Chapter 16
Wang Fu was gambling outside and had no idea that his wife had jumped off the bridge. It was not until the next day that people in the village who were working in the fields saw something floating in the river. When they got closer, they realized that someone had died, so they hurried back to the village to greet everyone.
Wang Fu gambled outside all night and was still gambling when the villagers came to look for him.
"Old Wang, what are you still doing here? Your wife jumped off the bridge!" The villagers were also angry when they saw it.
Wang Fu thought it was a joke and said, "It would be better if the bitch died, so that I wouldn't be delayed from playing with money."
"You, come with me and rescue him! He's still in the river!"
Wang Fu was dragged away by the villagers.
Along the way, Wang Fu thought they were lying to him until the two of them walked to the river bank and saw the body in the river. Only then did Wang Fu believe what the villagers said.
He stared blankly at his wife's body floating in the river.
"Hurry up and pull it out, what are you looking at?" said the person next to him.
Wang Fu walked into the river woodenly, and he still hasn't recovered.
The water was not very deep, only up to the waist, and it was not very fast, flowing slowly southward. However, there were a lot of water plants in the water, so it was not easy to walk.
The body was entangled in the water plants and its legs were blocked by the bridge piers, so it was not washed away.
When Wang Fu walked to the corpse, he saw that his wife had died long ago, her body had changed color, and her eyes seemed to be looking at him vaguely.
I don’t know where Wang Fu got the courage from, but he picked up the body, put it on his back and walked back.
At this time, the fellow villager saw Wang Fu's wife, with her head resting on Wang Fu's shoulder, with a slight smile on her lips. He rubbed his eyes, making sure he was not mistaken, and quickly said, "I'll go to the village to call for help!"
After saying that, he ran into the village in panic.
What happened next was what I saw: the villagers hurried to the bridgehead.
The sounds of trumpets and drums spread throughout the village, and relatives came one after another to pay their respects.
Just when I was bored in the yard, Brother Lei suddenly pushed the door open.
"Little sister, your grandfather is helping to prepare for the ritual these two days and won't be back. Would you like to stay at home or come back to Xiagou with me?"
"I'd better stay at home and look after the house. Tell my grandfather not to worry about me."
Going to Xiagou doesn’t give you the freedom you get at home.
Brother Lei sat down and said, "Who's playing the trumpet here?"
"Do you know Wang Fu?"
"That gambler?"
"Yes, it's his house. His wife died."
"Aren't you afraid of living alone at night? Why don't you come back to Xiagou with me?"
“I’m not afraid, I’m used to it.”
Seeing my firm attitude, Brother Lei stopped trying to persuade me and said, "Then you should take care of yourself at home. I'm going back first."
After seeing Brother Lei off, I had a blast in the yard. Grandpa wasn't coming back for the next two days, so I could play however I wanted.
I went into the house, quickly made a meal, climbed up the tree, and went to look at Wang Hao's house.
It would have been fine if I hadn't looked at it, but as soon as I saw it, I found that there was black air lingering around the coffin. You have to know that it was daytime and the sun was shining, but the black air was still so condensed, which showed that she was quite resentful.
People who die suddenly like this cannot be buried directly. They need to find someone to perform a ritual.
There will definitely be no peace these days.
Sure enough, something happened that night.
I only heard about it the next day.
There were at least two people keeping vigil, and on the first night it was Wang Hao and his son Wang Fu.
The coffin was being lifted off the ground. The two of them, one on each side, guarded the eternal lamp, which was used to guide ghosts and must be kept burning.
Wang Fu remained silent.
Wang Hao was burning paper and crying, muttering to himself.
In the middle of the night, a cold wind blew, and the flame of the eternal lamp swayed with the wind, almost going out. Wang Fu quickly reached out to protect the lamp, and the flame gradually stabilized under the protection of his two palms.
"Stop crying, it makes me upset." Wang Fu vented his anger at Wang Hao.
His roar caused another gust of wind to blow through the hall, and the already flickering flames were extinguished in an instant.
After hearing what Wang Fu said, Wang Hao held back his sobs and dared not make a sound.
When Wang Fu saw that the eternal lamp went out, he cursed.
He took out a match and tried to light it several times but it didn't catch fire.
At this time, Wang Hao suddenly said, "Mom."
Wang Fu was shocked when he heard this and shouted at Wang Hao: "Why are you yelling? Your mother is lying in there!"
As soon as Wang Fugang finished speaking, he pointed at the coffin, and the coffin fell to the ground with a bang.
The relatives in the house were also awakened by the noise and rushed out to see what was going on.
When they came out, they saw that the coffin had been scattered on the ground and Wang Hao's mother's body was lying outside with two lines of blood flowing from the corners of her eyes.
Seeing this scene, everyone around was shocked.
After a long time, no one dared to step forward to lift the person.
In this way, everyone waited in anxiety until dawn, and then they got a new coffin, gathered Wang Hao's mother's body and the burial objects together, put them together, and then hurriedly closed the coffin, blew the trumpet, and started the funeral.
During the funeral, Wang Hao walked in front, holding his mother's photo, wearing mourning clothes, and crying as he walked.
People on both sides were scattering white money, and handfuls of white money were scattered on the ground. When the wind blew, the money was all over the street.
A dark red coffin passed by my house, carried by four men. Two horizontal bars ran through the bottom of the coffin, one man holding one end. Each of them had a red cloth in their chest pocket; I had no idea what it was for. The coffin seemed heavy as they carried it, grunting and groaning. Wang Fu walked behind, talking to relatives. His expression was grim and gloomy.
Normally, the wake should last three days, but the funeral was held after only one day.
The sound of the horn was so shrill that it penetrated the entire village and could be heard even after leaving the village.
They walked all the way to the mouth of the Lan River, then turned right and headed to Nanshan. Nanshan was located between the mouth of the Lan River and Xiagou, and there were many graves there. Almost every family had their deceased family members buried there.
When we got there, we simply dug a grave and buried him.
The wind was very strong today. I squatted at the door and saw the white money being blown up by the wind, spinning in the air and scattered all over the ground.
Because Wang Hao's mother had died a violent death, apart from the relatives who came to pay their respects, the rest of the family felt that it was unlucky. Almost every household kept their doors tightly shut, and not a soul could be seen on the streets. The elderly people who usually stood at the village entrance were gone, and the entire village was unusually quiet.
Under the scorching sun, I actually felt a little chill.
About an hour later, I saw the group of people hurried back.
After the funeral of the deceased, according to our custom, we have to invite relatives to dinner as a return gift.
They had this meal until evening.
I was lying in bed. Someone had died in the village and I didn't know where to go. As I was thinking, I fell asleep.
When I woke up, the moonlight outside shone through the window. I rubbed my eyes and looked at the clock on the wall. It was only nine o'clock.
I tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. Grandpa wasn't home, so I couldn't get him to tell me stories. I don't know how long I tossed and turned before I drifted off to sleep.
"Bang, bang."
It felt like something was banging on the front door, but I was so sound asleep I didn't hear it.
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