There is an old saying in my hometown: Seventy-three, eighty-four, Lord Yama does not invite himself to go.

These two years are the hurdles in life, and when they pass, they will be blessed with great fortune in the future, and if they can't get by, their lives will end here.

The old master is eighty-four this year, and Song Rengui is seventy-three this year, and neither of them has crossed this hurdle.

Just after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, a tornado blew down three broken houses of Song Jiacai. Fortunately, Song Jiacai was playing mahjong outside, and Song Lixin was at school, but nothing happened.

But the old pockmarked Song Rengui was bedridden at home and was not injured, but he was frightened and his condition became more serious.

The house collapsed, and there was a pigsty and a toilet in the back, but they were intact.

Song Jiacai invited a few craftsmen to build a small shed on the gable wall of the house next door, and lived with his son. As for his uncle, he was placed in the pigsty at the back.

Zhenhua was very big, and went to the town to report that he wanted to get some money for Song Jiacai and help him build three small brick structures. The town agreed, but the funding was not so fast, saying that it would wait until the summer.

As a result, just on the twentieth day of the first lunar month, Song Rengui left.

Zhenhua took pity on the Song family's difficulties, sent a hundred yuan of favor money, and asked if there was anyone who wanted to help by the way.

The Song family has no home, and the villagers are standing in the courtyard and talking about it.

Song Rengui was lying on a cool bed, covered with a quilt and covered with yellow sheet paper on his face. It is often said that the most miserable thing is that there are no children and no daughters, and after death, the mortuary looks at the beams of the house. But Song Rengui died, but the mortuary was in the open air, and there was no hope for even the roof beams!

Zhenhua sighed and asked Song Jiacai: "Uncle Song, when did you leave?"

Song Jiacai scratched his scalp and said, "I don't know, maybe it's the second half ......of the night, right? I came back from playing mahjong last night, it was eleven o'clock, and I heard my uncle humming in the pigsty, it was windy at that time, and it was estimated that he was a little cold."

"You!" Zhenhua really wanted to strangle Song Jiacai to death here on the spot!

Song Jiacai didn't know Zhenhua's anger, and sighed and said:

"Anyway, he's my uncle, and I have to give him a pension. Now, it's the cremation fee and the coffin money, which is a big head, and I'm a little embarrassed. How big should I buy a coffin, thirteen yuan, or fourteen yuan? I'm still wondering......"

Thirteen yuan refers to thirteen intact pieces of wood that form a coffin, and fourteen pieces of wood are seven pieces of wood sawn from them to form a coffin.

Zhenhua held back his anger and waved his hand: "You don't have to pay the cremation fee, the village will give you a certificate, as a five-guarantee household, free cremation; since it is cremation, the coffin is also free, and there is an urn of two hundred yuan in the crematorium, just buy one! Save some money, keep it for Song Lixin to study later!"

Song Jiacai waved his hand and shouted: "How can I do that? Everyone else has a coffin, how can my uncle not have a coffin? I am his nephew, that is his son, and I am responsible for him!"

"It's not filial to be alive, call your grandmother when you're dead!" Zhenhua couldn't bear it, punched him in the chest, and gritted his teeth and said:

"It's useless to make a coffin for your uncle with gold now! Last night, when you heard him humming in the pigsty, pour him a cup of hot water, and he closed his eyes when he died!"

Song Jiacai was stunned for a moment, as if he realized something.

Zhenhua turned around, wiped his tears, went to the office to stamp the certificate, contacted the funeral home, and arranged for Song Rengui's cremation.

On the third day after Song Rengui fell to the ground, Zhenhua heard Zhou Guoming say that the old master was in danger, with severe emphysema, plus heart failure, and was transferred home from the city hospital.

Zhenhua was taken aback and hurriedly went to Da Yaozhuang to visit the old master.

It stands to reason that the patient should be seen in the morning. But Zhenhua was worried that the old master would leave suddenly, and he didn't pay attention to it, so he went to visit in the middle of the afternoon.

The old master was lying on the bed, already in a dying state.

Zhenhua stepped forward and shouted softly: "Master Yao, old master, I am Zhenhua, I came to see you." ”

After shouting several times, the old master opened his eyes and looked at Zhenhua blankly.

Zhenhua was sad, held the old master's hand, and comforted: "Old master, you can recuperate with peace of mind, and the weather will be warm soon, and you will be fine." ”

The old master finally recognized Zhenhua, his palms were slightly forced, his mouth opened and closed, and a faint voice came: "I want to study...... There must be a voice of reading, and there must be a school ......"

"Don't worry, old master, we have a school, we have a school in Dongwan Village, and there is a sound of reading!" Zhenhua naturally understood what the old master was going to say, and couldn't help crying.

"If you want to read, you must have the sound of reading......" The old master closed his eyes, but he was still chattering.

Yao Tiangang, the eldest son of the old master, came over, pulled Zhenhua aside, and said in a low voice: "Thank you Zhenhua for your concern, my father, he asked to come back, he said that he must die in Dongwan Village." The doctor also said that multiple organ failures are really difficult to treat...... Alas. If it can be treated, I am not short of money. ”

Zhenhua nodded and sighed: "The old man is eighty-four, which is also a rare longevity." ”

Yao Tiangang smiled bitterly and said, "You are the secretary, you are busy with work, so go back first, thank you for coming to visit the old man." ”

"Okay, the old master is really old, let me know as soon as possible. Zhenhua said.

The customs in Anhui, the elderly people, when they die, do not say they are dead, they say they are old.

Yao Tiangang nodded and sent Zhenhua out.

That night, Zhenhua didn't sleep well, woke up a few times in the night, and listened to the movement in the direction of Da Yaozhuang. I didn't hear the sound of artillery all night, and Zhenhua knew that the old master was still alive. Because there are rules in the hometown, after the old man passes away, the family first sets off a firecracker to notify the villagers.

After washing his face and brushing his teeth, Zhenhua hurriedly went to see the old master.

The old master had not yet taken his breath, his eyes seemed to be open, exuding a dim and dim light, and his lips were still slightly open and closed, as if he had something to say.

Yao Tiangang and his younger brother both had dark circles under their eyes and said: "We kept watch all night last night, and at eight o'clock last night, the old man was speechless, and he didn't know how to answer when he called him, and he couldn't get a drop of water." I thought I couldn't get through the night, but I didn't expect to stay up until now......"

Zhenhua tilted his head, put his ear to the old master's lips, and listened carefully to what he said.

I don't know if it's an illusion or the old master's voice, Zhenhua always seems to hear the old master saying, 'Read, read'......

Yao Tiangang choked up, leaned into the old man's ear, and said loudly: "Dad, is there anything else that you old man can't let go? Is there anything else that my son hasn't arranged for you?

The room was full of people crying, sobbing.

Zhenhua thought about it, suddenly turned around and went out, and ran to the school.

Qi Hongxia is in class, teaching second-grade students.

"Hongxia don't go to class, gather all the students in the school, follow me, and go to the old master's window to study!" Zhenhua rushed into the classroom and said with red eyes.

Hongxia was stunned for a moment, and after asking about the situation, she hurriedly blew the whistle, gathered the first and second grade students, and lined up to go to Da Yaozhuang.

At this time, the third grade of Dongwan Primary School was gone, and there were only the first and second grades, adding up to more than 30 students.

Zhenhua led the team, took the children to the old master's window, and said to Hongxia: "Hongxia, take the children to read, read aloud!"

Hongxia hesitated and asked, "Brother Zhenhua, read ...... What? Which lesson?"

"Whatever...... Let's go to spring sleep. Zhenhua said.

Hongxia nodded and led the students to read aloud: "I don't know when I sleep in spring, and I smell birds everywhere." The sound of wind and rain comes at night, and the flowers fall to know how many ......"

The children didn't know what was going on and read aloud to Hongxia.

"I don't know when I sleep in spring, and I smell birds everywhere. The sound of wind and rain comes at night, and the flowers fall to know how many ......"

"I don't know when I sleep in spring, and I smell birds everywhere. The sound of wind and rain comes at night, and the flowers fall to know how many ......"

When the sound of Lang Lang's book came into the house, the old master's eyes widened suddenly, and the brightest light in his life shone brightly.

Then, the light slowly dimmed and slowly went out.

"Daddy—"

Yao Tiangang's voice came from the house, roaring: "My father is old, my father is old!"

Zhenhua had been standing outside the window, bursting into tears.

In Dongwan Village, there is no old master again.

Hongxia also cried silently, and said: "The old master is a good person, on Teacher's Day in the past two years, our private teachers have no gifts, and the old master used his own money to buy gifts for us......"