As New Year’s Eve approaches, the festive atmosphere in Yejia Village becomes stronger and stronger.
At this special moment, Yejia Village seemed to be decorated into a colorful painting, showing a lively scene.
A festive atmosphere filled the air. Every household was decorated with bright red couplets and colorful lanterns. These decorations shimmered in the sunlight, transforming the entire village into a dreamlike garden.
Wisps of white smoke drifted out of each chimney.
Ye family.
Liu Cuilan put the cooked rooster and pork into the basket, and also put the fried meatballs and fruits from last night into the basket. She then put three bowls of rice in the basket, and brought incense, candles, paper money, and firecrackers.
These are the things used to worship ancestors.
Ye Liuqing and his family closed the courtyard gate and walked towards the ancestral hall.
The ancestral hall was filled with smoke and a strong smell of incense.
The ancestral hall is very large, almost like a courtyard house, with a patio in the middle.
On the left is the temporary classroom for students, on the right is the village office, and in the middle is the ancestral hall where the ancestors of Yejia Village are displayed.
The ancestral hall was cleaned early in the morning.
There were many offerings on the long altar.
No matter whether the family is rich or poor, every household will kill a chicken on New Year's Eve to offer sacrifice to the ancestors.
The topics of conversation among some aunts mostly revolved around the chickens on the altar.
These chickens are raised secretly by each household, and the villagers turn a blind eye to it.
If I don’t raise it secretly, how can I have a good life this year?
Anyway, Yejia Village is located in a small mountain village. No one knows about it unless you or I say anything.
"Auntie, your chickens are really fat this year!"
"This big golden rooster must have eaten a lot of corn, right?"
"This rooster's comb is so bright and shiny, it looks strong at first glance."
…
The altar is only so big, but there are so many people worshipping.
Many villagers from Yejia Village came with their families to worship their ancestors.
After someone has finished worshipping, they take their things and leave, waiting for the next person to take over.
Everyone lined up very consciously, no one was fighting or scrambling.
Ye Liuqing helped Liu Cuilan place the prepared offerings on the table, while Ye Jianhua and Ye Jianjun lit the candles and incense.
The whole family stood together with a group of villagers and bowed three times to their ancestors.
Some villagers were still muttering to themselves, praying for a good harvest next year.
Liu Cuilan was no exception. She held the incense in her hands and muttered something.
"I hope our ancestors will bless our whole family in the new year, and may everything go well, and may all our wishes come true..."
Ye Liuqing looked at the ancestors surrounded by fragrance, and felt a mysterious feeling in his heart.
She was able to travel into the book, as if someone was guiding her.
Ye Liuqing was an atheist before.
Now, after experiencing these things personally, she has begun to doubt whether there really is a God in this world.
Otherwise, how could she have traveled through time? And that space? And the spiritual spring water in that space?
How do you explain this?
Therefore, Ye Liuqing still felt that there was a mysterious force pulling her into this vortex.
Ye Liuqing murmured silently in his heart.
My ancestors, my surname is also Ye.
I was born as a person of Yejia Village and will be a ghost of Yejia Village after death. You must protect me well.
I don't ask for a fortune, I just want peace and safety.
Of course, if you want me to get rich, I would be happy to do that.
…
After the worship, he added wine three times, burned the paper money, and then Ye Jianhua set off the firecrackers.
Ye Liuqing and his group left the ancestral hall in a prosperous atmosphere amid the sound of firecrackers.
When she returned home, Liu Cuilan set up a table in the middle of the yard.
Then, Liu Cuilan placed all the offerings she had just prepared on the table.
Liujia Village is quite far from Yejia Village. If you want to go back to Yejia Village to worship, it will take a lot of time.
Every year, Liu Cuilan would set up a table in the yard, place offerings on the table, and then begin to worship Old Man Liu facing the yard.
It's like this every year.
After the worship, we started preparing the New Year’s Eve dinner.
This year's New Year's Eve dinner is particularly rich.
The chicken used for worship is made into roast chicken.
There’s still half of the pig’s head left from yesterday’s braised work!
Pork trotters stewed with soybeans, and sweet and sour pork ribs.
A cabbage soup and stir-fried shredded potatoes.
There are five dishes and one soup, four of which are meat dishes.
This New Year’s Eve dinner is so much better than previous years.
Ye Dagang had finished all the fine wines in his collection, but he was still satisfied with the remaining bottle of Erguotou.
Sitting at the table, Ye Dagang happily picked up the Erguotou and was about to open the lid and pour himself a cup.
The lid hasn’t been opened yet!
"Dad, save this Erguotou for cooking. We won't drink it."
Ye Liuqing snatched the Erguotou directly from Ye Dagang's hand and took it away from the table.
"My daughter, it's New Year's Day, you have to let me drink something!"
"My girl, please don't! You could at least leave one bite for me!"
Ye Dagang watched Ye Liuqing leave with the Erguotou.
"Dad, don't be impatient, wait."
Ye Liuqing blinked.
She put the bottle of Erguotou back in the kitchen, and then while everyone was in the yard, she secretly took out a jar of girl's red wine bought from Wei Daya from the space.
As soon as Ye Liuqing returned to the main room, Ye Dagang noticed the jar in Ye Liuqing's hand.
"Girl, what are you holding in your hand?"
"Dad, what do you think?"
Ye Liuqing carried the wine jar to the table and then opened the lid of the jar.
In an instant, a strong aroma of wine filled the entire hall.
Ye Dagang couldn't help but sniff. It smelled so good!
“Good food goes well with good wine, and that’s the only way to enjoy it.”
Ye Liuqing raised the wine jar and filled Ye Dagang's cup.
Ye Dagang was extremely happy, "She is indeed my daughter, so filial."
"Dad, I am also filial. I fried these peanuts for you to eat with the wine." Ye Jianjun said quickly.
If you can coax your dad, the New Year's money will be bigger.
In the Ye family, no matter how old the children are, they will receive New Year’s money.
"Okay, okay, everyone is filial." Ye Dagang smiled.
"Okay, okay, let's eat."
The whole family sat together and had the New Year's Eve dinner together.
…
As night falls, the aroma of the New Year's Eve dinner fills the entire village. Families gather together, savoring the sumptuous food, and laughter echoes in the night sky.
The old people told stories of the past, the children played, and the whole family was filled with warmth and happiness.
After the New Year’s Eve dinner, everyone sat around the fire, chatting, playing cards and staying up all night.
When Ye Liuqing was cleaning the house two days ago, he found a sack of mahjong in the small room where he kept his things.
That bag of mahjong was still complete.
It’s just right, the whole family will play mahjong tonight.
…
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