In Daqian, both officials and gentry, as well as merchants and poor peasants, have the custom of holding three baptisms for newborns. That is, on the third day after birth, a bathing ceremony is held to gather a group of relatives and friends to wish the newborn good luck and happiness. The filth is gone, and disasters are eliminated.
Naturally, Xiao Zhengzheng of the Chu family was no exception. Early that morning, relatives and friends of the Chu and Shen families came to the Chu family's courtyard one after another. The women entered the young couple's house to visit the newbie's mother and baby. The men gathered in the main room to drink tea and chat. In the middle of the morning, Xiao Zhengzheng, who had just finished breastfeeding and was drowsy, was wrapped tightly by Shen's mother in the newly made Momofuku quilt and carried to the main room. In front of a crowd of relatives and friends.
Although he is still a three-day-old baby, he has followed his father's indifferent temperament to the fullest. In the past two days, whether he was hungry, sleepy or feeling uncomfortable, he just grunted. A few times, he attracted adults to help him solve the problem and then stopped abruptly. There was no crying like other children. Even if he couldn't sleep peacefully and was surrounded by a group of people, he just cried. After a few calls, and then seeing that it seemed to be of no use, they let everyone go.
Mother Shen and Mrs. Qian had seen quite a few babies under their care, but they were still amazed at the fact that such a sensible and non-noisy baby was really rare. Even Grandma Tang, Grandma Ji and others said that they were really non-noisy. A sensible child!
Only Shen Luzhu was secretly worried. Could it be that this child picked out the shortcomings of his parents and perfectly combined her laziness with Chu Yi's reticence?
After everyone teased Xiao Zhengzheng, the three baptisms were just about to begin. There was a large wooden basin on the round table in the main room, which contained freshly mixed hot water. Because it was the cold winter, and considering Xiao Zhengzheng's health problems, Mother Shen and the Qian family discussed and simplified the process. They just wet the handkerchief with hot water, and then the elders of the two families wiped it gently for Xiao Zhengzheng to show off. The handkerchiefs took turns in everyone's hands. After a lap, Xiao Zhengzheng has been given a bath.
Then all the water in the tub is poured out, and the elders of each family place the gifts that have been prepared for adding to the tub, either a few coins, or new clothes, hats, and shoes, no matter whether they are valuable or not. , is the love and care the elders have for the new born in the family.
After the ceremony, Zheng Zheng, who was already sleeping soundly, was carried back to Shen Luzhu. The relatives and friends who came to attend the baptism ceremony would continue to stay at Chu's house and leave after lunch.
The four Shen brothers took advantage of the fact that after the ceremony, there were no other female relatives in Shen Luzhu's house, and hurried in to see their sister and nephew. As the eldest, Shen Chuanbai was pushed out by his brothers to give gifts to his nephew.
"This is for Zhengzheng. I didn't take it out when I first added the pot. I thought I'd give it to you privately!"
In Shen Chuanbai's hand, there was a silver longevity lock and a pair of small silver bracelets wrapped in red cloth. They were the size of a baby's palm and were very delicately carved, just right for a newborn little Zhengzheng to wear.
"Brother, what are you doing? Why are you secretly stuffing things with me?"
Shen Chuanbai smiled and explained: "These are the four of us who put together the money and went to the bank to buy it. We did not use any money at home. It is considered a meeting gift for us as uncles, not a gift. Naturally, I have to give it in private."
Shen Songjie also said: "Sister, you don't know, the rich families in the town all wear this kind of longevity lock on their children. They say that wearing it will make them live longer and richer. Others have it, so of course we have to wear it too." have!"
Shen Luzhu was naturally grateful for the kindness of his brothers: "Then I will thank the uncles for Zhengzheng! But since the money at home is not used, wouldn't you, eldest brother, contribute all the money from your own house?" Just put on a longevity lock, why do you need to put on a pair of silver bracelets, Zhengzheng is not a little girl, how can she use these silver jewelry!"
He was squatting by the kang and staring at Shen Changshan who was looking carefully and said: "Cousin, if the four of us uncles only have one longevity lock, wouldn't it be too stingy, but we can't have four longevity locks. The life lock is worn by Zhengzheng, and my second cousin said it can also be made into a silver bracelet."
Shen Song nodded and admitted with some pride that it was his idea: "That's right, the jewelry shop in the town does have a lot of silver jewelry specially made for children. How can children's things be divided into male dolls and female dolls? Baby, we look so good-looking just now, just like the ones we painted that year
It looks like a boy scattering wealth. Look at the boys painted in the paintings that year. Not both men and women were wearing gold and silver. Lu Zhu, please don't refuse, my brothers and sisters, why are you so polite to us? "
Shen Zeqi also advised: "Yes, cousin, this is what we want. Besides, children's jewelry, even if it is made of silver, does not cost more silver, so you can accept it with peace of mind. "
"Okay, okay, thank you, eldest brother, second brother, cousin, and cousin! Yes, your uncles have spent all their personal money to make jewelry for you. You must respect your uncles when you grow up. Do you know?" After Shen Luzhu said that, he reached out and poked Zheng Zheng's little fleshy face while he was sleeping.
After the third bath, Shen's mother continued to stay in the Chu family's old house, with Qian helping to take care of Shen Luzhu during the confinement period. Chu Yi, the two novice parents, also began to learn to adapt to the life of raising a baby little by little. Fortunately, they were The child has a quiet temperament. He eats when he is hungry and sleeps when he is sleepy. When he is awake, he opens his big eyes and looks left and right. Compared with other children, he is much easier to take care of.
The days of raising a baby always go by very quickly. In the blink of an eye, the fifteenth day has passed and the first lunar month has come again. Our little Zhengzheng is about to be full moon. The young couple in the Chu family’s bedroom also discussed it. The whole moon wine thing.
"On the eighth day of the lunar month, the full moon is about to happen. I can finally walk around in the fields and take a bath. I feel happy just thinking about it!"
Chu Yi was currently hugging his wife and sitting on the kang, teasing his son who was lying in the crib. Hearing this, he turned his head and kissed Shen Luzhu's cheek: "I'm afraid it won't work. My mother told me the time of confinement. The longer you grow, the better your health will be. If we wait for forty days, it won’t be too late before you have your confinement. Can A-Zhu endure it a little longer?"
Hearing this, Shen Luzhu felt as if he had been struck by a bolt from the blue. He slumped into Chu Yi's arms, raised his head and leaned on Chu Yi's arms, looking at him: "Chu Yi, if you don't take a shower or wash your hair, I really want to It stinks, but you can still be held and wiped!"
Chu Yi looked at his wife who seemed a little hopeless in a funny way and coaxed: "No way, our A-Zhu is still fragrant and soft like Zhengzheng. If you feel uncomfortable, can I wipe your hair later?"
In fact, Shen Luzhu couldn't stand her oily hair these days, and had already begged Chu Yi to scrub her with a hot towel once when Shen's mother and Qian were not paying attention, but Chu Yi only dared to Wipe the ends of her hair, and don't dare to touch the area next to the scalp. Although her scalp is still itchy now, maybe wiping the ends of her hair will be better than nothing.
"Okay, then I'll just endure it for a few more days, but it's really uncomfortable!"
Helpless, Chu Yi could only say something else to divert his wife's attention: "It's full moon wine, A-Zhu, have you decided what to do?"
"Full Moon Wine?" It's no wonder that Shen Luzhu was surprised. In the village, children are usually only given three baths, and some children are given another week of bathing when they are one year old. However, Full Moon Wine is really rare. And little.
"Yeah!" Chu Yi nodded: "Not only the full moon, but also Zhuzhou, and future birthdays."
Shen Luzhu seemed to understand what Chu Yi meant. They only planned to have Zhengzheng. Naturally, Chu Yi wanted to give everything he could to Zhengzheng, hoping that he would have a happy childhood.
"Okay, originally I planned to wait until the full moon for us to go to Qichan Temple to pray for blessings and fulfill our wishes. After all, I prayed to the Concubine Empress in the first place. If we have to stay for forty days now, that would not be the case. Don’t worry, let’s organize a full moon bar for Zhengzheng!”
"good."
Full Moon Wine, as the name suggests, means that on the day when a newborn is one full moon, the host family will hold a big banquet in their own house and invite a group of relatives, friends and neighbors to come over to drink and eat meat. Firstly, it is to repay the previous baptism ceremony, and secondly, it is also to celebrate the baby's successful birth. After surviving the most dangerous first month, it was a matter of just treating guests but not getting any money back. This is another reason why few people in the village hold full-moon banquets.
The young couple didn't have any worries about money. Chu Yi went to the town to invite the chef of the restaurant to host it, and it suddenly became a new topic of discussion in the village.
Many people who were watching the excitement did not think it was a big deal, and even brought this matter to Uncle Chu's house and said: "You don't know yet, your second grandson's daughter-in-law gave birth to a baby, and your old Chu family also gave birth to a big baby. Where's the fat boy? That family?
Not to mention that I was so happy. Not only did I have a three-day meal, I also had a full-moon banquet, and it was said that I had to find a cook from a restaurant in town to come back and cook! "
"His family does whatever he likes. It has nothing to do with my family. Let's go!"
Uncle Chu's family learned how to be cautious this time, and they didn't dare to say anything in front of outsiders. But when they turned around and entered their own yard, how they lost their temper is a story for later.
On the day of the full moon banquet, Lin Qiuyi, who had already moved to the east side of the Chu family's old house, also rushed over. After the banquet, while everyone was leaving or cleaning up, she knocked on the door and entered Shen Luzhu's house.
"Miss Lin, I'm really sorry. I can't leave the house right now. We're glad you can come."
During the more than a month of resting in Kaoshan Village, Lin Qiuyi figured out a lot of things. Although she is still wary of other people now, she is no longer as frightened as when she was rescued from the Chu family. There is a huge difference: "I am also very happy to attend your son's full moon party."
After Lin Qiuyi finished speaking, she paused and then said, "Lu Zhu, I have to leave. I will set off in a moment."
"Leave? Do you have plans for the future?"
Lin Qiuyi nodded: "Well, actually, I had something to do before and I didn't tell you the truth... So I don't have any relatives or acquaintances here at all, but it doesn't matter. I have thought a lot about this for more than a month, and that person at home My wife would never find her here anyway, and I was tired of running around. I didn’t want to live in hiding anymore, so I thought about settling down, but I couldn’t just go to the county just hoping that all the savings in my hands would be wasted. You can do a small business in the village or town, and you can live a peaceful life by yourself from now on."
Lin Qiuyi's transformation is something Shen Luzhu is very happy to see. People can't live in the shadow of the past: "You can think so, I'm really happy for you. Miss Lin is already very powerful, better than most people in this world." All braver!"
"It's just that my fate is not determined by others. I should be most fortunate to have met your family. If it weren't for you, I don't know how many more days I would have survived. How could I be brave or not?"
"Don't say that, your fate will be in your own hands from now on."
"I'll lend you some good words!"
