Chapter 152 New Year’s Eve
January 23rd, New Year’s Eve.
Fang Wei got up early again today, but he didn't go running this morning. He had to help kill chickens, ducks and geese at home.
The island was already bustling as soon as daybreak. In the quiet morning, one could occasionally hear the sound of firecrackers in the distance.
"Come over after breakfast and help pluck the duck feathers! We have to go to the gods after we finish cleaning up! Don't leave it too late!"
"Okay, got it!"
Breakfast is a big pot of lean meat porridge, as well as other foods such as rice cakes. I won’t cook at noon today, after all, I have a lot of things to do. I’ll just eat something simple and wait for the New Year’s Eve dinner in the evening.
Fang Wei quickly finished his breakfast and came to the yard to help with the work.
Mom and Dad have been busy for a while. They got up early to boil water and kill chickens, ducks and geese. All these things need to be prepared.
Fang Wei's job is very simple, which is to pluck the hair.
Chicken feathers are easy to pluck. After killing the chicken and scalding it in boiling water, you can basically pluck them cleanly by pulling along the direction of the hair tubes.
The most troublesome thing is plucking duck feathers. The ducks are in the molting season at this time, and there are many tiny hair roots growing on the duck skin. They need to be plucked one by one with small clips, especially the duck head, which is almost entirely made of these hair roots. The time it takes to deal with one duck is enough to deal with five chickens.
However, duck feathers are valuable, but no one wants chicken feathers. Tian Xilan put the plucked duck feathers into bags, and someone will come to collect them after the Chinese New Year. The feathers of a duck can be sold for fifty cents.
The chickens have been processed. Two chickens were killed this morning, a hen and a capon. The capon will be used for worshiping gods.
Tian Xilan uses a special technique to position a whole large castrated chicken, with the chicken head looking upwards, the two wings bent forward and inward, and the chicken feet bent backward and tucked into the stomach. Then when cooking the chicken, put a piece of belly meat inside, and cook the chicken red, heart, intestines, and liver together. Finally, take it out, drain the water, place it on a plate, and put it in a basket to take to worship the gods.
The people on the island believe in gods and are quite particular about worshiping gods during the New Year. Of course, worshiping gods requires more than just a chicken. The so-called three animals, five fruits and six vegetarian dishes are definitely necessary, and tea, cigarettes, alcohol, paper money and the like are also indispensable.
There are some families on the island who prepare even earlier. They carry their loads up the mountain to worship the gods before dawn, in order to burn the first incense stick. Usually, they go no later than eight or nine o'clock.
Fang Wei sat on a small stool, taking care of two ducks beside the well. His mother had already plucked all the large feathers, and the remaining fine feathers were his job. This not only tested his patience, but also his eyesight. It was really tiring!
There is always work to be done, and it’s the same for every family during the New Year. You can’t just expect your old mother to do all the work while everyone else just plays.
The stupid girl next door also got up early in the morning. Like Fang Wei, she was squatting beside the well plucking duck feathers. She had been squatting for too long and her waist was sore, so she stood up to stretch.
"Fang Wei, how many ducks do you have?"
"It's almost done. All that's left is the duck head."
"So fast!!"
"When does your family go to worship gods?"
"The incense at home hasn't been burned yet, let's go together later!"
"Let's pluck the hair first. Sister Caiwei hasn't come home yet?"
"She just got on board, so it will probably be noon when she gets home."
"It's OK. I can make it back in time for the New Year's Eve dinner."
Before going to the Mazu Temple on the mountain to worship the gods, the family must first burn incense and worship the gods. On New Year’s Eve and the first day of the new year, the most indispensable thing is to worship the gods.
Fang Xianfeng moved the Eight Immortals Table into the yard, placed it in a specific direction, and then placed the incense burner and other items on the table.
The things needed for worshiping gods, such as three animals, five fruits and six vegetarian dishes, have also been prepared. Tian Xilan placed these offerings on the Eight Immortals Table. The order of placement is also particular. The pork should be in the middle, the chicken on the left with the chicken head facing forward, and the fish on the right with the fish tail facing forward. This is the so-called chicken worshiping the head, meat worshiping the head, and fish worshiping the tail.
During the annual fishery ceremony, we have to prepare five more grand animals!
Most families start worshipping the gods around this time, some far away and some near, and the sound of firecrackers can be heard throughout the early morning on the island.
Tian Xilan poured tea and wine, lit incense and candles, held the incense in her hands, and prayed sincerely.
"Come and burn some incense."
"okay!"
"Wipe your hands dry, don't let them get wet."
"it is good."
Fang Wei wiped his hands and walked to the eight-immortals table. His mother took out a stick of incense and handed it to him.
Fang Wei imitated his mother and lit the incense over the candle flame. Fire started on the incense head. He couldn't blow it out with his mouth, so he gently fanned out the flame with his hand. Then thick white smoke with a special fragrance floated up from the incense stick.
He stood slightly behind his mother, and his father also lit a stick of incense. The three of them prayed sincerely to the gods, and finally put the incense into the incense burner.
Mom took out two rows of firecrackers from a small bamboo basket and handed them to him:
"Go light two rows of firecrackers, and then we'll go to the mountain to worship the gods together, and then we'll go to the village ancestral hall to worship when we come back."
"it is good."
Fang Wei took the firecracker, lit the gray fuse with incense, and then threw it on the open space at the entrance of the yard.
Crackling! Crackling!
The sound of firecrackers rang out, white smoke rose up, and red petals fell all over the ground.
The unique flavor of the New Year in the air has become even stronger.
Not long after Fang Wei's family lit firecrackers, Xu Cailing's family next door also lit firecrackers.
Tian Xilan, who had almost finished cleaning up, asked with a smile across the wall:
"Juan, is everything ready at your house? Let's go to the mountain together."
"Okay, let's go together. It's a little early this year! It was too late last year! Ah Feng will go with you?"
"He's watching the fire at home. There are ducks and geese to be stewed. I asked Ah Wei to come with me. Cailing, you should come too. Learn how to worship the gods from your mother. Otherwise, when it's your turn to take over, you won't know how!"
"I will! I will!"
Of course Xu Cailing had to go along, she loved joining in the fun the most.
Soon, the two families set out together, carrying their baskets. The two women were talking and laughing in front, while Fang Wei and Xu Cailing followed behind them, equally excited.
Walking past the ancestral hall at the entrance of the village, the open space in front is already covered with red paper clothes left after firecrackers were set off. There are a lot of people here, all of whom came early and came back here to worship Mazu after going to the mountain. There are also many familiar and unfamiliar faces. Most of them are people who left the island a few years ago to make a living and came back to their hometown to worship the gods during the New Year.
Fang Wei and Xu Cailing didn't know many of them.
However, Tian Xilan and Deng Xijuan knew each other basically. They hadn't seen each other for a long time, so naturally they had to exchange some greetings.
"Is this Ah Wei? I haven't seen him for a few years. He has grown into a handsome young man! Is he in junior high school now?"
"..."
Fang was confused and couldn't remember who this was.
"This is the eldest son of the castrated rooster master Liu, called Uncle Liu! He is a big boss in Guangdong and Guang!" Tian Xilan said. Fang Wei just remembered, smiled sensibly, and greeted him, "Uncle Liu!"
"Hey! What big boss? He's just a foreman working on a construction site! You should study hard! Money is hard to earn!"
Because they had to hurry up the mountain to worship the gods, everyone had their own things to do and there was not much chatting.
In fact, the topics we talked about were nothing more than the same few topics, such as "Have you finished your worship?", "When will you be back?", "When will you go back?", "Have your children started primary school or junior high school?", "How are their grades?", "How is your work?", etc.
We were good friends who grew up and played together in childhood. Time flies, year after year, and everyone has embarked on different life trajectories. When we meet again, there is always some emotion.
When they reached the entrance of the village, Ah Sheng and his mother also came out carrying baskets, and the three families went up the mountain to worship the gods together.
The so-called mountain refers to the Diecui Mountain on the island.
Diecui Mountain is the highest place on the island, with a height of more than 210 meters. Standing on the top of the mountain, you can overlook the entire island.
There is a historic temple of the sea god on the mountain. The people on the island believe in Mazu, and they go to the temple to worship and pray during festivals or ceremonies.
Of course, the temple is not on the top of the mountain, otherwise it would be extremely tiring to climb 200 meters above sea level carrying a basket.
The way up the mountain does not pass through Shayang Village. Fang Wei doesn't know whether Liu Zhiyi's family has gone to worship the gods at this moment. It is estimated that it is around this time.
Walking from the entrance of Dongyang Village towards the forest behind, there are various staircases and the road is not flat.
It seems that places like worshipping gods and ancestors require climbing mountains, which is probably a way to show sincerity.
"Mom, how about I carry the basket?" Fang Wei said.
"It's quite heavy. Can you handle it?"
"Let me try!"
Seeing that his mother was already sweating from exhaustion, Fang Wei took the initiative to take the basket from her shoulders.
In fact, at this moment, he was taller than his mother, but when the carrying pole was pressed on his shoulders, he couldn't help but feel the heaviness, and his shoulders were hurt by the hard carrying pole.
Seeing Fang Wei helping to carry the load, Xu Cailing and A Sheng followed suit and took over the baskets on their mothers' shoulders.
“It’s not that heavy, but it hurts my shoulders to bear the weight of the pole!”
"Haha, this is definitely not heavy. If you have ever carried rice, two baskets filled with rice would weigh hundreds of pounds. You kids have weak shoulders, how can you lift that?" The three women laughed.
"We can do that too!"
Xu Cailing and A Sheng gritted their teeth, picked up their loads and followed Fang Wei's footsteps.
"Slow down! Don't spill the tea and wine in the basket!"
"Know!"
After passing through the mountains and forests and climbing up the winding stone steps, the Temple of Poseidon finally appeared before our eyes.
"arrive!"
Fang Wei and the other two put down the baskets on their shoulders, wiped the sweat from their foreheads, looked at the Temple of Poseidon in front of them, and then they breathed a sigh of relief.
The main building of the temple adopts the traditional Chinese style. There is a wide square in front of the temple with a huge incense burner in the center. During festivals or important days, people who come to worship will light incense here and pray to the sea god to bless them with safe voyages and the health of their families.
The altitude of this location is not very high. The trees in the forest in front of the temple have been trimmed, and evergreen pines and cypresses are planted on both sides. It is backed by Diecui Mountain and faces the sea. Standing on the observation deck in front of the temple and looking into the distance, you can see the sparkling sea in the distance blending into the skyline.
With the arrival of the New Year, the temples were decorated with brand new red lanterns and new couplets. Smoke filled the air and people from the island came in an endless stream to burn incense and pray for blessings.
"Hey! Zhiyi~!"
Xu Cailing had sharp eyes and immediately spotted Liu Zhiyi walking out of the temple holding a bunch of incense.
"Eh? Cai Ling?"
"Zhiyi, you're here so early!"
"I just got here not long ago."
Like Fang Wei and the other two, Liu Zhiyi also got up early today and helped his grandfather kill chickens and ducks. After worshiping the gods at home, the grandfather and grandson came over here.
After all, they were still children. While the adults were worshipping in the temple, Xu Cailing took Fang Weiwei to play around the area. In addition to the temple, there were many other scenic spots on the mountain.
"Zhiyi, have you ever been to the top of a mountain?"
"without……"
"Let's go! Let's go hiking together!"
"I still need to burn incense later..."
"I'll be down later!"
The four of them ran up the mountain together again.
There are no stone steps on the mountain road after the Temple of Poseidon, but this does not pose a problem for the monkey-like boys and girls. On the contrary, those primitive mountain roads are more adventurous and challenging to climb.
Of course, the highest place is only two hundred meters above sea level, and most of the terrain is relatively flat.
The four of them ran left and right in the forest and soon reached the top of the mountain.
There is a natural excellent viewing platform here. You won’t feel it when you live in the village on the island on weekdays, but now standing at the highest point on the island, the view suddenly becomes wider and you can easily overlook the whole picture of the island.
On the back of the mountain are emerald cliffs, which are dozens of meters high and extend straight into the sea. The raging waves hit the shore, splashing up thousands of piles of snow.
"Wow--!"
Liu Zhiyi couldn't help but exclaim in amazement. This was the first time she saw the entire picture of the island where she now lived.
"Hey, the scenery is great, right? This is the end of the world on Pineapple Island!"
"The end of the world!"
(End of this chapter)
