Rebirth: Starting from a Trainee Teacher

Chapter 624 New Year’s Eve
"All right."

After solving the problem, Gu Jia patted Zhou Jing on the head and said with a smile.

"Did you have enough tonight?"

Zhou Jing pinched Gu Jia's belly and said.

"Sixty to seventy percent full, do you think my stomach can tell whether I'm full or not?"

Gu Jia looked down at her stomach and said.

"Obviously, what's for dinner?"

Zhou Jing kissed Gu Jia's belly. Gu Jia's belly was white and smooth, with a slender waist and hips. The flat belly and hips formed a distinct three-dimensional effect. Zhou Jing took a closer look and found that a thin figure is indeed beautiful. In his previous life, Zhou Jing had dated a fat girl, who was comfortable to hug, but her bucket-like waist and round belly were not as beautiful as a thin one.

"No more eating. I must control my mouth this New Year."

It is easy for people to gain weight after the age of 30. Gu Jia is afraid of gaining three pounds during every festival. It is uncomfortable to be hungry during the day, but it is okay at night. She will not feel hungry when she lies down to sleep. Moreover, it is more comfortable to sleep with a little hunger in the stomach.

Even if you only eat until you are 50% or 60% full, you will not be malnourished if you eat meat every meal during the Spring Festival.

"I'll make some dumpling soup for Zhou Zhou and some for you, too."

Zhou Jing kissed Gu Jia's belly and sucked it, then hooked his fingers around the waistband of her jeans, revealing the black panties she was wearing underneath.

Today I went to my uncle's house and brought milk powder for my child. In the afternoon, I only fed the child milk powder and didn't give him any complementary food.

After lying on the kang for a while, Zhou Jing and Gu Jia went to the next room to see the child. The child was surrounded by his grandparents and was playing with them. He was very well behaved. Zhou Jing and Gu Jia could relax, watch TV for a while and cook for the child.

The next day, New Year's Eve, the morning was no different from any other day. They were woken up by the child and began taking care of the child, feeding him and changing his diapers. This was Zhou Jing and Gu Jia's first task every morning. One of them got up to coax the child while the other washed up. After washing up, the one who coaxed the child did the other wash up.

The weather was fine at noon. After lunch, Zhou Jing and Gu Jia went to visit the graves. Before visiting the graves, they went to the car to look for money. There were more than 200,000 cash in the safe in the car. Zhou Jing didn't know how many temples there were on the mountain, so he thought that fifteen bundles would be enough.

"How long will it take to get to the temple and your ancestral grave?"

The ditch was very cold. Gu Jia put on the hood of her down jacket and gave it to Zhou Jing as well.

"The temple is far away, about twenty minutes' walk."

A bulldozer built a road on the mountain so cars could drive on it. The mountain road was a dirt road and it was a bit difficult for cars to drive on it, so Zhou Jing came back and drove up the mountain in an off-road vehicle.

"It's a good time to get some exercise. I haven't done much exercise this winter."

Gu Jia likes to walk on mountain roads and enjoy the scenery on the mountains.

On New Year's Eve, almost every household in the countryside went to the cemetery. The sound of firecrackers could be heard from the mountains. Zhou Jing brought two boxes of firecrackers and threw them as he walked. Seeing Zhou Jing having so much fun, Gu Jia understood the saying that a man remains young even until his death.

"Give me a box. What is the principle of firecrackers?"

Gu Jia also wanted to play, so she took a box of firecrackers and threw it at Zhou Jing's feet.

"I don't know."

Zhou Jing has never studied firecrackers.

Gu Jia looked around and said, "The north is really desolate in the winter, it's completely different from the summer."

"The good thing is that there are fewer insects and snakes. Are you afraid of snakes?"

Zhou Jing had seen insects and snakes in the south and felt that the north was more suitable for him.

Gu Jia said, "I'm afraid. I've seen it twice when I was traveling in college. I'm so scared that I don't dare to walk in the bushes now. No wonder the ancients said that once bitten by a snake, you'll be afraid of ropes for ten years. You must not wear shorts when climbing mountains in the south."

"I admire Xu Xian."

Zhou Jing also has a deep-seated fear of snakes. When he writes fantasy novels, he never lets a snake monster accompany the male protagonist.

"You're not afraid of female ghosts, so why are you afraid of Bai Suzhen?"

Gu Jia said with a smile.

"That's different."

Zhou Jing is not afraid of the female ghost referring to Joey Wong, but he would still be afraid if it was the Black Mountain Demon.

"Are you afraid to walk to a place like this at night?"

Passing by a cypress forest, there were several graves in the forest, Gu Jia said.

Zhou Jing picked up two cypress seeds and said, "Don't be afraid. When I was a kid, I and the other kids in the village would pick up the seeds and shells of this tree under the cypress tree during the day. We would drill holes in a large iron pipe, thread wire through it, and hang it on a wooden stick to make a street lamp. At night, we would light the seeds and shells and walk around. When we saw a cave, we would explore it and come here to refuel."

"Boys are just brave."

If it were Gu Jia, she would also be scared if she came with others at night.

Zhou Jing said: "A timid person is afraid only when he thinks about it, but he will be fine even if he is actually in the situation. I was also timid when I was a child. One night I went to a temple on the mountain to watch a play, and I got separated from my companions. I walked home alone in the middle of the night, and I was also afraid when I passed by a grave. Gradually, I stopped being afraid."

"Are you going to perform in the evening?"

It was the first time that Gu Jia heard of opera performances in the temple at night.

"Every year, there are two performances in the evening."

“It seems quite interesting.”

Gu Jia remembered that she had read an article about community fire written by Lu Xun in Chinese class.

"These were all dug up by tomb robbers. When I was in high school, this place was first dug up and people could go down. I went in and took a look. There were some broken clay pots and fragments of bones."

Zhou Jing pointed to a bumpy patch of ground and said.

"You are so brave. There should have been no rich people in this place in ancient times."

Passing by a pit, Gu Jia looked curiously and saw some tiles on the ground.

"I'm curious and I like archaeology."

"Isn't that another village over there?"

Gu Jia pointed to the place where there were houses at the bottom of the ravine and said.

"Yes, Zhaojia Village. We have to climb over that mountain and then another mountain of similar height to reach our destination. How does it feel?"

Zhou Jing said as he looked at a tall mountain in front of him.

"It's OK. I'm not tired at all. Carry me on your back. Just carry me across this mountain as if it were your wedding."

Gu Jia said while hugging Zhou Jing from behind.

"You are even more cruel than a wedding prankster."

Zhou Jing patted Gu Jia's butt and said.

When they reached the uphill road, Gu Jia held Zhou Jing's clothes with one hand and climbed over the last two hills to Temple Hill. Everything was the same as Zhou Jing remembered. Opposite the stage were two adjacent temples. On New Year's Eve, you could see a constant stream of people here. Outside the temple, there were stalls selling incense, and the wind was filled with the unique smell of incense.

"finally reached."

Gu Jia wiped his forehead and said.

"This is the front temple, also called the Laoye Temple. There is another one over there. Every year during the opera performance, the two sides take turns to perform."

Zhou Jing walked towards the incense stall and asked the owner how it was sold.

"This one's eighty, this one's fifty, and these ones are twenty and ten dollars."

The boss saw that Zhou Jing was dressed better, so he specially introduced the most expensive ones to him.

“Is there a temple up there, too?”

Zhou Jing pointed to the woods above the temple and said.

"Yes, there is a temple for the City God up there, and there is one in the back hill as well."

"Go over there and buy some more. I'll give you three of these."

Zhou Jing took three sticks of incense worth eighty yuan each.

The three bundles totaled two hundred and forty yuan. Gu Jia took out three hundred yuan from her wallet and handed it to the teacher, saying that there was no need for change.

"Then take another one."

The boss was not too greedy for money and took out another eighty-dollar bill and said.

"no need."

Zhou Jing declined, saying it was not easy for an old man to come here and sell incense during the New Year.

"A good man has a safe life."

The old man expressed his gratitude in this way.

"It's Bao Gong. I thought the temple was for Guan Gong."

Gu Jia looked outside the temple gate and said.

"In some places, it's the Jade Emperor."

Zhou Jing put a bundle of incense into the burning incense burner, and then went into the temple. In the temple, Bao Gong was majestic and solemn, and the attendants on both sides held magical instruments, giving people an invisible deterrent effect.

Zhou Jing took out ten thousand yuan from his bag and put it all into the donation box.

"Wow, so rich."

The other people who were burning incense were shocked when they saw this, and some wondered what would happen if the money in the box was taken away.

"Would you like to draw a lot?"

Gu Jia followed Zhou Jing in bowing and silently wished that her second child would be a big fat boy.

"You want to smoke one?"

Zhou Jing doesn't care.

Gu Jia thought about it and decided to give up. It would be good to draw a good lot, but drawing a bad lot would make her feel uncomfortable.

Seeing that Zhou Jing invested a lot of money, the administrator gave two amulets to Zhou Jing and Gu Jia.

Zhou Jing and Gu Jia burned incense at the two temples opposite the stage. They went to the City God Temple above and then went to another one. The other one was much larger than the previous one. There were various temples in the courtyard surrounded by the wall opposite the stage. The more temples there were, the stronger the incense.

“It’s really lively here.”

Gu Jia said while holding Zhou Jing's arm.

"I forgot that you can get on this side after leaving the village." Zhou Jing said as he looked at the passing cars.

"It's nice to take a walk in such nice weather."

Gu Jia wanted to walk even more.

"Mr. Zhou is here to burn incense too?"

A man in his twenties or thirties looked at Zhou Jing a few times to make sure he was right and greeted him.

"Well, Happy New Year."

Zhou Jing didn't know the other person, so he smiled, nodded and walked away.

"Happy New Year, Mr. Zhou."

"Who is he?"

“The boss of an ideal company.”

"Wow, this is the first time I've met such a big boss. He's so powerful at such a young age. I want to change my smartphone. Ideal has a smartphone that costs less than a thousand yuan."

"I'll buy it for you after the college entrance exam. Don't even think about it now."

The two people behind were talking about it, and one of them took out his ideal traditional mobile phone and said.

“People recognize you wherever you go.”

Gu Jia said with a smile.

After burning incense at every temple, the two returned the same way. When they reached the village, they took a detour to visit the grave. Zhou Jing's family's old grave was very ordinary, not as magnificent as some others', but Zhou Jing's great-grandfather and great-grandmother were very capable.

"Which of your ancestors are here?"

Gu Jia said as he looked at the three graves under the two cypress trees.

"The ones above are my grandfather's grandparents, my grandfather's grandfather's brothers, and the ones below are my grandfather's parents."

Zhou Jing started placing the offerings from the top.

"What did they do when they were alive?"

Gu Jia squatted beside Zhou Jing and helped to put things away.

"Farming. My great-grandfather's family was considered relatively well-off in the village in the early years, but my great-grandfather's brothers beat up the family and squandered all their wealth."

"ZG people's ancestors were all farmers. As the saying goes, 'wealth and poverty cannot last for more than three generations'. There is some truth to it. Your father had already left the fate of farming, and it's your turn to make a complete comeback."

Gu Jia said with a smile.

"It's like smoke is coming out of my ancestral graves."

Zhou Jing’s ancestral tomb is in a valley, and sometimes you can see a little smoke rising from it from a distance.

“No matter how glorious your life is, after death you will just turn into a pile of yellow dust. Life is just like this.”

Gu Jia sighed as he looked at the weed-covered mound in front of him.

"you do not say!"

It is precisely because of this that Zhou Jing doesn't want to leave any regrets in his life.

After the food was laid out, Zhou Jing took out paper money and Huazi, cleared the hay next to it to prevent the mountain from being burned. After the paper money was lit, he burned a box of Huazi and a stack of hundred-yuan paper money on each grave. Finally, he poured some Huazi on the stone table. After doing all these kowtows, Gu Jia knelt beside Zhou Jing and kowtowed three times together.

"Does this count as me returning to my roots in your family?"

This was the first time that Gu Jia had paid homage to ancestors outside the Gu family since she was a child.

"Whether you recognize it or not, you are my family."

It was already past one in the afternoon when the two returned home. Spring Festival couplets had already been pasted up, paper-cuts were pasted on the windows, big red lanterns were hung on the door, there were flocks of chickens and ducks on the chicken coop, and there was a sign of prosperity for domestic animals on the doghouse.

There were many people standing on the street chatting and laughing, and Zhou Guozhong was holding his child in the street to bask in the sun.

"Dad~Mom~"

When the child saw Zhou Jing and Gu Jia coming back, he immediately became restless.

"I'm wrong, those are not your parents."

People around mislead the children.

"Xia Dad and Mom~"

The little girl was not easily fooled and waved her hands at Zhou Jing and Gu Jia.

"Zhou Jing must have delayed making money during the New Year holiday. Has the company closed down?"

A young man who came back today, Zhou Long, Zhou Jing's childhood playmate who returned to his hometown, handed Zhou Jing a cigarette.

"I don't smoke, smoke mine." Zhou Jing took out his own cigarettes and passed them to Zhou Long and the others, "Those who don't need to work overtime can take a day off, and those who need to work overtime can go to work."

"Such a big boss can't bear to smoke, no wonder he can earn so much. I see the couriers are also on holiday these days."

"Holiday orders are collected and shipped during holidays."

"I bought your phone and it broke not long after I used it. I returned it to you."

Zhou Xing, who is several years older than Zhou Jing, took out his Ideal 1 and said jokingly.

Most of Zhou Jing’s neighbors have the surname Zhou, and their elders are Zhou Jing’s third uncle, fourth uncle, and so on.

"I can't return it. If it breaks, I'll buy another one."

Zhou Jing smiled and said.

"If you don't return it, your car will be confiscated. How much did you buy that Maybach?"

Zhou Xing put the phone back and said.

"More than three hundred."

"I've never been in a car that costs more than three million."

Another young man said.

"Alas, my car's tire is not even as expensive as yours."

Zhou Xing sighed.

Zhou Jing said: "It's not that exaggerated. Where do you work now?"

"Silver Bridge."

“That’s a good company.”

"The company is good, but I am uneducated and can only drive for the boss. You hire a driver and I will drive for you."

"I usually go to BJ. The fruit-flavored milk at Yinqiao is delicious. You are an insider. How is the hygiene and quality of dairy factories in general?"

Zhou Jing didn't want to hire a driver.

"Big brands are safe to drink. They are all produced automatically and sterilized in various ways. They are cleaner than your own kitchen. No matter what food you buy, it is best to choose a big brand. Small workshops in the food industry are most likely unhygienic."

"really."

Zhou Jing agreed with this point. Although some products of big brands are also shady, the probability is lower than that of small workshops.

"Zhou Jing's watch is worth at least half a million dollars. My boss wears one of this brand."

Zhou Xing noticed the watch Zhou Jing was wearing and said.

"A watch is so expensive?"

"What do you think? This brand is the top one in the watch industry."

“Better than Rolex?”

“Rolex is just a younger brother to this brand.”

"."

After listening to people bragging on the street for a while, Zhou Jing went home and heard his daughter calling him as he walked in.

"Zhou Jing, come and coax the child while I help with the cooking."

Gu Jia said to Zhou Jing.

Wu Suqin said: "Jia Jia, don't worry about it. We have almost finished preparing. There is no rush."

"You take care of the child, and I'll help."

Zhou Jing didn't need Gu Jia to cook for him either. The tableware in the countryside was not complete and the seasonings were not so exquisite, making it inconvenient for Gu Jia to cook.

"Jing, how do you make this fish?"

Wu Suqin asked Zhou Guozhong to kill the fish and prepare it, and waited for Zhou Jing to tell her what to do.

"Steamed, the child can eat some."

Zhou Jing chose steaming mainly because it is simple.

“How much alms did you offer at the temple?”

The old lady asked Zhou Jing.

"One hundred thousand, ten thousand for each temple."

Zhou Jing visited all the Bao Gong Temple, City God Temple, Wenqu Temple, and Guanyin Temple.

“This is a lot.”

The old lady felt very distressed.

"I've wasted a lot of money, so this is not a big deal."

Wu Suqin was very open-minded. She thought that donating the money to the temple was better than letting her son squander it.

(End of this chapter)