It was early in the summer day, and the sun was separated by the mountains, and before they had climbed out of the top of the east mountain, the village was already noisy. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Today is the day when the Liu family will mourn the old man Liu Liyang on the mountain, like this hot day, the funeral is generally early, the coffin has to be sent to the cemetery at about eight o'clock, if it is too late, the sun is empty, climb the hill and carry the coffin to climb the mountain, it is hot and sunny, and people will not be able to stand it. In this way, the deceased can only be sent out of the funeral to send the deceased up the mountain, and then return to have a funeral meal.

This time there was no miracle, but trouble. One is that Liu Shengtang has been waking up from time to time in the past two days, and the other is the deceased who was placed in the hall, and the coffin smelled yesterday. The Liu family hurriedly closed the coffin and sealed the paper, burned a bunch of cypress incense in the hall, and sprinkled flower water, barely suppressing the stench of the corpse.

A little after six o'clock, the sound of gongs, drums and suona sounded at the intersection outside the courtyard of Liu's house, which was a signal, urging the neighbors to go over as soon as possible and prepare for mourning.

I took the credit, and my sister took my sister to call Sister Ou Meiyu to see the excitement, so I hurriedly washed up and went out.

The blue sky and white clouds are as clear as washing, and it is another sunny day. The courtyard of the Liu family is crowded with people inside and outside, there are hundreds of men, women and children, a pitch-black coffin is placed in the spacious place of the intersection, the Dulong (note: Dulong, the big log carrying the coffin) rests on the coffin lid, several strong laborers are tying the coffin with a cut strip, and there are dozens of descendants and close relatives of the Liu family wearing white filial piety cloth strips, all gathered in front of the coffin at this time, and there are female relatives crying loudly.

At that time, the funeral in the countryside was actually very simple, far from being comparable to the luxury of later generations. There is no set of monks and Taoists who chant scriptures excessively and open a spiritual house to make a dojo. At that time, the environment did not allow those pomp and circumstance at all, at that time, in addition to the famous temples and ancient temples, there were still a very small number of monks and Taoists left behind, and most of the small temples and temples in other places were smashed to pieces, and the monks and Taoists had long been vulgar and could not find anyone, even if they could find it, no one dared to come out to recite the scriptures and do things. Promote feudal superstition, it's strange if you don't fight you half to death.

In the new society and new fashion, the memorial service has replaced all the red tape of the old days.

There are also a lot of people standing here in the oil mill, some of them are talking about the old man's legendary life experience, recalling the benefits and advantages of his life, and from time to time someone scolds the little butt who is squeezing around in the crowd. I saw that Gui's father's house had not yet opened, probably because he had not gotten up yet, and I thought that he had been suffering from illness for the past few days, so I asked him to sleep a little longer, and did not knock on the door, but squeezed to the front to see the excitement.

The memorial service was successfully presided over by the captain of the brigade, and the memorial message was read by the secretary sent by the commune to attend the memorial service.

Originally, the secretary of the commune planned to come in person, but unexpectedly, on 6 July, a major event occurred in the country: Comrade Zhu De, chairman of the National People's Congress and the well-known commander-in-chief of the National People's Congress, passed away due to illness.

Mr. Liu's memorial speech was to the effect: Mr. Liu Liyang is highly skilled, highly respected, hardworking and frugal all his life, honest and selfless, friendly to the old and young, and uniting neighbors. How the old society endured hardships and suffered misery, and how the five generations of the new society were happy and happy, especially focusing on the fact that he lost his wife and was single in his thirties, and pulled his younger generations into adulthood with hard work and hardships...... Finally, it is concluded that the old man's life is a life of hardship, a life of labor, a life of struggle, a great life, and a glorious life, and it is an example worthy of all villagers......

After the memorial service, the gong and mourning began. For a moment, the gongs and drums were noisy, the firecrackers were whining, the suona was screaming, and the crying was sad. The men of the filial family carried straw in front of the coffin, the women were behind the coffin, and the whole family knelt in turn. The chef's Liu Cowhide killed a rooster in front of the coffin, poured blood on the coffin lid and the dragon, and the strong men who carried the spirit dipped a little on their foreheads.

There is a particular point in this, the person who carries the spirit applies a little chicken blood on his forehead to hang red to avoid evil, so as not to collide with the undead or other evil things. Eight strong men were in their respective positions, with their sub-bars on their shoulders, and with a "roar" in unison, they kicked down the bench where the coffin was rested, and the wreath team was led in front, and two or three hundred people marched all the way to the cemetery.

The ancestral mountain of the Liu family is in the hawthorn tree ridge, and the entrance of the village goes south along the road for more than a mile and then climbs up the slope of the mountainside.

Liu Yingguo walked in front of the coffin with a portrait of the old man. Originally, this portrait should be a spirit card, but he is the secretary of the brigade, and the spirit card is the "four olds", so he had to change it to a portrait, and this portrait should also be served by his father Liu Shengtang, but his father fainted in the spirit hall the day before yesterday, and after all-out rescue, he improved slightly, and he woke up from time to time, and he couldn't get out of bed at all, so he could only be the eldest son and the eldest grandson of the old man.

He has been suffering and angry for the past few days. To tell the truth, the old man is over 90 years old, he has a long life, joy and mourning, and he can't tell how sad he is, but his father's fainting death the day before yesterday really hurt his heart and lungs. There is a funeral left at home, and if another one is added, no one can stand it. As soon as he looked at his father's situation, he knew that someone had made a trick, and needless to say, the one who made the trick was the cinnamon oilmaker.

He knew that the cinnamon oiler would not survive for a few days, but what he didn't expect was that this cinnamon oiler was really a master, and this dying counterattack was so powerful. Moreover, the most heart-wrenching thing for him was that he couldn't see the other party's moves, and there was no way to resolve them, so that the Gui Oilmaker could not escape death, and his father was probably not spared.

He regretted it a little, regretted that he didn't listen to his father's words that day and provoked the other party, and now the arrows on both sides have left the string, the water has splashed on the ground, and it has become a dead knot, how can it be resolved in life?

Yesterday, my uncle Gui Qiusheng and my aunt came back to mourn, of course, I had to go to visit and greet the old man Gui Oiler, he pulled out and followed, he turned around inside and outside the house, and did not see any special or eye-catching arrangement.

Come to think of it, just like yourself, how can outsiders easily find the things that are arranged in the way? wanted to talk to him, but he didn't answer at all, and he didn't even look at him, it was clear that he was in a posture of stumbling to the end and ending up together. He gritted his teeth with hatred, but he was helpless.

For today's funeral of the old man, he tried his best to make arrangements in case of any accidents or accidents. But he was still mindful all the time. After all, the interlacing is like a mountain, and he inherits the lineage of Luban Immortal Master and Craftsman, and he doesn't know what sect the other party is, who knows if he will make something out to make trouble?

Turning the mountain mouth and about to climb the mountain, at this time the spirit carrying was in a situation. The coffin carried by eight people swayed violently from left to right, as if it was about to land, and the people carrying the spirit shouted loudly, and the gongs, drums, and suona were urgent and fast. According to local customs, the coffin cannot be touched on the ground in the middle of the way from the funeral hall to the grave, otherwise it is not good for the filial family.

The filial sons and grandsons of the Liu family were so frightened that they all knelt on the ground, Liu Yingguo's heart sank, he couldn't care about kneeling on the ground, turned around and ran to the coffin, and shouted urgently with a black face: "What's wrong?" What's wrong? “

Zeng Qinghu, who took the lead in opening the mountain in front, saw the secretary's anxious appearance and smiled: "Don't do anything, these guys take advantage of the replacement to deliberately do evil (note: evil: local dialect, meaning trouble). “

There has always been this tradition in the village, four people before and after carrying the spirit, after each partner is good, the halfway deliberately makes it bad, either the front does not go, or the back does not move, the front to the left, the back to the right, the danger of pulling and pulling, and this situation occurs, the filial piety family has to kneel down and kowtow without exception, and the spirit lifter sometimes deliberately teases the filial piety family in this way.

A false alarm, Liu Yingguo breathed a sigh of relief. In addition to the deliberate evil done by these spirit-bearers who had no place to do it once or twice, the old man's coffin was successfully carried to the grave and pitted, and the hanging heart was temporarily put down, and a large number of people returned to the village and went back to his yard to eat a funeral meal, before entering the village, someone came to report:

The oiler Gui Xinliang of the five guarantee households died, and he had just lost his gas.

At this time, the time was more than eight o'clock, the golden sunlight was spreading to the whole village, and the Liu family's compound, which was only a dozen zhang away from the oil factory, was setting up tables and stools, preparing to serve wine and food in full swing, and entertaining relatives, friends and neighbors who returned after the funeral to have breakfast.

Daddy Gui's death was the first I discovered, and it wasn't even a discovery, he wasn't dead when I entered the house, and it took a while for me to breathe. I made good on the promise I made to him a few days ago, and I stood by the bedside to see him off, so that he could close the one eye in peace.

There are too many people to give the funeral to Mr. Liu, and according to local customs, at least one person from each household in the village will go to the funeral, not to join in the fun, but to express respect for the deceased. Master Liu Liyang is highly respected in the village, and there are many funerals, plus many relatives and friends in his family, the queue is long.

My mother was helping in the kitchen, my father was not at home, as a man in the family, my mother told me to send the old man on his last journey early in the morning, and I saw too many people, and I remembered Father Gui in my heart, and I slipped back from desertion halfway and went directly to the oil factory.

In the past few days, Daddy Gui's illness has been getting worse day by day, and he hasn't eaten anything at all. Two days ago, he asked me to boil some porridge for him, I found that he only drank a little bit, and I had to cook porridge for him again at noon yesterday, but he said that he didn't want to eat anything, so he wouldn't let me make it.

Father Gui is arrogant by nature, he doesn't allow me to tell others, saying that he knows his own body, and it will be nothing to do in two days, and he doesn't want to trouble everyone.

I also blame me for not doing much at that time, plus in the past few days, except for the adults who take turns to work (some farm work cannot be delayed and must be done), the rest are busy with funerals at Secretary Liu's house, and it is rare to meet anyone. And I have to practice every morning and evening, pull pigweed during the day, take time to go up the stream to feed the little weasel, and record what he taught me at noon.

I had just reached the door, and the old black dog squeezed out through the crack in the door, and his moist eyes looked at me and whined. The door was not linked, I pushed the door into the house, calling "Gui Daddy", Gui Daddy on the bed did not answer and did not move, a pair of front paws of the black dog lay on the edge of the bed, and whispered to Gui Daddy on the bed, I was startled, and quickly took a few steps forward to the bed.

Daddy Gui on the bed had a weak breath, a dead face, one eye was wide open, his bearded mouth was slightly open, and the scar on the left side of his face was hideous and weird, so frightened that I jumped back and cried loudly: "Daddy Gui, why are you like this?" Don't scare me! “

Maybe it was my cry that woke him up, he slowly turned his head, his hand raised, staring at me with cloudy eyes, his lips moved slightly, as if he had something to say to me, I walked over with the courage to go, his throat "ho" sounded as if trying to say something, I pasted it, heard clearly, he was repeating four words: "Beware, Liu's family, beware, beware, Liu, Jia........." The voice gradually weakened, until there was no breath at all.

I ran out crying like crazy, crying loudly: "Come on, Daddy Gui is dead, come on......"

Someone heard it, and a few people ran out of the courtyard of Liu's house, and they all entered Gui's father's room, maybe they heard my crying, and my mother also ran over, hugged me tightly in her arms, patted my back non-stop, and muttered: "My cub is not afraid, my cub is not afraid of ......"

Daddy Gui is a five-guarantee household, and everything is decided by the team and the team. It stands to reason that he still has relatives, although he and the Gui family are not related by blood, but he has always been surnamed Gui, the son of Gui Qi, and Gui Qiusheng is his nephew, so they must be notified. The good talent Gui Qiusheng and his family are both mourning at Liu's house, but they save a lot of trouble, at least they don't have to send people to go all the way to deliver the letter.

Liu Yingguo, the secretary of the brigade, and Liu Laoman, the captain of the production team, still have a lot of things to do with their own families, and they don't have time to take care of this, so the captain Zeng Chenggong is responsible for the arrangements. Zeng successfully called the deputy captain and the accountant of the production team, and several people met to discuss, and then asked Gui Qiusheng's opinion, thinking that the sooner the better.

But after all, Gui Xinliang is also an old man in his seventies, and he has been with everyone for decades, although he can't say how great he is, but after all, he has helped many people, and when people die, the benefits of the past have been picked up. What's more, in his life, it is indeed impossible to say how bad he is (except for grudges with the Liu family).

Everyone talked about the past of this disabled old bachelor, recounting his lonely and miserable life, several women on the team, including his mother, shed tears on the side, so everyone unanimously passed and decided to stay at home for one night, and all the men and women on the team would keep a night for him, and go out to the funeral early tomorrow morning for burial. As for the grave, according to what he said before his death, he was buried with Liu Chen's family, which fulfilled his life's wish. Because it is an ownerless wasteland, it does not belong to the ancestral mountain of any surname, so naturally no one objected.

As for his nephew Gui Qiusheng, one has long since moved to other places, and the other has never been a maintenance attendant, so he has nothing to say at all. As for the cost of the funeral, Gui Qiusheng volunteered to contribute a part, and the families on the team volunteered to make up some, and the rest of the team and the production team shared it equally. And so it was settled.

The big guy hastily had breakfast at Secretary Liu's house, gathered at the oil factory, wiped his body and changed his clothes, and put him in the coffin. Fortunately, the team of these things was ready in his sixties, and everything was in order.

The next day was also a sunny day, early in the morning Gui Daddy was carried up the mountain, Gui Daddy had no children and no daughters, and his nephew was born in autumn as a filial son. He wrote a spirit card on a blank piece of paper and walked in front of the coffin, and I pulled Zhou Papi to follow the person who bought the money to set off firecrackers, and also walked in front, thinking that I was his apprentice, and I should also be regarded as a filial son......

The queue for Daddy Gui's funeral was long, and although the scale could not be compared with sending Mr. Liu up the mountain yesterday, it was not small. I took a look, and most of the more than 100 households in the village had someone from each of them. Moreover, except for the team, most of the people from other teams went home directly after the funeral, and they didn't even come to eat the funeral. It can be seen that although Father Gui is a "five-guarantee household", his popularity in the village is not bad.

From yesterday morning to today, when I sent Daddy Gui up the mountain, I have always been in front of the spirit or outside the house, and in the middle of the night my mother asked me to go home, but I did not listen, and let my mother scold and procrastinate, and I never left the scope of the oil factory.

My mother secretly asked me why? I kept my promise, looked at my tears and said, Daddy Gui has no children and no daughters, he was very good to me when he was alive, and I will keep a wake for him. My mother, too, had red eyes, stroked my head, let out a long sigh, and no longer stopped me.