Chapter 456 Funeral (Part 3)
Zhou Dalang stepped aside, and Zhou Erlang stepped forward.
Qian still gave him a hundred taels of silver, thought for a moment, and added another hundred. "When I hosted the wedding for the fourth son, I only spent a little over a hundred taels. But this time is different. This time, not only will we invite guests from far away, but we will definitely invite everyone in the village, young and old. Plus, meat is expensive right now, so you should buy more to be prepared."
Zhou Erlang took the money and agreed.
"If it's not enough, buy the items on credit first and pay back the day after tomorrow."
Feng went to the vegetable garden for a walk and came back saying, "Mother, I'm afraid there are some vegetables missing from the garden."
Although their family grows a lot of vegetables, Zhou Erlang goes to the county town to sell vegetables almost every day, and it is difficult to feed so many people at once.
Qian thought for a moment and then stood up and said, "I'm going to go out for a walk. You guys keep an eye on the house. Have Datou and Da Ya keep an eye on the little ones and don't let them run around."
"yes."
This is the time of year when vegetables are most abundant, and everything grows fastest. A crop of vegetables in the field can grow in two or three days, so as long as there are no lazy people in the family, there will basically be no shortage of vegetables to eat.
In Qili Village, households do not have the habit of buying vegetables from each other. If one family likes the vegetables from another store, they will just say so and pick some to take home and try.
People often ask for a pinch of Lao Zhou's dishes.
Because they not only grow a lot of vegetables, but also grow them well and in many varieties.
Since there is a past, there must be a future. Qian went around the village and gathered all the vegetables she would need for the next day and the day after tomorrow.
These things seemed to have nothing to do with the younger children, even Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang. They could only help out at home, basically moving things wherever they were needed. They were not responsible for any specific things.
Zhou Silang took some young men from the village to deliver letters to their relatives to inform them. As for whether they would come or not, it was up to each family.
But Old Zhou didn't want to invite too many families. Apart from his current in-laws, he also invited his maternal grandparents.
After all, from Zhou Yin's perspective, the closest people to him, apart from those on his clan side, are his maternal relatives.
Manbao knew nothing about these things. She was just asked to eat and go to class as usual. When she came back from school, there was a large coffin in her house.
Qian explained to her, "It's just a cenotaph. Let them be together. Just remember to kowtow to your uncle and aunt when the time comes."
"And their children, mother, did the yamen runners say they were brothers or sisters?"
Qian was stunned for a moment, then said after a while, "No, he's young, so there's no need for special offerings. Manbao, don't talk nonsense while you're praying, okay?"
Manbao nodded doubtfully.
Qian was worried. It seemed that she had to tell the Taoist priests to only summon Zhou Yin and his wife when summoning their souls, and not to summon their children as well.
"Have you asked for leave from your husband?"
"Please, I don't have to go to school tomorrow."
"Well," Qian said, "even if you don't have to go to school, you should go to bed early. You will be at the funeral tomorrow."
After that, I asked her to go downstairs and take a shower, because she should go to bed early so that she can get up early.
Tonight, the Zhou family and even the children in the village went to bed very early. As the sky got dark, the noises everywhere gradually became quieter. When the moon was halfway up in the sky, the only sound in the village was the chirping of insects.
Old Zhou put on his clothes and went out. Zhou Dalang and his five younger brothers tied up the white cloth and quietly lifted up the coffin.
Qian and Little Qian walked aside, holding torches. After walking a little further, the door of the house next door opened, and a man came out holding a torch and carrying a hoe...
By the time they arrived at the cemetery outside the village, there were already quite a few torches surrounding them.
Old Zhou didn't even ask who had come, thinking it was not nice to make noise so late at night.
When we arrived at the cemetery, everyone started digging.
After removing the grave mound and digging about three meters down, they came across a rotten quilt.
Everyone moved more gently and began to dig away the covering soil with their hands. Then they gently lifted up the rotten and deformed quilt, revealing the two corpses cuddled together underneath.
The clothes they were wearing were fine, but they looked ugly because they were black and mixed with the original colors. Except for the hair on their heads, their flesh and blood had turned to nothing.
Zhou Dalang said, "The one on the left is my uncle, and the one on the right is my aunt. Don't pick up the wrong one. Come on, come on, those who are picking up the bones, give me the one on the left, and give my second son the one on the right."
"You have to wipe it off."
Qian and Little Qian immediately took out two large pieces of cotton cloth and said, "We brought the cloth."
Old Zhou kicked the fourth, fifth, and sixth brothers on their buttocks and said to the trembling three: "What are you afraid of? Go and wipe it quickly. Be careful not to lose any bones."
In fact, the hair had also separated from the skull. With a gentle pull, it fell down. The four, five, six of them had never seen such a scene before. Even though there were many people around them, they were still very scared.
Looking at them, Qian couldn't help but reach out and touch their heads, saying with a smile, "Silly children, these are your uncle and aunt. They love you so much, how could they dare to scare you?"
"That's right. It's a blessing to rub the bones of an elder. In the future, your uncle will bless you to make a fortune."
The people around them also responded, and the area around the cemetery became lively. The three brothers were no longer so scared.
By the time they cleaned the bones and put them back in the coffin, it was already three in the morning.
Everyone filled the pit back in and made it look like a grave mound. Although it was obvious that the land had been turned over, this area was all part of Qili Village, so everyone had nothing to be afraid of.
The Zhou brothers carefully carried the coffin back home and placed it in the middle of the main hall.
Only then did Mrs. Qian and Little Mrs. Qian unfold the prepared funeral clothes and spread them on the two corpses.
There were also copper coins that needed to be put in, and Qian put in every single one.
After taking a final look, everyone closed the coffin and had the villagers nail it shut, sealing it completely.
Everyone quietly hung white cloth on the gate and the main hall. Old Zhou didn't buy a lot of white cloth, but the villagers still felt that this funeral ceremony was enough.
Not every family can afford to buy linen to hang on the door.
It would be nice to have a white banner hanging.
Manbao was dug out of bed and put into mourning clothes before she woke up. Xiao Qianshi simply wiped her face, which made her wake up a little.
Seeing her looking at her with round eyes, Xiao Qian whispered, "Guests will be coming soon. You have to wear mourning clothes, Manbao, be good."
"So early?"
"Yes, the master of the house always arrives early." Xiao Qian coaxed Manbao, tied a piece of white linen around the linen clothes and her chubby waist, and led her to the main room.
A wave of millet knots had already been burned in the main hall. Xiao Qian brought Manbao to Zhou Dalang and asked her to kneel in the first place.
(End of this chapter)
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