Chapter 84

Today is the safe day of "washing three". After the family finished breakfast, Zhang's mother prepared new combs, new soap, new towels, navel hairpins, Tang Pozi, new wooden trays, thick cloth, Cakes, tea leaves, copper tea trays, scallions, ginger slices, mugwort leaves, locust sticks, baking cages, raw and cooked eggs, sticks, etc.

Red paper is also used to dye Guiyuan, lychees, raw peanuts and chestnuts for later use. There are some things here that she prepared nine days before her grandson was born, so she is no stranger to them, and she can handle them very skillfully.

This morning, Grandma Zhou came to Zhang's house alone with two old hens, small clothes and shoes she made, exchanged greetings with her old relatives, Mr. Lin, and went to see Zhou Jiao in the west wing house.

Lin Lishan's mother and daughter were teary-eyed when they saw the old lady. The old lady worked so hard to raise her beautiful, Lin Lishan respected her mother-in-law very much and felt ashamed.

The old lady Zhou looked at the two mothers with a smile, and touched Xiaopingan: "You can't cry during confinement, today is a good day for our baby, you have to smile. Seeing your mother and daughter together now, the stone in my mother's heart is really Shanshan, I have wronged you all these years, and you have been tossed by the family. The Zhou family is sorry for you. You treat Jiaojiao well, this child is a filial child, and she would not have been forced to do anything Tear off face with them. This child has hidden things in her heart since she was a child, just like her father, and never tells outsiders. She has suffered a lot of grievances over the years, and it is because the old man is confused. From now on, Jiaojiao will you Don't worry about it, don't worry about anyone looking for you, live your life well."

Zhou Jiao pulled Mrs. Zhou to sit down and said, "Grandma, I just feel sorry for you. You kept raising me and I haven't been filial to you, so I poked you in the heart. If you have any ideas, tell me , I will definitely do it. And the box you sent over, I also told my mother, always let my mother know that I have a good grandma."

Sitting on the kang, Grandma Zhou was silent for a while, sighed and looked at the mother and daughter, hesitated for a moment and thought about it and said: "There is nothing to be sorry for me, grandma, as long as Jiaojiao is doing well. It's fine to tell your mother. The box doesn’t belong to grandma. Grandma met your grandpa and was at the end of her life. Where can I find these good things? You saw the land deed, right? Grandma can’t go so far to buy a house for you. This box was originally yours. Before you were young, I didn't take it out for fear of accidents. This was secretly sent to me by someone else to name it and give it to you.

Over the years, my heart has been at a loss, and no one dares to say it. While your mother and daughter are all here, let me tell you something, I am afraid that no one will know about this in the few days I have, and you say who will give you the house and precious jewelry.

I'm worried, no one dares to speak out. You mother and daughter just pretend it's nothing and hide the box. I don't know what happened to me, and I didn't look for your grandpa. Don't tell anyone about this, you can't say it. When I think of it, I feel a throbbing pain in my heart. Jiaojiao, your father will never do bad things. He is my son. I know how he is. If you don’t believe me, ask your mother. If your father is not good, your mother will watch over him. so many years? "

With tears in her eyes, Lin Lishan hugged the old lady and said in a low voice, "Mom, don't worry, everything is fine. Her father is not a bad person, but a hero of this country. He has gone on a mission and will be back soon. Even my father I didn't know that he was on a mission with my elder brother. Now he's coming back. Mom, he's really coming back."

The old lady Zhou covered her eyes with trembling hands, and after a long time, she slowly moved them away. A series of tears flowed silently from her face full of sorrow and joy, without any crying, just letting the Tears kept streaming down.

"Okay, okay, okay, my son is back, I've been looking forward to it for so many years, I've thought about it for so many years, I've been worrying about it for so many years, it's good to be back, it's good to be back."

Lin Lishan got up and took a towel to dry the tears on the old lady's face. She knew this feeling. When she heard the news, she hid in the room and cried for a whole day, crying and laughing, which caused the old man to stay with him worriedly all day.

"Mom, don't get excited. Not many people know about this news now, so you have to keep it a secret. He should be able to come back years ago. When he comes back, I will go to see you with him. We all have to be happy and wait for him return."

"Well, mom knows to keep it secret and not tell others. Telling others will bring him danger. Shanshan, good boy, you finally made it to the end, good girl, you are only 18 years old, and you haven't lived a good life for a few years after you got married. That family will be broken up. You still guard him foolishly. It's all right now, mom can rest assured, even if she leaves now, she can rest assured." Mrs. Zhou hugged Lin Lishan and patted her on the back.

Lin Lishan happily said to Mrs. Zhou: "Mom, don't be discouraged. You have to live well and watch our little Ping'an grow up, marry a wife and have children. You don't know, the day the news of Jiaojiao's pregnancy reached the capital. In the afternoon, our family received the news that her father and her uncle were alive. The whole family said that this child is a lucky star."

Friends and relatives came over one after another. Close relatives gave Zhou Jiao some oil cakes, eggs, brown sugar and other foods, as well as gifts such as safe clothes, shoes and socks.

At noon, the weather warmed up, and the three baptisms began, and all relatives and friends gathered in the main room. Mother Zhang even put the stove on purposely.

The tool for washing the third is a big basin, and the host is the midwife. The midwife is a big harvest today, and all the things on the plate will be hers.

Pour hot water boiled from locust tree branches and mugwort leaves into the basin. After Mr. Lin took the lead to add a small spoonful of water to the basin, and put banknotes and bills in the tea tray, Lin Lishan also put silver dollars, copper coins and banknotes in. The relatives and friends present , Then add to the basin Put some banknotes, bills, copper coins, peanuts, eggs, dates, guiyuan, chestnuts, etc. into the big basin, this is "adding the basin".

You add clear water, she said, "Long flowing water, smart and clever;"

You add some jujube, Guiyuan, chestnuts and other happy fruits, and she said: "Early sons will have sons, and precious sons will be born in succession; Guiyuan, Guiyuan, and three yuan in succession."

The relatives and friends who watched were laughing.

After "refilling the pot", the midwife picked up the prepared mallet and stirred it into the pot, saying: "Stir it once, stir it twice, stir it three times, the elder brother leads the younger brother to run. Seventy children, eighty children, crooked hair, Naughty, Xilihulu are here!"

Only then did I start to bathe Ping An, and Ping An was cold and cried loudly, but I was worried about Zhang Guoqing who was standing by. Everyone felt that not only did not break the taboo, but they thought it was auspicious. This is a "sounding basin"

While the midwife was washing, she silently recited the congratulatory speech, and the others didn't hear what was said, so they were afraid that it would be difficult to say it.

After washing, tie Ping'an with a red quilt, and lightly hit Ping'an's body three times with a green onion, saying: "One dozen is smart ("cong" and "onion" are homophonic), and two dozen are smart."

Then asked the child's father Zhang Guoqing to throw the onion on the roof. Before Zhang Guoqing left, he asked someone to carry the child into the house. It was a cold day.

The three rites of baptism are also over, followed by the three rites of washing. The eldest wife of Zhang’s family, the aunt of the third bedroom, and the cousin sister-in-law came to help wake up the dough at dawn, and waited for the ceremony to be completed to entertain everyone.

By noon, the noodles have been cooked, bowls of bone soup are used as the soup base, a few slices of pork belly are added on top, and some chopped green onions are added, which is delicious. I started to bring it to the main room. Fortunately, Zhang Guoqing brought back a lot of meat yesterday. Everyone's mouth was full of greasy food, and they felt that this old Zhang was genuine, and this bowl of fabric was real.

Seeing that the child ate a bowl and asked for more, the adults stopped him. Zhang's mother was not stingy, so she asked people to boil all the noodles that woke up today, and ate them all.

While eating, the women in the main room were discussing loudly there, talking about things in their respective villages, talking about the affairs of distant relatives, and talking about their respective days. The children were counting the candies in their pockets, happily eating the noodles fed by the adults. The older children ran out with candies early after eating the noodles.