166 Chapter 166 New Year (2)
“Bring what?” Zhou Ying turned her head and asked in confusion.
“Didn’t anyone tell you?”
“Please say what you want, as I do not understand what you mean?”
“You mean…” Mrs. w.a.n.g didn’t know what to say when she saw her confused look.
After that, she pulled her aside and asked, “You know that we need to burn paper money to pay respects to our ancestors, right? You’ve already separated from your main family and are now independent, so you must prepare some paper money for each ancestor.
“There’s also pork and noodles for the offering. Although they were bought with money from the clan, each family would also prepare some more food when they came.
“Basically, just some simple cooking or offerings.”
Zhou Ying nodded and said, “The patriarch told us to prepare some fried goods, so we didn’t prepare anything else.
“However, it’s probably too late to buy paper money now.”
“How about this? I still have some paper money left at home, so come with me. No matter what, you need some.” said Mrs. w.a.n.g.
“Sure, I’ll let Sixth Aunt know.” Zhou Ying agreed, and she went to her, “Sixth Aunt, I’m going out for a while. I’ll fry the crispy meat when I come back.”
After that, the two women hurried out. Zhou Ying quickly cut the paper money while Mrs. w.a.n.g helped arrange them. After 15 minutes, they had a stack ready.
Mrs. w.a.n.g measured the thickness and said, “It should be enough, so remember to give it to Chengrui. He’ll have to go to the ancestral hall to burn these.
“Oh right, incense too. Chengrui will need these too.”
Mrs. w.a.n.g said as she turned around, took out a small incense stick from the cabinet drawer, and handed it to her. “Let’s go.”
“Thank you so much, Auntie,” said Zhou Ying after they went out. “Otherwise, we would have made a fool of ourselves today.”
“You can’t be blamed for this since no one told you about it. You wouldn’t know about this otherwise.” Mrs. w.a.n.g couldn’t help but ridicule Madam Qiao and the others at this time.
How could those elders not tell the younger generation about such an important thing? What an irresponsible bunch!
She didn’t know Madam Qiao and the others had long forgotten this rule.
When they were in the capital, they only returned with gifts yearly and had never partic.i.p.ated in ancestral worship.
Paying respects to their ancestors in the capital was a simplified process. The servants had prepared those during the new year and festivals, and the masters were there just for formality. So they always a.s.sumed it was the same over here as well.
Father Gu and Second Uncle Gu were stuck in a rut when the two women returned. The patriarch was going around and exchanging the things they needed and asking the other clan members to give them a portion if they had any extra.
Just as Gu Chengrui was thinking of asking someone else for some, Zhou Ying walked to his side. “Crazy, right? These are for you. Later on, watch what others do and quickly learn. Don’t make a fool of ourselves again.”
Gu Chengrui saw the items in her hands and almost kissed her on the spot. He took it and exclaimed excitedly, “You really are my savior.”
“Alright, I can’t be here anymore. I have to go and cook.” After Zhou Ying clenched her fist to cheer him on, she turned around and returned to the shed to help with the cooking.
The main dishes were crispy meat and stir-fried vegetables, most of which were almost finished.
Just as she was about to start cooking, she suddenly heard a series of shouts, followed by a commotion.
Since she couldn’t enter the ancestral hall, she couldn’t be bothered to go over. Instead, she continued her cooking.
When it was time to eat, she was dumbfounded again. After cooking all this time, no woman was allowed at the table, and they could only hide in the shed and eat.
Also, they could only eat steamed buns with vegetables, which was frustrating to her.
This also reminded her of the status of men and women in this society. No wonder Mrs. Liu didn’t dare say anything to Father Gu, no matter how arrogant she was.