Chapter 624 The Unfilial Daughter of Xihe Village

Every year in March and April is the time for Qingming Festival to pay respects to ancestors. However, due to the regulations against feudal superstition, people dare not openly burn paper money, set up incense tables, or set off firecrackers. But they can secretly go over with four kinds of gifts to kowtow and say a few words.

Who doesn't have ancestors?

Especially those who have come all the way back from other places, even if someone in the village sees them, as long as they know what happened, they won't report it recklessly.

Zhao Lingli prepared two baskets, filled with pastries, fruits, steamed buns, cured fish and meat, and wine.

Each basket contained eight gifts: two kinds of pastries, two kinds of fruits, steamed buns, preserved fish, preserved meat, and rice wine.

As soon as the three men left with their baskets and headed towards the fields, anyone with eyes could tell what they were up to. They all exchanged knowing glances and then lowered their heads to continue with their work.

Upon arriving at the grave, Tao Changyi and Zhou Yue laid out the eight gifts. Just as they were about to kowtow, Zhao Lingli stopped them.

"Wait, we need to light incense to communicate with our ancestors,"

Upon hearing this, Tao Changyi was so frightened that he quickly looked around: "My goodness, how can you still light incense?"

Zhao Lingli rolled her eyes.

"They won't let you burn paper money when you visit graves, and they won't even let you light incense?"

"If we don't light incense, the ritual isn't complete. What if our ancestors don't receive it?"

"Have you forgotten what your daughter said? Why are you still insisting on fiddling with these things?"

“Our daughter said that the fight against feudal superstition has always existed, but it’s fine as long as it’s done in moderation.”

Those who get sick but don't go to the doctor, but instead go to a shaman, are the ones who should be punished the most.

I was just visiting a grave, how could that be considered feudal superstition?

The "Five Stresses and Four Beauties" currently being promoted, although one of the four beauties is opposing feudal superstition, I don't think that has anything to do with tomb sweeping.

Seeing that he couldn't reason with him, Tao Changyi could only look to Zhou Yue for help. Zhou Yue glanced at the villagers working in the distance, and then saw that there were more or less traces of burning in this cemetery. He immediately waved his hand.

"Mom and Dad, let's hurry up and clean up properly before we leave. No one should notice."

And so, Zhao Lingli lit the incense on the altar as she wished, and talked to her parents-in-law in a mystical manner for quite a while.

The one who talks too much is like Tao Changyi being raised by a stepmother; actually, he doesn't talk much and doesn't know what to say.

Unlike Zhao Lingli, who has always had a good relationship with her parents-in-law, now that her children are grown up, Xiaojiu has returned and gotten married.

We definitely need to have a proper discussion about this.

Turning to the cemetery of the Zhou family's eldest son, Zhou Yue obediently lit incense, kowtowed, and told them about his marriage to Xiao Jiu.

She also mentioned the situation of Zhou Xing's family, which was much faster than Zhao Lingli's.

After the offerings have been offered and given enough time to be eaten, they can be taken away.

Back home, Zhao Lingli tidied up the offerings while arranging for the two men in her family to go out.

"Go to the supply and marketing cooperative or ask around in the neighboring villages where you can buy pork. We need to render some oil."

When I left, I took everything I could with me, including lard.

Although there was still some soybean oil and peanut oil stored in the cellar, I always felt that cooking with it didn't taste as good as cooking with lard.

Zhao Lingli also knew that she had to buy meat early, otherwise there might only be lean meat left that people didn't want.

So going at this time would really be a matter of luck. Luckily, there are two bicycles at home that the father and son can ride around on.

She went to the Tang family's front yard and got some pickled cabbage, rice, and noodles.

The two families had already exchanged keys, and Cuihua had specifically instructed them to do so before she left.

During this lean season, it's good to eat some pickled vegetables.

When the Tao family left, they let the Tang family take everything they couldn't take with them. Now that they've suddenly returned, it's a good transitional period.

I knew it wouldn't be easy to buy, but I didn't expect it to be this difficult. When the father and son came back at noon, they were both empty-handed.

"Most of the pigs were slaughtered before the Lunar New Year, and the supply and marketing cooperatives didn't have much meat to sell."

Fish and eggs are also scarce; you can't buy them even if you have money.

Fortunately, Zhao Lingli had made two preparations: stewed preserved fish with pickled cabbage and glass noodles, and also made a ring of cornbread.

"Mom and Dad, I have to go to the aviation academy in the provincial capital this afternoon to handle some official business. I'll come back with Xiaojiu then. You two can stay home and adjust first."

"I have some food coupons and meat coupons here. You can use them. Xiao Jiu and I eat in the canteen, so we don't need these."

When they left, they also slipped a handful of the two kinds of tickets to Zhao Lingli. She didn't need so many.

He insisted on stuffing it back, saying, "We don't need it at home, so you should prepare more when you go out. Don't worry about us."

If you're too busy to come back, you can just take a flight from the provincial capital airport. Just give us a call in advance.

Tao Changyi had just dropped Zhou Yue off at the bus stop on the national highway and hadn't even had a sip of water since he got home!

The loudspeaker then called for Tao Changyi to go to the commune to pick up his package.

When he rode his bicycle back to the village with a package on his back, it was just in time for the afternoon work session, and everyone craned their necks to look at him.

Tao Changyi proudly raised his chin, "These are things my little daughter sent to the two of us."

"Wow~ Really? You've raised your little daughter like she's been raised for nothing. You haven't sent her anything in all these years. Why would she send you something today?"

"That's right, that's right. She's been gone for over ten or twenty years. She never sends a package, not even a letter or telegram. She's such an unfilial daughter."

"Don't tell me this was sent by your son, but it's in your daughter's name. You must have been upset because people talked about it a lot when you came back."

...

As the increasingly outrageous noises came over, Tao Changyi's face turned pale. Just as he was about to argue with these people, Zhao Lingli, who had just come out, pulled him back inside.

"Are you stupid? Let them say what they want. As long as we know it was sent by our daughter, that's enough."

This must be because they just settled down and were worried that they wouldn't have enough food at home, so they quickly sent us these things.

"Thank goodness my son-in-law is gone. Quick, open it and see what our daughter sent us."

I glanced at the package; it was an express shipment, and the postage alone must have cost a fortune. "That brat, she really doesn't know how to manage money."

Upon opening the package, I found it contained vacuum-packed bags of meat, each labeled with its type.

It's obviously been marinated. I was worried it would spoil on the way, so I vacuum-packed it. That's quite thoughtful of me.

In addition to red meat, there are various white meats and seafood meats, which are finished products such as fish, shrimp, crab, oysters, abalone, and sea cucumber, after they have been cleaned.

The elderly couple became increasingly alarmed as they looked at the food: "This brat, isn't she afraid we'll spoil it if we don't finish it?"

While Zhao Lingli was sorting and arranging the items, Tao Changyi had already finished reading the letter.

"I was wondering why this bag was so heavy. It's all meat that they sent to us, so we can soak it in oil or salt if we can't finish it."

These can also be sent to her sisters to help them out. There are also two packages containing dried goods and food.

With meat, dried goods, and grains, we can at least survive until the new vegetables and grains are harvested...