The fate of the world seems to be predestined, but sometimes you don't know it.

Seeing that Ji Sien said to Shi Zhu, "It turned out to be you", Shi Yu asked, "Girl, do you recognize my family pillar?" ”

Ji Sien smiled at Shi Zhu, and said to Shi Yu: "Grandma, Brother Zhu is the good person I just told you, he bought me food in the city, and gave me a ride!" ”

"I see! No wonder, just now the golden retriever saw you coming, as if he had met an acquaintance, it turned out that it smelled the smell of my family's pillar on you! After that, she said to the stone pillar again: "Stinky boy, when you see a beautiful girl, your eyes are straight?" Peek at people's baths! Why are you still stunned? Why don't you go and help pour the bathwater! ”

"Oh!" Only then did Shi Zhu retract his thoughts, go to the wooden bucket, and pour out the bath water.

Shi Yushi just saw his grandson Shi Zhu standing there in a daze, thinking that he was looking at Ji Sien stunned, but in fact, Shi Zhu was thinking of another person - Li Xianglan!

Li Xianglan sent a photo of her when she was sixteen years old to Shi Zhu, who often fantasized about marrying a woman as beautiful as the one in the photo, but he also knew that it was impossible. However, fate favored him at this moment, and sent him a person who looked so much like him in the photograph, and it was at the same age as sixteen years old! The eyebrows, eyes, bridge of the nose, lips, and goose egg face are just like Li Xianglan who came out of that photo.

Back to reality, Shi Zhu knew that the person in front of him was the person he was destined to wait for, and all he had to do was cherish the person in front of him.

After everything was cleaned up, Shi Yushi took Ji Sien's hand and took her to the hall to sit down, unwilling to let go for a long time. At this time, it was still early, and a few people began to chat. Shi Yushi first asked Ji Sien: "Girl, why are you here alone this time?" Is the family okay? ”

Hearing Shi Yu's question, Ji Sien's eyes immediately turned red, and his nose began to twitch, what everyone didn't know was that behind the joy of today's reunion, there was a tragic experience of the Ji family.

Ji Sien wiped his tears and said: "I originally had two younger brothers, and the family was happy together, but then the Anti-Japanese War broke out, and it didn't take long for the Japanese to go to Xuzhou, and many people in the village began to flee to the west. However, a few days after arriving at Shenqiu, there was a flood, saying that the Yellow River embankment was blown up by the Japanese! ”

At this time, Ji Sien began to cry again, and after a long time, he said: "My mother, my aunt, my eldest brother and several relatives have all been swept away by the flood!" At that time, my father desperately grabbed my hand and put it on a big stone so that it was not washed away. At that time, there was a heavy rainstorm in the sky, and there were dead people floating everywhere, and I cried there all the time. When the rain stopped, I didn't expect my father to find the second brother, he was still young at the time, sitting in the bucket and floating, blocked by the branches, before picking up a life. Later, my father said, 'That's it, it's death everywhere, it's better to go home', so he took me and my second brother back again! ”

At this time, Shi Yushi and Luo's second grandmother kept comforting Ji Sien: "Girl, don't be sad! Yes, we also heard that the flood drowned many people, all of which were made by the extinct Japanese! ”

Ji Sien calmed down a little and continued: "Since last year, there has been another great famine in our area, there is no food, and people and animals are dying all over the ground. In order to keep me alive, my second brother starved to death first, and my father said, you have to wait for you to come to my house to pick me up, and you can't let me die! Later, my father also starved to death, and before he died, he really couldn't let me come here alone to find your house, saying that I could go east along the railway to Haizhou, and I could find your home when I arrived in Haizhou! At that time, everyone in the village fled west along the railway, and I was the only one who went east, but the Japanese did not let the fleeing people pass, and wanted to drive us to the Kuomintang area, and they also set up machine guns there. I waited for many days, and I could only eat some grass roots and bark, and then I sneaked over at night without paying attention! ”

Shi Zhu listened on the sidelines, he didn't say anything, he was used to hearing these things, under the iron horse of the Japanese, what happened to Ji Sien's family was not what happened to many poor people!

Shi Yu's eyes were wet at this time, and he held Ji Sien's hand again and said, "Girl, it's really difficult for you!" Blame us for not going to your house again all these years! You may not know that Shi Zhu's father was killed by bandits on the way back from your house that year, and I am an old and small one with Zhuzi, and I can't go to your house if I want to! I've calculated, you're exactly sixteen years old this year, and I've been urging Zhuzi to go to your house earlier, and he was planning to pick you up after the solar calendar, but I didn't expect you to come by yourself! ”

Ji Sien said: "Well, grandma, I didn't expect that when I arrived in Haizhou, the first good person I met was actually my pillar brother, and we were also fated." Now my family is gone, and from now on, this is my home. Grandma, you can let me stay! ”

Hearing this, Shi Yushi burst into tears and laughed again, "Silly girl, you're here, it's too late for me to be happy, grandma, how can I not let you stay?!" You are my granddaughter-in-law, and this is your home! I'm thinking, find a life as soon as possible, handle your marriage with the pillar, and give me a great-grandson earlier! After speaking, Shi Yushi said to Shi Zhu with joy: "Zhu, did you hear what I just said?" ”

was stunned for a moment, but who knew that Shizhu actually spit out these words: My grandmother, I don't agree!

As soon as these words came out, it was like a thunderbolt on a sunny day, which made Shi Yushi angry, and he wanted to go up and slap Shizhu a few times, but his hand was raised in the air, and he was still reluctant to fan it. Ji Sien fell on the table and cried, extremely desperate, at this moment she was so desperate that she even had the heart to die.

Seeing Ji Sien so sad, Shi Zhu hurriedly said: "Then who, you, you, don't cry first!" I didn't say I didn't want you! Then he said to Shi Yu's family: "My grandmother, it's not that I don't like her, I just don't want to get married so soon, I want to avenge my father first, and when I get revenge, I will get married!" ”

"That won't do! You are twenty-three years old, if you can't take revenge for a lifetime, then you won't be married for a lifetime? ”

"My grandmother, I can't be married for the rest of my life! I just don't want to get married so early, in case something happens, it will delay people for the rest of their lives! Anyway, I've been waiting for so many years, and if I wait, what are you afraid of! Shi Zhu thought so, he was really worried about what danger would happen when he found Liu Fulong to take revenge, and he felt that Ji Sien was only sixteen years old, too young, and he would wait two years before talking about getting married.

Shi Yu knew his grandson's temper and was often used to him, so it was estimated that it would be useless to persuade her, but she was still worried about one thing, so she said: "But if you don't get married, Sien is a big girl with yellow flowers, and it won't be good to live in our house, and I don't want to make people laugh at him for the rest of my life!" ”

The atmosphere immediately became serious, and everyone fell silent, in such an era, Shi Yushi was indeed telling the truth.

A cool breeze blew, and Second Grandmother Luo, who had been silent, took the lead in breaking the silence and said: "Our old sisters have been around for so many years, I have an idea, if it doesn't work to say it, just let me not say it!" ”

Shi Yushi was a little impatient, and hurriedly asked: "It's not in the way, old girl, just say what you think!" ”

Second Grandmother Luo was still a little stumbling, and after a while she said: "Look, my bad old lady has no children and no daughters, so she lives alone, if the old sister doesn't dislike it, I think the girl of the Ji family will be my granddaughter!" The pillar is at home, the girl lives with me at night, and the rest of the time is on your side, anyway, our two families are separated by a few steps! Hit or not? ”

Shi Yushi thought for a while, and then asked Ji Sien, "Sien, what do you mean?" ”

Ji Sien won't cry anymore, but her eyes seem to be a little swollen, she sobbed and said: "Grandma, I'm new here, I'm not familiar with life, and I don't understand the things here, just help me get an idea for everything!" ”

At this time, Shi Yu's family happily agreed: "Medium! That's it! But you have to worry about it, sister! ”

Second Grandmother Luo also said happily: "Don't bother! You see, it's too late for me to be happy, at such an age, I can get such a handsome goddaughter, no matter how many people ask for it! ”

Although the matter was "satisfactorily" resolved, there must still be a number of etiquette, but in a special period, everything is simple: Ji Sien gave Luo Erma a "change of tea" and kowtowed to Luo Erma at Shi's house on the spot, calling her grandma; The next day, Luo's second grandmother went door-to-door to inform the Luo family's clan relatives that they had admitted to their granddaughter, and they naturally had no objection. Next, the two families went to the village elder Xia to register Ji Sien as the granddaughter of the Luo family and the quasi-granddaughter-in-law of the Shi family, so that Ji Sien could stay in the village.

When this matter reached the ears of Master Liu, he sighed and said: "It turns out that the pillar really made a doll kiss with others, and the old lady of the Shi family did not coax people!" It's a pity that my daughter doesn't know where she went, and there has been no news for a few years......"

When it came to the New Year, Shizhu specially took Ji Sien to Zhuzhuang to kowtow to relatives and greet the New Year, although the two did not officially visit the church to get married, but everyone knew that it was a matter of time, so the Zhu family also regarded Ji Sien as Shizhu's daughter-in-law - the new niece and daughter-in-law came to the door for the first time, and several uncles' families naturally wrapped red envelopes, especially Zhu Guanglian, who specially gave two big red envelopes.

In the Zhu family, the happiest is Shizhu's aunt Zhu Dong, she only has a daughter who died early and the only grandson, seeing Shizhu bring Ji Sien to see her, she was full of smiles, but at this time she was seventy-one years old, her body was getting thinner and thinner, lying on the bed coughing from time to time, holding Shizhu and Ji Sien's hands and saying: "Zhuzi, hurry up and get married, let me hold my great-grandson earlier!" You see, my granddaughter-in-law is so handsome, you have to treat others well in the future! ”

However, the old man did not see the stone pillar worship hall after all, and he did not wait to hold his great-grandson. Just after the first lunar month, on the day of the sting, she died in her sleep!

Zhu Dong's mourning hall is located in the eldest son Zhu Guangyi's house, in the middle of the white paper and black characters a big "lay" word, the left and right sides are written in the official book respectively "Liang Liang Mei Qian Qian in the high section of the bright wind Wan Gu preserved", Zhu Dong's body is lying flat on the mattress, covered with a quilt, a golden straw pillow under the head, a pair of blue phoenix cotton shoes on the feet. It was the four daughters-in-law of the Zhu family who cried: Zhu Hou, Zhu Jiang, Zhu Lu, and Shen Yueyun, and the third one who greeted the guest was Zhu Guangyuan. In addition, the fourth Zhu Guanglian specially invited a group of monks to come and chant the scriptures.

Because Zhu Guanglian is well-known in the business world, people who have business contacts and friendships send wreaths and send couplets in an endless stream, and even the Japanese come to lay a wreath in person, and those traitor lackeys see that the Japanese are coming, and they also greet them one after another and go to pay their respects. Although the Zhu family was reluctant, for fear of insulting the innocence of the ancestors, they categorically did not dare to turn these people away.

In the courtyard of Zhu Guangda's house, the second child next door, a big stage was also set up and sang for two days; The sound of suona, sheng, and cymbals of the drummers is even more up. The so-called "life is rare for seventy years", for the Zhu family, the death of the old mother naturally became a joy and mourning.

I heard that there was a drama to watch, and people from all over the country came to join in the fun, and the courtyard was full of people.

At noon and in the evening, two meal delivery ceremonies are indispensable, and the papier-mâché temporary land "tablet" is placed on the edge of the fork in the village, surrounded by contempt seats on three sides. At this time, several cousins carried a table of eight immortals behind the drummer, with fish, meat, wine and dishes on it, followed by a few surviving old people of the same generation as Zhu Dong's "Zheng" generation, and then behind were the mighty filial sons and grandsons: Zhu Guangyuan, Guangda, Guangyuan, Guanglian and many nephews of the "Guang" generation; Zhu Huaiqing, Huailu, Huaigeng, Huaixu, Huaifu, Huaixu, Huaiwu, Huaiyao, Huaiyong, Huaikang, Huaiting and many "Huai" grandchildren; The great-grandchildren Zhu Fang Su, Fang Xiang, Fang Gui, Fang Zhe, Fang Chuan, and Fang Qian were held or held by adults.

Filial sons and grandchildren are dressed in linen and filial piety, holding a mourning stick in their hands, the number of mourning sticks is determined by the number of people in each family, and if something does not come, the head of the household or brother will hold it on his behalf; The filial piety clothes of the great-grandchildren are nailed with a small piece of red cloth on the white cloth.

Adults and older children all respectfully hold the mourning stick and follow the person in front of them, while the younger children often use the mourning stick as a toy, or use it as a golden hoop stick alone or chase each other, probably in their eyes, they do not know what death means.

When they arrive at the intersection, filial sons and grandsons kneel in a row, and if there are too many people, they kneel in two rows on both sides of the road. The nieces weep while burning yellow paper in front of the "tablet", and after burning, the cousins will send a representative to pour a small glass of wine, and use chopsticks to symbolically pinch some fish and meat in front of the "tablet" for the deceased to "eat", and then the filial sons and grandchildren each kowtow four times, and then return.

According to custom, three days after the spirit has been suspended and the night before the coffin is put on the ground, the lights are scattered for the deceased:

The host bought a barrel of diesel fuel and soaked a large ball of cotton, as well as a number of sticks of firewood about three feet long, one of which was wrapped with a thin wire and a small ball of cotton soaked in diesel. After the sun sets, the filial sons and grandsons are still arranged in order, and when they walk to the main road, the two people in front hold the lighted cotton in the air with iron forks, and some people in the back carry paper horses, paper people, paper houses, and so on. Then, after every short walk, someone lit two sticks of firewood and inserted them on both sides of the road, looking from afar, like two rows of bright lights, illuminating the road to heaven for the deceased in the night. At the front, the drummer still plays the music to open the way. After arriving at the predetermined place, the scattered lantern procession stopped, and the filial sons and grandsons knelt on the side of the road, and after burning all the spiritual objects they carried, they kowtowed, and then returned in the night, stepping on the faint firelight on both sides of the road.

Early the next morning, the Zhu family carried Zhu Dong's coffin to the cemetery and buried his coffin with her husband Zhu Mingzheng. After the tomb was piled up, a stone tablet was erected, and it was written that "the tomb of the ancestor Zhu Ming and the mother Zhu Dong", and then put a hanging whip and sprinkled some candy, which attracted many children to scramble to eat.

The last ritual is the filial son and filial grandson to grab the funeral meal: the women who can not go to the funeral make a big pot of raw rice at home, put it in the bowl, and put coins, copper, silver, gold rings or bracelets at the bottom of the bowl, etc., the coffin will go to the ground, and the filial son and grandson will grab a bowl of rice and open it after the return of the filial son and grandson, if you can turn over some good things in the bowl, it means that you will have good luck. Of course, the jewelry still has to be returned to its original owner.

Zhu Guanglian's eldest son Zhu Huaikang was just about ten years old, and at first he also grabbed candy with the children at the tomb, but later saw everyone running to grab the funeral meal, so he didn't care about the sugar in his mouth, and ran back.

Shizhu is the only grandson of Zhu Dong, and he took Ji Sien to Zhuzhuang; Shi Yu and Zhu Dong were originally sons and daughters, and they also went together to send off the last journey. Of course, for the Zhu family, the three members of the Shi family are all "outsiders", and many ceremonies above the funeral are not allowed to be attended by outsiders and adult women.

In the two days that Shi Yu's family went out, the golden retriever was taken care of by Luo's second grandmother, and when they came back, the golden retriever did not greet him as before, but lay on the ground, looking unhappy. "Hey, this little thing has learned to be angry!" Shi Yushi picked up the golden retriever and comforted him, until he took out the chicken bones and fish bones he brought back and gave it something to eat, and then he wagged his tail happily.

Shi Zhu had taken several days of bereavement leave, for fear of delaying things in the factory, and after sending his grandmother and Ji Sien home, he immediately rode his bicycle to the vinegar factory.

Two months later, at the turn of spring and summer, the matter of Shizhu and Ji Sien spread to the vinegar factory, which was supposed to be a beautiful thing, but it added a trace of "trouble" to Shizhu.

Shen Lin'er is the granddaughter of Master Wang, she is eighteen years old this year, and she is at the age of talking about marriage. She still remembers the situation when she first saw Shizhu, "If I can't get married, I'll marry you" She has always remembered the words, although this was a sentence that Shizhu's unintentional words provoked her to answer unintentionally, but she has always taken this word seriously and kept it in her heart.

Master Wang naturally saw that his granddaughter liked Shizhu, and Shen Lin'er's father, Shen Liyan, also felt that Shizhu was open-minded and reliable because Shizhu let him go before, and intended to marry his daughter to Shizhu, but after they heard about Shizhu, they all felt a little disappointed.

Once, Shen Lin'er actually ran to the stone pillar and said, "Brother Zhuzi, if you dare to marry another woman, I will die to show you!" Shi Zhu was surprised when he heard this, but at this moment, in addition to work, his mind was not on the personal affairs of his children at all, he just wanted to kill Liu Fulong quickly to avenge his grandfather, and he didn't take what Shen Lin'er said to heart, thinking it was just a joke.

After that, Shi Zhu often went to Zhou Xiang's to inquire about Liu Fulong's news, but every time he took revenge, he failed to get what he wanted.

Two years later, after Adolf Hitler and his mistress Eva Braun both committed suicide and Germany announced its unconditional surrender, Shizhu never received any news about Liu Fulong from Zhou Xiang, and even when he was personally guarding the gate of the salt police compound, he did not see Liu again, and the surname Liu seemed to have disappeared suddenly.

Shi Zhu also asked Zhou Xiang again, but still found nothing.

In the following time, Japan has become the end of a strong crossbow, following the war burned to the Japanese mainland, after the "Potsdam Proclamation" was issued, soon the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, during which the Soviet Union also declared war on Japan, and the Chinese army also turned to the offensive and successively recovered some of the lost territory. It was not until August 15, forced by the situation, that the Japanese emperor made a broadcast to the whole of Japan, deciding to accept the "Potsdam Proclamation" and implement unconditional surrender!

When the news came, the whole country rejoiced! The small village of Guwei is no exception, and Mr. Ding, Mr. Liu and several other big families even lit firecrackers to celebrate!

A few days later, another news came: Under the arrangement of the Japanese Kwantung Army, the "Emperor Kant" of the Great Manchurian Empire, Aixin Jueluo Puyi, held an "abdication ceremony" and read out the "Edict of the Abdication of the "Emperor of Manchukuo", announcing the dissolution of the (puppet) Manchukuo government. At this point, the (puppet) state of Manchukuo was destroyed, and even Pu Yi himself was captured by Soviet troops while fleeing.

This was originally painless news, but it was not the case for Shi Yu's family.

After hearing the news, Shi Yu first changed his past and was silent for a long time, and then asked Shi Zhu: "The '(pseudo) Manchukuo is dead, so is the 'Great Qing' really completely dead?" Won't come back to life? ”

Shi Zhu said: "My grandmother, the 'Great Qing' has died a long time ago, and now that Pu Yi has also been arrested, he will definitely not come back to life!" Hearing this, Shi Yushi showed an expression like laughing and crying, and then he actually covered his face with his hands and lowered his head, as if wiping the tears from the corners of his eyes.

Ji Sien was puzzled, and hurriedly asked, "Grandma, what's wrong with you?" ”

Shi Yushi removed his hands and said with a long sigh: "Sien, don't get in the way, grandma, I'm happy!" Finally, you can rest assured! For more than 40 years, I've been looking forward to this day! ”

Subsequently, Shi Yushi finally told a lot of past events:

"I am a native of Guangxu for seven years, my big name is Yuzhen, my hometown is in Dezhou, and it was called Jinan Mansion at that time. I have an older brother who is five years older than me, and I have two younger sisters and a younger brother under me, but in those years there was often famine in the north, and they did not provide for them; In the nineteenth year of Guangxu, my mother also left because of dystocia when she gave birth to her sixth child.

After my mother died, in order to survive, my father, who is your grandfather, decided to take my brother and sister to the capital. Later, my father didn't know where to find out the news, our family and the chief manager of the palace Li Lianying are distant relatives, he is still my uncle and grandparents, my father entrusted the relationship to send me to the palace as a maid, I have always been called Mr. Li Grandpa Li. At that time, he saw that I was articulate and diligent, so he arranged for me to enter Chuxiu Palace and became the personal maid of the Empress Dowager Cixi.

At the beginning of the second year, my father and my brother participated in the Beiyang Naval Division together, but I didn't expect that after the Battle of the Yellow Sea and the Battle of Weihaiwei, the Beiyang Naval Division was crushed by the Japanese Navy and wiped out, and I have not heard from them since. Later, I clearly remembered that in the palace, I heard that Deng Shichang, Lin Yongsheng, Huang Jianxun, Lin Taizeng, Lin Luzhong, Liu Buchan, and even Ding Ruchang, the admiral of the navy, were martyred one after another, presumably my father and brother are no longer alive.

I was alone in the palace, but fortunately, Mr. Li took special care of me, so I was able to gain a firm foothold and gradually be appreciated by the Queen Mother.

A few years later, I didn't expect the foreigners to enter the Forbidden City again, the Queen Mother fled west with the emperor, and I was going to drive west, but Manager Li knew that the Qing Dynasty was exhausted, and he couldn't bear to let me wade into troubled waters again, so he quietly gave me some entanglements and let me run for my life, and the Queen Mother said that I had been killed by foreigners.

I went back to my hometown in Jinan, but my family was gone, I wanted to go elsewhere, how did I meet a few 'Boxers' who harassed the people, and wanted to rob me of my burden, and then your father appeared! I saw that he retreated from everyone with his own strength, and at that time the two of us fell in love at first sight, so I came here with him! ”

Hearing this, Shi Zhu asked, "My grandmother, then why are you afraid that the 'Great Qing' will come back to life?" ”

"Back then, Mr. Li helped me escape, but it was a crime of bullying, and he and I would be killed! Except for your father, no matter where I go, I never dare to mention the past to anyone, even if I will be arrested by the yamen one day.

Later, Mr. Sun launched a revolution to overthrow the Qing Dynasty and establish the Republic of China, and Emperor Xuantong also abdicated, I thought that this matter would be over, but a few years later, I heard that there was a person named Zhang Xun who supported Emperor Xuantong in the Forbidden City to restore the throne, and then Emperor Xuantong went to the northeast to become the (puppet) Emperor of Manchukuo.

Well, now that the Qing Dynasty is completely dead, I can finally rest assured! ”

Shi Zhu said: "No wonder, my grandmother, I have never heard you tell me about your past!" ”

Ji Sien continued: "Grandma, it turns out that you still have so many stories! In fact, you don't have to worry about these for a long time, no one has recognized 'Daqing' anymore, but now it's okay, you can finally rest assured. Then she asked, "Grandma, but I still want to know, when you met grandpa, how dare you go with him when you first met, aren't you afraid that you are a bad person?" ”

Shi Yushi smiled: "If you want to talk about this, you have to thank one person - Bian Geng, the martial champion!" After he won the champion, he stayed in the Forbidden City to guard the Shenwu Gate, and he was a heroic and martial artist; When the foreigners entered the Forbidden City, I also saw him lead his troops to fight in Zhengyangmen, and I also knew that he was from Haizhou.

Later, when I met your grandfather, after saving me, he knew that I was homeless, so he asked me if I would like to go with him, I asked him where he was from, and he only said four words to me, 'Haizhou people', and then, I only replied with three words, 'I do'! He got on his horse directly and followed him to Haizhou.

Just because Wu Zhuangyuan is from 'Haizhou', I know that your grandfather must also be a good person and reliable! ”

After hearing this, Ji Sien said again: "It turns out that grandma, like me, also came from such a far away!" Shi Yushi sighed again and said: "Sien, yes, we are both foreign daughters-in-law, and even the experience is like - the family in my hometown is gone!" But when we got here, we also met good people! I also believe that our pillars will be good to you! ”。

At this moment, night has fallen, and Shi Zhu sent Ji Sien to Luo's second grandmother's house - in fact, tonight, he really wants to leave her, and she also wants to stay!

After another month and a half, the stone pillar suddenly came back when it was already dark that night, and there were many blood stains on his body. Just when Shi Yu and Ji Sien were worried about him, he said happily: "My grandmother, choose a good day, I want to marry Sien!" ”