165, Opening the Ancestral Hall
165, Opening the Ancestral Hall
For them, opening the ancestral hall to worship ancestors is a big event. On this day, almost all the members of the Lu clan and the people in the village came.
But there are exceptions, like the Lu family’s main branch, no one came.
However, no one cared whether the people from the Lu family's main branch came or not. Their absence would not affect the opening of the ancestral hall and the ancestral worship.
"Boom—"
The heavy wooden door was pushed open from the outside, and the gate of the Lu family ancestral hall was wide open. Looking in from the outside, one could see many tablets displayed in the innermost hall. These tablets were all tablets of the deceased ancestors of the Lu family.
The highest, most conspicuous tablet placed in the center is the tablet of the first generation ancestor of their Lu family.
Lu Mingfei remembered that when he was a child, he had come to the ancestral hall with his father to burn incense, but it had been many years since he last came to the ancestral hall with his father. He did not expect that after so many years, he and his father would return to this place again, and this time the old patriarch opened the ancestral hall door specifically for him, which had a completely different meaning.
Lu Youtian suppressed his inner excitement, restrained his expression, and wore a serious and solemn face as he followed his eldest son with his youngest son. He took in the gazes of everyone around him. He could hear them praising his eldest son for being so talented and having a bright future.
Listening to the people around him praising his eldest son, he had already laughed like a fool in his heart.
In contrast, the people around them looked at them with envy. Today, even the second and fourth Lu brothers could only stand and watch, unable to follow their younger brothers and nephews in worshipping their ancestors. At their old house, only their grandfather had the honor of following behind and burning incense.
At this time, Lu Lao Er and Lu Lao Si had already regretted it in their hearts. If they had known that their little nephew would have such good fortune, they would have saved their third brother (third younger brother) no matter what and would not have divided the third house.
It’s a pity that there was no such thing as knowing it earlier.
On this day, even Old Wang, who was standing in the crowd, had a trace of regret on her face.
"If you had known this would happen, why did you do it in the first place? Look, does your eldest grandson, whom you have been devotedly supporting, have this ability? Didn't he fail the exam this time?" Little Wang, who was standing nearby, saw the expression on her mother-in-law's face and couldn't help but sneer.
Old Mrs. Wang glared at her daughter-in-law, but this time she just kept a sullen face and ignored the daughter-in-law who was deliberately causing trouble.
"If you had been willing to support Qilang to study, wouldn't this honor belong to our family today? But look, who in the village cares about us now?" Seeing that the mother-in-law ignored her, Xiao Wang didn't make trouble after saying a few words.
Today, in addition to the Lu family members, the Wang family's patriarch and elders, as well as almost all the people in the clan are here, including their own family members.
Xiao Wang also knew that it would be embarrassing to quarrel with her mother-in-law here today. She was afraid of ruining the happy event for her nephew and the clan, and making her own family and the Lu clan unhappy. She was also afraid that the whole clan would have opinions about the people in their second branch, so she restrained herself a lot.
After everyone entered the ancestral hall, the clan elders in sacrificial robes stood aside and began to preside over the ancestral worship ceremony. "Ancestors, today, our twenty-fourth grandson, Lu Mingfei, has passed the imperial examination. We have specially opened the ancestral hall to inform you all..."
"...I pray to my ancestors to protect my descendants, to bring harmony and unity to our family. May they prosper, live long and have good health, and prosper for generations to come!"
As the protagonist of today, Lu Mingfei was pulled to the middle position and stood there. After listening to the clan elders recite a long sacrificial rite, he took the cigarette handed to him and bowed to the tablets of Lu's ancestors, and then inserted the cigarette into the incense burner.
The old patriarch and Lu Youtian came with their youngest son, as well as some older elders of the Lu family who came forward to burn incense and worship their ancestors.
At the Lu family's old house, only Old Man Lu is qualified to burn incense on behalf of the entire family.
Even the two uncles, Lu Lao Er and Lu Lao Si, could only stand aside and watch. But they knew in their hearts that if they had not separated the family, today when their nephew passed the imperial examination and returned to open the ancestral temple to worship the ancestors, they, the uncles, would also have the opportunity to come forward to burn incense and show their faces.
It’s a pity that the things that happened in their family back then were so ugly that their third brother (third younger brother) didn’t ask them to go forward, and neither did the people in the clan. Naturally, they were not qualified to go forward to burn incense.
…
It took nearly an hour to complete the process of ancestor worship.
Later, everyone cooked and ate here.
The meat and vegetables were brought back from the city by Lu Mingfei and his father when they returned to the village. They brought back a donkey cart full of meat and vegetables, so there was quite a lot.
The old patriarch had an earthen stove built in the open space outside the ancestral hall in advance. The people from their clan and the village were responsible for washing vegetables, and the person who cooked the dishes was a chef from the village who would cook for weddings and funerals.
The tables, chairs, bowls and chopsticks used for dining were borrowed from the villagers. Basically, all the things and people were there.
When people from the village come to the banquet, basically no one comes empty-handed. If they give a bigger gift, they will bring a red envelope with a few dozen coins wrapped in red paper, or a basket of eggs. If they give a smaller gift, they will bring a basket of vegetables from home.
While the women were busy outside, the men sat in the courtyard of the ancestral hall, drinking tea and chatting.
Lu Mingfei is the protagonist of today, so he was naturally left here by the elders to talk.
Seeing a table set up at the entrance of the ancestral hall to receive gifts, Lu Mingfei turned sideways and said in a low voice to his father who was sitting next to him, "Father, go tell the gift room that we won't be accepting any gifts today. We'll return everything to everyone."
"Okay, you take care of your brother, I'll be back soon." Hearing this, Lu Youtian nodded, nodded to the elders who were looking at him, left his youngest son with the eldest son, turned around and walked towards the gift room, whispering a few words to the elder who was registering the gifts.
When the people who registered to receive gifts heard Lu Youtian say that no gifts would be accepted today and all the gifts would be returned, they hesitated for a moment and then suggested, "You don't have to accept the gifts, but these vegetables are grown in everyone's yard. Why don't we take them to the vegetable washing place and have them processed? That way, everyone won't have to take them back."
When the people who came to give gifts heard that they would not accept any gifts and were asked to take the dishes back, they all said that they should keep the dishes and cook them for everyone.
After Lu Youtian discussed it with his elders for a few minutes, he agreed and refused all the gifts and valuables. He only accepted the fruits and vegetables sent by everyone.
After finishing talking about this matter with the Lifang, Lu Youtian returned to his eldest son and whispered a few words to him in a low voice, telling him what had just happened in the Lifang.
"What are you two, father and son, whispering about? Are you going to say it behind our backs?" Someone couldn't help but ask when he saw the father and son talking without letting them hear.
Hearing someone ask, Lu Youtian smiled and said, "I just asked the gift room not to accept everyone's gifts. You are already doing us a great favor by coming today, and we are very grateful to you all."
"light and spacious!"
"atmosphere!"
Many people here followed suit and praised Lu Youtian and his son for their generosity.
However, the old patriarch remained silent. Two years ago, when his eldest grandson passed the imperial examination, his family held a three-day banquet in the village, collecting a lot of gifts from everyone. Now that it was Lu Youtian and his son's turn, they refused to accept the gifts, which made their family seem greedy.
Seeing the old patriarch remain silent, Lu Youtian's heart suddenly skipped a beat, and he had obviously also remembered this incident. Worried that the old patriarch might feel uncomfortable, he thought for a moment and deliberately added, "The meat and vegetables we brought back today were all sent by Ming Fei's adoptive father. We didn't spend any money on them ourselves."
"Also, when we returned to the village, everyone helped us so much, and we were very grateful. Over the years, my family and I haven't been back to the village very often, but everyone still remembers us."
"Especially Uncle Wu, as well as the village head and the headmen, they have taken great care of our family. They would ask Chunping to send us gifts during festivals. Many uncles and aunts in our clan, as well as many people in the village, also sent us gifts and never forgot about us, so we are very grateful to everyone."
"So we thought, it's only right for us to buy some food today and come back to the village to cook for everyone." Lu Youtian thanked the old patriarch, the people in the clan and the villagers, but he did not thank the relatives in the Lu family's old house.
This was indeed the case. Over the years, they had received gifts from many people in the village, but they had never received anything from their relatives at the Lu family's old house. In the past few years, they had asked Lu Chunping to send gifts to the old clan leader and the village head, and also to bring a portion to the brothers and sisters at the old house.
But the brothers accepted the things they had sent back without even a word of reply. So after two incidents, they were completely disheartened with their relatives in the old house.
Sometimes, our own relatives are not as good as outsiders.
Old Man Lu, sitting in the crowd, had a gloomy expression when he heard his third son's words. He didn't know what he was thinking. Today, his son and grandson had returned to the village to worship their ancestors and hold a banquet, but he didn't even smile.
When Lu Lao Er and Lu Lao Si, who were standing in the crowd, heard what their third brother (third elder brother) said, they thought of the attitude and behavior of their family members towards their third brother (third elder brother) and his family over the years, and their faces became a little hot.
If they hadn't had much money before, it would have been understandable. But in the past few months, they'd used the barbecue recipe their nephew had given them and set up stalls in the city to make a lot of money. Aside from sending two chickens to their nephew last time, they hadn't sent anything to their third brother's (third elder brother's) home. It was no wonder that their third brother (third elder brother) mentioned so many people today, but not their closest relatives.
When Lu Mingfei heard his father say that his adoptive father paid for the things, he felt a little strange, but when he saw the old patriarch's expression, he suddenly understood why his father said that.
Sure enough, after his father said such a thank you, the old patriarch's face gradually opened up to smile. Author's words: Thank you Bole 9492239 (9492239) for your support, mua! To know more exciting content, please leave me a message on Liancheng Reading
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