Zhong's Anecdote

16 years ago…

Even though the spring solstice has passed, the weather is still cold, and the small villages far away from the city are covered with heavy snow, even in the south, the snow is still piled up to the ankles...

This day is the day when the Zhong Family Village puts up the family tree for the children born in this year, and only those who are on the family tree belong to the Zhong family.

"Chen Ying, is the baby still okay?" Chinese people have always been lax in expressing their feelings. Even couples who have been together for decades usually call each other by their first names.

Zhong Chengguo and Chen Ying gave birth to such a baby after five or six years of marriage. Although they are not very old and only 30 years old, they naturally value Liner very much.

Chen Ying, who was covering the baby in her arms, who was wrapped in quilts on the left and right, agreed, and kissed the white and fat baby in her arms, "Here comes, my good baby!"

Zhong Chengguo walked in, seeing the intimacy between his wife and son, he couldn't help being jealous, "Why, you don't want me if you have a son?"

Chen Ying glared, "What are you talking about!"

Zhong Chengguo rubbed his head, "Hehe, am I joking, let's go, the patriarch is waiting impatiently."

The Zhong family is a monastic family for generations, and family status is very important. Before the family name is written, the elders of the family have to measure the horoscope of birth and see the face before deciding where to write the name.

Because Zhong Chengguo is a national civil servant and cannot practice Taoism, although he is a member of the main family, he can only be written above the other family, but this does not affect Zhong Chengguo's status in the main family.

Times have changed, and this method of cultivating Taoism has long since become heresy. Even the elders who see through the world of mortals still want to eat and drink, don't they?Building a good relationship with the government is also something Zhongjiacun must do.

In the 'Cheng' generation, there are very few people with high spiritual power, and it is useless to learn Taoism without the eyes of the sky. In order to prevent the family tradition from being cut off, the 'Hua' generation is naturally very important.

The ancestral hall is built on the mountain in the village. There are many mountains in the south. This Zhongjia Village is built at the foot of the mountain. There are endless mountains behind it. The mountain in the middle is where the ancestral hall is located.

Holding the baby, Chen Ying couldn't help complaining, "Your elder brother is really serious. The weather was so good a few days ago, and it didn't rain or snow. You have to choose this time to enter the mountain. It's not because you want to freeze to death." What!"

Reaching out to hold Chen Ying in his arms, and unbuttoning the military coat, Zhong Chengguo sighed, "There is no way to do it, brother is also a good day for 'Wen Tian', today is the most suitable day."

"Hmph, it's just your family that's so weird! My family is always on the seventh day of junior high school. Your family is good, it changes every year!"

Chen Ying and Zhong Chengguo met when they were studying. Both parents of Chen Ying's family are teachers. Although they are not comparable to those big scholarly families, they are also a small scholarly family. Chen Ying herself is also a primary school teacher in the town. People have already moved to the town and rarely come back, but every time they go to the clan to "ask the heavens", they must go home once.

Therefore, the house Zhong Chengguo's parents built for him is still kept, but it has been rented to a relative's house, leaving only one room for the two to stay when they return.

"Isn't this a custom left by our ancestors! Big brother is now the patriarch, no wonder he is."

The two talked and walked, and when they reached the foot of the mountain, they joined the family members who were registered this year. As Zhong Chengguo's eldest brother, among the dozens of children who were registered, he was naturally closer to Zhong Chengguo's children.

"Cheng Guo is here!" Zhong Chengming walked up to the two of them and said with a smile, "Hug my little nephew!"

Chen Ying's complaints were just complaints, but she didn't like this elder brother who looked very similar to her husband. Naturally, she hugged the child to Zhong Chengming and said, "Brother, when are we going up the mountain!"

"Hurry up, hurry up, see the shadow of the candlestick? When we get to the flag, let's go up."

In front of everyone was a table for offering sacrifices to heaven. It was very simple. A long white candle was lit on the candlestick made of wood. In this gloomy weather, even the lit candlestick would not There should be a clear shadow reflected on the table, but the strange thing is that the shadow appeared very clearly on the wooden table, and gradually moved towards the direction of the flag, as if there was a real sun. Although it is a bit weird, it can be Chen Ying had been married to Zhong Chengguo for so long, so she had seen such scenes more or less, so it was not surprising, so she just nodded and didn't say anything else.

And Zhong Chengguo has long been chatting with the villagers on one side. You must know that at this time, Zhong Chengguo, as a civil servant in the town, is very promising!

Zhong Chengming hugged his little nephew for a while, seeing that the shadow had arrived, he returned the baby to Chen Ying, and clapped his hands, "Folks, it's time to go up the mountain!"

Following Zhong Chengming's "yo ha", the villagers lined up neatly and went up the mountain.

Because Zhong Chengguo is considered to be the head of the family, the seat in the row is also at the front, and Chen Ying is holding the baby and following Zhong Chengguo, followed by a long line.

Walking in front of Zhong Chengguo were the elders who must come every year. There were seven elders, each of whom looked very old, but they climbed the mountain more nimbly than a young man like Chen Ying.

And Chen Ying heard from Zhong Chengguo that these seven elders all went through the war with country r, and they all returned to their hometowns without being appointed generals. Chen Ying counted their ages, and these people must be * ten years old. Chen Ying respected these veterans very much.

Because Zhong Chengguo's parents died in the war with country r, both of them were precocious. But he must come back.

The mountain in the village is not high. After climbing for an hour, they reached the top of the mountain. Chen Ying carried the baby into the ancestral hall. Except for the child's parents, everyone else was left outside the ancestral hall.

The ancestral hall of the Zhong family is very particular. It can be seen from the architecture that it may have been built in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The gold-plated top of the treasure is supported by stone pillars painted with vermilion paint, which looks very majestic, and it looks even more majestic and magnificent with the continuous mountains.

After entering the ancestral hall, everyone's expressions were very serious. It was the first time for Chen Ying to visit the ancestral hall, so she was naturally very curious. Holding the baby, the inside of the ancestral hall was like a temple, built of tables and platforms piled up with stones. On the top, there are innumerable rankings, but the top one is a painting of figures.

The painting was not hung with anything, but it stood upright on the stone platform. The portrait of a man in ancient costume was outlined with black strokes. Because of the distance, Chen Ying did not see the man's appearance clearly. , but also feel that the man is full of righteousness, not like ordinary people.

After the elders knelt down to worship their ancestors, the juniors also came forward to offer incense one by one. When it was the turn of Chen Ying's family, just as Chen Ying knelt down, the baby who was sleeping obediently in her arms let out a cry of "Wow..." .

Everyone was stunned, it's not that they have never encountered such a scene. The children are young and have been in the ancestral hall for a long time, so naturally some people wake up and cry.

Seeing the baby in her arms crying, Chen Ying panicked. She wanted to get up to coax the baby, but Zhong Chengguo stopped her. After kneeling down, she pulled him up.

Standing up, just as Chen Ying was about to coax the baby, the baby was taken by a pair of hands like dead wood. Just as Chen Ying was about to say something, Zhong Chengguo on the other side had already said, "The Great Elder..."

The old man let out a 'huh', ignored the two of them, and looked at the child's face carefully.

Chen Ying on the side glared at Zhong Chengguo, seeing that the baby gradually stopped crying, she stopped talking.

But the Great Elder frowned slightly, "Cheng Guo, when was your baby born?"

Zhong Chengguo was taken aback for a moment, but his expression panicked, "September, the first day of September..."