The taxi driver was a middle-aged man in his forties wearing plaid short-sleeved gray shorts and a haircut, and he was also a very bold character, who took the initiative to chat with me along the way, and saw that his name was on the ID on his car, called Liu Chengzhi. Let's call him Master Liu.

"Young man, you should be the first time you've come to Liucheng." Master Liu said while looking at the road conditions.

"Yes, first time." I replied.

These perennial taxi people have very sharp eyes, and it is easy to see whether you are a local or not, and you are not familiar with this place, so you don't need to pretend to be very familiar, everyone knows it.

Master Liu smiled: "I guess I know, otherwise how would I call a taxi to Pingtang here, let me tell you that you are fortunate to have met me, otherwise you may not be able to find a car to Pingtang all afternoon." ”

His Mandarin has the unique flavor of Liucheng, but fortunately it is easy to understand.

I said approvingly: "Indeed, it may be that the name of the place I reported is too small, and everyone may know if I should have checked which county or district Pingtang is located in."

Master Liu shook his head: "Even if you know, there will be no taxi driver willing to run, the road is too far, this passenger terminal is in the south of Liucheng, Pingtang Village is in the north of Liucheng, two extreme directions, only take the bus to Wuxian to transfer, the taxi will send you over and come back, so it is too wasteful of time, and the money is less. ”

I smiled noncommittally, I don't know the doorway here, whether I make more or less money, but the profit is definitely up to the standard in his heart, otherwise I wouldn't be sitting in his car now.

Master Liu looked at me and explained: "Don't believe it, I'll tell you the truth, in fact, my home is from Pingtang Village, if I didn't think I could go home and have a look, I wouldn't have taken your order." ”

"Oh?" This surprised me a little and said, "Master, are you from Pingtang?" ”

The car was just waiting for the traffic light, and when he saw that I didn't believe it, Master Yang took out his ID card from his arms and showed it to me.

"Student, what do I have to deceive you, you can see for yourself."

I took the ID card in his hand, and when I saw that the address on it was indeed the number of Pingtang Village, I said in surprise: "Is it such a coincidence, master." ”

Master Liu took back his ID card and said to me: "My wife and children are in Pingtang, I rarely go home for rent in the city all the year round, so I rented a house in the city, and I went back seven or eight times a year. ”

There are hardships everywhere in the world, and I sighed: "I only go back so many times a year, my family should miss you very much, right?" ”

The mention of this seemed to poke Master Liu's heart, he sighed and said helplessly: "Alas, I must want to, but if I want to make money, my family is waiting for me to feed, and there is no way to make a living." ”

Master Liu didn't seem to want to talk about this, so he asked me: "By the way, what are you doing in Pingtang, student, you look quite raw, and you don't look like you're from there, are you here to visit relatives?" ”

"Hmm." I nodded, I want to talk about the past that my relatives also talked about, after all, the object of the funeral is my second grandfather.

As soon as he heard that I had relatives in Pingtang Village, Master Liu's tone also became lively, and he said: "What is the name of your relatives, Pingtang Village is so big, I know most of them, maybe I am still very familiar with your relatives." ”

The second grandfather's name is Ren Dajun, a very common name, and the names that people gave to boys at that time seemed to be what army, what country, what people, and so on.

I told him the name of my second grandfather, and Master Liu seemed very surprised when he heard it, so much so that the car shook back and forth because he subconsciously stepped on the brakes.

"Oops, you're any marijuana... Relatives of Ren Dajun's family! That's amazing! Master Liu turned his head and looked me up and down again, and praised me with a smile: "Sure enough, he is a talent, I said how do you look so noble." ”

I was so uncomfortable with this sudden sycophant that I could only laugh dryly, but I can know one thing from this, the second grandfather seems to have a very unusual status in this village.

Rolling his eyes, he thought for a moment and said, "Uh... Actually, I can only be regarded as a distant relative, I have never seen him until I am so old, and yesterday I received the news that he had passed away, so I came to his funeral in place of my father. ”

"Oh." When I said this, Master Liu showed an expression that was originally like this, until he heard the news of my second grandfather's death, Master Liu said in surprise: "Aya, Master Ren is dead?" Really? ”

("Aya" is the mood word for surprise in the dialect, and "yes" is the second tone.) ）

It seems that he didn't know about it yet, otherwise he wouldn't have shown this expression.

Master Liu said in disbelief: "I also called my wife two days ago, and I mentioned him when we chatted, and I heard that they were still alive, why did they suddenly die?" ”

But that's the case, I also received a call from my father yesterday, but my father didn't say in detail, just said that the second grandfather died, and the cause of death didn't say anything, I thought he was old and died of natural illness, but after listening to Master Liu's words, it seems that the second grandfather didn't seem to die of illness.

Master Liu didn't know that such a big thing happened at home, which made him a little depressed, and in order to verify the facts I said, he directly took out his mobile phone and called his wife.

Master Liu turned on the hands-free and put the phone directly in front of me, and he didn't shy away from me, and the phone rang a few times and it was connected.

"Hey, husband."

A female voice speaking Liucheng dialect came from the phone, and the surroundings seemed to be lively, and the sound of gongs and drums and opera was heard.

"Hey, daughter-in-law, what are you doing?" Master Liu said into the phone.

"I'm watching the flower drum show at the hemp house, don't you know, the hemp died yesterday, and I forgot to call to tell you."

Hearing the news that Ren Dajun was really dead, Master Liu said "Aya", as if he cared about me on the side, he didn't let his daughter-in-law talk to him in detail, and said, "I'm ready to come back." ”

When Master Liu's wife heard this on the phone, she said in surprise: "Really, are you coming back today?" ”

"Well, I'm on my way now, and I'll be there in about an hour." When Master Liu heard his wife's happy tone, the corners of his mouth rose unconsciously.

"By the way, didn't you want a sports car, why did you suddenly remember to come back?" After being happy, his wife asked suspiciously.

Master Liu explained: "I just took a business today and came to this neighborhood, so I can just come back and have a look." ”

Master Liu didn't talk about me, I don't know if it was because I was next to him, or if he had his own professional ethics.

"That's okay, you can also rush to eat rotten meat rice in the evening, I told you that the rotten meat rice of the hemp family is too rich, you have a good mouth tonight, it is really a rich family, chicken, duck, fish, shrimp, pig, cow, sheep, all kinds of dishes, and invited the troupe to sing...

On the phone, Master Liu's wife kept telling him about today's dishes, as well as what performances were after eating, and sighed how rich Ren Dajun's family was and what kind of people came.

I sat in my seat and listened silently, this is also the way for me to understand the second grandfather's family, to be honest, I am now like a stunned young man, I don't know anything and come alone to attend the funeral of the so-called "second grandfather", I can imagine how embarrassing I will be when I go there, there is no one familiar or known, but they are still my "relatives".

My father didn't talk about the situation of the second grandfather's family before, but only said that he had a discordant relationship with his grandfather, and how many people in the family were called, and he didn't tell me in detail, but hurriedly explained a few words to me and gave me a phone number and hung up the phone, because someone from his business came and wanted to start talks.

Today I also called my father to learn more from him, but his phone kept showing that he was busy.

If I happen to meet Master Liu today, I should be able to learn something from his mouth, no, the first thing I learned from the conversation between him and his wife is that the second grandfather is very rich, at least in Napingtang Village!