The funeral of Sour Apricot Niang touched the hearts of the whole village. Even the ignorant baby cub ran over, hiding behind the adults, looking into the west courtyard with fear and curiosity.

Outside the courtyard of Sour Apricot's home, there are crowds of people who are running for funerals and sending paper and incense. In addition to doing some trivial chores, most of them waited for the mourners to come and arrange their own work.

Sour Xing said, I have received the wishes of the old and young masters, but I can't delay production just because I am busy with personal affairs. Here, let's leave a few people to help. Everyone else goes to work on time and comes back to help in their free time.

Subsequently, he asked Zhenfu to take care of trivial matters such as funeral reporting, procurement, and accounting, and asked Maolin to take a few people to build a tomb. He completely entrusted the production to the xylophone, and said, xylophone, you bother to bear more. What should be arranged, let it be arranged with the heart. If there are men who don't obey, come and tell me. Something went wrong, I will stand up to Maolin and take your shoulder. Don't worry.

Sour Apricot's disposal arrangement has a foresight that others cannot reach and the foresight to perceive potential crises in the midst of chaos. It laid a solid foundation for him to successfully escape from the relentless pursuit and interrogation of the town's joint investigation team. It also provides a righteous and awe-inspiring excuse for the xylophone to stand up for reason in the future, and finally save the defeat for the sour apricot who is about to fall. At that time, in the eyes of the villagers, it was just a concrete embodiment of Sour Xing's consistent work style of attaching importance to the overall situation, production, and collective interests, and there was nothing to deceive the revolutionary masses and resist the ugly face and guts of the iron fist of the dictatorship of the proletariat.

People are all according to the proper arrangement of sour apricots, and they have gone to do their own work. The crowded courtyard of the He family suddenly loosened a lot.

Sour Xingniang's maiden family is Beishan Village, and her relatives are scattered in the villages around the town. The descendants of the He family were assigned to kowtow from door to door to report the funeral. Maolin took Shiki and a few other male laborers to dig the tomb at the site surveyed by Sour Axing and Zhenshu, and designated that everything had to be guided by Zhenshu.

The funeral in the mountain village is solemn and complicated. It is necessary not only to conform to the ancient etiquette and customs in a decent manner, but also to embody the good customs of changing customs in the new socialist countryside. You have to take care of both, and you can't give up either. It's not that the policy doesn't allow it, or it's afraid that the villagers will see it as a joke, and it will be difficult for the person in charge of the affairs.

This funeral is very special, the mourning is the most respected and loved woman of the He family in the village. No matter how grand it is, it will not be excessive, nor will it make people make irresponsible remarks. However, the mourner is the village party secretary. From the perspective of work and influence, it is too grand to be decisive and unworkable, and it is difficult to grasp public and private, and it is difficult to grasp between emotion and reason. Zhenfu once asked Sour Xing for advice and asked how to handle it. The sour apricot is not accurate, coupled with the heavy filial piety, and he has no intention of thinking it through. He pushed two, six, five, and said, you can do it if you look at it, just do it, as long as you make a mistake.

This is equivalent to not saying it, which makes Zhenfu even more worried.

Zhenfu wanted to hurt his brain, but he didn't come up with a complete solution. He suddenly thought of the xylophone, and secretly said to himself, this woman is highly educated and knowledgeable. From her taking over the women's production group, to spontaneously organizing the literary and artistic propaganda of the workers, to the promotion of the whole commune, to the appointment of the commune as a women's director who no one has been able to pick up for many years, in this series of changes, she has shown her superior courage and courage everywhere. It seems that if this matter is to be safe, it must be discussed with her.

So, he ran outside the village in a panic and found the xylophone that was busy directing the members to tidy up the fields. dragged to no one's place, he quietly discussed with her how to get the specifications and scale of this funeral.

Xylophone smiled and said, Uncle Zhenfu, aren't you chasing ducks to the shelves to make it difficult for me. I don't know the customs of the village.

Zhenfu said seriously, you can't say that. Although you don't understand customs, you can hold on to this policy matter. Besides, the opinions we discussed, that is, the opinions of the village collective leaders, can only be explained internally and externally.

Seeing Zhenfu's serious appearance, Xylophone knew that he was not looking for her to idle casually. She pondered for a while, and then replied, "Do you think this is good?" The higher authorities asked the funeral to be simple, so we will do the funeral and resolutely implement the policy of the superiors. However, the old man's funeral should not be too sloppy. The whole village was holding back their energy to send the old man away. This hot heart can't be cold, it's all a piece of everyone's heart. During the day, except for a few who were left to help the deacons, the other laborers who should go to work and those who should work did not have to gather in the village. Not to mention that the nest work is in the way, the impact is not good. At night, if you want to do your filial piety, you can go as you like. Even if you stay in the spirit house all night long, it's not a big deal. The etiquette procedures for funerals are still handled according to the old rules, just don't be too public. Some customs that can't be reached on the table are quietly engaged in avoiding human eyes. If the movement is larger, if it can be slowed down, it will be slowed down, and it will be done as much as you want. The time of burial is best chosen at noon. If you are willing to send the old man on his last journey, it doesn't matter how much you go. It is equivalent to holding a grand memorial service for the elderly, which will not cause any negative impact. In this way, you can have a good explanation to your superiors and villagers. Uncle Zhenfu, look at it.

Zhenfu nodded frequently like a chicken pecking rice. He said, "Your opinion is the most appropriate, and it is exactly the same as I thought." Let's do it.

Zhenfu hurriedly ran back and told Sour Xing. He repeatedly said that he thought about it for Sour Apricot for a long time, and felt that it was most appropriate to handle it this way, so he asked Sour Apricot for his final opinion.

After hearing this, the sour apricot was in the middle of it. He said repeatedly, okay, okay, just like this. Bother you. I will always keep this affection in my heart.

On the surface, this funeral, which seems to be a positive response to the call of the superiors to get rid of bad feudal habits and be diligent and thrifty, is handled in accordance with the old traditions and customs to the letter. Although the scene was much smaller and not very lively, all the etiquette procedures were basically out of shape.

According to the custom in the mountains, after a person dies and is buried, he is placed in the mourning house. It should be parked for three days, burn paper all day long, incense will not stop, and always accept the worship of those who come to mourn. The deceased's maiden relatives and Benmen and other cadres had to honestly sit in the mourning house to guard the spirit during the two full nights when the spirit was suspended. Be with the deceased as your companion and accompany her through the last days of the yang world. Filial sons and grandchildren should send soup three times a day, morning, noon and evening, that is, to send food to the deceased soul and carry water to drink. The living must eat and drink, and of course the dead must eat and drink.

The so-called soup is a clear soup that is half-cooked with millet. The clear soup water is scooped into a kiln jar and delivered to an open field at the foot of the north mountain behind the village. The soup was then sprinkled on the ground, meaning that the soup formed a great river on the ground, blocking the way for the deceased to return home. From now on, the dead will have to wander around in the land of Hades.

This vacant land originally had a land temple. In the early years, when the "four olds were broken", the small temple had been flattened. But in the minds of the villagers, it is still a place where the gods of the land can call the wind and rain to bless the well-being of their families. It is said that after death, the soul stripped of the body has nowhere to settle for a while, so it temporarily resides with the Lord of the Land. After the three days of the delivery of the hurry, that is, the cost of the journey, the deceased will either ride a horse or sit in a sedan chair to report to the underworld in the realm of Tai'an, and apply for reincarnation.

This soup delivery is also particular. The first time you send soup, you have to show the way first. It means to tell the deceased that you are no longer alive and have become a ghost in the underworld. After that, they will live and work in another world, and receive the worship of their children and grandchildren on time.

The team guiding the way is composed of the deceased's uncles and aunts, relatives, filial sons and grandsons, and other cadres. Filial sons should all wear white robes and coats, hats on their heads, hemp ropes tied around their waists, and barefoot or straw sandals made of hemp straw. The accompanying people are the ones who only wear filial piety hats from their own families, and the relatives wear filial piety hats and waist belts, and they form a long procession, and the filial piety belts flutter all the way and gather in the open space in front of the land temple. Then the man in charge took a pole with a bunch of incense tied to the tip and handed it to the eldest son of the deceased. The eldest son of the deceased received it in his hand, stood on a pestle, raised the flat pole high in the southwest direction, and shouted loudly and unmistakably in his mouth: Mother, the west is clear, use money in times of suffering, and settle down with money. This tongue twister-like sentence has to be shouted three times in a row.

When giving directions, it is forbidden to cry. When you cry, you will make the dead cry confused, and you will think that you are still a living person panting. In this way, there will be incidents and disturbances for no reason. Commonly known as apparitions, they will frighten the living. After pointing the way, the official soup must be sent to the filial sons, and they must cry vigorously. In order to show off how strong the deceased was during his lifetime, how grandiose the momentum was, and how popular he was.

The soup delivery scene of the sour apricot girl should have been grand and lively. According to Zhenfu's original plan, the whole village may come to participate. Coupled with the people from other villages who came to mourn, it is conservatively estimated that there will be several hundred. However, Zhenfu, who has made a decision, will never be so stupid as to show his ability and ability, and even ignore the policies and social influence of his superiors. He reduced and reduced the queue to deliver the soup, leaving only the sour jujube with the sour apricot woman and a few nephews and nieces. Neither did he cry, nor did he make a fuss, but borrowed the cry in the spirit house, went secretly, and returned quietly. This guidance should have been the matter of the eldest son, Sour Xing. At this time, he hid outside under the pretext of an excuse, pretending not to know, ignoring it, and letting his second brother sour jujube take the He family to make trouble.

In the evening of the second day of the wake, the dish is to be delivered. It is to give the deceased a lot of travel expenses, so that she can ride a horse and ride a sedan chair to Tai'an Hades to report for registration, so as to strive to arrange for her reincarnation in the next life as soon as possible. This scene should be very grand, and it is the biggest attraction of all the funerals, just like laying the road at the head of the village on the day of the burial.

At this time, the guests who came to the funeral, that is, the daughters and sons-in-law of the deceased, were the key figures in Dingding. In the open space of the Land Temple, they had to teach individual soldiers one by one, and kowtow to the papier-mâché spiritual positions one by one. There are many kinds of famous names for this kowtow, and there is one and three kowtows, that is, one kowtow and three heads. What else is the three knocks and nine knocks, the four diligent and four lazy knocks, the big knocks, the small knocks, the three eight twenty-four bows, and so on. At this time, the guests will be manipulated by people at will, and then they will be manipulated to become the object of judgment. Wise people are more cautious and follow the rules, hoping to make a good impression and make onlookers admire. People who are a little confused, inattentive and perfunctory, will be judged as a mess, leaving a lifetime of talking handles, and making people laugh and talk after dinner. Even after decades, this bad impression cannot be dispelled.

In view of the special circumstances at that time, the policy of the higher authorities did not allow it, and Zhenfu changed this procedure after discussing with Sour Xing. Miscellaneous people are not allowed to go to watch. Among the guests, only Uncle Sour Xing, the younger brother of Sour Apricot Niang, was asked to go to check and inspect. Still from the sour jujube brought the sour apricot woman and a few other relatives and grandchildren. He burned the paper, kowtowed, and hurried back quietly, as if nothing had happened.

At this time, the sour apricot still hid out, and when she saw that the person who sent the dish was finished, she appeared in the spiritual courtyard and beckoned the guests to go to the banquet. He apologized again and again and said that he originally wanted to handle his mother's funeral clearly according to the old rules. However, the state has policies and regulations, and it is no longer allowed to engage in these nonsense feudal superstitions. We have to listen to the party and keep in line with our superiors.

All the guests said, understand, understand. When someone died in my village, that is, when the brigade gathered at work, they gathered people together and said a few words, even if it was a memorial service. Subsequently, it will be over when it is buried, how can there be a board here.

Sour Xing replied in a loud voice, you have to do this, you have to do this.

Originally, there would be no mistakes or mistakes in such painstaking scheduling. However, there are unforeseen circumstances, and the sour apricots did not expect that the night before the funeral, an unexplained and unexpected change occurred. This change not only changed a person's fate, but also had a profound impact on the future days of Xinghua Village.