Druid's Country Retirement

Chapter 167 Prizes
Clean the street!
As the name suggests, cleaning the streets, in the forest area, only Caogou Village has this activity. I don’t know if it is a tradition brought by the ancestors from their hometown. Anyway, street cleaning is one of the must-do activities every Dragon Boat Festival.

I heard from the older generation that the Jingjie Street in the village was far more lively than it is now. It was basically the same as New Year’s Eve. Please sing a big opera for a day and a night, and set up incense tables in front of each house. Set off firecrackers and fireworks.

It's much cruder now.

The gong and drum team walked in front, and the villagers who participated in the street cleaning were behind. They sprinkled water with mugwort while walking, implying to dispel evil and avoid disasters, drive away plagues, thank the gods of heaven and earth, and pray for good weather and safety in Caogou Village.

More than 30 villagers carried buckets and lined up in a long line. Li Hongbing, the blind man, the silly boy, and the eldest brother-in-law, who participated in the street cleaning for the first time, stood at the back of the line. The old house family stood in the crowd. Anna found that After losing his father, he writhed in Shan Xing's arms, wanting to be with him.

Li Hongbing beckoned, and Anna ran to him excitedly.

"Is everything all right?" Li Huaizhong roared.

"All right!"

Dakui raised the drumstick and slammed it hard on the drum surface, making a loud bang.

The small square suddenly fell silent.

Li Huaizhong raised his hand, "Fire the cannon."

A few young people hurriedly lit the strings of firecrackers spread on the ground with cigarette butts.

Crackling!

Firecrackers were lit, and there was a deafening explosion, and a cloud of choking gunpowder smoke quickly enveloped the entire square.

Boom boom!
There was a rush of drums in the gunpowder smoke, followed by suona and gongs.

"go!"

Someone yelled, and the team began to move slowly. Li Hongbing hurriedly handed over the bucket to Shawa, picked up Anna and followed.

According to the route of Jingjie, one must first enter the village from the laneway at the east end of the village, go to the south end of the village, the west end of the village, and finally return to the small square from the north side of the village.

In front of the gongs and drums team, there were people who continued to set off whips to guide the way.

Whenever the leader shouted, "Repel evil spirits."

Everyone in the team had to shout "Disaster Repeller", then put the mugwort into the bucket, and sprinkle the water in the bucket around.

Crackling!

"Repel evil spirits!"

"Repel disaster!"

Crackling!

"Repel evil spirits!"

"Cure the disease!"

Li Hongbing walked in the team, at first he was a little indifferent, holding a relaxed mind to participate in a traditional event, but with the sound of firecrackers, gongs and drums, and shouts intertwined together, his thoughts gradually resonated.

The relaxed state of mind becomes solemn and sacred in this resonance, and Li Hongbing feels a kind of cohesion, which has never been seen in the city.

For hundreds of years in Caogou Village, every year during the Dragon Boat Festival, the grandparents would complete the journey as grandly as today. Perhaps praying for blessings is only part of the process, and the biggest purpose is to let the villagers strengthen the ties between clansmen and strengthen the relationship between clansmen. cohesion between.

Seniors, well-intentioned!
With the last string of firecrackers lit in the small square, the street cleaning team returned to the starting point.

Li Huaizhong stood on the stone platform and said a festive speech, telling those who participated in the afternoon dragon boat race to sign up at the accountant, and they disbanded on the spot.

The villagers gathered to chat in twos and threes with smiles on their faces.

The children were lying on the ground looking for unfired squibs from the confetti of firecrackers all over the floor.

Li Hongbing walked to the family members, "Did you bring anything?"

"Bring it, put it in the bullock cart." The blind man pointed to the bullock cart parked on the grassy slope at the entrance of the village.

"Go, take it up and sign up."

Li Hongbing walked towards the registration point with a smirk on his face.

There are not many people in the village, more than 100 people, excluding the elderly, women, and children, there are only more than 20 people who can participate in the dragon boat race.

The village accountant was lying on the lame table boredly, watching Tie Dan and a group of children firing cannons, fascinated by it.

Li Hongbing approached and knocked on the table.

"Chunsheng, sign up."

Ah!
Accountant Li, whose real name is Li Chunsheng, is 45 years old. At that time, he was an educated person in the village who had completed elementary school, so it was logical that he had been a village accountant for half his life.

I heard someone signed up.

After regaining consciousness, he looked up and saw that it was Li Hongbing, he quickly got up and said with a smile, "Uncle Hongbing, you also want to race the dragon boat, so you must be the first one this year."

Li Hongbing waved his hand, "I'm not participating, I'm signing up for my daughter."

"Let me just say, Uncle Hongbing is not a person who bullies the small with the big, the registration fee..." Chunsheng looked at the empty-handed Li Hongbing with a embarrassed look on his face.

After all, there is a rule in the village that one must pay the registration fee to participate in the dragon boat race, and Li Hongbing cannot make an exception just because of his seniority, even if he pays two cabbages.

"Brought it." Li Hongbing smiled with a hint of malice.

The voice did not fall.

Sha Wa carried a basket of things wrapped in red paper and placed it by the table.

This is?

Chunsheng looked dazed. People in the village participated in the dragon boat race. Generally, when they signed up, they would hand in a few eggs, cornmeal, potatoes, sweet potatoes, walnuts, peanuts and the like.

It's not like Uncle Red Soldier is a big basket when he makes a move, which scares people to death.

"Uncle Red Soldier, what's in it, I can register."

Li Hongbing smiled slightly, and whispered the answer to Chunsheng's ear.

After Chunsheng listened, he was stunned at first, then shook his head and smiled wryly.

This is a prize?

……

Sign up.

The family got on the bullock cart and staggered back to the old house.

Dragon Boat Festival!

At noon, of course, I eat zongzi.

I ate zongzi last night, I ate zongzi this morning, and I will eat zongzi at noon.

Li Hongbing couldn't eat any more, even Anna covered her mouth when she saw the zongzi and shook her head.

The same is true for other people, but they dare not speak out because of the majesty of their mother.

But the zongzi really hurt.

No matter how delicious it is, it can't hold up to eating all at once. This stuff is hard to digest and fills the stomach. Of course, except for silly children, this child doesn't have high requirements, as long as he can eat enough.

"Grandma, Nier doesn't want to eat rice dumplings, Nier wants to eat egg noodles."

Speaking of everyone present, who can subdue my mother is none other than Anna.

As soon as the little girl acted like a baby, my mother immediately decided to eat egg noodles for lunch.

Hear the word egg noodles.

Everyone was so excited that they almost jumped up and got busy.

"I'm going to get the eggs."

"I'm going to pick vegetables."

"I'm going to make a fire."

"I'm going...I'm going to bask in the sun." Seeing everyone rushing to work, Li Hongbing really didn't know what he was doing, so he had to drink tea and chat with his father under the old oak tree.

"San'er, follow me to the village committee tomorrow."

"Well, is something wrong?"

The old man looked up at the blue sky and sighed silently, "When I went to the city with your mother and left your grandma in the village, this matter has always been a thorn in my heart."

Li Hongbing couldn't express his opinion on matters in his old life, he could only listen silently as an audience.

"It's a good thing you're back in the village. Otherwise, the roots of our old Li's family would be broken. We'll go to the village committee tomorrow to get back the land allocated to our family."

The land allocated to the family?
Li Hongbing was stunned. He remembered that when he was a child, his family did have a field. At that time, his grandpa was in charge of the clinic, but his grandma was managing it.

However, all these years have passed.

Is that land still there?
Besides, what do you want to do with the land, the entire Horseshoe Bay is the land of Lao Li's family, and you can't finish planting it all.

"Dad, after so many years, will the village return the land to us?"

The old man squinted his eyes and said angrily, "Why don't you pay it back? The rules in the village don't increase the number of people, and don't reduce the number of people, unless the family is extinct. Aren't you from Lao Li's family? If you don’t plant it, it’s still the land of Lao Li’s family, and you can’t do without a piece of soil.”

"All right, all right, don't be angry, no one can take away our land, I will accompany you to the village committee tomorrow." Li Hongbing quickly agreed.

Next, the father and son recalled the past while the other listened silently.

Not much time.

A strong aroma of egg noodles wafted from the kitchen.

One p.m.

It's time for the dragon boat race.

The Li family came to the meadow in an ox cart, and those who rode horses rode horses.

From time to time on the road, I meet villagers who are watching games and watching the excitement. If the elderly with inconvenient legs and feet are inconvenient, they will pull them along and take them for a ride.

When they arrived at the competition site, the bullock cart was already full of villagers, and there were four unlucky bastards who shamelessly claimed to be recuperating from their injuries, and the villagers jokingly dubbed them Cao Sidan.

The starting point of the competition is located in the upper reaches of the Xishui River, and the end point is at the entrance of Caogou Village, with a total distance of 3 kilometers.

The banks of the river were full of villagers watching the excitement, and the children took out firecrackers from their pockets, lit them and threw them into the stream.

Li Huaizhong climbed into the bullock cart, cursed and yelled at the messy scene, telling the contestants to gather quickly.

"San'er! You really let Nier go to the dragon boat race!" Mom asked worriedly.

"You've asked this question a hundred times. Don't worry, I'll let the buffalo follow me and everything will be fine." Li Hongbing continued to explain for the 101st time depressed.

Li Hongbing secretly asked Anna last night if she wanted to go boating, and Anna naturally would not refuse.

What's more, the buffalo went into the water with Anna. If the boat really capsized, the buffalo would be able to rescue Anna immediately.

In terms of water quality, no one present can compare to buffalo.

"Okay, you just listen to San'er." The old man interrupted to save the youngest son, Li Hongbing cast a grateful look, turned around and left the old man who successfully attracted the firepower behind, picked up Anna and gathered towards the competition area.

"Wo Niang, Hongqi, didn't you say that Uncle Hongbing won't participate?"

"It's over, win a fart this time, just follow behind."

"Uncle Red Soldier rowing a dragon boat, who dares to win."

Seeing Li Hongbing appearing, the villagers participating in the competition all had bitter faces.

There are so many prizes this year!

Especially the basket wrapped in red paper, according to accountant Li, is a good thing, better than previous years.

"Brother, didn't you say you won't compete?" Hong Qi looked sad and indignant, his eyes full of the sadness of being deceived.

"Go away, the fracture is not healed, you dare to come to the competition, there are still a few of you, don't hide."

Li Hongbing glared at Li Hongqi, and then looked at the three unlucky guys who shrank their necks in the crowd.

"It's not a leg injury, nor a hand injury, so it's nothing serious." Li Hongqi said shyly.

"I know what you guys are thinking. It's not me in the dragon boat race this time, it's my daughter. She wants to row the boat and not compete with you for the first place."

"So it's a sister-in-law competition! That's okay, you can play whatever you want, then you must pay attention to safety, and the big guys will look at the girls later."

Anna is the daughter of Li Hongbing, and belongs to the older generation in the village. She is of the same generation as Dakui and Tie Zhu, and she is a generation older than Li Hongqi and other village thugs. interesting.

Everyone looked at Anna, and their depressed expressions immediately turned into joy.

"You're all chattering over there, Basket Dan, get out of here!" Li Huaizhong yelled at the top of his voice.

On the surface of the stream, a hemp rope hangs on the water.

Contestants take out their own dragon boats.

That's right, it was the wooden bathtub that Li Hongbing washed clean yesterday.

And it must be a wooden basin made of fir. If you use other wood, let alone rowing a boat, an empty basin can sink the boat after floating in the water for a while.

But now few people use old-fashioned wooden bathtubs anymore, most of them use plastic basins, which are light and convenient.

No, the villagers in the competition village have a large plastic basin in their hands.

The stream, which is already more than ten meters wide, is crowded with colorful plastic basins.

What's more, Li Hongqi's four unlucky fellows had car inner tires that they got from nowhere tied to the side of their plastic tubs.

Good boy, aboveboard cheating.

Li Hongbing pouted, asked the blind man to put the wooden basin into the water, then put the excited Anna into it, and tested the wooden basin's load-bearing capacity.

It's okay, the wooden basin sinks a little bit, it doesn't affect much.

Li Hongbing took out a mini paddle and stuffed it into his daughter's hand, "Ni'er, remember not to use too much force, Daniel will be by your side, if you are afraid, call Dad."

"Understood!" Anna held the paddle, her mind was completely attracted by the surrounding scenery, especially Tiedan and other friends on the shore looked at her enviously, feeling extremely proud.

At this moment, Li Hongbing also knew that his daughter didn't listen to what he said, so he turned around and waved.

The big buffalo approached with square steps.

Li Hongbing patted the buffalo on the head, "I will protect Anna later, thanks for your hard work."

Moo!
The big buffalo shook its head, strode into the stream, dived under Anna's wooden basin, and lifted the wooden basin slightly with its back, which not only protected the wooden basin, but also allowed Anna to have fun playing.

"Everyone on position, ready, fire!"

Li Huaizhong gave an order.

Crackling!

Firecrackers sounded.

The hemp rope blocking the river was pulled out quickly, and the dragon boats drifted downwards unsteadily.

The contestants rowed hard, and they used all kinds of oars, such as washboards, washbasins, and dung ladles.
Some contestants spun around in place, and some contestants were overturned and fell into the water. They climbed back into the boat cursing, and in line with the principle that I fell into the water, you don’t even think about it, and extended their evil hands to the people around them.

The audience on the shore, those who laughed were thrown off their feet.

Go downstream with the dragon boat.

Old Li's family locked their eyes on Anna, for fear that Anna would fall into the water.

soon.

The dragon boat troop spread out, the experienced ones were at the front, and the most important thing was that the participants were still paddling slowly behind.

With tire assistance, Li Hongqi naturally rowed the most easily, sitting firmly in No.1.

However, not happy for long.

Anna's dragon boat made a spray and passed him extremely fast.

Cheating!

Seeing the huge black shadow under the water, Li Hongqi raised his teeth anxiously and swiped the dung ladle vigorously.

But how can manpower compare with cattle force?

Watching Anna walk away.

However, Brother Hongbing said that the girl is just playing and not participating in the competition.

The final prize is still your own.

With the finish line approaching, Accountant Li watched Anna rushing across the red ribbon with a displeased face and a confused look.

Uncle Red Soldier took out so many vicious things in the registration fee to make his daughter the champion?

What's the point?
Without waiting to think about it, Li Hongqi also rushed across the finish line, shouting arrogantly amidst the cheers of the villagers.

"I am No.1, I am No.1."

As the players and villagers came to the finish line one after another.

Li Huaizhong took the list of accounting records and looked at Li Hongbing in surprise.

Li Anna No.1?
So many old men have never won a little doll.

How to announce?

Li Hongbing saw what the village chief was thinking, and hurried out with his daughter in his arms, "Village chief, don't count Anna, she's just playing around."

So that's the case.

Li Huazhong nodded, cleared his throat, and shouted to the villagers.

"This year's Dragon Boat No.1 is Li Hongqi, come up to receive the award."

Amidst the booing of the villagers, Li Hongqi walked out with his head held high and his chest held high. He immediately came to the front of the basket of red paper, and tore the red paper two or three times. He was suddenly stunned!

When the villagers saw the prizes, they all laughed and bent over, while the remaining three unlucky ones looked at each other strangely, and then quietly exited the crowd.

A whole basket of big zongzi weighed at least a hundred and ten catties, and they were all of the kind that weighed one catty.

Even if you eat three meals a day, you still have to eat for three months.

Li Hongqi looked at the crowd with grief and indignation, and roared angrily.

"Who did this immoral thing!!"

　The new chapter was released in the morning, but for some reason, the backstage didn’t send it out. Fortunately, I took a look at it at night, otherwise it would have been discontinued.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)