Chapter 816: A Perfect Conclusion

The gongs and drums didn't stop even after leaving the village for the seaside, keeping up their clatter and bang until the palanquin of Goddess Mazu came to a halt at the door of Ye Ye Yaohua and Ye Ye Yaopeng, and only then did the noise die down.

The families nearby had all already lit incense in advance, and as soon as the palanquin touched the ground, they took turns one by one placing incense into the shrine; in households where the men weren't home, the women stepped up to offer incense.

After Lin Lin Xiuqing finished offering incense, she walked over to Ye Yaodong's side and asked with concern, "Are you all right? Tired?"

"I'm beat. Feels like my shoulders are bruised, and I've got more than one blister on my feet. Good thing it's almost over."

"Once we're done offering incense here, we head straight to the beach. After parading along the beach, we move into Tianhou Temple and that's it."

"Mm."

There were only about ten households near them, so offering incense went quickly; in the span of a few words between the couple, it was almost time to lift the palanquin again.

The gong-and-drum team and the folk suona band struck up once more.

As the procession moved toward the beach, the villagers all trailed behind. Up front, because each household had to leave someone behind to wait and offer incense, not everyone had run off to watch the fun, but at this point, truly the whole village was heading for the beach.

It was low tide just then, so they could walk along the sand; they went from east to west, following the shoreline once through, and then the procession came to a stop right in the middle of the beach.

Everyone split to stand on both sides, while the Goddess Mazu palanquin carried by Ye Yaodong and the other seven came to rest in the very center.

The suona wailed on without pause, and the dragon-dancing troupe also made its way to the middle, weaving before the Goddess Mazu statue in a dance of celebration—like song and dance performed for Goddess Mazu Nainiang to watch.

Once the dance was done, Goddess Mazu's palanquin was lifted again, and all the villagers followed behind to escort her on the final leg.

When they carried Goddess Mazu to the entrance of Tianhou Temple and set the palanquin down, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The ceremony was nearly over at last.

But Goddess Mazu hadn't entered the hall yet—it still wasn't finished.

While some people were tidying up the great banners, colored flags, silk banners, and other gear, the village chief walked over to the Goddess Mazu palanquin and once more delivered a stirring string of congratulatory remarks.

The villagers could do him the favor of clapping hard.

"…The fact that our village's Tianhou Temple could be completed, built so magnificently, and the event held so grandly that the whole town and the whole county know about it—Comrade Ye Yaodong deserves the greatest credit!"

Applause~

"If he hadn't salvaged the bronze cauldron, hadn't donated it to Goddess Mazu, hadn't handed it over to the museum in Goddess Mazu's name, then we wouldn't have this Tianhou Temple. Folks, we should thank him…"

Applause~

Ye Yaodong felt warmed right through by what he said. Though he felt those words ought to have been spoken on the birthday, saying them now wasn't too late either—do a good deed and earn the credit, of course everyone should know about it.

"Now, right behind me is the Merit Stele for everyone. Let's invite Comrade Ye Yaodong up to unveil the red cloth, shall we?"

"Yes~" the folks shouted in unison, and their applause shook the skies.

Over on the empty ground nearby, firecrackers also kept popping and crackling without end.

Ye Yaodong walked up with a beaming smile, gripped one end of the red silk cloth, and said loudly: "The fact that this Tianhou Temple could be built isn't the credit of me alone—it's the result of everyone in our village pulling together with one heart. The names carved on the Merit Stele are proof. This stele standing here lets every person who comes to worship see it, and lets Goddess Mazu remember the effort everyone put in."

When he finished, he gave the red silk cloth a hard tug.

"Yes~"

A cheer rose from the crowd, and everyone spontaneously burst into applause.

"From the start of construction until now, our Tianhou Temple was built on and off for the better part of a year—almost a full year. It was nearly finished after the New Year, but we kept wanting to pick an auspicious day, so we dragged it to today. Now, at last, it's complete."

"In a bit, everyone can find a moment to come up and check whether your name was left out. For now, let's first invite Goddess Mazu into the hall!"

Ye Yaodong quickly took his place and, together with the other young men, lifted the palanquin and headed toward the main hall.

They kept going up the steps, advancing steadily, until they delivered Goddess Mazu before the divine seat and set the palanquin down.

The fisherwoman who had been attending at her side the whole time stepped forward, lifted the Goddess Mazu statue down, and placed it on the divine seat.

The folks before the hall all involuntarily dropped to their knees and kowtowed, while the village chief also lit the very first incense before Goddess Mazu on her newly seated divine throne. When he was done, he called Ye Yaodong up to offer incense.

Second stick of incense it is, then—that works too. As long as the heart is sincere, order doesn't matter. Ye Yaodon wasn't picky.

After he finished offering incense, the others also came forward one after another to kowtow and offer incense.

The incense burner in front of Goddess Mazu was on the smaller side; once it was full, everyone stuck the rest into the larger cauldron beside it.

Once everyone had finished offering incense and no one else came forward, the past few days of parade and blessing activities could be considered successfully concluded.

After everyone bowed together once, they slowly began to file back out.

Not far from the entrance of Tianhou Temple, several tables of dinner were set up as usual. Because the main gate needed to be cleared for the return of the parade, today's dinner tables had been moved a bit farther out.

It was almost five o'clock—of course it was dinner time. After a whole day of busy work, surviving on just two bowls of porridge in the morning and a few flat biscuits with water during the day, everyone was already starving. The timing of finishing up was just right.

After the villagers came out of the main hall, they didn't leave right away. One by one they crowded around the Merit Stele, bobbing their heads as they searched for their own names—a hubbub of noise, and curses too.

Ye Yaodong knew his spot at the very top of the Merit Stele was safe, so he wasn't worried in the slightest. Seeing Ah Qing, he told her to head home first, not to squeeze in with the others—she could look whenever. As for himself, he made a beeline for the dinner table.

He was exhausted to death; right now all he wanted was to eat quickly and head home to rest.

This last meal had to be eaten before going home, and besides, this was a Tianhou Temple meal—eating it brings peace and safety.

Some people couldn't squeeze in, so they had to give up and head home first, or the working folks came over to eat first; once they finished and the crowd thinned, they could go look then. It was right here, after all—no rush.

"Adong, congratulations! Your name is carved in first place, and the characters are even enlarged—bigger than everyone else's by a full size. There's even a bit of space left between your name and second place."

"Really?"

His shoulders couldn't lift, and it was hard to hold his rice bowl. He had just ducked his head and shoveled a big mouthful of rice when he turned to look over at the crowd over there, mumbling.

"Really. I just took a peek while there were fewer people, when everyone was inside the hall offering incense. Your name is that eye-catching—no wonder Goddess Mazu has always blessed you to make big money."

"It really is Goddess Mazu's blessing. I must have been enlightened by Goddess Mazu in a dream, that's why I work hard to make money and my luck is off the charts."

"Haha, then tell us—how did Goddess Mazu enlighten you?"

"Who knows? I'm guessing I just fell asleep, dreamed of Goddess Mazu, and she poked my forehead and said, 'Adong, you mustn't be lazy.' Probably something like that. So one day I woke up, and—amazingly—I really had become diligent."

"Ah, really?"

"Really? Is that really how you were enlightened?"

Everyone around him stared at him in astonishment, no longer caring about eating. His transformation over the past two years had been plain for all to see. A few years back, he was still a good-for-nothing who failed at everything, spending his days drinking and playing cards with a bunch of shady friends. Now, with a single turn, he had become the famous "Salted Fish Dong" far and wide.

Hearing that he had been enlightened by Goddess Mazu, everyone felt a sudden epiphany, and automatically slotted themselves in to help him find reasons, and they all understood now—the reason he had suddenly become ambitious.

Ye Yaodong felt that people's faith was really strong at this moment; he had just been casually tossing out a made-up hypothesis, and they believed it.

"I don't know, I was just talking nonsense, who would know? It's a dream after all, so you definitely wouldn't remember it clearly. Basically, once you wake up from a dream, you forget it."

"It must be that you were enlightened, so you have Goddess Mazu's blessing. No wonder your luck is so good—whatever you do, it works!"

"Exactly, it must be real. No wonder you're so amazing now."

"Why doesn't she enlighten me too?"

"Are you sincere enough? Even if you're sincere, you have to wait in line. I'm ahead of you."

"I'm ahead of you, so she'll definitely enter my dream first."

"Hahaha, stop arguing, hurry up and eat first. We'll go back and dream properly later. Anyway, it's almost dark, and after being tired all day it's easy to dream." Ye Yaodong said with a smile, reminding everyone who was chatting and laughing.

"Right, hurry up and eat. Once we're done, we'll go home and dream."

"Once we're home, we'll have to dream a good one…"

Everyone ate and chatted happily together. Each of them knew that Ye Yaodong, after carrying the sedan chair for three days, couldn't move his shoulders and couldn't lift his arms, making it hard to pick up food. They all took care of him, actively pushing the dishes toward him and placing them in front of him so he could easily pick up the food.

"You all eat, you all eat, no need to be so polite. I can pick up the food."

"It's nothing, you've been tired all day. Hurry up and eat so you can go home and lie down."

After they finished dinner, the area in front of the merit stele was still surrounded by people who hadn't left—or perhaps he had just eaten faster.

He said goodbye to a few friends, glanced at the crowd in front of the merit stele, and decisively gave up and went straight home.

Lin Lin Xiuqing had long since boiled hot water, just waiting for him to come back.

The moment he stepped through the door, she began serving him tea and water, asking if he was hot or cold, fussing over him as she bustled around him.

"Get me a needle. Both feet probably have four or five blisters on them, they're killing me. I'll pop them first."

"Wait until after you bathe and soak your feet, then pop them after soaking. I've already mixed the bathwater, go wash up first."

"Alright."