The eighth round

Every year on the second day of the first lunar month, the cloves will put tea and dinner sacrifices, because the auspicious day of visiting relatives and friends on the second day of the new year is a death day that the cloves will never forget in their lives. On the second day of the Lunar New Year in that cold and snowy day, Lilac forever lost her mother who often chased her with her little feet and scolded her when she was a child, but she often couldn't reach her.

Many years later, when she talked about her mother, she all said with emotion that in addition to being naughty and wild when she was a child, she provoked her mother to be angry and scolded, but in fact, her mother was also very good to her. For example, supporting her to go to school, teaching her how to be a virtuous woman in the future, and leaving her a bite to eat in the difficult years when her father was away from home for many years!

When talking about her mother's little feet, Lilac always nagged, everything was good in the old days, but the woman wrapped her feet and didn't know which ancestor came out to torture the woman, and my mother just wrapped her little feet and didn't know that she had suffered a lot and was tired!

Many years later, Lilac still clearly remembers that on the first day of the new year, her mother lay in bed for almost a day, and in addition to taking her grandmother's herbs on time, her mother only ate hot ginger soup and a little porridge.

On the second day of junior high school, my mother's cold and fever were much better, and I got up with everyone in the morning. At that time, at breakfast, my grandmother was still happy and said to Lilac with a proud expression: "Sister Man, you see that your mother is much better today, one is the blessing of the ancestors and the Bodhisattva, and the other is the spirit of my herbal medicine!" If you have learned medical skills well, you will not only be able to help your neighbors accumulate virtue in the future, but you will also be able to save money! ”

"Fortunately, my body is weak, and I have dragged down your old man over the years." Mom replied apologetically. When he turned his head, he said to Lilac and the eldest brother: "Mom, I don't know if I can last until the day you ask for a guest to marry?" In the future, you must know filial piety and remember your grandmother and the elderly! ”

"Bah, bah, bah! Say something unpleasant about the New Year! In the future, only better and better, people will prosper! Guanyin Bodhisattva Amitabha! Grandma hurriedly stopped her mother's words, got up and offered incense in front of the Bodhisattva ancestor in the hall, and chattered for a while before giving up.

The snow that fell a few years ago was so heavy that the whole village was white, and the snow in the yard was almost a foot deep. After the meal, grandma arranged for the Lilac brothers and sisters to shovel away the snow on the road inside and outside the courtyard, and went to the vegetable garden in the distant mountains to pull some vegetables and prepare the ingredients for lunch - according to the usual practice, my sister will come to pay New Year's greetings today! Although the eldest brother is already a big guy, he has a very good relationship with the Lilac brothers and sisters on weekdays, and his mother is also well, so he is very happy today! The two siblings shoveled snow and chased each other with snowballs. Lilac, who had been hit by the eldest brother's snowballs a few times, chased the eldest brother to the field outside that was covered with snow and had no clear boundaries! From afar, I heard my mother calling behind me: "You don't freeze, you ancestors and cubs, watch your grandmother go to the garden to pull vegetables and do things, I don't know how to help and be naughty!"

"Take the risk, just play and do things!" The eldest brother who was playing in the field in the distance replied that he would not pay attention to his mother anymore. Pulled up the lilac and built a snowman in the field, and the lilac also picked up the snow and dug a wild radish to put a nose on the snowman, so good-looking!

In the vast white field, the two brothers and sisters played to their heart's content, and the bitter days of the past few years were all left behind, and the crisp laughter of the two brothers and sisters sounded among the jade trees of the Qionghe River.

I don't know how long it was, but a few people came from a distance on the mountain road. Lilac looked at it, it turned out that her sister came with her nephew, and her brother-in-law also carried her grandmother's back basket, and her grandmother followed behind with a hoe! When the two Lilac brothers and sisters saw this, they happily stopped fighting, and jumped in the snow in the field and ran to their sister and them, and they heard the little nephew shouting from afar, uncle, aunt!

Welcoming my sister's family, the lilac brother and sister, Sensei Tiduo is happy! The eldest brother bent down and picked up his nephew and ran on the ridge, and the elder sister laughed and scolded behind him: "You two uncles and nephews don't fall, grandma, you see that the people in Xuzong are still like children, and they look like uncles!"

Still outside the hospital, the nephew rode on the eldest brother's neck and patted the eldest brother's head with his hand while shouting in a milky voice: "Grandma, grandma!!"

There was silence in the house, and my mother, who had been waiting by the bamboo fence outside the courtyard in previous years, did not show up! Grandma hurriedly put down the hoe, searched inside and outside the courtyard, and shouted: "Jiaxiu, how many times will your grandson pay you a New Year's greeting!"

After searching in the house, I didn't see the mother who was still chasing the two siblings by the bamboo fence an hour ago! At this time, there was a trace of uneasiness on my grandmother's face, and she muttered: "It's cold and snowy, and the cold is good, where is your mother?"

"Brother-in-law! Come on, Mom seems to have fallen into the river! Outside, the screams of the big brother suddenly sounded next to the waterwheel.

This bluffed everyone, everyone hurriedly put down the hot tea in their hands, and the cheerful emotions just turned into freezing points!

When I ran to the waterwheel, I saw that the eldest brother had already climbed the waterwheel that had stopped drawing water in winter and went down to the ditch.

On weekdays, the clear water of the river has formed a thick layer of ice, and there is a hole in the ice surface of the pit or two deep by the side of the waterwheel, and there are scattered ice cubes and snowflakes on the waterwheel!

Seeing this scene, the sister on the shore was already pushing her brother-in-law and crying: "Mom, Mom!!" Lilac, who was still laughing with her eldest brother's nephew, hadn't come back to her senses yet, staring nervously at her eldest brother and brother-in-law looking under the ice with wooden sticks! She silently recited the blessing of Guanyin Bodhisattva in her heart, and she couldn't believe or believe that her mother would fall into the glacier from here!

It wasn't until the moment her mother came out from under the ice that Lilac finally couldn't help crying! The family who was still happy just now suddenly cried, it was really a disaster from the sky, and they were very happy and sad!

The thatched hut became a mourning hall, and the tearful grandmother spread the bamboo mat that had been broken two or three holes from the bed in the middle of the hall, and the Lilac sisters put their mother who raised them on the bamboo mat.

Years later, Lilac still remembers her mother who had just been fished out of the ice water and placed on the bamboo mat! The mother's originally handsome face no longer has the color of the past, and the goose egg-shaped face is as white as paper with splashes, but it is beautiful with the lilac childhood memory; The black and bright hair of the early years has been tidied up, and the scorched and yellow hair has been tidied up, and the ice beads are still hanging on the wet.

The beautiful appearance looks like the Guanyin Bodhisattva enshrined in the hall.

The cause of my mother's death, some aunts and uncles in the village guessed that my mother had missed my father for many years and became ill, and she was poor and sick and couldn't think of jumping into the river for a while.

The old neighbors in the stockade rushed first when they heard the news. Next to the corpse of my mother, whose face was already covered with a handkerchief, an aunt cried and said, "Sister-in-law, you are going to the Hades House to be blessed!" When you cross the Naihe Bridge and the Lechuan River, you should be gentle when you carry the sedan chair, Granny Meng, add more sugar to your soulless soup!

This crying, provoking a room of neighbors and friends is a sad and sad meal!

But Lilac understands that the aunt is only half right, and her mother is indeed sick because of her thoughts, but she is not committing suicide! On that day, my mother habitually walked to the waterwheel to look at my father, who was looking forward to the distance, and accidentally fell into the river because of the slippery road in the snow, and the footprints on the road and the scratches of the ice and snow on the waterwheel can explain everything! Lilac had blamed herself for decades that if their siblings hadn't frolicked in the snow that day, it might not have happened; Even if you slip into the river, you may have a chance to rescue yourself!

By noon, the relatives and friends on the village had rushed over in an endless stream, all of whom were the elders of the clan, uncles and aunts in the neighborhood.

My uncle and aunt, who hadn't set foot in the hut for a few years, howled before they entered the house, "Jiaxiu, your life is hard, my brother and sister-in-law came to see you!" Ouch, tillering! At this hour, he is still lying on the floor, and there are people who care!! ”

After howling a few words, the uncle picked up the elder shelf and gave Brother Lilac a lesson, and a good room of people and a mother couldn't take care of it. Big brother, they didn't dare to argue, they just cried with a low head!

After the training, the eldest brother and uncle turned their heads to find the elders surnamed Cao to discuss, but the aunt took the opportunity to sneak into the mother's room to find something.

The uncle and the elders surnamed Cao sat around the table of the eight immortals next to the body of the mother in the hall, and the patriarch looked at the grandfather and spoke first, saying: "Uncle, I will first apologize on behalf of our Cao family - your nephews!" Our niece and daughter-in-law have been coming to our Cao family for more than 20 years, and they have suffered a lot of hardships and sins! Now that the aftermath of our nephew and daughter-in-law, as a member of the clan, we must do our best to handle it,—— your uncle also knows that the nephews are only so big, and they are not decent, so take care of them! As the saying goes, my mother's uncle is big, my father's uncle is big, and those who can help a lot have a lot of light, don't make jokes! ”

After listening carefully, my uncle thought for a long time before he said: "Uncle Wang, I am a junior compared to your old man, and my heart aches to be a brother when our sister has this incident today!" My sister has been married for more than 20 years, and she has only lived a good life for a few years, and she has lived a worse life than calling Hua Po in the past few years. Now that she is relieved, she is not better than the things behind her, and she can't do anything together, so she still wants it in some. Her brother-in-law buried her grandmother's coffin that year! My sister gave birth to a child in Cao's family, and the coffin at least can't be worse than her brother-in-law, right?! The Dharma Dojo still has to be done, and the arrangement of the Hatsu should also be configured! As for us as people in our relatives' houses, we can only see from the side, and the affairs of Cao's mansion, please ask my uncle to pay more attention! As mothers, we only need to burn more paper money, so that my hard-working sister can go to the Hades house and have some money! ”

At this time, the grandmother who was standing on the side wiping her tears hurriedly said: "Uncle, don't worry, Jiaxiu has been in my house for more than 20 years, and our mother-in-law and daughter-in-law are just like the girls in other people's houses." If it weren't for your brother-in-law's accident, life would still be okay. It is our Cao family that has accumulated a lot of virtue and no blessings, and the family has suffered a lot of sins over the years! I'm a seventy-year-old person, a person whose soil is buried up to his neck, and his ability is limited, as long as he can borrow and do it, he will definitely hand it over to his sisters in Xuzong! ”

After some deliberation, everyone planned and calculated, and after the coffin decoration, Taoist official affairs, personnel expenses, etc., one by one discussion list stopped, one thing stumped all relatives and friends. Last time, I mortgaged the old house to finish the arrears when I saved my father and my uncle's funeral, so what can I borrow today?!

At the whole time, everyone was arguing and discussing beside my mother's corpse, the Cao family's relatives and uncle's mother's family, you push me, I push yours. The remaining Lilac brothers and sisters kowtowed to their elders and relatives for help, and the mourning hall was chaotic all the time.

After a long meal, Grandpa Wang's face couldn't hold back, so he vigorously knocked the fire plate twice with a long cigarette stick, and coughed a few times to stop the confusion. After everyone stopped talking, Grandpa Wang glanced at everyone majestically: "Look at it!" What do you look like! Now our nephew and daughter-in-law are still able to eat, and you will push and let it go, which is chilling! Today, if my old fellow still speaks well, listen to me a few words! ”

Grandpa Wang paused for a while, and when he saw that no one was making noise, he said again: "Now the life and death of jade are unknown, and there are only a few young and old people left in the house. On the death of the Cao family, it is our Cao family's business, but the whereabouts of the jade are unknown, and Cao Yong also committed the crime and died. But today's events are unusual, on behalf of the clan, I first allocated one-third from the public middle school, old sister-in-law, how about you find a way to get together one-third of the old relatives and new relatives, uncle, you see a few nephews also borrow one-third to tide over the difficulties! Of course, when the uncle's nephew grows up and becomes a family, he must know how to be grateful and return it to the uncle! How?! ”

"The girl who marries out, spills the water! The nephew is a dog, so he will run! The dead people in your Cao family still want our mother's house to pay money, and it's already very good not to look for you, and not to find you for a deficit! Brave this number! Lao Yao, hurry up, your sister is a dead corpse, let their Cao family stomp on it and feed the fish! At this time, the aunt pulled up the uncle while talking foul language, and the uncle went out of the house.

The uncle was stunned for a while, and couldn't stand his aunt's roar, so he had to go back with his aunt. When he left, he turned around and said hello to everyone.

This walk completely angered the family members of the house, and suddenly all the ugly words sounded, and two uncles and aunts ran outside the courtyard and scolded the uncles and aunts who were far away: "You can speak well as uncles, and you are still serving as a Rausch official in the county!" That year, he personally brought someone to the door to arrest his brother-in-law, and today he is still pushing three and five one day! Hang up the human skin and don't do the personnel! ”

"Don't worry, our Cao family is not desperate, sister-in-law Yu, our Cao family is going to give her a beautiful funeral!"

Hearing the word "no household", the Lilac brothers and sisters suddenly lay on their cold mother and cried - eating the household is a feudal custom in ancient times when there were no heirs or only daughters and no heirs, and after death, relatives were allowed to use burial to divide up the family property.

Since the time when my mother's mourning uncle was taken away by my aunt, although everyone was in the same village, we have not been together for many years, and even my uncle did not come when my mother was buried two days later.

The saddest thing is that my aunt also took advantage of the chaos to take away a pair of bracelets when my mother was married, and this morning my mother also said that she would wait for Lilac to be a dowry when she got married!

Mother's funeral was more decent, in my grandmother's words, Jiaxiu is the same as my mother, her life is not good, she has been a cow and a horse for more than 20 years, even if a house of people go to beg for rice tomorrow, she will be buried first!

Grandma gritted her teeth and borrowed from all over the world, and sold a forest on the mountain of the village to do this well. The one who bought the mountain was Liu Sanye, who bought the old house back then, he had one more Guangyang than other willing buyers, and he also had another foundation for the funeral, which was heavier than other people's gifts!

Later, after liberation, the working group organized the masses to hold a criticism meeting at the brigade headquarters, and when criticizing the landlords, they asked the eldest brother and the second brother to come to the stage to complain. When it came to buying an old house, the second brother said that the house burned him a room and a half, and Liu Sanye also gave three more Guangyang, and when he bought the mountain, he had one more Guangyang than the other!

At that time, the leader of the working group was so frightened that he quickly got him off the stage! It was only a few days later that the second brother was severely criticized in the small production team for a while before he passed the test.

End of the eighth round