Cao Maizi refused, after all, it was his son who was sick, how could he not personally kowtow to the Dragon King and Dragon Queen? That would not be sincere.
She pulled her son aside and said, "Just tie the mule to the post, what's there to see? You go in, kowtow, and come back to look around. The three of us will wander around some more."
Since everyone was already there, Wei Mingshen naturally didn't want to upset his mother, so he obediently followed them into the temple.
The altar at the temple entrance was piled high with incense ash, and the donation box was overflowing with money. Cao Maizi first took out the money he had prepared from his pocket and put it in the donation box. Then he lit incense and placed it in the altar. He then told his son and daughter-in-law to kneel down and kowtow to the Dragon King and Dragon Queen and tell them what they wanted.
The second aunt did the same, and then knelt down in front of the donation box to pray.
After kneeling and praying, the four of them squeezed into the temple together, and then knelt before the statues of the Dragon King and Dragon Queen to ask for their prayers.
Cao Maizi knelt down and wouldn't get up. With red eyes, she kept muttering to the statue. Wei Mingshen had to lift her up by force.
As Cao Maizi stepped out of the temple, her emotions were still running high, and tears were welling up in her eyes. Her second aunt comforted her, saying, "Sister-in-law, the gods know what's on our minds. Saying too much will only displease them. Alright, we've explained everything to the gods, and they know what to do. Let's just wander around. The gods will like us if we're happy."
Su Xueli echoed her sentiment.
Wei Mingshen said, "You three can wander around. Give me the eight bushels, and I'll put them in the mule cart. I'll wait for you there."
The three women agreed and, holding hands, squeezed into the crowd.
The temple was very large, covering several acres. At that moment, there were lion dancers, shadow puppeteers, acrobats, opera singers, and magicians performing in the temple courtyard. These were all popular forms of entertainment in this era, making it very lively.
After praying to the gods, the three of them felt relieved and happily watched one show after another.
Su Xueli, a reborn person, was even more excited because things like shadow puppetry, lion dancing, and magic tricks had gradually disappeared in later generations.
They were watching the shadow puppet show when suddenly a woman's scream and cursing rang out from the crowd. Su Xueli and the other two instinctively went to look.
A woman dressed in a mink coat and adorned with jewels, looking like a wealthy lady, was yelling at a woman in tattered clothes: "Keep an eye on your wild child! My bag isn't for lowly people like you to touch. If you get it dirty, you can't afford to pay for it... You poor wretch, trash, and your child is a poor wretch, a little trash too!"
The woman, her face flushed and neck red, retorted, pulling along a dirty little boy: "You're being so rude! What does a child know? He just touched your bag because it looked nice, but he didn't damage it..."
"You've dirtied it, I don't like it anymore. This bag is worth over a hundred yuan, you have to pay for it!" The woman in the mink coat stuffed the bag she was holding into the other woman's arms.
The woman was so frightened that she backed away repeatedly. She couldn't afford to pay for the bag, which cost over a hundred yuan. Her whole family worked hard for a year and couldn't even save up a hundred yuan.
"You poor, country bumpkin, and ill-mannered woman!" the woman in the fur coat kept cursing.
Su Xueli and her second aunt exchanged a glance: This woman doesn't deserve the mink coat she's wearing!
"Alright, don't lower yourself to the level of a rural woman," a man whispered in her ear.
"Pah, you're always pretending to be a good person. You never stand up for me. You're such a coward. You deserve to have been sent down to the countryside back then..." The woman in the mink coat started cursing the man next to her again.
Su Xueli subconsciously looked at the man next to her, thinking, let me see what this unlucky man looks like?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com