Siheyuan: I am Jia Dongxu's cousin

"Uncle, 10 yuan."

"Uncle, 10 yuan."

"Silly Zhu, 10 yuan."

"Xu Damao, 10 yuan."

"Zhang Weiguo, 10 yuan."

The third uncle was reading the money while collecting it. Then Sha Zhu said to the third uncle, "Third uncle, look at the first uncle and the second uncle, both have 10 yuan, how much do you have?"

"My family situation is not good either, so I'll just give you 5 yuan." After saying this, the third uncle Yan Bugui felt quite painful.

He doesn't have as high a salary as the first and second uncles, nor does he feed the whole family like Sha Zhu and Xu Damao. He only makes more than 30 yuan a month, and he has to support a large family, so 5 yuan is enough to make him feel painful.

"Okay, Shazhu, it's a nice gesture no matter how much you give." Yi Zhonghai, an old man next to him, tried to smooth things over. He knew Yan Bugui was a stingy person. Besides, 5 yuan was already a lot in this era.

If Xu Damao didn't want to be outdone by Sha Zhu, he wouldn't have followed so many rules.

Zhang Weiguo then said to Sha Zhu, "Sha Zhu, I have already left the meat at Jia's house. You can go there directly to prepare tonight's meals."

Sha Zhu probably thought that he would see Sister Qin soon, so he left happily without saying anything.

As evening approached, the funeral began. According to the funeral rules of the old city at that time, it was generally divided into 8 parts:

[Announcement of death, wearing mourning clothes, coffin, funeral, farewell ceremony, cremation, placement of ashes, memorial service]

At this time, Banggeng and Xiaodang knelt in front of Jia Dongxu's portrait in mourning clothes. Qin Huairu and Jia Zhangshi were crying, and a group of women including Yima were trying to persuade them.

At this time, the people in the village and Jia Dongxu's co-workers came forward one by one to say goodbye to Jia Dongxu's portrait.

At this time, an old man in charge shouted, "The farewell ceremony is over."

At this time, a group of people from the courtyard took Jia Dongxu's body to the crematorium for cremation. Banggeng and Xiaodang followed behind crying. Jia Zhang cried loudly, "My son, my son."

Qin Huairu also cried and called out Jia Dongxu's name.

An hour later, Banggeng carried Jia Dongxu's urn and everyone returned to the courtyard.

At this time, Yan Bugui found an uncle and said, "Uncle, look, everyone has been busy for a long time. Can we have dinner now? We still have to bury the dead tomorrow."

"Okay, I'll go see if Shazhu is ready, then we can start eating."

"Weiguo, go check if Shazhu's meal is ready."

"Okay." Zhang Weiguo didn't say anything, since the uncle was the one in charge today.

Zhang Weiguo walked to the backyard and asked, "Shazhu, is the meal ready?"

The central courtyard was used as a mourning hall for Jia Dongxu. There was no other space, so the meal was cooked in the backyard.

"Okay, Weiguo, go find someone to serve the food."

-

At this time, everyone sat down and took out the dry food they brought with them.

In this day and age, whether attending a funeral or a wedding, everyone has to bring their own dry food. After all, no one is rich. If you really want to be treated by the host, you probably won't have enough food to last for several months.

The banquet was held in the front yard. The entire yard was divided into three tables, one table for Jia Dongxu's co-workers, one table for the men in the yard, and one table for the women.

There was a pot of pork stewed with vermicelli and cabbage on each table, and there were two bottles of Fenjiu on the man’s table.

At this time, the third uncle spoke up, "The Weiguo Bureau is still very generous. There is a lot of pork in these pork vermicelli noodles."

"You're too polite, Third Uncle." Zhang Weiguo replied, and then said, "Everyone, eat first. I'll go inside and bring some food to my aunt and the others."

After saying that, Zhang Weiguo scooped some pork vermicelli from the pot and walked into the Jia family's house.

Inside the Jia family's house, Zhang Weiguo said to the two people who were staring at Jia Dongxu's portrait in a daze: "Aunt, let's eat some food first. Huairu can also come and eat with us."

It took a while for both of them to react.

Jia Zhang asked in a daze: "Weiguo, is Dongxu gone forever?"

"Okay, let's go. Don't think about these things, aunt, let's eat first." After Zhang Weiguo said this, he did not forget to call Banggeng and Xiaodang.

After Zhang Weiguo left, only the four people of the Jia family were left in the room. Although Jia Zhang was very hungry, she still had no appetite when looking at the food in front of her. Qin Huairu was taking care of Banggeng and Xiaodang while they ate.

In fact, in Zhang Weiguo's opinion, it was normal for Jia Zhangshi to have no appetite, unlike some of her comrades who would go crazy and eat like a wolf. After all, it was very rare for her to be like this after her own son died.

After feeding Banggeng and Xiaodang, Qin Huairu came to Jia Zhang with a bulging belly, "Mom, eat something. Don't starve yourself anymore."

Jia Zhang looked at the fragrant food in front of her and ate some, then said to Qin Huairu, "Huairu, how do you think we, an orphan and a widow, will live in the future?"

Qin Huairu just wiped her tears and said nothing.

"Huai Ru, tell mom the truth. Dong Xu is gone, and you are a widow now. Do you have any thoughts of remarrying?"

Qin Huairu didn't seem to expect Jia Zhangshi to ask so bluntly, so she quickly replied: "Mom, I promised Dongxu that I would raise Dabanggen and take good care of you, and I will not remarry."

"Alas, Mom is an experienced person and knows what it feels like to be a widow."

"Let me ask you, do you really have no intention of remarrying?"

Qin Huairu certainly couldn't say she was pregnant, "Mom, I really don't. If you don't believe me, I..."

Qin Huairu didn't know how to express her determination, but fortunately Jia Zhang spoke again.

"Okay, then let me ask you, what do you think of the Wei people?"

"Mom, the Wei people are very nice, they have high education and good jobs..."

When Qin Huairu was about to continue speaking, Jia Zhang suddenly asked, "How about letting him be your man from now on?"

"Ah." Qin Huairu seemed not to have expected Jia Zhang to say that.

"Mom, I won't remarry, don't worry."

Jia Zhang rolled her eyes at Qin Huairu.

"You have a nice idea. You want to marry Weiguo, but he doesn't approve of it. Mom wants you to be Weiguo's ..."

"Mom, I..." Qin Huairu didn't know how to respond.

"Huai Ru, listen to what mom said. Our family has lost Dong Xu, the pillar of the family. It's too easy for an orphan and a widow to be wiped out. I don't believe anyone else, but Wei Guo is my nephew, and he has good conditions. He won't have any ideas about our family."

"If you follow him, not only can you inherit Dongxu's job, but you will also have a man to back you up."

Seeing that Qin Huairu seemed to be persuaded, Jia Zhang hurriedly said, "Think about it carefully. Can you really support this family by yourself?"

Qin Huairu hesitated for a long time and said to Jia Zhang, "Mom, can you let me think about it?"

"Okay." Jia Zhang seemed to have completed a task.

Qin Huairu tossed and turned in bed all night, with the handsome image of Zhang Weiguo constantly appearing in her mind.

The next day, at noon.

Jia Dongxu's funeral.

When the man carrying the coffin shouted loudly, "My filial son, please bring the basin." At this time, the man holding the white banner knelt in front of the coffin and used his left hand to throw the clay basin with holes in it to the ground, breaking it into pieces in an instant.

According to the rules of the old city at that time, if the deceased was a male, his filial son had to complete the basin-smashing ceremony with his left hand; if the deceased was a female, he had to use his right hand to perform the action.

At the same time, the "funeral basin" must be ensured to be smashed into pieces, because the people generally believe that the more broken it is, the more convenient it will be for the deceased to carry these symbolic daily necessities on the way to the underworld.

But if the pot fails to break into pieces the first time, strict custom dictates that it cannot be broken a second time, in order not to disturb the peace of the deceased.

Therefore, people often place a brick or stone where the basin is to be smashed, so that if it fails to break into pieces the first time, the people who lift the coffin later can accidentally crush the basin into powder while walking.

As the basin broke, Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu began to feel pain.

"Dongxu, my poor son, why did you leave so early?"

"Dongxu, don't you want me anymore?" This voice was shouted by Qin Huairu.

As time passed, Jia Dongxu's ashes were buried in the ground along with the coffin. The funeral also came to an end.

Since then, Jia Dongxu has completely gone offline.

ps: I would like to apologize to all the readers here. The funeral is indeed not well written. I hope all the readers will forgive me. Qi Mu (thank you very much).