Chapter 152 Cellar
Wu Erlaizi shrank his head. Although he had "saved" his cousin by accident and his status had improved a lot.
But he was still scared when he saw her in his heart. When he was glanced at by her clear eyes, he had to put down his chopsticks in disappointment and go to wash his hands.
"Wash! Wash it right away! How can we, who grew up in the dirt, have so many necessities? To be honest, your brother got hurt for the sake of our Wu family... If it weren't for me today, the ancestors of our Wu family would have been so angry that they would have climbed into their coffins..."
Wu Erlaizi went to wash his hands mumblingly, and when he came back he was still mumbling, with an expression of deep bitterness and hatred.
"Hey! Tongya, you don't know! Who would have thought that someone dug a big hole under our Wu family's ancestral hall? I almost fell to death. I have to go to Secretary Wu to have a good talk with him later... No one has discovered this, how can the ancestral tablets be kept safe? Anyway, you have to pay for my medical expenses..."
Wu Erlaizi is used to bragging, talking to himself, and usually no one pays attention to him. He has long been used to it.
Unexpectedly, this time Su Tong asked: "What pit? Where is it?"
When Wu Erlaizi saw that Su Tong actually responded to his words, he immediately became very excited and started gesticulating with his hands and feet:
"It's the ancestral hall in front of the ancestral tomb. There is an incense table inside the ancestral hall..."
In the past, Yunshan Village had the Wu Family Ancestral Hall, which was built in front of the Wu Family's ancestral tomb. Later, during the Four Olds Campaign, the hall was abandoned, but the old house site remained. During the New Year holidays, many members of the Wu Family still went there to worship, and as long as they did not engage in feudal and superstitious activities, no one cared.
Some time ago, in order to invite a "magician" to catch Su Tong, the Wu family specially rearranged the old room of the ancestral hall and reset the incense table and offerings. Unexpectedly, the activity was stopped by the police station before it was completed, but some messy objects were left behind.
Today, Wu Erlaizi somehow wandered into that area and said he saw a few children wearing yellow cloth and holding incense and candles running around. They were obviously offerings in the ancestral hall. Wu Erlaizi thought it was unlucky for children to touch the ancestors' things without permission, so he stepped forward and scolded them.
Unexpectedly, all the children in the village recognized Wu Erlaizi and knew that he was not welcome. Instead of being afraid of him not saying anything, they laughed at him. Wu Erlaizi became angry and wanted to catch a few children to scare them. A group of people chased him and somehow he ran into the ancestral hall. When he got behind the incense table, he stepped on a wooden board or something and broke it, and fell down.
The children were so scared when they heard the screams that they ran away. Wu Erlaizi didn't suffer any broken bones, but he scraped his arm. He struggled for a long time before he finally crawled out, groaning, and came back with injuries.
"I saw that those brats were young, so I didn't argue with them. After all, it happened in the ancestral hall. I was injured for the sake of the ancestors of the Wu family. If Secretary Wu doesn't compensate me for the medicine, I will go to the houses of those brats one by one to ask for it."
Having said that, Wu Erlaizi took a big bite of meat, his face full of indignation.
Su Tong seemed to be thinking about something, but did not speak any more. He just silently picked up more dishes for the two old men.
After lunch, Su Tong tidied up the house, picked up his small backpack and went out.
Zhou Jin followed out shortly afterwards, following behind Su Tong not too far away.
Now, whenever Su Tong goes out, one of Lin Li and Zhou Jin will always be there to protect him. Su Tong knows that this is their mission and doesn't say anything more.
The Wu family's ancestral tomb is at the foot of Yunshan Mountain in the north of the village. The Wu family ancestral hall is also at the north end, which is actually a long distance away from the cemetery, just behind the abandoned old house.
Few people go there on weekdays. If it weren’t for the incident caused by the Wu family a few days ago, the children probably wouldn’t have thought of going there to play.
It was just after noon when Su Tong strolled here. There was no one at the door of the ancestral hall. There were a lot of incense ashes and paper money scattered on the ground, fluttering in the wind from time to time.
The light in the ancestral hall was dim. Su Tong took a while to adjust to it before he saw some rice grains scattered on the ground, and even some bones that had been gnawed cleanly...
Su Tong understood immediately and wondered why Wu Erlaizi suddenly started to meddle in the "business" of the Wu family's ancestors. He was probably trying to snatch the offerings from the children!
Although the villagers were poor, they would still save money and offer some decent offerings to their ancestors. What's more, this time they invited a monk to ask their ancestors for help, and it was not easy to include meat in the offerings.
Most people would not touch the offerings, as it was unlucky, but children did not care, as in their eyes, their ancestors were not as good as the food they were eating. Only a scoundrel like Wu Erlaizi would snatch the "food rations" of his ancestors from children...
Su Tong thought about how Wu Erlaizi ate several full bowls of rice at home every day, with the meat piled up on the top, but he was still thinking about this mouthful of cold food. He thought that in the long run, he had to find a way for this man to make a living, otherwise Aunt Cuifen would not be able to support him and would be dragged down to death.
Su Tong collected his thoughts, looked around, and found the "pit" that Wu Erlaizi had mentioned.
Right at the innermost part of the ancestral hall, next to the back wall, there is a wooden board lying flat on the ground. It is almost the same color as the ground. If it weren’t for a large crack in the board caused by being stepped on, revealing a black hole, it would not be easily visible.
Su Tong squatted down and touched it with his hand. The wooden board was a little damp and covered with green moss. It might be because the ancestral hall had been in disrepair for a long time and had been leaking, causing the wooden boards to become damp and rotten. Otherwise, with this thickness, it would not be easily damaged by being stepped on.
Su Tong ran to the incense table and searched for a while. The Chinese New Year had just passed, and many people came here to burn incense and worship their ancestors. Sure enough, she found a box of matches with two or three matches left in it.
She struck a match and looked into the hole.
This is not a pit at all, it's clearly a square cellar.
Due to the influence of war in the early years, many people dug cellars in their own houses, which was convenient for hiding things and people. Although there is no war now, cellars are still practical for storing sweet potatoes and other grains, otherwise Old Wu would have chosen to dig one under the firewood warehouse.
However, it is rare to dig a cellar in an ancestral hall.
Su Tong looked at the depth of the cellar, which was about one person's height, and then he jumped down.
The cellar was relatively dry, and a small cloud of dust was raised when I landed.
Su Tong struck another match and took a look. The cellar was not small. One of the walls was damp and covered with a layer of green mold. There were some scattered black, rotten particles in the corners. It was obvious that grain had been stored here before, but it must have been a long time ago.
Su Tong held the match and looked around, but found nothing unusual.
This should be the cellar dug by the Wu family when they built the ancestral hall in the early years. In Wu Tong's memory, this ancestral hall has existed for several generations.
When the match went out, she looked down at the ground, then quickly lit the last match and squatted down.
There was a layer of dust on the ground, and some messy footprints could be seen. In addition to her own smaller footprints, there were at least two other people's footprints.
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