Carrying a Jurassic on me
Chapter 971 - 524: Fifteen Lion Dance_2

Chapter 971: Chapter 524: Fifteen Lion Dance_2

"He wishes!" Lin Xiumei’s eyes darted angrily. "All day long he talks about quitting smoking, but the moment he’s out, he’s the quickest to take and offer cigarettes. And still he wants spending money for tobacco—he must be dreaming. I’m telling you, you’re not to give him any. Yan Wenhai, you listen too, don’t you dare have the nerve to ask your son for money, got it?"

This was a disaster out of nowhere. Yanfei’s father hadn’t said a word, and suddenly he found himself ’betrayed’ by his son into being the scapegoat, getting an earful from his wife, and not daring to speak a word—after all, smoking was indefensible. He could reason about other matters, but not this one; there truly was nothing to say.

Off to the side, Xu Xiaoyan took advantage of others being distracted to secretly pinch Yan Fei several times, hard. This guy was too wicked, selling out his own father just to avoid being scolded by his mom, utterly incorrigible.

Having given Yan Wenhai a mouthful, Lin Xiumei then realized that she was diverted by Yan Fei, and in a blink, she was pointing her finger repeatedly at Yan Fei’s forehead: "You little rascal, you’ve even started fooling your own mother now, haven’t you?"

Yan Fei chuckled non-stop, quickly and efficiently finished wrapping the last few red packets, grabbed them up, and stuffed them into his pockets. Then he scooped up his younger brother and ran outside: "Let’s go see the lion dance!"

The little guy, suddenly lifted up, wasn’t startled in the slightest; he was used to this kind of thing. He giggled ceaselessly and didn’t forget to call out, "Dad, mom, sister-in-law, hurry up, we’re off to see the big lions!"

Although it wasn’t the first time the little guy called her sister-in-law in front of Yan Fei’s parents, Xu Xiaoyan’s face still got hot every time she heard the title.

The small family arrived at the front gate where Heizi and the others were already waiting with firecrackers and candies. The firecrackers were to welcome the arrival of the lion dancers; if you didn’t set them off, they’d pass by directly—this was the custom. If a small shop didn’t prepare firecrackers, they’d give a heads-up, prepare gifts, and call the lion dancers over. If they didn’t call, the dancers wouldn’t come over to avoid embarrassment if the hosts weren’t prepared with gifts.

As for the candy, it was to welcome the children; usually, after the firecrackers went off, naughty children would come over to pick up unlit firecrackers and take them to play with. Although the cattle farm was a bit far from town, it was perfectly fine for adults to grab a handful too—the more people, the livelier the scene, symbolizing a more prosperous year.

The older generation places more importance on this symbolic meaning. Inevitably, some people, especially the younger ones, have to prove that they are ’awake in a crowd of drunkenness’ and see it as superstition. Actually, festivals are all about the hustle and bustle. If everything is considered superstition, then there’s no point in celebrating any festival, and one would merely eat to satiety without experiencing hunger.

Interestingly, there’s a holiday that’s not steeped in superstition, the Western Thanksgiving. Many people think that Western holidays are superior and blindly celebrate them. This is, in fact, the biggest joke. Back then, a group of white people in dire straits received help from Native Americans; then, after these white people settled in, they perpetrated one massacre after another against the Native Americans, took over their land, and still had the gall to celebrate ’Thanksgiving’ to show they hadn’t forgotten the help they received.

If that’s what being grateful means, then the world could do with fewer ’Thanksgivings’...

Just as everything at the entrance to the cattle farm was ready, a team carrying lion heads and drums started heading this way. Heizi and his group could never resist causing a little chaos; seeing people crossing the bridge not quite prepared, Heizi called out to Li Fang to raise the bamboo pole wrapped with firecrackers and reached for a lighter to ignite them.

The group on the other side saw the preparations at the gate and hurriedly lifted the lion head, pounding the drums and running over this way.

Whether it’s a rule or not, as soon as the firecrackers went off, the lion dancers had to start their performance underneath them. If the firecrackers finished before the lions arrived, it seemed improper—an occurrence that rarely happened, so no one really knew what it implied.

Before the firecrackers were lit, Yan Chao had already covered his ears like a pro, screaming excitedly as he watched the lions approach, his little face turning bright red with enthusiasm, not knowing what to say for joy.

Fortunately, the firecrackers prepared by the cattle farm were long-lasting enough that the two lion dancers managed to arrive just as they were finishing up. The drummers and gong players ran as fast as they could too. Still, despite their rush, their beats remained precise, proof of their well-honed skills, not just some haphazard lion dance for pocket change on the streets.

As it happened, the cattle farm’s location had its advantages; any lion or dragon dance teams coming from the west would just be getting started when they reached this spot, when they were still at their most spirited and energetic.

Yan Chao, thrilled, started jumping around and finally wriggled free from Yan Fei’s grip, asking his brother to put him down so he could bounce on the ground and shout. Kids these days were braver than ever; some used to cry at the sight of a "lion," but now they all knew it was fake and even dared to approach and touch it as it leapt toward them.

Seeing his brother so excited, Yan Fei crouched down and handed him a red packet: "Do you want to try reaching into the lion’s mouth?"

"Ah?" The little one, amidst his excitement, perked up at the suggestion but was a bit scared. Even if he knew it was fake, that "lion" was still pretty big!

But in the end, he didn’t disappoint Yan Fei; gathering his courage, he took the red packet and went up to try.