The figure of the dragon hidden in the bamao bush hurriedly ran towards the Xie family's compound in Jinxiba.

That person was none other than the well-known local Lai Pi, nicknamed "Gao Maniac". This person is not tall, and his back is still a little packed, but he is not afraid of the sky, the earth is not afraid, he is naturally cheeky, he likes to run where there is excitement, and he loves to be strong when he encounters trouble. He traveled south and north to eat hundreds of meals, learned some methods of rivers and lakes, and thought he was very great, others said that heaven, he knew half of it, and others said that on the earth, he knew everything. Wherever he goes, there is no rest.

The tall madman ran and jogged closely, and finally saw the Xie family's mansion with a pair of red lanterns hanging from a distance.

At the gate of the mansion stood two men with "open muskets", who watched vigilantly at the group of poor people in ragged clothes waiting under the steps of the door. Those poor people who helped the old and the young faced the cold wind and stood here with their heads in waiting, waiting for the annual alms of the Xie family here to give them a bag of grain and baba.

The Xie family has been a famous family in Jinxiba for hundreds of years, and since their ancestor Xie Ze, they have passed down a rule that they must give porridge in disaster and famine years and festivals. It's just that on weekdays, a big iron pot is set up outside the gate of the Xie family, and the rice porridge is boiled. After the people who have good deeds have to give alms, they take the rice porridge home, filter out the water in the porridge, and weigh the remaining grain dregs with a scale that weighs medicine. Although the porridge given by the Xie family has more water and less grain, there is still a long queue of people who come to receive alms every time. Today is different, since the Xie family built this mansion, now Old Lady Xie's father Xie Enxian has set a rule, every Chinese New Year's Eve, the Xie family will give a package of grain to those who come to receive alms. As long as you eat it in your stomach, you will know that there are at least four or two packets of cereal noodles in a baogu baba, which is equivalent to the usual eight bowls of porridge. Today is the thirtieth year of the Xie family's annual alms of the Chinese New Year's Eve, and there are naturally many people who come to wait.

Finally, when it came to "Shen Shi", the closed side door of the Xie family's compound finally opened, and the people who were standing there waiting for alms suddenly heard the sound of opening the door and immediately stirred excitedly. One by one, they craned their necks, their eyes wide open, and looked with bated breath towards the side door. I saw eight members of the Xie family proudly carrying "open fire guns" on their backs, and the two of them carried four large baskets containing yellow cancan and fragrant rice dumplings in pairs, and fished out from the side door.

The Xie family not only has a luxurious house, but the owner pays attention to pomp and circumstance, and even the clothes of the family are second to none in the local area. However, like all Sichuan people, they have always been careless: all year round is wrapped in a white turban, wearing a black short coat, black leggings tied to the leg pole, wearing a pair of straw sandals on the feet, people from other provinces have just arrived, do not know this custom of Sichuan people, and think that they have met the people who hang filial piety and go to the funeral? In recent years, after Xie Jizu became the head of the family, he paid more attention to the clothing of the family, so that they put a pair of brown socks on their feet in winter and wore a pair of straw sandals made of straw outside. Today is the Chinese New Year, and the clothes of the eight families who came out are even more extraordinary, all of them are wearing new white turbans on their heads, new black short coats on their bodies, new black belts around their waists, new black leggings on their legs, and new black cloth cotton shoes on their feet that many local owners have never worn in their lives. The uniforms of the eight families not only make them smart and capable, but also show the sincerity of the owner.

The servants carried the basket to the gate and carefully placed it next to the red silk lion on the left side of the gate. After the two family members who walked in front put down the basket, they stood up and took off the "open flame gun" on their backs, held it horizontally in their hands, and stood there with a tiger's eye, guarding the basket. The other six servants immediately turned around and walked briskly forward, waiting silently at the side door.

Xie Chengtong, the eldest man of the Xie family, who was in his forties, wore a new safflower satin cotton robe, a purple-red tuanhua brocade horse coat, a black satin melon skin hat, and a thick black braid combed behind his head, and walked out of the side door with his son Xie Chuanwei, who was about 17 or 8 years old, and his second brother Xie Chengzhi, cousin Xie Chengjin, and several other cousins, cousins, and nephews, who were about the same age as his son.

Xie Chengtong stood on the steps of the courtyard, arched his hand to the people waiting for alms below, and said aloud: "Fellow villagers, today is the Chinese New Year's Eve, and I will greet everyone on behalf of my father Old Lady Xie!" Our Xie family's disaster relief has been uninterrupted for nearly 300 years, and after you get alms, you must remember the kindness of our Xie family and the kindness of my father and grandmother! ”

After Xie Chengtong finished speaking, the crowd immediately resounded with a sound of praise of gratitude and praise. He paused, happily rolled up his sleeves, wrapped his long braids around his neck, and took his younger brother Xie Chengzhi, son Xie Chuanwei, and several cousins, as well as his nephews, to distribute the baogu baba to the waiting people.

Xie Chengtong stood in front of the basket and handed a bun of grain to an old man with a thin and wrinkled face standing at the front. The old man trembled and took the baogu baba, and kept muttering: "Good man! Good! ”

When Xie Chengtong heard this, he was so happy that his mouth couldn't close, and he shouted loudly: "Next!" ”

A young woman was holding a baby in her arms, and the two little babies beside her, who were so thin that they couldn't tell whether they were male or female, led her clothes timidly to Xie Chengtong's son Xie Chuanwei. The older baby opened a pair of big eyes and stretched out a pair of skinny little hands to Xie Chuanwei. When Xie Chuanwei saw it, he couldn't help but feel sympathy, he grabbed a bun of grain and baba from the basket, thought about it, grabbed another one, and handed it to the baby. The baby took the cake, and without saying a word, opened her mouth wide, and took a bite of it, and devoured it.