Chapter 97: Sending Offerings to Worship the Ancestors

Chapter 97: Sending Offerings to Worship the Ancestors

The next day.

After breakfast, Deng Shirong's family began slaughtering pigs.

The reason for starting so early was that pork, chickens, ducks, candies, biscuits, wine, rice, and other items had to be delivered to the bride's family that afternoon. In Bobai County, this tradition is called "sending offerings to worship the ancestors," which means delivering goods to the bride's family to honor their ancestors.

After lunch, Deng Shirong rode his bicycle to New Dock Village to deliver the items to the bride's family.

This time, Deng Shirong went all out.

He sent an entire pig, keeping only the internal organs and pork belly for himself, and delivering the rest to the bride's family.

In addition, he sent six chickens and six ducks, symbolizing good fortune.

As for the wine, rice, candies, biscuits, and other items, they were all prepared to the highest standard.

Deng Shirong's bicycle was loaded to the brim. Two cages were tied to the front horizontal bar—one containing six chickens and the other six ducks. A rice basket was tied to the back seat, filled with pork at the bottom, covered with a layer of oil paper, and topped with rice wine, candies, biscuits, and other foods.

With the bike so heavily loaded, Deng Shirong found it difficult to ride.

The roads in this era were far from ideal—winding, bumpy, and filled with steep inclines and declines. Carrying such a heavy load uphill was an exhausting task.

So, after leaving Thatchfield Village, Deng Shirong rode to a secluded spot and transferred all the items, including the live chickens and ducks, into his system space.

Initially, he had thought his system space couldn't hold living things, but he had tested it earlier and discovered that it could. Time inside the space was completely still, meaning that anything placed inside—whether alive or dead—would remain unchanged when taken out.

As for whether his system space could hold living people, Deng Shirong wasn't sure. He didn't dare to experiment, as it could be life-threatening. He would only attempt such a thing if absolutely necessary.

With the items safely stored in his space, riding the bike became much easier.

About an hour later, as New Dock Village came into view, Deng Shirong found another secluded spot, retrieved the items from his system space, and loaded them back onto his bike. He then rode into the village and headed straight for Zhang Xiuping's home.

The last time Deng Shirong had visited Zhang Xiuping's house, he had brought over ten kilograms of meat, which had caused quite a stir in the village.

This time, he arrived with twelve chickens and ducks. Although the contents of the basket tied to the back of his bike weren't visible, everyone in New Dock Village knew that Zhang Zhenfa's daughter, the most beautiful girl in the village, was getting married the next day. The groom's family was coming to "pay tribute to the ancestors," so when the villagers saw Deng Shirong riding in, they immediately guessed his purpose.

Curious, some of the idle villagers followed him to Zhang Zhenfa's house.

…

Earlier that morning, after breakfast, Zhang Zhenfa had taken his eldest and second sons to build a temporary stove on the left side of their doorway.

In rural areas, temporary stoves are often built for weddings or funerals, as the regular kitchen stove can't handle the large-scale cooking required. Multiple stoves are needed to prepare the necessary food and drinks within the allotted time.

The reason Deng Shirong's family didn't need to build a temporary stove was that their old house hadn't been demolished yet, and the new house's stove was large enough to handle the workload.

Zhang Zhenfa and his sons spent the entire morning building the temporary stove.

After a simple lunch, the aunts, uncles, and young women from the village came over to help with the preparations.

Although Zhang Zhenfa's daughter was getting married the next day, according to the customs of most communes in Bobai, the bride had to arrive at the groom's house before noon. Since Zhang Xiuping was marrying into a family from the next commune, over 20 kilometers away, she would need to leave early to arrive on time.

As a result, the wedding banquet the next morning would be rushed.

In contrast, the meal that afternoon was more relaxed, allowing relatives and friends to sit down, drink, and chat.

Traditionally, when a man and woman married, the groom's family had to "send offerings to the ancestors" to the bride's family, with specific requirements. However, since Deng Shirong was both the groom's parent and the matchmaker, Zhang Zhenfa had left many of the details to him, trusting that he would handle everything properly.

Zhang Zhenfa had good reason to trust Deng Shirong. After several interactions, he had come to understand Deng Shirong's character and knew he wouldn't cut corners on such an important occasion.

So, even though his daughter was getting married the next day, Zhang Zhenfa had only prepared vegetarian dishes in advance, leaving the meat dishes to the groom's family. He was confident that his relative, Uncle Jiu, wouldn't disappoint.

Sure enough, at around 1:30 p.m., Uncle Jiu arrived on his bicycle to "deliver the offerings."

When Zhang Zhenfa saw what Deng Shirong had brought, even he was surprised. Six chickens, six ducks, and over 100 kilograms of pork—this was an incredibly generous gift.

In this era, it was customary for the groom's family to send 30 to 50 kilograms of pork and two chickens to the bride's family. Some might add two ducks, but it was rare for anyone to be as generous as Deng Shirong.

After exchanging a few polite words, Deng Shirong said to Zhang Zhenfa, "Since our village is quite far from yours, and walking would take a lot of time, I've arranged for a tractor to pick you up tomorrow. That way, you won't have to rush. It's fine to leave after ten o'clock."

The tractor, known locally as a "Zhongji," was a medium-sized trailer with a load capacity of 3 to 5 tons. The county owned over 400 of them, and they were one of the most important means of transportation in this era.

Zhang Zhenfa praised Deng Shirong's thoughtfulness, saying, "You've really thought of everything. I was just wondering what time to start the banquet tomorrow and when to let Ah Ping leave."

Deng Shirong was a busy man that day. After finishing his business with Zhang Zhenfa, he chatted for a few minutes, said his goodbyes, and hurriedly rode off on his bicycle.

(End of this chapter)