quadruple sleep

Chapter 357 I seem to have seen it somewhere
After Tian Dayu's father passed away, Aunt Tian seldom mentioned her husband to other people. Sometimes Aunt Tian would scold Tian Dayu when he talked about his father.

It can be seen that Xu Yan really believed that Tian Dayu was on good terms with the two of them, so he did not shy away from talking about Tian Dayu.

Xu Yan seemed to be afraid of the cold. While talking, he added a handful of firewood to the stove. The fire flickered fiercely, and the room was warm and dry. He stared at the sparks and said, "Maybe there is no affection, but Dayu has a good relationship with his father. Sometimes Dayu will come to me when he misses his father, but he dare not talk about his father too much in front of his mother."

"No feelings?" Hang Si asked, "So the marriage between the two was arranged by... their families?"

Xu Yan said, "In Meitang Village, a man and a woman get married by their parents' order and matchmaker's words. It's not popular outside now, right? There are very few couples like you two in our village. Dayu's parents were engaged when they were children. They had no choice and everyone is used to it."

Baby kiss?
Although Hang Si looked calm, his heart skipped a beat. Some things and previously unclear traces gradually surfaced.

She subconsciously glanced at Lu Nanshen, but his expression remained calm without any disturbance. He seemed to be concentrating on the food on the stove, and his casual words sounded nonchalant.

"When Dayu talks about his father, he always tells about some interesting things that happened to his father after he left the village. He is envious, but he always says that his life is not as satisfactory as it was when it came to him."

Hang Si heard these words and thought that he was really smart.

Xu Yan took the initiative to mention the child marriage, so the next question was crucial, and Xu Yan's answer was also an important clue for them to get to the truth. But if the question was asked too directly, it would inevitably arouse Xu Yan's suspicion, so Lu Nanshen's roundabout way of leading the conversation was the most appropriate.

As expected, Xu Yan continued his conversation and laughed softly, "Why envy? Uncle Tian left the village just to get away from his current situation, but he returned to the village in less than a year and never left the village again until he died, which shows that he was not happy outside. It's just that Dayu is a simple-minded kid, maybe he thought the outside world was too good, and now he is in a dilemma."

He sighed heavily again, "He is not coming back now because he is afraid of being laughed at. He is overthinking. No one laughed at his father when he came back. Now Aunt Tian is not in good health, Dayu should be filial to her by her bedside."
-
This is the second day of the annual sacrifice and takes place at dusk.

The most important sacrificial activities in Meitang Village were held three times over three days. Lu Nanshen was fortunate enough to witness the first annual sacrifice, which required the strong villagers of Meitang Village to carry fine wine and delicious food to the altar to thank God.

The requirements on the second day of the annual sacrifice are quite strict. Only elders are allowed to participate. The younger generations in Meitang Village are not allowed to peek, and they are not even allowed to go out after the sacrifice begins. They must stay at home with the door closed.

Therefore, Lu Nanshen and his team completed all their inquiries and investigations before the annual sacrificial activities began. On the way back to the yard, they saw that many families immediately closed their doors after receiving the wine sent by the village.

Auntie Tian was in a hurry, and seemed relieved when she saw them coming back. There were wine jars and earthen baskets at the door, and the earthen baskets were still covered with small floral cotton cloth. The wine jars were familiar, and they were the wine that the village had just distributed to each household. Auntie Tian said that this was the wine used for offering sacrifices to the heavens, and it was placed on the altar for a day before being distributed to the villagers according to the rules of the ancestors.

"This is a blessing from heaven, we have to drink it." Aunt Tian Guan said with a smile, "Today and tomorrow are the happiest days for the younger generation."

"How do you mean?" Nian Baixiao asked curiously.

Aunt Tian raised her chin towards the wine jars and said, "On the second and third days of the annual sacrifice, the younger generations have to stay indoors at night. They also have to wait for the wine distributed from the gods, so they have to drink a lot. There must be a lot of drunk people." Hang Si looked at the three large jars of wine in front of the door. It was plum wine, but it was not a beverage after all. She felt dizzy just looking at it.

There were quite a few ingredients in the earthen basket, including sweet potatoes, candied dried fruits and frozen fruits. The essential snacks on the oven were all there.

Aunt Tian Guan was going to attend the annual sacrifice and left without saying a word to them. Before leaving, she emphasized to them not to go out at night, as the annual sacrifice was a big event and it would be bad to disturb them.

Yesterday was the beginning of the annual sacrifice. There was an opening similar to the Nuo dance, and then the offerings were placed on the altar. Today is the day to pray to the heaven. The clan leader will lead the village elders to sit quietly under the altar at the specified time, and this sitting will last for two hours.

Lu Nanshen and his team’s focus is on the last day of the annual sacrifice, asking the heavens.

Several people returned to the main house.

There was not much firewood left in the charcoal stove, so Chen Yezhou was responsible for carrying dry firewood into the house. Outside, sporadic snowflakes began to fall again. Judging from yesterday's weather conditions, it would snow heavily again soon.

Lu Nanshen and Nian Baixiao were responsible for heating up the charcoal stoves in each room, while Hang Si and Fang Sheng cleaned all kinds of ingredients. After thinking about it, they decided to simply put the iron pot on the charcoal stove. It would be wonderful to eat hot pot and drink plum wine in the snow.

As expected, heavy snow began to fall when it was just getting dark.

After Chen Yezhou carried the last handful of firewood into the main house, a layer of snow fell on his shoulders. The pot was already set up, the spring water was boiled, and some local salt was sprinkled in. The simplest seasoning plus the sweetest water was better than outside. Chen Yezhou came to the charcoal stove to warm up the fire and said to everyone, "Firewood has been added to each room. Even if it snows overnight, we don't have to run out to get firewood." He sighed, "If it weren't for the investigation, I would want to stay here. The life is simple, and there is no worry about food and clothing. It is very tempting to lie down."

Everyone was hungry after working outside all day, so they put all the vegetables, frozen meat and noodles into the pot. When the pot started boiling, Lu Nanshen took out the small portrait painted by Xu Yan.

Chen Yezhou stretched his head to take a look and exclaimed.

Nian Baixiao couldn't believe his eyes. He took the small statue and looked at it for a long time, "This is painted." He rubbed it with his hand and was able to remove some of the black ink.

Chen Yezhou took it and examined it for a long time. "This painting is quite good. What does Xu Yan say?"

"Xu Yan didn't know him, but he looked familiar."

After asking Xu Yan to draw a group photo, Lu Nanshen asked Xu Yan to draw a small portrait, saying that he wanted to give it to his friend as a souvenir. Xu Yan was a man of temperament, so he readily agreed to the request. However, when drawing the portrait according to the photo, Xu Yan frowned several times. Seeing this, Lu Nanshen asked him what was wrong. Xu Yan did not stop his hand while he was puzzled. He said, "This person looks familiar to me. I seem to have seen him somewhere."

Where have I seen you before?
Xu Yan had never been out of the village since he was a child, so he could only see him in Meitang Village. But Xu Yan said with certainty, "This person is definitely not from Meitang Village. If he was, how could I not know who he is."