting with everyone.

Last night, Lao Qian, Liu Xuemin and Lao Jin stayed in the west room of Lao Xu's house with Xu Ning, and did not go to Lao Hu's house, because this was Lao Xu's family's business, so what would it be like to stay at someone else's house?
The men from the two villages all came to the new house in the north end, while the women went to Old Xu's house. There were Zhang Yanfang, the young wife married by Niu Baotian, Zhao Yue'e, the wife of Du Manzhi, and Zhao Yuefang, the wife of Hu Zhibin. Manzhi and Zhibin were relatives called Lianqiao.

There were also Li Ye's wife, Chang Juan, Li Feng's wife Chang Lihong holding her child and Sun Cuiping. At this time, Xu Feng, Wang Biao and others had already gone to school. Originally, Xu Laonian wanted to ask for leave for them. After all, building a house and raising the beams and weddings and funerals were big events at home.

But Liu Lizhen didn't agree at all. Except for the snow break and normal holidays, these college students were not allowed to ask for leave even if they had a cold or a fever. Even if they fell asleep in the classroom or sat there all day, they still had to go to school! Asking for leave didn't work.

Xu Laonian and Wang Erli led the crowd to place several beams in the upper beam position and wrapped two circles of red cloth on the middle beam. Since everything that needed to be prepared was ready, and there were only more than ten minutes left, they gathered together to smoke.

Yu Kaihe said, "Zhang'er and Jiang'er will go up to the main beam later. Dalin, you and Erli, remember to lift the smoked chicken above your heads. I will shout a few times."

"Hey, I know."

Yu Kaihe gave instructions for half a circle, and everyone who participated in raising the beam had a job, some hung colored ribbons on the beam, some scattered golden beans on the beam, and some raised wine glasses...

At this time, there was a sound in the distance. Xu Ning turned around and saw a group of old women led by Liu Lizhen, carrying thermoses and walking towards them.

There were more than twenty of these old ladies. When they stepped onto the makeshift bridge, they greeted everyone with a smile and were very enthusiastic.

Sun Lianfang put the thermos and teapot under the shed, and Guan Hua poured tea and water for everyone. People who didn't know her would turn around and ask, "Whose girl is this? Why haven't I seen her before?"

At this time, Du Shoucai would explain: "This is the younger sister of Erning's sworn brother Guan Lei. She is engaged to the eldest son of Erli's family. Don't you know about this?"

Lao Zhao said, "Well, I work all day, and I have heard my wife talk about it, but I have never seen it."

Under the new house, Liu Lizhen and Han Fengjiao each held a red cloth bag. After the beams were put up, they needed to hold the red cloth bags filled with five grains and hang them in the middle of the beam. The five grains are red dates, peanuts, rice, wheat, and evergreen, which symbolize blessing, wealth, longevity, happiness, and eternal youth.

Then they use the baskets held in both hands to catch the fruits wrapped in red cloth thrown by the beam-raising craftsmen. This process is called "receiving the bag", which means catching wealth!

Yu Kaihe stood between the two new houses, and the others were already prepared.

At 8:28, Yu Kaihe shouted at the top of his voice: "The auspicious time has arrived! Fire the cannon!"

Upon hearing this, Xu Ning and Wang Hu's gangs quickly set fire to the red whips on the ground. After the "crackling" sounded, Li Fuqiang, Chai Bing and others set off double-shot firecrackers with their bare hands. For a moment, a thick white smoke ignited in the northern end of Qing'an...

"Go ahead! Good luck!"

The two gangs each carried the main beam and approached the beam position with small steps. At the same time, Yu Kaihe shouted: Today is a fine day, let's put up the beam. The owner has built a good hall, and the hall is built on Longkou. Let's all work together to put up the beam!

The first step is to be the first rank official, the second step is to be the double phoenixes facing the sun, the third step is to be the third rank official, the fourth step is…

If you take nine steps, all nine sons will pass the imperial examinations. If you take ten steps, all of them will pass. You will enjoy wealth and glory for eternity!
Then the two gangs climbed up the scaffolding and held up the main beam. Yu Kaihe shouted again: "The main beam is on the wall..."

Xu Ning stood under the new house and watched Lao Zhang and Lao Jiang place the main beam in the slot. As soon as he turned his head, he saw Liu Lizhen looking at him with wide eyes. There seemed to be tears in her eye sockets, but no tears flowed. She was just a little excited.

She and Xu Laonian had talked about building a house more than once before, but the family's financial situation did not allow it. Xu Laonian once said that they could build three rooms, but Liu Lizhen did not want to. With two sons and a daughter, how could three rooms accommodate them? If they wanted to build a house, they had to build five!
However, she never expected that the new house that the old couple had been dreaming of building was completed by the most unreliable eldest son. Seeing that the roof was about to be completed, she was so excited.

Xu Laonian stood under the beam and had no time to think about anything else. He just focused on looking at Lao Zhang, Lao Jiang and others standing on the shelf, fearing that the shelf could not bear the weight and someone would get hurt again.

Under another building, Wang Erli clapped his hands excitedly, hugged Han Fengjiao, and looked up at the main beam that had already been put into the groove. He was very excited at the moment.

"Colorful bag of grains!"

Liu Lizhen and Han Fengjiao hurriedly handed over the colorful bags of grains, and Lao Jiang and Lao Wei placed the bags of grains in the middle of the beam. Then Xu Laonian and Wang Erli hung red cloth on the beam, and also hung red cloth bags that symbolized eternal blessings, wealth, longevity and happiness on the beam.

Yu Kaihe shouted the words of wealth: "Master, hold a piece of silk in your hand, one foot and three feet with a change, three clicks on the left tie will increase your wealth, three clicks on the right tie will make you a Hanlin, the master's family will be rich and prosperous, and the house will be filled with wealth and splendor!"

Then Xu Laonian and Wang Erli took the cups handed over by the wine bearer, and Yu Kaihe shouted again: "Master, hold a cup of wine in your hand, and toast to eternity! Master, hold two cups of wine in your hand, and prosperity and wealth will last for generations! Master, hold three cups of wine in your hand, and your descendants will be crowned kings and marquises!"

The crowd of onlookers were grinning and laughing, listening to Yu Kaihe's colorful words, everyone laughed out loud from the bottom of their hearts, and talked in groups of three or five that Yu Kaihe was really capable of doing this, this job was not something most people could do, let alone He Caici, they couldn't even understand the process.

Then Xu Laonian and Wang Erli raised the smoked chicken again, Yu Kaihe said a few colorful words, and then Liu Lizhen and Han Fengjiao caught the bags and threw candies at the craftsmen on the beam.

"Come on! Friends and relatives are all looking forward to it. Fortune and blessings are coming to the whole family. The dumplings are rolling gold ingots on the ground. All the neighbors are coming to grab them!"

"Middle-aged people get rich and longevity, old people get longevity, scholars get writing skills like a god, and become the top scorer in the imperial examination! Farmers get..."

Hearing the announcement, the people who were watching the fun, both men and women, gathered towards the main room. After Lao Zhang and Lao Wei threw handfuls of candy balls, everyone picked them up from the ground, saying with a smile: I have to grab some for my eldest grandson, maybe he will really become the top scorer!

The Xu and Wang families were very happy when they saw so many people fighting over the lottery, because the more people were fighting over the lottery, the better the meaning was. This action was called throwing the beam, which symbolized money rolling in.

"Haha, it's settled! Come on, let's go inside first and then go out. The host is giving out red envelopes!"

Xu Laonian and Wang Erli stood at the door, waiting for the people inside to come out. When they went out, the two of them would hand over a red envelope. The money in it was not much, only 8 cents, but it was also a lucky number. Basically, everyone who came to help the two families got one.

Xu Ning and Wang Hu walked over and handed Yu Kaihe a red envelope. Yu Kaihe was stunned: "Oh, thank you two masters for the reward!"

"Haha, sir, you do this job so neatly!"

Wang Hu laughed and said, "Not really. I was confused. Can you teach me when you have time?"

"Okay! These are all small matters." Yu Kaihe didn't even look at the money in the red envelope and put it directly into his pocket. He thought the red envelopes were similar to those of other people.

But Xu Ning had a job to do this time, because he had discussed with Xu Laonian and Wang Erli, and it was Yu Kaihe who helped to arrange the construction of the house, and he helped to take care of all the big and small matters, and basically did not let Xu Laonian and Wang Erli worry about anything, so he contributed the most.

Xu Ning thought of packing a big one for him, with each family contributing 10 yuan, which would be just enough for a big unity ticket, and he would look impressive when he showed it to others!
"Girls, you all should go back and prepare the meal. It's time to dry the beams. We'll start the meal at 12:08 noon!"

Liu Lizhen, Han Fengjiao and others came over and said, "Hey, brother, don't worry! Then we will go back first."

After all the old women left, the old men gathered together and chatted. It was nearly 9 o'clock at this time. It would take more than 20 minutes to dry the beams in the sun, just for the sake of showing off.

Then everyone had to continue to install auxiliary beams, columns and triangular beams, press purlins, pour cement, lay waterproof felt, put on tiles, and install door frames and window frames at the same time. With so many people coming here, they certainly couldn't just stand there and watch, so it could be completed in the afternoon.

At 9:212, a jeep 150 and a Yellow River jn stopped at the door of Old Xu's house. The people who got out of the cars were Xu Long, Yang Yusheng, Sun Jishan, Sun Liansheng, Yan He, Xiao Du, and Wang Yuanjun. Seeing this, Sun Lianfang, who was stoking the fire in the courtyard, did not even say hello to her uncle Sun Jishan. She turned around and ran to the outer room, shouting, "Auntie! My uncle, Uncle Yang, Brother Long and the others are back!"

Liu Lizhen quickly put down the work in her hands and went out with Han Fengjiao to greet them, "Oh my god, Third Brother, Big Brother Sun, I thought you wouldn't be here until noon."

Yang Yusheng said with a smile: "There is nothing to do this afternoon. Dalong went to the market to buy something and then went home."

Xu Long greeted Yan He and Xiao Du and said, "Mom, these are my friends Yan He and Du Ziming."

"Hey, Xiao He and Xiao Du! I heard about you from Da Long and Er Ning."

"Aunt, I'm sorry to show my respect to you since it's my first visit." Xiao Du said politely.

Yan He said, "Aunt, I've thought about it for a long time, but the company has not given me leave. It was Director Yang who helped me to apply for leave today. This is the red sausage that my family made. You can try it."

In Xiao Du's hand was a large fruit box, two bottles of Wuliangye liquor, and two packs of cigarettes. However, Yan He was not shy and only took his homemade red sausage and preserved eggs.

"Hey! Okay, Auntie will accept it. Third brother, please lead them into the house."

Yang Yusheng shook his head and said, "Let's go take a look at the new house. Let Dalong and the others unload the things first. You can prepare the dishes."

The room is full of old ladies. What are they doing here? There is nothing to talk about. It is more comfortable to chat with the old men.

"Okay, reinforcements, I heard you're dating someone in the city?"

Wang Yuanjun was stunned, covering his face and said, "Oh my god, Auntie, how did you know that?"

"Haha, your uncle told your dad about this the other day, why are you still embarrassed?"

"No, my dad is too quick to speak. We haven't decided yet, but that's what I meant."

Liu Lizhen said: "It's interesting that it will happen soon. You should listen to me. The man should take the initiative. There is a movie theater in the city. You can buy two tickets and take her to see a movie. Something will happen!"

Xu Long looked at his brother-in-law's red face and said with a smile, "Mom, please come in quickly. My brother will be blushing soon."

"Hahaha, this is not something you can be embarrassed about."

Liu Lizhen, Han Fengjiao and others greeted Yang Yusheng and Sun Jishan and went into the house. It would have been fine for them not to go into the house because all three rooms were occupied by old women and there was no place for them to stay.

The dog kennel in front of the east room was empty. Xu Ning sent the dog gang to Li Fuqiang's house in the morning. Otherwise, the dog gang would definitely not be quiet at home. They would howl when someone came, making people feel annoyed.

Xu Long, Wang Yuanjun, Yan He, Xiao Du, and Sun Liansheng brought the vegetables and meat from the back of the Huanghe car to the kang in the east wing, because Wang Shujuan, Meng Ziyan and others were washing and cutting vegetables in this room...

Yan He and Xiao Du also greeted Wang Shujuan and called her sister-in-law. Their father was several years older than Xu Laonian, and since they were not the eldest in the family, there was nothing wrong with calling Liu Lizhen aunt.

Xu Long bought a lot of kohlrabi, onions, carrots, and garlic sprouts, as well as meats such as braised pig's trotters, pig ears, pork elbows, and spare ribs. He spent more than 100 yuan on groceries. This was after Xu Ning took the time to call him yesterday and told him to buy less vegetables because Lao Qian, Hu Zhibin and other three had taken the smoked chicken.

But last night, Xu Laonian and Liu Lizhen discussed it and decided not to kill the pig yet. The pig only weighed 240 kilograms. It would be better to keep it and wait until Xu Ning got married before killing it. It could still gain some fat.

After unloading the vegetables and meat, Xu Long and others drove towards the new house at the north end. At this moment, everyone was divided into four groups, two groups were putting up beams and laying purlins, and two groups were installing window and door frames.

"Hey! Uncle San, Grandpa Sun, you're here quite early!" Xu Ning exclaimed, and hurriedly ran towards the stream, turning back to greet Xu Laonian and Wang Erli.

Yang Yusheng laughed and said, "Haha, you didn't expect me to come so early, did you?"

"Well, I thought you and my grandpa Sun were very busy, so you have to come over at noon. I told my mom about it last night."

"Yes, your mother said that just now."

After Xu Ning greeted Yan He, Xiao Du and others, Xu Laonian and Wang Erli came over.

The two greeted Yang Yusheng and Sun Jishan first, and then listened to Xu Laonian introduce Xiao Du and Yan He...

Sun Jishan said, "Is the beam raising complete? Then we are still late."

"It's not too late, there's still work to do." Xu Laonian joked.

Yang Yusheng showed his arms and said, "That's great! I'll show you my hands..."

"Hey, Third Brother, stop it now, or your clothes will get dirty again."

"I won't come here if I'm afraid of being criticized!"

Xiao Du said with a smile: "Uncle Xu, we are here to work, you arrange it!"

Xu Laonian waved his hand: "Forget it, this person is enough..."

Xu Ning interrupted, "Dad, since my third uncle and the others are here, we can't just stand there and watch. How about letting them dig in the manure pit?"

"Get out of here!" Xu Laonian yelled at the top of his voice, "You are full of bad intentions, are you deliberately torturing my third brother and the others?"

"Hahaha……"

Seeing the father and son quarreling, everyone burst into laughter, but no one took it seriously. They all knew that Xu Ning did it on purpose, and they also knew that Xu Laonian did it on purpose.

In the end, Yang Yusheng, Sun Jishan and others joined the ranks of applying putty on the window frames, while Yan He, Xiao Du, Sun Liansheng and others picked up shovels to mix cement. After the purlins were laid, it would be time to pour cement to seal the roof.

Although Yang Yusheng and Sun Jishan were officials, they were good at masonry and carpentry. In those days, they had to do everything by themselves, such as building houses, repairing roads, and constructing dams.

(End of this chapter)