Zheng Qing came to the kitchen and saw his mother carefully arranging the evening meal.
Kill chickens, fish, cut beef, fry shrimps, wash all kinds of vegetables and fruits, and put them into different dishes and basins for use.
The fire on the stove has been on since the morning, and there is almost no chance of extinguishing it. Whether it is braised pork ribs or simmered chicken, it is a very test of fire and patience.
When he was a child, during the Chinese New Year, apart from going out and having fun with his friends, Zheng Qing’s favorite place was the kitchen. Because here you can eat all kinds of freshly cooked food from morning to night almost all day long.
tasty.
Freshly cut red beef, stewed chicken feet, meatballs drained in bamboo baskets, fried golden hairtail, white lotus root slices, fresh yuba, etc., all kinds of delicacies are available.
It's so coveted in sight. However, before it is served on the table, children rarely have the opportunity to feast on it. They can only steal some from the plate when the adults are not paying attention, like tabby cats stealing fish.
Of course, now Zheng Qing has got rid of the dilemma of eating secretly when he was a child. He can walk into the kitchen at any time and taste something new in his mother's reproachful tone - just like now, he picks it up from the plate.
A tender piece of beef.
"Have you washed your hands?!" Mother glared at Zheng Qing and raised her voice slightly.
"It hasn't been washed either." Zheng Qing sucked his fingertips, looked at the hot stewed chicken in the basin with some greed, and tilted his head to motion to the other uninvited guest next to him.
"Are you a cat?" Mother Zheng was furious.
"In a sense, yes." Zheng Qing replied silently in his heart.
Of course, he couldn't say this kind of death-defying answer to his face. So he turned his head, looked at the uninvited guest next to him, and said hello:
"Brother Huang, are you full?"
The yellow raccoon twitched its ears and ignored the boy.
Just as Zheng Qing had thought before, the yellow civet was also in the kitchen.
At this moment, it was squatting obediently on the cupboard, snoring, and enjoying the New Year's Eve dinner that had arrived in advance. Whenever Zheng's mother prepared a dish, she would take out a little and put it on the small plate in front of the yellow fox.
Zheng Qing took a look and saw that the small plate was filled with beef, fish, chicken nuggets, etc.
"If you eat any more, you will turn into a pig. Be careful and you will collapse my cupboard!" Zheng Qing couldn't help complaining about the yellow raccoon, and then turned to look at his mother: "Besides, we haven't given away the ancestor god yet, can we eat?
?”
According to family rules, before the New Year's Eve dinner is served on the dining table, a small portion needs to be divided for the ancestors to enjoy. Only after the ancestors have enjoyed it can the descendants start eating.
Hearing Zheng Qing's question, Zheng's mother said angrily: "Didn't you just eat it?...Besides, it is a cat, not a human, so why should it abide by your family's old rules?"
The yellow raccoon dog gave a just right 'meow', which seemed to express support for Zheng's mother.
So it harvested another piece of fresh and tender fish meat.
"I very much doubt whether it is a cat." Zheng Qing defended secretly in his heart, and at the same time rolled up his sleeves and asked, "Then what should I do?"
"No, aren't you going to greet the ancestors later...don't get your hands dirty." Mother stopped Zheng Qing and pointed to the outside of the kitchen: "Just stay outside peacefully."
According to the old rules of sacrifice, women were not allowed to preside over the ceremony. Zheng Qing's mother criticized this very much and stabbed Zheng's father several times every year during the New Year. Zheng Qing also suffered a lot from it.
He shrugged and walked out of the kitchen obediently.
There is no very fixed time for welcoming ancestors, but it is usually arranged in the afternoon or early afternoon.
Grandpa's house has more than half of the space vacant.
An ancient family hall has been hung on the wall to the north - this is a large picture of ancestor worship, and the overall layout is a courtyard. Below the picture is the courtyard wall, with men and women gathering outside the courtyard; in the middle are rows of tablets.
The names and taboos of the deceased ancestors are written in letters, descending from top to bottom, and descending from generation to generation; at the top is the engraving of the ancestral hall.
In front of the family hall, there is already an offering table set up.
On the table, there are all kinds of tributes such as incense burner, wine, melons and fruits, dumplings, bowls and chopsticks. There is also a small, irregular mahogany tablet on the side of the table, with no name on it. Zheng Qing once asked his grandfather
, Who is the memorial tablet dedicated to? Grandpa said, it is the ancestors of the family who died young. Although they have not been able to carry on the family lineage, they are still a part of the family. During festivals, offerings should be made to them.
In addition to making offerings to the ancestors inside the house, you also need to set off firecrackers and burn paper money outside the house.
When he was a child, Zheng Qing was the most positive about this matter, because it was one of the few opportunities for him to show off his fireworks openly.
But now, as an adult, he has very little interest in these things.
After all, after seeing the real world of magic and wizards, the ancient folk custom of welcoming someone home has become a dispensable ritual for him.
After the men in the family came to the open space outside the house with paper money and other items, the oldest one, Grandpa Zheng Qing, drew a circle on the ground and outlined a few simple symbols - Zheng Qing was at Mr. Wu's place.
After learning the knowledge of talismans, he carefully studied these symbols passed down from his ancestors. After careful screening, he judged that these symbols had no real function. They were just some incomplete combinations of talismans. The only effect might be to comfort the living people.
Not to mention seducing souls and inviting gods, even a little influence on the world outside this world cannot be achieved.
It is not that Zheng Qing has never tried to use real talismans to attract the spirits of gods, but except for some newly deceased lonely ghosts, he did not attract the souls of his ancestors. The consequences of that attempt were that after returning home
Got seriously ill.
Since then, he has never done anything like this.
The place where the paper money was burned was a quiet open space in the community. It was originally a garden, but it was not maintained well and has been abandoned for a long time. The property management of the community cannot receive money, so there is no motivation to take care of it. Few people usually come here.
After clearing away the dead grass and branches in the open space, drawing the circle and outlining the symbols, Professor Zheng placed the copper basin in the circle, then placed a mat on the ground. With the support of Zheng Qing's father, he slowly knelt down and began.
Burn paper money.
Zheng Qing followed the movements of the two elders without saying a word. He was always thinking about what his friends at school were doing now, whether they were galloping in the hunting grounds or mixing charming potions.
When he came to his senses, smoke was rising from the paper money in the copper basin.
Grandpa and father were lying on the ground, seeming to be reciting words intently.
Zheng Qing blinked and felt that there was a bit too much smoke in the copper basin - this should be caused by insufficient combustion. He thought like this and looked around, trying to find a stick or something to fiddle with in the basin.
paper money.
The next second, a huge sense of fear seized his heart, suffocating his breath.
Outside the green smoke, a pair of bright red eyes appeared in front of him.