Grandma Yan looked at the padded jacket her eldest son had bought, then at the padded jacket Cuihua had made, and exclaimed, "Cuihua's handiwork is so good, it's no worse than the ones you buy."
Xuemei glanced at it and said, "Grandma, I think the clothes Mom makes are prettier than the ones you buy. Look at the clothes Mom made for Nannan. She can even make lace out of a tattered strip of cloth. She's so skillful."
Grandma Yan nodded. Cuihua was such a wonderful daughter-in-law. She smiled and said to Xuemei, "Xuemei, you should learn from your mother. When you have your own daughter in the future, you'll be able to dress her up nicely. Look how beautiful Nannan looks!"
Upon hearing this, Xuemei blushed and said shyly, "Grandma, the clothes are all ready, let's go to sleep, we have to get up early tomorrow." Suddenly, Cuihua jumped up, startling Grandma Yan. What's going on?
"Grandma, we haven't prepared the things for Dongnan to take to the ancestral hall to worship our ancestors tomorrow yet?" Xuemei started getting dressed. Grandma Yan waved her hand and pointed to the kangqin. "Tomorrow your eldest and second uncles and your father will go. Dongnan doesn't need to go. Your eldest uncle has already brought everything. You just need to get up early tomorrow and put some baskets in."
Xuemei breathed a sigh of relief, finally able to sleep peacefully. She took off her clothes, and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. In the entire Yan family, only Grandma Yan had her eyes half-closed, talking to her old man in her heart, telling him that all of her sons had returned on New Year's Eve and would come to see him tomorrow.
Yan Xiaonan was awakened by the sporadic firecrackers in Mushroom Village. A good night's sleep made the little pudding's skin even more delicate and smooth. Even Cai Min found it amazing. No girl in the city had such delicate skin. How did this girl grow up like this?
She couldn't help but whisper to Yan Erqiang, "Erqiang, Nannan is so beautiful. Why don't we have a daughter like Nannan too?"
Yan Xiaoqiang glanced at her sideways and said, "With your skin that's been battered by rain and has countless pits, you think you can give birth to a child like Nannan? It's already dawn, and you're still not awake."
Cai Min's chest began to heave violently. This damn man, why did he have to speak such blunt truths? I'm so angry.
Xuemei had already placed the offerings for the ancestral worship in three baskets. They would be going to the ancestral hall to worship their ancestors later. Cuihua brought up the breakfast she had already cooked. Today was the day of the ancestral worship, so they couldn't eat meat in the morning. Therefore, it was just a simple porridge and steamed buns made from two kinds of flour. Although it was simple, it was the best thing in the village.
The village chief also ate porridge at home, but it was much thinner. Fortunately, Mrs. Ma was very good at managing the household. A few days ago, she made a lot of pancakes with three kinds of flour. Today, she broke the pancakes and put them into the porridge, and she ate half full. The village chief didn't mind. The afternoon meal was the New Year's Eve dinner, which included wild boar meat that was hunted in the southeast last time.
In winter, dawn comes late, and it is still pitch black outside, but everywhere you can see villagers holding torches. Torches can provide light and warmth, and are an essential tool for the villagers of Mushroom Village to walk at night.
Everyone walked towards the ancestral hall in groups. This year, the village chief was the first to walk, and the second was Uncle Yan Daqiang. In this era, being a soldier is the highest honor. When everyone saw Yan Daqiang in his crisp military uniform and thick military overcoat, their eyes sparkled with envy.
Opening the heavy ancestral hall door, one sees a high arched platform surrounding the hall, where the ancestral tablets of every household in Mushroom Village are enshrined. Everyone familiar with their own family finds their ancestral tablet and begins to worship. The worship is actually quite simple: a pair of candles and three incense sticks. If you have the means, prepare some fish and meat; if not, a little wild vegetable and pine cones will suffice.
Each of the three Yan brothers was served a dish: fish, meat, vegetables, and three cups of baijiu (Chinese liquor). Yan Daqiang lit incense and candles, and kowtowed three times. He felt he had returned home in glory and had done right by his ancestors.
Erqiang, looking ashamed, kowtowed three times. He was the most useless and unambitious of the three brothers. How could he have thought that he was already a city dweller and doing very well? He was truly bewitched.
Yan Xiaoqiang kowtowed the loudest because he felt he had done right by his ancestors, for he had given birth to a little fairy, what a blessing that was!
Grandma and Cuihua also prepared a table full of dishes at home. The women in the village are not allowed to enter the ancestral hall, so they can only worship at home. There were no wild boar heads this year, but fortunately, Zhongnan found two fish in the silt at the bottom of the river. They were quite big, so they were perfect as the main dishes for the worship.
Yan Zheng was well-behaved this time, and he didn't drool even when he saw the dishes on the table. He took out a White Rabbit candy from his pocket, ate one himself, and then started to share the candy with everyone. As a result, no one except Cai Min took the child's candy. They felt it was too pitiful for a child to not be able to eat a single candy in a year.
Grandma Yan glanced at Cai Min, having nothing more to say to this woman. Tomorrow, when they leave, she'll have Nan Nan bring out more candy and secretly give some to the two brothers. After all, they are her grandsons. Alas, what a tragedy.
This time, Nan Nan was asked to kowtow first while holding the incense and candles, but she refused. She was the youngest in the family, so how could she be the first to kowtow? It was too disrespectful. Grandma should be first, Mom second, Dongnan third, and she should be last.
Cai Min got angry again. "I'm the second sister-in-law, of course I'm second," Bei Nan said coldly. "What kind of second sister-in-law are you? My grandma didn't even know you got married."
Cai Min was speechless for a moment, her face turning bright red. Suddenly, she blurted out, "Mother didn't go to my older brother's wedding either."
This time it was Southeast's turn to sneer, because he was the eldest in the family and remembered things the most clearly: "My uncle got married in the military, and he wrote to my grandma a long time ago. It's just that it's too far away, and my uncle was worried about my grandma's safety, so my grandma didn't go. Do you have a problem with that?"
Military marriage? Who dares to object? Cai Min's heart skipped a beat. She couldn't help but curse herself for always being unable to control her mouth. Knowing that she and the old house were incompatible, she still rushed over to invite bad luck. No wonder Yan Erqiang always said that she was incredibly stupid. Today, she finally realized it.
Yan Ge watched as Cai Min was rendered speechless by her two older brothers' intimidation, and felt deeply exhausted. His mother always thought of herself as a city person and looked down on his grandmother and third uncle who lived in Mushroom Village. Yet, his third uncle's family lived a life that was many times better than his own, so he always felt unbalanced.
Her resentment led her to cause trouble, but no one paid any attention to her antics, leaving her speechless and intimidated. She tried to sabotage him in secret, but her intelligence was lacking, resulting in tragedy. Her father humiliated her, leaving her with no face or dignity.
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