System: Master Your Life-Chapter 494 - 116 Celebrating the New Year and Visiting Grandpa’s House

Chapter 494: Chapter 116 Celebrating the New Year and Visiting Grandpa’s House

The morning of New Year’s Day is quite busy.

Xu Lin got up very early.

Like the old man and Ms. Ren, they also got up to work before dawn.

There was still worshiping to do in the morning, while Ms. Ren took care of some household chores.

According to the usual tradition, Ms. Ren also made a bowl of sweet dumplings in the morning.

After Xu Lin and Rong Xiyi got up, Ms. Ren saw them and gave each of them two red envelopes. These were from Ms. Ren and Xu Cheng, all given at once.

"May you be prosperous!"

Xu Lin gladly accepted the red envelopes.

Rong Xiyi also happily said, "Mom, may you be prosperous and healthy!"

Then she said to Xu Cheng, who was preparing offerings, "Uncle, may you be prosperous and healthy!"

"Sure, the same to you."

Xu Cheng responded as he continued with his tasks.

It was still dark, but from the commune, there were already bursts of firecrackers, obviously someone else started even earlier.

After brushing his teeth and washing his face, Xu Lin and Classmate Rong followed the old man to the commune to worship.

The morning worship process was the same, but there was an additional Rong Xiyi to burn incense and paper money, as it was a simple task.

Certainly, it wouldn’t do to let her set off firecrackers?

That was Xu Lin’s responsibility.

The morning worship ended.

The warm sweet dumplings were ready, just like the usual taste.

By then, the sun had come out.

Today was sunny, with temperatures reaching sixteen or seventeen degrees, two layers of clothing would suffice.

"Xu Lin, are we visiting relatives?"

"Just to my uncle’s and second uncle’s places, it won’t take much time. I’ll take you on a round there."

Xu Lin had a plan: "Around ten, we’ll drive into the city to have a look!"

"Yeah, let’s go to the city!"

The plan was set just like that.

After breakfast, Xu Lin went around to his uncle’s and second uncle’s places, during which both Xu Lin and Rong Xiyi received a few red envelopes.

Xu Lin didn’t have to give red envelopes to the kids. He was only eighteen and hadn’t reached the age for giving them. Also, according to local customs, one doesn’t have to give red envelopes unless one is married. Of course, if you work and earn money, you can give red envelopes, for customs aren’t rigid.

After visiting his uncle’s and second uncle’s houses, Xu Lin returned and took out his father’s electric bike.

Now many rural families have cars, and on New Year’s Day, many people in the village would drive into the county town or city, or to nearby temples and scenic spots.

In other words, two wheels were more convenient than four, as many would drive, making a traffic jam very likely.

When Xu Lin drove the vehicle to a scenic area entrance near the county, he saw at least fifty cars jammed there.

"I’m really smart, see, isn’t it a traffic jam?"

"Clever!"

Rong Xiyi excitedly waved her right hand, "Xu Lin, let’s keep going!"

"Sit tight."

"All set!"

Rong Xiyi hugged Xu Lin’s waist and swaggered through the gap between the dozens of immobile cars in the traffic jam.

Half an hour later, they first entered the county and then the district of the prefecture-level city.

The county Xu Lin was in was moderately developed, but it was only the district that was more developed.

"Tell me what you want to eat or play."

Xu Lin asked Rong Xiyi behind him while driving.

"I don’t really have anything I want to do."

Rong Xiyi thought for a moment and said, "Let’s just go for a drive."

"How about a movie?"

Xu Lin thought that Rong Xiyi liked watching movies, especially now during the Spring Festival, with many movie options available regardless of their quality.

"No, since we’ve managed to get out, let’s just look around instead of going to the cinema during the festive season!"

"Alright, then let’s just take a drive around!"

The city wasn’t big, Xu Lin managed to tour it in just over an hour. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Even though it was lively during the Spring Festival, with lots of activities in the city, it was well known that there wasn’t much festive spirit in city events.

So Xu Lin and Rong Xiyi found the city tour quite dull.

"Why don’t we go to the big temple? I heard there’s a lion dance."

"Xu Lin, let’s go see the lion dance then."

Rong Xiyi had also heard about it from Ms. Ren in the morning.

The big temple was actually near the county, a place with a great temple known for its strong incense offerings. It was said to be built for over ten million a few years ago, and many folks from the county would queue there to offer incense during the New Year.

On a whim, Xu Lin decided to go see the lion dance.

About half an hour later, Xu Lin arrived at the destination.

After parking and locking the vehicle, Xu Lin took Rong Xiyi towards the big temple.

The big temple was located halfway up a hill, constructed in a grand manner, supposedly built after consultation with a feng shui master.

From a distance of a hundred or two hundred meters, there were several rows of queues stretching that length, and there were six queues in total, God knows how many people were there.

Xu Lin didn’t have the leisure to queue up for incense; he just wanted to see the lion dance.

In the direction facing the big temple, there was an open space filled with many people, an estimated few thousand, surrounding the entire venue, a bustling sea of people.

There was a lively scene of lion dancing with drums and cymbals on the ground, much better than city events. The government placed more restrictions on large gatherings in the city during big events, fearing safety issues due to high numbers of people.

"Wow, Xu Lin, there are so many people!"

Rong Xiyi loved taking pictures, and she had already opened her phone camera, clicking a few photographs.