"Wenqiu, you go out and tell grandpa that the mat is ready, and you can open the mat."

"Okay, Grandma." Li Wenqiu hurriedly came out of the kitchen and walked to Li Tingyuan, who was standing in the courtyard.

"Grandpa, grandma said that the banquet has been prepared and it is time to open the banquet."

Li Tingyuan listened, and Wen Village Chief stood in front of the hall to open the speech, Wen Village Chief first spoke: "Today is the funeral of Wen Yuan and his wife, invite you to mourn Wen Yuan and his wife, the husband and wife were famous in our village before their deaths, simple and kind people, Wen Yuan and his wife may not be able to let go of these two poor children left behind until they die, in line with the friendship of the same village, I hope that the people in the village will take care of Wen Shan and Wen Shui in the future, in order to comfort the soul of Wen Yuan and his wife in the sky." ”

Village Chief Wen said that it was Li Tingyuan's turn, "Contemptible Li Tingyuan of Lijia Village, thank you for coming, Wen Yuan and his wife want to call me Uncle Sheng according to their generation, Wen Yuan and his wife have no elders alive, and the children are too young to be in charge, so as the relatives and elders of Wen Yuan and his wife, today I temporarily handled the funeral of Wen Yuan and his wife on behalf of the main family, my wish is the same as what Wen Village Chief said just now, I hope you can take care of Wenshan and Wenshui brothers and sisters, prepare a little drink, please drink as much as you want, Li has thanked everyone here. After Li Tingyuan finished speaking, he bowed to everyone.

After the two finished talking, the people in the kitchen also received a notice to serve the food, Wen Wang led a group of people into the kitchen to get dishes, chopsticks and wine glasses out and set them up, followed by people with food and wine.

The table with women and children suddenly feasted and devoured in large pieces, occasionally mixed with the sound of cups and bowls colliding, drinking and talking, and the noisy sounds of children.

The villagers in the village usually eat bran vegetables, and there are few opportunities to eat meat and drink wine, basically when it comes to the New Year, today I finally caught a good opportunity to drink wine and eat meat with an open belly, and no one will let it go.

As soon as the dishes were served, the people at the table followed the eating steps of "one pinch, two staring, three clamping, four sending, five chewing and six swallowing", ravaging the meals on the table like a storm and clouds, and seizing the time to bury their heads in hard work.

Half an hour later, the cups and plates were in disarray, and the people who were full of wine and food were still having endless aftertastes, and some women were reluctant to eat their share, so they all packed and took home the old snacks at home.

The people who helped in the kitchen ate some of the meals left in the kitchen, and Li Yangqing hadn't eaten such a delicious meal for a long time, so he cherished it, and his tongue carefully tasted the taste of every bite of food sent to his mouth.

"Sister-in-law, this chicken soup is so delicious, so fresh!" Li Wenqiu buried her head and drank a mouthful of chicken soup, the delicious taste spread in her mouth, she couldn't wait to swallow her tongue into her stomach, a small bowl of chicken soup stunned her to drink slowly for a long time, and she didn't forget to sigh after drinking.

"It's delicious, don't worry! As long as we work hard to make money, there will be endless chicken soup in the future. Seeing Li Wenqiu's intoxicated look, he sandwiched a piece of chicken and put it in Li Wenqiu's bowl.

The banquet is over, and the kitchen people come out to clean up the dishes and chopsticks in the kitchen, because the food is so clean, even if it is a plate containing meat, there is basically no oil.

The people who eat the banquet have not left yet, they are all sitting in the courtyard to rest, Wenda, Wen Er, and the Li brothers took Wen Wang to pour tea and water to entertain guests, and there are no conditions to buy any tea in the countryside, and a large cup of wild chrysanthemum tea can be satisfied.

When it came to the unitary time, it was the time for the Wenyuan couple to go out of the funeral and bury, and the eight sturdy young men carried the coffins of the Wenyuan couple and his wife, followed behind the Wenshan holding the tablet, behind the Wenshui Palace, and followed by the people who were funeral in the village, and the cry of the funeral crowd could be heard all the way.

When they arrived at the cemetery where the two were buried, they carefully put the coffin into the dug earthen grave, and as the soil covered the coffin layer by layer, Wenshan, Wenqiu and the Li family couldn't help but cry and cry when they saw this scene.

Thinking of the father and mother who were buried in the ground by a handful of loess, the Wenshan brothers and sisters cried even more, crawling to the father and mother who were being buried, and the sad cry spread to the village in this evening.

After the ceremony, the Li brothers took the two brothers and sisters who were crying and fainted back to the house, and Wen Da, Wen Er and Wen Wang took a few young people in the village to tidy up the tables, chairs and chopsticks in the courtyard, and carried them back to the village.

"Trouble Village Chief Wen and all the neighbors, the Wenshan brothers and sisters and the Li family express their solemn gratitude." Old Man Li took the lead in saluting and thanking everyone in the village, and Village Chief Wen helped Old Man Li on the shoulders and took the villagers to say goodbye one by one, and the courtyard suddenly became empty, quietly, except for the faint sound of sobbing.

People walked to the tea cool, the old man Li looked at the people who were immersed in grief in the house, walked to the two brothers and sisters of Wenshan, who were somewhat emotionally stable, and reached out to pat Wenshan's shoulder, "Wenshan, Wenshui, your parents have passed away, you will have to support each other and take care of each other in the future, our Li family will help you plant the land at home, and if you have something, you will go to Lijia Village to find us, the eight taels of silver compensated by the landlord Wang have been used up, I will report to your two brothers and sisters, the two coffins cost five taels of silver, and the funeral supplies cost one or two silver, The ingredients and drinks used in the banquet cost four taels of silver, the Dahe brothers spent one or two taels of silver to transport things, a total of eleven taels of silver, and the people who came to mourn today sent a total of eight hundred and eighty pieces of gold, the eldest daughter-in-law, you will stay here tonight to accompany Wenshan and Wenshui, and the others will go home! After Mr. Li finished speaking, he handed over the bamboo slips and 880 wen money that recorded the list and amount of silk money sent by the people in the village to Wenshan.

"Grandpa Li, your family's help to our brothers and sisters will always be remembered, you helped to advance three taels of silver for my father's funeral, I can only owe it first, and when the boy grows up and has the ability, he will definitely repay your kindness." After Wen Shan finished speaking, he pulled Wen Shui and knelt down to thank the Li family, and Old Man Li quickly helped the two of them up when he saw this.

"Our two families are relatives, who should help each other when they are in trouble, you don't have to make this big gift, as long as you two brothers and sisters live well in the future, it is your parents and our greatest wish, when things are over, we should also go home." After Mr. Li finished speaking, he asked Li Wen's family again, and he must persuade the two brothers and sisters to mourn and change tonight, so he returned to Lijia Village with the Li family.

"Daddy, you're back, it's done! We also came back today, and my second sister-in-law was cooking dinner in the kitchen. Li Yangming, who was stringing in the hall, put down the food in his hand, got up and greeted everyone who entered the house, his expression looked also affected, and he was a little sluggish.

"Well, we're back, everything is done, your sister-in-law stayed with Wenshan brothers and sisters for one night today, and came back tomorrow, how is business today?" Li Qiu sat down when he entered the house and helped skewer the vegetables.

"Daddy, second brother, Yangqing, sit down, I have something important to tell you, that is, it's ......" Li Yangming was a little eager to speak and stopped, sighed: "Hey, today's business in the town is not as good as a few days ago, today I probably made more than 300 yuan, someone also set up a stall selling fried skewers in the town, the price is lower than ours, although the taste is not as good as ours, but some people who are cheaper have gone to their stall to buy, I don't know who did it, rely on the price reduction to fight with us." ”

"How did someone do this so quickly? In fact, when I set up this stall, I also thought that some people would imitate it, after all, the operation is simple, mainly in the materials and spices we have advantages, but we are afraid of those malicious competition, it seems that tomorrow we will go to the town to inquire about what is going on. Li Yangqing analyzed.

"Yes! It's purely to make money, or to go against us, but also to find out carefully, finally by setting up a stall these days to earn more than a tael of silver, the original four taels of silver in the family took out three taels to help the Wenshan brothers and sisters hold a funeral, now the family only has more than two taels of silver, in a few days to go to the town to buy some food, why doesn't God pity us poor people, let us have a few days of peaceful birthday! Li Qiu patted the table in front of him ventingly.

"Mother, you don't have to worry, I will find another way to make some money for the family, we have to figure out the specific situation first." Li Yangqing walked to Li Qiu's side, sat down, and comfortingly held Li Qiu's hand.

"Yes, Yang Qing is right, the stall will still go to the town tomorrow, no matter how little it is, you can make a few dollars, tomorrow your mother will take the third child to set up a stall, Yang Qing and the second child will also go to the town and be responsible for finding out the news."

"Okay, just listen to my father's arrangement, I'll go cut some bamboo and come back to make a skewer." After Li Yangwu finished speaking, he got up and went to the grass shed where the sundries were kept, found a woodcutter and went out, and the others were skewering in the house with different thoughts.

When the bright moonlight sprinkled into the courtyard, the twinkling stars filled the night sky, the Li family sat quietly in the courtyard after eating dinner, and a few mosquitoes flapped their wings and flew "buzzing" in the crowd, and the "pop" broke the silence of the night.

"This mosquito is really annoying, see if I don't shoot them to death, brother help quickly, hum!" The two brothers, Li Chenggang and Li Chengqiang, waved their hands and surrounded the crowd to shoot the mosquitoes flying around.

"Slow down, the mosquitoes are not fighting, don't just hit yourself, tomorrow night grandma will give you some wormwood smoked mosquitoes, hahaha!" The funny behavior of the two brothers Li Chenggang caused the silent crowd in the courtyard to laugh.

On this quiet night, the business was damaged after the death of a relative, it was really a disaster, and the Li family was confused by the worries of this whole day, but at this moment, it could make everyone throw away a trace of heaviness and laugh happily.

The sun hid in the clouds, ushering in a long-lost cloudy day, the Li family also got up early to pack up their things, should go to the town to set up a stall to go to the town, should be busy at home at home, farewell to the family, Li Yangqing took Li Qiu's hand and rushed to the ferry at the entrance of the village.

Old Man Jiang smoked a leaf cigarette as always, and when he saw the Li family coming, he put down the cigarette stick and spit out white smoke rings.

"Quick, you guys get on the boat, I caught more than 20 fish last night, weighing four catties, this morning I killed and washed them and cut them and put them in a wooden basin on the boat, today you can use it directly when you set up a stall, you don't have to wait for the evening when you go home and clean it up and sell it tomorrow, but it's fresh." Old Man Jiang accepted the rope and said enthusiastically to the Li family.

"There is Uncle Lao Jiang, who saves us trouble." Li Qiu thanked.

"It should have been like this a long time ago, and in the future, I will help you kill and cut it on the morning of the stall, it will be fresher than the next day, and you can take it away every day when you take the boat." Old Man Jiang proposed.

"Okay, since Grandpa Jiang said so, we will bear it." Li Yangming arched his hand.

"Mother, we have a skewer in the back basket, and now we are idle on the boat, let's skewer the fish, you don't have to go to the town to skewer it, what's the matter?" Li Yangqingjue sat on the boat and was idle, so it was better to do something and sell it directly in the town later.