Chapter 84: The ""Three-Day Bath"" Ceremony

Today was the day of Ping’an’s “Three-Day Bath” ceremony. After breakfast, as usual, Mother Zhang followed the midwife’s instructions and prepared all the necessary items: a new comb, new soap, new towel, a navel pin, a hot water bottle, a new wooden tray, thick cloth, pastries, tea leaves, a copper tea tray, green onions, ginger slices, mugwort leaves, locust branches, a warming basket, both raw and cooked eggs, a wooden mallet, and so on.

She also dyed longans, lychees, raw peanuts, and chestnuts red with red paper, just in case. Many of these things she had already prepared before her grandson was born, so she was quite familiar with the process and handled it all with ease.

Early that morning, Grandma Zhou arrived at the Zhang household alone, bringing two hens and some handmade baby clothes and shoes. After exchanging a few words with Old Master Lin, her in-law, she went to the west wing to see Zhou Jiao.

When Lin Lishan and her daughter saw the old lady, both were moved to tears. Grandma Zhou had worked so hard to raise Jiaojiao, and Lin Lishan felt deep respect and guilt towards her mother-in-law.

Grandma Zhou smiled at the mother and daughter, gently stroked little Ping’an, and said, “You shouldn’t cry during your confinement. Today is a good day for our baby, so we should be smiling. Now that I see you two together, I finally feel at ease. Shanshan, you’ve suffered so much all these years, and our Zhou family owes you. Take good care of Jiaojiao—she’s a filial child. If she hadn’t been forced, she never would have fallen out with them. She’s always kept things to herself, just like her father, never telling outsiders. She’s endured a lot over the years, all because that old man lost his way. From now on, you don’t need to worry about Zhou family matters. Whoever comes to you, just ignore them. Live your own life well.”

Zhou Jiao pulled Grandma Zhou to sit down and said, “Grandma, I just feel sorry for you. You raised me, and I haven’t even had the chance to repay you, yet I’ve caused you so much worry. If you ever have anything on your mind, just tell me—I’ll do it for you. And about the box you sent over, I’ve told my mother about it. She should know I have a wonderful grandmother.”

Sitting on the heated brick bed, Grandma Zhou fell silent for a moment, sighed, and looked at the mother and daughter. After a bit of hesitation, she said, “There’s nothing for you to feel sorry about. As long as Jiaojiao is happy, that’s all I want. It’s good you told your mother, but that box isn’t from me. When I met your grandfather, I had nothing—certainly not those nice things. You saw the deed inside, right? I couldn’t possibly buy you a house so far away. That box was always meant for you. When you were little, I didn’t dare give it to you, afraid something might happen. Someone secretly delivered it to me, specifically instructing me to give it to you.

All these years, I’ve been anxious, not daring to tell anyone. Now that you’re both here, I wanted to tell you, in case I don’t have much time left and no one else knows. Think about it—who would give you a house and valuable jewelry for no reason? I was afraid, so I never told anyone. You two should pretend this never happened and keep the box well hidden. I don’t know what trouble befell them, but they never came to your grandfather for help. You mustn’t tell anyone about this. Just thinking about it makes my heart ache. Jiaojiao, your father would never do anything bad. He’s my son—I know what kind of person he is. If you don’t believe me, ask your mother. If he weren’t a good man, would she have waited for him all these years?”

With tears in her eyes, Lin Lishan hugged the old lady and said softly, “Mom, don’t worry, everything’s fine now. Her father isn’t a bad man—he’s a hero of this country. He went on a mission. He’ll be back soon. Even my father didn’t know he and my eldest brother were on a mission. Now they’re coming back. Mom, he’s really coming back.”

Grandma Zhou covered her eyes with her trembling hands. After a long while, she slowly lowered them, and tears streamed silently down her face—tears of both joy and sorrow, but not a sound escaped her lips.

“Good, good, good. My son is coming back. I’ve waited so many years, worried for so many years. As long as he’s coming back, that’s all that matters.”

Lin Lishan got up and wiped the old lady’s tears with a towel. She understood exactly how she felt—when she first got the news, she’d hidden in her room and cried and laughed for a whole day, worrying Old Master Lin so much that he stayed with her the entire time.

“Mom, don’t get too emotional. Hardly anyone knows about this yet, so you must keep it a secret. He should be back before the end of the year. When he returns, I’ll go with him to see you. We all need to stay happy and wait for him.”

“Yes, I know to keep it secret. I won’t tell anyone. If others find out, it could put him in danger. Shanshan, you’re a good child. You’ve finally made it through. You were only eighteen when you married in, and before you could enjoy a few good years, the family fell apart. Yet you still waited for him all this time. Now, I can rest easy—even if I leave now, I have no regrets.” Grandma Zhou hugged Lin Lishan and patted her back.

Lin Lishan smiled and said, “Mom, don’t say such things. You have to live a long life and watch little Ping’an grow up, get married, and have children. You don’t know—the day news of Jiaojiao’s pregnancy reached the capital, we received word that her father and uncle were alive that very afternoon. The whole family says this child is a lucky star.”

Relatives and friends arrived one after another. Close family brought gifts for Zhou Jiao—oil cakes, eggs, brown sugar, and clothes, shoes, and socks for Ping’an.

By noon, the weather had warmed up and the “Three-Day Bath” ceremony began. All the relatives and friends gathered in the main hall, and Mother Zhang even lit a stove for warmth.

The main tool for the ceremony was a large basin, and the midwife presided over the ritual. Today was a big day for her—everything in the basin would be hers to take home.

Hot water boiled with locust branches and mugwort was poured into the basin. Old Master Lin led the way by adding a ladle of clean water, and after placing paper money and notes in the tea tray, Lin Lishan added silver coins, copper coins, and more paper money. The other relatives and friends followed suit, adding paper money, notes, coins, peanuts, eggs, dates, longans, chestnuts, and so on to the basin. This was called “adding to the basin.”

When you added clean water, the midwife would say, “May your life flow long and smooth, may you be clever and bright.”

When you added dates, longans, chestnuts, and other auspicious fruits, she’d say, “Dates for early sons, may you have sons year after year; longans for success, may you win top honors three times in a row.”

The relatives and friends burst into laughter at her words.

After “adding to the basin,” the midwife took the prepared mallet and stirred the basin, chanting, “Stir once, stir twice, stir three times—big brother leads little brother to run. Seventies, eighties, tousled heads, mischievous ones, all come running!”

Only then did the bathing begin. As soon as Ping’an was undressed and felt the cold, he started crying loudly, which made Zhang Guoqing, standing nearby, terribly anxious. But everyone else thought it was a good omen, not a taboo at all—this was called “the noisy basin.”

As she bathed the baby, the midwife quietly recited blessings under her breath—no one else could hear, as some things were best left unsaid.

After the bath, Ping’an was wrapped in a red quilt, and a large green onion was used to gently tap him three times as the midwife said, “One tap for cleverness (since ‘cong’—clever—sounds like ‘cong’—onion), two taps for wit.”

Then she asked the baby’s father, Zhang Guoqing, to throw the onion onto the roof. Before he left, he made sure someone took the baby back inside, since it was cold out.

With the ceremony over, it was time for the “Three-Day Noodles.” The women from the Zhang family’s main and third branches had come at dawn to help knead the dough, waiting only for the ceremony to finish before serving everyone.

By noon, the noodles were ready—each bowl served in a rich bone broth, topped with a few slices of pork belly and a sprinkle of scallions, fragrant and steaming. The bowls were carried to the main hall. Fortunately, Zhang Guoqing had brought back plenty of meat the day before, so everyone ate their fill, lips glistening with oil, all praising the Zhang family’s generosity and the hearty portions in every bowl.

When the children wanted seconds, the adults tried to stop them, but Mother Zhang wasn’t stingy—she told them to cook all the noodles they’d prepared that day and let everyone eat their fill.

In the main hall, the women chatted loudly as they ate, talking about village news, distant relatives, and their daily lives. The children counted the candies in their pockets, happily slurping up noodles fed to them by the adults. The older kids, having finished their noodles, grabbed their candies and ran outside to play."