Return To 1998

The next morning.

Before the funeral, there was a bloody and cruel scene.

The Taoist priest who presided over the funeral held a bell in one hand and kept shaking it, waving a mahogany sword in the other, and muttered words in his mouth. The head of the rooster then sprinkled the blood gushing out from the neck of the rooster all over the mourning hall.

A big cock alive, and his head was twisted off by his hand.

This scene was not the first time Xu Tongdao had seen since he was a child, so although he felt cruel, he was not surprised.

The funeral procession was long.

As the direct son of Ge Zhiping, Ge Xiaotian wears linen and filial piety, and wears a hat made of straw on his head. Under the brim of the hat are three small cotton balls the size of broad beans, which are tied with cotton threads and hung on the straw hat.

Ge Xiaotian held his father Ge Zhiping's urn and walked in front of the team.

He is not the only one who wears hemp and filial piety.

Several of Ge Zhiping's nephews are wearing filial piety today.

But only Ge Xiaotian is qualified to wear this kind of hat.

This kind of straw hat, especially the three balls of small cotton balls hanging under the straw hat, is called Three Grain Palace in local customs, and only the biological son of the deceased person is qualified to wear this.

Prove that the deceased has a son.

Daughter is not eligible to wear it.

This is also one of the major reasons why many elderly people prefer sons over daughters in rural customs.

——I am afraid that after my death, no one will wear the Three Grain Palace, and it will be said that there is no future.

When Tongdao Xu came yesterday, after offering the incense, someone gave him a white cloth and asked him to tie it around his arm.

The funeral procession who chirped and beat went out of the village and came to a vacant lot at the head of Ge Xiaoyu's home, where there were already bricks and cement pedestals cut in half.

Ge Xiaotian came here with the urn in his hand, and under the guidance of the Taoist priest, he put his father's urn on the pedestal with tears streaming down his face.

After that, the Taoist priest did another trick. After that, two masons stepped forward and built the small grave with bricks and cement.

After half an hour,

Under the auspices of the Taoist priest, everyone who mourned today stepped forward to give Ge Zhiping a final salute.

Not far away a brazier has been lit with dry straw.

everyone who has done the salute

All have to step over this brazier to get rid of bad luck.

After crossing the brazier, the filial piety cloth, hat, etc. that are worn on the body should be taken off on the spot, and the simple filial piety cloth, hat, etc., which are simply sewn, should be disassembled on the spot, and only after they are opened can they be taken away.

When everyone returned to the village, on the way, except for a few people from Ge Xiaoyu's family, the others had no sad expressions. Although they didn't talk or laugh, they were already walking together in twos and threes, whispering something.

Xu Tongdao heard an old man sigh with emotion: Oh, it's a pity that Zhiping left like this at such a young age!

There is also an old man who said: When you die, there is only a handful of ashes left. This life is really boring...

Others said: Let's go back now, and we still have a meal, right?

...

There were seven or eight children of different sizes in the funeral procession.

At this moment, suddenly two little boys were chasing and making trouble, jokingly fighting over Xiaobu in each other's hands.

...

Xu Tongdao kept this scene in his eyes. Although he was not surprised because he had seen it a few times since he was a child, he could not help feeling emotional.

When a person dies, in addition to the family's close relatives who will grieve for many days, others, even relatives and friends, can recover in a blink of an eye.

This is really a blow to a person's fighting spirit.

If you can't watch it, you may experience this kind of thing a few times, and you may lose your fighting spirit.

Back to the village.

Everyone came to Ge Xiaoyu's house.

The kitchen has prepared some simple meals for everyone to eat.

A relative of Ge Xiaoyu's family was calling for everyone to eat more.

Xu Tongdao and Xi Dongyang were also hungry, so they followed everyone, filled a bowl of rice and some vegetables, and found a stool to sit and eat.

After a few bites, another person sat down beside him.

Xu Tongdao raised his eyes and saw that it was the village head, Xu Hengchun.

Compared with a few years ago, Xu Hengchun is more old-fashioned, thinner, with thinner hair and more gray hair.

In the funeral of Ge Zhiping, Xu Hengchun, the village chief, also helped.

At this time, Xu Hengchun was also holding a bowl of rice in his hand.

When he sat down, Xu Hengchun let out a sigh of relief, seeing Tongdao Xu looking up, a kind smile appeared on Xu Hengchun's face, Xiaodao, you haven't been back to the village very much in the past few years! I heard many people say, you In the past few years, you have made a lot of money outside, and you have made a fortune, you can't forget the folks, do you think this is the truth?

Tongdao Xu was at a loss for what Xu Hengchun wanted to say.

He smiled lightly, and hummed casually.

Xu Hengchun turned to look at Xu Hongye (Ge Xiaoyu's mother) who was not far away, and asked curiously, By the way, Xiaodao, I heard that Zhiping was sick this time. You paid for all the medical expenses? No? Less money, right? I heard that it cost 200,000 yuan?

Tongdao Xu still couldn't guess his intentions.

Nodding slightly, and humming again.

Xu Hengchun looked at Tongdao Xu with some emotion, nodded approvingly, and said: Not bad! Not bad! You are such a good child! Much better than your father! That's how it should be! We are all from the same village, and you are rich now. , There are people in the village who encounter such difficulties, you should help, right? Hehe.

Tongdao Xu frowned slightly, Village Chief, what are you trying to say?

Tongdao Xu was a little afraid that the village chief would trick him.

If he were asked to help Xu Tongdao so diligently in the future no matter who had similar difficulties in the village, he would not dare to agree, nor did he want to agree.

First, there are too many people in the village.

Second...he didn't have the temper to retaliate with virtue, but a few years ago, after his father disappeared, some people in the village evacuated his house, and he didn't forget that.

No matter how generous he is, at most he can only stop himself from taking revenge on those people.

But if you want him to help those people in the future like helping Ge Xiaoyu's family?

Sorry then!

He can't.

Repaying resentment with virtue, why repay virtue?

Xu Hengchun smiled and waved his hand, Don't be afraid! Xiaodao, it's not really a big deal, I'll be honest! I came to you on purpose today, and I want to tell you two things.

Hearing this, Tongdao Xu narrowed his eyes, suddenly put down his chopsticks, took out a cigarette case, threw a cigarette to Xu Hengchun, and lit one himself.

Village chief, talk about it! But I don't guarantee anything.

Xu Hengchun picked up the cigarette that Xu Tongdao threw to him and put it in his ear, Well, listen to it! The first thing is that the village needs to build a road, and some funds will be allocated on it, but it also needs everyone to raise some funds, you The home also belongs to our village, so...

Xu Tongdao: ...

As soon as he heard that the village was going to build roads, Tongdao Xu guessed what Xu Hengchun wanted to say.

Sure enough, Xu Hengchun said that he hoped that he would donate a sum of money to build roads in the village.

What about the second one?

Tongdao Xu did not say whether he would donate money or not, and directly asked the second thing.

Xu Hengchun smiled and said, The second thing, I heard that you have opened a factory now, right? Look... Many people in our village usually take a break. Do you think your factory can arrange a job for everyone? Let everyone make some money?

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