With the ceremony so half-hearted this year, the gods might be angry! The Zhang Family lost so much grain—the gods are already displeased!
Forget it, let’s go. If the Zhang Family doesn’t care, why should we? We paid what we owed anyway. Let’s just leave.
The crowd quickly dispersed.
Cherry Miller looked at the pile of steaming mantou in front of her, feeling regret—no one came to collect them.
This is food, after all!
Is it just going to go to waste sitting here?
Mrs. Liu took advantage of the empty scene, sneaking out with a bag and stuffing it with mantou.
She looked up to see Cherry Miller watching her, then sheepishly said, "No one’s coming for them today, and they’ll spoil if left out. My family’s big—we hardly ever get to eat white mantou…"
Cherry Miller smiled, grabbed a few more mantou and stuffed them into Mrs. Liu’s bag, whispering, "I won’t tell anyone."
Mrs. Liu was delighted and whispered, "You should take some too! With all this rain, we won’t be able to plant the autumn crops. Without them, people will go hungry next year!"
How do you know we won’t be able to plant autumn crops? Maybe the rain will stop," Cherry Miller asked.
We farmers know how to read the weather. My mother-in-law says it’ll rain for three or five more days. If it does, most of the fields in Six Saints Town will be flooded," Mrs. Liu said, finishing up the last mantou. "I’ll head home first, you hold down the fort."
Cherry Miller nodded, and when she looked up at the sky, her worry deepened.
The rain was coming down too hard.
With this much rain, the mountains could soften.
The tragedy at Wang Family Village might happen again!
But Cherry Miller couldn’t worry about that now—the main event was about to begin.
The third day of the ceremony.
The Zhang Family arrived at the Shrine, all carrying umbrellas.
Today, a new leader would be chosen in the Shrine to guide the Zhang Family to glory.
Although the Zhang Family had already decided on the eldest son, they still had to go through the formalities.
Once inside the Shrine, the Zhang Family immediately closed the doors.
No one outside had any idea what was happening inside the Shrine.
The Zhang Family would make up a brand new myth to fool everyone again.
But even the Zhang Family didn’t know that a huge change was about to happen outside.
Just as no one was paying attention, a huge LED display suddenly appeared in the center of the town.
A sudden voice rang out in the town: "Want to know the secrets of Six Saints Town? Next, we’ll reveal the biggest secret of the last three hundred years."
Many families brought their wives and children to stroll the streets, buying snacks for the kids and treats for the elders at home.
Some young men and women used the occasion to check each other out—if two families hit it off, a marriage would soon follow; if not, they just went about their day as usual.
So anyone able to walk or leave home from the nearby villages came to town to join the fun.
After all, it was a grand event that only happened once every twenty years—nobody wanted to miss it.
Cherry Miller, as the Zhang Family's cook, had previously been punished and sent here to clean.
But today, she came to set up the stove and prepare to cook for the crowd.
To show their generosity and wealth, the Zhang Family would offer free meals in front of the Shrine for three days straight.
Any resident of Six Saints Town could come and get a free meal.
There were steamed rolls, buns, mantou, bean buns, and even some sweet twists, baked pancakes, naan, fried dough—basically, all sorts of hearty staples.
Although the weather in Six Saints Town had been good for years and no one went hungry, such refined pastries were still a rare treat.
So everyone was eager to join in, taking some home for the kids.
Cherry Miller and Mrs. Liu were in charge of making mantou and steamed rolls here.
Cherry Miller moved quickly, building the stove in no time, washing her hands, tying on an apron, and starting to knead the dough.
Within an hour, the aroma of mantou drifted from the Shrine's entrance, making kids nearby drool.
Mrs. Liu whispered to Cherry Miller, "The Zhang Family really is generous. Every Shrine Ceremony, they give out so much food. This year, after the grain was stolen, they paid top price to buy flour from the villages!"
Cherry Miller couldn't help but scoff inwardly.
You get what you pay for.
The Zhang Family made so much money in Six Saints Town—if they didn't maintain it, who would keep making money for them?
All it takes is handing out a bit of food to win people over. Why not?
Besides, it's only once every twenty years.
Cherry Miller chatted with Mrs. Liu while keeping an eye on Ryan King and Yina Yin.
The two of them were disguised as villagers out for a stroll. After meeting up with their bodyguards, they split into groups to plant things at prearranged spots.
This time, they were planning something big.
So the preparations took some time.
Cherry Miller was tasked with covering for them and keeping watch. If anyone approached, she would quickly warn them to leave.
Perhaps because the Zhang Family had too many recent problems, the family members who were supposed to patrol the Shrine today hadn't shown up yet.
This made things much easier for Ryan King and the others.
What was supposed to take two days was nearly finished in one.
"Should we move up our plan?" Yina Yin asked quietly while pretending to collect mantou.
"No, let's wait patiently." Cherry Miller glanced at the sky, a hint of worry in her eyes. "Looks like it's going to rain."
"It is going to rain," Yina Yin said. "I just checked the forecast—it’ll rain for the next three days."
"That's terrible news," Cherry Miller sighed, continuing to hand out food.
The first day passed smoothly.
On the second day of the ceremony, the weather was still uncooperative—heavy rain poured down.
There were far fewer people on the streets.
Although many still wanted to join the festivities and braved the rain with umbrellas, nobody wanted to get muddy, so they sheltered under eaves or in restaurants opposite the Shrine, watching the ceremony from afar.
Compared to previous years' grandeur, this year's ceremony felt half-hearted.
Even the Zhang Family's sons looked battered, as if they'd been in a fight.
"Why does the third Zhang son have such a bruise on his face? Did he get into a fight?" someone gossiped.
"Don’t you know? The eldest son tried to seize power, and he clashed with the third son. It was a big fight!"
They're all Zhang Family, what’s the point of fighting? Besides, only the blessed one gets to leave—what’s there to fight about?
Exactly, who knows what they’re fighting about.
Just then, someone explained from the back of the crowd: "Who really knows what the gods’ blessing means?"
Everyone turned to look, but couldn’t figure out who had just spoken.
The ritual dance in the Shrine was over, and next was supposed to be the parade.
But the rain kept coming down harder and harder, making the parade impossible.
People in the Shrine began to worry: "With this much rain, will there be a flood?"
The rain has been getting heavier these past two years. It was never this bad before. When I came over today, the water in the village ditch was up to my ankles. If this keeps up, the fields will flood, and we’ll lose our harvest.
Never mind the crops—are we still having a parade today or not? We can’t just stop the ceremony halfway.
How can we parade in this downpour? We’d be soaked in just a few steps!
While everyone was chattering, someone from the Zhang Family came with a message: "Due to the heavy rain, the parade is canceled for now. Please go home."
Oh no, the parade is really canceled! This has never happened before—isn’t this against tradition?