Chapter 270: Position and Status
The early afternoon is the auspicious time of the day, and everyone gathers near the altar.
The atmosphere suddenly became solemn.
Jiang Mingyuan silently signaled Gu Xixi to follow him.
He took Gu Xixi to the row behind the elders, at the edge on the west side, and signaled her to just stand there and not move.
Gu Xixi nodded, watched Jiang Mingyuan walk two rows back, find a place to stand, and smiled at her.
Gradually, everyone found their own position.
After looking for a while, Gu Xixi understood why Jiang Mingyuan asked her to stand here.
The clan elders stood at the front, burning incense and offering wine on behalf of the entire clan, and paying respects to heaven and earth.
The row behind the clan elders is where the people in charge sit.
The east is the most honorable position, and Gu Xixi is the youngest and has the lowest seniority, so naturally she should stand at the westernmost end.
Going forward, they are generally arranged according to seniority, with the lower the seniority, the later the order.
There are exceptions, which is ranking according to contribution to the family.
For example, the middle-aged man that Gu Xixi had met before, who was on par with several old men in the clan.
Among them, some have many connections and wide channels and are the most well-informed.
There is someone who owns a small fleet of cars, and anyone who needs to transport goods has to ask him for help.
The same may be true for Jiang Mingyuan's forward position.
Gu Xixi thought that the Gu family must value his status as a juren, even if he was just a descendant of a foreign family.
During the Daye Dynasty, anyone who passed the provincial examination had the opportunity to become an official. If he could be recommended by a superior, he could directly enter the government, starting from the ninth rank or above.
At the same time, Juren were also qualified to participate in politics and the decision-making and management of local affairs.
Therefore, in the eyes of ordinary people, Jiang Mingyuan is at least half an official.
Fortunately, the ceremony was not complicated and was over after burning half an incense stick.
The surroundings suddenly became lively again.
Gu Xixi found the old Qian couple who were watching the ceremony in the crowd. Just as she said a few words, someone came to invite her to take a seat.
As today's distinguished guests, Mr. and Mrs. Qian naturally had to sit at the main table.
There were also clan elders and several responsible persons at the main table.
According to past customs, clan elders and leaders need to take this opportunity to communicate important clan matters.
When they sat down, the elder smiled and called Jiang Mingyuan, "Mingyuan, you have grown up now, come sit over here, we also want to hear your opinions."
"There's an empty seat next to Xixi. You can sit there."
Jiang Mingyuan responded, walked to Gu Xixi and sat down, and the two smiled at each other.
Gu Xixi looked down at the wood grain on the table and couldn't help but sigh in her heart. As young people, she and Jiang Mingyuan were able to sit here only because they were useful to the Gu family.
She couldn't help but think of the situation her father encountered when he attended the clan meeting.
Not to mention sitting at the main table, he couldn’t even eat at the first buffet.
So Gu Baopi went to clan meetings a few times when he was young, but later he gradually became unwilling to go.
Now that I think about it, the reason why Gu Baopi got the nickname "Baopi" was that he was always stingy and frugal, and whenever he had some money he would build a house and buy land, but in the end he didn't get to enjoy it at all.
How do we know it’s not because of some kind of stimulation?
"What are you thinking about?" The man's voice was as clear as water, echoing softly in his ears.
Gu Xixi glanced sideways and found that Jiang Mingyuan was not looking at her, but was talking to her in a low voice.
Gu Xixi glanced at the people sitting at the top and wondered, is Jiang Mingyuan worried about them?
Jiang Mingyuan spoke again, "The wine we're going to drink is sorghum brewed by Uncle Wu's family. It has a strong aftertaste."
"If you can't avoid it, just touch your lips for your own good intentions."
He half-closed his eyes calmly with a composed look. The other people at the table could not hear his voice and had no idea that he was chatting with Gu Xixi.
Gu Xixi suddenly realized and thought, what a good person!
So she responded quietly, "I understand. Thank you."
The first round of buffet begins.
There were six cold dishes and six hot dishes on the table, mainly meat, and the staple food was soft flatbread made from seasonal new wheat.
In addition, each table has a jar of sorghum wine.
Someone broke the mud seal and poured the wine, each person having a wine bowl.
As the new person in charge, Gu Xixi naturally had to have a bowl of soup.
The elder of the clan stood up to toast, and everyone followed suit.
After the toast, the sorghum in the bowl should be drunk up.
When everyone raised their heads to drink, Gu Xixi also pretended to bring the wine bowl to her lips.
Suddenly, a hand reached out from the side, took her wine bowl, and returned an empty bowl that smelled of wine to her.
It was just a blink of an eye, and with Jiang Mingyuan's wide sleeves covering it, no one noticed.
The two did not discuss it in advance, Jiang Mingyuan acted on impulse, and fortunately Gu Xixi reacted quickly enough.
When Gu Xixi sat down, she couldn't help but glance at the person beside her with a smile.
"I never thought that a top scholar like him could also have a playful and cunning side."
"You are so familiar with this, it shows that you do this kind of thing a lot in your daily life."
"Student tyrant?" Jiang Mingyuan was indeed a scholar tyrant. He understood the meaning of the word and smiled, "In Boss Gu's eyes, scholars are not all nerds, are they?"
Gu Xixi smiled and said, "That's not the case."
Because she just happened to know a scholar who was extremely treacherous, vicious-tongued, and could set traps for others at any time and anywhere.
During the meal, they naturally talked about growing corn.
Gu Xixi inevitably had to explain the arrangements of pesticides and fertilizers.
The people in charge discussed how much the final yield per mu could be increased and did the math on the spot.
Of course, the result of the settlement made them all very satisfied.
But they all had their own opinions on how much they believed what Gu Xixi said.
Gu Xixi was not willing to delve into their thoughts and just joked with everyone. In the end, the facts would speak for themselves.
During this time, people from other tables came over to toast Gu Xixi.
All the tests revolved around the word "corn".
Gu Xixi responded one by one, but refused to drink a drop of wine. She just smiled and said, "I can't drink much. I've already had a bowl with everyone."
"I'm here with Uncle Qian and Aunt Qian again today, otherwise I should really drink with everyone."
The clan elders also came out and said that no one was allowed to force Gu Xixi to drink.
Everyone saw that she was an unmarried girl and did not bring her family with her, so it would be inconvenient for her to get drunk.
So I just laughed it off.
When the second wave of the buffet began, Gu Xixi, Lao Qian, and Aunt Qian said goodbye to the Gu family.
A moment ago, Old Qian was still smiling and bowing to the head of the Gu family as he said goodbye.
When the Gu family turned around and returned, Old Qian staggered and fell headfirst onto the little donkey.
Gu Xixi was shocked, "Uncle Qian, are you okay?"
Aunt Qian was much calmer. She grabbed Old Qian and threw him onto the car.
"He's already drunk!"
"Don't think he was fine just now. He was just trying to save face. As soon as the outsiders left, he immediately showed his true colors!"
Gu Xixi looked at Old Qian, who was lying on the car board, looking stiff and dead, and said in amazement, "I have to say, Uncle Qian is quite capable."
Inside the venue, the elder walked up to Jiang Mingyuan and asked, "What do you think of Xixi girl?"
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