Chapter 775 Fishing
Manbao followed his brothers to the tomb. Old Zhou asked Zhou Dalang and others to dig a big hole next to Zhou Yin's tomb. He put a box in it, filled it with mud, and dug some soil from nearby to raise the grave mound, making it one with the big grave mound.
Manbao was stunned and asked, "Dad, what did you put in my second uncle's grave?"
Old Zhou made a "hush" sound, looked around, and found that they were the only ones around. Then he said, "Nothing special, just the belt you gave me last night."
Manbao was stunned for a moment before he asked, "Dad, why did you bury it?"
"Give it to your second uncle to take a look at, who knows if he will like it?" Anyway, it is not a very expensive thing, and he can't wear it out, so it is better to give it to his younger brother.
Manbao scratched her head and looked at her father and said, "Dad, you and Second Uncle have a really good relationship."
Zhou Dalang and Zhou Erlang finished preparing the grave. They were silent for a moment after hearing Manbao's words. It's not Dad who has a good relationship with his uncle, it's them, okay?
But forget it, it’s enough to just keep this kind of thing to yourself, there’s no need to spread it around.
Manbao took out the meat and rice for the ancestor offerings and arranged them. Zhou Sanlang lit a handful of incense and gave three sticks to Manbao. Everyone bowed and paid their respects.
After Manbao lit the incense, he knelt on the ground and kowtowed. Old Zhou said beside him, "Kowtow more."
Just as he was about to stand up, Manbao knelt down and kowtowed a few more times, "Dad, is that enough?"
Old Zhou nodded with a smile, "That's enough, that's enough."
Manbao followed his brothers and led his nephews to kowtow to the ancestors in the vicinity, and then waited for the ancestors to eat.
Manbao habitually took out three incense sticks from his grandfather's grave and walked to a grave not far away, burning incense and inviting the owner of the grave to come over for dinner.
This is what she has to do every time she visits the grave since she can remember.
The people from the Zhou family squatted around the cemetery and watched, but did not tell Manbao that the owner of the grave had been moved here, and let her go there to pay her respects.
We've been praying for so many years. If I don't do it now, the child will ask why. Manbao is so smart...
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, people usually worship their ancestors, go up the mountain to worship gods, or burn incense under the banyan tree at the entrance of the village, but no one knows what they are worshipping.
When Manbao and the others returned home, breakfast was not yet ready and many people had not gotten up yet. She squatted at the gate to clear her mind for a while, then walked to the river to play in the water, no, to look at the water.
She picked up a stick and squatted by the river to paddle in the water.
When Bai Shan walked to the river, he saw her squatting on the ground happily splashing water, so he picked up a stone from the ground and threw it over...
The water splashed by the stone hit Manbao's face, and Bai Shan saw it and burst into laughter.
Manbao looked up and saw him and couldn't help laughing. He asked loudly across the river: "Why are you here?"
Bai Shan also walked to the river and squatted down, picked up a stone and threw it into the river, saying, "My family just finished offering sacrifices to our ancestors, and I felt bored staying at home, so I came out for a walk."
It is not customary to visit other people's homes on the first day of the New Year, so you can just take a walk on the road.
Manbao smiled and said, "Me too. Look, isn't the water clearer in winter? I just saw a lot of small fish swimming around."
Bai Shan looked inside for a long time before saying, "It's too small to eat. I wonder if there are any big fish in the canal? Why don't we go fishing this afternoon?"
"Today is the first day of the new year, it's not easy to go out."
Bai Shan said, "Let's go quietly."
It was impossible to go quietly because Bai Shan was always followed by Daji.
But they didn't alarm many people. Bai Shan ran home to have breakfast, then went out with two fishing rods.
Manbao found a small hoe and a small bamboo basket. When they met at the river, they went upstream along the river and walked to the big canal. They found a piece of land that looked quite moist and started digging for earthworms.
As he was digging, Manbao became confused. "Do all the fish in the river eat earthworms?"
Bai Shan said: "Maybe."
Manbao: "The earthworm burrowed into the pond mud. Can fish also burrow in like the earthworm?"
Bai Shan: "They also eat vegetable leaves, water plants and mud, right? Otherwise there wouldn't be so many earthworms in the river for them to eat."
"If we can't dig up earthworms, can we catch any by fishing with vegetable leaves?"
Bai Shan: "You can give it a try."
Manbao said, "We'll try it later, but we found some earthworms."
Daji found a relatively clean piece of grass by the canal and sat down cross-legged, watching them squatting on the ground and tossing around with boredom.
When they finally dug up enough earthworms, they found an area that looked lush with water plants and began to cast their hooks.
Manbao said, "My fourth brother said that there are more fish in places with lush aquatic plants. They like to hide under the grass roots, but they are difficult to catch because they always get caught in the aquatic plants."
Bai Shan said nonchalantly: "It's okay, I have a lot of hooks at home. If one breaks, we can just install another one."
Manbao then boldly cast the hook in the canal.
Fishing is all about patience. The two of them moved, found some hay, spread it on the ground, sat down, and began waiting for the fish to bite.
Bai Shan asked her, "When are we going to pay New Year's greetings to the master?"
"The third day, right? Is Bai Er still going to his uncle's house this year? If not, the fourth or fifth day will also be fine."
"Then let's do it on the third day of the New Year." None of his relatives are here, so he only needs to go to Bai Erlang's house to pay New Year's greetings, which is not very busy.
Manbao only goes to the Qian family every year, and one day is enough.
The two of them sat by the water and chatted for most of the day. There were some fish biting the hook, but they just couldn't catch any.
The two of them were not in a hurry. They waited until the fish started to boil and felt hungry, then they put away their fishing rods and went home.
Daji, who had been sleeping on the grass in the sun, also got up from the ground and followed quietly.
He still preferred the days of following the young master in Qili Village, where he could enjoy a leisurely and comfortable life, but it was not a waste of time.
Unlike in Yizhou City, it seems busy, but I always feel like I haven’t done anything all day.
Of course, Bai Shan and Man Bao, who are still in the learning stage and wish they could split a quarter of an hour into two quarters of an hour, cannot understand this feeling.
They returned carrying empty bamboo baskets, and when they met villagers sitting and talking in the village, they raised their hands to greet them.
Someone glanced at their empty bamboo baskets and couldn't help laughing, "Didn't catch anything? The fish that are still left in our village are almost becoming spirits, so they are hard to catch."
Manbao asked, "What about the stupid fish?"
"We caught almost all of them before the New Year. By the way, your family caught the most. Your third brother and your fifth brother brought two buckets of fish home every day. Why didn't they dry them into salted fish and leave them for you?"
It was impossible to get salted fish. Zhou Erlang almost took all the fish he caught to the market to sell. The rest were either eaten by his family or made into fish sauce by Xiao Qianshi and sealed in jars.
Knowing Manbao went fishing, Xiao Qianshi thought she was craving fish and said, "Why didn't you eat a few more bites last night? There's no one going to the market today. If you really want to eat, I'll ask your eldest brother to go fishing in the river. Maybe he can catch some."
Manbao shook his head, "Either I want to eat fish or I want to fish."
Xiao Qian smiled and waved her hand, saying, "You're free, go out and play. Tomorrow, your sister-in-law will take you back to your uncle's house."
The next update will be around 6:00 PM
(End of this chapter)
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