Juhua nodded with a smile. "Four people are enough for the cooking, it’s just that there are a lot of miscellaneous chores. Why call Auntie over? It would just be a waste of her time."

The two entered the courtyard as they spoke. On seeing Zhang Huai, the woman from the Yang family called out loudly for him to hurry and eat.

After breakfast, the men tossed their bowls and chopsticks aside and went to work on the new house. The villagers who were helping also began to arrive.

Juhua, the woman from the Yang family, and the others started clearing the bowls and chopsticks. After washing everything, they began to prepare lunch.

Working nonstop, they finally saw the main beam laid across the rooftop, its ends tied with red cloth.

Raising the beam was a crucial step. It signified that the framework of the new house was complete, and the next steps were to nail the rafters and lay the tiles. A ceremony was required for this, so it had been deliberately scheduled for early in the morning.

A feast was also to be held that evening, where relatives, friends, and all the neighbors would come to offer their congratulations.

Juhua’s maternal uncle and Qingmu sat on one end of the roof beam; Zheng Changhe and Zhang Huai sat on the other. Each of them held a bag filled with store-bought pastries and candies, and firecrackers also hung from the beam.

The house, now a basic frame, was packed with the village’s young children.

A candy scramble during the beam-raising ceremony—what a lively scene it was.

The village school was closed for the day. Qingmu had invited Mr. Zhou to the feast, so the children got to enjoy a day off as well.

Juhua and Liu Xiaomei also squeezed in on one side to watch the excitement. She lowered her head and said to Little Shitou and Gou Dan with a grin, "When they start throwing the candy, you two be careful not to get stepped on. Keep your eyes sharp and your hands quick."

Little Shitou said with a chuckle, "I know. I’m definitely going to grab the most today."

Gou Dan, always one to want more, said to Shi Tou, "I’ll go scramble for candy on that side of the house, and you stay on this side. If we split up, won’t we be able to grab more?"

Little Shitou stopped him. "There are more people over there. Aren’t Bianwa and Si Mao over there? It’s less crowded here, so it’ll be easier to grab some. I’ve already taken a good look—the ground over there is uneven, but it’s much flatter here."

When Juhua and Liu Xiaomei heard that he had even thought of such details, they couldn’t help but laugh.

Just then, they heard Juhua’s maternal uncle shout, "All you kids, back up a bit! We’re about to light the firecrackers, so be careful! We’ll toss the candy after they’re finished. Don’t rush, there’s plenty for everyone."

The crowd roared with laughter, but the sound was immediately drowned out by the CRACKLE and POP of the firecrackers.

The firecrackers went on for quite a while before finally stopping. The roofless house was filled with the smoke of gunpowder. Then, a loud cry came from the men above: "Raising the beam—!"

Candies of all kinds rained down from the roof beam. The children swarmed forward, chattering and laughing as they scrambled to pick up the sweets.

Even the children who were knocked down didn’t cry, too busy searching the ground for more candy.

Someone would occasionally shout, "Don’t push! You’re crushing the candy!"

"Gou Dan, there’s one under your foot!"

Little Shitou yelled, "Qingmu, throw some over here!"

The other children heard him and immediately ran to his spot. Shi Tou quickly dodged out of the way, which made Qingmu laugh from his perch on the beam.

Similar shouts erupted from the other side of the house. "Toss some over here, Uncle Zheng!" "Huai Zi, I’m right here!"

Juhua found the scene amusing. ’They’re all packed in so tight, they’re crushing the candy flat. Even though it’s wrapped in paper and not getting dirty, there’ll be nothing but powder left to eat once it’s unwrapped.’

She and Liu Xiaomei didn’t join the scramble; they were too old for that and felt it would be embarrassing. However, Liu Xiaomei got lucky and found two pieces of candy right at her feet. She grinned and handed one to Juhua, remarking that this particular piece was easy to come by.

Little Shitou ran back to her, full of excitement. "Juhua," he said, "I collected a whole little bagful!"

Juhua saw him holding up a small pouch that was indeed bulging, and couldn’t help but praise him for being so quick.

The men on the roof beam paid no mind to the children below comparing who had collected more or less candy. With a CLANG and a BANG, they started nailing down the purlins, laying out woven bamboo mats, securing the rafters, and setting the tiles.

By afternoon, the new house was finally roofed! It was a house of blue-gray bricks and dark tiles, and though it had just been built, to Juhua’s eyes, it had a rather quaint, traditional charm.

In the evening, about ten tables for the feast were set up in the new house.

Juhua was no longer the one in charge of the cooking. Each dish had to be cooked in quantities enough for four or five servings at a time, and her slender arms couldn’t handle the strain. The married women took over, so she and Liu Xiaomei just helped with washing vegetables and dishes.

The two of them were no longer in a hurry, chatting as they worked. With so many people to feed, things were bound to be chaotic, and it wasn’t as if the two of them could manage everything by themselves anyway.

Juhua’s maternal uncle bustled back and forth, coordinating everything. One moment he was calling for bowls and chopsticks, the next for dishes to be served or for more rice; his shouts were incessant.

The boisterous feast made Juhua dizzy just watching, and her head spun from all the noise.

At some tables, guests politely deferred to one another with constant invitations to eat and drink; those were the more refined groups. At others, adults were shouting and children were shrieking, a chaotic scene of grabbing food and laughing hysterically; these were usually the tables of women who had brought their children. Then there were the tables that were just a drunken roar—that was the young men, locked in a drinking competition.

The smell of greasy smoke was making her nauseous. When she asked Liu Xiaomei, she found out she felt the same. The two took advantage of a lull in the work, each scraping up a piece of scorched rice from the bottom of the wok. They spread it with chili sauce, topped it with some pickled vegetables, and hid off to one side to eat.

They hadn’t even eaten half of it when they heard her uncle’s loud shout, "Juhua! Juhua! Bring two more bowls! This table needs two bowls!"

The two shared a wry smile and quickly grabbed the bowls to take them in.

They came face-to-face with Liu Sanshun, who was coming out with a bowl of rice. Seeing the scorched rice in their hands and smelling the chili sauce, he asked with a laugh, "There are so many dishes. Why are you eating pickled vegetables?"

Liu Xiaomei said with frustration, "We’re full just from the smell of the cooking fumes. How could we possibly eat anything else? The only thing that smells good right now is this chili sauce. We’re just unlucky, I guess. Third Brother, why are you eating out here?"

Liu Sanshun chuckled. "I don’t dare stay at the table. They’re forcing everyone to drink. My stomach’s empty, so I’d better eat a couple of bowls of rice first."

As it turned out, the words were barely out of his mouth before Big Mouth Zhao dragged him back inside. Whether or not he was forced to drink after that was anyone’s guess.

After the uproar, the feast finally came to an end. People began to take their leave, and Zheng Changhe and his wife saw their guests off, thanking them profusely.

Once the noise died down, the sky had already grown dark. Only close relatives and good friends remained. They gathered around a single table, eating slowly and discussing plans for the next day.