CHAPTER 27: CHAPTER 27: HOUSE-RAISING BANQUET

EDITOR: ENDLESSFANTASY TRANSLATION

On the day of the beam-raising ceremony, it was an auspicious day according to the calendar, with clear and bright weather.

Lin Wanwan and little Qingyu got up early to watch the Clan Leader Lin help them with the rituals, offering wine to the Bodhisattva and following the proper procedures.

On an island across the sea from Mao County, there is a South Sea Guanyin Temple. Under the influence of this temple, most of the nearby people naturally believe in Buddhism.

However, Lin Family Manor is different. The Lin Family Manor believes in both Buddhism and Taoism. Whichever deity is effective, they will worship. They pray to the Dragon King before sailing, seek the God of Wealth when selling goods, worship the God of Stove during the New Year, and invite the Bodhisattva when entering the house.

The Clan Leader used the small gold ingot given by Lin Wanwan to arrange a feast with a lamb, 10 chickens, ducks, and geese, several vegetables, and the main dish of pure white rice. Seafood was added to make the meal even more sumptuous, leaving everyone with mouths full of flavor.

Lin Wanwan treated the whole clan to lamb and wine, and this generosity made everyone very happy.

Meanwhile, everyone envied little Qingyu’s good fortune. The child who used to have the worst life in the clan was now favored by Lin Wanwan and had turned into her cherished treasure, held dearly in her hands. Truly, fate can be unpredictable.

When Lin Guofu’s family came to the banquet, they were quite sour seeing little Qingyu dressed in such fine clothing.

Today, little Qingyu was wearing an integrated false hair bun, adorned with a jade hairpin in the shape of a three-life lotus flower, paired with a pearl and fine gold chain hairband, and had a floral forehead mark. She wore a short-sleeved chest-high ruqun in Su Mei pink mixed with mountain green, embroidered with peach blossom motifs accented by pearls as flower cores, making her look both exquisite and refreshingly comfortable.

Even in the fierce heat of an early August day, little Qingyu exuded an aura of cool elegance, bringing joy to those who saw her.

Lin Wanwan and little Qingyu wore matching ancient costumes for a mother-daughter look, with the only difference being Lin Wanwan’s long sleeves.

On little Qingyu’s chubby left wrist was a gold bracelet, purchased by Lin Wanwan from Chow Tai Fook in modern times, matching the one she herself wore, with little characters of "Lin Qingyu" engraved inside.

This grandeur and wealth could not help but incite envy, especially among the three little girls from Lin Guofu’s family.

Little Qingyu was originally the worst-off child in their family. Forget about beautiful silk clothes; even ragged garments were only available in winter.

But now, she was embraced by her mother, who was as beautiful as a fairy, looking like a miniature fairy herself, smiling like a flower. She would live in such a beautiful big house and enjoy good food and drinks in the future.

And as for them? Their family allowed them to come this time so they could have a meal with meat, dressed in summer clothes borrowed from their maternal family by Lin Sunshi to let them go out.

Lin Sunshi’s eldest daughter is San Ni, only six years old. She was extremely jealous of little Qingyu. At home, she was the one who bullied little Qingyu the most.

Suddenly, she ran off the table and came beside the main table where Lin Wanwan and little Qingyu were, lifting her head, her eyes like those of a hungry wolf, glaring at little Qingyu. Then, she coquettishly said to Lin Wanwan, "Aunt Wan, can you raise me? I’ll be more obedient and well-behaved than the little brat. I won’t demand to be held every day, refusing to walk."

Lin Wanwan was taken aback by the child’s words, thinking that this child was perhaps a bit too indulged.

Seeing San Ni trying to take away her mother, little Qingyu immediately jumped into Lin Wanwan’s arms, grabbed her neck, and looked down at San Ni, saying, "You’re bad! My mother won’t adopt you! She’s my mother!"

Lin Wanwan also laughed, saying to San Ni, "Aunt Wan already has her own child, but you can be my student in the future."

Clan Leader Lin frowned heavily and gave his wife, Niu, a look. Niu immediately stepped forward to bring San Ni back to Lin Sunshi’s side and explained the embarrassing situation.

"Lin Sunshi, though you’ve given birth to two sons, you can’t just ignore your daughter. Look at you, your daughter is asking others to adopt her and treating someone else as her mother. Is that right? Fortunately, Lady Wan is also a member of the Hou Tao Lin Family, or else it would have been a huge joke. How are you raising your child?"

The clan feast had more than a dozen tables arranged in the courtyard, bustling with people, and Lin Sunshi had her mind and eyes only on her two darling sons, paying no attention to her daughter.

At this moment, hearing the Clan Leader’s wife say this, Lin Sunshi blushed with embarrassment and grabbed San Ni, giving her a few spanks: "You wretched, ungrateful girl, wanting someone else to adopt you. Go ahead, I don’t want you either. Go be someone else’s daughter and enjoy their food and drink!"

San Ni cried out loudly from the spanking, but it was the persuasion of those around that calmed the situation. On such a fine day, it was disheartening to hear crying when there was still meat to eat.

Apart from this light drama of wanting to be adopted, the beam-raising ceremony was very successful overall.

Looking at Lin Wanwan and Lin Qingyu in their matching outfits, everyone believed they were truly mother and daughter. They looked so much alike, especially their peach blossom eyes, which were identical.

This was Lin Wanwan’s deliberate arrangement, making their clothing and accessories identical, so everyone could easily see their relationship. Coupled with their being from the same clan and their similar bloodlines, their eyes truly resembled each other, making them seem even more like a family.

From this day onward, little Qingyu was considered to be living officially within the clan.

Some of the more calculative individuals realized that Lin Wanwan was keeping watch alone and treated the children she raised so well, they started to hatch some plans.

After the beam-raising ceremony, Lin Wanwan took some time to return to the modern world to fetch the ancient-style glass wooden windows she had custom-ordered. After moving them into the small villa, she used the Space-Time Gate to transfer them to the courtyard house she rented in town.

Once the Lin Family Manor’s house is finished, Lin Wanwan plans to return the hired courtyard in Wanghu Town and rent a new one in Xiaoxi Town. Wanghu Town is too small; in three months, everyone knows her there, which hinders her ability to move things from the modern world unnoticed.

But Xiaoxi Town is different; it’s a large town with nearly 200,000 people. Though it hasn’t built up city walls yet, it essentially has become a city. Lin Wanwan plans to rent an inconspicuous courtyard house in Xiaoxi Town to avoid drawing attention. Great invisibility lies within the bustling market, after all.

Wang Dulei and the bricklayers were astonished watching Lin Wanwan bring in cartloads of glass doors and windows.

This lady Lin was truly wealthy and capable, no wonder she made frequent trips to the harbor. She might have bought out all the glass from the Western Regions.

Once the glass doors and windows were installed, the small estate at the foot of the mountain became ready for occupancy.

The interior wooden floors and various furniture decorations were crafted by highly-skilled carpenters from Xiaoxi Town, using Yellow Flower Pear Wood, all in mortise-and-tenon structure. These Yellow Flower Pear Woods were specially ordered by Lin Wanwan from a major store with a fleet, all brought back from Hainan.

In modern times, Yellow Flower Pear Wood has become quite rare, yet during the Tang Dynasty, it was still plentiful in Hainan. However, due to inconvenient transportation, it was still costly to bring it from Hainan to Wanghai even during the Tang Dynasty.

Lin Wanwan sometimes felt like she was sitting on mountains of gold and silver when she looked at these pieces of furniture. If she could move them to the modern world, even Lu Shouyue would be intrigued.