There are more than a dozen families in Maojiagou, and Hu Kehao doesn't know which one the van belongs to. I saw that a family was brightly lit, and the sound of gongs and drums was heard far away, and it seemed that the family was doing a funeral. Hu Kehao and Li Tianbang met a happy event in Magpie Village, and they encountered a funeral in Maojiagou, which is really a narrow road.

said that the family surnamed Mao who did the funeral had a total of five people. The old father Mao Guolong, the three sons are the eldest Mao Bowen, the second Mao Bowu, and the third Mao Bobin. The deceased was Mao Guolong's wife, Mao Bowen, Mao Bowu, and Mao Bobin's mother Jiang Cuizhi.

Jiang Cuizhi died and was buried in the church. The Mao family invited Mr. Taoist to do a dojo during the day, and invited people to cry and sing filial piety songs at night. The mourning person covers his eyes with a handkerchief and cries and sings according to a certain rhythm, which is usually a fake cry, but when he cries to the sad place, the person who sings and the listener will wet their eyes with tears, and they really cry with a handful of snot and tears. With the development of the times, there are fewer and fewer people who will cry and mourn. Some old people sighed: If they die in the future, no one will cry for them!

Several sons of the Mao family took turns to keep vigil for their deceased mother, and the eldest Mao Bowen was on duty alone that night. He was very bold, and he was not afraid of any ghosts, and the vigil was a piece of cake for him. In the middle of the night, a cool breeze blew, and there was a strange sound in the mourning hall. Mao Bowen listened carefully, like a voice coming from a coffin.

Mao Bowen was a master who was not afraid of anything, he leaned his ear close to the coffin and listened carefully, and then asked, "Mother, are you okay now?" But what's bothering you? Mao Bowen listened carefully, and there was no sound. Mao Bowen added some sesame oil to the footlamp in front of the coffin, burned a few pieces of paper, made a few folds, and then continued to guard, slowly dozing.

Suddenly, Mao Bowen saw the coffin lid open automatically, and a person sat up from inside. This man was disheveled, and his face was so terrifying under the dim oil lamp. Mao Bowen was slightly shocked in his heart, and thought: "Could it be that my mother has become a zombie?" Even so, Mao Bowen was still not afraid, he did not pull his legs and run away, but approached the coffin, shining a flashlight on the face of the "zombie", and after a closer look, this person was indeed her mother, but her hair was unkempt and her face was pale. Under the light of the flashlight, the "zombie" could not hold it anymore, and after a few seconds, it lay down in the coffin again.

"Now the yin qi is too heavy, and my mother can't stand this flashlight." Mao Bowen said. So he turned off the flashlight. Mao Bowen wanted his mother to be buried in peace, so he went to probe his mother's snort again, and was very sure that his mother had no signs of life, so he closed the coffin again.

A quarter of an hour later, there was another noise in the coffin, and Mao Bowen estimated that the deceased was about to struggle again. He crept into the coffin and even helped move the lid as it moved.

"My mother has worked hard all her life on the farm, and now I help her move the coffin lid, what's not to do?" Mao Bowen said to himself.

Mao Bowen helped his mother remove the coffin lid, and his mother sat up again. Mao Bowen took a pillow from the stool and put it on his mother's head, so that she could sit comfortably in the coffin.

"Mother, are you uncomfortable lying in it?" Mao Bowen said.

"It's too dark inside, a dark and dead world." Her mother, Jiang Cuizhi, said.

"Mother, I've heard before that some people die for a few days and come back to life, are you alive now?" Mao Bowen asked.

His mother did not answer Mao Bowen's question about life and death, but said: "My head is uncomfortable, you help me comb my hair." ”

"Mother, I am your son. You still know me. If Hades does not accept you and you return your longevity, our brothers will honor you and let you continue to enjoy your old age in peace. Mao Bowen said.

"I'm comfortable here, I'm not going anywhere." Jiang Cuizhi said.

Mao Bowen took a comb and silently combed his mother's hair. Under the dim oil lamp, Mao Bowen saw that his mother's face was very pale, like a paper face. He didn't think about it, he didn't panic, he helped his mother meticulously comb her hair.

"Mother, no matter what state you are in now, I will not abandon you. If you don't have a longevity, I'll help you comb your hair, and you can rest in peace under the Nine Springs. If you return Yangshou, we are still a family. ”

Mao Bowen knelt in front of the coffin lid and helped his mother comb every strand of hair. He is a big man, usually doing rough work on his shoulders and backs, this time he helped his mother comb her hair (it was also the first time in his life that he combed his mother's hair) turned out to be very handy, as evidenced by Su Shi's words "Jiang Chengzi":

"Ten years of life and death.

Don't think about it, it's unforgettable.

Thousands of miles of lonely graves, nowhere to talk about desolation.

Even if you don't know each other, your face is dusty, and your temples are like frost.

Come and dream at night.

Xiao Xuan window, dressing.

There are no words for each other, only a thousand tears.

It is expected that the intestines will be broken every year, the bright moon night, and the short pine gang. ”

After Mao Bowen combed his mother's hair, her mother slept peacefully in the coffin. Mao Bowen went to probe his mother's snort again, but still found no signs of life. He didn't think much about it, and was sure that his mother would not jump out and eat him, so he closed the coffin lid and continued to hold a vigil for his mother.

Suddenly, there was a noise outside, and then three young men walked into the mourning hall. "Maoda, hard work. We come to entertain and relax. A red-clad kid of about fifteen or sixteen years old said, and then pulled out a deck of cards.

Mao Bowen is a filial son, according to the basic requirements of "filial piety" put forward by Confucius, he is not allowed to participate in entertainment activities during the period of filial piety, not to mention that his mother's coffin has not yet been buried. Mao Bowen is usually keen on gambling, and seeing poker, mahjong, etc. is as irrepressible as a drug addict seeing heroin. At this time, Mao Bowen was engaged in a fierce psychological struggle, pretending to be careless, having no interest in playing cards, and continued to guard his mother's coffin.

The three young men played cards next to Mao Bowen. They played Dou Dizhu, each of whom was dealt seventeen cards in a row, of which the kid in red had a good hand, he picked up the hole cards, and then played a link from 3 to Q. For such a long line, the other two children in Tsing Yi and Yellow couldn't catch it. So the child in red continued to play a pair, the child in yellow made a pair of 2, and then the child in red blew up a pair of kings, and finally a small piece of the card was finished, and the win was clean and neat.

Mao Bowen listened to them fighting on the side, feeling as uncomfortable as a cat scratching, and after the three children played a few more games, they couldn't bear it anymore and joined the game. At this point, the kid in red had already won a lot of money.

For three people, fighting Dizhu is a good way to gamble. Now it's four people, and they choose the "dry star" gambling method. This style of play is very simple, with little technical content, and only needs to be played in order of size, and finally the money is counted according to the number of remaining cards.

Mao Bowen's luck was particularly good, after dozens of games, he almost won nine out of ten, and almost won all the money of the three children. Mao Bowen's interest is getting higher and higher, and the bets are getting bigger and bigger. Unexpectedly, his luck became worse and worse, and he was bombed several times, not only did he lose all the money he won, but he also owed the three children a lot of money. Mao Bowen wanted to turn over the account on credit, but the three children disagreed.

"You've lost all your things, and even if you take off your torn clothes, you can't pay off your debts, what do you think? What to pay off gambling debts? The kid in red asked.

"Our family doesn't have much money. The pigs in the pigsty have not yet grown fat, and the crops in the field have not yet been harvested. There is only a large cellar of red roots, and if you want it, I will bring you a few loads. Mao Bowen said.

"That's not going to work. How about we punish us for being a servant if we want something ready-made? The kid in red said.

"You little devils, I am already the same age as your father, and if I serve you as a servant, you will lose your life."

"Yes, we are little ghosts, we have no life, and we are not afraid of losing our lives." The kid in red replied.

Mao Bowen was shocked: Didn't he really encounter a ghost. It's so late, how can a normal person run into this mourning hall to gamble with me? Are they trying to do something? Mao Bowen raised his vigilance and said, "Let's go, it's getting late, and your parents are waiting for you to go back at home!" ”

"No hurry, no hurry, evening is the time for our activities." The kid in red said, "Now that you lose, you have to give us the gambling money." Look at your poor sour portrait, there is nothing to take out to pay off the debt. So give us your mother's body, and the debt will be written off. ”

Mao Bowen really couldn't stand the provocation of these little ghosts, and recited a few incantations that the old monk had taught him before, wanting to drive them away. The spell didn't work, but these imps were still alive. Mao Bowen raised his stick and beat the drum vigorously, singing filial piety songs while beating the drum, but these little ghosts were still unmoved.

"Don't bother, you can't help us with these tricks. Well, we'll give you all the money we have, but we'll take your mother's body. The kid in red said.

Mao Bowen subconsciously protected his mother's coffin. Here, the red-clothed imp threw a large stack of banknotes over, Mao Bowen saw that the money was a piece of renminbi, but who knew that when the money hit him, it became a dark coin. He gently flicked the coins away with his hand, and they fell to the ground and turned into ashes.

The red-clothed imps blew over in one breath, Mao Bowen was dizzy, and he was no longer able to stop these imps from doing evil. He saw his mother's body fly out of the coffin, and the three imps carried her body and ran away. Mao Bowen chased him out, and when he didn't pay attention, he fell and woke up suddenly, it turned out to be Nan Ke's dream.