There is a proverb in the countryside: Celebrate the New Year in winter! This is not to say that winter is more important than the New Year, nor does it mean that the winter is more grand than the New Year. It wants to express that the winter is a warm-up festival for the New Year. This day represents the end of the year's harvest, and everyone can rest and prepare for the next year's farming, so today's meal must be rich.

Every household in Chujiazhai was not busy with other things, and when the family came back from catching fish, they were busy with a meal. Every family prepares a banquet for tourists staying in their homes on this day, which makes the tourists very touched and feel a kind of home. Therefore, they don't go out to play today, they just help in the house.

In order to make this festival better for tourists, the old village chief also organized everyone to do chaos and so on. The team that went into the mountains to investigate also came back in advance to spend this foreign festival with everyone.

Chu Jiaqiang's family already has many people, and after his mother-in-law came, he never used to cook at all.

Jackton and the others also went to Chu Jiaqiang's house to save trouble and let the hired woman go home for the holiday. They actually started preparing for their Christmas, and everything was purchased, Christmas trees, Santa Claus, and so on.

Chu Jiawan also had a day off, and she notified Chu Jiaqiang the day before and asked Chu Jiaqiang to pick her up. When the girl returned, she mingled with Mudezhen and Wells's sister, and asked them to speak in English as much as possible. She had a good idea and found two free sparring partners. Not to mention, this works very well.

"Ready, right? When you're ready, let's go! I went to the temple and worshipped God. I have to come back to worship my ancestors. The second uncle said. On the day of the winter solstice, some people also call it the second Qingming Festival. Here's why.

The rest of the people should also follow, anyway, it is better to go to the temple to pray for blessings. Most of them are in the mood to join in the fun.

There are many people in the temple, and there is a lot of cigarette smoke, and today it is destined to have a lot of sesame oil money. In this way, you don't have to pay too much for next year's temple fair. The temple fairs here are held once every three years, and are basically set in autumn and winter, when the farming season is over. Everyone is free.

Chu Xianke, that is, the old man who visited the temple, knew that there would be many tourists who would come to pray and worship God today. He deliberately bought a lot of peach pit carvings in advance, that is, using peach pits to carve some small animals, or baskets and other things. Peach pits, like peach wood, have the effect of suppressing evil spirits.

Today. Anyone who comes to pray will give a peach pit carving, hoping to bring good luck to everyone. These are all gadgets, bought in large quantities, one does not cost a dollar, so it does not charge everyone money, just a festive picture.

At the same time, there is also incense in the temple for everyone to order, and there is no charge for it. Unlike the temples outside, you have to buy their incense to make incense. And thieves are expensive. This makes the tourists quite good, so they are not soft on donating sesame oil money, and they are very generous to put large denominations in it.

Chu Xianke couldn't be busy at all, and several respected clan elders in the village also moved their hands to help greet everyone. Whoever donates money will leave a name so that the gods will know and bless them! Tomorrow, and next year, the list of temple fairs will be announced. This can give the impression of being famous. But this must not be ignored, if you pay, you should have gains, including fame.

"Dedication, the box for donating sesame oil money is full." A clan elder shouted.

Chu Xianke was making tea, and when he heard this, he was taken aback, the box was very big, and he ran over with a lot of sweat. This is the first time I have encountered this situation, so everyone doesn't know what to do for a while. There is only one donation box in their temple, and the sesame oil money cannot be used directly, and it must be put in the box before the gods will approve it.

"How can it be full so quickly?" Chu Xianke asked with wide eyes.

Chu Jiaqiang reluctantly pointed at Jackton and the others: "They are all put down one by one, can they not be full?" ”

Jackton and the others were depressed, how could they donate more money themselves, as if they were still wrong. If you knew this, you should just throw the check.

Everyone didn't take this situation into account at all, so Chu Xianke and the others, you look at me and I look at you, but they are helpless.

"Why don't you just take out the inside first?" A tourist queues up at the back.

Chu Xianke had no choice but to explain: "The sesame oil money in it can't be taken out immediately, at least until after the sun goes down at dusk." That, everyone is really sorry, everyone's mind is on the line, the gods and bodhisattvas will bless it, and the sesame oil money will be slowed down today. His tone was very sincere, and then he said a few words to the great god enshrined above, and informed the situation, all the people present today are pious people, hoping that the great god will protect them and so on.

This time, it was the turn of those tourists to be dumbfounded. They secretly said in their hearts: This temple is really special, and it depends on the situation if you want to donate money. If it is a temple in the tourist area outside, it doesn't matter so much, just put a bag in a snakeskin bag and leave, and then you continue, don't stop, otherwise Guanyin Bodhisattva will not manifest.

Looking at the statue of the god with a serious expression on it, the tourists finally put away the mentality of the game and religiously burned incense and worshipped, even if it is superstition, but such a principled god still knows that everyone respects.

Chu Jiaqiang glanced at the box, which contained at least more than 150,000 yuan, which was more than enough to hold a temple fair next year, and there was no need for the villagers to raise funds at all. You must know that the last temple fair only cost about 30,000 yuan, and it was a few hundred yuan for each household.

"Looks like the temple is going to have to be expanded!" Liang Yu saw that the temple was not very big, and there would be more and more people in the future, and now there is no shortage of funds, so expansion is inevitable.

Chu Xianke shook his head: "The temple is not big, there are gods and spirits!" That is, there will be more people in the festival, there is no need to expand, and the great god does not want to waste money and labor. ”

Hearing the old man's words, everyone's touch was even greater, and secretly said that this is the spirit of the temple! It's a pity that the gods outside are whitewashed by money, it really shouldn't be!

In fact, there is another reason why the old people don't want the temple to expand. The feng shui pattern of this temple has been decided, and it is not good to change it casually. If you have enough funds, you can start from the inside and do a good job, especially the stone inscriptions on the walls, etc., only by adding these, a temple will appear more substantial.

After coming back from the temple, and then following the second uncle to worship the ancestors, the others waited at home to eat, and Chu Jiaqiang drove to the town to pick up his father-in-law.

This meal is indeed very rich, even the bamboo sunflower picked before is also stewed, which makes Zhou Furong and others feast.

"Unfortunately, it would have been perfect if there had been a few more jars of good wine. Lao Jie, you have dug so much, are you going to eat alone? Chen Wu still thinks about the fine wines that have been treasured in Chujiazhai for decades, or even hundreds of years. Others are no exception, and they are also very hungry for those fine wines.

When Jackton and the others learned of this, they immediately threw money down, and they dug up a lot. In fact, many people here have also done this, and Wan Lao and others have also treasured several jars, and secretly drank a few cups from time to time.