Chapter 97: Sending the Offerings
Chapter 97: Sending the Offerings
The next day.
After breakfast, the Deng family began slaughtering a pig.
They started early because they needed to deliver the pork, chickens, ducks, candies, cookies, rice, and alcohol to the bride's family by the afternoon. In Bobai County, this ritual is called "sending the offerings," which means delivering items for the bride's family to offer to their ancestors.
After lunch, Deng Shirong rode his bicycle to Pokxin Village to deliver the items.
This time, Deng Shirong was generous once again.
The entire pig, except for the organs and belly pork, was sent to the bride's family.
In addition, he sent six chickens and six ducks, symbolizing a smooth and prosperous journey.
As for the rice, alcohol, candies, and cookies, everything was prepared to the highest standard.
Thus, Deng Shirong's bicycle was loaded to the brim. On the front crossbar, two cages were tied, one with six chickens and the other with six ducks. On the back seat, a bamboo basket was tied, containing the pork, which was covered with an oil paper. Above the pork, he placed the rice, alcohol, candies, and cookies.
With such a heavy load, Deng Shirong found it difficult to ride the bicycle.
The roads in those days were terrible, with sharp turns, uneven surfaces, and steep inclines. Carrying such a heavy load uphill was a challenging task.
Therefore, after leaving Naye Village, Deng Shirong rode to a secluded spot and stored everything, including the live chickens and ducks, in his system space.
Initially, he thought his system space couldn't accommodate living creatures, but he had tested it and found that it could. Inside the space, time was completely still, so whatever he put in, whether dead or alive, remained exactly the same when he took it out.
As for whether his system space could hold a living person, that was still unknown. Deng Shirong didn't dare to try it, as any mishap could cost a life. He would only consider such an experiment as a last resort.
After storing everything in his system space, riding the bicycle became much easier.
An hour later, as he approached Pokxin Village, Deng Shirong found a secluded spot, retrieved the items, and restored them to their original positions on the bicycle. He then rode into Pokxin Village and headed to Zhang Xiuping's house.
When Deng Shirong had previously visited Zhang Xiuping's house, he had brought several pounds of meat through the village, which caused a minor stir.
This time, he brought twelve chickens and ducks. Although the contents of the bamboo basket on the back of his bicycle were hidden, everyone in Pokxin Village knew that Zhang Zhenfa's daughter, the most beautiful girl in the village, was getting married tomorrow. Today, the groom's family was supposed to "send the offerings." So, when the villagers saw Deng Shirong riding his bicycle, they knew he was likely there to deliver the offerings to Zhang Zhenfa's family.
The contents of the bamboo basket were almost certainly pork, candies, and cookies!
To confirm their suspicions, the curious villagers followed Deng Shirong to Zhang Zhenfa's house.
...
That morning, after breakfast, Zhang Zhenfa, feeling energetic, led his two sons to build a temporary stove on the left side of the front door.
In rural areas, for weddings and other significant events, a temporary stove is usually built. This is because the regular stove used for daily cooking would be overwhelmed. Building a temporary stove allows multiple cooking stations to operate simultaneously, ensuring that all the required dishes are prepared on time.
The Deng family didn't need to build a temporary stove because their old house hadn't been demolished yet, and the new house had a large stove. With both stoves in operation, they could manage without a temporary one.
The father and his two sons spent the entire morning building the makeshift stove.
After a simple lunch, the village aunts, uncles, and young women spontaneously came over to lend a hand.
Although Zhang Zhenfa’s daughter was getting married the next day, according to the customs in most of Bobai’s communes, the bride had to return to the groom’s home before noon. If the wedding was nearby, the bride could leave a bit later. However, Zhang Zhenfa’s daughter was marrying into a neighboring commune, which was over twenty kilometers away. In an era where everyone traveled on foot, she would have to leave extremely early to arrive by noon!
Therefore, the wedding feast in the morning would be quite rushed.
In contrast, today’s afternoon meal was the one where they could take their time and genuinely sit down with relatives and friends to drink and chat.
Originally, when a couple got married, the groom’s family had to provide the "ancestral offering" to the bride’s family, and the bride’s family had specific requirements. However, since Deng Shirong was both the groom’s father and the matchmaker, Zhang Zhenfa found it awkward to discuss the details with him, so he let Deng handle it as he saw fit.
Zhang Zhenfa was actually quite at ease with this arrangement. After several interactions, he knew Deng Shirong’s character and was confident that he wouldn’t make any mistakes in such matters.
Thus, as his daughter’s wedding approached, Zhang Zhenfa had only prepared various vegetarian dishes, leaving the meat dishes entirely to the groom’s side. He trusted that Uncle Jiu, his future in-law, wouldn’t let him down.
Sure enough, around 1:30 PM, Uncle Jiu arrived on his bicycle with the "ancestral offering"! When Zhang Zhenfa saw the items Uncle Jiu had brought, he was genuinely shocked. Six chickens, six ducks, and over a hundred pounds of pork—such generosity was truly rare in this era!
Typically, the groom’s family would send around thirty to fifty pounds of pork and a couple of chickens, and a more generous offering might include a couple of ducks. But Deng Shirong’s generosity was exceptional.
After exchanging pleasantries, Deng Shirong lit a few cigarettes and then said to Zhang Zhenfa, "In-law, since the distance between our villages is quite far and walking takes a lot of time, I’ve arranged for a medium tractor to pick up the bride tomorrow. This way, you won’t have to rush, and you can leave after ten o’clock in the morning."
A medium tractor, or a medium-sized tractor trailer, was a four-wheeled vehicle with a carrying capacity of 3 to 5 tons. With over four hundred of these vehicles in the county, they were one of the primary means of transportation in this era.
Zhang Zhenfa praised him, "You’ve thought of everything, In-law! I was just worrying about when to start the feast and when to let my daughter, Ah Ping, leave tomorrow!"
Deng Shirong was destined to be busy today. After discussing the necessary matters with Zhang Zhenfa and chatting for a few more minutes, he bid farewell and hurriedly rode off on his bicycle.
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(End of Chapter)
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