A Gallop on the Embankment with Spring Breeze - Chapter 29

Chapter 29: The Competition of Lion Dance in the Water

Proofread by Fu Tianying

Since the death of the former housekeeper, there was no new housekeeper in Tian Family, and all said that Tian Ronghua valued the relationship. But Tian Ronghua needed someone to help him manage the affairs of Tian Family since the former housekeeper had been dead for several days. The new one was young and unknown in his origin, who did not attract much attention, but the people of Tian Family knew how resolute he was. He would temper justice with mercy, and for those who wanted to make trouble, he would suppress them quickly. However, as long as one did not take the initiative to provoke him, it was also very easy to get along with this new housekeeper. He would not punish someone deliberately to get authority provided everyone could do well what they need to do.

Tian Fugui came to ask Tian Ronghua several times why he suddenly appointed a new man to be the housekeeper, and Tian Ronghua only said that he met when doing business with him before and thought it was suitable for him to be the housekeeper. But Tian Fugui was also warned to ask others for help instead of bothering the new housekeeper, which made him confused. He did not pay more attention to this because he would not continue to find the reason if he could not figure it out. What’s more, the competition of lion dance was coming, he wondered about the performance of Ma Tian’en. Anyway, the family was run by brother, so he could appoint whoever he wanted.

Soon, it was time for the competition of lion dance. The two sides of the competition site had been full of noises: the hawking of petty dealers, the talk among the people, and even the sound from some teahouses and restaurants where temporary gambling points for betting on the winner had been set up.

Five lion dance teams participated in the competition, and each team had 10 persons: a guide, a lion head, a lion tail, three substitutes, and four pickpockets and drummers. They were Tian Family from the first Zha, Ma Family from the second Zha, Liu Family from the third Zha, Zheng Family from the fourth Zha, and Gao Family from the fifth Zha. The five fixed plum piles connected a way to the high platform in the water, where a high ladder led to the hanging hydrangea and the gong. The one who was the first to get the Thread-woven Ball and ring the gong was the winner. The five families would decide which waterway of plum pile to go by drawing lots.

The competition of lion dance was composed of three parts: Animating the Eyes of Lions; Dancing on the Plum Piles; and Competing for the Reward.

It was the official of the government who was qualified to animate the eyes of lions, and Magistrate Liu was responsible for it this year. Magistrate Liu sat on the table in the venue of lion dance on the shore, with cinnabar, brush and other objects in front of the table. The second Zha was the winner of last year, so they came out first and other teams followed them. They came to the center of the platform and began the performance before animating the eyes of lions with the help of the guide.

Tian Ronghua stood on the sideline, and the new housekeeper, Guo Qi, was next to him. The two were lost in their own thoughts, staring at the lions of the second Zha.

They saw that the lion head played by Ma Tian’en led the tail in turning over to show their lion while she failed to stand firmly and narrowly wobbled to fall. Then she went back to the right place and followed the guide to jump to the Magistrate Liu. In the midst oof the sound of gongs and drums, she restored herself to stability, and even showed several beautiful somersaults.

A commotion burst out in the crowd, and the people who bet on the second Zha wanted to know if it was too late to change their decision. Guo Qi could not help but sneer. How could that be called a lion? It was just a female cat.

Tian Ronghua also breathed a sign of relief because he knew that Ma Tian’en was a good-for-nothing, and only his stupid brother believed that he was excellent. The skills of playing the head of lion could not be easily mastered. Ma Tian’en was simply a toff, who was unable to make it.

Wu Zhong, who looked at her not far away, was also surprised. Thinking of her usual performance, he wondered if Ma Tian’en was nervous. But it was also a kind of growth to have lessons, so he calmed down as he thought of this.

Though the name was animating the eyes, the part involved animating forehead and mouth, too. Only the lions that went through this part could be intelligent enough to integrate with the players.

Magistrate Liu stood up, with a brush in his hand which was dipped in vermilion, and went to animate the lion eyes of Ma Family which arrived first: The first stroke was in the left eye which meant golden glittering. The second stroke was in the right eye which meant silver light. The third stroke was in the forehead which meant world reputation. The fourth stroke was in the mouth which meant the peace of the world.

Magistrate animated the eyes of lion by vermilion while he was speaking the ritual words. Unlike the lion of the disconcerted Ma Tian’en, the lion of Tian Family was mighty and powerful, which appeared in an imposing way. After a few nice rolls, it reached the front of Magistrate Liu, and waited for being animated.

As the part ended, all families showed on the platform. With louder beat of gongs and drums, the dancing lions were standing, lying and rolling as their paces were more and more breathtaking. Compared with the majestic-looking lions of other Zhas, the lion of the second Zha was a little lazy, just like a sleepy cat.

In the second part of Dancing on the Plum Piles, the players would jump upon and first performed on the piles. Then when hearing the order given in drumbeat, they should jump upon the high platform to begin the third part—Competing for the Award, and who gained the Thread-Woven Ball (An ancient weapon at the earliest. With the development of the society, this weapon used in hunting and war has gradually evolved into today’s one, which is used to convey feelings and convey ideas, entertain the body and mind, and strengthen the body in competition.) was the winner. Of course, the one who fell in the second part would be knocked out and had no chance to participate in the third part.

As the dancing lion of Ma Tian’en’s team jumped upon the piles, the onlookers changed from betting on whether the second Zha could gain the first place to when they would fall into the water.

The head of the lion jumped forward while the tail was slower in movement. Then Ma Tian’en went back a little bit, narrowly falling into the water, but she jumped up after a turn-over just a few centimeters above the water.

After that, she ran forward and then went back a few steps again, while as she just stood, she narrowly fell down. The head reached down and then bounced up again, which made spectators shake with fear.

In contrast, other teams were more skillful, and showed a smooth feeling of flowing water as they ran fast, went back, turned over and jumped steadily through steady running, going back, turning over and jumping, and there was a tacit cooperation between the head and the tail of lion.

“Haven’t fallen yet? I guess he will fall this time.”

“Jumping again.”

“Look, the lion seems to be fearful. Quick, look at it, its hair is blown up.”

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“It is angry this time. The lion is just like a real one. It is even blinking and sticking tongue out.”

With the discussion of the onlookers, Tian Ronghua felt a little bad because he noticed that they focused on that toff rather than on other better performance.

“Unexpectedly, Ma Tian’en has got something. Well, it’s too boring if he is that weak.” The insider knew the ropes, while the outsider just came along for the ride, so the insider like Guo Qi was quite clear about the knacks. At the beginning, he also thought that Ma Tian’en was not good at lion dance, but after several times, he realized that he was playing the fool.

While Wu Zhong nodded from time to time, and he got it that his student was pretending as a pig but aimed at eating the tiger. At each dangerous moment when she was going to fall into the water, she could save the day. It must have been intentional for she had played like that for several times rather than just one time.

Then, a drummer picked up the drumstick to beat the drum heavily, which was as powerful as inspecting soldiers in the battlefield.

Those teams stopped performance and ran towards the platform like sharp arrows from the strings. Most of the players could play Kung Fu, so they fought with one another as they reached the platform. On one hand, they needed to climb up the ladder, on the other hand, they had to stop others from gaining the ball first. So it required more cooperation between two people and the proficiency of Kung Fu at this moment.

The spectator did not pay attention to Ma Tian’en probably because she played too bad just now. Especially at the beginning when other lions were fighting with one another, the lion of Ma Tian’en wobbled around for a few times as if it had seasickness, and then it ran into the battlefield like a kitten, which was not of any lethality.

The powerful lions were competing with one another with the loud drumbeats. The lions of the third and the fourth Zhas fell into the water one after another, leaving the first Zha-Tian Family, the fifth Zha-Gao Family, and a shivering Ma Family. Tian Family jumped up to the ladder at first but was pulled down by the following Gao Family. On the occasion of the battle between the lions of Tian Family and Zheng Family, all of a sudden, Ma Tian’en jumped up toward the ladder with the lion’s hair blown up and its roar into the air.