On this day, Juehui slept very well. The next morning, he went to see his grandfather's illness, and he thought that he was going to scold him at least a few words.

The tent on my grandfather's bed was hung in half, revealing the upper half of my grandfather's body. Grandfather lay on his side, his head facing outwards on a high pillow. There was no blood on his face, and his thin face looked even thinner, his mouth slightly open, and his mouth was shiny on his beard. It's still bald. The high cheekbones are embedded with a pair of large, sunken eyes that open and close. Now my grandfather looks very weak and pitiful, and he is no longer the majestic and terrible old lady.

Grandfather was breathing with difficulty. When he saw Juehui approaching, he looked at him with wide eyes and attention, and gradually a smile appeared on his face, although it was weak and gave a miserable impression. "You're here," said grandfather first. Grandfather had never spoken so gently to Juehui.

Jue Hui agreed, he didn't quite understand how his grandfather had suddenly become kind.

"Come here," said grandfather with a hard smile. Jue Hui leaned closer to the bed.

"Pour me half a cup of tea," said grandfather.

Jue Hui walked to the square table, poured half a cup of hot tea into a golden and red magnetic cup, and brought it to his grandfather. Grandfather raised his head, Juehui hurriedly brought the cup to his grandfather's mouth, and grandfather drank two sips of tea with difficulty, shook his head and said, "No," he lay down tiredly. Jue Hui put the teacup back on the square table and walked over to her grandfather's bed.

"You're good," grandfather looked at Juehui for a long time, and then said intermittently in his faint voice, "they said...... You have a weird temper...... You have to read well. ”

Jue Hui was silent.

"I understand a little now," grandfather exhaled, then said slowly. "Did you see your second brother?"

Jue Hui noticed that his grandfather's voice had changed, and he saw two large tears embedded in the corners of his eyes. For this unexpected kindness and kindness (something he had never received from his grandfather), he agreed with a "yes."

"I ...... My temper ...... Now I'm not angry...... I want to see him, you call him back. …… I won't ...... anymore," said grandfather, who stretched out his right hand from the quilt and wiped away his tears.

Aunt Chen had just combed her hair, wiped her powder, and painted her eyebrows, and walked in from the next room. When she saw this, she reproached Juehui and said, "Third Young Master, you are so old, you should also understand things." Your grandfather is so sick that you still want to make him sad! She remembers the incident last night.

Grandfather hurriedly stopped her and said, "Don't blame him. Aunt Chen pouted in disappointment, so she was silent. Grandfather urged Juehui again: "Go and call your second brother back." ......, the Feng family's family affairs...... I won't mention it for now. …… I'm afraid I won't live long...... I want to see him,...... Look at all of you. ”

Juehui came out of her grandfather's room. He went to Juexin's room first. Juexin was talking to Ruijue, and both of them had sad faces on their faces.

"Grandpa called me to get the second brother back, and he said that the Feng family's family affairs would not be mentioned for the time being," Juehui said happily as soon as she entered the door.

Juexin asked in surprise: "Really?" He barely believed his ears anymore.

"Of course it's true. Grandpa said he understood now," Juehui said triumphantly, "I said we would win." Look, we've won! He laughed happily.

"Tell me, what did he say to you?" Juexin stood up with a smile, and he went to shake Ruijue's hand. Ruijue wanted to retract his hand, but it was already in his hand. Both of them were very happy. A big problem was solved so easily. It seemed like a miracle to them, and they thought it would bring them happiness.

Jue Hui repeated her grandfather's words, and Jue Xin and his wife listened attentively. The more Jue Hui spoke, the happier he became, before he finished his words, suddenly the door curtain moved, and Sister-in-law Qian came in and said, "The old lady called the eldest young master." Juexin went out immediately.

Juehui hadn't left yet, he talked to his sister-in-law a few more words, and then Sister-in-law He led Haichen in from outside, and he teased Haichen for a while.

He ran to the dwelling place of the Kyawmin, and he did run there. At first he was not in a hurry at home, he spent some time in happy conversations, and it was only when he walked down the street that he remembered that he had delayed the matter, and that he should have told Juemin the good news earlier.

This news brought great joy to Juemin. They talked excitedly for a few words, and then hurriedly left Huang Cunren's house.

They went to Jean first. How this news would bring Jean greater joy was what they expected. In front of these three youths stood a wonderful future, and now it seemed closer than ever, as if it were at their fingertips, and they could reach it with a single gesture. It did not appear like a miracle, it was the result of their many years of painful price and struggle, so they were more precious to it.

They just spent their time talking excitedly, and then slowly walked home. Juemin also prepared some words: how to say it to his grandfather, how to say it to his stepmother, and how to say it to his eldest brother. His heart was filled with joy. He felt like he had returned triumphantly.

Juemin walked into the door of the mansion, and there was no change in the house; He walked through the second door and into the hall, and there was no change; He entered through the side door, and nothing changed. It's still the same home it used to be. Juemin thought, "I thought there were at least some changes in my family, why is it still the same as before?" He thought to himself, confused.

However, he did see something change. There seemed to be a commotion in my grandfather's room. Some hurried out of the room, while others hurried there, all with frightened expressions and afraid to speak aloud.

"What happened?" Jue Hui said in surprise, grabbed Juemin's arm and pulled him away quickly. He suddenly felt an omen, and his mood immediately changed.

"Maybe grandpa ......," Juemin swallowed immediately after saying these few words. His heart trembled, and he was afraid that the hope that was almost at hand would fly away.

The two of them walked into their grandfather's room, and saw a room full of people standing in the dark. They couldn't see their grandfather. The backs of those men covered them all. They faintly heard a faint strange noise. No one paid attention to them. They squeezed in, and finally got inside. They saw my grandfather sitting on the couch in front of the bed, his head hanging down and pumping his breath. The slightest strange sound came from his mouth. They don't understand what he's doing.

Seeing this, Juemin couldn't suppress the outburst of emotion, and he wanted to pounce on his grandfather. Kemin stopped him. Keming looked at him in surprise, but didn't say a word, just shook his head at him.

"Grandpa called for me to bring him in, saying he wanted to see him," Juehui stepped forward and explained to Keming.

Keming shook his head in grief and whispered, "It's too Yan now." ”

"It's too Yan!" These three words hit Jue Hui's head heavily. He barely understood what this "too yan" meant. But when he saw his grandfather gasping for air in pain, he knew it was too late. They will always be separated by the estrangement of their grandparents.

Juehui couldn't bear it anymore, he ran to his grandfather desperately, shook his grandfather's hand, and shouted, "Grandpa! Grandfather! I've got my second brother here! ”

Grandfather didn't agree, just gasped slightly.

Juexin and others wanted to pull Juehui apart, but Juehui simply leaned on his grandfather's knees, shaking his grandfather while calling "grandpa" in a miserable voice. Kyaw Min stood beside him, watching him attentively.

Grandfather suddenly sighed and opened his eyes wide. He looked at Jue Hui as if he didn't recognize this grandson. He asked in a low voice, "What are you making trouble?" He raised his right hand and waved it as if to tell him to go away.

Jue Hui threw her head back and looked desperately at her grandfather's thin face. The blank look on my grandfather's face gradually faded. His lips were open, as if he wanted to speak, but he didn't say anything. He tilted his head to look at Juemin, and his lips moved again. Juemin shouted: "Grandpa! He didn't seem to hear. He buried his eyes again to look at Juehui. His lips moved again, the muscles on his thin face moved slowly, and he seemed to be about to smile. But two or three tears began to fall. He reached out and rubbed it on Juehui's head, he took it away again, and then whispered, "You're here." He...... He...... He ......" (Juehui took Juemin's hand and said one after another, "He's here.") Juemin also called: "Grandpa." "You're back. …… The Feng family's family affairs are not mentioned. …… You have to study well. Alas," he sighed hard, and said slowly, "...... Make a name for yourself. …… I'm tired. …… Don't go. …… I have to go. ......" The more he spoke, the lower his voice became, his head slowly drooping, and finally he closed his mouth completely.

Keming came over and called "Dad" twice, but the old man did not agree. Keming rubbed his hand again, and then spit out three words with tears: "My hand is cold." So the people came round about them, and shouted all kinds of names. Gradually, the cries stopped. And behold, all the people, not knowing who was the leader, fell down on their knees and wept aloud. In a short period of time, everyone did not think of anything other than crying.

News of death spreads faster than anything else. Within a few minutes, the whole mansion knew that the old lady had died. Some of the servants were busy reporting the funeral to their relatives. Soon the guests arrived. The female guests also helped to cry bitterly, and some of them still told their hearts in crying.

Work began. Men and women were assigned jobs. Three or four female dependents were sent to guard the corpse and weep. The dead man had been carried to the bed from which the tent had been removed.

The work is going fast. Many people were busy at the same time. The deities in the hall, the offering table, other furnishings, and the picture screens on the walls were all moved to the Katsura Hall, which is called the "Back Hall". Soon the coffin was brought in, which had been bought a few years ago and stored elsewhere. It is said that the price is not expensive: only a thousand taels of silver.

The Taoist priest who did the "opening the way" ritual was invited. He ascertained the time of the burial. The mortuary clothes, funeral utensils, etc. were also quickly prepared. The people bathed the old lady's body, put on the funeral clothes, and then held a small funeral, so that the deceased could lie comfortably in the coffin, put all the things he loved in his life into the coffin, and filled the coffin with no gap.

The burial was over, and it was nearly evening. People invited a large group of monks to "turn Buddha". There were one hundred and eight monks in total, each holding a burning incense, reciting the Buddha's name in his mouth, and constantly going around in circles in the hall and the patio, entering the hall through this gate, and going out through that door, and walking up and down the stairs. Behind the monk was Juexin and his three uncles. They also had incense in their hands. Juexin took the lead, because he was now a "burden-bearing grandson".

The time for the funeral came, at ten o'clock the next morning. The date and hour were also determined by the Taoist priests. At that time, the sound of mourning rang out, and there were people who were actually shedding tears. Juehui did not participate, it is said that his zodiac sign conflicted with the time of the funeral. He was not the only one who could not participate in the funeral, but a few others. Juehui knew that this was the nonsense of the Taoist priest, but he didn't object to it, he thought, "I've already said goodbye to my grandfather, so I don't need to care about your tricks." As soon as the horizontal and vertical coffin lid is nailed, everything is finished. ”

In short, the old lady died. His death brought about a big change in the family. Everything came to a standstill. The hall became a mourning hall, and the people of the color line came to tie the plain color; The hall became a prayer hall. There were women in the mourning hall who wept; There are monks chanting scriptures in the scripture hall. In the mourning hall, couplets and sacrificial banners were hung; In the scripture hall, there are pictures of Buddha statues and ten Yama halls. The ghost has reappeared in this mansion again.

Everyone is busy with the affairs of the dead, or rather, they are busy using the dead to maintain their face and show their generosity. Three days later, the "ready-to-wear" - a flood of gifts, a grand ceremony, a large number of hangers. That's what people were asking for, and it all came true. It only bittered the ladies of the mourners: because the guests came, they cried more often. At this time, crying has become an art, and it also has the function of entertaining guests. For example, when they are talking or eating, as soon as the drummers outside start blowing, they immediately have to cry loudly, and naturally the more sad they cry, the better, but in fact they always call more times, because there are no tears, they can only shout. They've had jokes, too. For example, I misheard the sound of suona, mistook "sending off" for "guest", and cried for a long time before I knew that I had cried wrongly; Or the guest had already come in and did not know it, and there was silence in the spirit, and then he suddenly burst into crying after receiving the hint of the rite [note 1].

As for the people who are the bearer grandchildren and filial sons, although the "report" said that they "weep blood", they hide in the spirit cloth all day long, and they do not need to cry or come out to answer the salute. When the hangers came, they fell on the ground covered with straw and did not move; The hangers went, and they could go to sleep or sit up and talk about all sorts of things.

The two brothers were indeed more miserable on this day. On other days they could resort to passive resistance, that is to say, completely indifferent. But on the days of "ready-to-wear", they had to come out to "maintain the scene" (this is their own statement). Needless to say, they don't want to, but they don't pay much attention to it. They are arranged to bow outside, in other words, to kowtow a few times with each guest. Every time Lisheng sang "Filial Son and Filial Grandson Xie", they had already kowtowed a lot. Every time they saw their uncles and elder brothers wearing hemp crowns on their heads, long filial piety scarves dragging behind their heads, white cloth filial piety clothes and wide linen vests, wearing hemp belts, wearing straw sandals, holding mourning sticks, and walking slowly with their heads down, they would always laugh secretly. They felt the same mood as when they watched a burlesque.

In this way, Juemin and Juehui were locked up at home for a whole day. The next day, after breakfast, both of them ran out. Juehui left first, and he naturally went to work at the newspaper reading office, and he didn't go home until the evening. At that time, Juemin had not returned.

The hall was quiet, and the monks who were chanting had already dispersed. Jue Hui walked inside, and there was no one in the hall. A pair of candles in front of the spirit had large candlesticks on them, and the candle oil continued to flow down and fill the candlesticks. The incense in the censer has also been burned.

"Why is it so bleak today? Where did they all go? So he said to himself, and went to the offering table, took the candle, and lit another stick of incense.

"No, I can't. Divide the fields and things, and don't take out the antique calligraphy and paintings, so the division is still not complete! Suddenly, from my grandfather's room came a restrained voice.

"Antiques, calligraphy and paintings are my father's favorite things in his life, and he took a lot of painstaking work to collect them, and we as sons can't just scatter them," Keming explained in the room, gasping as he spoke.

"I don't like these things. But now there is no distinction, and there will be people who will take it alone in the future," Kean said angrily and loudly. "Everything that is daddy should be taken out and shared equally among everyone!"

"Good! If you advocate a division, tomorrow you will divide it! In good conscience, I don't have the intention of swallowing it alone," Keming said, coughing twice in annoyance.

"Third brother, of course you won't take it alone. You have so much income as a lawyer, and you still want this little thing? Keding sneered.

There was a commotion in the room, followed by the voices of several women. Suddenly, the curtain of the door moved, and Keding came out of the room, complaining: "What wills, bequests, are all fake!" It's not fair! And he went outside.

Juexin walked out of the room in a depressed spirit.

"You're splitting up! So fast! Juehui said with a sneer.

"My mom and I are just puppets. I got the 3,000 yuan of shares of Xishu Commercial Company given by my grandfather, and the fourth father still didn't want to admit it," Juexin replied bitterly.

"Where's my aunt?" Juemin had just walked in from outside, and when he heard Juexin's words, he asked.

"My aunt only got a little something, and five hundred yuan in stock, which is still listed in the 'bequest'. Aunt Chen got a mansion, which was given to her by her grandfather. You have to know that we are the only room in our family that has a good relationship with my aunt, who is willing to speak for my aunt? Juexin said with a sigh.

"Then why don't you speak?" Juemin reproached.

"Third Dad is here," Jue Hui suddenly interjected in a low voice.

At this moment, the door curtain moved again, and Keming slowly walked out of his grandfather's room with a cough.

[Note 1] Lisheng: Master of ceremonies.