On the third day of Lunar New Year, bright and early, every member of the Jiang Family was roused from their beds by Mrs. Jiang rapping at their doors. After getting washed up and neatly dressed, carrying big and small packages of treats like sweet rice balls, dumplings, and glutinous rice with lotus roots intended as gifts for Zhao Mei, the whole family set off towards Zhaojia Village in a grand procession.
Perhaps it was because of the cold weather, and nobody wanted to dawdle on the road for too long, that the usually over half-hour journey to Zhaojia Village for Jiang Feng only took a bit more than 20 minutes this time.
Winter mornings are late to dawn, and it was still dark when the Jiangs left their home. By the time they reached Zhaojia Village, it was just beginning to get light. A herd of well-padded figures, bulky and thoroughly wrapped against the cold, crept silently into the village, startling the rooster that was just about to crow into swallowing its call.
