```
On the altar, light blue smoke curled in the air.
In the center sat a cooked pig's head; to its sides, a chicken and a duck, each boiled. Behind these, three cups and a jug of liquor, and finally, three bowls of pork, chicken, and duck soup with greens, garlic shoots, and liver forming a vegetable porridge. Three pairs of chopsticks rested beside the bowls, with a cigarette next to each.
Many ancestors had enjoyed tobacco and liquor, even though no one in the family shared these habits.
In the middle of the table, a lump of yellow clay bore nine sticks of incense, and a festive red lamp burned brightly, casting the room in a warm glow.
"Dingding, Xiaoyuan, come over and burn the paper money, kowtow to the ancestors."
Lin Wanqiu beckoned.
Jiang Ding and the others tore the offering paper piece by piece, laying it over the brazier, igniting it, and bowing deeply.
"Ancestors, bless me to rank first next semester, to grow prettier, to become smarter as I grow..."
