Annual Ceremony

Chapter 37 Great Heat (Part )

Zhenyi is not the only one who has the same "wet mark" in her heart. All the members of the Wang family have such scars in their hearts, whether deep or shallow. They are all "patients", but they are also "doctors", healing and caring for each other.

As the carriage continued to move south, the summer air became even more humid and hot.

The second phase of Great Heat is that the soil is moist and hot - that is, the wet and hot air rises and spreads.

In the inn, when Mr. Orange, who always considered himself noble, no longer rested on the couch or chair, but lay on the floor with his legs spread out, or lay there with his limbs spread out and his belly touching the ground, spreading himself like a cat pancake, it was obvious that the weather was really hot.

Orange remembered that when he lived in Nanjing, which was like a furnace, he was not so afraid of heat. Perhaps it was because he had lived in Jilin for several years, which made him, a genuine Nanjing cat, experience how difficult it was to go from luxury to frugality, no, it was how difficult it was to go from cool to hot.

Orange felt like a foreign cat that had entered the country. After all, what was the difference between him, who melted when it was hot, and the foreign Siamese cat that turned black when it was cold.

The sticky, humid and hot weather of the Great Heat even forced Orange, who always hated water, to briefly fall in love with taking baths.

When the carriage and horses took a rest during the journey, they would always find a place near water for the horses to drink to cool off. Wang Yuan would also often avoid his second sister, take off his outer robe and go swimming in the water to cool off.

Orange then followed him into the water, moving his paws quickly in the water, leaving only his wet head exposed. Sometimes he would even catch a small crucian carp. Zhenyi specially wrote several poems to praise Orange's heroic posture in the water.

Among the 24 solar terms, almost every solar term has many corresponding folk customs, and the folk activities during the Great Heat season are the least. Zhenyi, who was sweating profusely from the heat, found this really understandable.

Cricket fighting is one of the few folk customs during the Great Heat season.

It was dusk. In front of the inn, two children of the owner's family were squatting on the ground barefoot and playing with crickets. Orange, a guest cat who was staying there, ran over to watch. Suddenly, a big cat's face appeared above the small wooden jar, causing the two crickets that were fighting fiercely to suddenly shrink back.

Seeing that the two crickets had stopped fighting, Orange still unrestrainedly stretched out his claws to try to dig into the wooden jar and poke around. Fortunately, Zhenyi, who had jumped off the carriage, was quick to pick up Orange and carry him away.

"Be careful or the shopkeeper will detain you and make you wash dishes..." Zhenyi said to Juzi.

When Wang Yuan, who was carrying a bag on his back, heard this, he imagined Orange wearing an apron and washing dishes, and couldn't help laughing.

Along the way, Wang Yuan often talked about his wife. One day, in the courtyard of the inn, while sitting under the stone steps to enjoy the cool air, he talked to Zhenyi about her eldest sister-in-law, or more precisely, her cooking skills and specialties.

That night, Wang Yuan was talking about the most common duck blood vermicelli soup in Jinling, and said that his wife's dish was unique in Jinling, and even the most famous duck soup restaurant on the Qinhuai River had to avoid it.

Zhenyi felt a little greedy after hearing this, and she wanted to go back to Jinling as soon as possible to meet her sister-in-law with amazing cooking skills. "You always think about eating..." Wang Xirui limped out of the guest room and scolded his son as usual: "You have accomplished nothing, and now you are so fat!"

Wang Yuan curled his lips, his eyes fell on his father's abdomen, and he whispered: "Your belly, which has been pregnant for six months, is not as innocent and clean as your son's..."

"when!"

The cane in Wang Xirui's hand hit the stone steps, making a noise, which startled the sleepy Orange so much that he jumped up on the spot, more than a foot above the ground, and almost flew out of the Qing Dynasty.

Juzi habitually blamed Wang Yuan for the mistakes, so she and Wang Xirui chased Wang Yuan around the yard.

"Brother, heat and humidity are prevalent during the Great Heat season, and the heart's energy is easily damaged. Not only should you be wary of physical heatstroke, but you should also be wary of emotional heatstroke..." Wang Xichen, who was borrowing a stove to cook a summer soup, reminded with a smile.

Zhenyi was helping her father watch the fire and listening to her father talking about the health care theory in summer: "The temper grows in summer, and the heat will increase humidity, so we should focus on nourishing qi and yin, clearing away heat and removing dampness... For example, lotus root, yam, coix seed, duck meat, lotus seeds, green tea and other nourishing but not greasy foods are all suitable choices nowadays."

Zhenyi waved a large palm-leaf fan, slowly fanning the fire, and listened carefully to her father's words.

During the Great Heat, the third sign is heavy rain.

When the humid and hot air reaches its peak and forms cumulus clouds, it will rain heavily. This is the case with extreme heat causing wind and extreme stuffiness causing rain.

The sudden rains drove away the sultry summer heat, and the weather gradually began to transition to autumn.

By the time Zhenyi and her companions, escorting Wang Zhefu's ashes and old belongings, reached Jinling, it was already the beginning of autumn.

Zhenyi opened the curtains of the carriage that were fluttering in the wind, and looked at the Nanjing city gate in front of them with Juzi. The long-lost sense of familiarity and homecoming surged in her heart.

Outside the city gate, Wang Xipu and Wang Jie, dressed in mourning clothes, had been waiting for a long time.

　Good night babies.

　
(End of this chapter)