Chapter 1312 - 1184: Liu Sixty-Six Eats Knife Meat

Chapter 1312: Chapter 1184: Liu Sixty-Six Eats Knife Meat

In the Year of the Dog, there was an extra leap month, so by the time the Dragon Boat Festival arrived, it was already late June.

A few days ago, Zhou Jiao had already prepared the bamboo leaves and various fillings early.

Once her little son heads abroad in August, she wonders if he’ll be able to return for next year’s Dragon Boat Festival. Additionally, the Dragon Boat Festival also marks the birthday of both her and her father.

This year is even more special due to her father’s sixty-sixth birthday.

As the saying goes, "At sixty-six eat a knife of meat, at seventy-seven eat a chicken, at eighty-eight eat an old hen."

Besides preparing to make dumplings, she also followed the custom by preparing a knife of meat, weighing six pounds and six ounces.

Last night, haha...

She carefully wrapped 68 small dumplings, after honoring heaven and earth with one each, leaving 66 dumplings remaining.

For her father’s longevity, Zhou Jiao went crazy at one in the morning by waking her father up and insisting Zhou Xiaozheng take a bite of each one.

If possible, she wished her father could eat them all, but realistically, he couldn’t. Even if she made the 66 dumplings bite-sized, asking him to eat them all at once would surely be too much!

She’s so meticulous because it’s believed that in this year, there’s the idea of "crossing hurdles" in folklore.

Folklore believes that 66 years old is a life challenge.

According to old Beijing beliefs, only eating six pounds and six ounces of meat offered by one’s daughter can ensure safe passage through this hurdle, so Zhou Jiao chose to go ahead with it, convinced it couldn’t be wrong.

It’s said that this year, one must also wear a red waistband given by their daughter, and during the birthday, one must write a petition praying to the Ten Hall Yama, responsible for human longevity, asking for blessings and extending life.

Moreover, one must fold big requests using yellow paper and burn them along with the lamp flowers. During the offering of lamp flowers, it’s also customary to throw some cash on the street for anyone to pick up, supposedly bringing disaster relief to whoever collects it.

Thus, after the night of the fourth, in the early hours of the Dragon Boat Festival day, June 25th morning, Zhou Jiao completed preparations and proceeded with her plans.

Bright red underwear and underpants were ready, with a red waistband sewn into the waist of military pants too. The petition to the Ten Hall Yama was also prepared.

"I will go with you!"

"You don’t have to. I can drive over quickly enough. As long as I deliver the petition and lamp flowers to the city, find a safe place to burn them, it’s fine. I plan to toss the cash while driving."

"No room for negotiation."

How could Zhang Guoqing be at ease?

Isn’t it said that anyone who picks up the cash will bring disaster relief upon themselves? Considering his wife’s nature, likely she wouldn’t be content unless she tossed handfuls of cash on every major street.

If his silly wife encountered those night owls and got robbed, it would be fortunate, but being assaulted would be a serious issue.

Zhou Jiao didn’t dare protest either, lest the commotion awaken their three wild boys, and they might decide for the whole family to go vent their energy — which would be silly~

Zhang Guoqing’s predictions proved correct, as aside from sanitation workers preparing for their duties, there were indeed a few night owls on the streets in the early hours of late June...

Pinching her fingers, Zhou Jiao used her minimal knowledge of the Four Pillars of Destiny to guide them blindly until they finally stopped at a crossroads.

According to her, they needed to align with her father’s birth date, today’s tides, and coordinate with different times and directions.

The complexity rivals setting up a grand formation!

Zhang Guoqing thought she was seriously acting like a "mad priestess" with her finger pinching and stern face.

All the way, he held in his laughter until his stomach hurt.

On one side, Zhou Jiao murmured prayers while burning paper money, making Zhang Guoqing extremely nervous. His eyes darting around like radar.

Oh dear, he truly worried about encountering those enthusiastic old ladies from the street committee. These warrior women are so formidable that they make him anxious!

As soon as they finished, Zhang Guoqing quickly grabbed his wife’s hand and dashed back to the car...

"Hey, wait, I haven’t tossed the money yet."

Zhang Guoqing immediately stopped: It’s crucial to deliver this, and the sanitation worker’s hard work fee can’t be missed. "Throw some more, pin them down with Little Stone."

As soon as he spoke, Zhou Jiao transformed into "Doraemon", continuously reaching into her pocket to pull out handfuls of one, two, and five-cent coins.

Next to her, Zhang Guoqing protected his wife while looking at her with a twitching mouth: Can they play like this? When did she swap so many coins?

"Let’s go, let’s go." Zhou Jiao circled around, estimating she’d thrown enough, then hurried Zhang Guoqing into the car. "Am I clever? Tossing coins is way better than using stones."

"Wife, when did you exchange so many coins?"

"Is it a lot? I swapped a total of six hundred sixty-six yuan with my little uncle, but he feared I couldn’t carry all of it, so he only gave me half in coins. I plan to toss the remaining half in paper money from the car later, once I find a favorable wind direction, so it’s convenient without blowing against the wind."

Upon hearing her plan, Zhang Guoqing immediately realized they needed to hurry up tossing the money, before daylight made them seem like lunatics.

"Are there any streets you particularly want to visit?"

Zhou Jiao handed him a paper, "Here! I’ve marked it. Circle around the southeastern and northwestern city gates, slow down at various alley entrances, and finally donate the surplus to the eldercare center."

Looking at the hand-drawn simple map on the paper, Zhang Guoqing listened and chuckled, nodding. This level of drafting – quite a waste of her talent.

"I originally intended to steam more buns to send to the eldercare center, but my aunt suggested cash would be better as there’ll be kind-hearted people delivering dumplings during Dragon Boat Festival today."

"Alrighty, let’s toss as much as possible quickly and vanish once done."

After wrapping up their tasks, when the couple returned home, the sky was struggling to show a hint of fish-belly white, dim and hazy, marking the end of night.

Upon entering the courtyard, the lights were bright, and the kitchen was filled with laughter and chatter. Inside, her mother, Miao Lishan, along with the Ping’an Brothers and Aunt Chen, were bustling around.

"Grandma, you should keep Grandpa company. Let us handle this."

"Alright, I won’t interfere, just watching."

"Grandma, today’s also your day of tribulation, go take a rest."

Hearing this, Zhou Jiao covered her mouth, muffling laughter: Her mother was being shunned again! After all these years, why hasn’t she developed any cooking skills?

Upon hearing her words, Miao Lishan’s eyes lit up, immediately turning to Zhou Jiao and laughing merrily, "Little birthday star, welcome back, it’ll be ready soon."

Zhou Jiao glanced at her exasperatedly, "Why all the trouble, where’s dad?"

Miao Lishan winked and in a voice loud enough for all in the kitchen to hear, she mysteriously tattled, "He should be hiding in the study preparing your gift."

"Hahaha... Mom, happy birthday."

"Mom, wishing you laughter always."

"Mom, wishing you stay forever young."

"Thank you, sons." Zhou Jiao said and approached Miao Lishan, holding her arm, "Mom, thank you too, for all your hard work giving birth to me."