The new book of the burning prairie star

Yesterday afternoon, under the instructions of the village head, Yang Biao ordered the pork and pig heads needed this morning, and asked the butcher to deliver them to the village head's house this morning. He also bought incense, firecrackers and other sacrificial offerings.

"Mom, let me do it." Yang Biao motioned to Xiao Zhang to move away so that her clothes would not be dirty by the ash at the bottom of the pot. Then he took out the iron pot from his own stove and sent it to the homestead. The old iron pot that the head of the village had sent last time had not been returned yet, and it came in handy for making breakfast today.

Xiao Zhang took two long benches from home, Yang Xiaohua followed with a basket of bowls and chopsticks, and Yang Lin was led by the head of the village. All the items needed for the sacrifice were placed on an ox cart and sent to the homestead.

"Aunt village head, take your iron pot back after the craftsmen finish their meal." Yang Biao said when he saw his younger brother and the village head's family coming over in a ox cart.

"It's okay. This pot belongs to my eldest son. His family and children live in the county town. It's idle at home, so you can use it without worry." The head of the village standing nearby said as he took things off the ox cart.

"The college entrance examination is coming soon, the county school should be on holiday, and Uncle Jinyi will soon take Brother Yuqi home to take the exam. Uncle Lizheng has a large family and needs to cook a lot of food. It would be very inconvenient without a pot. Wait until I go to the county town this afternoon to complete the land contract and household registration with Uncle Lizheng, and then come back to buy an iron pot."

Seeing Yang Biao's insistence, the village head thought that this boy was not someone who would take advantage of small gains, so he did not speak any more.

The oxcart was soon empty. "Brother Biao, hurry up, don't you have to go to town?" The second wife of the village head urged with a smile. "Don't be late!"

Yang Biao took the whip and got on the ox cart. "Well, this iron pot is too heavy. I'm afraid my mother will get tired, so I just help to bring the pot over. I'm leaving now. Thank you for your hard work today, Aunt Xiu." In front of the headman's family, Yang Biao and his siblings called the headman's second daughter-in-law Aunt Xiu, and whenever she was alone in front of them, she would call Xiuxiu Aunt Xiu.

In ancient times, people would offer sacrifices to the land god when breaking ground on a project. Modernly, there are also foundation laying ceremonies when building a house. This is probably what is called cultural heritage.

In the Shang Dynasty, the foundation stone for building a house required burning incense, placing offerings, and setting off firecrackers. Originally, Yang Biao should have done this, but now his younger brother did it for him. He just symbolically used a shovel to dig a few shovels of soil and buried the foundation stone under the main house. Then he placed stones at the four corners of the foundation, which meant "burying stones at the four corners will keep ghosts away from the house."

Yang Biao's family chose to provide all materials and labor, so naturally no lunch was provided. However, according to custom, the craftsmen were invited to have breakfast at the foundation laying ceremony. From breakfast before the foundation laying ceremony to dinner after the last tile of the roof was laid. This is what the saying goes, "One meal at the beginning of the work, and one meal at the end."

The wife of the village head brought her two daughters-in-law to help. Since Xiao Zhang was a widow and the craftsmen were all men, it was not convenient for them to eat at home to avoid suspicion. So they could only quickly build two simple stoves outside the homestead where the quicklime was not drawn to cook rice porridge and steamed buns. Xiao Zhang chopped up some of the meat left over from making buns and fried it with pickled vegetables to make porridge for the craftsmen.

After Yang Biao parked the ox cart in the town, he rushed to Mr. Liu's house in the east of the city. The housekeeper of the Liu Mansion heard the report from the doorman and came to greet him. "Boy, you are quite punctual."

Yang Biao bowed and said, "In life, punctuality and keeping promises are the basics. May I know the name of the housekeeper? Please tell me where to copy it."

The housekeeper waved his hand and said, "My surname is Liu, my name is Guangfu, and I'm here to ask you to call me Uncle Fu."

"Okay, Uncle Fu," Yang Biao readily agreed.

"Come with me." Liu Guangfu had a good impression of Yang Biao, a punctual and polite scholar.

Yang Biao followed Liu Guangfu through Langfang in the front yard. He was really rich. I don't know if it was painted with gold powder or made with some special technology, but the pillars were all shining with gold. After Yang Jinxue, a mason, popularized it, Yang Biao knew that the low wall from the ground to the window sill was called the "sill wall", and there were also some flowers and plants painted there. If he hadn't been in ancient times, Yang Biao would have thought it was 3D printed. The colors were very bright and lifelike. There were patterns carved on the beams and windows. How many carving craftsmen were hired? The carvings were too detailed.

Of course Yang Biao did not dare to look around, fearing to be rude to others, but wherever he looked, he was overwhelmed by the overwhelming sense of wealth and was deeply shocked by the decorations in front of him. No matter how well the ancient house is preserved, it may be because of its age that the colors of the carvings and paintings are not flashy, and it feels like something is missing.

There is a pond dug near the wall in the yard. The lotus flowers in the pond are competing with each other in beauty. Some are half-hidden, while others are in full bloom. The pink color is fascinating. The lotus leaves are like plates, spreading on the water surface, highlighting the delicate figure of the lotus.

"You will copy here from now on. There are pens, ink, paper and inkstone on the table for you to use. Someone will bring you food at noon. My cousin is visiting here for a few days. Don't run around. Just stay here. If you need to go to the bathroom urgently, the toilet is over there." Liu Guangfu pointed to the direction. Yang Biao looked in the direction of his finger, remembered the place, and nodded to indicate that he remembered it. "Kid, you have to go to the county government office to register your household registration this afternoon, so you won't copy in the afternoon, and you don't need to have food brought to you at noon."

Butler Liu waved his hand, "It's okay, you can have lunch and then go to the county government office. It won't interfere. However, you still have to finish copying these books as soon as possible." He walked to the door and said to Yang Biao, "I have something else to do, you start copying."

"Well, Uncle Fu, please go ahead if you have anything to do." Yang Biao quickly saluted.

Yang Guangfu was very satisfied and in a good mood. Although he was the housekeeper of Liu's house, he was a family son, that is, a slave, and few scholars would pay him respect.

After Yang Biao waited for him to leave, he sat down at the desk, took one of the collector's editions, and began to read it. This was an ancient book with detailed annotations on the meaning of the classics. Yang Biao felt enlightened after reading it. No wonder he was not allowed to take it out. Such a precious book was not available on the market. It must have taken Mr. Liu a lot of effort and a lot of money to get it.

"It is rare for noble sons to come from poor families. There is a reason for this. These high-quality resources are in the hands of the big families. Even if the children of the big families are fools, they have seen much more of the world than the average person. It is extremely difficult for the children of ordinary people to make a name for themselves." Yang Biao decided to write it out as soon as he got home, otherwise he would forget it after too long.

After sitting down and calming down, Yang Biao began his immersive copying.