This stilted house in Balang Ancient Village is the most sacred place among the surrounding villages.
Normally, it's the village elders who bring their unmarried girls in to clean.
Other Miao people are not allowed to enter without permission.
Because it is a sacred place for the two thousand Miao people from Balanggu Village and several surrounding villages.
For centuries, even when entertaining elders who came to the village, Balang Ancient Village never opened its central gate.
Today, the future Miao King arrives with his holy maiden.
We must open the main hall door to welcome them.
As soon as the main hall door opened, all the Miao people around, regardless of age, clenched their right fists and patted their left chests, bowing slightly.
The elderly, especially the grandmothers, all began to recite it in whispers.
Ah Chen and Ah Mo exchanged a glance.
The two joined hands.
Ah Chen pulled the chief of Balang Ancient Village along.
Amo pulled along the old woman who held the highest status in the village.
They entered together through the central hall door.
Even so, the chieftain and the old woman slowed down a beat, letting Ah Chen and the Holy Maiden step in first.
The Qingmiao branch would never dare to disobey the customs passed down from their ancestors.
They dared not step across the threshold of the main hall before the future Miao King and Holy Maiden.
Although no one dares to live in the main room year-round, it is kept very clean.
Even though the tables, chairs, and other furniture are old, they still exude an ancient charm.
"Miao'er, drink this medicine; it'll be good for your health!"
The kind old woman brought Ah Chen a steaming bowl of medicine.
"Thank you, Grandma. Please have a seat."
“The old woman sits next to the saintess, so the saintess can sit next to you.”
After Ah Chen finished drinking the herbal medicine, he and Ah Mo got up together, took the incense and candles handed over by the village chief, and offered incense and gifts to the ancestral portrait in the center of the main hall.
After the formalities, Ah Chen was naturally seated on the wooden bench in the middle.
The most core Miao people and the most beautiful girls in Balang Ancient Village also came in.
The twelve branches of the Miao people each have significant differences in clothing style and details.
It mainly includes three types: formal wear, simple wear, and casual wear.
Formal attire is typically worn on important holidays or ceremonies. Women's formal attire includes fully embroidered blouses, pleated skirts, woolen bibs, and leggings, and is brightly colored and embroidered with intricate patterns.
Just like the drum-stepping festival a few days ago, that was a major festival.
Simple attire is worn for everyday activities and includes embroidered tops, pleated skirts, and wool bibs.
Casual wear is suitable for daily work and usually consists of a linen blouse in the same color as the clothing used by each branch, a white trousers or skirt, and an embroidered apron and leggings.
The clothing of the Qingmiao branch is usually made of hand embroidery and batik.
In particular, the patterns on the girls' clothing are mostly natural landscapes, flowers, birds, fish, insects, rivers, and stars, showcasing rich cultural connotations and artistic value.
Ah Chen and Ah Mo arrived suddenly, catching the girls off guard, but they quickly changed into their finest clothes and rushed over.
At that moment, Ah Chen looked at the silver rings around the necks of the young seedlings and smiled.
The silver rings around the boys' necks are really beautiful.
He also has one on his neck, but his is more meaningful.
Inside the main room, Ah Chen and Ah Mo chatted and laughed with everyone.
The village chief came to Achen with two booklets in his hands and said, "Achen, this is a list of children who are currently in school from eleven villages including Balang Ancient Village."
"Chief, please have a seat. Let me take a look first."
Ah Chen opened it and read it with Ah Mo.
Of the eleven Miao villages, with Balang Ancient Village as the leader, this is the largest.
The eleven Miao villages comprise more than 1,400 households, with a total Miao population of over 5,600.
But--
The more Ah Chen looked ahead, the more uneasy he felt.
Because in these eleven Miao villages of varying sizes, there are more than 800 young Miao men and women under the age of fifteen.
But only about thirty students went to school.
It's not that the girls and boys don't want to go to school, it's that they don't have the money.
Ah Chen's eyes reddened.
When he saw the last few pages, he noticed that some of the girls, who were only fifteen or sixteen years old, were already married.
The sixteen-year-old girl already has two children.
Ah Chen felt distressed, and his vision gradually blurred.
If the Miao people could change their current poverty, they wouldn't be in this situation.
The village chief and the old woman in the main room, along with all the Miao people of Balanggu Village, felt uneasy.
"Miao'er, don't be sad!"
Grandma held Ah Chen's hand tightly.
"Brother Chen."
Several girls around thirteen or fourteen years old ran up to Ah Chen, their eyes brimming with tears.
Soon, the chief of Balong Ancient Village arrived with the core Miao people of their area.
But as soon as they entered the main room, they saw that Ah Chen's eyes were red, and they asked him what had happened.
Chief Yang was also feeling bad, but he still handed the several thick notebooks he was holding to Achen.
"Ah Chen, this is the main one!"
Ah Chen took it and spent a full half hour reading it.
"Chief Yang, you arrived so just in time, were you deliberately trying to ambush me?"
“Ah Chen, our Qingmiao branch has always been waiting for you.”
"Alright, I have a general idea of the situation on Qingmiao's side, but these things still need to be sorted out. Don't you have college students? Let him handle it during the summer vacation."
Chief Yang glanced at Amo beside him and said to Achen, "Achen, you still hold a grudge against Aze?"
“Why would I hold a grudge against him? We’re talking about the future of the Qingmiao branch. He’s a college student from Qingmiao, shouldn’t he do something for Qingmiao? Let him organize these materials. I need detailed figures here.”
"That's good, that's good."
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