Annual Ceremony

Chapter 7 Rainwater (Part )

On the way to Sui Garden, there was a lively scene that Zhenyi had never seen before.

This was not the first time that Zhenyi came out to watch the lanterns on the night of the Lantern Festival, but she was too young before. This year, as a child who has just turned seven years old, in addition to her still strong curiosity, her perception of the world is also becoming clearer.

The colors, shapes, and smells of the world came rushing in, filling her senses.

Orange calculated that if Zhenyi were in modern times, after this summer vacation, she would be an elementary school student with a red scarf tied around her neck.

Children of this age are always full of energy, just like the musical lotus lamp on the old-fashioned cake, which is noisy and can't be turned off. It can't be chewed. It's useless to hit it with your claws. Even if the battery is exhausted, it can still buzz for a week or so. Throw it into a mouse hole and it will make the whole nest of mice suffer from endocrine disorders.

Zhenyi's energy is different from that of ordinary children. Her strong curiosity is mostly hidden in her eyes.

Orange always thought thankfully that human eyes cannot speak, otherwise Zhenyi's eyes would have been two birthday lotus lanterns of excellent quality.

Zhenyi was wearing a brand new light green quilted jacket with fur edges today. To Juzi, she looked like a plump young green bamboo shoot with a pointed tip just sprouting out. This "young green bamboo shoot" had two small buns on her head, tied with red strings, and each of them had two fluffy white balls hanging from it, like a doll that had just jumped out of a New Year picture.

There is also a similar red rope and white snow-white plush ball around Orange's neck. It was tied by Zhenyi, saying that she was worried that there would be too many people outside during the Lantern Festival and she might not be able to find Orange, so this way it would be more conspicuous.

Orange feels that he does not need it. He is not one of those domesticated cats that have never seen the world and never leave the house. As a cat that was born and raised in the Forbidden City, his dream in this life is to travel the world with a sword!

Orange jumped onto the railing of a stone bridge, raised his head and lifted his tail, walking briskly and gracefully. He felt like a swordsman with great martial arts skills, and it seemed that what was hanging around his neck was not a fluffy ball, but a majestic sword.

When Zhenyi grows up a little, she will leave the Wang family, leave Jinling and the ten-mile Qinhuai River, and go to a farther place to venture out!

——Juzi had planned this on Zhenyi’s first birthday.

The lights were intertwined and people were flowing everywhere. Zhenyi held her mother's hand in one hand and her elder sister's hand in the other, and jumped up layer after layer of stone bridge steps.

After jumping down the last stone staircase, Zhenyi looked up and said to her mother, "Mother, this is the third bridge!"

"Walking across three bridges" on the night of the Lantern Festival is a custom in Yang Jinniang's mother's family. It is said that on this night, if women walk across three bridges in groups, they can get rid of diseases and disasters.

When Yang Jinniang was walking across the bridge, she was always muttering something in a low voice. Zhenyi couldn't hear it clearly, but Juzi had sharp ears and heard the three words "Yang Tingniang".

After getting off the bridge, Zhenyi was attracted by the lampstand at the bridge head. The lampstand was shaped like a mast, with lanterns on each layer. At first glance, it looked like a pagoda.

"This is called a bridge lantern!" Wang Yuan crossed his arms and explained to his sisters and brothers, "Use it to worship the river god!"

Such lantern stands can be seen everywhere. During the day, colorful ribbons and tassels are hung on the stands. At night, lanterns are hung, shining brightly. From the fifteenth day of the first lunar month to the eighteenth day of the first lunar month, lanterns are hung like this every day, which is called the Lantern Market.

Also seen everywhere are peddlers carrying lanterns on their shoulders along the streets. They carry all kinds of lanterns. In Jinling, most lanterns are from Suzhou and Wu provinces, which are so exquisitely made that they dazzle the eyes.

A peddler's load of goods fell to the ground. Wang Zhefu, who stopped the peddler, smiled and waved to the children. Zhenyi and the others then ran to their grandfather and chose lanterns together.

Shuyi chose the Xi Shi Picking Lotus Lantern, Wang Jie chose the Zhuangyuan Lantern, and Zhenyi, at Juzi's suggestion, chose the Liu Hai Playing with the Toad Lantern. Juzi was very interested in the toad and would scratch the tassel hanging under the lantern from time to time.

Before Wang Yuan chose the lantern, he tried to negotiate with his grandfather to get a discount on the money he had to buy the lantern. Wang Xirui heard him and grabbed his ear and scolded him: "...Apart from hanging out with those people and drinking, what else do you know?"

At this moment, a ball lamp the size of a child's palm flew from the sky and hit Wang Yuan on the head.

Wang Yuan covered his head and cried out “Ouch!”, shouting to the front: “Which little kid threw it!”

A group of laughing children came running over and saw that he was a fierce man. They didn't dare to recognize him for a moment. They pushed each other and no one dared to step forward to pick up the lantern.

When Zhenyi was about to bend down to pick up the rolling lantern, Juzi tried to push it with one paw, and saw that the small hollow lantern made of thin bamboo strips was rolling around, but the fire in the lantern ball was not extinguished. Juzi thought it was very strange, so he chased after it and pushed it twice quickly. When he wanted to play with it again, it was quickly picked up by a child.

The children not only had small ball lanterns that could be thrown into the air, but also large ball lanterns that were bigger than oranges and rolled on the ground. They rolled and turned over with the candlelight never going out. They were called "rolling lanterns" and originated from the Haiyan area of ​​Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

Juzi followed Zhenyi to watch the lanterns along the way, and occasionally they came across a team celebrating the Lantern Festival. Those people had small drums tied around their waists and held cymbals in their hands, and they beat the drums as they walked. Wherever they went, the drums sounded like thunder, and the streets were full of joy, attracting countless children to jump, sing and cheer along with them.

When passing by a land temple, Juzi saw a bamboo lion lantern with a small ball lantern in its mouth. Juzi stepped forward and used his paw to take the ball lantern from the lion's mouth. Suddenly, he heard a loud "chi--" sound accompanied by fire. He was so scared that he ran away with his hair standing on end. He quickly rushed to Zhenyi and jumped into her arms.

Wang Yuan laughed loudly: "Look, Juzi offended the God of Land and was punished!"

Zhenyi hugged Orange tightly, covered its ears, and comforted it: "Don't be afraid, Orange, we are setting off fireworks to worship the land temple!"

Clusters of fireworks were lit, rising into the sky like golden snakes and dancing dragons. The smoke roared, and the surroundings were as bright as day.

After this fright, Juzi refused to walk by himself anymore. Zhenyi couldn't hold him, so Shuyi took over. When Shuyi was tired, Juzi jumped onto Wang Yuan's shoulders without saying a word.

They laughed and joked all the way to Sui Garden. When Yuan Mei saw Wang Zhefu, he began to blame him: "...You are late for meeting Lord Yan! You made me wait so long!"

Finally jumping off Wang Yuan, Juzi hid at the edge of Zhenyi's skirt and poked his head out to look at the kind old man - was he the one who wrote Suiyuan Food List? He didn't look like a cook.

Jinyan is the pen name of Wang Zhefu. Yuan Mei and Wang Zhefu were once guests in the same household and settled in Nanjing, so they had always had a good relationship.

Yuan Mei liked making friends. Today, during the Lantern Festival, many people were invited to visit the garden. Most of them were dressed like literati, and the women behaved in a dignified and elegant manner.

After entering the garden, Yang Jinniang followed her brother and sister-in-law closely. Before coming, Yang Jinniang asked the third wife to pay more attention to herself so as not to be rude in front of others.

The women chatted and laughed as they admired the lanterns and strolled around the garden, introducing each other and greeting each other. Shuyi, who was elegant in appearance and manner, attracted many women to praise her. Shuyi was fourteen years old this year, and the third wife had recently been looking for a marriage for her daughter. In fact, she came here to stroll around the garden today for this purpose.

The third wife had a very pleasant chat with several other women. They were concerned about each other's family situation. When they talked about Shuyi's father and Shuyi's brother Wang Jie, the third wife called her son over to greet the ladies.

The eleven-year-old Wang Jie was very well-mannered and not as naughty as other children. He was praised by many people for his bright future. Some women held the Third Madam's hand with envy and said, "I don't know how you raised such a good pair of children! It really makes people jealous!"

The Third Madam laughed and scolded the woman: "Sister-in-law always flatters me, but she didn't expect that a woman like me would not understand these things. Even if the children can barely come to the table, it's just their father and grandparents who are worried about them!"

More and more women gathered around the Third Wife. Yang Jinniang wanted to interrupt again and again but her voice was always drowned out. She couldn't help feeling awkward. Then she saw that her brother and sister-in-law had a pair of outstanding children standing next to them. She was envious but also felt lost and bitter.

Hearing her daughter calling "Mother" behind her, Yang Jinniang hurried over, took the opportunity to squat down, and straighten her daughter's clothes to ease her confused mood, but she still couldn't help but redden her eyes.

Zhenyi saw it and asked, "What happened to my mother?"

"It's okay, there's dust..." Yang Jinniang forced a smile.

"Let me give my mother a blow job!"

Zhenyi blew a few times, and Yang Jinniang felt warm and bitter in her heart, but she hated herself more for not living up to her expectations.

"Mom, eat some fried cakes!" Zhenyi handed the half-eaten fried cake in her hand to her mother's mouth.

Yang Jinniang gently pushed it away, sighed and whispered, "It's not elegant to eat in front of others."

As he spoke, he took a handkerchief to wipe the crumbs from Zhenyi's mouth.

Zhenyi noticed her mother's mood and dropped her little hand holding the fried cake.

So Orange started to eat it without any hesitation - Zhenyi was a very good baby that Orange was very satisfied with. She never guarded her food since she was a child.

At this time, Wang Yuan, who was not far away, called Wang Jie and Zhenyi to guess riddles.

All the riddles were set by Yuan Mei for fun. Although Wang Jie read a lot, he was not very good at adapting. He thought for a long time but could not answer any one. Wang Yuan was very anxious. He wanted to get a good riddle, but he had no skills, so he wanted to ask his second brother for help.

Seeing that the prize he wanted was won by the young master of his arch-rival, the prefect of Jinling, Wang Yuan was so angry that his nose was about to be crooked.

At this moment, I suddenly heard the girl next to me speak thoughtfully: "The compass needle, let me ask what year it is... It should be the Northern and Southern Dynasties."

Wang Yuan was stunned, looked at his second sister, and quickly asked the questioner, "Northern and Southern Dynasties!"

The puzzle officer smiled and bowed: "Master Wang got it right!"

Wang Yuan hurriedly pushed Zhenyi in front of him and said, "It was my second sister who beat him up!"

The riddle officer asked people to take the prize, and then revealed the next riddle: "There is a worm at the foot of the mountain, it looks like a dragon but it is not a dragon. Guess a legendary one -"

Zhenyi, who was pushed to the front by her elder brother, immediately raised her hand high: "Chiyou!"

"When they met at the river bank, the former sat, lay down, stood, and walked; the latter lay down, sat, stood, and walked—"

Zhenyi raised her hand again: "It's a frog and a snake!"

There were sounds of realization and applause all around.

Wang Yuan was amazed, and his arms were soon filled with all kinds of prizes. He felt that with his sister in his hands, the world was his, and he could do whatever he wanted tonight!

More and more people gathered around, all praising the performance endlessly.

The son of the prefect's family finally managed to hold his jaw back from dropping in shock. He looked at Wang Yuan, who was enjoying the limelight with the little girl, and muttered, "This is so weird! How could Wang Yuan have such a smart and beautiful sister... Such a sister should belong to me!"

Yuan Mei was also attracted by the cheers here. In front of Wang Zhefu, he praised Zhenyi highly, saying that her natural and elegant temperament was unpretentious, and that she had the wisdom to eliminate the false and retain the true. He also discussed that when Zhenyi was older, he must take her in as a disciple.

The overwhelming praise made Wang Xichen feel like he was in a dream, and he kept smiling and waving his hands.

The women also began to ask whose little girl that was.

The third wife pushed Yang Jinniang in front of the crowd with a smile. Yang Jinniang responded to everyone's praise with an embarrassed smile, feeling mixed emotions of joy and sorrow, as well as some indescribable panic.

"So you are from the prince's family! I was wondering how she could be so smart and extraordinary!" A middle-aged man in a navy blue gown praised her while bowing to Wang Zhefu repeatedly: "I just arrived in Jinling today. I was planning to visit the prince tomorrow. Before I left, my father repeatedly told me to pay him a visit on his behalf..."

Wang Zhefu smiled and helped the man up, his eyes falling on the boy next to the man.

The man hurriedly said, "This is my son Zhan Mei! Come with me to see the prince!"

The boy, who looked barely ten years old, bowed and saluted, speaking clearly and crisply: "I am Zhan Mei, asking Wang Gongan."

　Weekly update~
　　Everyone, please give Zhenyi and Juzi a little love (づ￣3￣)づ╭
　　
　
(End of this chapter)