Since arriving at No. 2 Middle School, Du Zhicheng has seldom received parents of students at home, and he has driven away many of the people who gave gifts to show off their connections. The teachers of No. 2 Middle School found it incredible that Zhang Yongsheng's family could come to pay New Year's greetings. They were talking privately and had various speculations in their hearts.
The second day of the Lunar New Year has passed like this. The third day of the Lunar New Year is an extremely important day for Zhang Yongsheng's family. According to prior arrangements, today the family is going back to Han Aihua's natal home to visit relatives. Han Aihua rarely returns to her parents' home every year, so the Chinese New Year is particularly grand.
Han Aihua's natal family is in Hegang County next to Yunshan. Her family is in a village near the county seat and has many relatives. She is the eldest in the family, with two younger brothers. Since her parents died early, she went to the city to work as a temporary worker after graduating from junior high school, raising her two younger brothers.
Zhang Yongsheng spent his elementary school summer vacation in Hegang Village. During that period, both Zhang Jianxiong and Han Aihua were busy with work and had nothing to do with him, so they left him to Han Aihua's relatives. Zhang Yongsheng is also happy to be free. Without the control of his parents, his life is much better than in Yunshan.
After so many years, Zhang Yongsheng still misses those days very much. I play carefree in the countryside every day, wandering around with my cousins. Even going up the mountain to cut hogweed is a rare pleasure for him, let alone activities such as fishing in the ditch and catching crabs.
Zhang Jianxiong drove the Accord and the journey went very smoothly. He arrived at the outskirts of Hegang County in less than an hour. Instead of passing through the city, he walked around the siege road and went directly to Baita Mountain in the north of the city. This is the highest mountain in Hegang County and is named after the Baita Temple on the mountain.
Baita Temple is a thousand-year-old temple that has produced many eminent monks and is more famous than Jinling Temple in Yunshan County. Every year during the Chinese New Year, many believers and lay people go up to the mountain to restore the temple. It is very lively with people coming and going. Han Aihua's natal family is located in Shuinian Village at the foot of Baita Mountain. It is a prosperous village.
Next to the village, a stream flows down from the mountain, bypassing the village and flowing into the nearby river. The village built a mill by the river and used water power to drive stone mills to grind flour. In the past, people from all over the country came here to process flour, so it got the name of a water mill village.
Zhang Jianxiong did not drive directly into the village, but went up the small river next to the village and stopped the car at a fork in the road. There is a hand-excavated stone staircase next to the intersection. Not far up the stone staircase is the tomb of Han Aihua's parents. They plan to visit the tomb first and then visit relatives.
Because they had to climb a mountain, the whole family was dressed in sportswear and wore thick down jackets, which made them look a little bloated. Zhang Yongsheng and Zhang Jianxiong walked in front carrying sacrificial supplies, while Han Aihua and Bai Zhixuan followed slowly. The scenery near Baita Mountain is nice, and Bai Zhixuan takes out her camera to take pictures from time to time.
The tombs of Han Aihua's parents are on a platform halfway up the mountain. Many villagers in Shuinian Village buried their ancestors here. The scenery here is excellent. It is surrounded by mountains and rivers and has a wide view. It can not only overlook the entire Hegang County, but also overlook the river running eastward in the distance, giving people a relaxed and happy feeling.
According to Han Aihua's ancestor, the village hired a Feng Shui master to take a look at it, and it was said that this was some sort of Blue Dragon Cave. People in the village were superstitious about this, so everyone buried their ancestors' graves here. Every New Year, Han Aihua would come back with her husband and children to visit her parents' graves.
On the third day of the Lunar New Year, many people visited the grave, many of whom were relatives and friends of Han Aihua, and everyone greeted them warmly. Many people knew Zhang Yongsheng, and when they saw how talented he looked, they praised him in various ways. Bai Zhixuan became the focus of everyone's attention, and everyone inquired about her identity.
Han Aihua did not hide anything, and briefly introduced the real situation, which was greeted with congratulations from the villagers. The villagers here are very simple and have no idea about the so-called late marriage and late childbearing. Anyway, whenever relatives and friends have happy events, they will definitely give all kinds of warm congratulations.
The four of them came to the graves of Han Aihua's parents. Zhang Yongsheng and Bai Zhixuan placed the sacrifices, and then the family began to worship according to the procedure. It was Bai Zhixuan's first time to participate in the Zhang family's sacrifice, and she was very cautious throughout the process. Zhang Yongsheng is much more lively, and even makes a few witticisms to liven up the atmosphere.
The sacrifices brought by the Zhang family were all carefully prepared by Han Aihua, and they were also things that his parents loved to eat when they were alive. There are both sausages, bacon and other New Year products, as well as various exquisite side dishes. Zhang Jianxiong also prepared wine for his father-in-law and mother-in-law, and offered good wine during the worship ceremony to express the younger generation's sincere feelings.
After the worship service, the family cleaned up the area around the tombs of Han Aihua's parents, cut down all the wild trees and weeds that had grown this year, and replaced the faded inscriptions with red paint. Zhang Jianxiong, as his son-in-law, did the work himself, kneeling in front of the tombstone and filling it in word by word.
Zhang Yongsheng sat next to him and picked up the tangerines from the sacrifice and ate them. Bai Zhixuan said dissatisfied: "What's wrong with you, you just ate it now? Why don't you go to help if you don't see that my uncle is busy?"
Zhang Yongsheng handed the tangerine in his hand to Bai Zhixuan and said with a smile: "It is rare for my father to show his filial piety, so I have to give him a chance. He runs outside every day, and it is rare to have such an opportunity. I can do it at any time, as long as I am free. It won’t be long before you come back.”
Bai Zhixuan was speechless: "How can you be a son like you? You don't think about your parents at all."
Zhang Yongsheng said with an indifferent expression: "You don't understand. I am considerate. If I go up and grab it, that would be called being ignorant. This is not a simple job, it is to express the longing for the ancestors. You Seeing him filling in the inscription, this is actually a solemn worship ceremony."
Bai Zhixuan seemed to understand: "Is this also one of the rituals of worship?"
Zhang Yongsheng said proudly: "You don't understand, our country's tradition is like this. No matter what you say every day that life should have a sense of ritual, when it comes to the sense of ritual, you are half full. How many people understand now? These? Otherwise, your dad’s wedding wouldn’t have been so different.”
Bai Zhixuan nodded and sighed: "Now schools don't teach this, and we don't have anywhere to learn it. How do you know this? Who taught you?"
"Teaching by words and deeds, I followed the adults to do what they did since I was a child, and I learned it slowly." Zhang Yongsheng explained: "My parents have been away from home these past few years, and I have done all the things at home. Do you think I am familiar with them? When will we Go visit the graves of your grandparents, is it far from Yunshan?"
Bai Zhixuan shook her head and said: "I don't have to go this year. My dad will take Tang Lili. My grandparents have moved back to their hometown. They are outside the province. It takes two and a half days to drive back and forth. It takes up a lot of time to go back and forth. The New Year's events are too much. More, I decided to make time to go there during the Qingming Festival."
