In Taiyuan, Shanxi, a dilapidated van was driving with difficulty on a muddy mountain road, and two men were about 212 years old in the car.

The man who was called Digo didn't say anything about him, just looked at the road ahead in a daze.

The man's name was Di Renjie, and he was an ordinary --- college student in the twentieth century. Of course, it is different from the famous Di Renjie in history, although he has the same name and surname, there is no similarity except for the name.

The man who drove the car was his college classmate Cai Kun, and as soon as the two graduated, Di Renjie received a call from his hometown saying that he should go back to participate in the ancestor worship.

This is also what he finds strange, since he was a child, he has never heard of his old Di family and ancestor worship. Di Renjie has seen his family's genealogy since he was a child, although the Di family is not passed down from generation to generation, but they are also poor, and it is strange that there is no record of the Di family tree before the Song Dynasty.

Soon arrived at a remote mountain village, the two got out of the car Di Renjie looked at the place where he had lived since he was a child and shook his head, and he no longer thought nonsense.

The two of them walked on the country road at dusk, paved with fragments of the sun. Straw was draped in a soft golden silk shirt and waited in the silent countryside, where frogs chirped and insects sang. There are also cattle and sheep waiting to return home on the green meadows.

At this time, when you look up, you can see that the smoke has risen from every house, and the two of them walked to the entrance of the village. I saw a group of children chasing each other under the big locust tree at the entrance of the village, while the adults were sitting together, eating melons and chatting, this scene looked very lively.

Speaking of which, dozens of families in this village are members of the Di family, which means that this village is actually Di Renjie's relatives.

The two stepped forward to say hello, and Di Renjie took Cai Kun to his home. Looking at the houses in the village, Di Renjie felt a little nostalgic in his heart...... It's been a long time since I've been back.

After a while, I soon arrived at a small courtyard house at the destination, which was Di Renjie's home.

Without saying much, the two walked in, and when they entered, they saw a somewhat sick old man sitting on the bamboo chair at the door of the main house, and this old man was Di Renjie's grandfather.

Di Renjie still remembers that when he was a child, his grandfather often carried him to the field behind the village to catch crickets at night, and when he was tired, he sat down to tell stories to little Di Renjie.

Di Renjie has never seen his grandmother since he was a child, and he heard his father say that he died early because he had a stomach problem due to famine and hunger when he was a child.

Putting down the luggage, Di Renjie walked behind the old man, stretched out his hand, pinched the old man's shoulder, and whispered: "Grandpa, this time I came back to worship the ancestors, but I always felt that something was wrong, but I couldn't tell me, can you tell me?"

The old man was strange to say, and he had been smiling all the time since the two of them came in. Hearing his grandson's inquiry, he didn't speak, just turned around and squinted at him and smiled dotingly.

Di Renjie is also not surprised by this, since he became an adult, his grandfather has not spoken with him, and he just smiles at him every time, of course, this time is no exception.

Hearing the movement outside the house, a couple came out of the house, it was Di Renjie's parents who looked at their parents' aging faces, increasingly rickety backs, and frost-white sideburns, and clumsy footsteps Di Renjie opened his mouth and didn't know what to say.

After thinking about it for a while, he just smiled at the two and said, "Mom, Dad, I'm back." ”

The parents looked at their son and laughed happily, and the two gently greeted Di Renjie and chatted for a long time, which made Cai Kun at the door extremely embarrassed.

Cai Kun also knew that Di Renjie came back to worship his ancestors this time, so he also shouted to Di Renjie with interest: "Brother Di, I'll go first, and I'll pick you up when you're done." ”

At this time, Di Renjie's parents noticed that there were still people at the door, so they smiled apologetically at Cai Kun.

Di Renjie explained to his parents, then ran over to Cai Kun and said with a smile: "Okay, then you go back first, I'll treat you to a good meal when I'm done." ”

"Good. ”

The two chatted for a while, and Di Renjie sent Cai Kun to the entrance of the village, and the two hugged Cai Kun and drove away.

After coming back, after dinner, the family went to bed early, and at night, Di Renjie listened to the sound of insects outside the house and the slight "rustle" sound of the wind blowing through the leaves. Tossing and turning, I always feel that it is not easy to come back to worship my ancestors this time.

I don't know how long it took, Di Renjie didn't feel sleepy, sat up, lit a cigarette, and smoked, when there was a sound of footsteps outside the door, and then the door was pushed open.

Di Renjie looked at the person who came in surprise, it was none other than his grandfather.

"Grandpa, haven't you slept so late?" Di Renjie wondered in his heart, this old man hasn't slept so late, does he have something to tell me here?

After thinking about it, this old man hasn't talked to him for a long time, and this time he may have passed by, and he came in to take a look when he saw that the lights were still on in the house.

After a while, the old man sighed and said in a hoarse voice: "Hey, Xiaojie, in fact, the family has always hidden one thing from you, haven't you always been curious about what is in the ancestral hall in the mountain behind the village." You will understand a lot of things this time, and I won't say anything more, since the matter is related to you, then you will understand, and I won't say it. ”

The old man's throat seemed to be a little uncomfortable, and after speaking, he coughed for a while, walked to the table, picked up the cup, poured a large sip of water, moistened his throat, turned his head to look out the window, his eyes were a little dim and a little hesitant, and it seemed that there was something not to say.

Seeing that the old man didn't mean to continue, Di Renjie pretended to be relaxed and said with a smile: "Grandpa, we haven't had a good chat together for a long time." Since you don't say it, I won't ask more, so let's talk about something else today. ”

The old man looked back at Di Renjie and smiled: "Sensible, it's not like the character of a donkey when I was a child." ”

Hearing this, Di Renjie smiled awkwardly, and the two chatted for one night this night, which was also the first time that the two had chatted together since Di Renjie became an adult.

When he saw off the old man in the morning, he felt a wave of sleepiness coming, and lay down on the bed for a nap.

I don't know how long later, I was woken up by a knock on the door outside the house, and when I got up and opened the door, I saw my mother's face full of gentle smiles.

"Xiaojie, hurry up and wash it out to eat, it's going to go to the ancestral hall to worship the ancestors after noon. ”

Di Renjie smiled at his mother and said, "I know, Mom, you go over first." After speaking, Di Renjie turned around and went to the house to wash.

......

In the main house, Di Renjie's parents sat with his grandfather, and the atmosphere was very depressing, and then Di Renjie's mother finally couldn't help but ask the old man: "Dad, will that really happen?"

The old man glanced at her and explained with a smile: "The one who should come will always come, this is the child's life, and he can't hide from it." ”

Before the three of them could continue, Di Renjie had already pushed the door in and looked at them and asked suspiciously, "What's wrong with you? ”

At this time, the old man spoke: "It's okay, we are discussing the matter of worshipping our ancestors, let's sit down and eat." With that, he took a sip of the wine in the bowl.

When eating, Di Renjie always felt that his mother's gaze at him was a little strange, but it was not easy to ask, after eating, the old man told Di Renjie's parents not to follow, and took him to the ancestral hall in the back mountain.

Although the ancestral hall has been renovated several times, the pair of gates is still crumbling, very dilapidated, the plaque on the gate reads "Di's ancestral hall", Di Renjie's family has never let him in since he was a child. Therefore, this time I was particularly curious.

At this time, the old man took out a key and handed it to Di Renjie to explain: "You go in by yourself, and the answers to all your questions are inside." ”

Di Renjie took the key and said curiously, "You won't go in with me?"

"No, you're the only one to go in. ”

Hearing this, Di Renjie didn't think much about raising his feet and walked over, but he didn't see the look of reluctance and uneasiness on the old man's face.

Walking to the door of the ancestral hall, Di Renjie picked up the key, opened the lock, pushed the door and walked in, and what caught his eye was not the tablets he thought, but a statue.

The statue is not very tall, nearly two meters or so, it is very simple, the statue's facial features are three-dimensional, the figure is straight, wearing an official uniform, standing with his head held high, his eyes seem to be looking at Di Renjie, and the corners of his mouth seem to be slightly upturned.

Just as Di Renjie was looking at this statue carefully, he suddenly felt a wave of dizziness, and when he shook his head and looked at the statue again, he was startled, and a dazzling white light was spreading little by little.

Di Renjie wanted to retreat, but his body couldn't move for half a minute, so he could only stand in place. Suddenly, a strong white light enveloped him, Di Renjie felt that this white light was very warm and comfortable, his eyes began to slowly close, and his expression was not panicked, but became peaceful.

Everything that happened in the ancestral hall, the old man outside also saw the shock in his eyes. He had only seen some records about this in the ancestral teachings, but when he actually saw it, it was another matter.

The fierce white light became more intense and dazzling, and the old man had to close his eyes for a long time before he came to his senses and opened his eyes to look at the ancestral hall, and was surprised to find that the statue and Di Renjie had disappeared strangely......