Chapter 1412: Celebration

Ye Yaodong wanted to park inside the county government compound, but he needed a connection. Fortunately, with Bureau Chief Chen there, a few words were spoken, and they were let in directly; the guard didn't even verify the authenticity of their status.

Presumably, anyone who could afford to drive a military motorcycle these days wasn't an ordinary person. A brief explanation was enough, and the guard wouldn't dare to make things difficult.

The three of them parked the vehicle and strolled along, slowly making their way toward the Mazu Temple.

The closer they got to the Mazu Temple, the larger the crowd became, and the more vendors there were hawking their wares.

In the past, these were only concentrated around the station and the two main streets in town, but today, everything was gathered near the Mazu Temple, forming a small market early in the morning.

People who had come early to join in the fun were also gathered at the small market, with a constant stream of people coming and going.

Bureau Chief Chen sighed with emotion, "It's rare for the county to be this lively. In all these years, this is the first time I've seen it."

Jin Yuzhi echoed his sentiment.

Ye Yaodong said, "The county still can't compare to our town. Our town started holding the Lantern Festival fair two years ago, and it's even livelier this year. If you have time on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month next year, I'll go to the city to pick you up to come back and see it. It's convenient right in our town, and it's much livelier than this."

"How lively is it?"

"There are little children carrying lanterns, and there are float parades with children sitting on the floats. This year is the Year of the Rabbit, so there were people dressed as Chang'e holding the Jade Rabbit, as well as dragon and lion dances. Next year is the Year of the Dragon, so the dragon dance will probably be even more fitting. Then there are the vendors setting up stalls along the streets, filling both sides; you have to rely on the flow of the crowd just to walk."

Bureau Chief Chen listened with a look of longing, "That sounds very lively indeed."

"You should take some time off next year, and I'll come to pick you up."

"We'll talk about it when the time comes; it's too early to say now."

The three of them walked along with the crowd, browsing the temporarily assembled small market before heading toward the Mazu Temple.

Around the entrance of the Mazu Temple, a group of people wearing white shirts with red satin ribbon pins on their chests had already gathered.

They walked over and listened to a few snatches of conversation; it turned out they were all fishermen who had made donations, and some individuals even had ceremonial sashes draped diagonally across their chests.

Ye Yaodong didn't know how they were distinguished, but when they handed over their invitations, they were all given ceremonial sashes.

It turned out that ordinary donors were different from the public institutions and leaders who wore them.

And since his invitation was marked "Advanced Youth," he also received a ceremonial sash.

He held the sash and the shirt, smiling as he said, "So there's such a distinction; I thought everyone was the same."

It turned out he could even snag a sash.

"It's definitely different. There will certainly be a distinction in standing positions later on."

As Bureau Chief Chen spoke, he had already taken off his Zhongshan suit jacket.

Jin Yuzhi held his clothes and said, "It's cold now, why don't you put it on first and change later..."

"No need, I have a sweater underneath, and the sun is bright, so I won't be cold."

Ye Yaodong also took off his coat directly and put on the shirt first.

As soon as they changed into their shirts and put on their sashes, people immediately surrounded them to talk.

With that official tone, one could tell at once they were local government officials. Ye Yaodong didn't say a word, letting his godfather take the lead.

Sure enough, as soon as Bureau Chief Chen mentioned he was the Deputy Bureau Chief of the city's Ocean Bureau, the local officials became even more enthusiastic, their smiles deepening.

Consequently, Ye Yaodong also received courteous treatment, and his name became familiar to them.

The three of them were even invited inside to sit, with fruit, snacks, and tea provided; their treatment rose sharply.

And not long after they sat down, Mazu incarnations from various villages and towns arrived one after another, beating gongs and drums.

However, it wasn't the government officials' turn to greet them; the staff from the propaganda department in charge of this millennium festival had their own arrangements to greet them and designate their territories.

Each village and town occupied a piece of open space, with clearly defined boundaries to avoid conflicts in the chaos of the large crowd.

Ye Yaodong listened to the intermittent sound of gongs and drums outside and occasionally raised his watch to check the time. It was only just past 8 o'clock; their village should not have arrived yet, and he didn't know if his father and the others had arrived.

He sat for a while and then went out to stand at the entrance to take a look, but no one came to find him. Looking out, it was all people, a sea of people, and he had nowhere to find them.

It wasn't until nearly 9 o'clock that he asked a staff member where their village's location was designated, and he finally found everyone.

"Oh my, Adong is different from us. He has a sash, while we have red ribbon pins."

"Yeah, yeah, his level is high. We are ordinary ones, and many people are the same..."

"In our village, only Chen Shuji and a few others are wearing sashes..."

Ye Fu touched the sash on his chest with a face full of smiles, "How come you're even higher level than everyone else?"

"I am one of this year's Top Ten Advanced Youth."

"I see, that's very good, very good..."

Ye Mu also touched it back and forth, saying enviously, "It's a pity, if I were this year's March 8th Red Banner Holder, I could also wear this."

"Then Mother, you should work hard; our family's Five-Good Civilized Family also depends on you."

"Isn't it your father who's dragging us down? He doesn't know many characters, and when I teach him, he just grumbles. He doesn't want to progress at all..."

"Don't nag, there are so many people..."

Ye Yaodong looked around; the gathering places of every village were all filled with people wearing shirts, which meant they had all made donations.

Ordinary citizens who didn't participate in the donations had no white shirts distributed, no seats, and could only go to the very back to join in the fun and watch.

He estimated that for this celebration activity, just the custom-made shirts alone must have cost tens of thousands for several thousand pieces at a few yuan each.

Plus the renovation of the Mazu Temple and some other expenses for the activities, they really spent a fortune.

Looking at the Mazu sedan chair in the procession, he asked Chen Shuji and only then learned that they had to wait for the time, then the host would speak, and the women representatives from the village would invite the Mazu incarnation out, stand at the front of the procession, and then follow the process.

The ceremony hadn't started yet, but the gong, drum, and suona teams from various villages and towns began to compete by taking turns playing, and the scene was incredibly lively.

He just stood in his village's procession for a while, and when the time was almost up and the front procession was starting to arrange positions, he hurried forward.

Thanks to Bureau Chief Chen, he should have been ranked at the back, but Bureau Chief Chen waved his hand, and he reached the front row, and the people around him were all smiling.

Having occupied a good position, while the ceremony hadn't started yet, he hurriedly took two steps up the stairs, picked up the camera hanging on his chest, clicked twice, and then returned to his place.

"Boom—"

A super-large gong and drum stood at the entrance of the Mazu Temple, and at this moment, it was struck by someone.

"The auspicious time has arrived—"

The originally boiling scene instantly quieted down.

Ye Yaodong turned his head to look; the originally somewhat chaotic procession was now neat and tidy, as if it had been divided into blocks of tofu.

The entire front of the Mazu Temple was filled with white shirts, the difference being that the front row had sashes, the back row had red ribbon pins, looking exceptionally uniform and neat, while at the very back were ordinary citizens in various attire.

Some families whose members didn't go out to sea to fish naturally didn't have a special belief in Mazu, just treating her as an ordinary deity.

"Lingfei is a woman, and the incense rises in Meizhou. This refers to Mazu. Mazu is the Goddess of Peace at Sea revered by our coastal generation, and today is the millennium festival of Mazu's ascension..."

The host above held the microphone, and the voice clearly spread to every corner in front of the open space.

The host told the origin and history of Mazu, as well as the titles bestowed upon Mazu by various dynasties, all in the local dialect.

"Respectfully invite the Mazu incarnation..."

Following the end of the opening remarks and the subsequent instructions, the teams from various villages and towns also invited Mazu out of the sedan chair.

Then, holding the Mazu incarnation covered with red silk, they slowly walked toward the Mazu Temple and placed Mazu on the altar table in front of the Mazu Temple.

Just during the time he was in the village procession, a row of incense tables and altar tables had already been set up at the entrance, and the names of each village and town were written on each altar table, so there was no danger of mixing up their own Mazu incarnations.

And just at this time, some ceremonial ladies with red flowers in their hair held a pile of flower baskets and handed them one by one to those wearing sashes, explaining that there would be a flower basket offering ceremony later.

Ye Yaodong said to Bureau Chief Chen beside him, "The sense of ritual is quite sufficient."

Bureau Chief Chen nodded, "It's quite well arranged, very thorough."

After the Mazu incarnations from all villages and towns were invited to the altar tables, the flower basket offering ceremony began.

Led by the ceremonial ladies, those in the front row went forward one by one in an orderly manner to fill the front altar tables with flower baskets.

Then it was the turn of various leaders to deliver speeches, deeply introducing the rich connotation of Mazu culture, their feelings about promoting Mazu culture, their outlook for the future, and expressing warm congratulations on the holding of the activity, sincerely wishing the activity a complete success, and so on.

After the speeches ended, the music for welcoming the gods was played, and the melodious melody instantly permeated the whole scene.

The honor guard, ceremonial guard, and performers of the Mazu Festival Art Troupe entered the venue in neat formation. For a time, the scene was filled with drums and music, flags and banners fluttering, and the scene was majestic.

Immediately after, the chief sacrificer and accompanying sacrificers read the sacrificial text and respectfully offered incense.

Those in the front row also went forward one after another to offer incense.

After offering incense, they collectively performed rituals and devoutly kowtowed according to the host's slogans...

Just a moment ago, it was loud with gongs and drums and voices, but when kowtowing, the scene was silent.

After kowtowing, the unveiling and foundation-laying ceremony for this Mazu stone statue at the Mazu Temple began.

This Mazu Temple had not held a celebration after its renovation and completion, so it was all put together today.

When the county leaders unveiled the red silk cloth of the Mazu stone statue at the Mazu Temple, 200 peace doves were released at the same time beside the Mazu Temple.

Everyone present stared straight and clapped with all their might, their palms turning red from clapping.

Thus, the first half of the ceremony was considered complete.

There was still the second half, which was to invite the Mazu incarnations from various villages and towns into the main hall to continue enjoying the incense offerings.

The second half of the ceremony was also in the main hall, but the space in the main hall was limited, so only those wearing sashes could go in to kowtow and offer incense.

On the open space outside the main hall, everyone continued to listen to the drum band playing music, followed by lion and dragon dances.

Ye Yaodong touched the sash on his chest and deeply felt the extraordinary treatment; this was the benefit of fame and profit, the treatment was different.

By the time the ceremony was completely over, it was already 12 o'clock. Everyone exchanged greetings, and tables and chairs were set up at the entrance of the Mazu Temple.

After a morning of festival activities, it was naturally time to start the banquet.

A banquet for thousands of people was naturally not that simple or convenient, but everyone was not in a hurry, all chatting in twos and threes at the entrance, or waiting sitting on the ground in their respective designated areas.

During the worship just now, Ye Yaodong had already seen Hong Wenle in the middle row. Originally, he was ranked behind Hong Wenle, and later he was directly moved in front of him, but the celebration started, and the two had no time to communicate. Only now that it was over did they have time to talk.

"Damn, I wanted to say it just now; you jumped directly from the back to the front. Sure enough, having a backstage is different."

"Hehe, I hugged a big thigh and benefited."

"When I asked you two days ago, you said you didn't know about the invitation."

"I really didn't know at the time. I just came back, and my wife didn't have time to tell me. When you brought it up, I went home and asked my wife, and only then did I know I had one."

After Ye Yaodong finished speaking, he hooked his shoulder, "Let's go, I'll take you to meet my godfather. After this is over, I'll take him to our factory to have a look tomorrow. He said he would help us ask the military side to see if our canned fish can be supplied directly to the military."

Hong Wenle's eyes lit up, "Okay, that's great! If it works, it doesn't matter if we earn a little less; the key is to have the signboard of military special supply."

"Hmm."

Bureau Chief Chen was chatting with officials from the local county government. The two stood on the side waiting and chatting. When they found a gap, Ye Yaodong led the person forward to communicate.

It wasn't until one or two o'clock in the afternoon that the banquet started.

By the time the banquet ended, it was nearly 4 o'clock.

After the banquet, everyone received a towel as a souvenir, and the towel was embroidered with "October 31, 1987, Mazu Millennium Festival," which felt quite meaningful.

After the banquet, Ye Yaodong greeted his father and the others, telling his father to take the people and drive the tractor back early, without waiting for the village procession, and he also rode his motorcycle to leave first.

If he didn't leave early now, later on, when the teams from various villages and towns invited their respective Mazu incarnations back to the sedan chairs and started moving, the road would be blocked. Not to mention cars, even people wouldn't be able to pass easily.

Riding his motorcycle, he had strong mobility, and he left first with Hong Wenle's two motorcycles.

Both were heading in the same direction, so it was on the way and they had company.

It was not yet 5 o'clock when he arrived home, but the sun had already set. The village looked cold and clear, empty, and there were not even a few wisps of cooking smoke. At this time in the past, every roof would have had curling smoke.

He drove directly to his front door without obstruction, and what greeted him was the little chubby boy standing at the door with his hands spread out.

"Father! Why did you just come back? Where did you go? Where did everyone go?"

Ye Yaodong took off his helmet, "None of your business where I went."

"But where did everyone go? Where is brother?"

"I don't know, ask your mother."

"Mother also said she didn't know."

"Then wait until it gets dark, brother will definitely be back."

"Sigh."

Ye Xiaoxi sighed and sat directly on the threshold.

"Can't you go find your little friends to play?"

"Some of them are not at home either, and mother won't let me go out, only letting me watch TV at home and play with the dog in the courtyard, saying that there might be bad people in the village today."

That was true, more than half of the whole village was empty.

"Go in, have you eaten?"

"Not yet, mother is cooking noodles. Father, where does the grandpa who plays the erhu live?"

"You haven't forgotten yet?"

Lin Xiuqing walked out wearing an apron and happened to hear it, saying, "How could she forget? She has already asked me 800 times today, asking where the grandpa who plays the erhu went? And she also asked when I would buy her an erhu. My head is getting big!"

Ye Xiaoxi's attention at this time shifted back to Bureau Chief Chen, "You... Godfather, where is my erhu?"

Bureau Chief Chen was full of smiles, "Didn't I say I haven't gone home yet? I'll buy it for you after I go home?"

"Then when will you go home?"

Ye Yaodong glared at her, pulled her over, and said seriously, "Who asks like that? So impolite."

Ye Xiaoxi was stunned for a moment and didn't dare to speak.

"Children don't know any better, what does it matter, it's very normal, don't be fierce to her."

Bureau Chief Chen took Ye Xiaoxi's hand and smiled, "I'll go home tomorrow, and I'll buy it for you the day after tomorrow. Whenever your father comes to my house, I'll have him bring the erhu back for you."

Ye Xiaoxi stole a glance at Ye Yaodong, and only then nodded cautiously.

Jin Yuzhi also smiled and took her other hand, walking into the house, "This child is really blessed, really cute, when will she be in the first grade?"

Lin Xiuqing smiled and said, "She is only 4 and a half years old now, it's still early, she just looks taller than ordinary children."

"That's indeed still early, I thought she was already 6 years old..."

"Sit down and rest for a while, you must be exhausted after a whole day, right?"

"It's okay."

Ye Fu and the others arrived home half an hour later than him, arriving around 5:30.

Ye Xiaoxi heard the movement of the tractor and was the first to rush out again.

Ye Yaodong followed closely behind.

The people on the car jumped down one by one like dumplings.

Ye Xiaoxi saw the familiar brothers and sisters one by one and stomped her feet, "Where did you all go? Why didn't you take me?"

"Hehe, we went to play, it was so fun, so lively..."

"Wow, there were so many people..."

Ye Yaodong coughed twice, but it was already too late.

She had already burst into tears with a "wow," "Didn't take me, didn't take me..."

"Wuwuwu... there was no one in the workshop, didn't take me, bad people..."

"All liars, big liars... didn't take me... not playing with you anymore..."

She cried while stomping her feet, then turned around and lay directly on the courtyard wall and cried loudly...

Ye Yaodong found it somewhat funny, stepped forward to pull her clothes, but she remained unmoved and continued to cry loudly.

Ye Chenghu also moved to her side and said meanly, "It was so fun, so lively, there was drumming, and so many white pigeons flying into the sky..."

Ye Xiaoxi cried even louder.

"Ye Chenghu, is your skin itching?"

Ye Chenghu ran away quickly while shouting, "And there was a big meal, it was so delicious..."

"Wawuwuwuwu... bad brother, bad brother..."

The adults around laughed loudly watching her performance.

"Indeed, she was left at home alone..."

"And she found out, she must be crying to death..."

"The lie didn't succeed in the end..."

Listening to the adults around her, she was too sad. Even if Ye Yaodong pulled her arm, she ignored him, and could even hit him twice before continuing to lie on the wall and cry loudly.

"If you hit me, I won't care about you anymore."

"I hate you all!" ===== CHAPTER 1413 =====