Chapter 403: Moving to a New Home
Chapter 403: Moving to a New Home
The auspicious time for the move on New Year's Day was at 3 a.m.
The family went to bed at 8 p.m. and woke up promptly at 2:30 a.m., ready to move from the old house to the new one, each holding an item symbolizing good fortune.
The customs for entering the new home were different from what Jiang Xia had seen online before.
Zhou Fu was the first to enter, carrying a cage with a chicken inside.
Two tangerines, a red envelope, and Longyan leaves were tied to the cage.
Zhou Mu followed, carrying two buckets of water on a pole, with two tangerines and a red envelope tied to the buckets. Longyan and Cebai leaves floated in the water.
Zhou Chenglei carried two baskets on a pole, one filled with rice and the other with paddy, both adorned with red envelopes, tangerines, and Cebai leaves.
In his other hand, he held two round sieves, one large and one small, with tangerines and a red envelope hanging from them.
Jiang Xia carried two baskets filled with an abacus, a scale stick, a mirror, a ruler, an apple, five types of grain seeds, coins, candy, pork, an oil lamp, pastries, and two new pairs of pants for the couple.
Lastly, Zhou Zhou carried two sugarcane stalks, each tied with a red envelope.
Everyone had to enter the house carrying something, following the customs.
As the female head of the household, Jiang Xia carried the most items, thankfully none of them were too heavy.
The heaviest, the rice and paddy, were carried by Zhou Chenglei.
As they left the old house, they saw Zhou Bingqiang's family approaching, each carrying a load. Everyone held a flashlight to light their way.
Wen Wan shone her light on Jiang Xia, taking note of her load.
She noticed that everyone carried similar items, probably following the same tradition.
However, Wen Wan's family lived farther away, and her shoulders ached from carrying her load! At this moment, no one exchanged greetings, as it was not appropriate.
Each family opened their courtyard gate and entered their new home.
As they filed into the house, Zhou Chenglei set down his load and took the baskets from Jiang Xia, asking, "Is it heavy?"
Jiang Xia replied, "Not at all. It's just a short distance of a few meters. Even if it were heavy, it's not a problem."
She would gladly carry such a load many times over! Zhou Chenglei thought of the house in the city, where Jiang Xia would have to carry this load up the stairs. It wouldn't be as easy as it was now.
He found these customs unnecessary.
Different regions had different customs for entering a new home; bringing items with good symbolism was all that was needed.
One should bring into the new home what they hoped to have in their new life.
But his father and mother insisted on following this tradition.
Jiang Xia agreed to follow the customs.
If it were up to him, Jiang Xia wouldn't have to carry so much.
He would have her carry an apple in one hand and a piece of candy in the other.
He wished her a lifetime of peace and health, with days as sweet as candy.
Zhou Mu smiled and said, "Alright, we're in. Xia, you can go back to your room and continue sleeping!"
Zhou Fu took the oil lamp that Jiang Xia had brought and placed it on the altar. Then, picking up the pork and pastries, he said to Zhou Chenglei, "You can go back to sleep. Your mother and I will arrange the items. Ah Lei, take the pair of baskets that Xia brought and put them in your room for three days."
Jiang Xia replied, "Okay."
She turned to Zhou Zhou, "Zhou Zhou, you can go back to your room too. Are you brave enough to sleep alone on the third floor?"
Zhou Zhou nodded, "Yes, I am!"
Jiang Xia said, "Come, Auntie will take you upstairs to sleep."
Zhou Chenglei carried the load of items and headed upstairs with Jiang Xia and Zhou Zhou to their rooms to continue sleeping.
Jiang Xia first escorted Zhou Zhou back to her room, "Are you okay? Do you want to sleep in the second-floor room?"
Zhou Zhou looked at Jiang Xia, puzzled, "Of course! Why wouldn't I dare?"
Jiang Xia was just worried that she might be afraid on her own, but seeing her genuine fearlessness, she let her be: "Then I'll stay here and sleep with you, and then I'll go back downstairs."
"No need, Auntie. You should go and sleep too! If you stay here and talk to me, I'll be even more awake."
Jiang Xia: "...... Then I'll go downstairs to sleep first."
"Okay."
Jiang Xia left Zhou Zhou's room, leaving a bedside lamp on.
The lights in the living room and on the stairs remained on.
After Jiang Xia went downstairs, Zhou Zhou couldn't help but examine her room, feeling the mattress, the bedside lamp, and the bed cover.
This bed is so comfortable!
The quilt is beautiful, and the pattern on it is so cute!
The bedside lamp is also very pretty.
Zhou Zhou, nestled in the quilt, felt a bit excited and couldn't sleep. She couldn't resist rolling around, but being a child, she soon closed her eyes and fell asleep within a short while.
After fifteen minutes, Zhou Chenglei came upstairs to check on her. Seeing that she was asleep, he turned off the light and went downstairs to sleep.
The next morning, at seven o'clock, Tian Caihua, Grandmother, her family, and some relatives from the same village, including Uncle and Aunt Tang, came to help. Li Xiuxian also returned early to lend a hand.
Today's head chef was Uncle Dong, who was usually the go-to person for catering at village celebrations.
Zhou Bingqiang had also invited him first, but he declined and came to help at Jiang Xia's house instead.
Uncle Dong instructed, "You two, start by peeling the sweet potatoes, and I'll begin stewing the braised pork."
After speaking, he went to prepare the pork.
He Xinghuan immediately volunteered, "I'll do it!"
Tian Caihua said, "Younger Sister-in-law, you can help with peeling the sweet potatoes too!"
Li Xiuxian's face darkened. She knew that Tian Caihua was doing this on purpose, well aware that she hated peeling sweet potatoes the most. After peeling them, her hands would always get an allergic reaction, causing unbearable itching: "I can't. Every time I peel sweet potatoes, I get an allergic reaction."
Of course, Tian Caihua was doing this intentionally. She guessed that Li Xiuxian would refuse, so she quickly said, "Then you can help Grandmother slaughter the chickens! I'll go and peel them."
Compared to slaughtering chickens, Tian Caihua preferred peeling sweet potatoes.
Li Xiuxian: "......"
She didn't like slaughtering chickens either. When plucking the feathers, the hot water made the chicken feathers smell terrible!
And slaughtering chickens was the most troublesome task.
She just wanted to wash vegetables or do the dishes. But since she returned late, someone was already washing the vegetables, and someone else was washing the dishes. All the simple and clean tasks were already being handled by others.
Zhou Chensen said, "Come and help me catch the chickens, and I'll do the slaughtering."
Li Xiuxian had no choice but to grit her teeth and help Zhou Chensen slaughter the chickens. After finishing over a dozen chickens, her hands were wrinkled from the water, and her whole body smelled of chicken droppings and feathers.
Just as Li Xiuxian was about to go back inside for a drink and a rest, Tian Caihua spoke up again, "Younger Sister-in-law, hurry and go slaughter the fish! We're running out of time. Uncle Dong is about to start frying the fish! Only you two are available!"
Zhou Chensen: "Okay!"
Li Xiuxian: "......"
Indeed, in the morning, Li Xiuxian was successfully made to smell both fishy and stinky by Tian Caihua, who was delighted.
When the second room moved into their new house, Li Xiuxian had also been assigned the tasks of slaughtering chickens and fish, and today she finally got her revenge!
As noon approached, two brand-new green Jeeps parked outside Jiang Xia's new house.
The one in front still didn't have a license plate.
Jiang Dong jumped out of the car.
(End of Chapter)
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