Chapter 136 - The First Day Of The Chinese New Year
The first day of the Chinese New Year.
The crisp, cold morning air presses a thick layer of mist over the lake, making West Lake look like a silver-haired maiden draped in a mysterious veil. The mist drifts out of the reeds at the edge of the lake, as smooth as silk, hazily and gently spreading over the Moonlight Valley. Frost hangs on the icy grass and a few crows peck discontentedly at the frost-covered remains of fireworks scattered on the ground. After a night of human hustle and bustle, everything has returned to the boundless silence of nature, and as the sun rises, the boundaries of the different worlds become blurred.
Yuan Ge's sound sleep is disturbed by a peculiar aroma. Puzzled, he opens his eyes, seeing a faint white smoke wafting about in the room, and hurriedly jumps out of bed.
What is going on here? The appliances in the house are all electrical, not gas, and there are no open flames anywhere; has this guy managed to pull off yet another surprise for him in the New Year?
Yuan Ge scurries upstairs and downstairs, trying to find the source of the smoke, and eventually finds out that the smell is actually coming from his home cinema room. He can't help but break out in a cold sweat on his forehead. Has the little loony been watching movies for so long that his home cinema system has caught fire? He rushes into the room, only to see Rong Qiuchen standing in the middle of the room with a solemn face, holding three large incense sticks in his hands, worshipping in the direction of north, south, east and west.
"What are you doing here? Making the whole house all smoky!" Yuan Ge is relieved but also confused.
"Gege is up too late. Come and burn the first incense of the New Year with me. It's not good to miss the hour!" Rong Qiuchen replies as a matter of course.
Yuan Ge looks around the room curiously, and sees that the incense sticks held in Rong Qiuchen's hands are thick and long, emitting a strong sandalwood scent, and with his straight and graceful figure, it's quite ritualistic and beautiful to look at.
"This incense came out of some corner of my mother's room again, didn't it?"
"Yes."
Using antiques as everyday objects, how extravagant is that!
Yuan Ge can't help but imagine the look on his mother Professor Fu's face when she finds out about this. Anyway, there is no point in leaving all her old junk in a corner to collect dust. As his father said, putting these things to good use is the best way to realise their value, so just let him use them as he pleases.
"But why did you choose to burn incense in the home cinema room?"
Yuan Ge watches Rong Qiuchen place an old, clean incense burner on the table in front of the sofa, and insert the three large incense sticks into it solemnly.
"According to the tradition of Peking Opera, on the first day of the New Year, one not only needs to worship the ancestor of the opera, but also needs to worship one's equipment, such as swords, spears, costumes and other paraphernalia, in order to be blessed by the ancestor in the New Year and have all the best of luck."
"The ancestor of the opera?"
"It's Emperor Xuanzong of Tang."[1]
It was then that it dawned on Yuan Ge. Emperor Xuanzong of Tang was a famous opera lover, and as such has been worshipped as the god of opera in later times.
"You superstitious little fellow, you're burning incense in this room because you think everything in this room is the director's equipment, right?" Yuan Ge finds that he has actually gotten used to Rong Qiuchen's peculiar logic.
Rong Qiuchen nods with a smile and takes another three large incense sticks and passes them to Yuan Ge.
"Gege is blessed with the talent of acting. And I, thanks to Gege, am able to watch films every night and have learned a lot, so it is only right that I should pay my respects to the gods through these incense."
"Well, you seem to be able to rationalise everything you do!"
Yuan Ge takes the incense from Rong Qiuchen's hand and follows his example, "Heaven above, earth below, the projector, the player, the various discs and hard drives in this room, the god of cinema and the god of art, please take a few more puffs of smoke and bless me, Yuan Ge, with a masterpiece in the New Year that will leave a name in the history of cinema. If I prayed in the wrong way or the respect I gave was not enough, please do not blame me, but this Rong Qiuchen beside me."
Rong Qiuchen listens to his nonsense prayer on the side, smiles and doesn't seem to mind, just respectfully bowing along with him.
Yuan Ge puts the sticks into the incense burner and says to Rong Qiuchen, "Today is the first day of the New Year, let's go shopping and buy you some clothes. I can't pocket the New Year's lucky money my dad gave you, and besides, you can't wear my clothes all the time. They don't even fit you that well."
"Yes, Gege's trousers always seem to be a little tight …" says Rong Qiuchen. His eyes twinkle, showing a hint of mischief.
"Don't be so cheeky! It's not like I've never seen you before. What you have down there is not exactly bigger than mine!"
When Yuan Ge stepped into the home cinema room today, memories of yesterday came flooding back. And now, although he is blushing a little, Rong Qiuchen's words have somehow stirred up his competitive spirit.
Heck, it is a matter of a man's pride. He must not go down without a fight!
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[1] Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, also commonly known as Emperor Ming of Tang or Illustrious August, personal name Li Longji, was the seventh emperor of the Tang dynasty in China. His reign of 43 years was the longest during the Tang dynasty. In the early half of his reign he was a diligent and astute ruler, and was credited with bringing Tang China to a pinnacle of culture and power.. However, he was blamed for over-trusting Li Linfu, Yang Guozhong and An Lushan during his late reign, with Tang's golden age ending in the An Lushan Rebellion.