Chapter 1150 - 1147: Village, Hidden Dragons and Phoenix Hatchlings

"Ah Qing, are you awake yet? Come out and fold the gold paper..." Ah Qing had just changed clothes and caught the little fox who was trying to go back to sleep back on the bed, dragging it to wash up, when Chen Peipei's voice called out from the living room.

"Oh, just a moment..."

Ah Qing replied from inside the room, placed Xiaolan in front of the dining table, and walked over to the living room.

In the living room, the shrine in front of the door shone brightly with oil, and the offerings were all placed on the table. Stacks of square gold paper used to fold gold ingots were piled neatly on the table.

On the living room sofa lay a bunch of little cousins who were already burnt out, their eyes dull, looking as if they had seen through the mundane world, questioning life with an incredulous face.

"Ha!"

Ah Qing picked up a stack of gold paper five centimeters thick, first folding and kneading the four corners, then combined waist and arms to strike the gold paper powerfully, using some brute force to quickly unfold the stack into a fan-like foldable shape.

In an instant, the gold paper, which originally stuck together and was extremely difficult to burn thoroughly and quickly, transformed in Ah Qing's hands into a smooth, foldable fan.

"?"

The little cousins, faces burnt out, looked at their cousin's gold paper trick and expressed their confusion with a question mark.

The cousin's gold paper folding skill had improved, previously it took at least two minutes to fold. Now it's done with a swift "crack," making them start to question life.

"Pfft....."

Ansheng, squatting at the dining table chewing on dumplings, couldn't hold his expression upon seeing what was happening in the living room and let out a 'ying ying' laugh.

During holidays, adults are busy while children obviously have idle hands.

Throwing a stack of gold paper over is enough to drain the energy from these kids. The better they fold the paper, the faster it burns, and the faster it burns, the greater the demand.

Folding gold paper is a traditional craft that Xia Dong adults use as a curse on children.

It's hard to unfold when young until they can easily unfold gold paper, they become mature Xia East People, eligible to raise statues or help with setting off firecrackers.

This kind of basic task is better suited for children.

Ah Qing, as a gifted contender, stands exceedingly rare even within Xia Dong.

"Mom, should I open them all?" Ten minutes passed, and more than half the gold paper had been turned into fans by Ah Qing's brute strength, drying on the table.

"Go do your thing! Come back early..." Chen Peipei came out of the kitchen, looked at the satisfactory outcome, and said.

Half the gold paper was gone, and the other half should suffice to keep the kids busy for two to three hours.

"Okay, I'll go to the new house....."

Ah Qing, full of smiles, waved at the little cousins in the living room, picked up the fed little fox, grabbed the e-car keys, and walked out the door.

As for the little cousins' distress signals, Ah Qing chose to ignore them selectively.

If not kept at home, they'd run to the store to buy firecrackers, blow up ponds or cow dung, or stuff firecrackers into strange gaps.

Better wait for their parents to watch over them before considering those dangerous activities!

"Xiaolan, come on! Let's first check this year's Chen Family Ancestral Hall focus..."

Sitting in the car, Ah Qing looked humorously at the little fox on the passenger seat and said.

"Last year, there seemed to be no particularly extraordinary Immortals from our village, right?"

Ansheng looked at Ah Qing with confusion and asked.

Ah Qing's mention of the focus is clearly with quotation marks.

Anyone called out prominently in the ancestral hall festival may not be the worst shooter, but they are certainly loathed in the village, utterly despicable individuals.

"Yes, the Wujin Deer leader counts as one, along with an eight-month-old wild boar kid, and a village dude who used a Cthulhu statue to trick granny, saying it was a Foreign Bodhisattva."

Ah Qing recited the extraordinary Divine People produced by the village last year like a family heirloom.

No explanation needed for the Wujin Deer, whose leader took a herd on the ancestral hall eaves for a dance party, trampling the tiles to pieces.

It only stayed across the National One; otherwise, Old Chen would have hanged them at the hall's door for repentance.

The boar's transgressions were minor, like occasionally running to elders' homes for freebies, feasting on meal and drink, even taking canned fish, smoked duck, and sausage from fridges.

The boar started its crimes in July and wasn't caught until year-end by Old Chen and the others.

But it denied everything except stealing calcium milk from the elderly's house; it wouldn't admit the fridge theft.

"Cthulhu?" Ansheng's mouth twitched as he looked at Ah Qing in astonishment: "Well.....is the Foreign Bodhisattva effective?"

"You wouldn't believe..., it actually worked, granny said after worshipping, even the rheumatic arthritis didn't hurt anymore." Ah Qing said with a strange expression: "Although the principle is unclear, that guy didn't scam money, but he tricked granny....."

Ah Qing wasn't quite sure which villager she was referring to.

Just heard from parents' chatter, that guy is obsessed with figurines and glue models, escaping family nagging by making a wall of collectibles in his new room.

Pointing at the Cthulhu myth peripherals, claiming it as a Foreign Bodhisattva invited from abroad.

Then, somehow, grandma or granny believed the grandson's words, took the figurine out, worshipped, found relief in her arthritis, and rapidly spread the news in the village.

Old Chen was dumbfounded when he first saw it; a sixty-centimeter evil god statue resided on a roadside shrine.

"One dares to say, and another to believe; indeed the bone-deep affection influenced by the kinship factor."

"If an outsider dared to say, granny might jump up and kick them out directly." Ansheng, after hearing Ah Qing recount the events, couldn't help but gesture the number 6.

Those who ascend the [Ancestral Worship Stage] aren't merely simple like Wolong or Fengchu.

Ah Qing drove the small car to in front of the ancestral hall, gazing from afar toward the unopened Chen Family Ancestral Hall.

The "distinguished" youth of the village were fined today to help out in the hall.

Today's ancestral worship, strictly speaking, isn't [Temple Worship], traditionally it's akin to summoning ancestors before festivals, like Chinese New Year.

True Temple Worship, complete with a troupe drumming through, is required for Lantern Festival.

Good grandsons swept the outer walls, while Wujin Deer and the whole wild boar family begrudgingly cleaned the surrounding squares and areas.

Normally, one is National One or Three minor.

They wouldn't abide by Old Chen's rules, but Xia Dong belongs to the Spirit Beast Gang's jurisdiction, even stray dogs had to run to flower beds for a toilet, and wild cats had to obey traffic lights crossing streets.....

They might not heed Old Chen, but it's not easy dealing with the Spirit Beast Gang bosses.

Like suggesting everyone isn't protected animal-like.

"Ah Qing, don't look at Old Deng's tea grades like Dahongpao or rock teas, take a look into those single shrubs."

Arriving at the estate's new home, Ah Qing led the little fox directly into dad's tea room, selecting from the tea cabinet. Ansheng wandered around the tea cabinet and sighed disdainfully.

Old Deng's tea cabinet isn't lacking in good stuff, like authentic rock teas, or black tea, or roasted Tieguanyin, and some white tea, with a price of three to five thousand per pound.

But all were very ordinary, simply purchasable if willing to pay.

They don't meet Ansheng's gift standard, for someone like Lin Ying the wealthy lady, any tea is drinkable; if giving, it must be something fun.

Had he not been busy recently, Ansheng actually wanted to personally pan-fry some tea.

The small tea tree bore fruit, not picking some makes Ansheng itchy.