small farmer

Chapter 511 It Rains During the Tomb-sweeping Day (23)

During the Qingming Festival, there are many rains, and pedestrians on the road want to break their souls

The annual Ching Ming Festival comes again. On this day, people in Qingshan will visit the graves of their dead relatives.

The ancestral graves of the Zhang family in Moon Lake are all on a barren hill in the back mountain, where the ancestors and clan members of the Zhang family are buried for generations.

The view here is wide, with mountains and rivers behind. According to the old people, this is a typical Qianlong Crypt with good geomantic omen.
It is precisely because of this that the Zhang family has been able to live and multiply in this beautiful Moon Lake for hundreds of years. Even after experiencing several huge disasters, they are still safe from danger. Even in the period of great famine, they still rely on the moon The fish and shrimp in the lake and the wild animals in Qinglong Mountain survived.

Therefore, every Ching Ming Festival, every household will prepare incense candle offerings and come to the ancestral grave to worship the ancestors.

In fact, Zhang Feng knows that what everyone is grateful for is not the feng shui here, but the vision of the ancestors. It is the ancestors who migrated thousands of miles from other provinces to this land of fish and rice with mountains and water, so that the people of the tribe can rely on the fertile land here. Feed your family and thrive.

Therefore, worshiping ancestors is not only to commemorate them, but also a kind of gratitude for their contributions to future generations.

"Is everything ready for Xiaofeng?" Because of the Ching Ming Festival, my mother didn't do any business today, so she spent the holiday with everyone at home.

"Mom, everything is ready!" Zhang Feng smiled and nodded.

"Hehe, that's good, then you guys go, remember to come back early for lunch." The mother gave a slight hint and warned.

"Let's go, bro!"

"Mom, let's go!!"

"Go, remember to come back early!"

After saying goodbye to their mother, the brother and sister walked towards the back mountain with incense candles and fruits.

As soon as he reached the foot of the back mountain, Zhang Feng received a call from Zhang Yi.

"Brother, when are you going to visit the grave?"

"Haha, we've already reached the foot of the mountain, hurry up you boy, Xiaoyue and I are waiting for you here." Zhang Feng said with a smile.

"Ah, my brother, you don't call me when you set off, you must wait for me, I will come right away." Zhang Yi just got up, wiped his face carelessly, packed the incense candles and put them in the basket , hurriedly ran to the back of the mountain.

Along the way, the three also met many people. It seemed that everyone was very active in sweeping the tombs. Many people carried cakes, fruits and other tributes in their hands. In previous years, only rich people could afford them.

……

"Ah, it's finally here!!" After about a quarter of an hour, the three brothers and sisters finally arrived at Grandpa's grave.

A 1.8-meter tombstone, on which is written the tomb of Zhang Gong xxx, next to it are the names of the children and grandchildren.

"Little girl, come and kowtow to grandpa, and let the old man bless you to be admitted to Shuimu or Yanjing!" Zhang Feng said with a light smile.

Zhang Yue immediately rolled her eyes, but still obediently knelt down and kowtowed to her grandfather a few times.

"Hey, look, Zhang Yi kowtowed so well last year, that's why he found a girlfriend under the blessing of the old man?" Zhang Feng said jokingly.

"I'll go, brother, did you find sister Yiyi because of kowtow?" Zhang Yi couldn't help it anymore, and asked angrily.

The three brothers and sisters actually made fun of the old man, and they were not afraid that the old man would talk to them.

After paying homage to grandparents, Zhang Feng and the three speeded up again. After an hour, they finally finished worshiping all the ancestral graves in Dafang.

"Okay, let's go back!" After being busy for more than an hour, Zhang Feng and the others were also a little tired, and they almost broke their heads from kowtowing.

…………

Back home, mother Wang Guilan was preparing dyed glutinous rice in the yard. This is the standard Qingming Festival in Qingshan, and this thing is eaten every year.

Yellow dye is to boil the yellow flower juice, then remove some impurities and filter to get a yellow-orange dye. At this time, soak the glutinous rice with yellow-orange dye as before, and remove it after the glutinous rice is dyed with yellow juice.

This is how Moon Lake Yellow Sticky Rice is made.

In ethnic minority villages, people also make five-color glutinous rice. In addition to yellow, there are purple, red, black, and the last one is white.

Red dye and purple dye are obtained by boiling the same plant.The longer the leaves, the thicker the boiled color, and the rice soaked in this water will be purple; the rounder the leaves, the lighter the boiled color, and the soaked rice will be bright red.

For black glutinous rice, use maple leaves (try to choose tender ones) and mash them in a container. After 30 minutes, put in an appropriate amount of water, soak for about 10 hours, and then remove the leaf residue to get a black dye.At this time, the black dye juice can be directly used to soak the glutinous rice for 7 or 8 hours, and then the glutinous rice can be fished out after it is stained with black juice.

White glutinous rice is glutinous rice itself, it does not need to be dyed, just wash it, soak it for a while, remove it and cook it.

"Well, it smells so good! When will Mom be able to eat it?"

As soon as Zhang Yue, the little greedy cat, smelled the unique fragrance of yellow glutinous rice, she wanted to eat it yelling.

"You are the most greedy, it's still early! Go wash your hands and eat right away!" Mother Zhang said with a light smile.

"Understood, Mom!" Zhang Feng came to the pool, took a large basin of water, and wiped off his sweat, which made him feel refreshed.

At noon, the eldest sister made two side dishes casually, and a cabbage tofu soup with some chopped green onions on top, and asked if it was really good.

After running on the mountain all morning, both Zhang Feng and Xiaoyue were hungry. Zhang Feng ate three big bowls, and the little girl did not eat less. The two big bowls of rice and the big bowl of soup were all clean.

…………

"Brother Crazy, Sister Xiaoyue, I'm here!!" After lunch, Zhang Feng and his younger sister were sitting in the yard folding vegetables, and the little duck walked in with a glutinous rice dumpling, smiling while eating.

"Why are you here? Aren't you helping mom and dad with housework??"

The Qingming Festival is still very lively in the village. I made money last year. Whenever there is a festival, everyone celebrates it grandly. Every time there is a big table of big fish and meat. Busy preparation.

"Oh, I want to help too, but my father doesn't want me to help!" The little guy poked his mouth up.

"What's wrong? Is it a disservice again?" Zhang Feng knew that something bad must have happened to this guy, otherwise why would he be kicked out by Uncle Er Niu.

"Hee hee, madman brother, how do you know?" The little guy rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

It turned out that Uncle Er Niu caught a chicken and tied it in the yard, planning to make a stewed chicken with mushrooms at night, but he was let go by the little duck, and Uncle Er Niu chased him away for half an hour inside and outside the yard. Only then did they catch the chicken again.

So the furious Uncle Er Niu went into a rage, and the little duck was kicked out just like that, and was exiled for 300 meters.

(End of this chapter)