Our country is vast and rich in resources, and customs vary from place to place. To this day, "crying songs" are still popular in many places.

The so-called "crying songs" are actually a general term for wedding songs and funeral songs.

In the past, in some coastal areas, women in every household had to learn to sing "crying songs".

When local girls reach the age of twelve or thirteen, their mothers and aunts will teach them to sing crying songs (as an aside, the author’s grandfather’s generation basically all knew how to sing, and his three aunts could also sing, with a very unique intonation. Especially the grandfather, who would sing crying songs for no reason, regardless of the occasion, which was really a headache).

At that time, adults worked in the fields, and little girls would learn needlework and crying songs in the fields. If there was a wedding or funeral nearby, the girls would go with others to listen to how others "cried".

According to local customs, singing a weeping song is a necessary skill for women. If a woman cannot sing a weeping song before getting married, people around her will mock and ridicule her. When she arrives at her mother-in-law's house, she will also be looked down upon because she cannot sing a weeping song.

The crying wedding song refers to the song that a woman sings to different people on the eve of her wedding and on the day of her wedding, and she has to cry while singing.

If an elder dies, the daughters and daughters-in-law of the family must sing a mourning song. Not singing or singing poorly will be considered unfilial. Therefore, when local women attend the funerals of their elders or relatives, they must show off their "crying" skills, secretly competing to see who cries louder, who cries longer, who cries more cleverly and in a more flexible way...

In short, if you are good at crying at funerals, you will be respected by all your relatives and friends.

There is a saying circulating in the local area: "Men are afraid of writing articles, and women are afraid of crying." Therefore, learning crying songs is a compulsory course for local women before getting married. Not only must they learn it, but they must also learn it well.

It is not easy to learn how to cry at a funeral, as it consists of three parts: sutra, head covering and individual crying.

The so-called "Jing" is combined with funeral ceremonies, and different contents are sung at different procedures. For example, after a person dies, the daughter-in-law or daughter sings the "Duanqi Jing", when changing the clothes of the deceased, the "Ziyi Jing" is sung, and when combing the hair, the "Shuotou Jing" is sung...

Different programs, singing different songs.

The so-called "header" also has relatively fixed content, such as "Repaying Mother's Kindness", "Twelve Searches for Mother", "Names of Twelve Flowers in the Twelve Months", "Ten Afflictions", "Seventy-two Afflictions", etc.

The last type is "scattered crying". As the name suggests, there is no limit to the content of scattered crying, which depends entirely on personal expression. You can sing based on your own experience or relationship with the deceased. The closer the relationship, the more sincere the crying should be.

Because there are no restrictions on the content and they can express themselves freely, they often cry heartbrokenly and sing to the point that others are moved to tears. Sometimes, even after others have repeatedly dissuaded them, they still can't stop crying...

In traditional funeral ceremonies, crying is given great importance.

If the wailing at a funeral is not loud enough to "resonate through the heavens and earth," people in the surrounding area will think that the descendants of this family are not filial enough. Therefore, some families who are not good at wailing or want to make the wailing scene bigger and more heartfelt will spend money to hire a "wailer."

Professional mourners have existed since ancient times.

In Guangzhou during the Republic of China period, professional mourners were also called "honeymouth women".

The "Hangkoupo" are generally elderly women who are alone and helpless. They live in remote alleys and often come into contact with ruffians, beggars and orphans. Their lives are not good.

The only way they make a living is to mourn.

At that time, many families in Guangzhou would hire a call-mouth woman for funerals. The length of the hiring period depended on the scale of the funeral. Some families would only hire a call-mouth woman until the seventh day, while others would hire a call-mouth woman until the 21st day. Some larger funerals might hire a call-mouth woman for 49 days, or even a full 100 days.

Once hired, the shouting mother-in-law must bring her own bedding to the employer's house and live in the deceased's room. She is also responsible for accompanying the spirit and serving the deceased with incense and candles. When cleaning the deceased's room, the bedding, clothes, mosquito nets and other daily necessities used by the deceased during his lifetime are usually taken away by the shouting mother-in-law and the coroner.

The main job of a caller is of course to cry at funerals, usually three times a day, morning, noon and evening. Some employers may require four times. The content of the cry every day is provided by the employer, and the caller just needs to cry and sing at the same time. Since it is a profession, the caller's voice must be sad and sorrowful, and the pronunciation must be relatively clear. The cry must be very emotional, so that the people attending the funeral are deeply moved and even shed tears.

Sometimes, the content of the crying and singing of the shouting mother-in-law can be "offensive".

When an elderly person dies in some large families, there are usually conflicts between the different branches, so they will take this opportunity to attack each other.

Therefore, when there is a funeral in a family, each room may hire a mourning woman, and several mourning women will sit together to cry at the funeral.

At this time, the content of the crying is very important. In order to attack other relatives, their employers often use puns or obscure statements, make indirect accusations, and even sing out scandals that have been concealed in the family for many years.

This is when the fun begins. Several wailing wives come on stage one after another. It may seem like they are mourning, but in fact, they are "fighting". Relatives and friends standing by can also understand the inside story and learn about many family conflicts. Some tabloid reporters will even sneak in or find the relatives of the deceased to learn about the wailing wives' lyrics attacking each other, exaggerate them, and then write them into "inside information" or serial novels, which are very popular.

Therefore, those shouting ladies who are good at improvisation and attacking the opponent with wonderful lyrics are very famous and need to spend a lot of money to hire them.

This situation has been prevalent since the late Qing Dynasty and occurred more frequently during the Republic of China.

In fact, it is not easy to be a professional mourner, whether in ancient times or modern times.

In comparison, the treatment of modern professional mourners is much better than that of ancient professional mourners.

After hanging up the phone, Yuan's mother felt heavy in her heart. She was forced to become a professional mourner. Although she made money in the past ten years and greatly improved her family's living conditions, she also suffered great psychological pressure.

Pressure mainly comes from three aspects:

First, the lack of understanding from relatives, friends and family. After knowing that she had become a professional mourner, her relatives and friends gradually cut off contact with her. Her parents and mother-in-law also strongly opposed her doing this job.

Especially my mother-in-law. More than ten years have passed, and I still see her nose and eyes are not the same. I don’t think that if she hadn’t cried at funerals to earn money to buy medicine for her, it’s hard to say whether she could live past sixty, let alone prepare for her seventieth birthday.

Second, she was rejected by the villagers. Ever since she became a professional mourner, the villagers treated her as a plague god whenever they saw her. They all tried to avoid her. The feeling of being isolated by the whole village was really unpleasant.

Third, it affects her own children. Not only has she caused her children to be isolated, but now it has also affected her son's marriage. Although Yuan's mother acts like she doesn't care, only she knows the pain in her heart.

The only consolation is her husband. Although he was against it at the beginning, after he tasted the sweetness, he changed his attitude and supported her wholeheartedly. They formed a mourning team together, which is how she got her current income.

My mother-in-law's 70th birthday is in two days. Yuan's mother has been turning down all the business that has come to her door these days, hoping to use this birthday to ease the relationship with my mother-in-law.

Hope all goes well.

…

At 8:19 pm on September 10, 2023, my cousin's wife gave birth to a baby boy by natural delivery, and both mother and child are safe.

In the hospital, my aunt was holding her grandson and smiling from ear to ear, and my uncle's smile never stopped. As people from Bailiang County, nine out of ten of them have the idea of ​​favoring boys over girls. Even my uncle, who was once the principal of a primary school, is no exception. This is a concept passed down from generation to generation and it is not so easy to change.

Seeing Huang Lingwei staring at the child intently, Jiang Feng couldn't help but gently bump her with his shoulder and said with a smile: "Weiwei, the child is cute, how about we have one next year?"

Huang Lingwei had lived with him for two months and had done everything she should have done. She was no longer as shy as before. Upon hearing this, she smiled and responded directly, "One is not enough. We need to have at least two, twins, a boy and a girl."

The eldest aunt laughed and said, "Weiwei is right. You two should get married quickly and have twins next year."

The others all laughed.

The uncle smiled and asked, "Xiao Feng, when are you going to set the date for your wedding?"

Jiang Feng said: "It is currently scheduled to be after the Spring Festival, but the specific date has not yet been determined."

The cousin's wife, who was lying on the bed, smiled and said, "You two should get married and have children soon. With your looks, your children will definitely inherit your respective strengths. Their looks will definitely be incredibly high. Just thinking about it makes me look forward to it."

Cousin Liu Junxiong also nodded and said, "Yes, that person must be extremely beautiful. Any other celebrity would have to stand aside."

Huang Lingwei glanced at Jiang Feng and couldn't help but imagine what their child would look like.

Jiang Feng and Huang Lingwei did not stay in the hospital for long.

About half an hour later, Jiang Feng and Huang Lingwei looked at each other, then looked at the sick cousin and said, "Cousin, you have a good rest. Weiwei and I will leave first."

Huang Lingwei took out a big red envelope that she had prepared long ago from her bag, handed it to her cousin's wife and said, "Cousin, have a good rest. We will come back to the wedding banquet when the baby is one month old."

My cousin’s wife refused for a while before accepting the red envelope.

Then, after a few more polite words, Jiang Feng and Huang Lingwei left.

…

The next day.

Jiang Feng and his party left Zhonghai and headed for Hangzhou.

In a private room of a restaurant in Hangzhou, Jiang Feng met Pei Ying and her husband Professor Liu.

While waiting for the waiter to serve the food, Pei Ying took out an agreement similar to Fang Yun's from her bag, handed it to Jiang Feng and said, "Master Jiang, we are together today thanks to your matchmaking. This is a small token of our appreciation. I hope you don't mind."

Jiang Feng took it and took a look at it. He couldn't help but smile and said, "Boss Pei, it seems that you have discussed it with Boss Fang. The thank-you gifts are exactly the same."

Pei Ying smiled and said, "We both have some achievements in the financial field, and this is the only thing we can show off. Since you have already accepted Mr. Fang's gift, you can't favor one over the other."

Jiang Feng said with emotion: "Okay, then I'll accept it. You guys are really thoughtful."

After finishing the serious business, they started chatting about all sorts of things. Jiang Feng had a cheat, so he had endless topics to talk about with anyone. Even with Professor Liu, a genius who focused on mathematics, he could keep the other person talking non-stop.

The meal lasted for more than two hours before it ended.

After Jiang Feng said goodbye and left, Liu Yi couldn't help but sigh: "This Master Jiang is really a god. Chatting with him is really like a spring breeze. It's like meeting a close friend you've known for decades. We can talk about anything. It's amazing."

Pei Ying nodded and said, "It's really amazing. Even if Master Jiang doesn't work as a matchmaker, he will definitely be able to thrive in other industries. His social skills are simply ridiculous. He can have a very good chat with anyone he sits with. People can't help but regard him as a confidant."

The couple sighed for a while, and Liu Yi looked at the time and said, "Let's not talk about it anymore. I have to attend an academic conference tomorrow morning, so I have to go back early. Do you want to go back with me?"

Pei Ying said: "You go back first, I still have some work to deal with, I will go back after I finish it."

Liu Yicai nodded and said, "Well, then don't be too busy. I now fully understand the ancients' feeling of 'a day without seeing you is like three years apart'. If you don't go back for a few days, I won't be able to sleep."

Pei Ying couldn't help but laugh and said, "I didn't expect that a serious mathematician like you would also learn to say sweet words."

Liu Yicai smiled and said, "I'm speaking from my heart."

Pei Ying glanced at him and said, "You are the only one who is sweet-talking."

"Your mouth is really sweet."

"Hate!"

…

Fengming Village, Shuangfeng Town, Linchuan County.

On a fertile grassland, more than twenty cows were grazing.

Under a big tree, Zhang Yonglu said to Deng Jiuqi, "We usually go out to herd cattle around nine in the morning. After we lead the cattle to the pasture, they are free to do whatever they want. If we were not afraid of someone stealing the cattle, we wouldn't have to watch over them here."

Deng Jiuqi said, "I used to herd cattle when I was a kid. Our village is quite remote and there are basically no outsiders. So herding cattle means taking the cattle to a nearby grassy area, fence them in to prevent them from running around, and then go back. In the afternoon, I can take the cattle back. It's very simple."

Zhang Yonglu said: "It's OK for one cow, but if I keep all my 20-odd cows in one place, there won't be enough grass for them to eat. I have to move them to another place every two hours or so.

However, even so, it is much better than working outside. I can sit under a tree and play with my phone. When the nearby grass is almost eaten, I will drive the cows to another place and then continue playing with my phone.

Sometimes, when I’m bored, I’ll bring some fried peanuts, melon seeds, etc., along with two bottles of beer, and drink them slowly to kill time.”

Deng Jiuqi, who had worked outside for a few years, said: "This is indeed much better than working as a laborer."

Zhang Yonglu said: "Of course, there are busy times, such as delivering cows and taking care of newborn calves, which are not easy tasks."

Deng Jiuqi looked at him and said boldly: "Brother Zhang, if you don't mind, I can help you take care of those newborn calves."

Zhang Yonglu didn't hesitate when he heard this and immediately said, "I hope you don't dislike me. How could I dislike you? Then let's herd cattle together from now on."

Deng Jiuqi smiled and nodded: "Well, let's herd cattle together in the future!"