Chapter 712: Eight hundred years

Half an hour later, representatives from all the branches of the Xia family had arrived at the Xia ancestral hall. Even other clansmen had come to watch the fun, filling the ancestral hall to capacity.

Before they arrived, Xia Anshan and the others had already confirmed Xia Yu's family tree, and in fact already knew in their hearts that Xia Yu was a member of the Xia clan, and that this was just a more formal ceremony.

Therefore, they had already prepared everything needed for the ancestral worship.

And today happened to be an auspicious day.

The three-sacrifice meal and the three teas and five wines were placed on the offering table in front of the ancestral tablet.

The old man sitting next to Xia Anshan said in a strong voice, 'The ancestral recognition ceremony begins!'

'Firecrackers, please the family tree!'

As soon as the words fell, the sound of firecrackers once again rang out, and the family tree was once again invited out and placed on a simple table in the middle. Everyone looked solemn, and even the children were held by the adults so that they would not run around.

After the sound of the firecrackers stopped,

the old man spoke again: 'One bow to the heavens, two bows to the earth, and three bows to the Xia ancestors!'

After the three bows, the old man said again, 'The ancestral worship begins!'

After that, Xia Anshan took the lead, and everyone in turn burned incense and lit candles. Xia Yu participated just like everyone else, but outsiders like Wu Siming kept watching from the sidelines, but did not participate. They were not only not members of the Xia clan, but also had official status, and indeed it was not appropriate for them to participate. If it weren't for the purpose of witnessing Xia Yu's recognition of his ancestral roots, they would not be here.

After the ancestral worship, the old man retreated to the background, and Xia Anshan came forward. He looked solemn and said aloud, 'Today, the Longfeng Nanshi Xia Clan welcomes Xia Yu to recognise his ancestral roots...'

Xia Anshan's speech was divided into four parts. The first part was to welcome Xia Yu's return to the ancestral home, the second part was to introduce the brief history of Xia Yu's lineage moving away from the ancestral home, the third part was to confirm and agree, and the final part was to offer blessings on behalf of the Xia clan as the clan leader.

The next few processes were to continue the family tree, place the ancestral tablets of Xia Yu's lineage, Xia Yu's speech, and then all the people worshipped the ancestors again.

At this point, the elderly man, who had previously stayed in the background, came forward again to announce that the 'Ancestor Recognition Ceremony' was complete.

The whole process was very tedious, but no one was impatient.

It is precisely this kind of tedious and boring formalities that constitute the sense of honour and belonging among clans.

After the ancestor recognition, Xia Anshan and others led Xia Yu to the ancestral tomb to pay tribute to the ancestors. When they returned, it was already around 1 pm.

Fortunately, Xia Anshan had already arranged for people to prepare a lunch banquet. The clan members worked together to slaughter pigs and sheep, using several large stoves, so that they could prepare a lunch banquet for 60 to 70 tables in just a few hours.

'Mr Xia, congratulations on tracing your roots. I wish the Xia clan will be full of talented people and prosper!'

Wu Siming, beaming from ear to ear, raised his wine glass and congratulated Xia Yu.

He had to be happy. From the morning until now, although he had not said much and had mainly been watching, it had taken him up many hills, and at his age he was panting with exertion, but he had been beaming with joy the whole time.

There was no way around it. Having reached his level, he knew very well that Xia Yu's ancestral homecoming was actually not just Xia Yu's personal matter, but had enormous political significance.

Not to mention that this time, the mainland played an important role and contributed a lot.

After all, Xia Yu is a representative figure in Xiangjiang, but there is nothing for him to rely on in the mainland. On the contrary, he has helped the mainland a lot. This relationship is not stable for the mainland, so the mainland has been trying to strengthen the ties between the two sides.

And China places the greatest emphasis on blood ties and clan relationships.

Now that Xia Yu has acknowledged his ancestry and returned to his roots, the entire Xia clan of Longfeng Nanxi, numbering more than 1,500 people, is his clan. With this bond, Xia Yu's communication with the mainland will become even closer. Over time, there will be more places where he can do his work.

Everything is going well now. It can be said that the task assigned to Wu Siming by the higher-ups has been successfully completed. As for the rest, it is at best icing on the cake, and it is best to have it. It doesn't matter if you don't have it.

'Thank you, and I wish Governor Wu all the best and the mainland prosperity!'

'Mr Xia, I wish you...'

Wu Siming's toast was like a signal, and many people followed suit, toasting Xia Yu, and Xia Yu did not hold back, toasting elders and clan members at each table.

Fortunately, no one dared to force him to drink because of his special status. And because of his martial arts training, his physique had greatly improved and his alcohol tolerance had increased significantly. After toasting the whole table, he was only a little dizzy, which impressed everyone at the scene and they all exclaimed at his great capacity for alcohol.

Every time a toast was proposed during the banquet, Xia Yu was accompanied by someone carrying a tray with a small mountain of red envelopes on a red cloth. Each red envelope contained 666 yuan. Everyone present, regardless of age or gender, received one. A child who was curious about the contents of his envelope opened it, causing his parents to exclaim in surprise.

The atmosphere in the ancestral hall grew more and more intense. By this time, the clan members had a most intuitive impression of Xia Yu – young, capable, and generous.

There was nothing they could do. In this day and age, every penny is well spent, and you can even buy two popsicles with one yuan, let alone 666 yuan. Most families don't save that much money for years.

There were 60 to 70 tables at the scene, with at least 500 people. Xia Yu gave away more than 300,000 yuan in red envelopes, so they couldn't help but be shocked and awed.

Xia Yu was not worried about anyone having evil intentions. He had his own security forces to protect him, and the authorities also had people protecting him. To put it bluntly, the mainland cared more about his safety than he did himself.

Giving them such a large red envelope was also to give the clan members more opportunities. After all, there were too many people, and Xia Yu could not manage so many people. If someone was clever enough to use this money to make a name for himself, his money would be worth it.

Furthermore, he also considered that it would be difficult for him, an outsider, to integrate, and that this method was undoubtedly the most direct and effective way to establish his authority at once.

He had planned to do something before he came. Without sufficient authority, he could foresee that he would face a lot of difficulties.

Eating, drinking and chatting, it was already past 4 pm. Shan Xia'an had specially set aside some houses for Xia Yu and Wu Siming to stay in.

Although Wu Siming was the deputy governor and had a busy schedule, his task at this time was to accompany Xia Yu the whole way until Xia Yu safely left Ganzhou Province. If Xia Yu had any requests or comments during the trip, he could mention them to him first, and he would solve them on the spot as quickly as possible or report back to the higher-ups.

Early the next morning, Xia Yu got up early and started practising Tai Chi in the courtyard. Suddenly, he saw a head poking out of the door. It was a young guy from yesterday. Xia Yu remembered his name was Xia Yongquan. He was twenty-one years old and the youngest grandson of Xia Anshan.

Xia Anshan had two sons, the eldest was Xia Dongming and the youngest was Xia Donghui. Xia Dongming had two sons of his own, Xia Yongliang and Xia Yongxing, aged twenty-eight and twenty-six respectively, both of whom had already started their own families.

The child that Xia Dongming held in his arms yesterday is officially Xia Yongliang's son and Xia Anshan's great-grandson.

Xia Anshan's younger son Xia Donghui is 45 years old this year and has given birth to two sons, Xia Yongchao and Xia Yongquan. Xia Yongchao is 24 years old and married, so that only leaves Xia Yongquan, who is 21 years old. While everyone else was married at the age of 17 or 18, he still has no desire to start a family.

Yesterday at Xia Anshan's home, Xia Yu had heard Xia Anshan scold Xia Yongquan many times, but Xia Yu could tell that Xia Yongquan was more jumpy. Although he kept his head down and looked like he was obediently receiving training, his eyes were always rolling around, wondering what he was up to.

When he saw Xia Yu and Li Wuming practising martial arts in the courtyard, Xia Yongquan's eyes bulged. Xia Yu's Tai Chi was fine, and the slightly slower movements did not reveal much, but Li Wuming's Xingyi Boxing was full of vigour and vitality, and it was obvious that it was not just for show.

When they noticed someone coming, Xia Yu and Li Wuming successively stopped practising.

Xia Yu looked at Xia Yongquan, who was peeping around with a hairstyle that looked like he had had a stroke, and asked with a smile, 'Brother Yongquan, is there something the matter?'

Xia Anshan was the same generation as Xia Yu's grandfather, and Xia Yu was younger than Xia Yongquan, so it was appropriate to call him brother.

Xia Yongquan swallowed, scratched his head awkwardly, and said, 'Well, my grandfather told me to come and get you for breakfast.'

'Okay, go inside and have a seat for a bit, we'll be ready in a minute!'

After saying this, Xia Yu went inside to change, and a little while later came out again to go to breakfast with Xia Yongquan.

Breakfast in a southern farmhouse is called 'breakfast' for a good reason, because it is all about eating.

In the countryside, if it is not close to a town or market, there is generally no noodles, buns, etc., and it is all about eating. And generally, in order to save time and firewood, they eat the leftovers from the previous night.

After all, cutting firewood is really hard work. If the journey is not short, it will take a strong labourer two days to cut enough firewood for the family to use for a week.

In the countryside, people generally have to get up at 5 or 6 o'clock in the morning and go to work in the fields early, and they will work until 11 or 12 o'clock in the afternoon. During the five or six hours in between, if they don't eat enough, how will they have the strength to do the physically demanding farm work?

However, today, as they have an important guest, Xia Yu, Xia Anshan does not serve leftovers to Xia Yu. The food is fresh, the dishes are plentiful, and there is also a lot of sticky rice cake and rice crackers. Xia Yongquan, who usually rarely gets to eat good things, devours it all. He is glared at several times by Xia Anshan during the meal, and Xia Yu cannot help but laugh, trying to smooth things over and sighing, 'What a true natured person, it is a blessing to be able to eat.'

'Yu, do you have any plans today?'

After breakfast and while drinking tea, Xia Anshan asked Xia Yu.

Yesterday Xia Yu kept emphasising that the family should not be formal, so no one called him Mr Xia, and generally either called him by his first name or Ah Yu.

'Uncle, this is also the first time I've been to my ancestral home, and I didn't have time to look around yesterday, so today I want to take a stroll around the whole village and see the Xia family's treasure spot,'

Xia Yu said with a smile.

Xia Anshan felt very comfortable hearing Xia Yu's words. He stroked his long beard and nodded repeatedly, 'It is necessary to take a good look. It is this piece of treasure land of Feng Shui that has allowed the Xia family to survive for more than 800 years and produce so many talented people!'

After saying this, he looked at his young grandson Xia Yongquan, who was munching on melon seeds, and instructed him:

'Aquan, you don't need to work for a few days. Just follow Yu. Do whatever you are told to do, understand?'

Xia Yongquan immediately nodded, spat out the melon seed shell in his mouth, looked at Xia Yu, and said loudly, 'Got it, Grandpa!'

'By the way, Yu, your family originally had a house and land, but when the whole family fled for their lives, the house was torn down. No one from your ancestors returned, so it was never rebuilt. When New China was established, the land in the village was re-divided, so the ancestral land was gone. But you have to wait a little while, I'll make some new arrangements, and have each family give up a piece of land for you. I don't think anyone will object.'

Xia Anshan said to Xia Yu with a somewhat apologetic expression on his face.

Xia Yu smiled faintly and shook his head: 'Uncle, thank you for your kindness, but there's no need to go to all this trouble. If it's gone, it's gone, and I won't be able to use it anyway.'

'If I want it, I'll just pay for whichever plot I like, and it won't cause anyone to lose out, so as to avoid causing conflicts.'

Xia Anshan pondered for a moment before nodding in agreement: 'Okay, if there's anything I need to step in for, just let me know!'

Xia Yu smiled and said, 'Okay, we're all family, I won't be polite!'

Everyone laughed happily.

'Uncle, I'll go out and look around first!'

'Okay!'

'Quan, if you want to eat, put it in your pocket and eat it on the way. Hurry up and lead the way!'

'Okay!'

Xia Yongquan said, grabbing a handful of fried melon seeds and stuffing them into his pocket, before following Xia Yu out.

'Yu, this way is to the village centre, this way is to Shangpai, which leads directly to the reservoir up the mountain, and this way is...'

Once they were outside the courtyard, Xia Yongquan pointed in all directions as he introduced the area to Xia Yu.

The Xia village of 1979 was not very different from the Xia village of 2000, at least in terms of road planning and the overall layout of the village.

Xia Yu was also a mischievous child when he was young, climbing mountains to catch birds and wading in the river to catch fish. He knew the whole village like the back of his hand. On the contrary, after going away to high school and university, every time he returned for summer and winter vacations, he felt even more unfamiliar with the vastly changed Xia Village.

Therefore, despite Xia Yongquan's rapid-fire monologue, Xia Yu was able to understand what he was saying.

He kept smiling and pointed to a large banyan tree in the distance to the east, saying, 'Let's go to the banyan tree first. That tree is so big even from a distance, so it must be quite old, right?'

Xia Yongquan tilted his head back and said with some pride, 'That's right. According to the older generation, this banyan tree was planted by my Xia ancestor when he passed the imperial examinations in the Song Dynasty, so it's been more than 800 years old!'

Xia Yu, of course, knew the legend of this ancient banyan tree, which had always been the Xia family's pride.

Unfortunately, after entering the 21st century, due to various improper protections, the banyan tree gradually withered, and before Xia Yu was reborn, it was already bald and without a single leaf. The authorities stepped in to protect it, and the tree was covered with nutrient bags, but it was still unable to be saved.

At that time, the elderly people in the village were all gloomy, and they kept saying that this was an omen, that the Xia family would have a major disaster, and that the neighbouring villages were also full of rumours about all kinds of ominous things in the Xia village.

But in this life, everything has not yet happened, and there is still time to protect it.

Xia Yu curiously asked, 'Then we should go take a look. Yongquan, please show us the way.'

'Okay, follow me!'

Along the way, Xia Yongquan never stopped talking, as if he was curious about everything. He was either asking Xia Yu about the situation outside or asking him if he knew kung fu.

Xia Yu told him whatever he could. Even so, hearing about the glamorous world outside, the longing in Xia Yongquan's eyes grew stronger and stronger.