Time flies indeed! Days passed by in a blink of an eye. This morning, not long after Chen Lan finished her breakfast, she had just carried the dragon-phoenix twins downstairs. She was about to have breakfast with her mother for the siblings.
Uncle De and Uncle Fu, as usual, had gone to the greenhouses to work early after breakfast. According to what they said last night at dinner, the vegetables in the greenhouses were growing very well, and the first batch of spinach was expected to be ready before the Lunar New Year!
Everyone was delighted to hear this. Except for the occasional finely chopped greens Chen Lan added to the steamed egg custard for the little ones, the adults hadn't eaten any green vegetables for a long time.
Mother Liu and Mother Cui were cleaning the dishes and the stove in the kitchen.
Grandma was preparing to go out to visit the sewing shop.
Qian Yingzi, beaming with joy, followed behind Xu Hao and came to invite Chen Lan and her entire family to their home as guests.
As soon as Xu Hao entered, he stated their purpose: "Xiao Lan, Auntie, and esteemed auntie, today is our youngest son Tiedan's first birthday. Yingzi and I, on behalf of our entire family, are here to invite your whole family to come and liven things up for our son's birthday celebration and to have a drink at his birthday banquet."
Grandma and Mother immediately nodded happily and offered their congratulations repeatedly: "Congratulations! Congratulations! We will certainly come. This is a joyous occasion, and our entire family will definitely go to join in the fun and share in the good fortune!"
Qian Yingzi, seeing Chen Lan, said with a smile, "Xiao Lan, Tiedan is celebrating his first birthday today, and it's a beautiful sunny day! I've come to invite you, Auntie, and your whole family to our home for a celebratory drink."
Chen Lan smiled and readily agreed! She also offered her congratulations repeatedly: "Congratulations! Congratulations!"
Qian Yingzi then looked at Chen Lan with a touch of shyness and said, "Xiao Lan, could I ask you for a favor? Could you please lend us some items for the 'zhuazhou' ceremony? We don't have any of those precious writing instruments like brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones at home. You can rest assured, I know these items are valuable and not cheap. I won't damage them. As soon as we're done, I'll return them to you immediately. Would that be alright?" She looked at Chen Lan expectantly.
Chen Lan smiled and replied, "Sister Qian, no problem at all. You don't need to return them. Consider them a gift from me to Tiedan. You go back and get busy. After I finish feeding the twins their breakfast, I'll prepare these 'zhuazhou' items, along with some wine and dishes. Once everything is ready, I'll bring it over to your place."
Qian Yingzi's face broke into a wide, sincere smile, and she repeatedly thanked her, "Xiao Lan, thank you! Thank you so much! You're spending money for us again! You've helped me immensely. You must have a few extra drinks at the banquet later!"
The mother and daughter saw the couple off, and Grandma also accompanied them to the sewing shop.
Watching the three of them walk away, Chen Lan turned back and sat on the sofa. While feeding Jiahui her egg custard, she asked her mother, "Mom, are there any customs for a child's first birthday?"
Her mother, while spooning some egg custard into Jiayao's mouth, asked with a smile, "Why? Lan'er, are you thinking of making some preparations for Jia Hui and Jia Hui in advance after learning about them?"
Chen Lan nodded, then immediately explained, "Mom, I do have that thought, but it's not entirely that. Do you remember what you said last time about Tiedan having a good destiny? I suspect Qian Yingzi took those casual remarks of yours seriously. She's taken them to heart, and I'm afraid that the greater her expectations for Tiedan in the future, the greater her disappointment will be."
Her mother asked in surprise, "Lan'er, why do you say that? Is it really that serious? Will Tiedan really not have a great future?"
Chen Lan looked at her mother very seriously and said, "Mom, your daughter is not a celestial being. I truly don't know if Tiedan will have a great future or not! Think about it, we're planning to live in this valley for at least twenty-eight or twenty-nine years, up to thirty years. I can ensure they have food and clothing in this remote place, and I can even manage to bring them some luck with wealth. However, we're not planning to leave the valley at all. How can we know where Tie Dan can meet his destined benefactor so that he can achieve great success in the future? But I see that Qian Yingzi has high hopes for Tiedan. She seems to be expecting Tiedan to be the pillar of their Xu family. Don't you think this is a serious matter?"
Her mother didn't know what to say for a moment. She only asked with some anxiety, "Lan'er, then what should we do? You explained it to her for a long time that day, and you even told her that it's superstition and shouldn't be believed, but she still took it seriously. What can we do? Sigh! It's all my fault for my mouth, for saying something I shouldn't have, and saying 'good destiny on the first day of the twelfth lunar month'!"
Seeing her mother's distressed expression, Chen Lan thought for a moment and said, "Mom, we can only take things one step at a time. This time, for Tiedan's first birthday, we'll give a generous gift as compensation for Tiedan. In the future, we can only pay more attention and care for this child."
Her mother thought about it and nodded, "There are no other good solutions, so we can only do that."
Thus, her mother no longer dwelled on it and continued, "For a child's first birthday, they usually have a 'zhuazhou' ceremony! This involves placing several large plates filled with items like books, brushes, ink, paper, inkstones, an abacus, money, food, and toys around the child. The child is allowed to grab anything freely without any guidance. Adults can only watch from the side to see what the child grabs first and what they grab next, to infer the child's future aspirations. Lan'er, actually, this is also superstition and not to be taken seriously!"
Chen Lan nodded and replied, "Mom, I know, but Qian Yingzi believes in it! Our family can't be too careless. We must treat it seriously. Moreover, given Tiedan's situation, the gift cannot be too meager."
Her mother said with some self-reproach, "Lan'er, it's all my fault for my mouth, saying irrelevant things and causing you trouble. You won't blame me, will you?" She looked at Chen Lan nervously.
Chen Lan saw her mother's nervous expression and chuckled, "Mom, what are you thinking? How can you blame yourself? This is just casual everyday conversation! It was a natural flow of conversation! Things just came up as we talked. But Qian Yingzi insisted on believing it. What can we mother and daughter do? I've explained to Qian Yingzi for a long time that this is superstition and shouldn't be believed or taken seriously, but she insisted on believing it. What recourse do we have?"
Her mother thought about it and agreed. Thus, she stopped dwelling on it, and the mother and daughter began to discuss the gift they should prepare.