Song Sanniang's Journey to Wealth

Everyone enjoyed the meal very much. After the meal, the women helped to clear the table, wash the dishes and rinse the pots.

The men were responsible for returning the tables, chairs and benches, and everyone dispersed, each returning to offer sacrifices to the moon.

Only the children were reluctant to go back, because Si Niang and her friends had a lot of toys, and they could light lanterns and play together later.

Mrs. Song moved the Eight Immortals Table to the courtyard, placed an incense burner on the table, put a box of Seven Stars and Moon in the middle, and then put a pomelo on it.

Take another tray and put longan, winter melon candy, lotus root candy, and melon seeds, the four essential items for worshiping gods.

Then take another tray and put it full of fruits, persimmons, citrus, bananas, etc.

Finally, she lit the incense and candles, and in the peaceful yellow candlelight, Song Ersao prayed to them.

She muttered to herself, "Liu hopes that the Moon Goddess can bless everyone in the family to be safe, the children to be smart, and the adults to have everything go smoothly."

The children playing outside were called in and bowed to the altar. Then, under the instruction of Mrs. Song, everyone made a wish to the moon.

Song Sanniang also bowed devoutly, praying that everyone would be safe and sound in the future.

After finishing all this, Song Ersao moved a low table and placed some cut loose moon cakes, peanuts, melon seeds, candies, fruits, etc. on it.

Then she brought out a large pot of fried snails from the kitchen. The snails she picked up at Lianhua Mountain last time have been kept until now just to eat them during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Song Sanniang, Song Laoer, and Qin Haodong had already brought chairs and sat beside the low table, enjoying the moonlight and eating snails. Song Ersao went out the door and called the children back to eat.

"Stop playing, come and eat the snails. After you finish eating the snails, you can play again when the dragon dance begins."

Hearing that there was food to eat, a large group of children swarmed over. Liu Zezheng and the other two helped to extinguish the lanterns, and then came to eat snails.

The children had already had a lot of fun. Seeing the table filled with all kinds of food, they were no longer shy and took turns to pick up their favorite food and eat it aside.

Mrs. Song saw that there was still a lot of food after eating a round, so she took the food and distributed it to everyone one by one.

"Come on, everyone, finish eating everything on the low table. Don't leave any left. If you can't finish it, you can share it and take it home later."

When they heard that they could take it home, everyone cheered. Song Sanniang sucked on the snails and watched everyone having fun with relish.

Suddenly, there was a faint sound of gongs and drums coming from the village, and the sound gradually came towards Song Laoer's house.

When the children heard the sound, some of them carried lanterns, some wore masks, and they all rushed out.

"Dancing with the fire dragon, dancing with the fire dragon."

"Go!"

"Hurry up and go."

"Wait for us. Don't run so fast."

"Slow down, my pants are going to fall off."

Song Sanniang also followed everyone out curiously to see, and saw from afar a winding fire dragon holding a torch wandering around the village, lighting up half of the village.

Wherever the fire dragon passed, there was a great bustle of people, and from time to time there were bursts of cheers and shouts.

When the team slowly walked towards Song Laoer's house, they could see the fire dragon clearly.

In front of the fire dragon is a shirtless young man, who is holding a red cloth ball stuck on a long stick. He moves around, and the fire dragon behind him follows him. The man is holding the dragon ball.

The dragon head was made of simple rice straw, held up by a long stick, and was filled with burning incense sticks.

It may be a taboo, so a long red cloth was used to represent the dragon's body. The team was composed of young and strong people in the village.

Young men went shirtless, and the dragon dancers walked backwards and forwards, turned left and right, and moved the dragon's head and tail, glowing with vigorous vitality under the background of the fire.

Everyone's face was filled with smiles, those smiles were happy, blissful, and full of longing.

Since ancient times, people have believed that dragons can bring rain and clouds, ward off disasters and bring blessings. In our hearts, dragons symbolize auspiciousness.

The villagers' actions are to seek good fortune and avoid misfortune, and to pray for good weather, peace and prosperity, and a good harvest.

In this lively atmosphere, you can also see Si Niang and her group, holding lanterns, wearing masks, following the fire dragon.

Everyone was so excited that their faces flushed, and from time to time they cheered and shouted along with the rest of the group. Seeing Song Sanniang watching the excitement at the door, Si Niang opened her throat and shouted,

"Sister, come on, come and play with me."

Hearing Si Niang's shout, the other children were not to be outdone and also shouted at the top of their lungs, "Sister Jixiang, come quickly."

Fortunately, the crowd was so lively that the children's shouts were soon drowned out by the sound of gongs and drums.

The moon was hanging high in the dark blue sky, emitting a bright silvery light, as if it was smiling and appreciating this celebration on earth.

The night gradually deepened. Even the best time would pass slowly. The children all went back to their homes.

Qin Haodong, Qin Haoxi and Si Niang finally stepped into the house.

Several people seemed to be still unsatisfied, and Si Niang would occasionally scream and excitedly recount the scene just now.

Song Lao Er was eating melon seeds and drinking. Song Ersao saw that there were still some stone snails left. She didn't want to waste them, so she chewed them carefully.

Song Sanniang only regretted that she was not talented enough, otherwise she could have recorded these beautiful scenes tonight.

She decided that she would learn painting if she had the chance in the future. After all, she is a person with aspirations, okay?

Everyone had a day off the next day, so that night everyone chatted and ate in the yard, enjoying the moonlight, and went to bed very late.