Before dawn, Majiazhuang was already busy inside and outside. Someone from every house came out with cleaning tools and started cleaning the streets.
Chen Yixin is a very tidy person, so all the streets in the village must be cleaned before dawn.
Especially inside and outside the Ma family ancestral hall, dozens of people were arranged to scrub the floor three times with clean water. Every place in the ancestral hall that can be touched by hands and visible by eyes, including the memorial tablets of ancestors enshrined, are all kept spotless.
The annual ancestor worship and clan meeting at the Ma Family Ancestral Hall was scheduled to be held on the second day of Haihan National Day as early as 20 years ago at the initiative of Chen Yixin.
However, this year Chen Yixin went south to Hangzhou before the National Day due to official business, and this annual sacrificial activity was inevitably affected.
Chen Yixin has a special status and has always been the protagonist of this clan activity. One of the purposes of many clan members who came from other places to attend the clan meeting was actually to meet Chen Yixin. This was one of the few opportunities for ordinary people to meet this important figure.
If Chen Yixin was not present, this event would lose at least half of its meaning. Therefore, at the suggestion of the patriarch Ma Qiangdong, related activities were postponed until Chen Yixin returned from Hangzhou.
Some clan members who came from other places to attend the clan meeting have been living in Fushan County for half a month, just waiting for Chen Yixin to return from the south.
When Chen Yixin returned to Majiazhuang from a meeting on Zhifu Island last night, Ma Qiangdong and other elders from the clan communicated with him and decided to hold the sacrificial event this morning.
Otherwise, Chen Yixin would be busy with official duties and would have to leave again after staying in Majiazhuang for only two days, and would not be able to participate in activities by then.
All kinds of sacrificial supplies have been prepared long before the National Day. Today, we only need to slaughter some more livestock and put on fresh fruits.
Ma Dongqiang came to the ancestral hall early in the morning with a walking stick to check the completion of various preparations. This kind of trivial matter does not actually require him to do it personally, but this is a habit he has developed over the years, and he must check it in person before the sacrificial activity.
And there is another reason, that is, Ma Dongqiang will hand over the position of patriarch to his eldest son Ma Cai at today's clan meeting. Today is also the last time that he will fulfill his responsibilities as the patriarch. When this event is held next year, it will be the turn of the next clan leader who is following him to be responsible for inspection.
Of course, Ma Dongqiang's selfish intention was to hand over the position of patriarch to his son-in-law. After all, Chen Yixin had no other family members. When he married Ma Yuling, even if he married into the Ma family, he could barely be the patriarch. When Chen Yixin gets old, he can pass the position of patriarch back to the children of the Ma family.
However, Chen Yixin held a high position and was busy with many things at ordinary times. He had no time to take care of the Ma family's family affairs, and he had no interest in the position of the patriarch.
Ma Dongqiang's son Ma Cai is a few years older than Chen Yixin, and he is now in his fifties. However, being a clan leader means that you have to be a little older to convince the crowd, and Ma Cai's reputation, age, and abilities make it the best time to take up the position of clan leader.
Of course, the most important thing is that Chen Yixin also made it clear that he will support his brother-in-law. With his backing, Ma Dongqiang can rest assured that Ma Cai will inherit the position.
Despite this, Ma Dongqiang still told Ma Cai that today's clan meeting needs to be handled carefully, because there are actually many people in the clan who are eyeing this son, and not everyone has no objection to Ma Dongqiang's arrangement of his son to take over the position of clan leader.
Today's Ma family is no longer the unknown local clan it was before Haihan arrived. Since marrying Chen Yixin, the Ma family has grown up at a very fast speed and is now considered an influential and famous family in the entire Shandong.
Even some clans with the same surname from other places have been trying every means to get married to the Ma family in Fushan in recent years. They just want to gain the protection of Haihan and use the Ma family's special status to seek other benefits. Nowadays, the Ma family has long got rid of their status as landlords, and is no longer limited to agricultural operations. The wealth under their control has become uncountable.
In fact, many of these properties belong to Chen Yixin, but he is too busy and unable to send his wife and children out to take care of business, so some of them are entrusted to the Ma family for management.
From the perspective of the outside world, Fushan Copper Mine, Zhaoyuan Gold Mine, Longkou Coal Mine, as well as major ports on the Shandong Peninsula, external shipping trade, chain banks, etc., as long as they are famous industries in the Denglai area, almost all of them are The Ma family was involved.
The properties managed by the Ma family are all the most profitable businesses at the moment, and anyone who looks at them will feel greedy. But behind the scenes, there is a big Buddha like Chen Yixin who cannot afford to offend. It is not easy for outsiders to grab some benefits from the Ma family.
But the Ma clan members have never stopped coveting Ma Dongqiang's position as clan leader. Although no one dares to kick out Ma Qiangdong at the risk of provoking Chen Yixin, they can always wait until Ma Qiangdong retires and abdicates, so that he can legitimately compete with Ma Cai for this position.
It was not difficult for Ma Dongqiang to imagine that when he announced his resignation as the patriarch and announced that Ma Cai would succeed him, someone would jump in to disrupt the situation.
However, Ma Dongqiang felt more relieved when he thought that his son-in-law Chen Yixin would also attend the event later. As long as Chen Yixin is on his side, it will be useless for anyone to oppose this arrangement.
Thinking of this, he told Ma Cai: "Go and see if your brother-in-law is up. You can come with him later. It's okay to be a little late."
Ma Cai understood the idea, nodded and left.
Ma Cai and Chen Yixin will appear together later, and people with a discerning eye should be able to understand the situation. If another blind guy jumps out to disrupt the situation, Ma Dongqiang will not show mercy.
After the sky lit up, representatives from each branch of the Ma family came to the ancestral hall to report.
Many people had already arrived, and it was almost time for the sacrificial ceremony to be held, when Ma Cai and Chen Yixin arrived belatedly.
Ma Cai and Chen Yixin walked side by side, while Ma Yuling followed behind holding her daughter Chen Ping'er's hand. Then there were several young men dressed in black with pistols and daggers on their waists, all of whom were Chen Yixin's personal guards.
No matter what their age or status, everyone in the ancestral hall bowed and bowed to welcome Chen Yixin.
Chen Yixin didn't put on any airs, he smiled and returned the greetings to everyone around him. Finally, he walked up to Ma Dongqiang and bowed slightly to salute.
Ma Dongqiang nodded and then signaled Ma Cai to start.
Ma Cai raised his voice and announced: "The time has come, the sacrifice has begun, and the sacrificial text has been read out!"