On the hillside terraces, in front of the grave,

Lian Ge turned his gaze, and the old monk also stopped chanting the scriptures and turned his head,

On the ridge, there was a woman in her fifties, holding a plastic bag with fragrant wax paper money in one hand, a small bag in the other, holding a plate, and looking at Lian Ge and the old monk with some confusion in her eyes.

"I'm a passerby, this Zen master of Junkong, it was this old lady's son who invited me to give this old lady a surplus. ”

Lian Ge glanced at the woman, then at the newly raised grave bag, and said.

“...... Chang Hong invited you,"

The woman nodded and walked down the ridge,

"I'm from Xiahe Village under the mountain, and I'm from the same village as Chang Hong's family. ”

“...... Thinking about it, now that Chang Hong is outside, I am afraid that it will be rare to come back. This old lady is here, deserted. I happened to be free today, so I'll come and have a look......"

As she spoke, the woman turned her head again and looked at the old monk,

“...... Master, can you burn paper here now?"

"The donor is good for himself. ”

When the old monk heard the sound, he held on to the branch placed on the side, stood up, and let go to the side.

"Thank you, master. ”

The woman thanked her, carried her things, approached the grave bag, squatted down, put down the two plastic bags, and took the wax paper money from the bags.

“...... Sister Ji, I'm sorry, I didn't know when you were buried before, and I didn't come to see you......"

While holding something, the woman babbled,

"Eldest sister, you are very familiar with this old lady?" Lian Ge glanced at the woman and asked aloud,

“...... In the past, this eldest sister Ji was still there, and when she didn't go to the city, she was in the village, and when I passed by her door, I would also talk, and when she came to my house to buy pig's head meat, she would also say a few words. The woman took out all the money from the bag, and answered,

"These people who come and go are all in the same village, how can they not be familiar. This eldest sister Ji is also a warm-hearted person, who needs help on weekdays, she will help out, and she is also kind to others, and she has never blushed with anyone for so many years......"

As she spoke, the woman untied another small bag, which contained cold pork head meat,

“...... Sister Ji, look what I brought you. ”

The woman poured the pig's head into the plate she had brought, and spoke to the grave,

"In the past, every time you came to my shop, you would buy some of this cold pork head meat. But ah, you only come to buy it when your son comes back, and you are usually reluctant to eat it...... Now, I've brought you some, you can eat it......"

Placing the plate of pork head meat in front of the grave, the woman turned back and lit it with an incense candle.

“...... Speaking of which, this eldest sister Ji is also a hard-working person, her husband went early, and she dragged Chang Hong to grow up alone. ”

The woman lit incense and candles, and spoke,

"In the past, in order to make some money, I got up early and greedy for darkness, when I was busy with farming, I planted rice for others, at four or five o'clock, before dawn, I got up, it was night, I collected the stalls, and then I went back from the field. ”

“...... I've been tired all my life. ”

"Fortunately, her son, Chang Hong, is quite sensible, how to make her mother angry on weekdays, and she works hard when she is studying. When he was admitted to college, his mother, he was so happy......"

The woman put two candles in front of the grave bag, took the incense again, lit it, stood up, and took the incense and made a gesture towards the grave bag.

“...... Later, his son was working in the field, and he rarely came back. She doesn't call her son very often. When I asked her, she smiled and said that her children were working outside the home, and it was not good to talk on the phone all the time. ”

Squatting down again, the woman also inserted the incense in front of the grave bag,

“...... A few years ago, his son came back from out of town and went back to work in the city, and he took her to the city.

At that time, I told her, I said Sister Ji, you have been tired all your life, it is time to rest and follow your son to enjoy happiness. ”

As she spoke, the woman stood up again,

“...... Sister Ji is not blessed, finally it is time to enjoy happiness, and she has not enjoyed happiness for a few years, so she just went. ”

The woman looked at the grave bag and shook her head,

“...... Before, when she was in the hospital, I went to the hospital to see her. I told her to relax her mind that her son is now a great doctor and will definitely be able to cure her. She smiled and told me, she said, in her life, it is enough to see Chang Hong grow up well and live a good life, so she is relieved......"

Facing the grave bag, the woman said another word, turned her head, and looked at the old monk,

"This master, I'm sorry to delay you, please continue to give Sister Ji an overtime. ”

Seeing that the old monk had said something, the woman turned her head again and looked at the grave bag,

"Sister Ji, I hope you won't be so tired in your next life. ”

With that, the woman stepped aside and walked to the edge of the ridge.

When the old monk heard the sound, after a pause, he walked back to the tomb, sat down cross-legged, and continued to recite the Jizo Sutra.

The melody of the chanting sounded, with a special rhythm, echoing around the hillside.

......

Looking at the grave, the burning incense wax, and the plate of cold pork head meat, Lian Ge paused, then turned his gaze, and looked at the woman standing by the ridge, listening to the recitation of scriptures, and looking at the grave,

Moving away, Lian Ge walked towards the woman,

"This eldest sister,"

Smiling slightly, Lian Ge asked out loud,

"I wonder if this plate of pig's head meat can be sold to me after a while?"

Turning his gaze, Lian Ge looked at the front of the grave again, the plate of cold pork head meat,

Hearing the sound, the woman turned her gaze, first looked at Lian Ge, and then at the plate of pig's head meat in front of the grave,

His face hesitated for a moment, and then he said,

“...... After the sacrifice, I took it back to my home and ate it. You don't need to sell it, young man, if you don't dislike it, I'll give you some in a while. ”

"Then thank you, big sister. Lian Ge smiled and said.

The woman shook her head.

......

With his hands folded, the old monk chanted, and the chanting of scriptures with special rhythm echoed on the hillside with the breeze,

The incense wax in front of the grave burned, and a few wisps of smoke lingered upward, swaying slightly with the breeze and overflowing.

After a few sticks of incense burned out and the incense candles burned more than halfway, the old monk stopped his voice again,

After a pause, the old monk stood up again,

"Amitabha Buddha ......"

After closing his hands and reciting a sentence towards the tomb, the old monk picked up the bag and branch placed next to him and walked away from the tomb.

"Master, is this overdue?" The woman on the side stepped forward and asked aloud,

“...... The poor monk just recited some transcendent scriptures to the old benefactor. I don't dare to say that it is excessive. When the old monk heard this, he was silent and responded.

......

“...... The master, this young man, I will go down first. ”

After saying that, the woman pinched the plastic bag filled with fragrant wax in one hand, and after evening half of it for Lian Ge with the other, the remaining half of the plate of cold pork walked down the hill along the ridge.

Watching the woman gradually walk away, Lian Ge withdrew her gaze.

Turning his gaze, he looked at the cold [ ] pig's head meat in a plastic bag in his hand,

It's just an ordinary cold dish, mixed with some red oil, mixed with some side dishes.

Looking at it again, Lian Ge paused, turned his gaze, and looked at the old monk beside him,

"Zen Master Junkong, do you want to taste it?"

Smiling slightly, Lian Ge asked out loud.