Joyful Motherhood in a Rural Family

Chapter 638: Chapter 638: Mid-Autumn Festival Turmoil (5)
 

Upon stepping through the Ancestral Hall’s main entrance, statues of several men who had made outstanding contributions to the Di Family stood front and center. The main hall was a three-story pavilion, with the ancestors’ rankings and portraits displayed above. At the center, the Di Family’s ancestral teachings were enshrined.

Whole pigs, sheep, chickens, ducks, geese, cakes, candies, and fruits, along with various other sacrificial offerings, were laid out early. Incense candles and paper money, among other items, were also prepared beforehand.

Liu Sisi followed the crowd and was arranged far in the back near the doorway. She was close enough to step out of the Ancestral Hall in one stride.

Di Gaoyuan’s family, however, was positioned quite some distance ahead of them. This left Sisi confused, wondering what was happening among the main Di Family members.

With the crowd in front of her, Sisi could hardly see what was going on up there. Besides the tall sacrificial altar, all she could see were the black heads of those standing before her.

The ceremony to honor their ancestors was complicated and lengthy. Liu Sisi mechanically repeated the process of kneeling, bowing, and rising with the rest of the attendees.

It wasn’t until she faintly heard someone calling Elderly Mr. Di’s name, that she realized it was time to include the three children in the family register.

Elderly Mr. Di hurriedly took a child, and Di Yelei and Di Ah-bao each held one, finally making their way to the sacrificial altar through the crowd-filled aisle.

After another long series of bowing rituals, the three children were sent back.

Then, after the final three bows, the whole worship ceremony was over.

Was that it?

Standing at the door of the pavilion, Liu Sisi couldn’t quite process what had just happened. It seemed that besides bowing, she hadn’t done anything else.

“The children’s names were recorded in the Ancestral Hall according to the Di Family’s main lineage rankings. The second triplet took on the name Little Four-45, and the third was named Little Four-46. There’s nothing we can do; this generation has a lot of boys…”

Elderly Mr. Di shakily explained, his face devoid of the joy he had earlier. His smile seemed forced.

Clearly, he was disappointed with the main Family’s treatment of his household.

Liu Sisi pondered for a moment, “It’s all right! This ranking probably only matters when we return to the main Family for ancestor worship. On regular days, we will continue to call them as we used to. Today our main purpose was to register the two children. Now that they have entered the Di Family’s ancestral records, it’s mission accomplished.”

Elderly Mr. Di knew that Liu Sisi was trying to comfort him. He just smiled weakly without saying more, leading everyone out of the Ancestral Hall.

There were still countless people gathered outside the Ancestral Hall!

According to the rules left by their ancestors, concubines and daughters were not qualified to enter the Di Family’s Ancestral Hall, let alone exceptions and other irrelevant people. When everyone came out, they saw countless people looking at the Ancestral Hall with envy and jealousy.

YingEr and the others were also left outside. Seeing Liu Sisi coming out, she dashed over and hugged her tightly.

“Mom!——”

Her voice was full of grievance, and she clung to Liu Sisi, refusing to let go.

“YingEr, be good. We’ll talk more when we get home.”

In the crowd, Liu Sisi spotted the young married woman who had come to greet them yesterday. At the moment, she was closely following an elder woman, and on the other side of her was Ms. Wang. Perhaps sensing Liu Sisi’s gaze, the elder woman turned her head and met Liu Sisi’s eyes.

A glimmer of shrewdness flashed across the woman’s eyes, but it disappeared in a blink. Then, she turned back as if to give an order and slowly stepped onto the carriage.

Liu Sisi retracted her gaze and praised inwardly, “What a powerful old woman!”

However, the relationship between the main family and Di Family was not that close, so it was better for her to stay quietly in her own little nest.

Then, everyone entered the old house of the Di Family’s main family.

The residence was exceptionally old, but it was cleaned spotlessly, clearly well-maintained by someone all the time.

A red sandalwood carved screen separated the male and female guests, and everyone took their seats according to their legitimate status and distance of kinship.

The men’s side was strict in etiquette, with Elderly Mr. Di, Ye Lei, and others separated and sitting in their respective positions according to their generations. By the time Di Xuan’s position was reached, the table was full of children.

On the women’s side, the great-great-grandma began to divide the offerings.

The feast after the sacrificial ceremony naturally consisted of whole pigs, whole sheep, whole chickens, and whole ducks for everyone to share.

Some people would cut some meat to take home, while others, like the Di Family’s main family, would directly invite everyone to sit down and serve this food for them to enjoy at will.

Whole pig, whole sheep, whole chicken, whole duck… Plates were sent up one after another, cut into various sizes by the great-great-grandma, plated again, and sent to each table. With her years of experience, she was very skilled in dividing the meat, and a whole fragrant pig was quickly turned into pieces of meat.

Liu Sisi and the others’ seats were arranged near the doorway at the edge, and apart from Ms. Zhao, Ms. Xin, Xiao Feng, YingEr, and Liu Sisi herself, there was no one else at the table.

Liu Sisi looked at the table and chairs, and it was clear that they were newly added, different from the other tables in the hall. There was a strong smell of paint on the table, and even the pastries on it were two plates less than the other tables.

Liu Sisi smiled, thinking that the people of the Di Family’s main family really spared no effort!

Having gotten up early in the morning, everyone was both hungry and thirsty. They didn’t care much about having more or less two plates of pastries, and when they saw the host using the chopsticks, everyone picked up their bamboo chopsticks and started eating.

However, after only eating a couple of appetizers, the maids brought in several more people. It was none other than Ms. Wang and her party.

People from the same family really don’t enter the same door, do they!

Ms. Wang had been trying to please the old madam all the way, how could she end up at this table?

Liu Sisi raised her eyebrows curiously, looking at Ms. Wang.

Ms. Wang had an unhappy face, but she had to force a smile at the maid who had led her in. As soon as the maid left, Ms. Wang’s face lengthened as she sat down on the chair, and Di Jie and Di Wei behind her hurriedly squeezed onto the table.

“Huh? Who’s this? Wasn’t she very close to the main family before? Now she’s at our table, could it be that she was kicked out by them?”

Liu Sisi didn’t speak, but Xiao Feng beside her couldn’t stand it and couldn’t help but whisper sarcastically.