Chapter 17 17: House God Toad
Malice is thoughts that are harmful to others. Intangible and qualitative, it is difficult to detect.
But who is Chen Jin?
Normally, the spirit is hidden in the Niwan Palace for warmth and nourishment. Once it is stimulated by the outside world, it will become alarmed.
This is the characteristic of the fundamental method of "visualization and induction".
He remained calm and pretended to wait and see.
But the other party was very vigilant. Once his malicious intentions were released, he quickly restrained himself and hid them well.
Being able to retract and release it so freely means that he is not an ordinary person, but a practicing person.
Are there any cultivators in Chen Zexiang?
Chen Jin didn't know much about it. He only heard that there was a goddess who was very talkative. She lived in a remote and gloomy place and rarely interacted with people.
He did not think that such a goddess was a true cultivator.
So, is it an outsider who is unleashing evil intentions on him now?
Tonight, the township head's family held a grand banquet, not only inviting people from the village, but also many people from outside.
It is said that the invitation was sent to the Yamen.
Although the county official cannot invite Mr. Song, the other party should send a staff member to entertain him, which can be regarded as a face-saving gesture.
After all, Chen Jiande was also a prominent local squire and landlord.
"Ajin, you're here!"
An excited voice sounded, and a person came to say hello, it was Chen Liang.
He is tall and thin, with three short strands of beard, and his eyes are slightly dull, with a tendency to be cross-eyed.
Although Chen Jin and he were classmates, their age difference was more than ten years.
This situation is not surprising. Some old boys in their 40s and 50s and young boys in their teens are classmates.
"Ajin, where were you a while ago? I couldn't find you. Your uncle said you went into the city."
Chen Liang asked.
Chen Jin replied: "Yes, I stayed at a friend's house for a few days."
Chen Liang was stunned: "Do you have a friend in the city? Who is it? Do I know him?"
He asks questions like a barrage of questions, but he is a lively guy.
In his opinion, it was quite novel in itself that Chen Jin could get to know people who lived in the county.
Chen Jin said calmly: "I'm a new acquaintance."
Chen Liang said "Oh" and said: "Next time you have a chance, you have to introduce me to me."
Chen Jin: "..."
In fact, he didn't have much interaction with Chen Liang. With the scholar's previous temperament, he was dull and didn't have much to say to anyone.
But Chen Liang is a sociable person, and he probably thinks that Chen Jin has the potential to gain fame in the exam. As soon as he opened the chatterbox, he started talking non-stop: "Last time I went to see you, I wanted to go to the city with you to pay a visit to the Confucian Temple. God returns the wish.”
“Shouldn’t you go there after passing the student membership exam?”
"It's okay to pass the examination as a boy. If you worship many gods, you will be blessed by the gods. But to fulfill your wishes to the gods, you need to prepare a lot of things, which is troublesome. It's not a bad idea to wait until you pass the examination to become a scholar."
Chen Jin didn't want to waste time on such boring things and asked directly: "You have a family god at home. What kind of god is it?"
Household gods are a large conceptual category, covering a lot of content. If broken down, they include seeking wealth, having children, controlling the house, exorcising evil spirits, etc.
There are all kinds of things.
In terms of type and functionality, it is almost the same as those of the main gods in big temples outside.
But the difference is that the main deity of the temple is open. Anyone can come to worship and pray. And the household god is limited to one’s own household.
To make an analogy, the gods outside are equivalent to the imperial government offices, while the household gods are the private guardians. If something really happened at home, it would be difficult to expect the government officials to come to rescue and help. It would be much easier if there were guards at the hospital.
Of course, it is not an ordinary family that can invite family gods and can afford to worship them.
Ordinary people, ordinary people, can only stare.
Chen Liang had a smile on his face and lowered his voice: "When other people ask, I usually won't tell them. But you are different, Ajin. Let me tell you, my family invited a toad god."
Chen Jin was startled: "What is the Toad God? Toad?"
Chen Liang smiled slightly and said: "You don't know something about this. The ancients said: Toad is the god of fame and fortune."
Chen Jin asked: "Shouldn't the god of fame, fame and fortune should be sacrificed to Lord Kuixing?"
Chen Liang explained: "There is more than one god in charge of fame and fortune, there are many. Emperor Wenchang, Kuixing Wenqu, sages and saints, etc. But they are the great gods of the three religions, and they need to be worshiped in main temples and at home. Can’t afford it.”
Chen Jin nodded and said: "It makes sense."
Chen Liang added: "You and I are of the same race and hometown, and have been classmates for many years. We should go hand in hand and move forward hand in hand. It's a pity that the family god I invited cannot let you come to offer sacrifices and offer incense."
Chen Jin smiled and said: "It doesn't matter, I won't worship that god."
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Chen Liang only thought that he was pretending to be free and easy to cover up his loss, and he wanted to say something else.
A servant ran up and shouted: "Master, Master, Mr. Zhu from the Yamen, Ma Baotou and others have arrived at the entrance of the village. I want you to go over and greet them quickly."
"Really? That would be great."
Chen Liang perked up.
Although the county magistrate was not invited, a master came, and he had a good reputation, so he had to go and receive him immediately: "A Jin, you can do it yourself."
Turn around and leave quickly.
Chen Jin ignored them and continued to look around. Unfortunately, people were coming and going and he couldn't find that person.
Maybe, hidden.
After waiting for a while, the table was finally opened and the food started to be served.
The chairs and tables on the scene are arranged in a very regular manner. Different people have different seats, and they are arranged in order of superiority and inferiority. They cannot sit casually.
Because he was born as a child and was a scholar, Chen Jin was assigned a good seat even though he couldn't sit in the upper seat.
Most of the people sitting at the table were scholars, and their words and deeds were elegant. There are many etiquettes between each other, but when it comes to general communication, they are all "just what they want".
Chen Jin was too lazy to get involved and said hello: "Everyone, pick up your chopsticks. Don't wait until the food is cold and unpalatable."
In this season and at this time, the food and wine will indeed get cold very quickly after they are served.
I have to say that tonight’s meal of wine, meat and wine is really good. There are eight kinds of food, fish, meat, chicken and duck. They are all complete and the portions are very generous.
In the past few days, he had eaten a lot of delicacies and game in the mountains, but the methods were simple and lacked seasonings. Now when he came to eat these stir-fried dishes, he suddenly felt that they had a different flavor.
Several other people were still chatting, watching the number of good dishes and meat on the table dwindling at a speed visible to the naked eye. They all suddenly felt anxious, no longer caring about politeness, and quickly picked up their chopsticks and started eating.
Just kidding, they are basically poor people with no background. They may not be able to eat meat twice a year. What a great opportunity tonight, if I miss it, I don’t know how long it will be before I have another chance to have a meal.
If Chen Jin eats them all by himself, he will suffer a huge loss.
At the beginning of eating, the etiquette was completely messed up, but with chopsticks flying around, I only picked up the good meat.
After all, there isn't much good meat left, so if you're slow, you won't be able to grab it.
When Chen Jin saw this, he secretly cursed: Why bother? Even though he was told to eat, he was still "looking up to me for a long time" and "please give me lots of advice". Come for a meal and make friends.
He has been merciful, otherwise, these people would never get a piece of meat.
After filling his stomach, Chen Jin thought about going to see what the so-called "Toad God" invited by Chen Liang's family looked like.
(End of chapter)