Golden Fishing Village

Since ancient times, agricultural activities have been inseparable from offering sacrifices to heaven, and fishing activities have been inseparable from offering sacrifices to the sea. Whether it is opening the sea, praying for rain or various festivals and celebrations, fishermen have to offer sacrifices to the sea.

This time, the Fishing Lantern Festival was very big. The town government examined the records of historical customs in the county annals and strictly restored the traditional Fishing Lantern Festival and improved it. One of the improvements was to invite the chief priest to read the sacrificial text.

Ao Wenchang was most familiar with this, because he was the chief priest who read the sacrificial text when praying for rain in autumn.

The two of them did not catch up with the opening of the event, but they caught up with the climax. At this time, there were many people distributed around the town dock. All public officials were mobilized around to maintain order. I don’t know how many people and tourists were looking forward to the direction of the dock.

A red carpet extended from the dock to the sea. At the end of the dock was the altar. On both sides, a rope was hung high. The golden lanterns were hung on the ropes and swayed in the wind. There were bells hidden inside, which made crisp sounds from time to time.

Also on both sides of the pier, there was a blessing flag every three or five steps. The sea breeze fluttered and the flags fluttered. Ao Muyang exclaimed: "Oh, what a grand scene!"

The chief priest held up a bowl and poured wine into the sea from the end of the pier. After pouring three bowls in a row, Lv Zhichao, who served as the master of ceremonies, came out to direct a group of strong young fishermen to carry and carry several large baskets of tributes to the altar.

Ao Muyang stood on tiptoe and looked forward. He saw a whole pig and a whole sheep, as well as chickens, ducks, geese, and various fish and shrimps.

After placing the tributes, two strong men carried an antique wine jar to the altar and put it down. Ao Wenchang had sharp eyes and pulled him and said: "The leaders of each village are lining up to go on stage. You, the leader, should hurry up too."

Lv Zhichao made arrangements in advance for this. Ao Muyang took off his coat to reveal the traditional fisherman's clothes sent by the town. He wore a black coat with a front opening and dragon pants as the base, and quickly stepped forward to squeeze into the crowd.

Yang Shuyong winked when he saw him and said, "Why are you pushing towards us? Go to the front and lead the team."

Ao Muyang said vaguely, "No need, it doesn't matter where you stand."

Village cadres in uniform lined up on the dock. Some used large bowls to scoop wine from the wine jars, passing the bowls back and forth. Finally, everyone held a bowl of strong liquor and, under the leadership of the chief priest, held the bowls above their heads and chanted aloud: "First, respect the Bodhisattva: the well-being of all people; second, respect the country: the prosperity of the country; third, respect the Dragon King: the cabin is full of fish and shrimp."

They sprinkled the wine into the sea, and then music sounded, and a group of girls and boys in bright clothes came on stage to dance.

The sea sacrifice ended, and the group left the dock, and the Fishing Lantern Festival officially began.

In the past few years, each village held its own festival. For example, in the past two years, Longtou Village would hold similar activities after the New Year. This year, the village tore it off and did not hold it. The town held it uniformly during the Fishing Lantern Festival, and the scale was even grander.

The sound of music, firecrackers, and gongs and drums rang out together, and the sound was deafening.

Two fleets appeared on the sea. The boats were wooden boats, decorated with lights and colors, and were dressed up as colorful boats. There were couplets on the bows, and big red wedding characters were hung on the masts of the boats. In addition, there was a row of colorful flags below, and lights shone upwards, shining on the translucent colorful flags. When the sea breeze blew, the colorful flags danced, as if the fleet was covered with colorful clouds!

When they arrived near the sea, the fishing lights on the fishing boats were lit up one after another, and countless large and small fishing lights appeared on the boats, illuminating the surrounding sea surface into colors.

There were also gongs and drums and suona sounds on the boats, which once suppressed the sound of the waves, leaving only colorful waves dancing with the boats.

People and tourists were evacuated to the main street, which was now full of colorful fishing lights, and the entire town center was as bright as day.

There are riddles on the fishing lanterns, and there are service staff at a distance. After guessing the riddles, you can go to the service point to verify. Once you guess correctly, you will get rewards. The prizes vary, including food and beverage vouchers and household utensils, etc., which are very rich.

After Ao Muyang found Lu Zhizi, he walked along the street. He was amazed by this fishing lantern festival: "The town really spent a lot of money this time. How much do you think this event cost?"

Lu Zhizi shook his head and said, "It's hard to say, it must start at one million."

Lv Zhichao is not the kind of bureaucrat who only cares about pomp and circumstance. He spent a huge amount of money and must have corresponding gains. The service staff will guide the young people attending the meeting to take pictures of the scenes of the fishing lantern festival and post them to Moments or various self-media platforms, and work hard to create an Internet celebrity fishing town.

Ao Muyang went to guess the riddles, and guessed four or five in a row, in exchange for juice, yogurt and grilled chicken legs. He ate and drank, and someone complimented him on his quick thinking, which made him very happy.

Lu Zhizi went to put the boat lantern, and the town prepared a lot of radishes. The fishermen's boat lanterns were made of radishes.

It takes a lot of skill to cut the radish into the shape of a boat lantern. Of course, if you want to make it simple, you can cut the radish into two halves horizontally, hollow out the middle and fix a candle, and cover it with a paper cover. This is a boat lantern.

This kind of boat lantern is very unstable. After being put into the sea, it will be overturned by the waves.

Ao Muyang saw Ao Jinfu eating chicken legs, so he pulled him over and said, "Fuwa, carve a boat lantern for me, and I'll get you a bottle of juice later."

Ao Jinfu lowered his head and gnawed the chicken leg. After a while, he whispered, "Brother Village Chief, you can't let others help you carve the boat lantern, otherwise it won't be able to express your blessings."

Ao Muyang said, "It's okay, I know."

Ao Jinfu hesitated for a while and whispered again, "Then I don't want juice, I want a bottle of beer."

"Okay."

Ao Jinfu ate up the chicken legs and smashed the chicken bones again before going to get the carving knife and green radish to work.

A thick green radish twirled in his hand, and then he held the carving knife with three fingers in his other hand and began to dance quickly on the green radish.

He didn't cut the radish in half, but carved it from the bottom first, cut out the two sides with a few swipes, leaving the bottom alone, then cut from the top, cut the radish and pulled out the flesh, leaving another A thin and even layer of radish meat.

Within a minute or two, a carrot boat appeared in his hand. There was a small hole left in the middle of the boat, just right for inserting a candle. There were also small holes in the front and back, which were used to insert wooden sticks. Hang wax paper, firstly, to make a sail, and secondly, to block the sea breeze from the candlelight. It is very beautiful.

Ao Muyang took the boat lantern and gave it to Lu Zhizi. Lu Zhizi lit the candle and put the boat into the sea water. Just as a wave hit it, Lu Zhizi subconsciously shouted: "It's broken!"

The waves hit the carrot boat, but the small boat swayed twice. When the waves receded, it drifted deeper into the ocean with the waves.

Seeing this, the people around were very surprised: "Wow, this ship's light is really stable."

Immediately, someone crowded in front of Ao Jinfu and said, "Brother, can you carve one for me?"

Ao Jinfu shook his head and the man said, "I'll give you ten yuan!"

"Tch, ten dollars counts as a ball, I'll give you twenty!"

Ao Jinfu thought about it and grinned: "Twenty yuan will help you carve a boat lantern. Come and pay if you are willing."

Lu Zhizi stood on the beach and looked at the distant ship lights, with his hands clasped together and a pious expression on his face.