I'm back in 1990

Chapter 311: Raising the Beam

The evening before Huang Xiaochuan returned to Suzhou, the husky that Mai Guangde bought from Canada arrived in Huang Xiaochuan's hands after undergoing quarantine.

This guy was quite cute when he was a puppy, and he was in good spirits. He truly deserves the title of "house-destroying wonder dog".

This house-destroying thing needs to be delivered to its owner as soon as possible, so that its owner can see how powerful it is.

"Old Ding, where are you?"

"Walking around with my Huanhuan, what's up? You want to treat us to dinner?"

"All you care about is eating! Come to my house and take your dog away!"

"So fast?" Ding Yi was somewhat incredulous.

"Why would I lie to you? Come and take it away now."

Upon hearing that his dog had arrived, Ding Yi stopped driving on the road and drove with Qi Huan to Huang Xiaochuan's house.

"Huang Xiaochuan gave you a dog?" Qi Huan didn't know about this, but her woman's intuition told her that something was strange about it.

"Let's go check it out first. If he's lying to me, he can keep the dog for himself." Ding Yi had completely forgotten about the high-five he had with Huang Xiaochuan.

Upon seeing the little husky, Qi Huan hugged it tightly and couldn't bear to let go. Ding Yi was also very excited. The dog's appearance was simply outrageous; it was so beautiful, and its eyes were actually blue!

"How much did this dog cost?"

"Fortunately, including quarantine and shipping costs, the total came to around ten thousand!"

Ding Yi nodded in satisfaction: "Not expensive at all!"

I'm talking about US dollars!

Even though Ding Yi is now very wealthy, he was still somewhat surprised to hear that a small dog had cost tens of thousands of RMB.

"Why is it so expensive? It's just a puppy!"

"Here, this is its pedigree certificate and quarantine certificate. It's a purebred dog, so naturally it's more expensive. Besides, airfare is free, right?" Huang Xiaochuan handed a bag to Ding Yi.

"Hehe, I'm so sorry to have troubled you!" Ding Yi believed it now. Huang Xiaochuan really hadn't lied to him. He had indeed given him a purebred puppy. He had also looked up the book "Famous Dogs of the World," which said that Huskies are friendly pet dogs, but they can be a bit stubborn.

He tossed out a sentence: "I'll treat you to dinner another day!" and Ding Yi happily took Qi Huan and his husky and left.

"Goodbye and don't bother seeing me off!"

Ding Yi has fallen right into the trap Huang Xiaochuan set for him.

Sure enough, that very night, the Ding family's husky, nicknamed "Four Eyes," gave them a real scare.

This little guy is extremely uncomfortable in his new environment. He barks incessantly as soon as the lights are turned off at night. The worst part is that he tilts his head back and howls like a wolf. Unlike other dogs that just bark and then stop, this little guy has so much energy. He howled at the top of his lungs all night, keeping Ding Yi up all night. He woke up in the morning with dark circles under his eyes.

Ding Yi's mother was the same; she hated Ding Yi so much that she gritted her teeth whenever she saw him. Fortunately, Ding Yi's father wasn't home, otherwise it would have been even more chaotic.

"Get rid of that dog of yours right now, it's keeping me up all night."

How could Ding Yi bear to see it? "Puppies are all like this when they first come home. They'll be fine after a couple of days of barking. Please bear with it, old man. Look how adorable this puppy is!"

Four-Eyes during the day is a completely different dog from the one at night. Right now, it's wandering around the house getting familiar with its surroundings! It's fluffy and especially cute. When it sees people, its tail wags like an electric fan, and Ding Yi's mother's anger immediately subsides.

When Ding Yi arrived at school, he wanted to ask Huang Xiaochuan why the dog barked so much, but Huang Xiaochuan had gone to Suzhou, so he could only wait until he came back to ask him.

Back in the small town of Suzhou, Huang Xiaochuan discovered that his family's house was already built—a three-story building. Wasn't it supposed to be under construction? It's already topped out!

"Uncle, weren't we supposed to be raising the roof beam? The house looks completely finished!"

"Are you stupid? These days, the house-raising ceremony is just a formality. It doesn't necessarily have to be held on the day the house is raised; you can hold it after the house is built. Choosing a Sunday is just to make it easier for relatives and friends to come and have some fun, get together, and enjoy some drinks!"

Alright! Huang Xiaochuan wisely shut his mouth. He wasn't very familiar with how these customs had changed now. He could easily access Cola Novels and read thousands of good books like "1990 I'm Back." But thinking about how the traditional cakes for the future beam-raising ceremony could be ordered directly from a cake shop, he understood. Customs also need to evolve with the times.

Around 11 a.m., Uncle Qian personally escorted a Dongfeng 140 truck to the beam platform, which was fully loaded.

After exchanging pleasantries with Zeng Jiahua, Uncle Qian joked with Huang Xiaochuan, "College student, why haven't you come to my house in so long?"

"Uncle Qian, you wait, next year I'll go to your mountain to steal bayberries."

This happened when Huang Xiaochuan was in elementary school and on summer vacation. Huang Xiaochuan and a group of children from the village stole bayberries from the mountain that Uncle Qian had contracted. As a result, they were caught red-handed by Uncle Qian, which made Uncle Qian both amused and exasperated.

If you want to eat, then eat. It's all food that grows on our own mountain and isn't worth much. Why do you have to follow other kids and cause trouble, stealing it from our house?

"Then it's a deal!"

"Where's A'gen?" Huang Xiaochuan asked about Qian Yuangen, the son of his uncle Qian. He was two years younger than Huang Xiaochuan and was also Huang Xiaochuan's childhood playmate. Huang Xiaochuan had even sat down and drunk wine with his older sisters when they got married.

"He has to go to work today, but he'll come to the banquet tomorrow."

Uncle Qian's son, Qian Yuangen, dropped out of junior high school and went to work as an apprentice at a township enterprise near his home. It wasn't that Uncle Qian didn't want him to study, but the boy just couldn't concentrate. He spent seven years in primary school and three years in junior high before finally getting to the second year. After that, he refused to continue studying and skipped classes every day. Uncle Qian had no choice but to ask someone to get him a job at the factory. Unexpectedly, the boy turned out to be quite clever and now earns a decent amount of money each month.

"Then I'll wait for him."

Zeng Jiahua naturally wanted to treat his uncle to lunch at noon, since tomorrow was the actual day for raising the beam. So, they ate lunch at the factory canteen, mainly to the master craftsmen and beam-laying workers who would need to help with the beam-raising ceremony the next day.

The next day was the auspicious day for the roof beam raising. The main hall of the new house was decorated in a magnificent manner, with strips of silk hanging on the walls. Since the Wu region was famous for its silk, silk quilt covers were always among the gifts brought by guests. The host would hang these silk covers on the wall to show that he had many guests and was well-liked.

In the center of the main hall, there were two square tables, covered with all sorts of gifts, even the ones under the tables. These were all for the beam-throwing ceremony. Of course, not all of these things would be thrown away; most of them would be bagged and distributed to every household in the nearby towns, so that everyone could share in the joy.

As the saying goes, "If there is a beam on the roof, there will be grain in the house." In the past, when houses in the Wu region were completed and the beam was to be raised, a grand "beam-throwing" ceremony was held. "Snatching the beam-throwing" is also an exciting and warm memory for people from Suzhou when they were young.

The auspicious time has arrived, and the roof beam is ready. At 9:28, incense is burned, candles are lit, and wine is offered. First, wine is offered to Liu Taigong, and second, wine is offered to the two ancestral masters, Zhang Lu and his family. The master craftsman sings congratulatory words.

"Stepping up the stairs, one ascends higher; holding a golden platter, one gathers immortal peaches."

"Immortal peaches and fruits are not for mortals to pick; they are peaches offered by the Queen Mother of the West."

"Standing atop Phoenix Terrace, facing the Purple Gold Beam,"

"Throwing the beam across the east, the sun rises in the east, a touch of red."

"A three-year-old child is worth a thousand taels of silver; Xue Rengui crossed the sea to conquer the east."

The beam-throwing craftsmen, who had been waiting on both sides, nimbly climbed onto the roof and threw down rice cakes, steamed buns, candies, and small red envelopes filled with coins.

People who had been waiting to grab the items thrown from the beam immediately began to scramble for them. Each item was gone in the blink of an eye. The women, in particular, were very agile and wore aprons. They would hold onto the apron with one hand and pick up the items with the other, then throw them into the apron.

Seeing the lively atmosphere, the master craftsman, as if injected with adrenaline, continued to sing congratulatory words at the top of his lungs.

"Throw the beam to the east, and the village's oranges will ripen to a golden hue; throw the beam to the south, and the old immortal will grace the south. Throw the beam to the west, and the Queen Mother of the West will bestow double happiness. Throw the beam to the north, and the northern deities will bring blessings."

The people waiting to throw the beams were instructing the beam-throwing masters on where to throw them, "Here, and here too." "I got ten yuan!" Several beam-throwing masters stood on the roof and threw the cakes, candies, coins, and other items that represented good fortune down to the ground, causing the crowd to scramble for them, creating a joyous scene.

Huang Xiaochuan and Qian Yuangen also joined in the fun and grabbed some, but in the end, these things were distributed to a few children who didn't manage to grab any.

When we returned to Shanghai in the afternoon, the car was loaded with a lot of things. Of course, there were cakes and dumplings, but there was also a sack of winter bamboo shoots and dried plum vegetables given by Uncle Qian. They were all grown in their own fields, and the dried plum vegetables were also pickled and dried by Uncle Qian's family. Huang Xiaochuan loves this kind of food. There is a saying that braised pork with dried plum vegetables can make old ladies drool.