Don’t be greedy, little kids, it’s the New Year after Laba.
The eighth day of the twelfth lunar month is the Laba Festival.
This day was originally the day when the Buddha Sakyamuni became enlightened and became a Buddha. Buddhism commemorates this day by eating mixed porridge. Various temples also use fragrant grains and fruits to make porridge and give it to disciples and devotees. Over time, this festival has evolved from Buddhism spread to the people.
The porridge eaten on this day is called Laba porridge, also known as Buddha porridge.
However, the Laba Festival in Sanchong Township was not introduced from Buddhism, but has existed since ancient times. It is a festival gradually formed to ward off evil spirits and avoid harm.
On this day, villagers in each village under the jurisdiction of Sanchong Township will do three things.
The first thing is to cook Laba porridge, the second thing is to offer sacrifices to gods, and the third thing is to beat drums to ward off evil spirits.
In the era of the Great Collective, because of the destruction of the Four Olds, no one was allowed to do anything except cooking porridge. However, with the change of policies and the development of the times, it will slowly recover later, and in the end it will develop. It has become a local feature and attracts many tourists to come and watch.
On this day, Tang Jiancheng got up early and began to prepare for the Laba porridge.
At this time in his previous life, his Xiao Jiu died, his wife also committed suicide, and he himself was living in a haze, drinking to drown his sorrows every day. His mother was very heartbroken when she saw him like this, so she cooked a bowl with chili peppers. Spicy porridge, I want to wake him up!
It was precisely because of this bowl of spicy rice porridge that he remembered so deeply that he remembered the incident where someone caught fish in the Haoshan Reservoir in the ice and snow...
But now, after he was reborn, Xiaojiu has successfully turned one month old, is white, tender and healthy, and his wife is also alive and well. He no longer has to drink spicy rice porridge!
He wanted to cook a bowl of Laba porridge with local characteristics for his family.
There are eight things in total: bacon, peanuts, red dates, corn, rice, lotus rice, barley, and beans.
Lotus rice is lotus seeds, and bean rice is red beans.
Tang Jiancheng had bought these things from the supply and marketing cooperative a few days ago. Now he just took them out, cleaned them, and then mixed them together in proportion.
The only troublesome thing is that the bacon needs to be cut into very fine dices.
After everything was ready, he mixed these eight things together, then took the ice cubes that had been frozen in a basin outside the house the day before, crushed the ice cubes, and put them together into a large pot.
There are many people in the family, so I have to use a big pot.
This big pot is also new.
Put it on the fire and simmer slowly.
Soon, the rich aroma wafted out.
The children smelled the aroma and were all awakened by greed. They hurriedly dressed and washed themselves and came to the kitchen.
The neighbors also smelled the fragrance and couldn't help but curse again. However, on this day, almost every household would cook Laba porridge, even the poorest people would cook a bowl, so the neighbors did not pay too much attention. Tang Jiancheng made his family.
"Dad, what are you cooking for? It smells so good!"
The conspicuous Bao Xiaoqi rushed to Tang Jiancheng's side immediately, put her arms around his neck and asked.
"Dad, are you making Laba porridge?"
The eldest sister was the oldest and already knew a lot of things. She immediately guessed that this was Laba porridge.
"Yes, but I changed it a little bit and added bacon to it, so it smells particularly delicious!" Tang Jiancheng said with a smile.
"It does smell good!" The eldest sister nodded.
"No wonder I didn't guess it. It turned out that dad added bacon secretly!" Sanmei suddenly said.
"I heard from grandma before that Laba porridge is used to worship the gods. It cannot contain meat and must be vegetarian." The fourth sister suddenly said worriedly, "Dad, if you deliberately add bacon like this, the gods won't blame us, right?"
"I also heard Grandma Taohua say that God specializes in eating children! Dad, you added bacon and offended God. God won't eat us all, right?"
"Ah? Fourth sister, can gods really eat children?" Xiao Liu was so frightened that his face turned pale.
"Really, Grandma Taohua said she had seen it with her own eyes!" Fourth sister was also very frightened herself. As she spoke, she leaned closely on Third sister.
"Don't talk nonsense, there is no god in this world!" Third sister was as smart as ever, "They are all made up by adults to scare us children! They are just to stop us from being naughty, greedy, and obedient. In fact, they are all lies. of!"
Tang Jiancheng glanced at Sanmei and said to himself: "You are a child, how can you live such a transparent life? Is it really okay?"
"Dad, do you think there is a god in this world?" Xiao Qi suddenly asked.
Tang Jiancheng asked, "Do you think so?"
Xiao Qi vowed: "Yes!"
"Oh? Just now your third sister said that all gods are fake. Why did you say there are?" Tang Jiancheng looked at Xiao Qi curiously.
Xiao Qi said: "Because it's said on the radio! I often hear things like 'bright and spiritual', 'very energetic', 'especially spiritual'... Isn't this just spirituality?"
Ga?
"Hahaha……"
Hearing this, Tang Jiancheng was stunned for a moment, and then couldn't help but laugh.
Xiaoqi, you know how to tell funny jokes!
After laughing, Tang Jiancheng explained patiently, "Xiaoqi, the Youshen you heard on the radio means that this person is very energetic, which means he is very... very good and healthy, and your third sister and fourth sister Sister, the gods they talk about mean immortals, gods, and gods. These two are different."
"oh."
Xiao Qi nodded, but his eyes were actually confused.
Tang Jiancheng didn't explain anymore, because the porridge started to bubble and it needed to be shaken constantly, otherwise, all the porridge would bubble out.
Squeak!
At this time, the door of the house was pushed open, and Liu Fangfang walked in carrying a large bundle of firewood.
There are snowflakes on the body.
"Mom, have you gone to collect firewood?" The elder sister quickly went over to help.
"Is it snowing again?" Tang Jiancheng asked.
"Um."
With the help of her eldest sister, Liu Fangfang put down the firewood and said, "I said I would make porridge when I got back, but I didn't expect you to have already cooked it. Why does it smell like bacon? Did you put bacon in the porridge? ?”
"Yes, does it smell good?" Tang Jiancheng said with a smile.
The second sister had already poured hot water for Liu Fangfang to wash her hands and face. While washing, Liu Fangfang said, "The fragrance is fragrant, but isn't it against the rules?"
The fourth sister quickly said: "I also said this is wrong, it will offend God!"
Tang Jiancheng smiled and said: "The rules are set by people, as long as it tastes good!"
"By the way, Jiancheng, you can leave the porridge cooking to the eldest sisters first. On the way back, I met the third brother who was coming to see you. He asked you to come to his house. It seems that he is a mother-in-law. The cow is about to give birth to a calf. After I said I would bring you a message, he went to find Tang Linbao," Liu Fangfang said.
"Okay, then I'll go over and take a look."
Tang Jiancheng gave the shaking spoon to his eldest sister, then stood up, put on his thick cotton-padded jacket and went out.
"Dad, I also want to see a cow give birth to a calf!" Xiao Qi shouted.
"Children can't watch it!"
Tang Jiancheng refused.
"Huh, you're not taking me with you. I'll go by myself later!"
Xiao Qi murmured something in a low voice, and then sat obediently by the fire.
Compared to watching a cow giving birth to a calf, she prefers watching Laba porridge being cooked, because it is fragrant and can be eaten!
