Annual Ceremony

Chapter 1 Wedges
On the day of the beginning of spring, the sky was clear.

Inside the Palace Museum, two staff members, one male and one female, were taking pictures in the courtyard. The young man had a camera hanging around his neck, and he was pointing the lens at a bunch of goose yellow forsythia flowers in the corner of the wall.

After taking several photos in succession, the man retrieved the original photos from the camera and let the female staff member look at them.

The older female staff member took a closer look and said with a smile, "Xiao Li's photography skills are great. You young people are much more professional than us!"

"That's because our museum is well maintained. Any photo you take is a masterpiece!"

The two chatted and laughed as they continued to take pictures. The female staff member pointed to a newly sprouted yellow wintersweet under the red wall and said with a smile: "Take a picture of this plum tree as well... Later, we will take pictures in the museum during each solar term to record the scenery of the year."

"That's great! By the end of the year, we can publish an illustrated guide to the 24 solar terms in the Forbidden City!"

"This is good!" The female staff member nodded with a smile, and pointed to the side: "Xiao Li, come on, take a picture of our orange too!"

The young man came closer with his camera.

Orange is a cat in the Palace Museum. As the name suggests, it is a big orange cat.

This orange cat is orange and white, with only its belly and four paws being snow-white. This color combination is also called "gold quilt and silver bed."

Orange is eight years old this year. As far as it can remember, it has been in the Palace Museum.

Over the years, Orange has always occupied an unshakable position among the cats in the Palace Museum with his professional mouse-catching ability, excellent appetite and weight.

Because of its appearance, which is very popular among tourists, Orange, in addition to catching mice, also has another part-time job: accepting tourists' petting and stroking of its fur.

Therefore, Orange positions himself as a mature and experienced studded cat. To put it more impressively, he is a clawed guard of the Forbidden City, and a first-class guard at that.

As an experienced braided cat, when the camera was pointed at itself, the orange guard walking on the stone railing promptly stretched out its two snow-white front paws, lowered its front body, and did a standard big cat stretch, showing its elegance.

After the two staff members left, Orange tucked his front paws into his lap, lay on the stone railing and took a nap in the sun.

"After the beginning of spring, the weather has been getting warmer day by day... Look, this tree has sprouted!"

"Hey, speaking of the beginning of spring, do you know Jiang Hui?"

Listening to the tourists' voices, Orange still squinted his eyes comfortably.

There were seven or eight tourists in this group, both men and women, and judging by their age and clothing, they looked like college students.

"Jiang Hui? Which department are you from?"

"What? I'm talking about a female scientist during the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty..." said a girl in an avocado green down jacket. "She studied astronomy and astrology, and drew 24 star maps according to the 24 solar terms. She also published the "Xinxiang Pavilion's Star Maps of the 24 Solar Terms". It's amazing."

"A female scientist from the Qing Dynasty..." another girl said, "I also know one, from an earlier time, who also studied astronomy and mathematics. Her name is Wang Zhenyi! Have you heard of her?"

"I've heard of this..." A tall boy wearing a black knitted hat said casually while browsing his phone, "But I heard from someone on the Internet that this Wang Zhenyi is very likely a fictional one. Who knows if it's true or not."

Several people started arguing about this topic. Orange closed his eyes and yawned. Yes, who knows whether it is true or not.

China has such a long history, and there must be so many people in it. I'm afraid it's more than the cat hair it sheds every year.

The group of college students walked away while talking. When Orange was about to change his sleeping position, his ears moved. He turned around and saw a big tabby cat walking towards him.

Orange sat up suddenly, arched his back, lowered his ears, and swore at the big tabby with flowery arms.

The big cat jumped up and landed lightly on the stone railing with all four paws. It walked towards Orange and said something not very polite.

This big tabby cat is a new cat that arrived last month. Its origins are unknown, but it has a domineering style.

Since coming to the museum, it has fought with Orange more than ten times.

In addition to the struggle for status, what bothered Orange even more was that ever since the big raccoon cat came, the three flowers in the back hall ignored him.

As the saying goes, when enemies meet, they become jealous of each other.

After the two cats cursed at each other for dozens of times, Orange became more and more angry.

This big tabby cat from outside had a new and dirty way of scolding cats. Orange couldn't help it and was the first to throw a cat punch.

As Orange made his move, the two cats were suddenly attracted to each other as if by magnets. They hugged and pinched each other at an incredible speed, biting their necks and kicking their waists, using all the tricks they could.

The two cats cried and clumps of cat hair flew all over the sky.

During the fight, Orange slipped and fell backwards on his back.

Orange kicked a few times in the air, trying to flip his body and land in a beautiful cat flip to save his dignity. However, something strange happened...

The stone railing was not too high, and falling down would only take the blink of an eye, but Orange felt that he was falling for an unusually long time.

"Pahji——!"

Finally, it fell to the ground.

The upside-down orange turned over, but... it didn't move.

It tried hard again and finally rolled over, but its movements were more clumsy than ever before.

[——Meow? ]

Orange cried out in confusion, and was suddenly startled, covering his throat with his two front paws - where did this cat-like sound come from?
The next moment, it stretched out its two front paws, opened its claws wide, and immediately widened its eyes - whose little paws were these, where was its fist as big as a mangosteen?

Orange began to look around. The white-walled corridor, green tiles, and square courtyard with green bricks and pine trees seemed a very unfamiliar place.

While Juzi was at a loss, he suddenly heard a series of shrill cries coming from the main house in the courtyard. Juzi was attracted by the sound and ran over immediately.

Its body is too small now, like a one-month-old kitten. Even if it runs, it is very slow.

When Juzi arrived outside the main room, she saw a young man wearing a brown cloth gown and a long braid walking back and forth anxiously, chanting something from time to time: "Goddess of Mercy, the Savior of the Suffering... The Most Holy Master, please bless us..."

Orange stared at the man's long braid hanging behind him.

At this moment, a loud baby cry suddenly came from the room.

Soon, a woman with a bun on her head came out, saying with a smile: "It's born!"

The man hurried forward and asked: "Is it born? Is it a boy or a girl?"

"Congratulations, you're a pearl!"

The man's expectation was dashed, his shoulders slumped silently, and he sighed, "He's a tile maker."

Nowadays, giving birth to a boy is called "Nong Zhang" and giving birth to a girl is called "Nong Wa".

The midwife saw this and said with a smile, "Master Wang, you and Madam Wang are still young. This is just your first child. Having a son or daughter is a happy occasion! And today is a good day, the beginning of spring. The beginning of spring brings new things day by day. Good fortunes to your descendants are to come!"

The man then forced a smile and bowed to the midwife: "Thank you for your good wishes. Thank you for your help."

At this time, a maid came out of the house and bowed to the man.

The man hurriedly asked, "Mother Zhao, how is Jinniang?"

The maid nodded and said happily, "Second Madam asked you to give the young lady a name!"

The man paused for a moment and thought about it.

He attached great importance to this first child and had prepared many names, but most of them were boys' names. After his wife became pregnant, whenever people saw her belly, they said it must be a boy...

The man sighed in his heart, finally put away the trace of loss, and said: "Then call me Zhenyi."

It was the only girl's name he had prepared.

The beard on Orange's cheeks moved. Just as he was about to follow in to take a look at the little baby named Zhenyi, he suddenly felt his neck tighten and his four paws lifted off the ground.

A big orange cat picked it up and quickly left.

Orange held on to the air with his four paws until the big cat threw him back to the ground.

Just as Orange was about to speak, the big cat hugged him and forced him to lick and groom his fur.

Orange tried to struggle, but the big cat roared at him.

Feeling the blood pressure from her mother, Orange was forced to accept this image management.

The big cat licked Orange's head. Orange felt as if the top of his head was about to be opened and his eyelids were pulled up. He couldn't help but meow: "Mom, be gentle."

The big cat ignored it and didn't stop until he had cleaned the orange thoroughly.

Orange, looking refreshed, squatted in front of the big cat, tilted his head, and finally had the chance to ask: [Where is this? ]

The big cat lay down, raised its tail and then dropped it, meowing lazily: [This is the place. ]

Orange asked again: [What year is this year? ]

Big Cat: [This year is this year. 】

Orange was silent with worry, because he knew that not every cat was as cultured as he was.

The big cat swung its tail: [Children have too many questions. ]

Orange sat up straighter, holding his head high and chest out: [Call me Orange! ]

The big cat turned his head and looked behind him, feeling a little embarrassed: [Your name is Orange, so what should we call them? ]

Orange looked and saw three more little oranges coming over, meowing with their mouths open.

The big cat originally had no intention of naming the child and just wanted to raise it casually, but after Orange mentioned this, it became interested.

So, Orange became Big Orange, and had three more brothers and sisters named Two Orange, Three Orange, and Little Plate.

Orange Confusion – What are small plates?
The big cat narrowed his eyes and explained: [It is just right for you three. This is a family of scholars. As children of the family, you should also behave yourself.]

One plate, with three oranges on it, how exquisite.

Orange was speechless.

It wanted to cover its ears because of the noise from the three little kittens who were just crying for their mothers and shouting that they were hungry. Just as it was about to turn around and run away, the big cat grabbed it back with its paw, pressed it into its arms, and force-fed it milk.

With his own ability, Orange spent more than ten days and finally figured out the two problems.

This is Jinling.

This year was the 34th year of Emperor Qianlong's reign in the Qing Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)