Chapter 21: New House Beam
On the day of putting up the beams of the new house, Shen's mother and daughter got up in the early morning. Qin Zhi was in high spirits as he hummed a song while preparing.
The venison had been marinated last night. Qin Zhi took out the bamboo sticks he had bought on Pinduoduo yesterday and skewered the meat. Then he killed and cleaned the fish in the basin, and cut the fish's back into pieces. He also braised part of the pig he bought yesterday and cut the rest into pieces for later use.
I was busy and before I knew it, it was already dawn.
Villagers came to help one after another. Some brought their own tables, some brought benches, and some brought bowls and chopsticks. Soon, twenty tables were fully equipped.
The village head brought a few men to build three large stoves next to the house. The other pot was used for cooking.
Put the pot on the stove and add firewood.
One pot was filled with a large pot of braised pork, and the other pot was filled with a four-layer large steamer filled with large steamed buns made from three-grain flour.
After a while, the village head came and called them to the new house. The auspicious time had arrived and the beam raising ceremony was about to begin. Qin Zhi asked Aunt Zhang and Aunt Liu from the village to help look after the stove next to the small thatched cottage.
In front of the new house, an incense table had been set up, various offerings had been placed, and a couplet had been posted on the door. Shen led the two sisters Qin Zhen to burn incense and kowtow.
Then, the clan leader was invited to read the Liang Zhu lyrics.
On an auspicious day, the golden roof was sealed.
There are beams on the roof and food in the nest.
May things prosper and your family be safe and secure.
All the best and good luck.
Once the firecrackers go off, there is a thousand taels of gold.
The clan leader read every word so sonorously and forcefully that Qin Zhi's eyes welled up with tears.
The purpose of singing Liang Zhu's lyrics is to pray that the foundation will be solid and the owner's family will be safe and prosperous.
Then the sound of firecrackers rang out, and the village head and the workers who were building the houses stood on the roof, scattering candies and steamed buns wrapped in red paper down.
The villagers who were standing below watching the fun rushed forward, especially the children, and everyone happily grabbed candies and steamed buns.
Looking at this scene, Shen's eyes became moist.
Since marrying into the Qin family, she has been asking herself if she has done things with a clear conscience. She gets up earlier than chickens and goes to bed later than dogs. Her two children are also sensible and hardworking, but they don't get a bit of warmth in the Qin family. Now she finally has her own home, and the family of three can live their own lives in the future.
After the beam-raising ceremony, Qin Zhi returned to the small hut.
The aunties in the village also came to help pick and wash vegetables. Shen was busy serving tea and water to everyone, and Qin Zhen also went in and out carrying melon seeds and candies to distribute to the children.
Qin Zhi started cooking.
The braised pork is almost done, pour in the peeled boiled eggs and simmer for a while before serving.
At this time, the steamed buns were also cooked. The pot was freed up to steam the steamed pork with rice flour. Bowl after bowl was placed in the steamer.
Another pot was lit, and the battered fish was deep-fried until both sides were golden brown, and then placed on a plate for later use. Then the sweet and sour sauce was prepared, and the ketchup needed was also bought in advance on Pinduoduo. The prepared sweet and sour sauce was evenly poured over the fish, and a sweet and sour, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside squirrel mandarin fish was ready.
At this time, the braised pork is also served, sprinkled with green onions, the aroma makes people salivate.
Qin Zhi cleaned the pot quickly. He also made stir-fried pork liver, stir-fried pork intestines, twice-cooked pork, and of course, stir-fried blood curd. He also made four-happiness meatballs with the meatballs fried last night. He also stir-fried a few vegetarian dishes, including stir-fried Chinese cabbage, stir-fried shredded radish with meat, and minced meat and eggplant. Finally, he set up the grill to grill the venison skewers.
Several aunts helped to serve the dishes, and everyone came to the table one after another. It was a buffet, so everyone came to the table, and after eating, the leftovers were cleared away and served to the next table.
The guests at the table exclaimed at the feast. In the middle was a large bowl of chicken soup, surrounded by braised pork, four-happiness meatballs, steamed pork with rice flour, squirrel mandarin fish, stir-fried pork liver, stir-fried pork intestines, twice-cooked pork, blood curd, stir-fried Chinese cabbage, stir-fried shredded radish with meat, minced meat and eggplant, and a large plate of three-grain steamed buns. Finally, a plate of grilled venison skewers was served. The feast was complete. A total of twelve dishes.
In the years when people were hungry, the villagers had three meals of porridge a day. In good times, they could add some wild vegetables and black bread, but in bad times, they could only have two meals of porridge a day. They had never seen such a rich feast as today.
Everyone brought gifts when they came today. Some brought eggs, some brought a bunch of vegetables, and some brought a few feet of cloth. These were common gifts between neighbors, not fancy but not cheap.
Everyone was scrambling for food and eating it up voraciously. The most popular dish among children was squirrel mandarin fish, which was sour and sweet and delicious. The elderly loved braised pork and four-happiness meatballs, and steamed pork with rice flour was also popular.
After finishing the meat dishes, everyone reached out for the vegetarian dishes. Unexpectedly, the vegetarian dishes also tasted delicious.
The table for gentlemen was also equipped with a jar of wine, and everyone was toasting each other and having a great time.
The table is updated very quickly. Once a table has finished eating, it is immediately cleared and replaced with a new one to welcome the next group of guests.
Two flowers bloom, one branch each.
At this time, in the old Qin's house, Old Man Qin and Mrs. Liu had just changed their clothes and were sitting in the main hall, while Mrs. Mei was walking around anxiously.
"Mom, why hasn't that little bitch Shen come to pick us up for the banquet yet? If it's any later the meal will be finished. Did she never plan to invite us?" Mei approached Liu and asked flatteringly.
"He dares," Liu slammed the table hard.
"It's not her turn to have the final say over the Qin family's house." Liu believed that the house built by Shen would eventually fall into her hands.
"Of course. Our eldest wife will always stay with our parents and be filial to them." Naturally, the house finally fell into the hands of the eldest wife, and Mei smiled grimly.
"Grandma, when are we going to have the banquet? I'm hungry." Fatty Qin Hu had wanted to go for a long time. The family hadn't had meat for a long time, so they had to eat more today.
Old man Qin tapped the pipe in his hand, stood up and walked out the door.
Seeing this, Liu immediately stood up and chased after him.
Mei followed Qin Hu and Qin Lian out of the door.
Qin Wen in the room had been paying attention to the movements outside, and suddenly found that there was no one in the room. Qin Wen's face instantly became ferocious. Humph, you didn't even ask me to go with you, and you didn't even look at me.
The small thatched cottage was bustling with activity at this time, and the village head and the villagers who were building the houses also sat down to watch.
Because they had to continue building the house in the afternoon, they didn't drink. But Qin Zhi gave each of them a bowl of rice wine to satisfy their cravings.
"Erya, the dishes you cook are better than those of the chef in Wangxian Tower. We would never eat this kind of pig intestines before, but today we really want to eat more." Qin Danian, the son of the head of the village, praised the dishes made by Qin Zhi.
"Uncle Da Nian, please don't make fun of me. With my cooking skills, how can I compare with the chefs in this town?" Qin Zhi said with a smile as he served the dishes.
"Erya, don't be so modest. Our eldest girl is two years older than you. The food she cooks is very rough and not as delicious as yours." The eldest girl's father said with a naive smile.
Qin Zhi was cooking on the stove while chatting with his uncles.
The buffet had already been going on for several rounds. The bowls and chopsticks were easy to clean up, as almost every dish was eaten up. People even wiped the plates with steamed buns to absorb all the soup into the buns, so the plates were really clean. The aunties who helped quickly cleaned them up and set them aside.