Chapter 301: Sacrificial Ceremony ( 3 )
After she swallowed the food, Yao Zhi nodded and gave her a thumbs-up. "It’s delicious!"
Hearing this, Xi Yi heaved a sigh of relief. "If you like it, then eat more."
Yao Zhi nodded and ate with gusto. Seeing how she enjoyed the food, everyone’s appetite also increased.
After dinner, everyone returned to their room and went to sleep.
Early in the next morning, Yao Zhi was woken up by the sounds coming from outside.
She forced herself to leave the bed and check the situation outside through the window. When she saw that the sky was still dark, but Wang Shen and her family had left the house, she changed her clothes and walked out.
She was surprised to see that besides her, everyone had woken up.
Seeing her, Ling Yi bowed and said, "Master, everything is ready. We can depart whenever you are ready."
Hearing this, Yao Zhi asked, "Are we going somewhere?"
Ling Yi was taken aback by her question. "Xi Yi said that we need to bring our offerings to the village hall and join the villagers for the ceremony."
When she heard this, Yao Zhi finally understood. She nodded and said, "I’ll go wash my face first."
In the kitchen, Xi Yi and her daughter were busy packing the dishes they prepared in the layered lunch boxes. When they saw her coming, she said, "Yao-shi, there is hot water in the pot."
After a moment of pause, she asked, "We already prepared 5 dishes. Do we need to add anything else?"
Hearing this, Yao Zhi walked to the kitchen table and checked the dishes. Inside the lunch boxes, there was a bowl of thick porridge, 3 vegetarian dishes, and 2 slabs of boiled pork belly.
Seeing the simple offerings, she said, "The apricots should be ripe by now. Pick some and add them to the offerings."
"Okay."
It took Yao Zhi 10 minutes to brush her teeth and wash her face. When she finished, she put on the cloak given by her husband before she left with her people and went to the village hall.
When they arrived, most of the villagers were already there. The moment the Village Chief saw them, he smiled and greeted her, "Yao-shi, you are here."
"Good morning, Village Chief. I apologize for coming late," Yao Zhi replied with a smile.
"It’s okay, we are still waiting for the auspicious time," the Village Chief waved his hand.
After he said this, Wang Shen walked over and asked, "Yao Girl, did you bring your offerings?"
Yao Zhi nodded and gestured for Xi Yi and Xi Si to hand the offerings they prepared to the Village Chief’s wife.
At first, she thought that the offerings her family prepared were inadequate. But when she glanced at the offerings table and saw the things prepared by the villagers, she was taken aback.
Not to mention meat or fresh fruit, even the vegetarian dishes were nothing but some steamed or boiled yellowish leaves. Besides that, there was only black steamed cake and several bowls of brown gruel.
While the offerings were lacking, these were already the best the villagers could offer. So when they saw the offerings prepared by Yao Zhi, they couldn’t help but glance at her with surprise and envy.
Surprised because she was so generous to prepare meat, fresh vegetables, and fresh fruit. Envious because the offerings reflected the family’s living quality. Compared to them, her life was surely much better.
But even if they felt envious, they were still delighted by her generosity.
The reason was simple. After the sacrificial ceremony was held, the offerings would be distributed evenly to the villagers. So, the offerings she brought would be shared with everyone.
They waited for almost half an hour before the Village Chief said, "The auspicious time is here. Start the ceremony."
Following his words, the villagers stood behind him as he lit the incense and prayed toward the rising sun.
Yao Zhi thought that the ceremony would take a long time. Unexpectedly, after the Village Chief offered the prayer to thank the Gods and asked for a bountiful harvest in the coming year, it was done with everyone kowtowing 3 times.
Then, they waited until the incense was done burning before the Village Chief took the knife prepared for the ceremony.
He cut a slice of the pork belly, placed it in an empty bowl, then used a pair of chopsticks to clip a bite of the vegetarian dish and add it to the bowl. Afterward, he used a spoon to scoop a spoonful of porridge and added it to the bowl.
When he was done, he handed the bowl to Yao Zhi and said, "Yao Girl, thank you for helping the villagers during the hard time. The first bowl of the offerings is yours."
Yao Zhi didn’t understand the meaning of the first bowl of the offerings and accepted it with ease. The moment everyone saw this, they were stunned.
Usually, the first bowl was given to the most respected person in the village or the Village Chief. This was the first time in the Yang village that the first bowl was given to a young woman with a different surname.
In the villagers’ eyes, she was an outsider. So, she shouldn’t have accepted the bowl and should have handed it to the First Elder.
Not knowing the deep meaning behind this action, Yao Zhi smiled and replied, "Thank you, Village Chief."
"I will do my best to help our village have a better life in the future. May everyone be able to drink white porridge, eat meat in every meal, and wear new clothes in the years to come."
Hearing this, the Village Chief nodded with satisfaction. His purpose in giving the first bowl of the offering to her was to get this promise.
With his years of experience, he had a feeling that the prosperity of the entire village would have to depend on her. Therefore, he wouldn’t mind giving her this honor as long as he could get on her good side and make her willingly help the villagers.