Zhu Bai's trustee called the daughter-in-law of the two sons and the eldest son. The daughter-in-law is holding a boy full of ** in her arms. When Mr. Zhu took his grandson into his hand, he raised it to his face, as if admiring a valuable item, and then said aloud to his grandson who was crying: "Grandpa depends on you when he sees the light of day!" Zhu Baishi took the child absently and muttered, "You also say something to the milk baby." The eldest son, Huairen, was overjoyed that his father had high hopes for his grandson. The second son, Huaiyi, stood behind, not paying much attention to his father's comments on his nephew, and watched a little indifferently as his nephew was picked up, and then returned to his sister-in-law's arms to suck **. At lunchtime, Zhu Baishi made an exception to stir-fry four dishes, two meat and two vegetables, the staple food was yellow and clear millet dry rice, and the drink was boiled millet thick soup. Mr. Zhu was in a very good mood, and copied the dishes on the plate to Zhu Baishi and then to his daughter-in-law, and then to the bowl of the eldest son and younger son, and the warmth and love flowed on the pair of bamboo chopsticks. The daughter-in-law was moved to tears by her father-in-law's actions.

After lunch, the sun was warm and soft, and Mr. Zhu and his wife and children sat on the sunny slope to bask in the warmth, which was a rare opportunity for a family reunion. When the eldest son, Huairen, reached the age of sixteen, Mr. Zhu sent him back to his hometown to take care of the housework, and married him a daughter-in-law in the next two years. The second son, Huaiyi, was also sent home when he was 16 years old, so that he and his brother could work together to cultivate the land and manage the livestock. He let them study under his knees to learn etiquette and righteousness, and then sent them back to their hometowns to live independently, to be self-respecting and self-reliant peasants, and never allowed them to join politics, the army, or even business. At the beginning of the Great Levy and the Great Levy of Taxes, Mr. Zhu only hinted that his son should pay the grain donation in full, but hid his younger son Huaiyi in the academy. Tian Fuxian's Bao Ding found the academy, and Mr. Zhu said: "I wanted to be a soldier in order to fight the Japanese invaders that year, and the city was full of turmoil, but as a result, Bao'er flashed and couldn't do it, and put empty cannons in front of the countrymen, told lies, and lost face, and I swore at that time that I would no longer be a soldier, and my children and grandchildren would not be soldiers." You go and bring my original words to Tian Fuxian, and then to the county magistrate secretary, my doll is not a soldier. Huaiyi really avoided the past because of this, but it could only be regarded as a semi-exempt household. The frequent increase in various taxes caused Huairen to sell cattle and land, and he was almost on the verge of bankruptcy. Mr. Zhu said to his son, "That's enough. We have collected all the imperial grain of the past ten years in one year, and it is enough. We are benevolent and righteous to the country, but now the country is neither benevolent nor righteous to the people. When any of them asks for food and money, you ask him to come to the academy and ask me. Sure enough, no one was urging Huairen to die anymore. When Huairen later told his father about this change, he was not without joy and joy. Mr. Zhu listened, but his face was full of guilt: "Dad rubbed off the Ding donation for you with dough, and the township party folks should roll their eyes at me...... "In any case, Huairen finally kept the last five acres of land without completely going bankrupt, and added a calf to the cattle pen that had been idle for a long time by careful calculation...... Now, in the quiet White Deer Academy, under the gentle Yang Po, sits all the members of a family who are fortunate to have preserved intact in the chaos of the world. Mr. Zhu turned his head to his wife and said, "You shave my head again." Zhu Baishi pouted: "Shave it, why do you say, 'shave again'? Don't you want me to shave this time?" Mr. Zhu smiled and said, "It's amazing! You've learned to pick out words, too. The daughter-in-law hurriedly stuffed the child into the arms of her mother-in-law Zhu Baishi, and went into the stove to boil hot water for her father-in-law. Huairen said, "Dad, let my mother rest, I'll shave your head." Mr. Zhu smiled gently: "Do you want to learn the craft on my head?" Huaiyi scrambled to testify on behalf of his brother: "It doesn't hurt at all for my brother to shave his head, and the people in the village are all boiling their heads and begging him to shave him!" Mr. Zhu said in surprise: "This is not bad, it is better to shave the heads of the villagers than to 'cut leeks' on their heads!" Huairen, when did you learn the art of shaving your head?" Huaiyi grabbed his mouth again and said aggrievedly: "My brother has practiced the knife on my head and practiced the teacher!" The first time I cut five cuts, cut one cut and dipped a pinch of cotton. I said, "Brother, you've shaved that half, leaving the sesame ......seeds to be planted next year," Mr. Zhu laughed loudly, leaning forward and leaning back with tears overflowing from his eyes. Huairen said sincerely: "Dad, do you believe it now?" I'll shave you. Mr. Zhu still couldn't help laughing: "You also want to plant cotton on your father's head?" You've sold your cotton land, you've paid your donations, and there's nowhere to grow cotton, aren't you?" Huairen still said gently: "Listen to Huaiyi's best practice of my craft." You'll know as soon as I take a razor. Mr. Zhu shook his head slightly: "I still believe in your mother's craftsmanship." Your mother has shaved my head all my life, where my head is high and low, where there is a ditch and where there is a road, your mother has a bottom in her heart, and she can shave it clean with her eyes closed. Zhu Bai snuggled his grandson's face with his face, slanted his eyes and threw Mr. Zhu a loving and disgusting look. The daughter-in-law took the copper basin and put it in the sun and said, "Dad, come and simmer your hair while the water is hot." ”

Mr. Zhu walked to the copper basin and lowered his head, and was about to make water, Zhu Baishi shouted "Wait a minute", handed over his grandson to his daughter-in-law, untied the apron strap from behind his waist while moving his little feet, wrapped the blue printed waist cloth around Mr. Zhu's neck, pressed Mr. Zhu's head with one hand, and reached into the basin with one hand to stir up the water. Mr. Zhu suddenly raised his head, which was pressed by his wife, and asked, "Look at how many black hairs I have?"

"There is no black anymore, but all white."

"Do you take a closer look to see if there's anything dark?"

"I can't find a single black hair."

"You didn't look closely! Go, put on your reading glasses and look carefully. ”

Zhu Bai took the glasses from the needlework basket on the steps and put them on his face, pressed his husband's head with one hand, and pulled his hair with the other, searching from the forehead to the back of the head, and then from the root of the left ear to the top of the head to the root of the right ear. Mr. Zhu put his forehead on his wife's thigh, obediently and meekly allowed her fingers to flip his head and pull the roots of his hair, and suddenly recalled the time when his mother caught lice in his hair when he was a child. The mother pressed his head to his thigh, parted his horseman-like hair for the wriggling lice, and muttered incessantly, ahhh......h Mr. Zhu's cheek pressed against his wife's warm thigh, and he couldn't help but say, "I want to call you Mom-" Zhu Baishi stopped his hands in surprise: "You are old, you are old and confused, aren't you?" Huairen lowered his head in embarrassment, Huaiyi turned his head to look away with a red face, and the eldest daughter-in-law pretended to breastfeed and pressed the child's head. Mr. Zhu raised his head and said sincerely: "I can't stand the loneliness in my heart, so I look forward to having a mother!" After that, he stared at Zhu Bai's eyes and shouted: "Mom-" Two lines of tears rolled down. Zhu Bai's body trembled, he no longer felt embarrassed, he stared at his poor husband like a mother, and then pressed his head to the arched thigh, and continued to pull the roots of his hair to search for black hair. Mr. Zhu quieted down. When the two sons and daughter-in-law were about to dodge and leave, Zhu Baishi slapped his face and announced in surprise:

"There's only half a black one left! The top half is white, the bottom half is still black - you're a white-haired deer......"

When Mr. Zhu heard this, he raised his head, did not speak, and after a moment of silence, he lowered his head and approached the copper basin. Zhu Baishi pressed his head with one hand and washed his hair with the other...... After shaving, Mr. Zhu stood up and asked, "Are you done?" Zhu Baishi breathed a sigh of relief, wiped the razor blade on the placket of his clothes, and said, "Your hair is all white, but it's still so hard." Mr. Zhu said meaningfully: "After shaving, I should leave." Zhu Baishi didn't pay attention to it or care: "After shaving, don't you leave and wait to shave again?" Mr. Zhu had already turned around and walked away, turned around and said, "Shave again...... That must ...... Can't wait!"

Zhu Bai said to his daughter-in-law: "When you are weaned, you will give me the baby." The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law sat under the yang woman and chatted about homely things, Huairen and Huaiyi sat on the side and interjected from time to time, and time passed quietly in a long and warm family atmosphere. The faint winter sun shone from the courtyard, and the sunset was shining on the treetops and roof tiles on the walls. Zhu Bai was about to let his daughter-in-law carry the child into the house and sit on the kang, when he suddenly saw a white deer rising in the front yard, swept up the eaves and floated over the ridge of the roof and disappeared on the original slope. At that moment, she suddenly thought of her husband Mr. Zhu, her face changed suddenly, her heart couldn't beat, and she shouted: "Huairen Huaiyi, go see your father-" Huairen Huaiyi followed and ran to the front yard. Zhu Bai's frightened heart was still beating, and then he heard the cry of Huairen Huaiyi in the front yard. Her heart sank suddenly, but she stopped beating in a panic, and said to her surprised daughter-in-law, "Your father is gone." He just said, 'I'm done shaving, I'm leaving.'" None of us took his word for it. ”

Mr. Zhu died. Huairen ran to the front yard first, and saw his father sitting on the old rattan chair in the courtyard, his arms leaning on the railings on both sides of the wicker chair, and his freshly shaved head resting on the back of the rattan chair, facing the Bailuyuan slope. He called "Dad", but his father ignored him. Huaiyi also called "Dad" when he arrived, but his father still didn't answer. The brothers' hands grabbed their father's hand at the same time, and the hand was already cold and hard, and they began to cry. Zhu Bai and his daughter-in-law hurriedly walked over and stopped the two sons who were kneeling at their father's feet and crying and the daughter-in-law who had just started crying: "Can you still cry for a while?" Go and build a funeral hall. ”

The mourning hall was set up in the study hall where Mr. Zhu lectured on weekdays, and three square tables were put together, and Zhu Bai instructed his sons to carry Mr. Zhu in. The two sons grabbed the four legs of the wicker chair from either side, carried the father away, and then carefully helped him up to the table and lay down. Zhu Baishi brought the shroud that had already been prepared, and immediately seized the time to change Mr. Zhu; When the whole body is cold, the stiffened arms and legs not only can't get rid of the old clothes and pants, but also can't put on the shroud. The academy is far away from the village house, and there is no help from the villagers. took off her cotton clothes and shirt, and her daughter-in-law saw that the ribs on her father-in-law's chest were protruding one by one, and it seemed that she couldn't even see a trace of muscle, and the ribs were covered with a layer of yellow-white translucent skin; The cotton pants and underpants are wiped off, and the two legs are also bones wrapped in a translucent cortex, and people will be so thin that the flesh and blood have been completely consumed and tormented. The daughter-in-law caught a glimpse of Ah Gong's drooping genitals and was not shy, and she looked away to put socks on Ah Gong's feet, but she was surprised that Ah Gong's utensils were so thick and long. Zhu Baishi noticed his daughter-in-law's evasive behavior, and said smoothly and open-mindedly: "You first lift your legs up and put on your pants, and then put on your socks last." When the daughter-in-law was encouraged, she lifted her grandfather's legs and feet, and Zhu Baishi quickly put on the shirt and cotton pants...... Everything was neatly dressed from head to toe, and when Zhu Baishi tied his feet with a dyed red rope, he found that Mr. Zhu's two calves were slightly bent and uneven. She rubbed both knees vigorously, thinking that it was because her legs were bent when she held her breath on the wicker chair, but she couldn't do anything. Zhu Baishi suddenly came to his senses and shouted to his daughter-in-law: "Ahhh Then he ran to the backyard to get a pair of home-woven socks, and asked his daughter-in-law to take off the pair of white socks that he was wearing by mistake and put on a pair of cloth socks. Zhu Baishi said to his daughter-in-law: "Your father has never hung a silk thread in his life, from head to toe from the inside to the outside, it is all homespun clothes and pants made of me spinning and weaving. These white socks were bought for him by Lingling when he came to see his uncle, and your father didn't even put them on once. Just now we were in a panic and pulled the wrong one, but he still ......" The daughter-in-law was surprised when she heard it.