Chapter 207 Full Moon Wine

The third aunt rolled eggs on Xiaoxian's face and said, "The egg rolling on your face, your face is like egg skin, and your face is as red as willow's white. You are truly a lover."

After giving Xiaoxian a bath and cleaning her, he wrapped her in a small blanket, picked up a scallion and gently hit her three times, muttering, "One hit for being smart, two hits for being clever."

Afterwards, Liu Zhiye threw the onions on the roof, which was a blessing for the child to be extremely smart in the future.

The third aunt picked up the weight and gestured a few times, saying: "Although the weight is small, it can bear a thousand pounds." She picked up the padlock and gestured three times: "When you grow up, your head, feet, and hands must be tight..." This process is to wish the child to be steady and cautious when he grows up.

Then she placed Xiaoxian on a tea tray and tucked the gold and silver ingots or jewelry prepared by the Liu family into the baby's body, saying, "Gold on the left, silver on the right. If you can't spend it, give it to the servants." She meant to wish the child to have great fortune and wealth when he grows up.

Finally, he put a small mirror on her butt and continued to chant: "Use the magic mirror to look at your butt, and you will poop clean during the day."

The most interesting thing is that she sifted a few paper pomegranate flowers into the drying basket and said like chanting a spell: "Gardenia, jasmine, peach, apricot, rose, tuberose, and eczema are sparsely scattered..." She was wishing that the child would not get smallpox or get less smallpox, and grow up healthily without any disaster or disease.

At this point, Grandma Deng Ru respectfully took down the goddess's code, the money and food for offering to the gods, and the incense roots and sent them to the courtyard.

She carefully lit these items and watched the smoke rise, as if sending away her old beliefs and prayers.

The third aunt picked up the god code of "Kanggong and Kangmu" with copper chopsticks and burned it, saying: "Kanggong and Kangmu's surname is Li, and the adults and children are in your hands. Give more boys and fewer girls."

Then, they wrap the ashes in red paper and press them under the kang mat, saying that she should stay at the head of the kang forever and bless adults and children to be safe and sound.

Afterwards, the three aunts congratulated the Liu family one after another, just to ask for a few cents for good luck.

At this point, Xiaoxian’s “third day bath” ceremony was completely over.

When Liu Zhiye saw the third aunt, he thought that she did a great job, no worse than a professional midwife. He was so happy that he happily gave her two yuan as a thank you gift.

Hey! This is really a pleasant surprise. The third aunt now sincerely wishes Liu Zhiye to have many children and good fortune. It would be best if he could preside over a ceremony every time a child is born in their family.

In fact, before liberation, the "third-day washing ceremony" was a popular traditional delivery ceremony, but with the development of science in the late 1940s, people's ideas and concepts gradually became more open.

Especially in recent years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, most women choose to give birth in hospitals; this is civilized, hygienic, and saves money. Therefore, the old-style midwives and midwives are gradually eliminated, which also leads to the gradual disappearance of the "third day washing" ceremony.

However, their grandfather and father Liu Jingzhai attached great importance to traditional culture and rituals, so they insisted on holding a "third-day bath ceremony" for their child.

After all, the purpose of "washing the third day" is good. First, it is to wash away filth and avoid disasters; second, it is to pray for good luck and blessings.

This kind of emphasis does not mean that they are feudal and superstitious, but rather that they attach great importance to and have good wishes for their children.

Liu Zhiye had no choice but to act according to their ideas, unwilling to go against the good wishes of his family. Usually, such matters are best decided by the elders.

The three aunts happily returned to the house opposite. The family saw that the child was about to sleep, so Gan Ning stayed to feed the child and rest, and they went to the east courtyard to chat.

Gan Ning looked at Liu Zhiye's tired expression and said distressedly: "Zhiye, you should also go and have a rest!"

Liu Zhiye sat on the kang, looked at the mother and daughter, and said, "No, I'm not tired! You can go to sleep after feeding Xiaoxian! You need to rest well, I'll just watch her, if she poops or pees, I'll take care of it..."

Gan Ning smiled gently, knowing that her persuasion was useless, so she quietly closed her eyes and fed the child. After a while, she fell into a deep sleep.

After eating and drinking her fill, the little girl Xiaoxian fell asleep peacefully, spitting out milk foam, looking very sweet.

Liu Zhiye looked at the little girl in front of him. She was three days old and her skin was slowly returning to its normal color. It was now pink. Her eyebrows and eyes were like Gan Ning's, and her face shape was somewhat like his. Her long eyelashes trembled with her breathing, making her look extremely cute.

Liu Zhiye looked at her, feeling happy and sad at the same time. He couldn't help thinking of his daughter in his previous life. He didn't know if she could grow up happily without him as her father.

He deeply missed his daughter Coco's smile and laughter. He also missed his nagging wife Guilan and their warm little home, but he could never go back. They were truly leaving him.

……

After changing Xiaoxian's diaper again and looking at Gan Ning who had woken up, Liu Zhiye said with a smile: "I'll go outside for a while. She just had a poop and she'll be fine for a while." Then he got up and left the room.

When he went out, he happened to meet his mother Deng Ru and his mother-in-law, Professor Cui. When Deng Ru saw him wake up, she asked with concern: "Xiao Ning, is she awake?"

"Wake up, you two go inside and chat, I'll go buy some food. How about we light up a pot and have hotpot in the evening?" Liu Zhiye said with a smile.

Deng Ru smiled and said, "Okay! No need to buy meat. Your grandfather and his friends brought a well-groomed lamb. This is a gift from the village after they heard the news."

"Okay! I was just worrying about where to buy meat, so I'll go get some seafood and we'll have a hotpot of fresh soup." Liu Zhiye responded and ran away.

When I first arrived at the East Cross Courtyard, I found that there were indeed quite a lot of people coming and going. These people were all neighbors in the compound. After hearing the news that their children had been discharged from the hospital for the "third day of the month", they came to visit.

"Oh! Director Liu, congratulations! You look so happy!" Xu Fugui congratulated him with a smile.

"Congratulations! Director Liu!"

"Yes! I heard that you have a daughter. What a great joy!"

Liu Zhiye responded to them with a smile: "Thank you! Ladies and gentlemen, come and have a cigarette..." Then he took out a box of Peony cigarettes, handed them out one by one, and helped them light them.

They were flattered and refused, saying, "Come by yourself, come by yourself..." Liu Zhiye did not force them and continued to chat with them.

"Hiss! Leaders are different. The cigarettes they give are delicious and not irritating to the throat at all..." Xu Fugui flattered him after lighting a cigarette.

"Young and old, please chat first. I'll be out for a while. I'll treat you all to a meal to thank you when the baby is one month old. You must come!" Liu Zhiye nodded with a smile and was about to say goodbye.

"Hey! Please be busy..."

----

On October 1960, 10, Xiaoxian was 23 days old and just one month old. On this day, the Liu family carefully prepared a one-month ceremony for her.

The full moon is also called "Mi Yue".

The full moon of a newborn is a big happy event that the old Beijing people will celebrate grandly. Even very poor families will eat a bowl of noodles on this day to celebrate the full moon of their children. Some not-so-rich families will even sell their old things at home to hold a "full moon ceremony" for their children.

During the full month celebration, people warmly celebrate the "birth of a descendant", "the joy of having a baby", and "the joy of a full month". In the custom of celebrating the full month of a baby, the full month celebration for the first-born or only child is particularly important.

In the old society, the idea of ​​favoring boys over girls was very serious. If a boy was born, in addition to the full-month banquet, there would also be banquets for the third day and the first birthday to celebrate.

Families with girls may not celebrate, or may celebrate to a lower standard. This difference in treatment undoubtedly reflects the contempt for women in society at that time.

The Liu family does not have these bad habits. They attach equal importance to having a boy or a girl. From the old man to the younger generations such as Liu Zhiye and Liu Zhitai, they are all very happy and have no prejudice at all.

On this special day, Liu Zhiye's home was bustling with relatives and friends gathered together to celebrate the birth of Xiaoxian.

"Hey! Look at these big eyes, they look so much like Xiao Ning!" Gan Ningdi's aunt said to the Gan family.

Gan Ning's aunt also came. She sat on the kang and hugged Xiaoxian lovingly, saying, "This little girl looks like her parents. She is quiet and lovable. I love her so much!"

"Xiaoxian, can you please come home with me? It's so much fun at my house. There's a little cat..." the old lady teased her.

I don't know if the little girl understood or what, but when she heard that her aunt was going to take her away, she kept moving her little face away, looking very funny.

Today, the little girl will have her hair shaved after the full moon, wear a dog-head hat, a bell-shaped hat, and tiger-head shoes. She will be supported by her elders and hold an umbrella as she walks through the streets and alleys. The neighbors will hug each other and look at each other, jokingly saying that the boy walking around is looking for a wife, the girl is looking for a husband, and so on.

Her grandmother's family sent her clothes, food and red envelopes filled with coins made of colored threads (longevity threads), and hung the red envelopes on her chest, which were called copper pendants.

Liu's relatives and friends sent red envelopes and gifts, and the neighbors in the courtyard also sent red-skinned eggs, millet, etc. to congratulate the Liu family on the birth of their daughter. The Liu family set up an altar to worship the gods and ancestors to entertain the guests.

Because Liu Zhiye was happy, today's banquet was a feast, with 16 dishes of chicken, duck, goose, fish and seafood, and the chef was Sha Zhu, who had superb cooking skills. The guests gathered together and enjoyed the meal very much.

(End of this chapter)