Indeed, just after Sister Wang called out, accompanied by the sound of a cane tapping the ground, it wasn’t long before a figure with a head of white hair, dressed in a puffy and thick outfit, appeared at the doorway.
"Dad, why have you come?" Ou Mucen’s relationship with his father wasn’t that harmonious before. Only recently, as his father had been quite caring towards his own woman, treating her as part of the family, had he started to grow closer to him.
Seeing him come in, he put down his chopsticks and went over to help him.
The elder didn’t refuse, but when Ou Mucen was about to guide him to the dining table, he rejected the offer and instead chose to sit down on the sofa.
Ou Mucen didn’t sense anything amiss and assumed that, being old, he might not like to sit on hard wooden chairs. So, he helped him over to the sofa, asking Sister Wang to pour him some tea.
"Dad, what’s the matter? It’s so late, you came over; won’t it be light soon?"
"Tomorrow? If I wait till tomorrow to come over, will you still be around?"
The old man’s first words were charged with annoyance!
Ou Mucen fell silent, just sitting there, waiting for his father to issue orders.
Yes, this old man, whenever he personally looked for him, always had a matter to address. Otherwise, he wouldn’t bother visiting; it was too much effort and not particularly welcomed.
As expected, after scolding, once Sister Wang served the tea and he had a sip, he began to speak, "Tomorrow, go back to the ancestral home for a worship ceremony. You and Bai Guanjie will both accompany me."
Worshipping the ancestors?
Ou Mucen sat there, momentarily stunned!
Why the sudden idea of worshipping ancestors? Isn’t that something we do during Qingming Festival? Why do it at this time?
Ou Mucen was a bit confused, "Why suddenly go back for ancestor worship? Wasn’t there no such rule before?"
The old man didn’t look pleased, "Rules are made by people. What’s wrong with ancestor worship during the New Year? The Ou Family never offered sacrifices at the ancestral graves during New Year. What’s so wrong with doing it now?"
Seeing his son’s reluctance, he paused, glanced at the girl by the dining table, and added, "Besides, you’re a father now. Shouldn’t you go back and inform the ancestors?"
Those words were effective. As soon as he finished speaking, the man who had been sitting on the sofa with a resistant expression began to soften his stance.
Indeed, as a descendant of the Ou Family with an offspring and a family established, it was right to go back and announce it.
Moreover, wasn’t he also planning to introduce his girl and his son to the outside world during the New Year’s Eve? In this case, informing the ancestors of the Ou Family was appropriate.
Ou Mucen sat there and thought it over carefully, and eventually, he agreed, "Fine, fine, you call the shots. We’ll get up early tomorrow, complete the ceremony, and then come back."
He wants to make a round trip in one day?
The old man sat there, his face turning green with anger at these words, "Do you think you’re a deity? You can come back in one day?"
"What do you think? Over a thousand kilometers and you want to round trip in one day? Why don’t you just fly?"
In fact, he had been considering taking to the skies—after all, it was only a thousand kilometers. Wouldn’t taking a helicopter suffice?
Feeling too lazy to argue about this with his father any further, now that the matter was discussed, Ou Mucen stood up and returned to the dining table, "Alright, I got it. You go ahead and head back. I haven’t finished eating yet."