Back To the Small Fishing Village In 1982

Chapter 105: Beam raising ceremony

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The shell of the house has been completed, and all that's left is to lay tiles and do some finishing work. There's no need to hire so many workers, as their own family can do it, saving some labor costs.

The family got up early as usual.

Seeing all the children at the table getting up so early and eating breakfast together, Ye Yaodong teased, "Today seems to be September 1st. School is about to start, right? Your good days are over."

The two children who are only in the first grade this year said with a smile: "We have been wanting to go to school for a long time."

"After a few days, you won't want to go anymore!"

"Why?"

"Because he has a lot of homework to do every day, Brother Hai is still copying books in his room. I have never seen him so diligent. Only today can I see him getting up early in the morning to cram for the exam."

"Hahaha, I was wondering why I heard my aunt scolding me so early in the morning when I was sleeping in Mimi Lake."

"Fortunately I finished it last night..."

Several children were laughing at Ye Chenghai.

Ye's mother also muttered: "I am not busy in the morning, I am anxious at night, I get up in the middle of the night to mend my trousers, and no one can study."

At this time, the real person came out of the house with big dark circles under his eyes, looking listless, carrying a military green shoulder bag embroidered with a five-pointed star.

"You, have you finished your summer homework? It's okay if you don't do it. At most, you don't have to sign up and go to the mountains to herd sheep. Herding sheep is so free. You can run around the mountains without doing homework. The mountains are full of peach trees, plum trees, loquat trees, orange trees, and grapefruit trees. Hahaha~"

Ye Chenghai felt yearning after hearing this, but he could only sigh, "I also wanted to herd sheep, but my mother wouldn't let me."

Ye's mother rolled her eyes at Ye Yaodong and said, "What nonsense are you talking about? He can't read to begin with, and you're trying to get him to herd sheep. He doesn't want to go anymore. He has to study for two more years, finish fifth grade, and learn all the characters."

Mrs. Ye also knocked on Ye Chenghai's head and said, "Hurry up and eat your breakfast. After you finish eating, take your homework and go to register. I still have a lot of work to do. If you keep nagging me, I'll beat you up."

"Got it." Ye Chenghai responded weakly and went to eat breakfast obediently.

Ye Yaodong laughed loudly, but before he finished laughing, he heard his eldest son say, "Dad, I want to herd sheep too. I don't want to study!"

His laughter suddenly stopped, "Fuck, let it go, you don't learn good things all day, but learn bad things, studying is the kingly way..."

"You just said herding sheep is good, and I don't have a sister!"

"I'm just saying it casually. It's not easy to be illiterate. Even if you can't read, you have to learn to recognize all the characters..."

He is now shooting himself in the foot.

Lin Xiuqing patted him twice and said, "You'd better stop talking nonsense, lest you teach the child bad lessons. Go and eat your meal."

Ye Yaodong felt that he was in the wrong. These kids only cared about having fun in the mountains and the sea. They took my words seriously.

After breakfast, Mrs. Ye Da and Mrs. Ye Er took a group of children to school to register, cursing and scolding them, as if they were herding ducks, leaving only the two youngest children in Ye Yaodong's family sitting on the doorstep to watch.

The other adults also had to go to the new house to clean up.

Ye Yaodong planned to clear a vegetable patch at the back door of the new house so that he and his wife could grow vegetables. He also wanted to go to the mountain to cut some bamboos, build a fence and raise chickens. Of course, a home should look like a home.

Ye Yaopeng saw him clearing wasteland with a hoe, and after asking him the reason, he also followed his example.

They definitely need to grow vegetables, otherwise what will they eat

After the land was almost cultivated, Ye Yaodong collected the remaining loess in a winnowing basket and poured it into the vegetable patch. Later in the evening, he would go home to collect some ashes from the stove, sprinkle them in and mix them to increase the nutrition before planting the vegetables. Otherwise, the loess alone would not have much nutrition and the vegetables would not grow well.

And you need to add some manure and fertilizer depending on the situation, but it’s too early...

Lin Xiuqing was also full of hope for her new home. She cleaned it inside and out, and followed Ye Yaodong to tidy up the vegetable garden and sow some vegetable seeds.

On the day of raising the beam, all the men in the Ye family dressed neatly and went to the new house in high spirits, but women were not allowed to go.

In rural areas, people believe that women are yin and will bring bad luck to the new house. So even though this day is very lively, the women in the family do not participate in the beam-raising ceremony, but help prepare food for the banquet at home.

All the workers who are building the house will come to help on this day. They will be the first to put up wedding characters and hang red silks in the house. They will also paste couplets written on red paper on the beams and the door.

The words "Green dragon supports jade pillar, white tiger supports golden beam" are usually posted on the beams.

The horizontal banner reads "Good luck on the rising beam".

Then, incense sticks were set up in front of the main entrance, and fruits bought in advance by Ye's mother were placed on the table. Ye Yaodong and his two brothers burned incense and kowtowed respectfully.

Then, after setting off the firecrackers, when the time is almost right, the beam raising ceremony will officially begin.

Those who live by the sea need to do the beam raising at high tide, which means money will come like a tide. It would be even better if it happens during the full moon, which means family reunion.

When the ceremony started, many villagers gathered around their new house to watch the fun. It was rare to see such fun in the countryside, so everyone came when they heard the news.

The upper beam is also called the rising beam.

Because when raising the beams, people on top need to throw down four strong red silk materials, which are then divided at both ends of the beam by people below. A copper hairpin from the Shunzhi period of the Qing Dynasty hangs down from the red silk, which means "peace and harmony". Then the beams are raised in order from the first beam to the second beam.

The carpenter would sing hymns while he was carrying the things on the scaffold, and the people standing below would follow him.

After the entire beam frame is installed, place the purlin on the fork and nail the rafters on the purlin.

For commemoration, the rafter nailed to the center back of the house is specially made. The carpenter uses a plane to flatten one side of the round rafter, and they need to ask someone to write the date of construction, the name of the owner and the craftsman with a brush.

For example, Ye Yaodong’s house: On September 6, 1982, Ye Yaodong built a house, with Li Si as the carpenter and Wang Wu as the bricklayer.

After raising the beam, the next step is to throw the beam. The carpenter who puts up the beam will stand next to the beam and throw peanuts, candies, and glutinous rice cakes onto the beam while singing hymns. Everyone rushes to pick them up for good luck.

After it's finished, they will set off firecrackers and entertain the workers who built the house. The Ye family has already set up two large tables, waiting to entertain them with good cigarettes, wine and food to celebrate the completion of the house.

There is another thing to pay attention to here, which is that the tilers are needed to continue laying the tiles. If you don't treat them well, in case they are irresponsible or deliberately do bad things, the house will leak when it rains after it is built, which will be very troublesome to repair.

The ritual of raising the beam in this era was particularly arduous, unlike later times, when it became increasingly simplified.

After having a sumptuous lunch at noon, Ye's mother gave a red envelope to the carpenter who put up the beam and the worker who helped carry the beam, and the task was considered completely completed.

The next step is just to lay the tiles and wait for the day of moving.

Building a house is tiring, but finally this big task is almost finished and everyone in the Ye family is relieved.

Mother Ye smiled and said, "We will move on the 20th of the lunar calendar. When the time comes, you can go back to your parents' home in advance to let them know. On the day of the move, have your parents and brothers come over to help with the event."

The three daughters-in-law all agreed with a smile.

After putting up the beam, Ye Yaodong no longer went out to sea with his father. He had to be busy with his own small boat, and he made more than a dozen traps during this period.

He has released them all into the sea one after another, and now there are 3 rows. He goes to collect them every one or two days. I don't know if he is lucky, but he can get a few nets every time. When the fish are few, he can sell them for 5-6 yuan, and when the fish are many, he can sell them for 7-8 yuan.

You know, he only had less than 3 rows of traps at that time, but he was already equivalent to others with 5 or 6 rows of goods, sometimes more.

Unfortunately, there are still too few traps. If there were more, he would be able to catch more goods. With more free time in the future, they should be able to do more.

Ever since A Guang's father bought the boat, he has been going out to sea to trawle nets every day, going out early in the morning and coming back late at night. It has been a long time since he and his friends got together to drink and chat.

It happened that Ye Yaodong had just finished working on the beams and was not very busy during the day. He took some of the seafood he had caught from the trap to A Guang's house and called a few friends along.

Everyone was busy during this period and no one cared about the angry Awei and Haozi. He thought that so many days had passed and it should be about the same time. Why not call everyone over to have a chat and let the matter be over.

But I didn't expect that when I went to Awei's house, he still looked at me coldly.

"Heh~ What brings our brother Dong here? You are such a busy man, now you are either building a new house or going out to sea to make money, yet you actually have time to come to my place."

Ye Yaodong pursed his lips and said helplessly: "Everyone is a little busy during this period. I left some seafood. Let's go to A Guang's place for a drink and chat?"

"No, you guys just chat. I'm not capable, and if I go, I'll just have to listen to you guys bragging."

As he was about to go into the house, Ye Yaodong couldn't help but curse: "Fuck, it's just a small matter, what's the big deal? Isn't it just that I didn't tell you in advance?"

"Those who truly regard me and Haozi as brothers will not ignore us. Anyway, we are both quiet and transparent, so it is normal for us to be ignored. Then you can have your own fun."

Damn it!

Ye Yaodong cursed in his heart and turned away. He was spoiled! Who can't live without the other, right

He was too lazy to try to please someone who didn't like him. He just felt it was a pity that they had been brothers for many years and suddenly parted ways because of a small misunderstanding.

I think of that classic saying: I am afraid that my brothers will suffer, but I am also afraid that my brothers will drive a Land Rover!

It would be more painful if your brother lived well than if he died, right

After leaving Awei's house, he was too lazy to go to Haozi's house. The two of them had always been good friends, but at that time they were of the same mind.

He hasn't done anything wrong to them. It's just their mentality problem. So he doesn't care about them.

He hurried to Ah Guang's house again. The others were already there. Seeing him coming alone with no one behind him, they couldn't help but ask, "Didn't you say you were going to call Ah Wei and Hao Zi? Why aren't they coming?"

"Awei gave me a cold look and said some sarcastic things, saying that he was incompetent and that we should just have our own fun... Damn, I don't care about him, it's his mentality. After leaving his house, I didn't bother to go to Haozi's house either, I didn't want to hear any cold words."

Ah Guang shrugged, "Forget it, let's just ignore them for now. There's no need to bother with them."

Xiao Xiao: "He has to figure this out himself."

The fat man was cooking and shook his head. "Alas, it's all about money."

Ah Zheng said confidently, "What's wrong with us making our own money? Why should we care about his feelings? How can that make sense!"

"Forget it, let's not talk about it. Let's just take care of our own food and drink. How is A Guang's trawling recently?" Ye Yaodong sat at the table, put one leg on the stool, and picked up a shrimp and started peeling it.

"You're still calling me A Guang. Shouldn't you call me A Shun? Hahahaha~"

"It's time to change your tune!"

"Then shouldn't he pay for changing his statement?"

"Go away, go away. Mao's money for changing your name is for you. I thought you were paying for your new daughter-in-law to serve you tea. You can call me whatever you want. It's fine as long as it's changed in the household registration book."

Seeing that they were going off topic again, Ye Yaodong quickly pulled the topic back to normal, "How have you guys been catching fish recently? Ah Guang and his father went out to sea, so you two are the only ones working on the boat? How are you going to divide the money?"

"I've transferred their share of the boat to them. When they have enough money from selling the goods, they can give it to me. Anyway, it's too small to need three people. It's just right for my father and I to go trawling."

Xiao Xiao also nodded, "Yes, recently after A Guang was eliminated, we have a lot more goods online."

Ah Guang looked at him with disdain, "We also have a lot of trawling goods!"

"Is it possible that you changed your name so that you don't leak money anymore?"

"Hehe, even eating can't stop your mouth!"

"At least someone should come and help light the fire. All of you are sitting there eating." The fat man waved the edge of the pot as if he wanted to hit them in the face. What a shameless group of people. They called him over to cook, but they sat down to eat as soon as they came, and he cooked there for half a day.

"you go… "

"you go… "

The four people pushed each other back and forth. It was such a hot day, who was willing to sit in front of the stove and make a fire? In the end, they could only cut their hair together with stone cloth.

There were three stones and one pair of scissors. Ah Guang had no choice but to accept the defeat and go and make a fire.

He sat in front of the stove and said enthusiastically: "Dongzi, when are you going to move? Just let us know and we'll go and lift your bed and furniture for you."

"Are you free? I'll just call them when the time comes, you don't have to come."

"If you tell me in advance, I will definitely be free. Moving is such a big thing, how could I not be free!"

Others winked at each other.

Ah Zheng said with a wicked smile, "Dongzi, I heard someone told your sister about a guy from Xishan Village."

"What?" Ah Guang's eyes widened in shock. "When did this happen? How come I don't know about it?"

Ye Yaodong rolled his eyes at him and said, "That's true."

Xiaoxiao smiled and asked in a curious manner: "Have you met each other? When are you getting married? If you need any help, just let us know."

"I saw it today, I don't know how it works, but I don't worry about it."

A Guang suddenly felt a little restless, they actually looked at each other!

"That young man doesn't look that good. He's short and not even as tall as our Ah Guang."

A Guang straightened his back instantly!

"Guang isn't that tall, 175cm at most."

A Guang: Damn, I want to kill him with my eyes!

"That's enough. Do you think everyone can grow up to be as tall as you?"

"That's true!" This is also what Ye Yaodong is proud of.

People in the south are generally short, and there was a lack of nutrition in those days, so everyone was not tall. People like A Guang who were 175cm tall were considered tall.

After everyone reminded A Guang in disguise, they started bragging again.

"Let's keep this small boat for a few years, then we can build a bigger boat together. There's no point in keeping this small boat."

"It depends on the situation. Just make as much money as you can first, and don't complain about it being too little."

"It was a pity that we missed the first day of the new year a few days ago because of the wind. Otherwise, we could have gone to the isolated island again."

"I heard there might be another typhoon in the next two days."

"It's a typhoon, so let's take a few days off. There are typhoons here every year, so you'll get used to it. Remember to sail the boat to a safe harbor."