RYEY – Chapter 50 A Crazy Day

“Eh, better go back and make more food for those two kids.”

Uncle Niu muttered to himself as he left, while Li Huan led the strong men to start digging the foundation. Each person quickly found the work they were best at, and soon the site was bustling with energy.

Mother Li, smiling happily, led a group of aunts to build several simple stoves. From boiling water in the morning to cooking meals in the evening, the firewood in the stoves burned bright all day long.

Li Le, on the other hand, gathered a large group of children to help her pick up firewood at the foot of the mountain. One bundle of firewood could be exchanged for two fruit candies. Her second sister-in-law had given her a whole bag of candies, enough to make their teeth fall out from eating too much.

Cheng Qiao also busied herself, riding her bicycle back and forth between the county town and Xiangyang Village. Each time, she brought back ingredients everyone loved to eat—chicken, duck, fish, pork, rice, white flour—everything one could want.

But Cheng Qiao wasn’t foolish. In the rice and white flour, she mixed millet and black flour in a two-to-one ratio, sometimes even three-to-one. So what everyone ended up eating was really mixed-grain food.

No one questioned why Cheng Qiao had so much to share. Right now, in the villagers’ eyes, Cheng Qiao was a fat sheep. If they could take advantage of this chance to eat more, that was a blessing.

“Sister-in-law, you’re really enjoying life in your old age. Cheng Qiao hasn’t even married in yet, and she’s already so extravagant. You really ought to keep her in check.”

“What’s there to check? I can’t even keep my son under control, how am I supposed to control a daughter-in-law?”

Mother Li curled her lips. Anyone telling her to rein in her daughter-in-law was just malicious. After all, she hadn’t raised the girl or fed her a single grain—why should she control her?

“But you can’t just ignore it. Cheng Qiao has so much money. If she wastes it all, won’t you feel bad?”

“Why would I feel bad? It’s not my money. For Cheng Qiao to marry my Huan’er, our family’s already marrying up. Aiya, your dish is about to burn—flip it quick.”

“Oh, oh…”

This particular aunt of the Li family was a distant maternal relative of Li Huan’s. They didn’t usually interact much, but when there was a chance for free benefits, of course she came. Hearing her dish was burning, she quickly grabbed a spatula and scraped at the bottom.

When she’d plated the dish, she still wanted to brainwash Mother Li further, but by then Mother Li had already gone to wash vegetables with Aunt Wang. Left with no choice, she angrily grabbed a pair of chopsticks and stuffed two bites into her mouth first.

Three days later, Li Huan’s new house was standing. It occupied a whole mu of land, with a front courtyard that held a firewood shed, kitchen, tool shed, and even a large chicken coop.

In the back courtyard, a pigsty had been built—seemed like Li Huan planned to raise “task pigs.” If he raised them, she would too.

The vegetable patch hadn’t yet been cultivated, but in a few days, the Li family would naturally plant some drought-resistant vegetables. In winter, they’d at least have cabbage and radishes. Pickled, they could make a meal.

The house itself followed the common rural style: “two-wing with central hall,” or “four-wing,” or even “six-wing.” That meant a central hall with rooms on both sides. Wealthier families built more rooms, poorer families fewer.

Li Huan had built a “two-wing” type, one room on each side of the hall. But he was already prepared to expand in the future. He’d wait to see how many children he had before adding more rooms—after all, empty houses with no one living in them weren’t good either.

Everything was ready; only the beam-raising ceremony was left. A lucky day was needed, and fortunately, the day after tomorrow was auspicious. They invited the village head, Chen Weidang, to preside over the ceremony.

Everyone eagerly anticipated this day. In these poor times, a beam-raising was a big event. Both adults and children could fill their bellies on this day.

Li Huan, together with Skinny Monkey and others, carried the main beam wrapped in red paper to the front of the new hall. Mother Li set a table with offerings: pig, fish, chicken, goose, eggs, tofu. Incense and candles were skipped.

The bricklayer, carpenter, and other craftsmen circled the table, offering good words and toasts. This was the “beam-offering.” Afterward, the craftsmen would lift the beam onto the roof.

As they hoisted it, firecrackers crackled loudly. Chen Weidang, dressed in his best clothes, came forward. He had to sing the beam-raising song, shouting repeatedly: “Raise the beam! Good fortune and great prosperity!”

Cheng Qiao watched nervously. This symbolized whether their future life would be stable—the most important foundation.

Seeing the beam being lifted steadily without tilting or staggering, she finally let out a breath of relief.

Once the beam was in place, Li Huan carried a red cloth bag filled with dates, peanuts, rice, wheat, and evergreen, and placed it in the center of the beam—symbolizing “fortune, prosperity, longevity, joy, and eternal youth.”

Then came everyone’s favorite part: the beam-tossing.

Standing on the beam, Chen Weidang looked down at the sea of people and silently sighed: that rascal had really spent big this time. Just look at the basket—everything inside was the real deal.

He reached into the basket and shouted:

“Throw the beam to the east, sunrise fills the hall with red!
Throw the beam to the west, qilin brings children and double happiness!
Throw the beam to the south, descendants will be scholars for generations!
Throw the beam to the north, granaries full of rice year after year!”

In an instant, the four directions turned into a sea of joy. Children squealed with laughter as they scrambled for candies and steamed buns. When someone found coins—one, two, even five fen—the atmosphere reached its peak.

Village women surged forward, their eyes glued to the children’s hands. If a child picked up money, it would inevitably be snatched away.

The children burst into tears, their parents and grandparents fuming as well. The men, who had only been watching from the side, couldn’t sit still anymore and joined the fray.

Seeing things going badly, Li Huan quickly grabbed a small basket from Cheng Qiao’s hand and ran outside. Inside were one hundred one-fen coins—prepared precisely for this situation.

“Erlizi’s throwing money! Quick, after him!”

Sharp-eyed people shouted as Li Huan ran, scattering coins into the air. The silver coins glittered in the sunlight, drawing most of the crowd away.

“Heavens, Erlizi really got rich. That’s several yuan already!”

“Who cares? His bride is Cheng Qiao, and she’s loaded with cash.”

“True! Grab them! Even one fen is worth it.”

Watching the majority of the villagers chase after Li Huan, Chen Weidang finally sighed in relief. This was too crazy. Once the ceremony was over, he would have to give that rascal a proper scolding.

After the tossing, everyone exited the new house to let the sun shine on the beam. This was called “sun-drying the beam.”

At this point, people naturally went home to fetch bowls, as the hosts would now cook a feast to treat the craftsmen, helpers, relatives, and friends—and also hand out red envelopes.

Chen Weidang was the first to receive one. Feeling it between his fingers, he immediately knew there was a big black ten-yuan note inside. He shook his head slightly—this lad really knew how to win people over.