Clean the courtyard, prepare new year's goods, make new clothes, prepare tributes, burn paper in front of graves, worship in ancestral halls, post door gods...
We are busy every day and never have any free time.
The day before New Year's Eve, a big sacrifice was going to be held at the ancestral hall. Before dawn, the women and maids in each courtyard were all in motion. When everything was ready, they woke up their masters.
Although women are not allowed to enter the inner hall of the ancestral hall, there are still many things to do on this day. As a direct descendant living in the ancestral home, there are even more things to do. You can't sleep in the direct room when all the side branches and concubines are here.
Can't afford it.
When Lan Shi and Qiao's mother arrived at the ancestral hall with Mingyu and Mingqi, Qiao's father had already arrived with Mingjue and Mingqi brothers.
Many tribesmen also arrived early, and Father Qiao was busy with them, laying out tributes and preparing incense tables.
The tribesmen who arrived early saw Lan arriving with his first wife and family members, and came over to greet her one after another.
As for such an occasion, Qiao Mingjin, as a married woman, could not be present. She actually wanted to sleep for an extra moment, but the maid in her courtyard, Mrs. Ziyin, got up and was busy. Although her voice was very soft, she still got up early.
.Besides, she is used to getting up early these days.
Today, the ancestral home is busy with many things, and most of the women and maids in each courtyard have been transferred to the ancestral hall to help.
After Wan'er got up, Qiao Mingjin took her to have breakfast and then accompanied her to build a snowman in the courtyard. Yue Zhongyao rarely had any leisure time, so he naturally wanted to stay with their mother and daughter.
Yue Zhongyao still had a childish heart, so he accompanied Wan'er to build a snowman, and then started a snowball fight...
Qiao Mingjin was also unfortunate enough to be hit by a few tricks. Unable to defeat her daughter, she accompanied the father and daughter in a snowball fight. Until the three of them collapsed from exhaustion, they went back to the room to change and wash again, and it was noon.
After lunch and a long rest, Lan came back with his family.
There is no way, there are so many people in the Qiao tribe. The collective sacrifice alone will probably take a whole morning, and there will be sacrifices from each family in the afternoon. I'm afraid it will be good if they can come back before dark.
Sure enough, we spent more time at the ancestral hall this year than in previous years.
The grandson of the eldest son of the direct line is back, and he is leading his descendants to participate in the big sacrifice for the first time. Naturally, he needs to kowtow and offer incense.
Furthermore, at this grand ceremony, the acting clan leader also announced in front of the clan members that from this moment on, Qiao Jingkun, the eldest son of the direct line eldest son, would assume the position of clan leader. It would be officially handed over in the new year.
Seeing Qiao Jingkun leading his two sons to bow three times and nine times in front of the ancestral tablet in the inner hall, swearing their status as the direct eldest son of the clan in front of the clan members, Qiao Jingcang and others felt complicated.
But this identity cannot be easily changed by anyone.
Now that the Lan family is still alive, the members of their family can still be regarded as direct descendants, and they can still consider themselves as direct descendants. From now on, they can only be regarded as collateral branches.
As expected, the sacrifices on this day were carried out very late.
When night fell, Qiao Mingjin and Yue Zhongyao took Wan'er to wait for the family to have dinner together.
I saw that the whole family looked tired, and everyone seemed to be walking unsteadily. I'm afraid they had to kneel a lot today. After finishing the meal in a hurry, they didn't stay to talk, and everyone dispersed on their own.
After a good night's rest, it was New Year's Eve the next day.
According to the rules of the Qiao family, for lunch on this day, the descendants of the direct descendants who live in the ancestral home will treat the clan members to a meal at the ancestral home. In addition to announcing the direct descendants to the clan members, this day is also convenient for the clan members to communicate with each other.
Connect with each other emotionally.
Nowadays, there are more and more people in the Qiao family. It seems unrealistic to invite all the family members to attend.
For example, the tribesmen who come to the New Year's Eve luncheon are all those who are familiar with the first-in-law's family, as well as the relatives of the first-in-law who have not yet been married. The other concubine branches only have one or two male tribesmen from each family attending the banquet.
That’s all.
Of course, it also depends on how many tables the direct clan members who live in the direct family members plan to have. If the direct family members do not have financial support, then there will not be many seats, and naturally not all clan members can invite them.
But this year is the first time that Qiao Jingkun and his family return to their family. The people of Qiao Xingcun's apparent ancestral clan see it clearly, so their family will invite many people today.
Furthermore, Qiao Jingkun also wanted to take this opportunity to contact more clan members. Not only for the sake of his family, but also for the sake of his new position as clan leader. If he has good contact with the clan members, it will naturally be twice the result with half the effort for him to manage clan affairs in the future.
Although the family is still observing filial piety this year, the New Year's Eve lunch has never been missed in any year. They don't have to eat big fish and meat, but they can't ask the tribesmen to follow them and become vegetarians.
So today there were much more banquets than in previous years, and banquets were even set up in every courtyard.
Qiao Mingjin got up early and was busy with the Lan family, and went to the second door to greet her relatives.
Fortunately, the tribesmen came in a relatively concentrated manner, and the whole family was not made to stand for too long.
On this day, Qiao Mingjin followed the Lan family, Huang family, Zhang family and other aunts, and shuttled between the seats of the clan members. In the end, her face froze with laughter.
As Qiao's father took over the position of patriarch, there were naturally many people waiting to get married to Qiao Mingjin's family. Two of their daughters were married and engaged, but hadn't the other three younger ones not yet been engaged?
Therefore, the tribesmen at the banquet were extremely enthusiastic about the marriage of Ming Jue and the others.
Originally, Mrs. Qiao and Mrs. Lan were particularly worried about Mingjue's marriage, but today it seems that there are many people to choose from, and refusing is an art.
Mrs. Lan and Mrs. Qiao were worried again.
The Lan family was okay and had a lot of dealings with people. However, Mother Qiao was a little overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of her people. She was kind-hearted and had never been the kind of person who could be cruel enough to reject others.
Fortunately, the Lan family arranged for Qiao Mingjin to follow her all the time, otherwise she would not be able to move her feet. As soon as the female members of the clan saw her, they enthusiastically pulled her and chatted.
Qiao Mingjin looked at her until the end, her feet felt a little weak and she couldn't walk anymore...
By the time of the family reunion dinner in the evening, Mother Qiao was so tired that she barely had a few bites to eat.
Fortunately, dinner in the evening was a family reunion banquet, and it was just their family, and no one else wanted to see her joke.
However, Qiao Jing'an and Qiao Jingshan's four-bedroom family members came to the ancestral home for a reunion dinner, so as the eldest sister-in-law, she couldn't relax.
Aunts Liu and Fang still haven't shown up.
After hearing the explanation from Qiao Jingcang and others, Lan didn't say much.
According to the rules, those two are just concubines. If you come to the family banquet, it is the dignity given to you by the main wife. It is also a rule not to come. Generally, in a house that respects rules, no concubines will be present.
It was just that Mrs. Lan, seeing that both of her had grandchildren, invited her to attend the family banquet and specifically asked her to invite them. However, they made excuses not to come, which was a bit too much.
Fortunately, Qiao Mingjin's family didn't care.
Why should they care about things that others don't value? Should they treat them as rare things?
This year, because the family was still observing mourning, they did not prepare fireworks as in previous years. However, there were many people setting off fireworks in Yizhou City. While their family was still having dinner, the sound of firecrackers and fireworks outside could be heard.
Non-stop.
The little ones couldn't sit still. As soon as the firecrackers went off, their eyes would drift outside. After dinner, I took Wan'er outside to watch early.
Not only Wan'er, but also Ming Qi and Ming Heng, who grew up in the countryside, where have they ever seen such dazzling fireworks?
Everyone was excited.
Since I can't keep it at home, I feel it's even more rare. I wish I could fly over the high wall and experience it outside.
Fortunately, Qiao Jingshan and others smiled and told Mingheng and others about the Lantern Festival Lantern Festival in Yizhou City, saying that the fireworks set off in the city that day were more than what they are now.
The few children suppressed their excitement. They just wanted to take a nap and wake up tomorrow for the Lantern Festival.
Since we have divided our families, we naturally have to watch the New Year's Eve in each house. In addition, the whole family has been busy all day after today's lunch. After dinner, Lan didn't bother with Qiao Jing'an and several people staying in the ancestral home to stay early.
They each went back.
Although we cannot set off fireworks to observe filial piety, we still need to observe the New Year's Eve.
The whole family gathered in Lan's courtyard, eating fruits and snacks, laughing and chatting to celebrate the new year.
The kids were very excited in the first half of the night. They had celebrated New Year's Eve before, but how could they be like today?
Not only can you eat everything you want, but there are also many varieties, including fresh fruits. The room is as bright as day, with bright candles burning in every corner. Even outside the yard, the big red lanterns illuminate the porch and yard.
of.
In the past, the conditions at home were not good. Even if we stayed up late, how could we have so much food to eat? We were reluctant to waste lamp oil. It was very dark inside and outside the yard. Even if we wanted to go out and set off firecrackers, we were worried about wasting wax and oil.
Where is it like now?
But in the first half of the night, a few children were too excited, and by the second half of the night they could no longer hear their voices. When I turned around, I saw that they were all so tired that they crowded into the Arhat bed and fell asleep.
And this is the first time that Yue Zhongyao celebrates the New Year with the Yue family and stays up late together, which is also very novel.
Sitting on the couch chatting with his father-in-law, mother-in-law, brothers-in-law and aunts, looking at his daughter surrounding him and his wife sitting within his sight, Yue Zhongyao felt extremely satisfied.
I just hope that I can have my wife and children by my side every New Year’s Eve in the future...
The next day, Qiao Mingjin woke up early again. Although she didn't have to go out on the first day of the new year, no one slept in on the first day of the new year. She had to go to pay New Year's greetings to her grandmother and parents.
The family dressed up and arrived at Lan's yard early. After paying New Year greetings to Lan and Qiao's father and mother, and receiving New Year red envelopes, Ming Yu and Ming Jue arrived one after another.
After the siblings paid New Year's greetings to their grandmother and parents, just a moment later Qiao Jingshan and Qiao Jingya's four-bedroom guests arrived with their wives and children.
Although the family is separated, the aunt is still there, and according to the rules, it is necessary to take care of the morning and dusk, but the Lan family is exempted. But today is the first day of the New Year, and there is no need to go early to pay New Year's greetings to the elders.
Lan smiled and watched the people in the fourth room wishing her New Year's greetings, and she distributed New Year's red envelopes to them one by one. After the people in the fourth room paid New Year's greetings to Father Qiao and Mother Qiao, she led the whole family
Sit down and talk, each saying some auspicious words for the New Year. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly votes. Your support is my biggest motivation.)
