When the neighbors carried Grandma Shengzi into the house, she was already hanging with one breath, and she only saw the breath out, but not the breath.

Everyone knows that I don't need to ask a doctor, this person won't survive the night today.

Shengzi's eyes were red anxiously, he ran to the stove room to boil water and decoction medicine, and then held a bowl of black medicinal juice, spoonful by spoon to feed Grandma into his mouth, but the lips of the person on the kang were tightly closed, and he couldn't even swallow it.

With a whimper, the stupid big snot and tears were smeared, and he was covered in chaff, although he was stupid, he also knew life and death - when people died, the lights went out, and they were buried in the tomb, and they would never see each other again.

The daughter-in-law had a red nose, and she wanted to discuss with Luo Shi about the future, but after thinking about it, as soon as this grandma died, there would be a fool left in the family, and the bride decided to redeem herself, so it was superfluous to discuss with her.

Thinking like this, she stepped out by herself, looking for a few good girls on weekdays, and first made up some silver, shrouds, coffins, white things for dinner, etc., all of which had to be arranged first.

At this time, Grandma on the kang took a sharp breath and opened her cloudy eyes! I saw that her face began to redden, and she moved her lips at Luo Shixi and said:

"You...... You...... You come here."

Luo Shi sat next to each other on the kang, leaned down, listened to her trembling lips, and said hoarsely:

"I knew I wasn't going to get better...... Shengzi is young, there is no parent, the old woman is gone, he is lonely, I can't rest assured...... I bought you, and the old woman can't stand you...... Please protect him, and don't let anyone bully him, and the old woman will be a cow and a horse for the girl in the next life...... Repay you again......"

“……”

Luo Shi is bitter and unspeakable, don't say that she has one in her belly and one buried in her heart, even if she is innocent, she will not make a lifelong commitment to take care of others for the sake of sympathy.

Seeing that she was silent, the uneasiness gradually crept into her pupils, her eyes widened, and her breath became more and more urgent, she groped to hold Luo Shi's hand, and said earnestly:

"Y-Don't you? Liter ...... Shengzi is a good boy, he ...... He'll be sure to treat you well......"

After that, she trembled her hands, took out a can of broad beans from the edge of the kang and handed it to Luo Shi:

"If he listens to you...... You will award him one, this is what I taught him since I was a child, I will ask the girl to give the son, I will ...... I ......"

The follow-up qi couldn't be raised, and Luo Shi panicked, only to hear a soft belch from Grandma's throat, and then the person's hand loosened and fell on the kang.

She hadn't heard Rash's own promise, so her eyes couldn't be closed, and the ashes slowly covered her cloudy eyes, and when Rash reached out to probe someone's nose, she was lifeless.

Luo Shi covered her mouth and nose, her eyes could not hide her sadness, and her thoughts were mixed, and she regretted it a little - the dying person refused to turn a blind eye, but for her promise, if she coaxed her against her will, what could she do?

Grandma finally left, and Shengzi stood aside and mourned unbearably, crying like a child.

He hugged Grandma's body tightly and didn't let go, no one persuaded him, and in the end, he rushed in with a strong young man, and only three or two of them cured him, dragged and dragged people out of the room, let the woman enter the door, wiped Grandma's body and washed her face, and changed her shroud.

All the funeral ceremonies were handled by the daughter-in-law, and the courtyard was erected overnight, and the carpenter began to make the coffin. According to the funeral ceremony in Liangzhou, three days later, the grave was buried, and the day before the burial, a big white banquet was held, but these operations still had to be taken care of, after all, it had to spend a lot of silver, and the son had to make his own decision.

*

Luo Shi couldn't help much, and everyone didn't really think of her as a daughter-in-law, and for a while, she became a person in the way.

Following the night, she walked out of the yard, and at the other end of the ridge, she found Shengzi who was squatting on the ground and crying.

The huge strong man, sadly squatting on the ground and shedding tears, muttered from time to time:

"It's all gone, they don't want me anymore, Ah Huang is gone, Grandma is gone......"

Luo Shi stood behind him for a while, making the cold wind shiver, she squatted down and persuaded softly: "Blowing the night wind will give you a headache tomorrow."

Shengzi hung tears, turned his face to look at Luo Shi, in the dark night, his eyes were washed with tears, he choked and opened his mouth, and asked cautiously:

"Daughter-in-law...... Are you going to go, too? ”

"People will always die, and I will die in the future, if you mean to die, yes, I will also go"

Luo Shi couldn't look at the rising son like this, she couldn't tell the truth, she couldn't tell lies, so she had to say a insincerely.

Shengzi's brain is stupid, he can't understand at all, he will only pick the sentence in other people's words that he can understand:

"I know, you have to go too, then you can go!"

He turned his head in a muffled voice, staring at the upper of his shoes in a daze, although he didn't cry, but his lonely back was uncomfortable to look at.

"Let's go in first, there are still a lot of things for you to make up your mind about Grandma's funeral, you can't hide here all the time"

"You're leaving, you don't care about me, my daughter-in-law will take care of me"

Luo Shi couldn't help but be stunned when she heard this, and secretly said in her heart: Is this person really stupid or stupid? Listening to this, it seems that he is using the agitation method of retreating into advance?

Shengzi kept glancing at Luo Shi with her spare eyes, and seeing that she didn't leave, her tense body gradually relaxed.

Luo Shi took out the jar of broad beans that Grandma Fang Cai gave her, took out one from it and handed it to Shengzi:

"If you listen to me, this will be given to you......"

Shengzi's eyes suddenly lit up, and he took it and hid it in the palm of his hand as if he had got some treasure, and he immediately got up from the mud and said to Luo Shi:

"I listen to you, I'll go back with you!"

Luo Shi couldn't imagine that this inconspicuous broad bean was so easy to use, so that the stupid big man could be obedient and follow her to the house.

Erkui was still standing outside the fence of the courtyard waiting for her, and when he saw someone coming, he hurriedly greeted her, and asked a little hesitantly: "Although Shengzi and Grandma have gone, what do you think in your heart, Sister?" ”

Luo Shi glanced at the young man who was getting up the shed and the craftsman who was painting the coffin board, sighed faintly, and his eyes were gray:

"I'll stay, you ask your mother to accept the three taels of silver that I bought, you have to use money for funeral dinners everywhere, let Shengzi Grandma go to the soil first, as for other people's places, you can ask, but if you want to go home, you will find Li Zheng to adjudicate, how much silver to ransom people away, and give an explanation"

Seeing that Luo Shi was resolute, Er Kui didn't look like he was forced to be helpless, and he also let go of his mind, so he nodded and said:

"Okay, I got it!"

Bypassing Erkui, Luo Xi walked into the courtyard and found the busy daughter-in-law, and called out warmly:

"Auntie, is there anything I can help with?"

The daughter-in-law raised the back of her hand and wiped the sweat on her forehead, seeing that Luo Shi recognized herself as Shengzi's daughter-in-law and was willing to help with the funeral, she was the happiest, and said in her heart: Grandma Shengzi can rest assured!

"It's all busy, we poor people don't pay attention to anything, a coffin and a table of white rice, the tomb on the mountain is prepared by grandma early, don't delay the funeral the day after tomorrow, just go to the town to buy some big meat back, vegetables and vegetables to cut in their own fields, white noodles and japonica rice I also have, I don't need to buy it!"

Luo Xi saw that everything was arranged for her, and thanked her earnestly: "With Aunt Lao in charge, I will go to the town tomorrow, and I will take a hand."

Manchu's daughter-in-law nodded, shook her hand, and spoke in her heart: "Live a good life with Shengzi, it's nothing big to be stupid, it's true to be kind to your daughter-in-law!" If there is any difficulty in the future, even if you come to find your aunt, I can help you as much as I can! ”

"Thank you, auntie, I made a note of it"

Luo Shi smiled at her, although she ruined half of her skin and flesh, and her smile was not as delicate as before, but her eyes were bright and warm, which made people happy to look at them.

The two of them were busy all night, and the next day before the rooster crowed, the sky was indigo blue, faintly white, and Luo Shi and Manchu's daughter-in-law went to Kushui Town in an ox cart. The two of them chatted about the family on the ox cart, and Luo Shi learned more about the village.

This place is called Kushui, it is a small town in the west of Liangzhou, take an ox cart from the mountain col, take the sheep intestine trail all the way into the town, it takes about two hours.

Manchu's daughter-in-law's real name is Cui Ying, she originally gave birth to three sons, but she successively asked the village to recommend her to go to the barracks to eat food and salary, the eldest son also made military exploits and was promoted to become a military commander, and the last three sons all followed the main general Liang Yu deep into the enemy's belly, that was the battle, wounded 10,000 enemies and lost 8,000 self-losses, although they destroyed the Xirong military camp, but Liang Yu 'sacrificed himself to martyrdom', and the soldiers he brought were almost wiped out! When the messenger returned, everyone said that this was a team of dead soldiers, and the pension given by the imperial court was very generous.

A life pension of ten taels, just like this, the daughter-in-law got a sum of thirty taels of silver, which aroused the envy of the neighbors, but who knew the pain of her loss of flesh and blood?

Luo Shi was jolting on the ox cart, and when she saw that her daughter-in-law's eyes were red, she knew that she remembered the sad things again, so she tore away the conversation and stopped mentioning her family's affairs.

Speaking of the situation in Shengzi's family, Manho's daughter-in-law also sighed.

A few years ago, there was an old ox in the family who cultivated the land, and when the farmland was cleared, the grandmother lent it to the neighbors, just in exchange for some food to make ends meet. Later, the cattle were so old that they couldn't plow the land, and there was no income in the family, so Shengzi had to go to the rich man Jing in the village as a tenant, and sometimes he also went into the mountains and forests to hunt-

In short, the family's income is meager, and it is not an exaggeration to say that one is poor and two white.

Luo listened in a muffled voice, and looked thoughtfully at the continuous green mountains in the distance, and the frost and snow in the cold winter were on the mountainside, as if they were covered with a layer of floating ash.

Let's get through this winter first, even if she has to leave, she has to save a sum of silver, and now she doesn't have a copper plate on her body, and she is alone and pregnant with a child, where can she go?

Thinking about it like this, she had a plan in her heart.

The ox cart staggered into the town, compared to Tongzhou City, which was shabby more than a star and a half, the perennial war here was poured, the people's livelihood withered, the merchants and traders were mostly selling blades and horses, and the street pedestrians were in a hurry, and there was less of a fireworks smell of a leisurely life, which made Luo Xian's heart very unsteady.

Manchu's daughter-in-law was not surprised, but said lightly: "Kushui Township is close to the city, the taxes are heavy, and many people in the town have moved to the countryside to live, although it is a little harder, but it is far away from exploitation...... Hey, in fact, it's almost the same, we have shaving food in the field, and the rice grain throughout the year has long been used as military food, how much can be left in our own hands? ”

led Luo Shi to the pork shop, I wanted to cut a pork leg meat, but when I asked the price of the daughter-in-law, I hesitated-

Most of the money for making coffins, building funeral sheds, and tailoring shrouds has been spent, and there is still a white meal to be placed.

Luo Shi thought for a while, and grabbed in front of the full daughter-in-law and said:

"Little brother, how do you buy this pig's head and sewer? And these pig bones."

"These are all things that no one wants, the lady wants it, so take it cheaper, 60 yuan for the pig's head, 15 yuan for the water, pig bones...... This has no meat and no hair, only for the dog to gnaw, no money, just give it to you for free" The pork brother is also sincere.

Luo Shi was quite satisfied with the price, so he also cut some pork neck and pork plate meat, and the boss only spent one hundred and fifty yuan for a bunch of things.

The daughter-in-law is a little anxious, I don't know what Luo Xi is doing to buy these useless things, although the family is poor, but if the white thing is so perfunctory, it will definitely make people poke the backbone in the back!

Luo Xi saw the worry of his daughter-in-law, so he explained softly:

"Aunt Cuiying, don't worry, I have an idea about the food, I will definitely not go out of the country tomorrow, there are still a lot of things to buy, oil, salt, sauce and vinegar can't be saved, and there are some grates, fences, utensils, jars, I see that there are many lacking at home."

The daughter-in-law put the rest of the silver into Luo Shi's hands and sighed:

"I originally thought you were the new daughter-in-law and didn't know how to run the house, but now I see that you are more careful than me, I will definitely give you this money, and you will be so blessed!"

Luo Shi held the broken silver in his palm, lowered his head and smiled, a trace of bitterness lingering on the tip of his tongue.