Time flies and it’s July 15th, the Hungry Ghost Festival, which is also commonly known as the “Ghost Festival”.
Although the word "ghost" is used, at least during the day, it is still a festival for living people.
The sky is bright.
There was a commotion in the Salesian Home.
The children were like chickens escaping from their cages, giggling and flopping all over the yard.
Poor He Wumei and the old medical officer were chasing after each other, catching one and running away. After a while, the old man hit his waist and called "little bastard", and He Wumei finally had no choice but to call for foreign aid.
.
Li Changan happily joined.
Just like a tiger preying on the "flock" of sheep.
He grabbed a girl with his left hand, and grabbed a boy with his right arm. He took two or three steps to the threshold, grabbed the ash from the pot that he had prepared earlier, and smeared it on the faces of the two children.
The little girl in the right armpit resisted weakly:
"Don't apply it, bah, bah, if you apply it again, your face will become charcoal. From now on, you will be as black as Brother Ni Loach!"
He Niluo in the left armpit was not happy and immediately rebelled:
"Just wipe it! Just wipe it! Wipe it hard! Wipe her eyebrows into a beard!"
The little girl was stunned after hearing this, and replied seriously: "Are you lying? Your eyebrows won't turn into a beard."
He Niluo vowed: "I lied to you that I was a puppy."
These words are quite powerful.
"Wu Niang!" the little girl suddenly pouted, "I have no eyebrows!"
Wow wow burst into tears.
He Wumei was too busy chasing the other children away, while He Niluo was still making noises. Li Changan laughed and added a handful of pot ash to the girl's face, extracting full happiness from the child's depression.
…
Wiping pot ashes is not Li Changan's bullying of children, but a local custom.
On the Hungry Ghost Festival, people will call upon the spirits of their ancestors to offer sacrifices to their ancestors. However, due to reincarnation, the living today are the dead in the past.
Children have light souls, and the karma in this life may not be as deep as the karma in the previous life. Therefore, parents in this life often take some measures to prevent the soul of their children from being summoned away by their relatives in the previous life.
Poor families in Qiantang would smear their children's faces with pot ashes so that the ghosts and gods who came to capture their souls would not be able to recognize their faces, thus concealing the truth.
For slightly wealthier families, there is another approach.
They will place their child's name under a certain god and Buddha, and worship that god and Buddha as their master and father. Until they grow up, they will not use their real name, but only use their nickname or Dharma name.
This method is called "sending one's name", and it became very popular in Qiantang, so people in Qiantang were joked that all the people in Qiantang were child prodigies, goddesses, and descendants of Buddha.
No gossip.
Li Changan didn't spend much effort in smearing all the children into black faces.
According to custom, it is time to worship ancestors.
But there was not much to worship in the courtyard of the Salesian Home, so He Wumei led the children to bring the worship objects they had made the previous day and went out to sell them to earn some extra money to supplement their living expenses.
Originally, he was planning to keep the baby girl at home, but considering that one of the two mobile ones in the house was a ghost, and the other was so old that he was about to become a ghost, He Wumei took the baby girl out as well.
Li Changan and the old medical officer were left looking at each other with disgust.
It's really boring to be tight.
The Taoist priest also went out to see the "Western Scene" of the "Hungry Ghost Festival".
…
Just when he went out, he saw Huang Wei looking for him to get the pig head meat.
The "Gu Shi" ceremony to worship the ownerless ghosts was only held in the evening. It was still early in the day, so the two ghosts wandered around the shop together.
On the Hungry Ghost Festival, the docks were all off work, and the cramped streets of Fuguifang were bustling with people.
Everyone wore the best clothes and greeted each other with sad faces.
As for how true the "broken soul" part is? Anyway, when the black-faced children play crazy, the parents just scold them a little.
A yellow-tailed scoundrel who goes up to congratulate a familiar face when he sees one.
Those who scold him for "not choosing the day to go crazy" are people who cannot care about face; those who look around and quietly return gifts are ghosts hiding in the world.
Thousands of households, whether rich or poor, big or small, all opened their doors, invited their ancestors' memorial tablets to be brought out, and offered tributes and incense candles.
Fuguifang, thousands of households, thousands of sticks of fragrance rising into the blue sky.
Among the clouds and mist on the roof, gods invisible to mortals circled and flew around to eat incense.
Li Changan held up his sleeves, raised his head and looked for a while, wondering: "Where do these many Mao gods come from? I have never seen them before."
Huangwei hid under the eaves and whispered back: "It is usually enshrined in various palaces and temples. Only after smelling the fragrance do you come to the door."
"Is that the incense used by people to worship their ancestors?"
"If the gods are not full, where will the ghosts come from?"
God Mao indulges his divine power without restraint, and the living people cannot notice it, but the dead people are inevitably frightened.
Li Chang'an didn't care, but Huang Wei couldn't stand it, so the two ghosts left the street and went to the place where "Shi Gu"'s tribute was distributed - Hua Wengdi store.
This restaurant usually has few people but many ghosts, but today it became a complete ghost den.
Male ghosts, female ghosts, old ghosts, and little ghosts crowded the halls and courtyards. They all smiled and bowed to each other, making the scene lively and joyful as if they were celebrating the New Year.
"Although the living and the dead in Qiantang live together in the same city, they are like two sides of a leaf. They are not allowed to communicate with each other on the surface. Therefore, the Buddhists and Taoists in the city have drawn up a rule: if you become a ghost, you will
You are not allowed to appear in front of your relatives and friends. Otherwise, if you are discovered, you will be severely punished."
Yellowtail explained.
"But the Qingming Festival, Zhongyuan and other days are exceptions. Qian Tang will let go of the realm of humans and ghosts and allow us to return to our homes temporarily. In this way, for ghosts, isn't it like celebrating the New Year?"
After hearing this, Li Changan took a closer look at the group of ghosts and saw that most of the ghosts had changed into new clothes, washed away their sad faces, and some even dressed up.
The most striking thing is an old ghost.
Li Changan recognized him. He was the old ghost Qiao whom he met the night he checked the ghost records. He was later captured by the ghosts and was released at an unknown time.
Now, she is wearing bright red silk clothes, a brand-new soft-footed headdress, a cockscomb in her ear, and her face is carefully applied with white face and blush.
Everyone around him laughed at him: "The dead tree has sprouted new buds? Are you so crazy that you want to be the groom's official?"
Old ghost Qiao retorted unceremoniously: "How can these destitute ghosts who snatch wild food know the dignity of ancestors?"
Both sides immediately choked.
But not a few words.
Several rays of divine light flashed across the courtyard and into the depths of the store.
The group of ghosts were silent for a moment, staring eagerly at the direction where the divine light fell.
Not long after.
Wearing a rich dress and taking care of his clothes carefully, Mr. Hua came to the court. The ghosts greeted him for a while, and all their eyes fell on the man accompanying Mr. Hua... holding a large stack of paper stickers in his hands.
superior.
Huang Wei once again acted as the commentator:
"After those Mao gods took the first incense, they would record which house opened the door to worship ancestors and the names of the ancestors they called, compiled them into Dharma stickers, and handed them to the ghost heads of each village, who would then notify the ghosts to return to their descendants.
The whole family will be entertained."
Li Changan nodded, but looking at the number of stickers, Qian Tang probably didn't have as many filial descendants as he had imagined.
This end.
Hua Weng asked someone to beat the gong to call the attention of the ghosts.
He stood calmly in front of the main hall and said something like "open the door for convenience, temporarily pardon your body, so that you can enjoy food and offerings to comfort your hunger and cold, and return home to continue your family relationship".
Then we got to the point.
Pick up a post.
"Putuofang Dongqu Huang Liuqi Zhao's father Huang Wusi. Is Huang Wusi here?"
"Yes, yes!"
A middle-aged ghost emerged from the crowd amid the congratulations.
Hua Weng handed him the note and warned him carefully: "After today, you must be safe and sound, so that you can escape from the ghost body and perish as soon as possible."
But the middle-aged ghost's mind had already drifted back home. He responded casually a few times, took the post, and couldn't wait to go home. As he jogged, his figure became lighter and lighter. Before he left the yard, his figure had become a line.
A phantom, transforming from a physical body back into a ghost body.
Just like that, as the names were read out one by one, the ghosts left happily.
But the strange thing is that the most arrogant among the ghosts, Old Man Qiao, has never been named.
He was elated at first, then uneasy, then pretended to be calm, and in the end he pricked up his ears and could see through everything.
Until the last post.
All the ghosts who had changed into new clothes were gone, and the rest were "extreme ghosts" like Li Chang'an who came to join in the fun. Their clothes were all dusty, and Old Man Qiao, who was dressed in angry red, was dazzling among them.
Hua Weng sighed at him.
"Stone trial."
It's not his name.
There was an uproar in the yard.
"Mr. Hua may have seen it wrong."
"Is there such a devil among us?"
"Did it get lost along the way?"
No one laughed at him. Compared with the filth in his words, things in a lonely soul hurt others more.
Old Ghost Qiao was very articulate before, but now he didn't utter a single word. He just covered his face and staggered away.
Hua Weng shook his head and sighed, went down to the yard and handed the post to Li Changan.
"I?"
The Taoist priest was surprised.
My surname is not Shi, and I have no descendants. Where can I worship him?
Take the post.
Oh~
It turned out to be not Shi Qianyan.
He is the god of ten coins.
…………
Time moves forward a little.
It won't be long before dawn.
A corner of Fuguifang.
Mrs. Tao had just placed incense and fruits on the memorial tablet of her ancestors when light laughter came from the door. Looking back, she saw that her only daughter, whose nickname was A Zhi, had returned.
The little girl loves beauty, so she only traces her eyebrows with pot ash to wipe her face, then she leaps into her mother's arms with light steps and acts like a coquettish girl.
"Mom, I'm back."
During the Zhongyuan period of the Qian Tang Dynasty, they loved to use hand-washing flowers, also known as cockscombs. A Zhi went out in the morning to sell the cockscombs newly picked yesterday. But Mrs. Tao calculated the time and it was less than half an hour before A Zhi went out. When she looked at the flower basket
, is already empty.
After her husband died, mother and daughter depended on each other. Mrs. Tao couldn't bear to scold her daughter harshly, so she just tapped the little girl's forehead with her hand.
"Are you playful again?!"
"That's not true." The little girl shook her two horns, "Not long after I left home this morning, I met a gentleman. He spent a lot of money and bought all the flowers."
"Look!"
Ah Zhi carefully took out the copper wrapped in a handkerchief.
"I also gave you a lot of extra money."
Mrs. Tao took a quick look and found out that the price was one penny more than the usual selling price. She wondered: "The unreasonable generosity must be a personal trafficker."
But after saying that, he shook his head and rejected it.
Sakon is a brother and sister who knows the ins and outs of the same society, and the traffickers will not take action at this time. Besides, if a trafficker is encountered, how can the timid girl of her family laugh?
A Zhi also said: "He is not a human trafficker. However, he is a weirdo."
"What's weird?"
The little girl giggled:
"This big man insists on calling me grandma, and he also said that he will send a carriage to take me home for dinner soon. Mother, do you think he is funny or not?"
The little girl laughed a few times, but received no response from her mother. She looked up in surprise, only to see her mother staring directly at the copper coins, her face turned pale.
"Mother?"
Mrs. Tao didn't answer. She grabbed the copper coins and threw them all into the water tank.
Those copper coins did not sink into the water, and decomposed into gray and black dirt. In a short time, they disappeared in the water.
It's all ghost money.
…
Shortly after.
The door of Mrs. Tao's house was locked tightly, and many middle-aged men and women were crowded in the house. They were all neighbors, relatives and friends who came to help after hearing the news.
They either held cheap yellow charms, or held wooden sticks, axes and kitchen knives, and crowded around the mother and daughter to cheer them up and comfort them.
"Don't worry too much, maybe it's just a trick played by a rogue."
"With the talisman I asked for from the city, the ghosts will not dare to cause trouble!"
The backbone of the gang was a big man. He carried a whistle stick and said in a low voice:
"Brothers and sisters, don't be afraid! There are so many of us here, don't worry about who is coming. If it's a human, just knock his head off. If it's a ghost, dig his grave!"
Everyone agreed.
Mrs. Tao hugged her daughter with a black face tightly and thanked her in a low voice.
Time passed in preparation.
The fog dispersed little by little, and the sky gradually became brighter.
Someone suddenly said: "The time has passed, right?"
Everyone looked at each other, and gradually began to agree. Finally, the big man made a decision: "Open the door!"
The door reopened, people were coming and going outside, it was bustling, it was very lively.
The smoke from the human world suddenly rushed in through the door, dissipating the tension and coldness in the whole courtyard.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief unconsciously.
The big man even laughed and said: "Ha! I thought this stick of mine would open today. It turns out that they are some cowardless ghosts. Seeing that there are so many of us, they pissed themselves off."
Everyone laughed.
Mrs. Tao couldn't hold it any longer and burst into tears.
She slapped her daughter hard several times:
"I told you to be disobedient and disgraceful. I told you to be playful and to collect money from others. If something happens to you, teach your mother how to live!"
After that, he started scolding his dead husband again.
"You heartless ghost! You left us orphans and widowed mothers, and you even turned into ghosts and refused to protect your children?!"
As soon as she vented her anger, there was chaos around her to comfort her.
At this time.
"Mother."
Mrs. Tao was still choking: "Huh?"
"The time has come."
With a gentle word, the bustle in the room suddenly stopped, and it became so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Mrs. Tao looked down at her daughter in disbelief. The little girl stared in the direction of the door with her eyes empty, as if she had fallen into some kind of trance.
"Close the door quickly!"
Some people screamed, some rushed to close the door tightly, and more people picked up whatever they could get and shrank into the house.
The big man gritted his teeth, picked up his whistle stick, and stood in front of the mother and daughter like a door god.
only.
"Mother."
Mrs. Tao held her daughter tightly in her arms.
"I heard the carriage."
"Ah Zhi, don't listen! Don't listen!" Mrs. Tao tightly covered her daughter's ears, tears streaming down her daughter's face, making it wet, "Just stay here, mother, you are not allowed to go anywhere!"
"Mother."
The little girl said the last words.
"He came to pick me up."
…………
The helpers who could not help have left.
Ah Zhi's thin and small body was lying on the bed, her eyes still open, facing the beams. She was still alive, but she had lost everything inside and became an empty shell.
Mrs. Tao stood beside her daughter, her expression dull and empty.
Someone pushed the door open and entered the house, but Mrs. Tao didn't respond at all. It wasn't until the person called in her ear that she turned her head and looked slightly.
It was the neighbor's aunt who left and came back.
The aunt looked at the two empty shells of mother and daughter, sighed heavily, and comforted: "That person just summoned A Zhi to renew the relationship in the previous life. After the Ghost Festival, he will let A Zhi back, right?"
This was useless nonsense, and Mrs. Tao didn't respond.
The aunt hesitated for a moment and then stated her purpose:
"If that doesn't work, we can ask God!"
This sentence is even more nonsense.
Who doesn't know Qian Tang? If you don't have money, you won't be able to invite the gods and bodhisattvas in the city, even the gods and witches in the countryside.