I couldn't take it anymore; when I went home for Chinese New Year, the family genealogy book ha

"Jiang Shitou! Where is Jiang Shitou?"

Wang Dagou shouted at the top of his lungs towards the audience.

The applause continued, and thousands of heads bobbed from side to side like rattles, all searching for the most conspicuous big guy.

"I...I'm here!"

A deep, muffled voice came from the back of the crowd.

Everyone turned around at the sound.

Jiang Shitou squeezed out from the edge of the crowd, his whole body radiating heat, and the beads of sweat on his bald head glistened in the sun.

He wore a suit today on purpose.

But that suit was clearly not his size.

His shirt was too short, revealing a section of the blue plaid shirt hem. His trousers only reached three inches above his ankles, and paired with his shiny new leather shoes, he looked like a sumo wrestler who had just graduated from martial arts school.

His arms were as thick as an average person's thighs, making the sleeves of his suit bulge out, and the buttons on his chest were so tight they looked like they were about to pop off.

"Stone! Go up there! The old man is calling you!"

Jiang Youfu, who was standing nearby, saw that he was still standing there and hurriedly pushed him from behind.

"Silly boy! What are you standing there for! The old master wants you to go up and acknowledge your ancestors! This is a momentous occasion to bring glory to our family! Go now!"

Jiang Shitou's last remaining thought snapped after being pushed like that.

With a big step, he took off running towards the high platform.

Those two legs moved with great strides and speed, the new leather shoes under their feet making a "clack-clack" sound on the stone pavement, like drumming, creating a small whirlwind.

The surrounding villagers quickly moved to both sides.

"Get out of the way! Don't block the way!"

"Oh my god! That cow is charging at us!"

Jiang Shitou rushed up the white marble steps in front of the platform, panting heavily.

But here is the problem.

The leather shoes he's wearing today were bought for him online by Wang Dagou. They were on sale, and the soles are so smooth they're like mirrors; they slip and slide when you walk, let alone run in them.

The white marble steps were freshly polished and as slippery as ice.

The moment Jiang Shitou stepped on it, he sensed something was wrong.

"Hey hey hey—I can't stop now!"

He yelled and his feet slid wildly across the smooth jade surface.

His body, weighing over 200 pounds, couldn't stop due to inertia. He instinctively squatted down, his knees landing directly on the ground.

"Sizzle—"

The knees of the new pants rubbed violently against the white marble floor, making a piercing sound.

Jiang Shitou remained kneeling, using the momentum to slide across the smooth, mirror-like white marble floor.

Two meters.

three meters.

They slid for more than three meters!

Finally, there was a muffled "bang".

He came to a steady stop in front of the old man's mahogany incense table, where incense and candles were offered.

Exactly.

Jiang Shitou himself was also stunned for a moment.

But only one thought remained in his mind—to kowtow to his ancestors.

Regardless of how he got there, he immediately lowered his bald head and kowtowed three times in front of the incense table.

"Grandpa! Stone kowtows to our ancestors!"

His voice was deep and resonant, yet it conveyed a heartfelt sincerity and excitement.

This entire "sliding kneeling and kowtowing" operation was performed smoothly and seamlessly.

The entire venue fell into a deathly silence.

Everyone's mouths were agape in an "O" shape, and their eyes were wide open.

Followed by.

"puff--"

I don't know who couldn't help but laugh first.

Then, like a dam being opened, a burst of laughter erupted.

"Hahahaha! Did this kid do it on purpose, or was he just slipping away?"

"I've lived for over sixty years, and this is the first time I've ever seen someone kneel down and slide over to kowtow!"

"This kneeling of the stone is more sincere than anyone else's! If the ancestors didn't accept him, who would they accept?"

Laughter echoed across the square in waves.

On the bench outside, Su Tianhao couldn't help but slap his thigh and laugh so hard he almost fell over.

"This kid's got real skills!"

Mr. Qian, who was standing next to him, was laughing so hard that sunflower seeds were spraying out of his nostrils, and he was coughing and wiping away tears at the same time.

"Chairman Su, Chairman Su... everyone in this village is more hilarious than the last..."

On the high platform.

Old Master Jiang Wanshan looked at Jiang Shitou kneeling in front of him with a silly grin on his face. Instead of being angry, he was so happy that the tips of his beard stood up.

"Good! Good young man! You've got some strength!"

The old man patted Jiang Shitou's bald head with the hand that held the copper pipe, making a loud pat.

"Our ancestors loved your honesty!"

After saying that, he turned around and walked to the offering table.

He picked up the pure gold brush and dipped it in the specially made vermilion ink.

On the first page of the family genealogy, in the most central position.

The old man carefully and solemnly wrote down three large characters—

Jiang Shitou.

As the brush touched the paper, the vermilion ink seeped into the pure white Xuan paper, rich and solemn.

Get up!

The old man put down his pen, picked up a bright red silk ribbon from the tray beside him, and draped it over Jiang Shitou's shoulders.

"From this day forward, you, Jiang Shitou, are a core member of the Jiang clan!"

"Remember, from now on, do things that are worthy of the name on this family tree!"

Jiang Shitou's nose tingled, and his eyes immediately reddened.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something to express his gratitude, but his tongue was really not fluent, and after a long time, he could only manage to utter one sentence.

"I...I'll belong to Brother Chen for life!"

Another round of good-natured laughter erupted from the audience.

Jiang Shitou, holding the red ribbon, walked down from the platform with a silly grin.

As he passed through the crowd, villagers on both sides patted his arm and shook his hand.

Hu Lahua stood on tiptoe in the crowd, her neck stretched longer than a goose's, her heart pounding with anxiety.

Stone wrote the first one, so what about me? Where am I?

Sure enough, the old man picked up his brush again and turned to the next line of the family genealogy.

He cleared his throat and called out—

"Next! Spicy Flower!"

"Aww!"

Hu La Hua jumped up excitedly.

This jump had a serious impact; the right shoe of her newly bought red high heels flew off and landed with a "thud" on the back of Jiang Youfu's head.

"Who! Who hit me!" Jiang Youfu covered his head and turned around to see a red high heel lying on the ground.

They didn't even care about the spicy flowers.

With one foot in a shoe and the other bare, she lifted her skirt and rushed onto the stage, shouting at the top of her lungs—

"Grandpa! I'm here! I'm here, Hu La Hua!"

The villagers below the stage laughed even harder.

"Auntie Spicy Flower, your shoes! You've lost your shoes!"

"Never mind! The names on the family tree are more valuable than shoes!"

Hu Lahua ran up to the high platform, stood in front of the old man, her chest heaving violently, and her face beaming like a blooming flower.

She wasn't as reserved as Jiang Shitou.

He knelt down with a "plop," kowtowed three times in the direction of the ancestral tablets, then raised his head, his voice full of energy.

"Ancestors! Although my surname isn't Jiang, I, Hu Lahua, have been married into this village for thirty years!"

"I've eaten the Jiang family's food, drunk the Jiang family's water, and received the Jiang family's kindness all my life!"

"If my name can be written into the family genealogy today, I'd die happy!"

The old man nodded repeatedly, and with a flourish of his pen, wrote the three characters "Hulahua" on the family genealogy.

Next, the roll call ceremony continued.

One name after another was solemnly written into the genealogy book that carried the Jiang family's five-hundred-year bloodline by the old master with that pure gold brush.

When Jiang Youfu took the stage, he was still covered in the smell of cooking oil and hadn't even had time to wash off. The first thing he said after kowtowing was, "May my ancestors bless me so that my braised pig's head will never burn again!"

The old man was so angry he laughed.

When Jiang Mancang went on stage, he stood there motionless, as wooden as a stake. When the old man asked him if he had anything to say, he hesitated for a long time before finally uttering only one word—"Hmm."

Laughter erupted from the audience.

When Jiang Huixin went on stage, her legs were trembling with nervousness, and her face was as red as a tomato. When she stood up after kowtowing, she almost tripped over the hem of her skirt, but Wang Dagou caught her in time.

Each time a name was read, a burst of enthusiastic applause erupted from the audience.

Each name added adds a significant stroke to the family genealogy.

More than an hour has passed.

The sun moved from the east to its zenith, and a warm spring breeze was blowing.

The list of core clan members was entered one by one.

On the bench outside, Mr. Qian watched this scene, swallowed hard, and leaned close to Su Tianhao's ear.

"Chairman Su, how about I find a godfather? Put my name on the deed too? A million a year in dividends, that's way higher than the return on my fund."

Su Tianhao glanced at him sideways.

"Stop dreaming."

On the high platform, the last core member of the clan finished writing.

The old man placed the pure gold calligraphy brush into the white porcelain bowl of clear water next to him and slowly rinsed the vermilion ink on the tip of the brush.

His movements suddenly slowed down.

The smile on his face also faded.

Instead, there is a solemnity that runs deep.

The atmosphere in the entire square instantly quieted down as the old man's expression changed.

Everyone sensed it—something big was about to happen.