Chapter 58: Eight Big Bowls

The next day, Zhang Weiguo rushed over to help and brought some fresh seafood with him. He stayed at the Wang family’s house until the construction of the house was completed. Not only did outsiders praise him, but even Wang Zhenhe himself was filled with gratitude. Zhang Weiguo is younger than his own brother, yet he persevered until the end. His Brother, after finishing laying the bricks didn’t come to help anymore, except during meal times. Wang Zhenhe felt embarrassed to mention his younger brother.

It was the day for the “topping out” ceremony of the house. Geng Lianhua and her husband, along with their eldest son and daughter, came over. They brought a large red floral quilt cover for their daughter. During the “topping out” ceremony, the quilt cover would be hung on the roof beam, symbolizing good luck. The more quilt covers hung, the more respect the family would have.

However, Wang Zhenhe and his wife didn’t care about these customs. They were already satisfied with having a new house. They didn’t dare to ask for more.

During the “topping out” ceremony, Wang Qian’s aunt and uncle, whom she had never met, also came.

Although Zhang Hua was Zhang Lan’s sister, their appearances were quite different. Zhang Lan had fair skin and a delicate appearance, while her elder sister was somewhat darker, taller, and more robust. Her cheekbones were higher, but their eyes were similar, both having phoenix-shaped eyes.

Zhang Qian didn’t have a strong impression of this aunt, either because they rarely interacted or because the children didn’t like her. She wasn’t sure.

Seeing her sister’s new house, Zhang Hua expressed her envy. “Little sister, you’re so lucky. You’ve finally moved out and have your own place. I envy you. I’m still stuck in a difficult situation.”

Zhang Lan smiled and replied, “Sister, your family is doing well. Your mother-in-law takes care of your children, cooks, and manages the household. You have ready-made meals every day after work. It’s so convenient. I envy you.”

Zhang Hua sighed, “It was good before, but now my mother-in-law is getting older and can’t do much. I have to take care of them all day long. It’s a long story.”

Although Zhang Lan wasn’t very clear about her sister’s recent situation, she could tell that it was a difficult situation and decided not to ask further.

For the “topping out” ceremony, Zhang Lan and her daughters prepared the dough the night before, using a mixture of white and regular flour. They used the white flour sparingly, as they didn’t have much of it at home. They hadn’t heard of anyone using white flour for the “topping out” ceremony, so Zhang Lan had to make do. Early in the morning, she steamed the buns and wrapped the large buns they made  in red cloth.

For the construction of the house, they spared no effort. Zhang Lan didn’t want to be seen as stingy, and she didn’t want to shortchange the people who had come to help.

During the “topping out” ceremony, Zhang Lan’s family members were all present, except for her eldest aunt. Her eldest uncle came as a representative, while her mother-in-law’s elder sister didn’t come. However, they sent their regards, saying they were busy at home. Wang’s mother, Zhu Qiyu, didn’t attend, as she was unwell, and her younger sister was taking care of her.

The next day, Zhu Jianjun and his family, including his son Zhu Jianjun, and his daughter, arrived. Zhu Jianjun had heard about the house construction and had come to help for a few days. Zhang Lan had a good impression of this Zhu Jianjun, not just because he helped with the work, but also because his family seemed different from the others. Perhaps the saying “a bad bamboo can produce good shoots” was referring to Zhu Jianjun.

The absence of the Wang family’s elderly lady at such an occasion puzzled the well-wishers. “Zhenhe, where’s your mother? It’s a bit inappropriate for her not to be here at such an event. And what about your sisters? It’s quite disrespectful not to attend,” they remarked.

Wang Zhenhe could only come up with an excuse. “My mother isn’t feeling well. It’s the thought that counts. My eldest sister has something to attend to.”

After saying this, Wang Zhenhe quickly found an excuse to slip away. He didn’t know how to respond to further inquiries.

As the time for the “topping out” ceremony approached, the villagers and the well-wishers gathered at the construction site, ready to grab the buns. There’s an old saying in the countryside that eating the “topping out” buns can extend one’s life to ninety-nine years. Whether this is true or not, the enthusiasm for grabbing the buns remains strong.

The carpenters stood on the roof and hung the quilt covers brought by the relatives. When the wind blew, the entire roof turned red like a flag.

Wang Qian and her siblings looked excited as they watched this scene. This house would be their home in the future.

When the last beam wrapped in red cloth was raised to the roof, Wang Qian felt a surge of emotion. After months of hard work, the house was finally built. However, the family had incurred debts for this. If they had built a traditional mud and grass house, the money from selling ginseng would have been enough. But after changing to a brick and tile house, the budget had significantly increased. Despite borrowing money, she had no regrets about her decision. Money could be earned slowly, but a house was a lifelong matter. No one would spend every day building a house for fun.

The carpenters on the roof began loudly chanting, “Topping out! Grab the buns!” They reached into the red cloth bags prepared in advance and began to throw steamed buns, cakes, and coins to the crowd below. Men, women, and children all rushed to catch the items. The children chanted a rhyme as they picked up the items from the ground. Everyone reached high, hoping to catch something from the air, while the children looked on from the ground, picking up whatever fell and putting it in their pockets.

At least this was fine grain, something that ordinary families rarely had the chance to eat. It was only during the New Year that they could have a meal of white flour steamed buns and dumplings.

Some people who managed to grab the buns immediately devoured them. “Wow, the buns from Wang Zhenhe’s family are so delicious.”

Another person said, “Yeah, they are delicious. It looks like Wang Zhenhe’s family is going to prosper. These steamed buns and cakes are especially fragrant.”

In fact, Wang Qian had tasted a bite in the morning. The white flour was indeed fragrant, with a kind of original wheat aroma. In the future, even the wheat had been improved so many times that the original fragrance had slowly faded away.

Not to mention anything else, even the current grains tasted better to her than those in the future. It was not a matter of hunger, but purely a matter of taste.

After the topping out ceremony, everyone followed Zhang Lan and her family back to their current residence. The table was set up outside, and fortunately, the weather was warm and sunny. The heavens seemed to be particularly favorable, as the Wang family was hosting the feast on a day with clear skies and calm winds.

According to local customs, the feast consisted of eight big bowls, with four plates and eight large bowls filled with dishes. However, these bowls were much larger than those used in the future, as they needed to be sufficient for everyone to eat.

Most of the items for the feast were borrowed. In the local custom, households would borrow items from each other for such occasions, keeping track of what was borrowed and returning them after use.

The dishes served by the Wang family were all hearty. There was a bowl of stir-fried onions with clams, a bowl of wild chicken with vermicelli, rabbit stew with dried potatoes, scrambled eggs with oysters, braised tofu, stewed fish, fried fish, and stir-fried cabbage with vinegar. There were also four cold dishes: shredded kelp, fried prawn slices, fried meatballs, and vegetable meatballs. The main dish was sorghum rice.

The Wang family put all their efforts into this meal, and Geng Lianhua was a great help. The sorghum rice was from their own harvest, and the seafood was caught by the elderly couple in the sea. This saved the girls a lot of effort. The rabbits and wild chickens were caught by Wang Qian and Zhang Lan when they went up the mountain.

The main expense for the Wang family was buying some oil, and even the oil vouchers were borrowed by Zhang Lan’s mother from someone else.

The villagers who came to help and those who came to return favors gathered to settle their debts. At this time, the favors were usually settled with a small amount of money, typically one or two yuan, and the most being five yuan. The largest favor was settled by Zhang Lan’s maternal family.

There were ten tables set up for the feast today. Everyone was delighted to see the sumptuous feast, as it had been a long time since they had seen such a spread. Today’s meal not only included meat but also fish. Despite their proximity to the sea, they rarely had access to seafood, as it was a collective resource and outsiders were not allowed to come and gather seafood. Only the locals could go and gather seafood, so people from outside the area rarely had the opportunity to eat seafood.

Today’s feast was a significant improvement in everyone’s lives. Even if they spent a couple of yuan to settle their debts, it was worth it. Even at a restaurant, they wouldn’t be able to eat such good food.

Whether they were there to help or to return favors, everyone praised Wang Zhenhe. “Zhenhe, we are truly impressed. You are so capable. I haven’t seen a feast like this in our entire area.”

Wang Zhenhe humbly responded, “Everyone, there are a lot of people here today. If there’s anything lacking in the hospitality, please bear with us. Enjoy the food and drinks.”

During the feast, a villager joked, “Zhenhe, you’ve done enough. We are very satisfied with the food. You should go and attend to your work. We are all neighbors and relatives. You don’t need to stay here and entertain us.”

After greeting the guests at each table, Wang Zhenhe returned to the table with the elders to have his meal. In rural areas, it’s usually the men of the host family who sit at the table with the guests, while the women and children help in the kitchen. Even when it comes to eating, they usually wait until the guests have left before they start their meal.

Zhang Lan and the other sisters-in-law finished serving the meal before starting to clean up the kitchen. The children helped clear the kitchen of the trash.

Zhang Lan called the sisters-in-law over to eat. They had prepared a separate table just for those who had helped out.

Thinking about her mother-in-law and sister-in-law still at home, she began to look for things to take to them.

“What are you doing, sister? Come and eat,” Wang Juan, the eldest sister-in-law, called out to her as she saw Zhang Lan searching for something on the floor.

“You go ahead and eat first. I’m going to prepare something to take to our mother and sister,” Zhang Lan replied. Even though her mother-in-law and sister-in-law hadn’t come, she felt it was necessary to take something to them. She didn’t mind the effort of preparing a few dishes for them.

Wang Juan became unhappy. “Don’t bother. When we had our topping out ceremony, our sister came over to take some food back. Didn’t you see her sitting at the table eating?”

She pointed outside, where Wang Zhi was indeed sitting at the table, eating and drinking heartily. Wang Juan sighed and shook her head. “Well, I was planning to take something to her, but I guess I don’t need to bother now.”

Upon hearing the conversation between the two sisters-in-law, Han Cui spoke up, “Sister, even if you don’t take anything to our sister, she won’t starve. She’s never been at a loss. Come and eat. You’ve been busy all morning. Call the children over to eat with us.”