Because the alley that entered Wu Xiaojun's house had been blocked, and the onlookers were blocked outside the alley, Wu Liuyu and others made a short stop at the mouth of the pit and came to Wu Xiaojun's house smoothly.

At this moment, most of the relatives have arrived, and the small courtyard is crowded, sitting or standing, talking about what Wu Liu's child looks like, and everyone saw Wu Liu's family enter the yard, and they all stood up in a proper manner, greeted the old man warmly, and said hello.

"Father of the sixth child, I've finally brought you back!" An elderly woman held Wu Liu's hand, burst into tears of excitement, and choked up.

Wu Liuyu didn't know who she was, glanced at Wu Pingshun beside him, the corners of his mouth squirmed, and Wu Pingshun hurriedly said, "Sixth child's father, she is my eldest sister Xue'er, when you left home, she was not yet two years old." ”

"Oh, it's Cher, remember, remember, you just left then, but the voice that called me was quite loud." Wu Liuyu said with a smile.

"Father of the sixth child, I didn't expect you to still have an impression, I don't know if this person can still be recognized?" Wu Xue let go of her hand as she spoke, turned around and pulled up the old woman with a cane in her hand, full of silver hair, wrinkled face, thin body, and hunched back.

Wu Liuyu's eyes widened, he looked carefully, he was silent for a long time, and suddenly shouted, "Aunt Yanqiu, I didn't expect to see you again!" As he spoke, he took half a step, bent down and knelt on the ground, and kowtowed three times very solemnly.

Wu Liu's name Yan Qiugu, is his own uncle and aunt, three or four years older than him, is his only closest person, married to a small family ten miles away in the early years, gave birth to two sons and a daughter, natural disasters in those years, she and her wife were forced to leave their hometown, with their children to flee the famine for food, living a bumpy life, away from home for more than half a year, the youngest son and daughter suffered from acute pneumonia, failed to be saved, the second elder who lost his children pinned all his hopes on the eldest son, I felt that there was no way to live all day, so I returned to the village two years later and settled down again.

The eldest son gradually grew up, and became more and more demented, silly, and the family was very poor, more than 30, even a daughter-in-law did not please, after the opening, the wife was branded with a disease when she was young, and finally died due to incurability, the son went down to the river to fish and was drowned, and the whole family was left alone, alone with the help of the villagers until she was seventy-five or sixteen years old, and was arranged to live in a nursing home by the township.

For this old aunt, there are no relatives in the village for a long time, Wu Pingming and Wu Pingshun brothers feel that she is really not easy, and every time it is the New Year, they always have to go to see her, which is a kind of psychological comfort to the elderly.

Last night, on the way back from the county seat, Wu Pingshun suddenly remembered the old man Yanqiu, and several people discussed that since Wu Liu's child was back, she was the only relative, after all, they were so old, it was the first time and probably the last time they met, so they arranged for someone to pick up the old man early in the morning.

The old man Yanqiu's eyes were a little flowery, and his ears were a little difficult to use, he didn't know what he was doing here, his eyes stared at Wu Liu'er in a daze, a little overwhelmed, he came over for a while, and suddenly picked up the crutch and knocked it on Wu Liu's body, which frightened everyone, Wu Pingshun hurriedly reached out and grabbed the crutch, and said loudly, "Old aunt, this is the six-child father, the six-child father is back, kowtow to your old man, how can you knock him with a crutch!" ”

The old man Yanqiu seemed to hear Wu Pingshun's words, suddenly his eyes widened, his hands were soft and he threw away some crutches, and sat on the ground, the old tears flowed, trembling and stretched out his hands, touched Wu Liuzi's face, and shouted softly in his mouth, "Sixth child! Six children! Six children! It's good to be alive! It's good to be alive! ”

Wu Liuyu had already burst into tears, letting the old man Yanqiu touch his face and head, kneeling on the ground motionless, "Aunt, aunt, I didn't expect to see you again, it's like a dream." As he spoke, he hugged Yanqiu's old man's shoulders and cried bitterly.

Not only did Xia Guiping's sisters cry silently, but even all the relatives and friends present sobbed, and in an instant, the entire courtyard became unusually silent except for the sobbing sound and the pain of Wu Liu's child.

After a while, Wu Pingshun and the others looked at it almost, helped Wu Liuyu and the old man Yanqiu up from the ground, and came to the house, everyone found that suddenly the old man Yanqiu had changed, and his expression was extremely excited, holding Wu Liuyu's hand and not letting go, muttering and nagging endlessly, although it was not clear, everyone could still hear that she was talking about the past, and no one interrupted her.

After resting in the house for nearly half an hour, Wu Jinen, Wu Pingshun and others took Wu Liu's father and daughter to the original site of his house to take a look, and when they saw the very familiar big elm tree, Wu Liu'er couldn't help but circle around the tree, "It grows so vigorously, it's much thicker than before." ”

Wu Jinen said, "Under this tree is the place where our village people hold meetings and chat, listen to books and watch plays, witness the ups and downs of the whole village and the changes of the times, it has already become everyone's sacred tree, and the people in the village take care of it like a baby. ”

Wu Liuzi turned around with his three daughters and Lei Yujing and said with a sigh, "Uncle Jin Enjing is right, the village used to be small, and every winter when it was cold, everyone would gather here to bask in the sun and chat, and Dad and Uncle Jin En's left their hometown from here, and it was nearly sixty years in a flash!" Whether you are an official or a businessman, rich or noble, proud or downcast, no matter where you are, even if you go to the ends of the earth, you must remember that this is your father's root, but also your ancestral root! ”

Wu Liuzi walked into the location of his home, the previous fence fence wall and simple dilapidated gate no longer existed, replaced by the blue brick courtyard wall and brick gatehouse, red painted gate, was driven out by a few comrades with loaded guns at that time, the scene when the father and wife cried and shouted came out immediately appeared in front of him, as if it had just happened yesterday, he was back, but the relatives he wanted to see the most had already turned into floating clouds, and his heart was as uncomfortable as a knife cut.

Wu Jinen whispered, "This was originally your home, and then the family was gone, it has been empty, overgrown with weeds, and it was used as a primary school classroom in the village for seven or eight years, after the implementation of the household contract responsibility system in the countryside, the village gave all the homestead and cultivated land to individuals, and gave it to the Xiaodan's family, five years ago, Xiaodan's small business in the streets and alleys saved some money, and then the old house was demolished, and a brick house was built for his eldest son to marry his daughter-in-law." Now that he has someone in his house, do you want to go in and have a look? ”

Wu Liuyu was silent for a while, shook his head, and said very disappointedly, "No need, just stand in front of the door for a while, let's go, please take me to see where my father and mother are!" ”

Wu Liu's request is reasonable, Wu Jinen, Wu Yongxiang and Wu Pingshun and others are also the most worried, they discussed for a long time last night, since it is finally a hurdle in the past, we must face it calmly and make some preparations in advance, according to the truth, Wu Liu's child said this, everyone's hearts are still a little nervous and ashamed, and they glanced at each other, Wu Jinen's face was a little ugly and said, "Sixth child, your father and mother are in the field on the side of the road in the northwest corner of the village, you should go and see, however, you have to be mentally prepared, everyone still remembers the specific location, When the time comes, don't hope that the villagers will not take good care of your parents! ”

Wu Liuyu heard the meaning of Wu Jinen's words, his father's grave was gone, the bones were gone, there was no one in his family, the time was so long, and he couldn't complain about the villagers, he lowered his head and was silent for a while, and then looked at Wu Jinen and said in a weak voice, "Uncle Jinen, you think too much, it doesn't matter if there is a grave or not, as long as someone remembers the specific location, I will be satisfied when I look at their roots." ”

A group of people silently came to a field at the entrance of the village, the ground was flat and neat, growing in half a foot tall tender green corn, and there was a large wreath erected in the field less than ten meters away from the ground.

After Wu Yongxiang and others put the sacrifices on the table, Wu Liuzi lit the fire paper and said with tears, "Father, mother, the child is not filial, and he has not been able to provide for your old age, please don't blame the child, if you have a spirit in the sky, please open your eyes and look at the child, your granddaughter and great-granddaughter." After burning the paper, Wu Liuyu took his daughter and Lei Yujing around the wreath, knelt on the ground and kowtowed three times, got up and left his father's tomb, and simply completed his return to his hometown to worship his ancestors.

In the field not far away, a lot of people have gathered, it is the relatives and friends of Wu Xiaojun's family who are going to the grave of Xiaojun's mother, Wu Liuzi turned around and said to Xia Guiping, "Let's go over too, give you Shunzi and sister-in-law a salute, and talk about our hearts." ”

Wu Jinen, Wu Yongxiang, Wu Pingshun, Wu Liu'er and others don't need to burn incense and paper to worship Xiao Junniang, just stand under the paulownia tree not far from Xiao Junniang's tomb to watch, originally everyone out of respect for Wu Liu's child, but also a courtesy to his several foreign daughters and granddaughters, not let Xia Guiping and others go to Xiao Junniang's grave, but Wu Liu's attitude is very resolute, "This is their hometown, they should abide by the rules of their hometown, there is no reason to be close, they must go." ”

Everyone was helpless, so they had to let Zhu Chunyan and Bai Lingyan accompany them to the grave.

Compared with his grandparents who don't know whether it's true or not, there is no trace on the flat land, which is disappointing and shabby, the big round tomb in front of him, there is not a single weed growing on it, it looks particularly solemn and atmospheric, Xia Guiping suddenly felt sad, and forcibly held back not to let the tears flow out, and these are not the slightest feeling for Xia Yixi, Xia Yiru and Lei Yujing, because they have never seen what a grave looks like, they can't taste what a tomb means, and whispered curious words.

According to local customs, the women's worship ceremony is very simple, everyone kneels on the ground in front of the grave and cries a few times, lights the paper, burns some sacrifices and ends, the men are different, the fat child presides, the relatives are combined according to the priority and priority, and the village warrior family leads the twenty-four bows.

Twenty-four salutes are performed when worshipping the ancestors, also called the big ceremony, the most common and solemn funeral activities in the local area before the founding of the People's Republic of China, the procedure is more complicated, and the essentials of the action are also high, in recent decades, few people have performed this kind of ceremony, and the people who will be there are fewer and fewer, almost to the point of being lost.