Reborn in the 1980s: Nine Stunning Beauties Get Pregnant Before Marriage

On the night before Laba Festival, several neighbors gathered at Chen Yongqiang's house to watch TV as usual.

"As the saying goes, once the Laba Festival is over, the New Year is just around the corner. Time really flies!" Qin Shan exclaimed. His family had moved to Shimen Village, and almost half a year had passed in the blink of an eye.

"That's pretty fast," Chen Yongqiang remarked.

Since his rebirth, the events that have occurred in the past six months have brought about significant changes.

"Yongqiang, what have you prepared for tomorrow?" Qin Shan continued the conversation.

"Laba porridge, of course, is made with eight kinds of grains and cereals to bring good luck and symbolize completeness." Chen Yongqiang had plenty of food because he had a space.

"You're so generous. My family can only scrape together some millet. Won't that be...?" He wanted to say that it might seem stingy and make people look down on him.

But he swallowed the words back. His family was indeed in dire straits, with several mouths to feed and his wife pregnant. They had very little surplus food to spare.

"Just take whatever you have. The most important thing is the sentiment. No one will complain about that."

Chen Yongqiang changed the subject, "By the way, Uncle Qin, there's something I need to trouble you with. I have some other things to take care of tomorrow morning, so could you please take my portion of grains with you?"

He naturally planned to first worship the mountain god, and then go to Qingba Reservoir.

"It's no big deal, leave it to me," Qin Shan readily agreed.

He then casually asked, "What important business do you have to attend to tomorrow?"

Before Chen Yongqiang could figure out how to answer, Qin Liping, who was sitting next to him, interjected, "Dad, it's so lively making Laba porridge tomorrow, I want to go and watch too!"

"You and your sister stay home and help your mother make Laba garlic. It's too much trouble with so many people around, so you girls shouldn't join in the fun," Qin Shan refused.

His main concern was that his two precious daughters might cause trouble in that crowded and chaotic place.

That's how the matter was settled.

The next day, the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, just as dawn was breaking, Chen Yongqiang got up, took the prepared offerings, and walked alone toward the mountainside of Qinglong Mountain.

Meanwhile, most of the villagers in Shimen Village were chatting and laughing in twos and threes, heading towards Qingba Reservoir in another direction.

Chen Yongqiang arrived at the mountain god temple halfway up the mountain, pushed open the half-closed temple door, and went inside.

He carefully arranged the offerings before the altar, a genuine smile spreading across his face, as if he were returning to another home: "Mountain God, I've come to see you again!"

"Thanks to the blessing of the mountain god, things have been going smoothly lately, and things are slowly starting to improve." Chen Yongqiang lit incense and bowed respectfully three times.

"I have kept the tasks you assigned me in mind and have been carrying them out one by one." Chen Yongqiang inserted the incense into the incense burner, his tone as if he were reporting his recent situation to a trusted elder.

"When my child is a few months old this time next year, I will bring him to you to kowtow."

Continuing the incense offerings and allowing the bloodline to take root and multiply in this land was also one of the important tasks entrusted to us by the mountain god.

[Sensing the host's pure and sincere intentions and devout worship, we are deeply grateful. Therefore, we hereby bestow upon you 99 points of blessing. We hope you will use them wisely and not betray this good intention.]

Upon hearing the notification in his mind, Chen Yongqiang bowed deeply to the mountain god statue once more: "Thank you for your blessing, Mountain God!"

The worship ceremony may seem simple, but it is thoughtful and highly efficient.

After communicating with the mountain god, Chen Yongqiang did not rush to leave.

He began to sweep away the dust inside the temple, tidy up the slightly messy prayer cushions, and check whether the doors and windows were secure.

He had become so adept at these maintenance tasks that he took them for granted.

Chen Yongqiang also had another, more long-term goal in mind: to rebuild the mountain god temple.

This was not a task assigned by the mountain god, but rather his own spontaneous wish.

Having received such a great favor from the Mountain God, Chen Yongqiang felt that it was something he had to do to rebuild a more solemn and stable dwelling place for the Mountain God.

After doing all this, Chen Yongqiang returned to the statue of the mountain god, took out a bottle of Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor), unscrewed the cap, and poured the clear liquor onto the ground in front of the altar.

The ritual of worshipping the gods is now complete. Next, it is time to worship the ancestors.

The thought of family brought a pang of pain to Chen Yongqiang's heart.

There is a part of his family's past that he is unwilling and dare not easily touch upon.

Life and death separations... even if those images are just fragments, they are enough to make one's breath catch in their throat.

Thinking that the once vast Chen family had been reduced to a single heir, he realized that he was now the only remaining member.

An indescribable loneliness pierced the heart of this rough man.

Chen Yongqiang carried the responsibilities of two lifetimes on his shoulders. His nose tingled, and hot tears streamed down his face without warning. He raised his hand and wiped his face hard.

"The Chen family line continues, and I will continue down this path."

After a while, Chen Yongqiang paid his final respects to the mountain god statue and the ancestors in the shadows.

His tear tracks had dried, and his eyes had regained their firmness.

After gathering his scattered thoughts, Chen Yongqiang turned and walked towards the Qingba Reservoir at the foot of the mountain.

The dam of Qingba Reservoir was already bustling with activity.

In addition to the men, women, and children of Shimen Village, many villagers from the three nearby villages also came after hearing the news.

They gathered by the somewhat deserted reservoir in winter, a dark mass of people.

In the open section of the dam, several large iron pots had already been set up, with firewood burning brightly underneath.

He Jun, wearing a gray cloth apron and looking every bit the commander-in-chief, inspected the several large pots with a long-handled iron ladle in his hand.

Occasionally lift the lid and stir the already thick porridge inside to check the heat.

A nimble woman nearby helped add firewood and water, or poured red beans, mung beans, red dates, peanuts and other ingredients collected from various households into the pot in order.

On the smooth, solid ice surface of the reservoir, several offering tables draped in red cloth were arranged side by side, with various offerings neatly laid out on them:

Whole chickens, strips of meat, fruits, pastries, and steaming hot steamed buns, all surrounded by the aroma of cigarette smoke.

Beside the offering table, several elderly men and prominent figures from the village were discussing something in hushed tones, their expressions solemn.

Besides cooking porridge and sharing it, there is another more important part today.

They worshipped the reservoir and the gods of the four directions, praying for favorable weather and abundant fish catches in the coming year.

The person presiding over this sacrificial ceremony was not the village chief Yang Dahai, but Hu Chuyao, the daughter of the Hu family in the village.

She stood quietly to the side, dressed in a shaman's robes.

Everyone in the village knows that the Hu family are shamans, and Hu Chuyao received a spiritual connection at a young age, enabling her to communicate with spirits that are invisible to ordinary people.

In this kind of situation, it would be most appropriate for her to host.

Just as Chen Yongqiang reached the dam of Qingba Reservoir, Hu Chuyao, who was on the ice and quietly confirming the procedures with several elderly people, seemed to sense something and suddenly looked in Chen Yongqiang's direction.