Chapter 172: Planning Retribution on the Strange New House’s Rafter (6)_1
And now, all that had happened to Wang Dali and the others was that they had been punished with a beating by the plank, and after recuperating for some time, they were energetically bouncing around once again. When the villagers saw them, they would remember the disgusting things they had done and remind themselves not to cross Mo Family.
This was precisely the effect Mo Yan had intended to achieve when he orchestrated this drama!
In the blink of an eye, the sixth day of June arrived, and on this day, Mo Family’s new house would have its ridgepole raised. It was the first grand occasion for Mo Family since their flight to Jing City, and they gave it great importance.
Before the official ridge-raising ceremony, most of Liu Yang Village had turned up, because not only was there a spectacle to watch, but following the traditional custom after the ridge was raised, Mo Family would also distribute candy, steamed buns, and other foods, an irresistible temptation for the villagers.
In Great Chu, the ridge-raising ceremony was a very solemn occasion. Even the average household would complete the five stages of the ritual—’worship of the ridgepole,’ ’raising of the ridgepole,’ ’receiving the bundle,’ ’throwing from the ridgepole,’ and ’honoring the master craftsman’—all to pray for a sturdy home and a fulfilled life.
In front of the main house’s hall, an altar had been arranged. The altar was laden with offerings including incense, pigs, fish, chickens, geese, eggs, tofu, and more incense.
Before raising the ridgepole, worshipping the ridgepole was an essential procedure. Mo Qingze himself stepped forward and, along with Master Lv and the others, lifted the chief ridgepole, adorned with red paper, in front of the altar. Master Lv then presided over the worship of the ridgepole; he chanted the obscure sacrificial words with a solemn expression while holding a cup of wine in homage.
After the worship of the ridgepole was complete, the carpenters tied ropes around the chief ridgepole and had several men on the roof pull it up. At that moment, firecrackers burst into a cacophony of sound, and Master Lv on the roof sang the ridge-raising song, calling out, "Raise the ridgepole, great fortune and good luck!"
Once the chief ridgepole was securely in place, Mo Qingze, as the head of the household, placed the ’Five Grains Color Bag’—containing red dates, peanuts, rice, wheat, and evergreen plants—given by families in the village with good ties to his family, in the exact center of the ridgepole, and draped a red cloth over the ridge, symbolizing a bountiful harvest.