The Pentium Era - South to North

Yongcheng Funeral Home is located in a mountain col south of Baisha Bridge, next to National Highway 320.

To go to the funeral home, you have to turn into a fork in the 320 National Highway. Lao Yang and Tan Shuzhen were talking in the car without paying attention. Zhang Chen was not familiar with this area. After crossing the Baisha Bridge, he kept driving forward and waited until Lao Yang came back. When he came to his senses, Zhang Chen had already been driving along National Highway 320 for seven or eight minutes.

"U-turn, U-turn, U-turn in front." Lao Yang scolded, "Zhang Chen, you are from Yongcheng, you don't even know about the funeral parlor?"

Zhang Chen scolded back: "Why should I know this? I only know about crematoriums, not funeral parlors."

The old crematorium in Yongcheng is at the entrance to Yongcheng, and it is also on a hillside beside National Highway 320. You can see the tall chimney of the crematorium when entering Yongcheng or Hangzhou. People in Yongcheng can see the crematorium. chimney, you know you are going home or leaving Yongcheng.

At that time, no one called the crematorium a funeral parlor. After the move, the crematorium became a funeral parlor. The name of the crematorium seems to have been cremated by itself.

He drove to the intersection ahead and turned around. Zhang Chen slowed down and looked back. Lao Yang said, drive faster and enter the intersection ahead.

At this time, Zhang Chen also saw the road sign for the funeral parlor and drove to the right.

It was dark and quiet inside, with a few dim street lights far apart, floating in the darkness like will-o'-the-wisps.

The door of the funeral home was open, but there was no one inside. Zhang Chen was a little confused whether Xiao Wu and the others had arrived here. Zhang Chen and Tan Shuzhen had never been here before. Only Lao Yang seemed to be familiar with this place. He and Zhang Chen explain:

"Open, open, just follow this road and drive inward."

After turning a mountain col, it became spacious inside. It was a large parking lot. There was a row of buildings on the edge of the parking lot. Looking at the style of the buildings, Zhang Chen guessed that it should be the farewell hall, whether it was the parking lot or the side. The buildings are all dark with lights.

"Keep going and drive into the mountain." Lao Yang said.

Zhang Chen held the steering wheel and continued to drive inside, passing through the parking lot and the buildings. A brighter street light appeared inside. Under the street light, there were several cars parked, including Xiao Wu's car. , Zhang Chen breathed a sigh of relief and parked the car next to Xiao Wu's car.

The three people got off the car and walked up a high step on the side. There were lights on the steps. When walking on the steps, Zhang Chen was in a trance for a moment. He felt that he was not in a funeral parlor, but walking in a funeral parlor. On a certain street in Yongcheng, the sounds of mahjong and card games could be heard.

On the steps, there were five mourning halls on the left and right, four of which had lights on. Lao Yang shouted: "Hey, business is good!"

Tan Shuzhen hit him on the back.

However, Zhang Chen felt that Tan Shuzhen's reminder was unnecessary. Lao Yang's "Ouch, business is good!" seemed to fit the atmosphere here very well.

Although they are all mourning halls here, there is no solemn or sad atmosphere at all. Instead, they are relaxed and peaceful. There are many people in each mourning hall, but everyone is playing mahjong and playing poker. The rest of the people are also Standing on the side and watching, there was only a mourning hall they passed by. Inside, there was a man on a square stool, folding ingots with tinfoil.

There is only one funeral parlor in the entire Yongcheng City, and burials have been banned for many years. Zhang Chen knew that the driver of the agricultural vehicle must be in one of these four parlors. However, there are no more sad people, replaced by Some people play mahjong and poker.

Looking at the people in the outer rooms, one could see through the open door that none of the three of them recognized each other. They were definitely not Feng Laogui’s mourning hall. Only when they walked to the innermost room did they see Xiao Wu and Xiangxiang’s husband. I walked in and saw that the mourning hall had been decorated in such a short period of ten minutes.

The entire mourning hall is divided into two. In the direct half, there is a coffin-shaped plexiglass cabinet. There is electricity under the cabinet, making air-conditioning "buzzing". Feng Laogui has already Lying peacefully in a plexiglass coffin, there was a picture of Feng Laogui hanging on the wall above the head of the coffin. It seemed that he had been prepared for it a long time ago.

On the head of the coffin, behind Feng Laogui's feet, was a bowl filled with mountains of compacted rice, with a peeled egg embedded in the top of the rice.

One meter away from the coffin, facing the coffin, is an incense niche. There are three long incense sticks in the incense burner inside. The candlesticks on both sides are burning a pair of red candles. The biggest responsibility of the person keeping watch is not to let the coffin burn. The incense burnt out and the candle went out.

On the side of the incense niche is a fireplace, where people burn gold and silver foil and folded gold and silver ingots.

The other side of the mourning hall is divided into two. The inner half is a room with two beds for sleeping. The other half is like a living room with a bathroom, a square table, chairs and stools. This is for the people who keep watch. It is used for playing cards, playing mahjong, eating late night snacks and folding gold and silver ingots.

When Tan Shuzhen came all the way, she felt a little sad in her heart. When she got here, she looked at the funny-looking Feng Laogui in the plexiglass coffin wearing a shroud and hat and a red quilt. Tan Shuzhen gave Tan Shuzhen a very funny look. It was an unreal feeling. She felt that this Feng Laogui did not look like Feng Laogui in real life, but more like the one on the stage.

Looking at him, Tan Shuzhen didn't know why, but suddenly she didn't feel sad anymore. She quickly scolded herself, "Bah, bah, bah!"

When Xiangxiang's husband saw them coming in, he shouted: "Send incense, send incense."

The three people walked over and each took out three incense sticks from a basket. Lao Yang came first and lit the incense on the burning candle. Then, holding the incense in his hand, he turned around and bowed to Feng Laogui, and put the incense there. On a bowl of rice, the rice is already covered with incense, like a hedgehog.

Zhang Chen and Tan Shuzhen followed suit, lighting incense, turning around, bowing, and finally putting the incense on the rice.

While holding the incense and saying goodbye, Tan Shuzhen thought that although Lao Gui looked like a person on the stage, they had performed so many rivalry scenes together in the past, and it would never be possible again in the future.

When Tan Shuzhen thought so, she suddenly burst into tears.

At this moment, someone came bringing wreaths. Zhang Chen thought they were some of Feng Laogui’s friends, but he didn’t know any of them. These people brought wreaths in and didn’t even look at Feng Laogui. Zhang Chen stood next to him. After a while, I realized that these people were from the wreath shop, and they probably didn't know Feng Laogui at all.

Xiangxiang's husband instructed them to arrange the wreaths one by one beside the coffin and against the wall.

The first wreath was signed by Yongcheng Culture, Broadcasting, Tourism and Sports Bureau, the second by Yongcheng Wu Opera Troupe, the third by Feng Laogui’s parents, the fourth by daughter Xiangnan, and the fifth by Ding Baigou and Xu Jianmei, the sixth one is Tan Shuzhen and her family, and the seventh one is Zhang Chen and his family.

Once the seven wreaths were placed, the whole wall was filled. There was also a tricycle wreath outside. Xiangxiang’s husband asked them all to bring them in and stack them at the entrance of the mourning hall. Zhang Chen saw that these wreaths belonged to Lao Yang. There are Xiao Wu’s, Xiao Jin’s, Teacher Wu and Teacher Xu, Ding Yousong and Yin Tao, Xiangxiang Husband and Xiangxiang’s, there were so many that they quickly piled up into a mountain.

As soon as Xiangxiang's husband finished directing the laying of wreaths, someone shouted, "Hurry up, hurry up, it's open." This was to invite Xiangxiang's husband to come over and play cards.

Xiangxiang's husband went over and sat down, and Lao Yang also walked over, patted a troupe's carpenter on the head, and shouted: "Get out of the way."

The man cursed, "Mom, my butt is not even hot from sitting on it." He stood up, gave up his seat to Lao Yang, and handed the cards he had already grasped to Lao Yang.

Xiao Wu raised the card in his hand and asked Zhang Chen: "Brother Chen, are you coming?"

Zhang Chen shook his head.

Xiangxiang's husband turned to look at Zhang Chen and Tan Shuzhen, and said to them: "Don't worry, everything has been arranged here. Laogui will be cremated in a week."

"A week from now?"

Zhang Chen was surprised, then realized that a week later, Xiang Nan and the others were back, and half of the troupe was still performing in Shanghai. Of course, they had to wait until they came back to say goodbye to the leader.

In other words, Feng Laogui will lie here for more than a week, and the person who keeps the spirit will also stay here for more than a week.

Xiangxiang's husband seemed to know what Zhang Chen was thinking, and told him: "Everyone has made arrangements. There are so many people in the troupe, and there will be no performances. The men will be here at night, and during the day, Xiangxiang and the other women will come to take over. Zhang Chen, you and Zhenzhen can go back to Hangzhou tomorrow and come back then."

Listening to Zhang Chen, he felt like "that's it" again. Everything is so simple. They have already arranged it. Zhang Chen felt that this matter, and even the entire troupe, even if the leader Feng Laogui is no longer here, it As it continued to operate according to its own rules, he and Tan Shuzhen, the two owners of the troupe, became outsiders.

Without them having to explain, someone had already printed out Feng Laogui's posthumous photo and prepared a shroud. Even rice and eggs were prepared in advance. Zhang Chen thought that he was the only one who knew that Feng Laogui would not be able to survive today. Thinking that everyone knew it, everyone seemed to be preparing for Feng Laogui to die on this day.

Others bought gold and silver foil, incense and candles. Even Zhang Chen’s own wreath was prepared for him, including the time for Feng Laogui’s cremation. Someone also decided whether it was him or Tan Shuzhen. Who is it? , Zhang Chen didn’t know, nor did he want to know, but someone decided it.

The world runs like this, with its own laws and rhythms. Zhang Chen feels that even if he lies there with Feng Laogui, it doesn't matter and will not affect the running of the world at all.

Do you think that's it? It's a very strange question, but in fact, the only one who feels strange is you.

Everything turns out to be so simple, everything is so simple.

No matter how sudden the incident is, after experiencing the initial chaos, the world will soon return to order and begin to operate in an orderly manner.

"Zhang Chen, come on, give Laogui Huahua some money." Someone shouted.

Zhang Chen walked to the fireplace. Someone handed him a large paper bag. He cut the mouth of the bag with scissors. Inside was a bag of folded silver ingots. Zhang Chen poured them into the fireplace. Someone handed him over. With a lighter, Zhang Chen lit the silver ingot.

"Laogui, keep it and spend it slowly." Someone shouted.

Zhang Chen also shouted in his heart: "Old noble, keep it and spend it slowly."

Lao Yang, who was playing cards over there, shouted: "Don't worry about it, go pick up girls, Lao Gui."

Tan Shuzhen hit him again on the back of his neck.

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