However, there are etiquette procedures before bathing the baby.
First comes the offering of a potted plant.
The procedure was simple: the midwife brought the prepared bath tub to Li Mai's bed. The tub already contained a medicinal bath with added Chinese herbs such as mugwort and sophora japonica.
After the midwife picked up the baby, relatives and friends began to add water to the bath, along with items such as clean water, copper coins, red dates, or longans, which were considered auspicious.
Of course, relatives and friends were added according to seniority and age.
First came the two children's grandparents, then the clan elder, and the elders were added according to their closeness and age. The last one was Zhuzhu, who was already holding three red dates in her hands.
As they added the water, the midwife would hold the baby and say auspicious words. Zhao added a spoonful of water, and the midwife murmured, "May the water flow long and may the baby be happy and healthy."
When it was Zhuzhu's turn, she held the red dates in her hands but didn't put them in immediately. Instead, she held them up, waiting for the midwife to say auspicious words.
The midwife chuckled and said, "If you have a son soon, you will give birth to many noble children."
Zhuzhu was finally satisfied and put the red dates into the bathtub.
Everyone laughed.
After adding the basin, there is a basin-sounding ceremony, which means it's time to officially bathe the baby.
Another midwife picked up a wooden stick that had been prepared beforehand and gently stirred the contents of the wooden basin while chanting auspicious words.
The general content still revolves around auspicious phrases like "have more children" and "have more sons of noble birth," which are of great interest to everyone.
After mixing it all up, I started giving the child a bath.
There are also specific customs associated with bathing. One begins by washing the head, while chanting, "Wash your hair first, and you'll become a king. Wash your shoulders, and you'll become a high-ranking official. Wash your waist, and each generation will rise higher than the last..."
During the washing process, the child may feel uncomfortable and cry a few times, which is how the proper etiquette is maintained.
To the midwife's embarrassment, this family's baby didn't cry. The first baby didn't cry. She secretly pinched the baby's bottom, and the baby cried a few times. Everyone laughed. This was considered to have fulfilled the proper etiquette. She quickly went over to dry the baby and wrap him up so that the baby wouldn't catch a cold.
At this moment, another midwife held Yu Bao and began the ritual. The second baby still didn't cry, but was still made to cry by being spanked. This ritual was meant to make a loud "waa" sound.
After the first midwife dressed the baby, she continued with the rest of the procedure. She placed a handful of mugwort on the baby's head and chanted some incantations. Then she gently combed the baby's hair with a comb while chanting incantations.
Finally, I rolled an egg lightly on the child's face a few times, muttered a few words, and then switched to a scallion. I gently tapped the child three times, muttering, "One tap for cleverness, two taps for quick wit, three taps for exceptional intelligence."
After reciting this phrase about someone exceptionally clever, the midwife went outside and threw the scallions onto the roof.
Then, I'll come back and continue to bring good fortune to Yanbao.
Weights, locks, gold, silver, jade beads—these items are held and circled around the child, gently touching him while chanting auspicious words and lucky phrases.
Finally, they dipped chopsticks in some Coptis chinensis water and let the child lick it, saying, "If you can endure the bitterness of Coptis chinensis for three days, you will be rich and free from suffering for a lifetime."
After all these things are done, it signifies that the third-day bathing ceremony has been successfully completed. The midwife will then burn the spirit tablets of the goddesses that Li Mai had just worshipped, wrap the ashes in paper, and place them at the head of Li Mai's bed, symbolizing that the gods will bless this family with a lifetime of peace.
After the third-day bath ceremony, the midwife will help clean up the things in the bath tub. At the same time, they can collect the copper coins inside as a blessing and a token of gratitude.
In addition to the copper coin, the host family will give them a separate gift as a token of their gratitude. From this day forward, the midwives' mission in this household is considered complete, and they can retire with honor.
Zhou Quan gave each of them a ten-tael silver ingot as a token of his gratitude and personally saw them off.
The two midwives were overjoyed. It was the first time they had encountered such a generous family. They had also handled the matter very well, delivering two babies without the mother needing to be cut with scissors or the babies' heads being deformed by their pinching.
This is truly a blessed family.
After Zhou Quan escorted the midwife back, the men inside the house were already talking in the outer room.
Inside the room, Zhao told Li Mai to lie down and rest after sitting for so long, as she shouldn't sit for too long.
Those who remained inside were all the women from the family, who all eagerly gathered around the crib to see the two little ones.
The clan chief and his wife adored these two children the most; they thought they were incredibly cute.
"Xiaoquan, when are you taking the children back to the village?" Zhou Shizhou asked with a smile.
Ou Quan shook his head directly, "I'm not going back for now."
Zhou Shizhou smiled.
When Zhou Quan went outside, Zhou Shizhou followed him out and said something, "Xiao Quan, something happened in the village a few days ago, and I think I should tell you about it."
"you say!"
"Something happened to Zhou Shu and Zhou Chun's family," Zhou Shizhou said in a low voice.
Zhou Quan frowned. "What happened? When?"
"The day your sister's parents-in-law were being mourned was quite tragic."
“I only learned about this from my family after I got back from your sister’s house. They said that Zhou Chun and Zhou Shu had been drinking together at Zhou Chun’s house that noon, and it seems they had a few words of argument and parted on bad terms.”
"Unexpectedly, when Zhou Shu went back, he somehow strangled his crazy wife, Xiao Zhao, to death. It is said that his concubine tried to stop him, but he beat her to death as well. Afterwards, he seemed to sober up and realized that he had done something wrong. He tried to kill himself by hitting his head against the wall, but he failed and is still unconscious."
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