It didn't take long for the news of Xia Qing's mother's death to come, Shengyang had been working outside before, although the eldest mother had a good family, she would still selectively give gifts to the matter, for example, if she had something to do, she would return the gift when someone else came to give it. Shengyang thought that Xiangyangzhai and their house were mountain to mountain, who had something to do, and he would know when the firecrackers went off and smoked, since he was at home, it would be more appropriate to give a gift, so he took out 10 yuan and asked Shengli to go with Zheng Dongye.

Sheng Li said that he would let his father go, and the next day he could help carry the pole (coffin) up the mountain (burial), and he could also get a pair of straw sandals and a towel (this is the old rule, twenty-four people who carry the pole will each be given a towel and a pack of cigarettes or a pair of straw sandals). Shengyang said that the two full laborers in the family were injured, and his father did all the heavy work in the field too hard, so he just delivered the gift this time.

When she thought about it, this is the reason, the eldest mother likes to rush happy events, and she doesn't like to rush funerals, so it seems that she can only go. Although the mountain is to the mountain, it is quite a long way to walk, she doesn't know the family, the second brother actually took out 10 yuan of gift money, usually 5 yuan is enough, this is to save some face for the family, so as not to have anything happen to the family in the future, no one cheers.

Xia Qing's younger brother Xia Zhenghua came to pay his respects again and asked Zhou Qian to play the funeral drums. Zhou Qian thought to himself, the old man is gone, and now the old woman has returned to the west, he wants to see Xia Qing's appearance, miss this time, maybe he will never see it again, the sins he created, keep them in hell to go to her to pay off the debt. The master came so far to invite him, and he also looked up to him, so he agreed to it.

Generally around 6:00 p.m. to the host's house, after eating, at 8:00 p.m. on time to open the song road (please God), the order of singing funeral songs is: please God (outside the door of the three-way intersection to sing until the door of the mourning hall), open the five sides (into the mourning hall time), turn to mourn (sing the genuine time), An Wufang (fast dawn time), send God (the end of the funeral).

When Sheng Li and Uncle Zheng arrived at Xia's house, it was already dark, and the kerosene lamps and firewood piles could meet the needs of people without bumping into people. Xia Zhenghua knelt down and saluted them, Zheng Dongye walked in front, immediately helped him up, and said "Festival mourning and change" in his mouth, and a master who was looking for cigarettes next to him handed them cigarettes. Sheng Li followed quietly, after all, this was the first time, and when she saw someone kneeling for them, she stepped back. When Xia Zhenghua saw her, he also had to kneel and bow, but Shengli helped him up before he squatted, saying that he was a child, and he didn't need to salute, so he got up, and before he had time to observe her, he had to greet the people who came from behind. This is etiquette, all the guests present, the descendants of the deceased must kneel and bow to them, and she also politely refused the person who gave the cigarette next to her, and quickly followed Uncle Zheng to find a place to sit down. The person who poured the tea beckoned them to drink the tea, and several enamel cups were placed on the table to share, and whoever wanted to drink it took it and drank it.

Shengli looked at it, the guests who came were basically men, and there were a few women wearing filial piety cloths, which were relatives of the deceased, and these men would not let their wives show their heads, take care of the children at home, and watch the door. If you want to see the excitement, you can follow the crowd when you send the deceased up the mountain the next day, of course, the more people who follow the deceased, the higher the prestige when he is alive.

Sheng Li sat there, although the lights were dim, someone still asked Uncle Zheng who she was, and Uncle Zheng made an introduction. They seemed to suddenly realize their contempt, it turned out that she was the boiling female overlord who was rumored back then, and if a good girl didn't do it, she would be unfair and unruly, who would dare to ask for it in the future. Sheng Li heard clearly, looking at these middle-aged men, wearing straw sandals or liberation shoes, sitting on a stool with a cigarette between them, whispering and shaking their legs. Uncle Zheng signaled them not to talk nonsense, and those few people stopped, and then snickered again, as if provocative, after all, it is a child, in front of children is a bully, and naturally they dare not be rampant in front of adults.

Not only did Shengli hear the unpleasant words, but she also smelled the smell of sweat and smoke coming from them. In a public place like this, at least the two people who wore clean clothes, especially those who shook their legs, woke up with snot, wiped their hands and threw them out, and then wiped them on their pants, which had not been washed for many days, probably shaking lice. Crowded, spitting, coughing loudly, as if signaling that he was going to spit, wrapped his mouth a few times and sprayed vigorously into the distance. Uncle Zheng was afraid that she would not be used to it, so he hurriedly stretched out his feet and wiped the phlegm with soil ash.

She looked at her whole body trembling, and she couldn't sit still, so she got up and prepared to find a cleaner place. But the yard is full of people, the main house is placed in the mourning hall, the side house is the master's bedroom, there is light, generally the position of the gift book, and the bedroom of the back eaves is not convenient to go. The side eaves are the kitchen, and the chef and a group of people are busy with the meals, and I think of the second brother who should have been so powerful when he was the chef in the past. The chef makes the dishes delicious, and the host's face is very face-saving.

The deceased is the biggest, Sheng Li took a deep breath, told herself to hold back, standing on the edge of the yard, the people in the yard seemed to be unknown except Uncle Zheng, all the prime of life who had some doors had gone out to work, and the rest of these people were basically over 40 years old, and she was the same generation, and she had been away from the courtyard for more than four years, and it was understandable that she didn't know her. At this moment, Zhou Qian seemed to see her in the distance, walked over, confirmed that it was her and greeted her, Shengli explained that her father was a little tired and couldn't come, so she followed her, but she didn't even know the master, would it be rude.

Zhou Qian said that she has grown up, she should have a long experience, and there are different rules for red and white ceremonies, just look at it in your eyes and remember it in your heart. She nodded, she still knew some basic etiquette, such as the children of the deceased wore a five-foot white filial piety cloth for one generation, and the grandchildren wore three feet, and the lower the generation, the shorter the wear; Also, there should be no red side dishes or spices in the meal. After hearing that she was still standing there, Zhou Qian understood at a glance that she was not used to sitting in this group of croppers, many of them rushed over after finishing their work, and some of them raised the pole tomorrow, so they simply did not change it. Zhou Qian asked her to sit next to their mourning drum corps, these old partners, because they want to turn the funeral, cleaning up is the minimum respect for the deceased.

When the people next to him saw Zhou Qian protecting Shengli, they shouted at him, saying that he was not old. Zhou Qian generally doesn't joke about white things, and he can't wait to beat him up when he hears this. After thinking about it, in this way, those people have to inch inch, but it is not good for Shengli. Seung-ri continued to be silent, and he immediately understood why she was far away, so he walked into the middle of the crowd and solemnly introduced Seung-li.

"This is Zheng Shengyang's sister Zheng Shengli." Shengli bowed to everyone in response, everyone tilted their heads, what is there to introduce to a girl, how can she also be a junior. Zhou Qian pointed to a person and said, "Old grandson, I remember that when your son was a child, he had a mouth tumor on his neck (two pimples were connected to a long pimple, half a circle around the neck, called a mouth tumor), and he couldn't see it well after looking for a lot of Langzhong, and he didn't even accept it in the health center, and he saw that it was difficult to breathe, and it was Shengyang who used a few herbs to cure it." That's the great benefactor of your family. When the man heard this, he hurriedly said that he really owed Shengyang Tianda a favor, and he shouldn't have followed everyone to make fun of Shengli just now.

"And Lao Wang, your old man passed away that year, and he was so poor that he was so poor, it was Shengyang who gave you the chef and advanced money to buy wine and meat, I don't know if the money has been paid off now?" When Lao Wang heard this, he bowed his head in shame, the wine and meat money was returned, and the chef's salary Shengyang said that he would help, but he didn't ask for it. Laughing at Shengli today is to slap Shengyang's face, and besides, this baby is not disrespectful to them, just to arouse her anger, to see the majesty of the overlord, he is the heart of the villain.

"I said Tian Laohan, your girl has been lost for several years, what you know is that she was abducted and sold, and if you don't know, you think you sold it yourself. Because you see Shengli without any pity, it's better to fantasize about what your daughter looks like in other places. Tian Laohan was speechless for a moment, lowered his head and fiddled with the cigarette butt in his hand, it was so painful to be pierced in the heart. Sheng Li saw that everyone was embarrassed, so she silently retreated, Zhou Qian believed that they knew it, and when they realized the rudeness just now, they stopped being verbose.

Sheng Li followed Zhou Qian to the guest seat, saw the mourning hall of the main house, and thought that she should go and burn a stack of paper money for her and pay tribute to a stick of incense. Zhou Qian looked at her and was relieved that she still knew some rules, of course it was not a relative, and the incense was voluntary, and she didn't force it. Sheng Li knelt in front of the coffin, burning paper money in her left hand, and kneeling on either side were two boys, about the same age as her, wearing a three-foot filial piety cloth, which indicated that they were the grandchildren of the deceased. After Shengli burned the paper money and kowtowed, the filial grandsons on both sides also kowtowed in return.

Shengli stood up and was about to leave, but was seen by Xia Qing who came out of the back room, "Girl! Xia Qing has been very sad for the past two days, almost never going out to greet guests, and followed by her brother and daughter-in-law to look at her, afraid that she would cry again when she saw the coffin. Because of the loud voice, Shengli looked at her, as if she knew but couldn't remember. Xia Qing quickly walked over and took her hand, she was a little overwhelmed, "Child, thank you, thank you for coming, what's your name?" ”

"I, my name is Zheng Shengli."

"The surname is Zheng, is it from the courtyard of the Zheng family?" Sheng Li nodded, Xia Qing said that she was in the hospital that day, thank her for helping her mother go to the toilet, and now that the old man is gone, she no longer has to endure the torture of illness, but she is always sorry for her mother. Sheng Li then remembered that the deceased in front of her turned out to be the grandmother she saw in the hospital that time, and her state seemed to be okay at that time. The aunt in front of her was crying and swollen in her eyes, and she kept holding her hand, and Shengli didn't know how to comfort her.

"The two filial sons who knelt in front of the coffin to return the salute are my eldest son and second son, named Xue Chenglong and Xue Chenghu, younger than you, and the two girls who helped pick vegetables in the kitchen are my daughters, Xue Chengfeng and Xue Chengjiao. Reading is far away, the two sons stopped studying in junior high school, and now the two girls are in junior high school and primary school. Xia Qing didn't understand why she told her this, she wanted to see her more, but she didn't know how to talk, Sheng Li looked at it, these two boys were not very old, but their bodies were very strong. As for the two little girls, they seem to be helping, but their faces are disdainful, they are probably the age of playing, and no one wants to help do things at night.