Riding the wind of rebirth

Chapter 1952 Preparing for the New Year
Tu Liangzhi was overwhelmed by the villagers and said impatiently that the Agricultural Science Academy was cultivating them and asked them not to rush. However, there were only a few old trees and after the seedlings were harvested, the base would keep 60% and the rest would be given to the township.

If anyone wants to get the saplings earlier, they should sign up for agricultural technology training. They will be distributed only after they have learned well, otherwise everyone will be exhausted after going through so much trouble to take them home. Not being able to keep the money is a small matter, but ruining the country's plan to promote improved varieties is a big deal!

When I got home, I couldn't stop thinking about it. When there was no effect, promoting good varieties would be a very difficult thing to promote in any other township. How come everyone was scrambling to get them in Lianhe Township?
Then Zhou Zhi gave another idea. If the emotions of the villagers could not be suppressed, there was a repair plan.

"What plan?" Tu Liangzhi asked.

"They are all fruit trees anyway. Don't we have another base in our village?"

"Oh, yes!" Tu Liangzhi slapped his thigh, "And those big cherries, no, the cherry base!"

"But there is the same problem over there, which is the problem of insufficient fruit seedlings." Wu Renzhong is now a person in charge of village affairs. He is involved in all matters, big or small. Therefore, he knows the situation of the base over there better than even Zhou Zhi and Tu Liangzhi.

"Then we can ask for foreign aid!" Zhou Zhi said, "Cherries are different from Moroccan pomegranates. There is already a considerable scale of planting in Yantai. We can also get seedlings from other places!"

"Ah this..." Tuliangzhi was a little nervous: "We haven't done this before."

"This is a simple matter," Zhou Zhi said. "If someone else were to do this, they would be easily cheated by unscrupulous seedling merchants. But if it's you, Uncle Tu, it's different."

"Why am I different?"

"You are a model worker and a people's representative!" Zhou Zhi said, "You can use this identity to contact the local government and ask them to contact high-quality seedlings on your behalf as a measure to support the development of poor areas in the west!"

"Uncle Tu, believe me, as long as you can confirm with them that you are not a liar, they will definitely be happy to cooperate."

The mutual assistance between different regions, especially the developed eastern regions to the underdeveloped western regions or ethnic minority regions, has been able to be written into the annual work report as an important political achievement of the unit for a long time.

What's more, they haven't said that they won't give money. This means that it will save face and benefit, and it can also help local seed companies. Why not do it?
Zhou Zhi even optimistically estimated that as long as Tu Liangzhi came forward to contact the other side, it would be possible to get a buy one get one free deal. After all, Yantai not only cultivates cherries, it is also one of the first regions to introduce traditional high-quality apple varieties.

What a coincidence, Yanyuan County, Liangshan Prefecture, is also a good place to promote apple planting.

"What Elbow said makes sense." Wu Renzhong nodded: "Uncle Tu, don't worry, we will all support you. At worst, I can go to Shandong with you!"

Zhou Zhi added: "In fact, we will also engage in seedling sales in the future. We can use this opportunity to build relationships with the companies there and learn from them. This will lay a good foundation for the future."

"That's right." Tu Liangzhi suddenly realized that Zhou Zhi was considering planting seedlings in the collective orchard in the village in two years. He nodded and said, "We have to learn it early!"

After saying that, he took out a thick list from his chest pocket and said, "But before that, let's celebrate the New Year well!"

The Yi New Year, called "Kushi" in Yi language, is usually held on the Horse Day or Monkey Day in mid-November every year. Traditionally, it lasts for seven days, but now the national law stipulates that it lasts for three days. This year, it happened to fall on the weekend, so it lasts for five days in total, which is more lively than in previous years.

In Lianhe Township, this year will certainly be more lively, because every household has a lot more income. Anyway, as far as Zhou Zhi knows, the sheep sales during the Tuzi Festival are crazy. After selling all the black goats that can be sold, he dragged Wu Renzhong to Jiukou Township and Meigu City to make two trips, which basically met the needs of every household in the township to slaughter sheep this year.

The grain station did not need to kill sheep, Gillette Abi directly killed pigs. Before, he killed a big fat pig weighing over 200 kilograms. Now, according to Zhou Zhi's request, they have been raised for more than a month. The big fat pigs have exceeded 250 kilograms. If they are not killed, they will really reach 300 kilograms.

Gillette Abi planned to take this good opportunity to get rid of all the fat pigs and make room for raising piglets.

There is also a legend about the origin of the Yi New Year: it is said that a long time ago, there was a Yi boy named Obukosan who respected and was filial to his mother, but his mother, for some unknown reason, was sad and unhappy all year round.

In order to make his mother happy, Obukosan racked his brains and tried every possible means, but to no avail.

After the autumn harvest one year, Obukosan slaughtered chickens and sheep to worship his ancestors and invited neighbors and relatives and friends to come for a gathering. Everyone talked and laughed happily beside the pot, which finally made his depressed mother smile. Obukosan's long-cherished wish was finally realized.

In order to commemorate this unforgettable day, he would hold the same event every year after the autumn harvest, thus forming an important traditional festival for the Yi people to remember their ancestors.

This story is very relatable in Zhouzhi. Isn't it a replica of the Han Dynasty's "Spotted Clothes to Entertain Parents" allusion?
The story of "Entertaining Parents with Colorful Clothes" tells the story of Lao Laizi, a hermit from the State of Chu in the Spring and Autumn Period. When his parents were seventy years old, they were depressed when they saw that he had white hair. So Lao Laizi dressed in a baby's colorful clothes and teased his parents with a baby bird like a child, which made his parents laugh.

This story had a great influence on later generations. This theme can be found everywhere in poetry, opera, and stone carvings. Even many emperors ordered people to paint themselves like Lao Laizi to show their filial piety to their mothers in the paintings. This can be regarded as an early alternative COSPLAY.

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The biggest ceremony of the Yi New Year is to pay respect to the ancestors and invite them home to celebrate the New Year.

This ceremony is called "Juelongji". Previous translators translated it as "New Year's Festival" or "Ancestor Welcoming Ceremony", which is almost accurate and elegant.

The ceremony is usually hosted by a male head of the family or a person of high moral character, and all family members participate. Its core content is to welcome the ancestors to reunite with their children and grandchildren, express filial piety, and pray for the ancestors' blessings, so that they can spend a happy and peaceful Yi New Year together.

Lianhe Township has been poor for too long. The ancestors of many families passed away early, and the current descendants do not know how to preside over the ceremony. In many homes, even the "Madu" ancestral tablets have been damaged.

This year the day is different. Everyone dusts off the dirt, puts on new clothes, makes the main room look brand new, and then asks the old Bimo to repaint the "Madu" for them.

So Lao Chi Ri is very busy these days and has to go out early every morning.

The content of the sacrifices varies from place to place and from family to family. In addition to the majority of people who kill sheep, some also kill pigs, some kill chickens, and some use tofu, jar meat, etc. Therefore, Lao Chi Ri brings back something different every night. The black dragons who follow him all have round bellies and lie down in front of the doorstep as soon as they get home, without bringing dinner.

Zhou Zhi would sometimes go along and record the process of Lao Chi Ri and his family holding offerings such as chicken, pork, and wine by the fire pit, reciting sacrificial words facing the "Madu", and then presenting the offerings to the ancestral spirits.