On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, festivals such as the Mid-Autumn Festival and Double Ninth Festival had yet to become ritualized in this era. But gathering as a family after the autumn harvest and sharing its bounty was perfectly natural, and there were already signs of families gathering before winter to climb heights, admire the scenery, and gaze into the distance.
Thus, on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, after seeing off the Qianxi Music Troupe that morning, Liu Cheng, who had originally planned to spend the day killing and setting fires, instead laid out a great feast in the South Garden. He summoned his relatives, fellow villagers, neighbors, and subordinates, along with the elderly, widowers, and widows within his jurisdiction, to share in the autumn harvest and its fruits.
Nor was that all. After the midday feast, beginning with Grandpa Liu San's appointment as township head of South Garden Township, Liu Cheng collectively and symbolically conferred grassroots offices in the various townships under his family's actual protection and control.
These included two township heads for South Garden and North Camp, seven village officers, and three post chiefs. He also furnished both townships with a full complement of elders, Youjiao, and township scribes. He even followed the traditional system and, on the grounds that South Garden was a large township, specifically added the title of Youzhi to Grandpa Liu San's office as township head, making him a senior township head directly under the Commandery Office.
Yes, Liu Rengong had still never entered official service, but Grandpa Liu San had become an official first. He was so delighted that his whole face flushed red, and he drank an extra half bowl of wine despite his son and daughter-in-law's efforts to stop him.
Of course, everyone knew perfectly well