How can this couplet be used to celebrate a happy event?
Moreover, it is almost dark, and I have never heard of any custom where the main banquet is placed at night.
Chen Yuan frowned and made some finger gestures with his hands under the table. Suddenly a light of magic flashed across his eyes. When he looked around, his heart suddenly sank.
At this time, the fat Taoist also brought the crazy old man to the table next to him, and said excitedly: "I used to like this the most. When the master sees me wearing a Taoist robe, he can come over and give me a few shouts, and he can have a delicious meal.
If you meet someone who is generous, you will be given some money. It is strange in this place that the main banquet is only held after the sun has set."
While he was talking, red lanterns were raised up on the eaves of the four houses, illuminating the sunbath with a bright red color. As the rays of sunlight faded away from the top of the mountain, more and more guests came over and congratulated the host one after another.
"The bride has arrived."
"Oh, the bride is here!"
As someone from one side of the village came over and shouted festively, the fat Taoist couldn't help but stand up and look out. Chen Yuan also looked in the direction where the guests around him were looking. A woman in a simple red dress was surrounded by several villagers.
Surrounded by women, they slowly came over.
Unfortunately, he couldn't see his face with the red hijab, which made Sun Zhengde smack his lips with regret.
There are no such complicated ceremonies in the village. The groom comes out of the house to greet his wife, then steps over the brazier at the door of the house. Under the singing of the matchmaker, he simply bows to heaven and earth, and the parents are done.
"Hiss... I always feel like something is wrong." Even though Sun Zhengde didn't have any discernment, he still felt something was wrong. "What the bride is wearing feels wrinkled... like paper."
He looked around again, and the villagers smiled and asked him to sit down, saying that the banquet would begin soon, but in the eyes of the fat Taoist, he felt that these people were missing something.
Just as he was thinking about it, the banquet started, and the women in the village acted as kitchen assistants, helping to pass the dishes and put them on the table one by one.
The Taoist, who had been hungry for a long time, immediately stopped his thoughts, picked up a piece of green vegetables with his chopsticks and put it into his mouth.
"My boss, I'm telling you, as long as a dish like this is cooked through oil and water, the taste will be absolutely authentic. It's not like the chef hired by this owner... it's tasteless at all when it's made, it's like chewing wax. Hey, you guys
Why don’t you eat?”
Only then did the Taoist realize that there were twelve people at the table. The crazy old man was sitting at the table staring at the dishes without blinking, too lazy to raise his chopsticks. Chen Yuan next to him also had no intention of using chopsticks. Everyone else was eating with gusto.
As the dishes continued to arrive, Chen Yuan suddenly smiled and asked the Taoist to eat first.
"I'm going to the hut."
After saying that, he apologized to the other guests around him and got up and walked to the entrance of the village. Sun Zhengde curled his lips and saw a plate of roast meat being served. He quickly handed out his chopsticks and quickly grabbed a piece. When eating in rural areas, it is important to be fast and precise.
If the main dish like this is a little slow, you can only drink soup.
"Taoist Priest, where is that brother?"
At this time, the host brought the groom over and seemed to want to propose a toast. The Taoist didn't care whether the meat tasted good or not. He swallowed it in his belly three times and picked up the empty cup. The groom, who was also a handsome young man, came over and poured it out with a smile.
Serve drinks.
"My boss has gone to the hut, but he seldom drinks... You don't need to greet the guy next to him, just don't irritate him. I and my boss will keep it safe and put on some good shows for everyone later. Think of it as a gift to the groom.
A great gift from the official!"
Sun Zhengde liked to say nice things, and he gave the host a lot of face both inside and outside. He asked for a few glasses of wine and drank it. His brows suddenly wrinkled, he held his belly and said "ouch", and his stomach rumbled.
He quickly put down his wine glass and exited his seat.
"Master, I won't drink any more wine. Where is your hut? I have to go there for convenience."
"Okay, okay." The host called with a smile: "Dongzhu, take the Taoist priest to the latrine. By the way, I want to ask Shitou and Shunzi why they haven't come back yet. They are almost late for the banquet."
The man who was busy greeting people over there responded and came over. It was the man who drove the donkey before. He took Sun Zhengde and went to the back of the house.
"It's right here. It's still busy up front. I'll go there first. The Taoist Master is done, so he can come over on his own."
"Don't worry, I'll find my own way."
After sending the man away, Sun Zhengde carefully stepped into the hut, held his robe in his arms and arranged it for a while without even pulling it out.
"What did you eat to make your stomach upset like this?"
While squatting on the toilet, he took out a bell from his sleeve and shook it. His vision suddenly blurred, and his mind became so dizzy that he almost sat down in the latrine.
When I woke up with a start, the feeling of shitting was instantly gone. I quickly put on my pants and pushed out the door.
The bright red light that caught the eye was now pale, the red lanterns hanging in the corners of the eyes turned into white lanterns, and the red silk hanging on the treetops also turned white.
The surroundings suddenly felt gloomy.
'Why did you go into a hut and when you came out, even the color changed?'
After all, he had experienced some things. Sun Zhengde was more cautious and did not dare to go out directly. He walked a few steps against the wall behind the house and saw a figure illuminated by candlelight in the window.
He looked around, quietly pressed open the window paper, and looked inside through the hole as big as the tip of his hand. The cut-out "囍" characters were pale and pasted on the altar table, and a pair of white wax burned quietly.
Eyes move.
In an instant, Sun Zhengde covered his mouth and saw a pair of rouged paper figures standing in front of the new bed, holding wedding candies and fruits in their hands. The bride sitting in front of the bed, originally in a red dress, became
It became a filial piety.
I don't know if he felt someone outside the window. The white headband shook. The bride seemed to raise her head and look this way. Sun Zhengde was so frightened that he squatted down, covered his mouth and slowly moved his feet.
'This is not a happy event, it's just a funeral!'
'You have to tell your boss to go...'
The fat Taoist lowered his voice as much as possible and moved past the window lattice. Then he slowly stood up and quickened his pace. Once outside, he put away his frightened expression and walked to his seat in a serious manner.
But I couldn't help but ask the woman next to me who was helping the cook.
"Auntie, could I please ask, are the lanterns red or white?"
The woman looked at him strangely and cursed, "There's no need for free money when celebrating a happy event. It's bad luck!"
"Isn't that white?" The Taoist casually pointed to the white lantern hanging at the corner of the eaves. Unexpectedly, the woman glared at him and said angrily: "That's red."
After saying that, he stopped talking about Sun Zhengde and continued to pass the dishes.
hiss!
With this tone and look, the woman didn't look like a ghost at all, but why were her eyes red and why were they white to me?
The more I thought about it, the weirder it felt, and the more I thought about it, the more scared I became.
The Taoist smiled stiffly and responded to the villagers who greeted him one by one. He returned to his seat. As soon as he picked up his chopsticks, he saw that the stacked dinner plates were covered with a thick layer of incense candle ash.
"Taoist Priest, why don't you eat?" A villager looked at him with a mouth full of ashes.
"I...I feel uncomfortable in my stomach. I just finished taking a bowel movement...I'll take a break before eating. You guys first...you guys first..."
Sun Zhengde smiled stiffly and looked at the crazy old man who was staring blankly at the bowls and chopsticks as if asking for help. Suddenly! Someone tapped him on the shoulder. He was so frightened that he sat down on the ground.
Turn back.
I saw Chen Yuan had come back and sat next to him.
The fat Taoist immediately grasped the hem of his master's clothes tightly, almost bursting into tears, and felt more at ease than he had ever felt before.
"Master...where are you going...do you know, you went to a hut...I saw..."
"Wait a minute, go get the Zhang Fei wood carving from the car and hold it tight."
Sun Zhengde pursed his lips and nodded obediently, "Yeah!"
The sky was getting dark, and the wedding banquet was coming to an end, but none of the villagers left, sitting in their original positions like wooden figures.
The host came over with a smile as before, and Dongzhu on the side invited Chen Yuan and three others to perform a wood carving show.
"Indeed, it's almost time."
Chen Yuan also laughed. While asking his host to help clear the space, he asked Dongzhu to go to a house not far away to prepare some things.
"Brother, just ask if you need anything."
Dongzhu stepped into the room and slammed the door shut.
He turned around and saw Chen Yuan looking over gloomily. He raised his hand and Dongzhu banged and was pushed to his knees by something invisible.
Suddenly, Sun Zhengde, who was already nervous, was startled.
"Master!"
Chen Yuan ignored him and looked straight at the man kneeling on the ground: "You lied to me about acting, but you are actually a ghost from Zhuangzi!"
The man who was forced to kneel on the ground had a look of fear on his face. Not to mention how he knelt down, how did the other party know that this village was full of ghosts?
He swallowed his saliva and looked quite nervous.
"You...how did you know?"
"I knew it as soon as I entered Zhuangzi. Except for you who are alive, everyone else here is full of ghosts...but they still retain their memories before death and what they were doing..."
…
The lights flickered inside the house, and it became dead silent outside.
At the same time, on a road outside Zhuangzi, the official road leading to the mountain, ten or twenty men were holding torches and rushing towards this direction under the leadership of an old farmer.
"Hurry up...the two young men must have gone to Liuzhuang!"
"Don't be afraid, everyone, you are full of yang energy...save someone's life!"
"...Li Zheng, aren't there a bunch of graves over there?!"
"No matter what we do, saving people is the most important thing!"
…
In the dim room.
Dongzhu looked at the figure half bathed in candlelight and half in shadow. He couldn't move even if he wanted to. Now he realized that he had met an expert.
"Sir... it's not that Dongzhu meant to deceive, it's me... it's me... I've looked for several troupes, but no one is willing to come."
When he said this, his voice suddenly choked up.
"Sir, you are right...No one in Liuzhuang is alive...None of them are alive...They...all died ten years ago. My parents are also there...I am the only one left alive in the whole village.
Being here is even more uncomfortable than death."
Dongzhu cried hoarsely, and the invisible strength in his body suddenly relaxed, and the man fell to the ground.
With the low words, a scene seemed to unfold in front of Chen Yuan.