She bought a large stack of red envelopes, withdrew cash, and put two thousand yuan in each one. Regardless of gender or age, anyone who kowtowed to her would receive a red envelope with two thousand yuan. To hide her stash of red envelopes, she deliberately prepared a bag, stuffing it until it was bulging.
Tang Yu drove her, navigating two hours of mountain roads before finally arriving at Tang Family Village. The car stopped at the village entrance.
The village chief had already gathered all the men of the village, waiting at the entrance. There was also an elderly man being carried in a chair, who looked over a hundred years old. While everyone else wore short sleeves, he was bundled in padded clothing, as if he might pass away at any moment.
Shen Yunyun’s eyelids twitched uncontrollably. Were these all her descendants?
“Are these all the Tang clan members?” Shen Yunyun asked.
“Yes.”
“Why are they all men? Do you favor boys over girls? Do the women cook but aren’t allowed to sit at the table?”
Tang Yu’s mouth twitched. “No, the women are probably busy preparing the welcoming banquet.”
Shen Yunyun: “…”
As soon as the car stopped, the village chief hurried over.
“Great-grandfather, this is the great-aunt,” Tang Yu said, lifting Shen Yunyun’s arm to show the village chief the token.
The village chief pulled a magnifying glass from his pocket, leaned in, and carefully examined the jade bracelet. As he looked, his expression suddenly grew excited, and he nodded quickly. “It’s this one, no mistake, it’s this one.”
Shen Yunyun was a bit speechless. Could he really tell that this bracelet was the one belonging to the Tang family just by looking like that? He had never seen the actual item before—how could he possibly recognize it? Tang Yu had held it in his hands to examine it earlier, but this old man just used a magnifying glass and called it done? No matter how she looked at it, they seemed unreliable.
But Tang Yu had explained the bracelet’s origins, and she found it quite mysterious. She wasn’t sure. She’d wait and see.
“Kowtow to the ancestor.”
The village chief led the way, and the entire village followed suit, kowtowing. Even the centenarian, who had been carried in on a chair, was helped up shakily to kowtow to Shen Yunyun.
How could Shen Yunyun bear that? She quickly said, “Get up, all of you, get up.”
But the village chief was stubbornly sincere and refused to rise. Even the centenarian, muttering “ancestor” under his breath, struggled to kowtow along with the others.
Shen Yunyun was completely stunned. A hundred-year-old man kowtowing to her, calling her ancestor with every bow—the scene was utterly bizarre.
“Tang Yu, you…”
She turned around and saw Tang Yu kowtowing along with everyone else.
Damn it. This was going to shorten her lifespan.
When Tang Yu called her “great-aunt,” it hadn’t felt like much. But seeing people so much older than her kowtowing and calling her “ancestor” made her feel like she was losing her mind. She was genuinely afraid that the centenarian might not make it through.
Fortunately, after they finished kowtowing, the centenarian was still fine, his face flushed red, whether from the exertion or something else.
The village chief quickly called for the village’s young men to escort the ancestor to the ancestral hall.
Shen Yunyun: “…”
Well, she really had become an ancestor.
Entering Tang Family Village, an ancient atmosphere washed over her. At the village entrance stood a stone gate, not particularly grand but very old, with a guardian beast beside it. Above the gate, three bold and powerful characters were carved: Tang Family Village.
Walking into the village, the bluestone pavement was polished to a shine, clean and well-maintained. The streets weren’t wide—two cars couldn’t pass each other. On both sides, stone houses stood in a staggered, orderly fashion.
After a while, they reached a crossroads, which was relatively open. In the center stood a large elm tree, also quite old—three grown men linking arms might not be able to encircle it.