Dad's Pastoral Life

Chapter 140 Lively (6)

On the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the villagers continued to weave bamboo weaves to make money in the morning, and stopped their work after lunch.

There is no concept of vacation here, anyway, do what you have to do, and rest when you have nothing to do.

Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival, and they have worked for half a day, so they can take a good rest in the afternoon.

The chickens and ducks that were locked in the cage in the morning are now dragged out and slaughtered, scalded with boiling water, cleaned of internal organs, and then prepare some fish, these are meat dishes.

Then prepare some side dishes, such as seasonal beans, yams, lentils, okra, eggplant, etc., and some mushrooms, which are very hearty.

It was agreed a long time ago that we would go to the ancestral hall to celebrate together, and each family brought these dishes there.

The village recognized that the mooncakes steamed by Cheng Guohan's family were the most delicious, so their family did it and sent a few people to help them;
Cheng Shiche was elected as today's chef. He looked at all the side dishes, and he arranged which dishes to cook, which meat should be processed first, and which vegetarian dishes should be prepared in advance;

After receiving the arrangement, everyone started to get busy. Those who needed to be marinated, cut into pieces, and peeled first were all very busy.

There are such collective activities in the village every year, and the Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated collectively like this. Although it is not like this every year, it is not unfamiliar.

No one is unwilling to obey. Anyway, when we get together to do things, we can talk and laugh.

Cheng He didn't have any harvest in the fields, nor did he raise chickens or fish. He thought about going to someone's house in the village to buy one and take it with him to try his best, but no one else would accept his money.

The village can live a good life and have spare money for the festival. This is what Cheng He brought to them. For a festival, treat him to a meal and still charge money?
Cheng He was very embarrassed, but that was the only way to go.

But having said that, the people in the village have spare money and are willing to gather together for a festival like this, which is what he is happy to see.

When he was young, the conditions of each family were not good, and he would try his best to bring some vegetables. A chicken leg, half a catty of pumpkin, etc., could be gathered together for a festival.

Now that everyone is doing well, they can have whole chickens. This is progress.

Neither Zhao Sizai nor Lu Wenpeng left.

Originally, they all planned to go home for the holidays, but they heard from the village that there were activities for the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the urban residents who seldom spend the holidays in mountain villages decided not to leave, but to stay and see for themselves.

Although I have seen the custom of "burning towers" on TV, but after all, it is just watching on TV, can it be the same as the real thing?

In the afternoon, the children of all ages in the village began to move around.

After helping the family put the cows in place and feed the pigs, it's time for the children.

A few older children took the lead, and the teenage and half-children already had some ability to arrange. They arranged for the younger ones to go to the village to find discarded bricks and move them to the open space in front of the ancestral hall.

Others went to search for discarded tiles and picked them up.

Several older children began to be responsible for building the tower.

Some playful young people in the village stood not far away watching them laugh and make trouble.Not long ago, they were also the main force of these towers.

There is also a little bit of technical content in building the tower. There must be gaps between each brick and tile, so that the air must be fully circulated so that the fire can burn vigorously.

In addition, just like stacking blocks, when the stack reaches a certain height, you must master the balance, or else it will fall down, and all previous efforts will be wasted.

Children don't do this kind of thing often, and they can't grasp the strength well. Sure enough, when it reached the height of one meter, it collapsed, and the adults standing not far away laughed.

So the kids started blaming each other, and then started all over again.

It was the first time Cheng Xinxin saw such an activity, so she rushed in to help with great enthusiasm.When someone else built a piece, she took one away, and she thought she was helping.

So the older children chased her away politely: "Xinxin, go over there to play! There are delicious food over there!"

Everyone knows that as long as you take delicious food, you can support a child.

Cheng Xinxin was unmoved this time, she ran away when she was kicked out, and changed to another place to make trouble for others.

Tower building was originally a children's activity, and it was almost impossible to succeed once.After falling down just now, and never before, now I was pushed by someone, "wow", all collapsed again...

After a loss, the children were so angry that they screamed and blamed each other, and then started again.

However, no matter how many times they come again, they find it exciting and fun.

In the end, a tower base made of a layer of earth bricks was erected, with fire inlets and ash outlets left in the front and back, which looked decent.

Of course, if there are those who don't understand, the adults who are idle will also guide them.

After the base is built, there are layer after layer of patchwork tiles on top of it. When it reaches a certain height, it begins to taper slowly and becomes a cylindrical tower, which is called "Mid-Autumn Pagoda".

These are all the achievements of the children. All the children who participated in picking up bricks and tiles, building the tower body, and handing over tiles were relieved and clapped their hands happily.

Next, it is necessary to prepare the grass for burning the tower.

The children took the big gong from the ancestral hall and started going door to door asking for straw and firewood.

One person held the gong, and the other began to knock, and shouted rhythmically: "Burning the tower with straw, the livestock will prosper; more straw will be produced, pigs will become fatter and chickens will flock; less straw will be produced, and chickens and pigs will die earlier. "

The people in front beat the gong, and the people behind also yelled, and a large number of children went door to door asking for it.

Those who stayed at home from each family would give a handful of grass and let them take it when they saw the children coming.

If enough is given, the children will leave smoothly. If a certain family refuses to give, or if there is less, they will continue to beat gongs and sing at the door until enough is given.

Cheng He looked at them and couldn't help laughing too.It was the same when he was young.

Bursts of children's voices and clear gongs echoed over the mountain village in autumn.

The children who got the grass would pile the grass to the tower first, and after the gong-beating team went around the whole village, the grass beside the tower had already been piled high.

Today's tower burning event should be the best in recent years.Because there are many adults in the village, they receive the most grass.And more people are more lively.

The children talked about lighting the fire now, and some said they would light it later in the evening. In fact, it was almost dark now, but it was still not completely dark.

So the adults not far away said: "Don't rush to burn it, it will be dark after eating, and then burn it."

The children all thought it was a good idea, so they scattered and ran to the ancestral hall.

The busy people are almost ready for tonight's banquet.

After a burst of firecrackers, the banquet began.

The mid-autumn banquet is different from the usual wedding banquets. The dishes don’t need to be formal or particular. They are all chicken, duck and fish. Because there are no slaughtered pigs, there are not many meat dishes, so they don’t start with "three yuan".

After all the dishes are prepared, they are served on the table in one go.

Like last time, many tables were set up into several huge long tables, and everyone sat around the tables.

The children who couldn't wait to burn the tower saw their eyes widened when they saw the table full of good meat and vegetables.This is a delicacy that cannot be found in school.

But no matter how much they want to eat, the rules still exist, and they dare not start without waiting for adults to let them eat.

Only when the elders in the village gave an order, the whole ancestral hall began to "crash" the sound of eating vegetables.

This year's Mid-Autumn Festival, both adults and children have a fat festival.

When everyone was full, they got off the table with their mouths dripping with oil, and rushed to the side of the pagoda pile outside.

Now that it's all dark, it's time to start.

As a spark lights up, the burning of the tower has officially begun.Those who started the fire lit the fire, and those who handed the firewood, the firelight reflected on their faces, making them glow red and excited.

Children should love to play with fire.

The adults withdrew their seats and gathered around the fire, talking and laughing, and some sang folk songs.

The fastidious old man took a handful of grains and threw them into the pagoda. Sparks flew everywhere and the flames shot into the sky.

Autumn is the harvest season, and the activities at this time probably represent the joy of harvest, and pray that the coming year will be as prosperous as this "Mid-Autumn Pagoda"!
In the quiet mountain village, tonight is a rare lively night.

(End of this chapter)