Chapter 64 Su Yunting has a bright future...
Su Yunting has a bright future, and the people of Su Family Village attach great importance to his act of paying respects to his parents before the end of his mourning period.
In his previous life, Su Yunting had little contact with Su Family Village at this time because he became successful but disregarded his neighbors. Apart from Uncle Shuncai's family and a few other families who thought he was right, the others said he lacked local character and was too selfish because the village had produced an official but they hadn't benefited from it.
This life is completely different from the previous life.
Su Yunting is now the hope of everyone in Su Family Village. Before he leaves the mourning period, he has to pay respects to his parents, and the villagers care about it even more than he does himself.
The villagers' willingness to help showed their respect for him, so Su Yunting left the clan chief enough money to handle the arrangements.
So the clan chief took charge of the matter himself, hiring the best musicians and ritual craftsmen from the surrounding area. He also hired the most reputable funeral cabinet maker, and prepared everything needed for the worship, including paper offerings, ghost money, and all the necessary items.
All of this had been arranged before Su Yunting's family returned.
Before returning, Su Yunting had already sent invitations to his close classmates. After returning, the clan leader, several clan elders, and people who were close to him all came to talk to him about sending invitations to relatives.
Su Yunting and Old Man Su lived separate lives, and had no contact with his maternal clan. He also had no aunts, and apart from his wife's family, no one could think of any other relatives he had.
Su Yunting: "The old man doesn't want to associate with me, but my grandmother still thinks highly of me until her death. All I need to do is send invitations to my grandmother's family."
"At Yu Ruo's home, the invitation doesn't need to be sent to the old man; it can be sent directly to her third uncle."
The clan leader and the others exchanged bewildered glances. Such a commotion, yet the host family had only invited two families of relatives…
Su Yunting: "My husband and I have a shallow connection with our relatives, but fortunately we still have our clansmen. I will send invitations to all the relatives who should be sent invitations."
Since he himself doesn't mind, there's not much else to say.
The worship of parents lasts for three days: the first day is for family and clan members, the second day for relatives, and the third day for friends.
The small-scale worship only takes one day and is only performed by family members; at most, members of the clan will participate.
To avoid embarrassment, Old Man Su went to his cousin's house the day before Su Yunting returned from the county, and Su's second son and his family also went back to Su's second aunt's house.
...
When the day came, the whole family wore mourning clothes. Brothers who were close to the clan also wore mourning clothes, while those who were more distant wore only mourning clothes.
Sujiazhuang is mostly inhabited by people with the surname Su. When Su Yunting went to pay respects to his parents and "invite" them home from their graves, almost all the young people in the village went with him.
In this era, people value posthumous honors. Su Yunting's parents were able to be welcomed by all the nephews and nieces in the village, which was a blessing from their son.
When Su Yunting brought his parents home, he was the first to pay his respects as the eldest son. Kneeling before his parents' memorial tablets, even though they had passed away, Su Yunting still felt sorrow in his heart.
He took each step seriously and carefully. When he finished, he said to his parents in his heart, "My past life was filled with sorrow, but in this life, because of your daughter-in-law, your children will no longer suffer in the future. Please rest assured."
After Su Yunting paid his respects, it was Yun Che's turn, followed by his son, then his daughter-in-law and daughter.
Next are the brothers of the same generation. Those who are descendants of the same generation perform a single sacrifice, while those who are distant descendants perform a family sacrifice together.
The next day, the relatives were the ones to be worshipped. Originally, Su Yunting's mother's family should have been the honored guests, but since the two families had broken off ties, the honored guests became Su Yunting's grandmother's family, and then Qiu Yuruo's family.
Qiu Yuruo's maternal family consists only of Uncle Qiu's family and his two cousins. The eldest Qiu family did not receive an invitation, and Uncle Qiu did not invite him either, so of course he did not need to come.
Then there are the daughters of close relatives who have married out, and the families of the wives who have married into the family; these are worshipped separately for men and women.
On the last day, guests began arriving by carriage at 9:00 AM. Su Yunting, along with the clan chief and elders, greeted them one by one. By noon, the ritual master still had two families whose guests had not yet completed their offerings.
Lu Tongzhi's nephew, Lu Yide, Su Yunting's good friend Sun Ruimin, classmate Liu Jiancheng, and many others, whether they were close friends or just casual acquaintances, all came.
Su Yunting initially didn't want to send invitations to so many people, but his good scholarship and the fact that he was valued by Prefect Lu were not secrets in the academy. Everyone wanted to befriend him and took the initiative to ask him for invitations. If Su Yunting didn't give them, it would seem too arrogant.
That's why we have this grand occasion today.
With so many scholars coming to support him, and even the son of a Tongzhi official, the villagers had even more confidence in Su Yunting's future.
After seeing off the visiting guests, they would "send" them back to their parents. In families that didn't follow these customs, the mourning period was considered over once the offerings were made.
The entire ceremony was presided over by the clan chief, so how could he just end it so hastily? He had already discussed it with the clan elders, and they would formally perform the filial piety ceremony for Su Yunting and the others the next day.
The formal removal of mourning clothes involves respected elders from the clan removing the white mourning clothes from the mourners, separating men from women, and then dressing them in red.
Aside from filial piety, the whole family did not immediately return to the county. Qiu Yuruo only allowed her two apprentices to go back first. During the three days of worship, the workshop was temporarily closed. Now that the worship was over, the two of them could return to the workshop and resume work.
The family wasn't in a hurry to return to the county. Their explanation to outsiders was that since they were back, they wanted to stay a few more days.
In fact, their real purpose in staying in Sujiazhuang for a few more days was to win over the hearts and minds of Su Huai.
The current clan leader can get his family to cooperate with whatever they want to do, but from the perspective of the entire clan, he is too selfish and lacks vision and virtue.
In this era, family is the last resort. With the provincial examination approaching, Su Yunting, after passing the exam, no longer had much time to pay attention to family affairs.
Therefore, before the provincial examination, Su Yunting wanted to have a clear talk with Su Huai and support him in taking over as the head of the Su family.
When Su Huai was invited to Yun Che's house, he saw that both Shun Cai and his son were there, and thought that Su Yunting was just there to thank him.
Unexpectedly, he directly said that he would support him to take over as clan leader!
Su Huai's first reaction was: "Our clan's chief has always come from the chief's family. The chief's family is the direct line, and no one else is qualified to be the clan chief!"
Su Yunting: "Brother, even in imperial families there are distinctions such as whether to establish the eldest son, the eldest son, or the most virtuous. How much more so should we, as farmers, not only have the eldest son as the clan leader?"
After hearing this, Uncle Shuncai said, "I support Lixian. Su Huai, tell me, if you were the clan head when the Yunting family divided their property, would you have divided it according to what the old man said?"
Su Huai's expression turned serious, and he said, "Of course not!"
Uncle Shuncai: "See, you also felt that the division was inappropriate back then, right? Yunting wanted you to be the clan leader because he wanted someone to protect the weaker members of the clan!"
Su Huai: "The responsibility of the clan is to protect the weak within the clan!"
Su Yunting asked him earnestly, "Brother Su Huai, are you willing to protect the weak in your clan?"
Su Huai's expression became even more serious. "As a member of the clan, it is only right and proper."
Su Yunting: "If you have no position, you have no responsibility; if you have a position, you bear responsibility!"
Su Huai paused for a moment before solemnly saying, "I am willing to take on the responsibility of protecting the weak in my clan!"
Uncle Shuncai shouted loudly, "Good!"
Then he lowered his voice and said, "I'm the first to support you!"
Su Yunting filled Uncle Shuncai's cup with wine and said with a smile, "As long as Brother Su Huai is willing, I have a way to make the transition smooth."
Uncle Shuncai asked in confusion: "A smooth transition?"
Su Yunting nodded: "Yes, a smooth transition."
...
Everyone in Sujiazhuang knew that Su Yunting was destined for a bright future. Just as everyone was thinking about how to get closer to Su Yunting, news spread that Qiu Yuruo had asked Su Huai to find two children in the village to help out.
Actually, Qiu Yu could be either male or female, but when each family found Su Huai, they all wanted their sons to go with them.
More than a dozen families in the village came to see Su Huai, and each family had more than one child. Su Huai selected a fourteen-year-old and a twelve-year-old from the twenty-odd boys.
The villagers discovered that when Su Huai chose these two boys, he didn't even ask Qiu Yuruo's opinion. He simply asked everyone to bring their children to his house, and then he chose them on the spot.
Those whose children weren't selected, or who didn't have time to take their children to Su Huai's house, would go to Qiu Yuruo to whisper among themselves.
Qiu Yuruo said to the man, "I was led into the Su family by Sister-in-law Su Huai. Later, Brother Su Huai was not afraid that our hard life would affect them. When we went to the county to see Yunting for treatment, he always accompanied us. So, in our whole village, the person I trust the most is Brother Su Huai."
Hearing that Qiu Yuruo still felt grateful to Su Huai and his wife, the man dared not say anything more.
As long as Qiu Yu has no objections to the people Su Huai chooses, no one else can say anything.
Just as she was lamenting that her child couldn't marry into Su Yunting's family, Su Huai spread the word that if Qiu Yuruo planned to open a restaurant in the county, she would need to ask people from the village to help her.
When the time comes, no one needs to ask who will find a job for them. Those who want to find something for their children or curry favor with Su Yunting are all putting in their best efforts to build a good relationship with Su Huai.
In Su Huaihe and Shun Caishu's view, this was the method of smooth transition that Su Yunting had mentioned.
In their view, this was indeed a very safe and reliable solution.
Actually, in Su Yunting and Qiu Yuruo's plan, this is just to let the villagers get used to it in the early stages, since Su Yunting will be going to the capital to serve as an official in the future.
All officials would set up sacrificial fields for their clans. After Su Yunting became an official, he would also set up sacrificial fields for his clans, and he would designate Su Huai to manage them.
No matter when, whoever has the money has the right to speak, and the transfer of power within the clan will be a natural progression.
After finishing all the necessary arrangements back home, the whole family packed up and, along with their two newly recruited sons, headed back to the county.
Qiu Yuruo settled the two boys in the workshop dormitory. One of her apprentices stayed there every day, and Su Dani also lived there. They were all from the same village, so the two boys instantly felt a sense of belonging.
After settling the two boys in and checking the workshop, Qiu Yuruo finally went home.
Ping An specially came back to cook dinner for us. The whole family ate together happily. Everyone was tired after several days, so they all went back to their rooms early to tidy up and go to sleep.
Qiu Yuruo returned to her room and had just finished washing up when Su Yunting came over.
This time, unlike before when he would just leave the door ajar, he closed it completely when he came in.
Hearing him open the door, Qiu Yuruo's face turned bright red...
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