butcher's little man

When Tian Xiaoman came back from Tian's house, Xiaotuanzi had already fallen asleep crying, with a trace of tears remaining on her white and tender cheeks, her small mouth was suffocated with grievance, and she sobbed from time to time in her sleep.

Tian Xiaoman's heart ached in an instant, this little devil was happy every day, although sometimes he would be mischievous and knocked, but he had never cried so badly.

"Em, has he eaten?"

"No, I refused to eat whatever was brought to my mouth, I just kept crying...Xiao Man, take him with you next time, it shouldn't matter if you wrap the quilt tightly." Li Amu almost followed him today Cried.

Tian Xiaoman nodded, alas, why does a kid who is less than four months old recognize people?

"Woooooo..." There was a burst of crying from the bed, Tian Xiaoman woke up immediately, and found that Xiaotuanzi woke up, crying there with his eyes closed.

He quickly picked him up, shook him gently, and hummed softly to comfort Xiaotuanzi.

Xu Shi Xiaotuanzi smelled a familiar scent, he slowly opened his eyes, saw Tian Xiaoman, and then squeezed into his arms.

"Hungry, who told you not to drink milk well, E-Mum just went out for a while, why is your temper so bad?" Tian Xiaoman muttered while feeding.

Xiaotuanzi snorted twice in dissatisfaction, and looked up at Tian Xiaoman, as if he felt that Tian Xiaoman had disturbed him from eating.

"Okay, okay, I won't say anything." Tian Xiaoman was helpless, he couldn't even say anything.Xiaotuanzi buried his head in eating again.

……

"Father, do you feel that it's very cold tonight?" Li Amu woke up from the cold after sleeping until midnight.

Father Li also woke up when he pushed him, "Maybe the brazier went out, I'll go and see." As soon as he got out of the bed, the cold air invaded his whole body, making him shiver uncontrollably.

Father Li put on his clothes, got out of bed and looked, and sure enough the brazier was dead cold.There is charcoal in the room, but the brazier is out, and you need to go to the kitchen to get something to start the fire.As soon as Father Li pushed open the door, he found that the water outside had formed a thick layer of ice, and the ground was frozen solid.

"Why is it so cold all of a sudden?" Father Li said to himself, then tremblingly went to the kitchen to get some flammable firewood.

It wasn't until the brazier was lit that the room became slightly warmer. "Fortunately, Brother Le is sleeping with Xiaoman and the others these days, otherwise he will be frozen." Because there is a baby in Tian Xiaoman's room, the brazier is lit all day long. They all slept with Tian Xiaoman.

"Yeah, anyway, I burned a lot of charcoal this year, so I'll put in more charcoal at night, don't waste it, or I'll wake up from the cold at night." As soon as the temperature rose, drowsiness gradually began to rise. Turned over and fell asleep.

Li Amu always had a bad premonition, it was suddenly so cold tonight, maybe some old people were going to make a mistake.

……

"Bang bang bang!" "Bang bang bang!"

There was a hasty knock on the door, and Li Amu was awakened, hurriedly put on her clothes and came out, "Here, come, who is it?"

"Aunt Li, it's me, Jin Zhu!" It was the grandson of the second uncle in the village who knocked on the door.

Li Amu felt a little uneasy, he opened the door and asked, "Son, what's the matter? Did something happen early in the morning?"

Jin Zhu looked like he had been crying, "Aunt Li, my third grandpa went there last night, and the village chief asked me to go to each house to inform, and help if I can."

The custom in their village is like this. When an old man dies in a family, other people in the village will go to help, because after a funeral, there are too many things to do.If you don't help others this time, no one will come to help you next time the elderly in your family dies.

"Why all of a sudden..." Li Amu was speechless, when he went out yesterday afternoon, he saw the old man passing by the door with a bamboo basket on his back.

"The third grandpa was found in the kitchen. It was too cold last night. He might want to grab some firewood to start a fire..." Jin Zhu's eyes were red again. The third grandpa passed away a long time ago. The third grandpa only had one son. But he hasn't come back after going out for many years, and people in the village secretly say that he may be dead.

It is conceivable that a widowed and lonely old man could not see the road clearly at night, fell and could not get up, and was so cold to death...

Li Amu sighed, the third grandfather was 79 this year, and the villagers even asked him if he wanted to celebrate his [-]th birthday.He nodded to Jin Zhu, "I'll go later, you should go to another house and let me know."

After Jin Zhu left, Aunt Li went back to the room and told Father Li about it, and the two of them got dressed and prepared to help.Before leaving, Li Amu went outside Tian Xiaoman's door and asked them to get up early to cook later, he might not be able to come back for a while.

Li Wenxuan had actually gotten up, he was adding charcoal to the brazier under the bed, when he heard the sound, he immediately opened the door and came out, "What's wrong, Ah Mu?"

"The third grandpa over there has gone. Your father and I are going to help. You should go back and get some sleep. You young people are not needed right now." Li Amu said a few words, and left in a hurry.

When we got there, quite a few people were already there.Several men from their family had already bathed the third grandfather and helped him change into a shroud.The old man was lying on the bed, gritted his teeth, and his expression was painful. One can imagine how he felt at that time.

The longevity material has been prepared, and the third grandpa picked it himself by saving money. He cherishes it very much, and will re-coat it with tung oil every year.

As soon as Li Amu left, she was dragged away by familiar elders to sew and mend, while Li Afu was called by the village head to discuss matters.

"Everyone knows the situation of the third uncle. His only son has not been heard from for many years, and he is probably dead. Only the second uncle is still in his branch. It is not easy for their family, so I mean, this time the three Uncle’s funeral will be paid in the village, and then each household will pay a little more to buy some wreath paper figurines and so on, and you can count as neighbors for many years.” The village chief frowned, holding a dry tobacco pole in his hand.

The men around him didn't have any objections. The end of the year was approaching, and everyone hoped that the third grandfather could be buried as soon as possible.

After the agreement, a group of people went up the mountain with shovels to dig holes.Those who have passed away are all buried here in Xishan, where the ancestors of Liushupo lie for generations, and they themselves, their descendants and grandchildren will also be buried here in the future.

It takes a lot of manpower and material resources to hold a funeral. Fortunately, the village has not done any major events in the past few years, otherwise it would be a bit stretched.

Tian Xiaoman only went there on the day of the coffin sealing and burial, and stayed at home the rest of the time.Xiaotuanzi is so small, in the eyes of the old people, children can see the dead, so everyone told him not to go.

Since the day the third grandpa passed away, the weather has been getting colder and colder, almost to the point where dripping water turns into ice.Fortunately, every household has prepared a lot of charcoal, otherwise it would really not be able to withstand the burning all day long.

Li Wenxuan hasn't slaughtered pigs since the 24th of the twelfth lunar month. Apart from adding straw to the pigsty these days and checking the conditions of the pigs, he just stays at home.

Tian Xiaoman felt a lot more relaxed. Taking care of a child all day can be exhausting, especially when you want to do something.

Li Wenxuan thought it was okay, he always tired Xiaotuanzi from playing before letting him fall asleep.This method was good at first, but within a few days, Tian Xiaoman stopped, because he found that if Xiaotuanzi played too crazy during the day, he would talk in his sleep at night, talking non-stop.

Because it's really cold this year, when they clean the house, they don't take everything out and scrub it like they did last year, but take a pot of hot water in and wipe it off.

Clothes can’t be dried, because the weather has always been gloomy, and recently there has been a strong wind, and the wind whimpered and shuttled in front of and behind the house.At this time, Tian Xiaoman would let Xiaotuanzi listen to the sound outside, and then scare him that the tiger was coming, and Xiaotuanzi would calm down and curl up in Tian Xiaoman's arms, as if he was really afraid of the tiger.

The long-term freezing weather has directly affected this year's New Year's Eve dinner. Except for meat, there is no vegetable on the table.Although Tian Xiaoman thinks that he likes to eat meat, it turns out that he can't eat too much meat without vegetables.

Brother Le was very happy. Although his father did not come back for the New Year, he also sent him a lot of things in advance.And he got several big red envelopes, Le Geer is now gradually understanding the importance of money, because there are often peddlers in the village, and rich children can buy their favorite toys and food.

Xiaotuanzi is also very happy, because he has finally left the stage of only drinking milk.As a four-and-a-half-month-old baby, he got a bowl of custard on Chinese New Year's Day, and he has been shocked ever since.