The new book of the burning prairie star

Chapter 128 1 Kneel, kneel, kneel early in the morning

"Brother Biao, would you like to join the village dragon boat team?" Yang Biao returned home and asked Yang Shuiqian who was waiting at his door.

Yang Bowen accidentally fell into an abandoned trap while chopping wood in the mountains yesterday afternoon and injured his leg.

Now they need to find someone in the village to replace him. After much deliberation, everyone thinks Yang Biao is more suitable. The most important thing is that he is smart and strong enough. Even the tall and strong Yang Zian can't beat him. After a short training, he should be able to get started quickly.

"Ah," Yang Biao was a little stunned. Obviously, he had never thought about dragon boat racing.

Last year, when my family was still in the old house, Yang Zian was the person who represented Yangjia Village in the dragon boat race. He joined the village dragon boat team and had competed with eleven villages twice.

"We are competing with the other eleven villages. Of course, the most important thing is to compete with them for the priority irrigation rights of the canal." Seeing that he was confused, Yang Shuiqian explained.

Yangjia Village won the fourth place in last year's competition, which is a good or bad result. It is said that when the village head was young, he took the villagers to participate in the dragon boat race, and won the first place for many consecutive years, which is still talked about by the old people in the village.

"Oh, but I haven't practiced rowing before." Yang Biao knew that the irrigation technology in ancient times was backward, and the primitive irrigation method used was to dig canals and rivers to flow through. No one has yet made a windmill to pump water for irrigation, so why not ask a carpenter to make it based on modern memory?

"It's okay, you are very strong, just follow our movements and it will be fine." The competition was only a few days away, and the anxious Yang Shuiqian pulled him towards the river.

"Hey, is my cousin here too?" If Yang Zian was also in the village dragon boat team, he would not join. It would be too annoying to see this guy all day long!

"Don't worry, no one likes him, so he won't be participating in this year's dragon boat race." Yang Shuiqian had already heard from Yang Bajin that Yang Zian wanted to sleep with Qin Xiaoran, but she was the wife of his cousin from the same grandfather. This incest was not something a human being could talk about. How could anyone possibly play with such a beast?

"Brother Biao, come here quickly!" The friends on the two boats waved to him. In the dragon boat race in these villages, each village can only send out one boat, but just in case, each village will have two boats for training.

"Brother Biao, this is how you hold the paddle board." Yang Shuiqian handed him a paddle board and demonstrated to him.

Following his movements, Yang Biao placed his hands on top of the paddle board, holding the paddle board with both hands, fingers spread naturally, and palms pressed against the paddle board.

"When you're paddling, keep your arms relaxed and don't use too much force." Seeing that he was paddling too hard, Yang Bajin, who was sitting next to him, reminded him.

"Oh, okay." It turned out that he used improper force, so Yang Biao quickly adjusted his movements.

"There are two postures for rowing: sitting and standing. When sitting, sit up straight, step firmly on the bottom board with both feet, and hold the paddle with both hands. When standing, lean your body forward, stand up with both feet at the same time, hold the paddle with both hands, and keep your body balanced." In order not to affect the training of another boat, Yang Shuiqian called him to the shore and continued to demonstrate the posture.

"You should take a deep breath before the paddle board enters the water, and then exhale slowly while paddling." Under his guidance, Yang Biao slowly learned the key points of the movements.

"Okay, Bajin, row the boat over here and let Biaoge get on board to practice with you!" Yang Shuiqian saw that he had almost learned it. Time was running out, so he had to start training as soon as possible to have a chance of winning the competition.

When Yang Biao returned home, he found that his arms were so sore that he could not even hold the bowl. "Xiao Ran, scoop me a bowl of soup." He planned to just have a bowl of soup for dinner.

"Okay, okay," seeing his strange posture, the well-behaved Qin Xiaoran scooped a bowl of radish and pork ribs soup and handed it to him. Seeing that he didn't reach out to take it, she placed the soup in front of him.

Yang Biao stretched his neck, pursed his lips and went straight to the bowl to drink, because his arms were too sore.

"Brother Biao, are you hurt?" Mrs. Zhang also noticed the child's abnormality, put down the bowl and chopsticks in her hands, and came over to check.

"No, Bowen injured his leg, and everyone asked me to replace him to row the dragon boat." Seeing Zhang coming to him with concern, Yang Biao hurriedly explained.

"Xiao Ran, please boil some hot water for me so that I can use a towel to apply heat to my sore arms." Hot compress can effectively relieve muscle tension and soreness.

"Okay, wait for me for a moment." Seeing Yang Biao lying on the bed with a pitiful look, Qin Xiaoran went to the kitchen to boil hot water for him.

"You can't row a dragon boat, so why don't you refuse?" Qin Xiaoran, who was wringing out a towel to apply hot compress to him, was puzzled as to why a weak scholar wanted to participate in a dragon boat race and what he was thinking.

"Ah, I don't want to go either." Yang Biao, who was grimacing due to the burns, was also helpless. He was pulled there directly by Yang Shuiqian. When he got there, he saw many young faces full of expectation looking up at him. He wanted to say no but couldn't.

"You just care too much about face." Qin Xiaoran concluded that if you care too much about face, you will suffer.

“To save face, you have to be cute.” Seeing that she was unhappy and her mouth was pouted so much that a soy sauce bottle could hang on it, Yang Biao reached out to pinch her cute face.

"Aren't you hurting in your arm? Sit down quickly, the towel has fallen." Qin Xiaoran picked up the towel that had fallen on the bed, soaked it in hot water, then wrung it dry and applied it to his arm. She reached out and patted it hard, but it hurt so much that he still didn't stop.

"Ouch, that hurts." Yang Biao cried out in pain after being slapped by her.

"You deserve it!" Qin Xiaoran cursed. She originally wanted to hit him again, but when she saw him looking at her with an aggrieved expression, she couldn't bring herself to do it.

Early in the morning of the Dragon Boat Festival, Yang Biao was woken up by his friends in the village to go to the ancestral hall to participate in the clan's festival and sacrificial activities.

Kneeling, kneeling, kneeling all morning, Yang Biao complained madly in his heart. Listening to the lengthy sacrificial speech of the village head, there was nothing he could do. This was a procedure for the ancients to perform sacrifices and it had to be followed.

After kneeling down to worship the ancestors, setting off firecrackers, and completing the mechanical movements of burning incense, inserting incense, and kneeling, we finally heard the village head announce:

"It's almost Si hour, everyone lift up the dragon boat."

The young people in the village moved in unison, carrying the dragon boat to the competition site, and the elderly, the weak, women and children from each village followed behind.

"Today is the dragon boat race for our twelve villages. The order of water use will be divided according to the results of the race. Does anyone have any objections?" asked He Shengkun, the village chief of Changping Village. It's because their village has a large population and is relatively wealthy. Although the villagers of Yangjia Village have become rich because of wine production and sales, Changping Village is recognized as having a good foundation.

"No!" the people below shouted. Dragon boat races, water distribution according to performance, has been a customary practice in these villages for more than a hundred years, and no one would think of resisting.

"Okay, now please launch the participating dragon boats from each village!"

Next came the ancient people's dragon boat launching ceremony, which involved sprinkling sacrificial items into the water, setting off firecrackers, burning incense and worshiping the river god. The dragon went through the process again.

"The dragon boats from each village are in place," He Shengkun saw the dragon boats from each village neatly arranged and stopped at the starting point marking rope. He signaled the flag bearer on the side to get ready. The man holding the bronze axe walked to the middle of the dragon boats and knocked it hard. The flag bearer waved the flag, and the dragon boats from each village immediately started paddling. The people on the shore cheered loudly, shouting the names of their villages.