Annual Ceremony

Chapter 5 Rainwater (I)

Fifteen-year-old Wang Yuan had a bright and youthful look on his face. He turned around and waved, "Second sister, come here!"

Shuyi and nine-year-old Wang Jie also turned around to look for their sister.

Zhenyi, who was hiding behind her grandmother and holding onto her grandmother's clothes, poked out her little head tied with a red rope and saw her grandfather for the first time.

A few days ago, Zhenyi secretly heard some rumors about her grandfather. Everyone said that her grandfather had a bad temper and loved to quarrel with others. He quarreled from the magistrate of Haifeng County to a prisoner, from Xuanhua Prefecture to Jiaying Prefecture, and from Jiaying Prefecture back to his home in Jinling...

So everyone gave him a nickname, "Weird Yin".

But Zhenyi felt that the rumors were not true. His grandfather was not strange at all and did not like to quarrel. After returning home, he only did two things every day.

One of the two things is reading.

Wang Zhefu reads with the children every morning.

The place for reading was the library where Wang Jiazhuan stored his books. Before Wang Zhefu came back, the library was always locked, and only Wang Xirui and Wang Xichen could go in to take books.

Zhenyi had never had the opportunity to visit this "forbidden place" before, but after her grandfather came back, the door of the study was opened to all children.

When they entered the study for the first time, Zhenyi followed her grandfather, and Juzi followed Zhenyi. The man and the cat tried to raise their heads and look upward in the direction of the old man's finger, and listened to the old man read the four big words on the plaque - Jifang Study.

In front of Jifang Book House, there is a small pond with a pavilion beside it, named Defeng Pavilion.

Wang Zhefu told the children that when the weather got warmer, he would take them to the pavilion to study.

During the reading time every day, Wang Jie arrived the earliest. By the time Zhenyi and Juzi arrived, he had already finished reading an article "On Teachers".

Shuyi didn't come every day. Zhenyi heard that her elder sister had been studying needlework recently. The third aunt said that it was a more important "homework" for women than studying. Of course, books still had to be read. The title of a talented woman was a good thing to add icing on the cake. In recent years, it has become a trend for women to read and write poetry. Some of them would be highly regarded by their husbands.

But the third wife preferred her daughter to study in a private school rather than study with the old man, as studying was the most important thing for her son Wang Jie.

Every three days, Shuyi would go to a private school in Jinling City to attend classes. There, a lady who had been awarded a chastity arch by the court was in charge of teaching. Shuyi read the "Female Rules" which women should read, and learned to write popular boudoir poems.

Yang Jinniang always took her third brother's wife, who had given birth to a pair of good children, as an example. She often went to the third wife for advice on educating her daughter, fearing that Zhenyi would miss something and would no longer be able to become a lady.

The third wife smiled and told her not to be too nervous. Zhenyi was only five years old, and eight was the best age for her to enter a private school.

Yang Jinniang nodded and counted the days silently. There were still three years left.

When Wang Yuan was reading every day, he was often nowhere to be seen. Unlike Shuyi, when he was not in the study, he would call his friends and have fun everywhere.

But when Wang Zhefu did something else, Wang Yuan was keen to follow.

In the afternoon, Wang Zhefu always goes fishing.

There was a small river not far behind the Wang family's house. On every sunny afternoon, Wang Zhefu would walk in front carrying a small stool, followed by Wang Yuan holding a fishing rod, and then Zhenyi holding a fish basket that was half her height, then Chun'er holding a rolled-up small mat in one arm and a food box in the other, and at the very end was Juzi, staring at the food box - there were fried golden and crispy fish in it.

Wang Yuan always had many friends coming to look for him, and they would often disappear halfway through fishing. Most of the time, it was Zhenyi who accompanied her grandfather fishing.

This was also the time when grandfather gave Zhenyi special lessons. The old man often took a branch and wrote a few beautiful and neat big characters on the ground to teach Zhenyi.

A few big characters could kill Zhenyi's entire afternoon.

As spring turns to autumn and autumn arrives, you can always see a little girl sitting cross-legged or squatting on a mat by the river, her tender little hands holding a tree branch, writing and drawing over and over again. She is much quieter and more focused than ordinary children.

With a "snap" sound, every time the branch in Zhenyi's hand broke, Juzi would bring her a new branch.

Juzi has several duties. In addition to taking care of Zhenyi while she writes, she also has to help Wangzhe with his eyes.

The weather was clear and cool in autumn, and Wang Zhefu occasionally dozed off in the afternoon. Orange would stare at the fishhook with his eyes wide open. Whenever a fish bit the hook, Orange would punch the old man twice to wake him up.

The old man opened his eyes with a start and quickly put away his fishing rod.

If it is a big fish, throw it into the fish basket.

If it is a small fish, it belongs to Orange. This is the rule and it is the wages Orange deserves.

With the salary of a cat, Orange supported many wild cats within a five-mile radius. The number of cats that came to watch Wangzhe assist in fishing increased from one or two to three or four, and then to more than ten.

Among these ten cats, the one that Orange dislikes the most is a black and white cat.

It kindly invited everyone to come and get the fish, but one time when it was eating the fish, the black and white cat suddenly dropped the fish in its mouth and chased it three miles in one breath for no apparent reason... Although cats are bound to be crazy, it is rare to see one to be this crazy!
As more and more cats came to get fish regularly, Wang Zhefu gradually felt a little pressure. If he didn't have time to go fishing one day, he would feel a little guilty. This is what later generations called rest shame - the original leisure activity gradually took on the unforgivable smell of work.

Fortunately, the cats were not greedy. After each cat got a small fish, they would jump into the bushes and leave. They would never take more than one. Orange later found out that this was because the black and white cat was maintaining order. Oh, that guy thought of himself as a police officer in the cat world, and only allowed each cat to take one fish.

Orange remembered the day when he was being chased by the other party and was about to eat the second fish... In the other party's eyes, it was probably against the laws of the cat world!
But it is the host country, why should it care about it? It's just crazy!
When Juzi was cursing the cow cat in her heart, she suddenly heard Zhenyi curiously ask: "Juzi, did you secretly tell them that someone here donated fresh fish?"

Biting a piece of fresh Houttuynia in his mouth, lying on the mat with his arms resting on his head and legs crossed, Wang Yuan squinted his eyes and said, "Second sister, you don't understand Orange Cat. If it were you, I would say that this is what it said to the wild cats--"

Wang Yuan said this, pretending to clear his throat, and with one hand across his body, he turned his head like an official on the stage, and said in a majestic and arrogant tone: "I am the kind-hearted Mr. Mao Ju, and I have hired a long-term worker in this fishery, and I have specially set up a buffet to entertain the villagers!"

Zhenyi laughed, and the "farmhand" Wang Zhefu shook his head and agreed: "It's bitter..."

The "supervisor" Orange, who was squatting at Wang Zhefu's feet, wagged his tail and didn't even look at Wang Yuan.

This scene by the river was seen by Miss Qian from the neighboring house, who painted a picture and gave it to Zhenyi on the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Miss Qian's name was Yuling, with the courtesy name Jiuying. She was one year younger than Shuyi and six years older than Zhenyi. She and Shuyi studied in the same private school, and because the two families were neighbors, the girls often visited each other.

Qian Yuling's deceased grandmother was a famous calligrapher and painter. Qian Yuling is also extremely talented in calligraphy and painting. Although she is only eleven years old this year, her paintings have already taken shape.

Qian Yuling liked Zhenyi very much, and Zhenyi also liked the talkative and cheerful sister Jiuying.

During the Mid-Autumn Festival, Zhenyi was given a painting as a gift. Qian Yuling and Shuyi had been learning to write poetry recently, so they jokingly asked Zhenyi to write a poem for the painting.

How can a five-year-old child write poetry? It's just a joke, but Zhenyi really wrote a childish poem in a serious manner, and read it aloud:
[Grandfather holds a fishing rod by the stream,

Attracted seven or eight cats.

The oranges sit as supervisors,
I only saw my eldest brother sleeping soundly. 】

Qian Yuling and Shuyi were stunned for a moment, then looked at each other for a moment and couldn't help laughing. Qian Yuling laughed so hard that he couldn't straighten his waist.

This poem quickly spread among the Wang and Qian families. Everyone praised little Zhenyi for her intelligence and cleverness. Wang Zhefu praised her again and again. He personally held Zhenyi's hand and wrote the children's poem on the painting.

Yang Jinniang was very happy to hear the praises for her daughter, and Wang Xichen also said that her daughter had a talent for reading and writing poetry.

Only Wang Yuan was beaten for this.

The one who started it was Wang Xirui: "How can this be...your five-year-old sister can already write poetry, and you, the rebellious son, are still sleeping!"

After the fight, Wang Xirui went to complain to his father.

The old man comforted him: "Since you are not cut out for academics, there is no need to force yourself...with an empty head, you can live an easy life."

Wang Xirui: "Father, yesterday my son tested him on his homework. It was just a long song. I asked him what the first line of the line 'If you don't work hard when you're young, you'll regret it when you're old' was. What do you think he answered?"

Wang Zhefu was a little surprised: "Can't you answer this?"

Wang Xirui was distressed: "If he just couldn't answer it, it would be fine if he just admitted it, but he racked his brains and answered - as the saying goes!"

Wang Zhefu was silent for a moment and stroked his beard, as if thinking about whether there was any problem with the ancestral grave. Finally, he sighed and no longer forced himself to comfort his eldest son - there was nothing wrong with having an empty mind, but if it was to this extent, he would usually recommend a fight.

So, Wang Yuan got beaten again that night.

Wang Yuan, whose butt was bruised, lay on the bed for the third day. Suddenly he jumped up and chased Juzi, running all the way to the garden. Juzi quickly climbed up a tree to avoid being chased.

Wang Yuan covered his butt with one hand and pointed at Juzi with the other, scolding Juzi for letting go of his favorite thrush.

The orange felt very wronged. It didn't want to let it go. It had been planning to eat it!

Taking advantage of Wang Yuan's unpreparedness, Juzi jumped off the tree and ran straight to Jifang Book House to seek shelter from Zhenyi.

The days of the Wang family are noisy and peaceful. Autumn goes and winter hides. After a few snowfalls, the beginning of spring soon arrives again.

The new six-year-old Zhenyi secretly felt lucky that it really worked before her fifth birthday last year. Mother Lu seemed to have forgotten about binding her feet.

However, "disasters" in the children's world always come suddenly without any warning.

In the middle of the first month of the lunar calendar, the Rain Water solar term arrived as scheduled. Before Zhenyi could get up, she was woken up by Juzi.

Zhenyi opened her eyes and Juzi shouted at her as if she was facing a great enemy.

Zhenyi sat up and looked out through an open window. She saw A'niang standing in the yard talking to Mother Lu, who was holding a stack of white cloth in her hands.

　Weekly update is coming~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)