Chapter 541: Vegetarianism on the First Day of the Lunar New Year

Chapter 541: Vegetarianism on the First Day of the Lunar New Year

To bid farewell to the old and usher in the new year, Sun Dali got up early on the first day of the new year and cooked a pot of "Luohan Zhai" with vermicelli, bean curd, hair vegetable, mushrooms, etc.

There are three reasons for being a vegetarian.

First, because "斋" (fast) and "惧 (disaster)" (disaster) have the same pronunciation, eating vegetarian food also means "eating disasters", which can "eat away" all kinds of disasters in the new year and thus bless the family with peace and prosperity.

Secondly, all the vegetarian dishes for the new year should be eaten on the first day of the new year, and you can eat meat and fish afterwards. This is a kind of prayer for a smooth year, which means "eating vegetarian food on the first day of the new year is better than eating vegetarian food all year round."

Third, the first day of the Lunar New Year is the first day of the new year. On this day, people in the world eat vegetarian food and do not kill animals for food. This can help them accumulate all the virtues and blessings of the year. At the same time, it is pure and clean to remember their ancestors.

After eating the vegetarian meal, Sun Shan, as a big boss, wanted to give red envelopes to his employees.

So each of them packed 5 taels and gave them to Gui Ge'er, Sun Dali and Sun Dingnan.

He smiled and said, "Yes, yes, everything goes smoothly."

Sun Dali, Sun Dingnan and Gui Ge'er were not polite either. Although Sun Shan was young, he had a high status. It was a blessing to receive benefits from people of higher status than himself.

Gui Ge'er took out some peanuts, melon seeds, candies and cakes from the warehouse, made a pot of tea, and the four of them sat in the yard and chatted.

Gui Geer looked at the sky and saw that it was a good day. He smiled and said, "Brother Shan, let's go for a walk later. I haven't even walked around the Qinhuai River carefully yet."

Sun Dali and Sun Dingnan agreed.

Sun Dali said with a smile: "I wonder if it rains at home? It was cloudy and drizzling last year, and it was inconvenient to go anywhere. I wanted to take my son and daughter to the county to have a look, but in the end we couldn't go anywhere."

Sun Shan was stunned, a little dazed. It seemed that he was still celebrating the New Year in Yuelu Academy last year.

At that time, Qian Yingyang and Zhu Pengyun took him to enjoy the snow, and they all went to Furong Street and ate snacks together.

Just one year later, they went their separate ways.

Sun Shan also became a juren from a scholar, got engaged, and even came to Jinling.

Time goes by so slowly, yet so much has changed.

I don’t know what happened to Zhu Pengyun and Qian Yingyang?

Just as Sun Shan was stunned, there was a knock on the door.

A child's voice came: "Master Juren, I am Shigou, are you home? I came to see you to wish you a happy new year."

Shi Gou, wearing new clothes, stood timidly outside the door, followed by his grandma, grandpa, father and five younger sisters.

Shigou doesn't like people calling him Shigou, nor does he like introducing himself to others as Shigou. But the scholar seems to like calling him Shigou very much. He says that his name is good and that his grandfather did not lie to him and that there really is a number one scholar named Shigou.

Shi Gou thought it was a bit unpleasant to the ear, but the scholar said it had a good implication, so Shi Gou reluctantly accepted it.

The Juren master was a kind man, and calling him Shigou was a blessing to him.

When Gui Ge'er heard the sound, he opened the door and led the An family in.

Sun Shan stood up and invited Uncle An, Aunt An and their family to come in and sit down.

Uncle An and Aunt An wanted to lead the whole family to kowtow and pay their respects to Sun Shan.

Sun Shan hurriedly stopped him, supported Grandpa An, and said quickly: "Grandpa, don't do this. I can't bear it."

You have to be respectful when meeting an official, but there is no need to kneel when meeting a scholar.

It’s just that some people think that the master has a higher status than themselves, and it’s normal to kneel down and wish a happy new year on the first day of the Lunar New Year.

Sun Shan looked at Uncle An, who was a few years older than Sun Bomin, and wondered how he could let him kneel down to pay his respects.

Uncle An bent over, and seeing that Sun Shan really didn't want him to kneel, he stopped forcing him.

Sitting on the chair, Gui Ge'er immediately brought tea.

Sun Shan looked at the anxious An family and spoke first: "Uncle, Madam, thank you for taking care of my family these days. If it weren't for you, they wouldn't be able to find a job."

Shi Gou brought a low stool and sat at Sun Shan's feet, and immediately translated Sun Shan's words to Uncle An and Aunt An.

Uncle An quickly waved his hands and said, "No, no, it's nothing. The dock needs people, anyone who can work. We just told the manager about it. It's not worth it."

Sun Dali brought out some cakes, candies and dried fruits for the An family to taste.

Sun Shan looked at Shi Gou, and then at his five sisters.

I heard from Shigou that Grandpa An had three sons and one daughter. It seems that the five sisters are from Shigou's second uncle and third uncle's families.

Sun Shan smiled and asked Aunt An: "Aunt, this is my first time in Jinling. Is the New Year's Eve here lively? Are there any temple fairs or something like that?"

Aunt An was familiar with this issue. She was reserved at first, but gradually started to talk to Sun Shan.

Although it was inconvenient to ask Shi Gou to translate, Sun Shan kept smiling throughout and appeared very approachable.

The An family also relaxed a lot.

After asking about the New Year customs, Sun Shan asked An Dalang, Shi Gou's father, with a smile: "Father Shi Gou, are you a porter at the dock? Which dock?"

Sun Shan was just trying to find something to talk about, and he also wanted to know about the operation of Jinling Wharf.

From wages, porters' lives, to dock management, he asked whatever came to mind.

An Dalang has lived at the dock since he was a child and made a living from the dock when he grew up, so he has some understanding of canal transportation.

He answered questions asked by Sun Shan, and also talked about things that Sun Shan didn't ask.

Seeing that Sun Shan was listening with great interest, An Dalang tried his best to tell him everything he knew.

Sun Shan listened patiently. When he had some doubts, he asked An Dalang to explain them. When An Dalang didn't understand something, Sun Shan just memorized it in his mind.

Reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles, and traveling ten thousand miles is not as good as meeting countless people. Sun Shan didn't know whether these contents would be helpful in the future, but it was better to know than not to know.

Uncle An secretly glanced at Sun Shan several times. The Mr. Sun in front of him was completely different from the legendary scholar.

It looks ordinary, but the clothes are obviously very expensive.

He is thin and not tall, but speaks softly and always has a smile on his face.

I don’t know if it’s sincere or not, but I always listen when you speak and I’m not impatient.

The ten dogs didn't dare to take the food, but the scholar gave it to the ten dogs instead.

Zhiwei saw that Uncle An had lived for most of his life and had met all kinds of people at the dock. He was sure that Mr. Sun in front of him was a good man, and a good man who liked little kids.

Uncle An shamelessly came over today to wish everyone a happy new year.

Firstly, he is very vain. He wants to take a look at the noble area so that he can have something to brag about when he returns. When he gets together with his relatives and friends, he can also brag about knowing the noble person in Jinxiufang.

Secondly, they came here to take advantage. After all, the Juren master is still a Juren master. When their family came to pay New Year's greetings, they would always give New Year's red envelopes.

One cent or two cents is fine, a little bit of meat is still meat. Moreover, the scholar gave them a lot of New Year goods, and they were all branded goods, so it was obvious that he was not a poor scholar.

When people come to pay New Year's greetings, they definitely won't just give a few cents like the poor families do.

Uncle An still had some dignity to save, so he didn't dare bring his entire family with him, and only brought his little kid.

It’s New Year’s Day, and I, as a scholar, would feel embarrassed not to give the kid a red envelope.