My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 125 Father's Relics
The old house and courtyard walls have all been torn down. All that's left is to clean up the broken bricks and tiles, keep the intact and usable ones, burn the rotten beams and window frames as firewood, and carry out the mud, ash, and debris in baskets. The earthen walls will be kept to be crushed and used to raise the courtyard, which will be perfect for building a courtyard after the foundation is laid.

There's strength in numbers, and a large group of people worked quickly and efficiently, tidying up the backyard in half a day.

"Susu, come out quickly! I've dug up the Chen family's heirloom. Come out and see what treasures it contains."

Wang Xiuhua shouted in her booming voice, a characteristic of a women's team leader.

This caused everyone in the front yard to rush out in a flurry.

"Heirloom? What heirloom? Let me see it."

"What?"

"It's just a bag of grains, or maybe a few strings of money for raising the roof beam. I thought it was something rare."

"No, it's a jar. The jar is very heavy; there must be something good inside."

Outside the courtyard, Wang Xiuhua was holding a dirty black jar, while Chen Jiang's wife was holding a faded red cloth bag.

Everyone knows that a red cloth bag is either a bag of grains or money for raising the roof beam.

The older generation had specific customs and traditions when building houses.

A bag of grains placed on the main beam is believed to ward off evil spirits and protect the home.

Alternatively, holes could be drilled in the main beam, and copper coins or silver dollars could be stuffed inside. The copper coins would often have special characters, such as "Shunzhi" or "Taiping," for good luck and to make it convenient for future generations to use when they were in trouble. These were called "raising beam money."

I've heard that wealthy families would hide gold inside their houses, a practice known as "hiding gold in the beams."

However, Chen Ling's family certainly doesn't have any gold.

He himself didn't believe it either, and shook his head at everyone, saying, "My family has been poor farmers for three generations, not landlords, so what good things could we have?"

"So what if they're poor peasants? Don't poor peasants have treasures? That's not necessarily true."

One of the women muttered under her breath.

Chen Ling's family was indeed poor peasants, but his mother, a former educated youth, was not. Who knows if she left behind any valuable treasures?

"Open it, Susu, open it and take a look."

At this moment, Wang Xiuhua handed the jar to Wang Susu, asking her to open it.

The others also urged him on.

Wang Susu glanced at Chen Ling, and under everyone's gaze, carefully opened the jar. Inside, she saw a heavy, dark iron lock with a thick, rusted chain binding it.

"What is this thing? Could it be a longevity lock?"

"It should be; there are words on it."

Wang Susu took out the iron lock, and people saw that it was engraved with the birth date and time, and the three most conspicuous characters were "Chen Juncai".

“I understand, this is Uncle Juncai’s longevity lock.”

"You should keep the wealth and honor."

"Either bury it back, or bring it to Uncle Juncai's grave this year."

Chen Ling took it and examined it. It was indeed his father's longevity lock. He nodded and silently put the lock back into the jar and resealed it.

"Fugui, when we visit Uncle Juncai's grave this year, will Aunt Junying come?"

"I don't know, I guess they can't come, it's too far."

"That's right. My mother also said that she dreamed about Aunt Junying a few days ago. The two of them were very close back then. When the team sent people to Jinmen Village to borrow livestock, the two of them went together."

"It's just that we live far apart now, so it's not easy to meet up."

"Who says otherwise? It's better for a daughter to marry someone closer to home, otherwise it'll be hard for her to go back to her parents' home."

When people in the village talk about Chen Ling's father, Chen Juncai, they always mention his aunt, Chen Junying.

There was no other way; without Chen Junying, there would be no Chen Juncai.

Back then, Chen Ling's grandmother couldn't raise her children. They either had frequent miscarriages or died at the age of one or two. Later, she consulted a shaman who said that the child was cursed by a fetal evil spirit. She needed to adopt a baby girl to dispel the evil spirit, and then the fetal evil spirit would become a fetal deity, allowing her to give birth to a healthy child.

In those days, adopting a baby girl was not a difficult thing.

Furthermore, Chen Ling's grandparents were already planning to adopt a child from someone else since they couldn't have one themselves, and they managed to bring one back from the neighboring Kuliu County without much effort.

But miraculously, less than two years later, Chen Ling's grandmother actually gave birth to a healthy baby boy.

This story spread far and wide back then.

It has been a topic of conversation for many years, and even now, many elderly people still tell it as a story.

However, although the story is somewhat legendary, after the siblings got married, Chen Ling's father did not have a good relationship with his older sister, and outsiders said that it was Chen Ling's mother who caused the trouble.

In rural areas, when a daughter doesn't return to her parents' home, people often blame the sister-in-law for not being virtuous.

In reality, Auntie is a kind-hearted person, but she is honest and lacks assertiveness. After marrying a husband who loves to take advantage of others and is petty, she listens to him in everything. When she goes back to her parents' home, she always complains about being poor and tries to get something back. Chen Ling's mother is not a kind person and would never agree to this. As time went on, there were naturally many conflicts.

They interacted less and less.

In recent years, the only two occasions I've visited were when Chen Ling got married and when Chen Ling's father passed away.

At other times, unless it's a critical moment when they need to give money as a gift, they definitely won't come to visit easily.

Now that her father has passed away, this aunt still remembers Chen Ling as the same good-for-nothing she used to be, and probably avoids him like the plague.

That would mean completely cutting off all contact.

For Chen Ling, it didn't matter whether he had this aunt or not; it was just that outsiders always liked to mention his father when they talked about him.

In particular, the phrase "Junying is a talented man, without Junying there would be no talented man" is a saying that villagers often repeat when talking about his father.

He didn't care.

"The roof beams have all been lifted out. There's no rush to pack up the rest. Everyone, take a break and have some water to cool off."

Chen Ling brought the jar into the house and greeted them.

By this time, Wang Susu had already filled several tables in the courtyard with herbal tea, and had also washed and laid out the grapes and peaches that had grown in the yard, so that everyone could enjoy the cool air while eating.

"This guy gets good treatment working for the rich."

"Of course! There's plenty to eat and drink, and lots of meat. How comfortable!"

"After you've rested, Fugui, come with me to the outskirts of the village and we'll go and carry some beams."

"Taking on the main beam? I already went to check this morning. The ones outside the village aren't very good. I'm planning to go to the city tomorrow to pick out a few. I happen to know someone there."

Chen Ling shook his head. The beams placed outside the village were all brought over from the lumber mill for the villagers to take as they pleased. This led to each household wanting to pick the best ones. After more than half a month of picking and choosing, the remaining ones were not very satisfactory.

It would be better to go to the cave and pick out some good timber; cutting down trees wouldn't take him much effort. After being processed by the cave, it would be ready to use.

The wood used for beams and pillars is usually air-dried or shade-dried. If exposed to direct sunlight, it is prone to cracking. It is often covered with straw mats or similar materials, but it also needs to be ventilated frequently, otherwise some of the wood will mold.

With Chen Ling possessing a hidden world within him, none of these issues are a problem.

"Okay, do you need someone to go with you tomorrow?"

"No need, I can manage on my own. It's just that I have to get up early, so I won't be able to make breakfast for everyone."

"Haha, you're too honest, kid. Do you really want to feed us three meals a day? It's like the old days of communal dining."

"That's true. Actually, the government now provides materials for building houses, which is no different from when the production teams were still in place. Back then, the brigade provided homesteads and farmland for cutting adobe bricks to families who were approved to build houses, and even cut down pine trees for rafters, doors and windows at will."

"The laborers who participated in building the house were assigned by the production team and given work points. Back then, the homeowners really did have to provide three meals a day."

"But those were tough times. It's nothing like now, where after a disaster, materials are brought out of the village and we can use them whenever we want."

“Back then, we didn’t produce lime here. The lime sold in Huangni Town was of poor quality and expensive. We had to carry it back from the Wangbacheng kiln, which was forty miles away. The lime there was of high quality and cheap, but the mountain roads were difficult to travel. There were only narrow paths, and we had to cross mountains and valleys.”

"We would eat dinner at night and rush over there. The next morning, each of us would carry back about 100 kilograms of lime. Our feet would be blistered. If a family of four or five wanted to build a house, it would take more than half a month and more than a dozen trips. It would be exhausting."

"I must say, back then people worked themselves to the bone to build a new house. Nobody was afraid of wolves when they encountered them on mountain paths at night. They wouldn't climb trees if there were any nearby. Instead, they would grab a carrying pole and fight the wolves. They were tough as nails."

"Brother Dazhi, would you still dare to hunt wolves now?"

"Not now. I don't have the guts anymore. I'm getting old. It's a miracle if my legs don't tremble when I see a wolf."

The group sat under the shade of a tree, drinking herbal tea, eating grapes and peaches, and chatting idly.

After resting enough, they dusted themselves off, shouted a command, and followed Chen Dazhi out of the courtyard.

"It's 4:30. Hurry up and finish carrying the soil so that the yard can be raised before dark, and we can start laying the foundation tomorrow."

“Lixian, Fugui will be out of town tomorrow to pick up timber for the main beams. Let’s split into two groups, one carrying the rammer and the other using the rammer. That way we can get the job done faster.”

"Yeah, everything is fine."

"Brother Xian, if either is fine, then I'll use the tamping machine. I've never used a machine to tamp things down before, hehe."

"Bullshit, I've never used it, why can't I use it?"

"Oh, if you want to use it too, just take turns. Just pound it a few more times. Why are you acting like a child, getting impatient? It's not like I'm afraid of putting in the effort."

"I don't believe you. I think you're just trying to be lazy. You ate the most grapes just now, stuffing them into your mouth without even spitting out the skins."

"Hey, you son of a bitch, Yuqiang, all you ever do is pick a fight with me. Want to fight?"

"Uncle Dazhi, look! Shuiwazi is trying to hit me because he can't win an argument. He's trying to bully people because he's older."

"Knowing I'm of a higher generation, why don't you give me the rammer?"

"Alright, alright, get back to work. Aren't you two ashamed? The kids are watching. Why are you fighting over the rammer? Aren't you afraid the kids will laugh at you?"

After Chen Dazhi finished speaking, Chen Yuqiang and Chen Ze noticed a group of kids squatting under a tree nearby, holding popsicles and laughing as they watched the commotion. They immediately felt their faces burning with embarrassment, glared angrily at their own children, and scolded them for eating popsicles without fear of getting a stomachache. They then turned around, picked up their loads, and left.

This made everyone laugh.

As for Chen Ling, she was left at home to prepare dinner.

Carry soil, haul bricks, pave the yard, and lay the foundation.

There was no shortage of meat in the two meals a day, and everyone was willing to work hard.

And so, five busy and lively days passed. The foundation was laid, the courtyard was repaired, and the house was built.

Only the roof beams were left uninstalled, and the roof was left unrepaired.

Because the third day of the eighth lunar month is not an auspicious day, it is not suitable for breaking ground, moving into a new house, construction, or demolition. It is better to wait two days until the fifth day of the eighth lunar month.

On the fourth day of the eighth lunar month, the beams were repaired, the bark was scraped off, the wood was cut, and the surface was sanded smooth. The main beam was installed on the fifth day, and Chen Ling had everyone rest at home on the third day.

However, no one actually took a break and did nothing.

The corn seedlings in the fields aren't sprouting very tall yet, so the women can take care of them at home. The men continue to come and help them bring in roof tiles or cut reeds, which are all things needed for building the roof.

"Come quick, Uncle Fugui's car is here, he's handing out popsicles."

"What car? I didn't see it."

"It was a brand new car with a cargo bed, it looked really nice. It was loaded with all sorts of delicious food, and they even gave us popsicles."

“My mom ran over and grabbed it a long time ago, and I’m going too. I’m not talking to you anymore.”

(End of this chapter)