Chenjia Village was exceptionally lively on the first day of the Lunar New Year; to be precise, the whole country was bustling with activity on the first day of the Lunar New Year.

Especially in rural towns, various customs are preserved in villages in the south. Southern customs are very different from those in the north, which is due to the geographical environment.

In the north, heavy snow is falling, and the cold outside can be deadly. If you accidentally fall asleep outside after drinking, you can find a frozen person the next day.

But it's very warm inside. If it were as cold inside as outside, how miserable would life be for people in the north?

Although the South is cold, it won't freeze you to death, but it's very torturous, especially for people with gout. Once the wind picks up, they feel terrible whether they're indoors or outdoors.

This has led to significant differences in customs between the North and South due to different geographical environments.

In Chenjia Village, people eat a vegetarian meal for breakfast after waking up in the morning, which consists of tofu and vegetables.

After eating, we waited for the family to get dressed and go to the temple to worship Buddha, burn incense, and set off firecrackers.

Some families need to visit several temples because their elders are Buddhists, while others only need to visit one large temple.

The Chen family needs to worship at two temples: one is a large temple, and the other is dedicated to Guanyin and the families in the village who have been guarding the temple for generations.

The old man has passed away. To express their gratitude for his generations of service in guarding the temple in the village, the people of Chenjia Village will light three incense sticks and kneel in devout worship before his portrait after they have finished praying to Buddha.

"sister in law."

My cousins ​​came over right after they finished eating breakfast this morning.

The family members all waited to go downstairs together. Some ate quickly, some ate slowly, but during the Spring Festival, everyone was in no hurry.

"Good morning."

Jiang Yu took out red envelopes and handed them to them.

"Thank you, sister-in-law. May you become rich, more and more beautiful, and have a better and better relationship with Brother Xiu. Most importantly, may your career flourish." Chen Yiyan's face was beaming with joy.

Finally, I have another sister-in-law! I can get an extra red envelope. She's so sweet-talking.

However, she has a naturally sweet tongue, so it's not surprising. Anyone would be very happy to receive a red envelope, unless they really consider money as dirt.

"Thank you, sister-in-law."

My younger cousin is a bit shy.

Chen Cixiu came out and saw his younger brother and sister.

Before he could even take the red envelope, his cousin was already standing in front of him, holding out her hands and saying very sincerely, "Brother, Happy New Year, wishing you prosperity, give me the red envelope."

His perfunctory manner was nothing like when he had just wished his sister-in-law a Happy New Year.

Chen Cixiu teased her intentionally: "Say a few nice things to me first."

"Then I don't want it."

Um?

As expected of Chen Yiyan.

Jiang Yu was amused by the words "I don't want it anymore," and smiled down, looking as beautiful as an angel.

"Here you go, here you go."

Chen Cixiu knew that if he wanted to tease Chen Yiyan, he might as well tease Chen Cinian instead.

"Hehe, thanks, brother."

After receiving the red envelope, Chen Yiyan's attitude changed completely.

After giving red envelopes to his cousin, Professor Wu and Professor Chen came out, having changed into new clothes.

Professor Wu handed red envelopes to Jiang Yu and Chen Cixiu, saying, "Here, these are red envelopes from your parents."

"Thank you, Mom and Dad, Happy New Year."

Jiang Yu accepted the red envelope.

"Happy New Year."

"Auntie, where's mine?"

Chen Yiyan took Professor Wu's arm and asked sweetly.

"Of course we have them, how could we leave out our Yanyan?"

Professor Wu took out red envelopes and gave them to her and her cousin.

For the next period of time, Chen Cixiu and Jiang Yu were constantly in a situation of receiving and giving out red envelopes and wishing everyone they met a Happy New Year.

Amidst wishes of "Happy New Year" and "Wishing you prosperity," the family made their way to the temple.

The temple is about a ten-minute walk from their home, not too far. When they pass by, they give red envelopes to the village children.

This was the first time Jiang Yu had ever seen a red envelope containing one, two, or five yuan.

The gifts were given to children who were in elementary school or were still babies. Seeing the smiles on the children's faces, Jiang Yu was also infected by those smiles.

Upon arriving at the temple, Chen Cixiu introduced it to Jiang Yu.

"You only need eight incense sticks to go in: three in each of the two incense burners inside, and one at the entrance."

Chen Cixiu explained.

“I know that, it’s the same in my family.”

Customs may differ even within the same province, but some differences are not significant, so a quick glance is usually enough to understand them all.

"Husband," Jiang Yu asked, looking at the deity standing in the middle of the temple, "what's this deity's name?"

Chen Cixiu gestured with his eyes to the couplet beside him.

Jiang Yu looked over, read them aloud, and then checked them against his own records. He realized that he knew the names of these deities.

Guanyin is among them.

This is a local deity, worshipped and offered incense by the local people.

There are many gods in China, but the ones worshipped in different places are different.

Moreover, local deities are revered by the local people. If you mention the Jade Emperor, someone might jokingly say the Jade Emperor from Journey to the West. But if you mention a deity from a certain region, the other person will tell you very seriously not to joke around.

Of course, there are also places that worship the Jade Emperor, so people can discuss the gods and deities in China, but jokes are less common.

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