Annual Ceremony

Chapter 38: Beginning of Autumn (I)

When summer turns to autumn, there is only a hint of cool air in the morning and evening, and the city of Jinling is still hot in the afternoon.

Wang Jie knelt with his father on the flat dirt road that was filled with the heat of most of the day. As they kowtowed, his tears fell on the hot ground, and the wet marks they left quickly faded and shrank.

When he raised his head, Wang Jie saw his eldest mother and second sister getting out of the car, and tears burst out like a dam breaking.

Only a few months had passed since they separated, but Wang Jie still clearly remembered everything that happened in Jilin, the agreement he made with his grandfather, and the oath he made in his heart... But before he could even take part in the autumn examination, he broke his promise.

When he saw his grandfather again, they were separated by the long river of life and death. This long river was thousands of times farther than the distance from Jinling to Jilin. No matter how many times he passed the imperial examination, it would not pave the way for a reunion.

Wang Yuan, Wang Xichen, Wang Xipu and his son, as well as the Wang family's servants, all followed beside the car to escort it.

Old Mrs. Dong had instructed in advance that funeral arrangements must not be publicized, so the news of today's arrival had not spread, and no other relatives or friends came out of the city to welcome him.

The Wang family members were dressed in mourning clothes and quietly carried the ashes of the deceased back home.

The living did not compete for the road with the dead, and the oncoming pedestrians and carriages on the road consciously gave way to the mourners.

At the beginning of autumn, the chirping of cicadas along the way drowned out the ordinary crying sounds of people.

When the carriage returned to the Wang family along the familiar streets, Zhenyi had just helped her grandmother get off the carriage when she saw her mother among the crowd waiting outside the house.

Yang Jinniang was also looking around, and when she met Zhenyi's gaze, the mother and daughter's eyes met. Yang Jinniang was suddenly stunned, and saw the slender figure of the girl walking quickly towards her.

Yang Jinniang's eyes trembled, and she blinked out a tear. She subconsciously stretched out her hands.

"Mother!" Zhenyi ran over and hugged her mother.

Yang Jinniang trembled and hugged her daughter, responding hoarsely: "Hey, hey..."

Now was not the time for mother and daughter to reminisce about the past, so Yang Jinniang quickly pulled her daughter to the side and knelt down. Amid the sound of kneeling and crying, Wang Zhefu's ashes were brought into the house by Wang Xirui and placed in the coffin in the mourning hall that had been set up long ago.

Although the Wang family did not make it public, people living in the nearby alleys inevitably heard the noise, and soon people came to pay their respects. The Qian family, who lived closest to the family, were the first to arrive.

More and more people came, and the men were supporting the mourning hall, while the first wife, her daughter-in-law, and the third wife were busy at the back, preparing tea, burning materials, incense, and entertaining the women of each family. Yang Jinniang escorted her mother-in-law, who had been traveling all the way, back to her residence to rest and wash herself, and Zhenyi also accompanied her.

Juzi followed Zhenyi and suddenly saw a familiar black and white cat squatting on the roof.

Orange jumped up a few times, climbed onto the roof, and sniffed carefully, only to find that it was not the original one.

This is the kid left behind by the former cow cat, who took over from the previous cat and continued to patrol and protect this alley.

This cow cat had a gentler temperament and treated Orange with great respect. Orange followed it all the way to the small river behind. The wild cats nearby soon heard the news and came over.

Orange counted and smelled again and again, and only found two old friends among the more than ten wild cats. The rest were young and new faces.

Four years ago, before Orange left, he said goodbye to his friends. Now, the two old cats were very surprised at Orange's return. They didn't expect to see them again in their lifetime.

After all, Orange is already fifteen years old. Even if we count according to the age that Orange always likes, he is already fourteen. Most of the cats present would call Orange ancestor.

The new cats followed the two old cats to recognize Orange, the old ancestor and the kind cat. One cat said that its grandmother had said many times before that when she gave birth to my mother, she didn't have enough milk, and fortunately Orange distributed two small crucian carps every day to feed the litter of kittens.

There is also a cat saying that Lord Orange is a miracle doctor, and when its mother was sick, it was Lord Orange who stole the miracle medicine to save her - when Lord Orange heard this, he seriously corrected it, saying that it was not stealing, it was hunting - although the owner, Wang Xichen, would not agree with this statement.

There were also cats asking, where was the kind-hearted old farmhand who went fishing for Lord Orange and treated everyone to a feast?

Orange squatted in front of the grass, looked at the Wang family's courtyard wall, and meowed softly. It told everyone that Old Wang had gone to a place farther than Jilin, leaving only a small box of ashes that was taken back to Jinling.

The cats all followed Orange's gaze and looked towards the Wang family.

Another cat asked, where is the little girl who always follows the river and writes and draws with branches?
Orange sat up straighter, and this time its "meow" was full of satisfaction and pride. It was telling everyone - the little girl had grown into a big girl, and it was taking good care of her.

Cats of all sizes surrounded Orange and asked him questions, most of them with admiration in their eyes.

A cat caught a cicada, spit it out from its mouth, and pushed it in front of an orange with its paw, inviting the orange to taste it.

There were also cats that brought long, tender grass leaves. There were no green wheat leaves in this season, but there were still some alternative grasses among the cat grass.

Another cat brought back some small dogwood fruits that looked like wolfberries. Although they were not fully ripe yet, they were very good for cats.

By the river behind the Wang family, the cats set up a small welcoming banquet for Lord Orange, and agreed to go together to pay homage to Old Wang at night when no one was around. The cow cats had set a rule in advance that they could pay homage but could not steal the offerings. Even if they wanted to eat, they had to wait three days, and wait until Old Wang had finished eating before they could eat.

The cats were chattering and meowing non-stop, and Orange's head was buzzing when he left the river behind.

But...is it really that old?
Orange looked at his reflection in the river water and found that he was still young and majestic. He couldn't help but feel that his practice was effective and he was not an ordinary cat after all.

Juzi returned to Wang's house and went to Mrs. Dong's courtyard first. She saw that the old lady had already bathed and changed her clothes and was resting on the couch. She heard her daughter-in-law Yang Jinniang talking, but Zhenyi was no longer there. Juzi knew that Zhenyi must have gone back to wash herself, so she walked along the road of memory and slowly went to the second room.

Zhenyi had just left, and along the way she looked at her elder sister's former embroidery room from afar, passed by the rockery where she and Juzi had once climbed together, saw the huge rock by the pond where she had sat when she and her grandfather studied landscape poetry, and the yellow willows swaying in the wind...

The golden afternoon sunlight shines through the gaps in the rockery, the cracks in the branches of the trees, and the cracks in the curled banana leaves. When the wind blows, the sunlight sways in pieces. Zhenyi walks on this blue brick road with dappled light and shadow, and every step she takes is in the fragments of the old times.

When they returned to the courtyard, more old scenes came to their mind. A young figure from the past came to Zhenyi, knelt down and kowtowed, and raised his head and called out in a choked voice: "Miss!"

Zhenyi hurriedly helped her up, tears that she had been holding back all the way appeared in her eyes: "Chun'er..."

Chun'er burst into tears and spoke incoherently: "Young lady has grown up so much, but she still remembers and recognizes Chun'er! I have been looking forward to it day and night, and finally the young lady returns home safely!"

Zhenyi raised her hand to wipe away some of Chun'er's tears. In her peripheral vision, she saw the bamboo curtain in front of her mother's house shaking. Then, a small hand lifted the curtain, and a small shadow with fluffy hair and barefoot walked out.

Zhenyi looked curiously at the little shadow standing in front of the door, rubbing his eyes with one hand.

"Miss Third has woken up - look who's back!" Chun'er wiped her tears and hurried towards the little shadow.

When Orange, who had just entered the yard, saw it, he immediately came over curiously.

　Good afternoon, the autumn volume has begun, and the progress of this article~
Thank you to book friend iampetty for the 10,000-yuan reward, and thank you all for your monthly tickets, recommendations and messages.

　
(End of this chapter)