Lin Shu couldn't go out with her today, so Liang Shengdi didn't go fishing for silver carp that afternoon, but instead went for crucian carp. She said she wanted to try braised crucian carp for a change of pace.
When Chen Chunhua finished cooking and brought out the meal, the old man and four children were still squatting there watching the chicks pecking at the rice.
"It's time to eat! Today we have braised crucian carp and egg white vegetable soup. Aren't you hungry? Do you think you can fill your stomach just by looking at the chickens?" The old man and four children then got up and hurriedly served their own meals.
"Wash your hands! Wash your hands! Don't forget to wash your hands before eating!"
Chen Chunhua began to talk about the same topic that she repeated every day. The rules have been followed recently and everyone has gotten used to it. Even Liang Shengdi carefully cleaned the crevices between her nails before serving the meal to the table.
"Dad, can chickens eat fish bones?" Lin Shuchao stared at the box of chicken while eating the fish meat his father had picked out for him.
"It's a chicken, not a cat. It will get stuck in your throat and kill you."
"oh."
He looked at the chickens again and subconsciously slowed down his eating. It should be said that everyone was eating slowly today. Even Liang Shengdi was wondering whether to save a mouthful of rice to feed the chickens later.
Speaking of which, this chicken is really precious. Does this count as stealing food from others?
Chen Chunhua was amused. These guys must have eaten too much recently, so they were in the mood to think about such things. If it were in the past, the little chicks would have been stewed and eaten directly.
"Eat quickly! I've just left a potato and a mouthful of rice. I'll feed them once they cool down a bit. Eat up everything in your own bowls, don't waste it!"
After these words were spoken, the few people returned to their usual eating habits. Even after Lin Shumei finished her meal, she still remembered to nod at the bowl of crucian carp, opening her mouth and making two "ah" sounds to indicate that she wanted more.
This girl's appetite has been getting bigger and bigger recently, and her face has started to gain weight, which is a good thing!
***
The biggest day in early April is probably Qingming Festival, but due to special reasons, no one dared to carry out large-scale ancestor worship activities during the Qingming Festival in the past ten years. At most, they would close the door, make some soup and rice in a low-key and careful manner, light three incense sticks, and invite the ancestors to come home for dinner.
The production team will not give you a day off because of this. At most, there will be Qingming cakes in the cafeteria for everyone to share at noon.
But there are some rules for making porridge. First of all, you have to choose the right time. If the auspicious time during the day falls during work hours and no one is home, you can only choose the auspicious time in the middle of the night or a less auspicious time, and then apologize to the ancestors.
The good time shown on the almanac this year is exactly dinner time, so they can start eating after offering sacrifices to their ancestors, so it is not too late.
The table could be filled with six, nine, or even ten bowls of food. In the past, wealthy families would even set specific dishes, like a fish with its head facing inward, a rooster with its head facing outward, a bowl of braised pork, a plate of tofu, and rice dumplings with mugwort.
Chen Chunhua simply ignored it. Firstly, their family wasn't wealthy, and it would be a waste to serve nine or ten bowls. Secondly, Liang Shengdi didn't understand the whole thing. If you asked her, she'd just say that the person was dead, so what was there to eat? It would be better to make something good for the living.
This kind of thing is usually taught by the mother to her daughter or daughter-in-law. When Chen Chunhua was a girl, she worked with her mother to make soup and rice of all sizes for several years, but her mother's family also set out 6 bowls of vegetables, and the only meat dish was a fish.
After marrying Lin Guoqing, Liang Shengdi was always happy every time she had to make rice soup, because at least there would be more dishes today than usual.
We actually bought a rooster yesterday, but we definitely won’t eat it. The six dishes that Chen Chunhua prepared were braised fish, braised pork, vegetable and tofu, Qingming rice cake, fried bean sprouts and poached eggs.
By the end of this month, the rapeseed flowers planted in the village will be harvested, and every household will be able to get a share of the oil after it is squeezed out. Therefore, Chen Chunhua has not been saving oil at all recently, and even fried the bowl of vegetables and tofu with oil.
A square table, aligned with the wood grain, sat in the center of the main room. Two candles were placed near the door. In the center sat an incense burner, looking quite old. Stools were placed on the three sides, and nine wine cups and nine pairs of chopsticks were placed on the tables. Those were the only chopsticks and wine cups they had.
He dug out the little bit of aged wine that Lin Guoqing treasured, carefully poured some into the wine cup, and then lit some incense and candles. Lin Guoqing respectfully stood at the gate holding three incense sticks and bowed three times to the sky.
"Today my family is making rice soup, and we invite grandparents, grandpa and grandma, dad and grandpa of the previous generation to come and eat the rice soup during the Qingming Festival." This is considered to be inviting the ancestors into the hall.
Then he bowed three times in front of the table and recited again, "Today my family is making porridge. Please invite my great-grandparents, my grandparents, my father and my great-grandfather from the previous generation to eat Qingming porridge."
After inserting the incense into the incense burner and kneeling three times and bowing three times, it was Chen Chunhua's turn to kneel three times and bow three times, followed by Liang Shengdi, and the four children performed the ceremony in order of age.
One thing I want to mention here is the question of who should pay their respects first, Liang Shengdi or Shen Chunhua. It is said that in other families, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law might even give a thumbs up to this matter because it is somewhat related to family status.
However, when Shen Chunhua first entered the family, she found that Liang Shengdi was extremely spoiled. When asked to pay her respects, she would just wave her hand and say, "You go first, I'll do it last."
I just keep thinking about when I can eat. If I can't eat, I still have to kneel down and kowtow three times. It's a waste of energy.
If she hadn't had grandchildren later, Lin Guoqing said that the generation gap was too big and she couldn't be the last to pay her respects. She wanted to be the last one to pay her respects.
Little Shumei followed the adults' example and fell to her knees, almost falling flat on her face.
Chen Chunhua was at a loss whether to laugh or cry as she pulled her up and made her kneel down, and then there were three more kowtows.
"Oh my little girl... that's enough. There's no need to be so honest..."
Lin Guoqing felt distressed and quickly held his little daughter in his arms and rubbed her forehead. Lin Shumei didn't feel any pain, but found it fun instead, and kept giggling in her father's arms.
After three rounds of drinking, three bows, and burning paper money, Lin Guoqing then pulled out incense to lead the ancestors out of the hall, bowed three times to the sky, and prayed to the ancestors.
"They have enough food to eat and everything they need, please bless our descendants to get promoted and become rich."
After the ceremony, return to the house, blow out the candles, and place the incense and candles outside. Move the table back to its original position and you can start eating.
There's an old saying in this area: "If you leave the rice and broth out cold, it will rot your intestines." It basically means you can't eat the cold rice, as it will rot your intestines. So you have to throw away the green dumplings and rice, and keep the rest for yourself.
But that is an old saying. In the era when people counted their rice to eat, how could they throw away precious food? In Liang Shengdi's words,
She didn't know whether her intestines would rot after eating, but if she didn't eat it, she would wake up in the middle of the night and slap herself. She deserved to starve to death during the famine!
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