"How many people are you going to invite for this million-dollar funeral?" The tall guy asked on the other end of the phone.

I was stunned for a moment and said, "It's estimated that there are about two hundred people!" ”

"Need so many people?" He asked.

"The main family asked to make the scene bigger, and I plan to use the name of the deceased's mother's family to invite a dragon to liven up the atmosphere." I say.

"How many helmsmen do you need?" He asked, confused. (Helmsman: The man who dances the dragon.) ）

"118 helmsmen, only a large number of people can play the dragon, otherwise it will look shabby."

The 'dragon' I say in my mouth is not a real dragon, but a dragon dance. At the top is a dragon-shaped colored cloth, and at the bottom there are many 'helm handles', and the helmsman holds the 'helm handles' and dances according to the unique rules.

The size of the dragon depends on the number of helms, generally the 'helms' are eleven or eighteen, and the 118 helmsmen I am talking about are the longest and most luxurious dragons, and any more will break the rules.

Many people will definitely think that dragons are mascots, how can you invite 'dragons' at funerals? There's a lot of doorway to that. As far as the Chinese dragon dance market is concerned, it is divided into two factions, one is the northern dragon and the other is the southern dragon.

In terms of the dragon body, the dragon head of the northern dragon is relatively small and light, and most of the materials used are traditional paper ties, or relatively light gelatin, so as to dance fancy moves. For example: tossing left and right, picking green in the air. Beilong has an artistic nature in it, which is more popular in the world, in Malaysia, Singapore and other places, dragon art competitions are often held, and China uses Beilong to participate in the competition, winning many awards, adding a lot of glory to the country.

And our Nanlong style is better than momentum. This momentum comes from the fact that the dragon body is relatively heavy, and in some places, the dragon head alone has more than 80 catties. Therefore, in terms of action, the southern dragon is not as fancy as the northern dragon, but in terms of momentum, it is much better than the northern dragon.

The normal dragon body is about nine meters, that is, eleven helms, because our southern dragon does not pursue flexibility, the dragon body can grow, like the 118 helmsmen I invited the 'dragon', the dragon body is thousands of meters long, which can make the whole funeral become extremely lively.

Because Nanlong has momentum, the movements are simple and easy to remember. Therefore, Nanlong often appears on major happy events, and later, even at funerals, 'dragons' will be invited, one is for the lively atmosphere, and the other is to borrow 'qi', borrowing dragon qi to appease the deceased, in order to have a good background in the next life.

According to the normal procedure, please pay attention to Nanlong, if the deceased is a man, the person who invites the dragon can only be the deceased's brother and nephew, and if the deceased is a woman, the person who invites the dragon can only be the mother's family.

If you have an invitation, you will pick up, and the dragon is the business of the main family, many funeral owners are unwilling to take the dragon, one is the high cost of the dragon, and the other is that the process of the dragon is extremely complicated, which will shorten the time of the deceased's ceremony. Because, whether it is inviting a dragon or a solitaire, it is on the day of the ceremony.

Straight to the point.

There was silence on the other side of the phone for a while, and he said, "I'm afraid it's a little hard to find 118 people to go to the dragon dance!" ”

"If it is usual, most people go to Guangzhou and other places to work, 118 people may be difficult to find, but now it is the first month to find 118 people to dance the dragon, it should not be a problem, after all, the old man died at the age of 86, which is considered a high birthday and a funeral, and many people are willing to have a little longevity." I say.

"I hope so!" The tall guy said lightly.

Subsequently, I asked Gao Lao to find 118 people for me to dance the dragon, I was afraid that the two dragons would rush to hurt the soul of the deceased, so I asked him not to invite people born in the Year of the Dragon in the zodiac, Gao Lao agreed, I hung up the phone.

Because for the next few days, there was definitely no time to sleep, so after hanging up with the senior guy, I fell asleep.

originally wanted to ask Guo Fatzi and Chen Tiannan to come down to help. However, thinking of what Lao Wang said, I dispelled this thought.

Guo Fatzi and Chen Tiannan are two newcomers who have just entered the industry, in terms of etiquette, they know that there must not be as many high-ranking guys, and once something goes wrong, they will have an accident. Some things, it's better to be careful.

Nothing was said all night.

The next day, as soon as it was dawn, I got up and washed up, put on a Taoist costume, and ran straight to the hospital.

As soon as I entered the hospital, I saw Yan Qiqi squatting at the door dozing, presumably he hadn't slept last night. I walked over, patted him on the shoulder, and asked softly, "Where is Boss Yu?" ”

He opened his eyes and looked at me, and said tiredly, "Guarding the old man's body in the ward." As he spoke, he gestured to the ward.

I thanked him, and when I walked into the ward, I saw many people in the room lying on the ground, dozing off in various strange postures, and Boss Yu was sitting at the head of the bed dozing. His eldest wife sat beside him, holding a little boy of five or six years old in her arms, her eyes were red with her eyes staring at the deceased.

After seeing me come in, she nodded at me, said early, and then pushed Boss Yu next to her and said, "Old Yu, Chen Baxian is here." ”

After Boss Yu woke up, he talked to me a few words, and we began to discuss the matter of burial, and we talked for about ten minutes.

During this period, I searched for his other wives in the ward, but I did not see them. So, I asked him suspiciously, where are those noble ladies?

He said: "I have let them go back to Hong Kong, even their children, and now I am left with my eldest wife and her two children." ”

I am very satisfied with this result, and without that group of people, the funeral can go on better. As for the reason, according to custom, they are 'savages' and are not suitable for funerals.

After discussing the burial, I asked Yan Qiqi to take a few strong men to the front to say hello, and asked the people of the town not to appear on the road from the hospital to the mourning hall.

Seven or eight minutes after Yan Seventeen left, I asked Boss Yu to carry the body of the deceased towards the mourning hall, I held a black oil-paper umbrella on the side, blocked the sunlight, raised my voice, and shouted: "The dead are buried, and the living should not be approached!" (Note: Whether it is rain or sunny, this oil-paper umbrella must be beaten, even if it is dark and night, and the deceased cannot be in the open air.) ）

The mourning hall is some distance from the hospital, but fortunately, it was early in the morning, and Yan Qiqi greeted him in front, and we didn't meet anyone along the way.

When I came to the mourning hall, I was stunned, this mourning hall in front of me was so weird, the usual mourning hall is mainly black and white, and this mourning hall is mainly gold, supplemented by black and white.

What's even more strange is that the mourning hall is higher than the surrounding houses, three or four zhang high, just above the door of the mourning hall, a white background with black characters with gold edges, looks particularly charming.

"Boss Yu, you built the mourning hall so high, it's not in line with the ceremony, right?" I stopped two or three feet away from the mourning hall.

"When the mourning hall was built yesterday, it was with the consent of the mayor and the townspeople that the mourning hall was built so high." As he spoke, Boss Yu walked towards the mourning hall with the body of the deceased on his back.