Song Sanniang's Journey to Wealth

Chapter 159: Housewarming Ceremony

A large group of people carrying baskets and carrying things in their hands arrived at the gate of Song Laoer's new house.

Song Zhengan and his family were busy preparing for the lunch banquet. Some were chopping vegetables and some were chopping meat. The chopping boards were banging with the knives.

Several tables nearby were filled with food, and the firewood in several large stoves was burning vigorously. On some stoves, there were several layers of large steamers stacked up, steaming hot, and a fragrant smell wafted out of them.

The Feng Shui master asked everyone to stand at the door first. He asked Song Laoer to worship the door god of the new house first. Then an aunt brought firecrackers and Song Laoer lit them. This time the firecrackers were much longer than those in the old house, and they started to crackle.

The Song clan leader and his wife had already been waiting inside the new house. When the Feng Shui master saw the firecrackers burning, he shouted, "The auspicious time has arrived, open the door."

The Song clan leader and his wife opened the door while chanting in unison: "Open the left door, wealth and prosperity will come; open the right door, wealth and prosperity will come.

The door is wide open, and wealth and splendor are coming in.

Pearls come in through the front door, agates come in through the back door,

Pearls and agates go together, and you will enjoy wealth and splendor until old age.

Walking here and there, there are countless gold and silver.

Walking from one end to the other, there are thousands of baskets of gold and silver. "

After the two finished singing, Song Lao Er was the first to step into the gate holding the ancestral tablet, and Song Ersao followed behind him holding a new ladder, which meant rising step by step.

Song Sanniang holds a scale, which means sincerity and success; Si Niang holds a vase of flowers, which means prosperity; Wu Niang holds some rice and oil, which means no worries about food and clothing.

To enter a new house, all family members must enter the house before other people can enter.

And no one can go in empty-handed, they must bring something with good intentions, and then the elders of the host family can go in,

Mrs. Song held a jar of wine, which meant longevity; Grandfather Liu held a big carp that was still alive and kicking, which meant abundance every year; and Grandma Chen held a bowl of glutinous rice balls, which meant reunion.

Then it was Song Lao Da, the two elder sisters-in-law, and Uncle Liu and a large group of relatives, each carrying a basket in their hands or on their shoulders.

It contained cereals, newly bought bed sheets, newly bought brooms and dustpans, incense sticks and candles that would be used later, three small animals, an eight-tenths full rice jar, a bucket with a pair of bowls and chopsticks, and so on.

Boss Song is holding a lit old oil lamp in his hand, which means that the prosperity of the old house will continue to the new house.

Qin Haodong, Niu Laosan and others followed him in with celery, green garlic, rice cakes, tofu and other things in their hands.

After passing through the courtyard and the moon gate and arriving in front of the house, Song Lao Er entered the house first. Under the guidance of the Feng Shui master, he placed the ancestral tablets and set up the incense burner.

Then I found the Tai Chi position in my home, placed a copper basin on it, lit three sticks of incense with an old oil lamp, and prayed.

"I beg the local land god and the local land master to bless my family with peace, harmony, prosperity, happiness and auspiciousness."

Then he lit three pieces of paper money and three gold ingots in the copper basin. The Feng Shui master said that you can't burn too many things in a new house. Although Song Lao Er didn't understand why, he just did it as he was told.

The Feng Shui master instructed that after the house was settled, the remaining gold ingots, paper money, candles and wax should be taken to the crossroads to be burned at night. Song Laoer took note of it.

After the worship was completed according to the instructions of the Feng Shui master, someone brought peach branches, lit them and placed them in a bronze basin.

Song Lao Er held the bronze brazier and walked around the new house, passing every corner of the house. This was called exorcising evil spirits and welcoming good fortune.

After he finished doing all this, Song Ersao and the others came in and burned incense in front of the ancestral tablets, then prayed and said some words asking the ancestors to bless the family with good fortune and peace.

Then the others followed into the house, with pillows and kitchen utensils brought in first, so the second aunt and her friends who were carrying these things carried them into the house.

An aunt who had come to help in the new house before took them to each room with pillows and bedding and placed them there. The beds would be made on the day of moving, so they helped make the beds.

Some people led others to put the kitchen supplies such as rice jars, buckets, brooms, dustpans, etc. into the kitchen.

On the first floor, everyone found grains and cereals. Song Liniang took the grains and cereals and scattered them in the room of Song Laoer and his wife, chanting as she scattered them.

"This house has an owner. I hereby inform all parties that those who should leave should leave, and those who should come should leave. Grains and cereals should be provided for generations. The house gods should return to their positions, and all outsiders should stay away."

She scattered the water from Song Laoer and his wife's room to the door. This is called "Jingjiao", and it is also a ritual to dispel the evil spirits in the dark corners of the house.

Song Sanniang had never expected that there were so many things to pay attention to and do just when moving into a new house. She thought it was quite interesting, so she watched with great interest.

The four women were so excited that they could not express it in words. They dragged the children who were playing well together to jump up and down in the house. The two of them dragged them to their own room.

Si Niang walked around in her room with a proud look on her face. "My room looks nice, isn't it? It's very big." She pointed at the scenery outside the window and said proudly, "I can see Lotus Mountain from my window."

My little cousin, Niu Qianqian, Song Lan, Niu Zhuangzhuang and several other children nodded enviously, because there were no two-story houses in the village.

Everyone lives in a bungalow. Some people have a platform on the roof to dry crops, but you need to climb up with a ladder.

Wu Niang was not willing to be outdone and pulled everyone to her room, "There is also one in my room, go and have a look at my room."

A large group of children swarmed to her room to watch. Some aunts were also on the second floor. They all smiled and watched the group of children playing crazily.

The next step is to place the Kitchen God. The Kitchen God is the head of the family. Only after the Kitchen God is placed can the house be considered settled. When everyone heard that the Kitchen God was to be placed, they called the children downstairs.

Everyone came to the kitchen and placed the three small animals, three-color fruits, and rice in front of the stove. Song Lao Er held incense and prayed.

"On an auspicious day, Song Bai entered the house, the god of the house, and asked you to bless me.

Bless you with peace, eliminate disasters, bring prosperity and happiness to your family.

May the fortune shine, may good luck shine, may you live a long and healthy life, may everything go smoothly.

Bring in great benefits, great fortune, prosperity, and long-lasting wealth.

May your descendants prosper, have a good reputation, remove obstacles and increase wisdom, and have great achievements."

After reading this long string, Song Laoer's forehead was covered with sweat. If Song Li Niang and the others had not told him the prayer words in advance and he had memorized them in advance, he probably wouldn't be able to say a few words now.

He had one more thing to say before he finished, "The Kitchen God has arrived, the Kitchen God has returned to his place." After saying that, he inserted the incense into the incense burner.

The whole family wanted to come and pay their respects, so Mrs. Song and the others took turns to pay their respects. After the worship, everyone left the kitchen and waited for the Kitchen God and the House God to enjoy the offerings for a while.

After a while, Song Laoer went in and took a walk. After finishing all these, he could go out to set off firecrackers. After setting off firecrackers, he went to the ancestral tablets to tell the ancestors that the house had been settled and asked for their blessings.

Several aunts took down the offerings for the ancestors and distributed them to allow relatives and friends to share in the joy.

After completing this set of procedures, everyone started to visit the new house enthusiastically.