System: Master Your Life-Chapter 491 - 115 New Year’s Eve_2

After scalding it once with boiling water.

Without Xu Lin needing to call, Rong Xiyi had already come over.

"Xu Lin, I’ll pluck the feathers with you!"

"Not afraid of getting dirty?"

"Not afraid!"

The work procedure was the same as yesterday, just that this time there was an extra duck.

Then it was Xu Cheng’s job to steam the chickens and ducks.

It was a little after three o’clock.

Today was still sunny, with not a cloud in the sky.

Xu Lin and the others worshipped the gods at the stove and then prepared to head to the commune to pay respects to the gods, a place where the entire village gathered for festivals.

They placed a chicken, pork, and other offerings in two baskets.

Xu Cheng picked up the carrying pole intending to carry it out.

Seeing this, Xu Lin said, "Let me do it."

Xu Cheng laughed, "Your dad isn’t old yet!"

"Then I’ll carry it on the way back."

"Alright."

Since Xu Lin started university, he had indeed matured a lot. Xu Cheng carried the two baskets of offerings ahead, while Xu Lin followed behind.

Actually, his father wasn’t old, only forty, still at the prime age for a man, and Xu Cheng was very healthy.

The textbooks described the father’s hunched back, but Xu Lin hadn’t seen it; perhaps in a few more years, in ten years, it might appear.

Soon, the two reached the commune.

A little after three, there were plenty of people here paying respects.

Some came as early as two o’clock. Many from Xu Lin’s village had already bought houses in the city; some returned on New Year’s Eve to pay respects and left again after dinner.

After the worship at the commune, Xu Lin and the others returned home, first worshipping at their own house, then heading to the ancestral home.

Rong Xiyi and Ms. Ren came along as well.

Rong Xiyi entered the living room of Xu Lin’s ancestral home; it was dark and poorly lit.

"Xu Lin, is that your grandfather?"

At this time, Rong Xiyi noticed a photo of an old man hanging on one side of the living room wall, which served as a memorial photo. This great-grandfather was an elderly man from the late Qing Dynasty.

"This is my great-grandfather."

"Oh," Rong Xiyi suddenly understood.

Ms. Ren lit incense in the living room and said, "Your grandfather looked just like his father, and your Dad, Xu Lin, will probably look similar when he’s older."

Ms. Ren paused and continued, "And when you’re older, you’ll probably look the same too!"

"That’s not bad, at least a handsome old man," Xu Lin said, running a hand through his handsome hairstyle.

Xu Lin’s family had fallen from prosperity; they used to be landlords but were brought down during the struggles against landlords.

Because of the good family conditions, the great-grandfather in the photo was quite a handsome old man, and Xu Lin’s grandfather was a handsome old man too.

That’s how the family genes were passed on.

The peasant elders, with their backs to the soil, facing the sun, rarely grew up looking good, often struggling to get enough to eat and possibly very short due to malnutrition, and their wives were similar, so their offspring wouldn’t be particularly good-looking.

But the genes in Xu Lin’s family were quite good, not even having common genes for balding or obesity.

"Lin, come over and light the firecrackers!"

At that moment, Xu Cheng called out.

"Coming!"

The afternoon’s worship wrapped up with the thunderous sound of firecrackers.

But New Year’s Eve tasks weren’t over yet.

Next up was putting up the Spring Festival couplets.

Besides putting up their own family’s couplets, Xu Lin’s family had to also help their two uncles’ families put up couplets at the ancestral home.

Uncle has two sons and two daughters, all married with children.

The second uncle’s family has two sons and three daughters, also all married with children.

Therefore, those two families could be considered to have plenty of descendants.

Xu Lin is the only child in their second generation.

Xu Cheng saying their home was quiet wasn’t unreasonable; they didn’t have that many people.

At the uncles’ homes, during the New Year, there would be a huge crowd, especially when the cousins married off would come home with their husbands and children, totaling over twenty people, needing two large tables for meals.

While putting up the couplets at the ancestral home, Xu Lin’s four cousins, all with kids, were there, each averaging two kids, with eight kids playing around the ancestral home, making it quite lively.

"Lin, have you got a significant other yet?"

The eldest cousin patted Xu Lin on the shoulder.

"I do."

"Haha, then bring them home next year!"

"I’ll try for next year!" Xu Lin replied with a smile.

After putting up the couplets, everyone parted, each returning to their own home.

"The two families are really lively, so many people!"

Ms. Ren also felt a bit envious; the eight kids earlier all calling her "Third Aunt" made Ms. Ren feel very joyful.

She even regretted not having a couple more kids back then.

Xu Lin knew she was envious, so he laughed, "Don’t worry, I’ll work harder, and when the time comes, I’ll have a dozen kids for you to take care of."

"Do you think your wife is a pig? Having over a dozen kids!"

"What if I marry a few more?"

"That’s fine, marry a few more, and have more than a dozen; I will take care of them for you."

Ms. Ren was just treating her son’s words as a joke, not expecting that in the future, taking care of kids would leave her so flustered.

Xu Lin smiled without saying anything.

Dinnertime came quickly; tonight’s dinner was a bit early, starting before nightfall, and everyone was full by the time night descends.

As night fell.

A rumbling sound emerged, and fireworks blossomed in bursts in the sky, illuminating the entire night sky.

Someone in the village had set off fireworks.

"Xu Lin, quick, look! Someone’s setting off fireworks, so pretty!"

Rong Xiyi ran outside the courtyard, bouncing and taking out her phone to record videos while excitedly saying to Xu Lin, "Xu Lin, come out and see the fireworks!"

"I’m watching!"

When the current batch of fireworks finished, Xu Lin brought out the fireworks he bought today and set them up in the open space outside the courtyard.

Fireworks worth over two thousand were just placed there, ready to provide quite the spectacle.