Chapter 124 Chapter 124 Funeral
There are many elders in Rongshu Village, and they all wake up early in the morning. At noon, those elders who got up early heard the sound of firecrackers.
The elders who knew the customs had quickly put on their clothes and were all wondering whose elder had passed away. It was not until early in the morning that they saw Huo Xing and Huo Xiaobao, dressed in mourning clothes, coming to the house to announce the death.
They did not go into the yard, but knelt down at the gate and bowed, saying that their grandmother had passed away.
Everyone was trying to comfort them, saying that their grandmother had lived a very old age and passed away in her sleep without suffering any pain, and that it was a happy funeral. When Huo Xing and his friends went to the next house, they had already packed up and went to help Huo Xing at his house.
That's how it is in the village. If someone has such a big event, everyone has to go and help. Soon, there were a lot of people in their yard. Some experienced elders accompanied Li Hongying and told her what to do.
Xuetuan seemed to feel the different atmosphere from before, so he was a little unhappy the whole day. Usually anyone could hug him, but today he only wanted Miao Ying to hug him, so Miao Ying couldn't do anything the whole day.
When announcing the death, Huo Xing also sent someone to notify the Miao family. All the Miao family members came except Liu Qiong. After all, Pang Pang was still a child, so it was not appropriate for him to come to such an occasion.
Li Hongying originally didn't want to inform Lingzhi, fearing that something might happen while she was pregnant. But Miao Ying said that he should be informed, otherwise it would be really awkward. After notifying the villagers, Huo Xing drove his ox cart to the county town.
Recently, Lingzhi has been staying at Fu's house to take care of her pregnancy. Huo Xing didn't want to go in, so he handed the token to the person in the hall, and soon Fu Lingyou arrived at the door.
He knew what had happened when he saw Huo Xing in mourning clothes. He wanted to ask Huo Xing to come in, but Huo Xing just shook his head: "I'm here to announce a death today. It's not a good idea to come in. Comfort Lingzhi and don't make him too sad."
Fu Lingyou nodded. He knew that Huo Xing was busy, so he didn't try to keep him any longer and watched him walk back.
The next day, Huo Xing invited a funeral professional, calculated the date, and decided to keep the body for three days and hold the funeral on the 11th.
Zheng Caier postponed the banquet on the 11th and lost a lot of money. Then she brought her people to help, which solved Miao Ying’s urgent problem.
During the three days of the funeral, a perpetual lamp must be lit and the younger generation must keep vigil for three sleepless nights.
Miao Ying didn't intend to let the two little ones really stay up for three days, but the two children were very stubborn and stayed up all the time. It was unclear whether their red eyes were from crying day and night or from staying up all night.
Miao Ying was even more tired. Not only did he have to keep watch, but he also had to take care of Xuetuan. Xuetuan was very clingy these two days. Except for sleeping time, he almost always stayed on Miao Ying.
Li Hongying is old and really can't last three days, so when Xuetuan is sleeping, Miao Ying wants her to sleep with Xuetuan for a while, but she also can't sleep well.
During these three days, people came to pay their respects every day, and the aunts and grandmothers in the village also came to help fold some gold ingots and help them with some work. This has always been the case in the entire village.
On the day of the funeral, the sky was very gloomy, as if it was about to collapse. Miao Ying did not expect that Lingzhi would come back with Fu Lingyou. Both of them were wearing mourning clothes. Lingzhi burst into tears when he saw them, and cried very hard.
He entered the house, hugged Li Hongying, and saw his grandmother for the last time when the coffin was about to be closed. He took out a Ruyi from his arms, placed it on his grandmother's abdomen, and cried for a long time. When the auspicious time came, the coffin was closed, which meant that the family had lost this elder forever.
The grandmother no longer had a son, so only her grandchildren walked in front. Huo Xiaobao held the tablet, Huo Xing scattered paper money along the way, Li Hongying, Fu Lingyou and Xiaolin carried the coffin, and Miao Ying couldn't follow with Xuetuan.
My grandmother's grave was chosen in a place where the first ray of light in the morning could reach it, halfway up the mountain. Standing there and looking down, you can see their home at first glance.
Huo Xing knelt in front of the grave, watching the soil covering the coffin bit by bit, and listening to the porter constantly reciting scriptures and talking about the past, as if to let the deceased forget the past, let go of everything and move on.
Huo Xiaobao, who was kneeling beside him, was crying all the time. His hands were covered with dirt, and when he touched his face, his entire face was covered in dirt.
Li Hongying was also kneeling. She had stopped crying, as if all her tears had dried up. She was just looking at the soil on both sides of the grave that was constantly decreasing and the grave that was slowly getting higher.
"Mom, don't suffer so much in your next life."
After the grave was built, they burned paper money. The paper money and gold ingots were made by their family and villagers together.
Suddenly, the wind blew up in the originally gloomy sky. The gusts of wind blew up the paper money burning in front of the grave, but it did not fall anywhere else. The paper money scraps rose with the wind.
Finally, the wind stopped, and a bit of paper money fell on Li Hongying's shoulder. Li Hongying turned her head to see the gray bit. She twisted the paper money ashes and watched the gray bit become a residual shadow in her palm.
Her eyes, already dry of tears, were filled with sadness: "Mom, please go well. I will take good care of the house, just like you used to take care of it."
Huo Xing stood behind Li Hongying, watching her eyes turn redder and redder, and finally hugged her gently: "Mom, we are still here."
Li Hongying nodded, looked at the funeral procession that had dispersed, and watched Huo Xing break off a cypress branch for her.
Their family was the last to leave, and they did not take the same path as the funeral procession. The dead are gone, and the living have to take a new path.
At home, Lingzhi sat on the chair where her grandmother often sat, wiping her tears.
"Xiao Ying." Lingzhi saw Miao Ying coming over and asked him with sobs, "Was grandma's death painful?"
Miao Ying shook his head. "She didn't suffer. She passed away in her sleep. People in the village say that people who die in their dreams don't suffer. It's because she did a lot of good things in her life."
Lingzhi seemed to relax for a moment, then started crying again: "Brother didn't tell me at first, but I found out. I should have come back on the second day of the junior high school, but I didn't even see her for the last time. I don't even know if she had anything to say to me."
Miao Ying held Xuetuan in one hand and patted his shoulder with the other: "How could grandma not have something to say to you? She is most worried about you and told you not to worry too much. Now that you have a child, you should relax even more."
Lingzhi still couldn't hold back and started crying again. Miao Ying took a handkerchief to wipe his tears, and in a hurry he took Xuetuan's bib. Xuetuan recognized him and kept pulling at his own things.
The originally somewhat sad atmosphere was diluted a little, and Lingzhi was crying and laughing.
After they left for the funeral, only Miao Dong and Miao Dahai were left at home to help greet the villagers. Zheng Caier was busy preparing the funeral banquet. They were already familiar with doing this and had a clear division of labor, so they set the banquet quickly.
The people who were attending the funeral slowly came back, each of them had a cypress branch pinned to their body, and soon it was time for the banquet.
When the banquet was over and the excitement in the yard died down, it was officially dark, which meant that they were really about to face a different day.
Miao Ying sent Miao Dong, Miao Dahai and the others to the village entrance. Miao Dahai patted Miao Ying on the shoulder and said, "Xiao Ying, you have worked hard. When you go back, you must take good care of your mother-in-law."
Miao Ying nodded, took out a gold ingot from his pocket, and handed it to Miao Dong: "I don't know how my sister-in-law collected the money for the banquet. I won't make up for it if it's less."
Miao Dong declined: "We are brothers!"
"Even brothers have to settle accounts." He pushed Miao Dong's hand back. "You don't charge money, but the people who work for my sister-in-law don't charge money? Besides, I heard that my sister-in-law pushed a table and paid for it."
Miao Ying waved at them and said, "Hurry and go back. It's getting dark and the road is difficult to walk at night. Please be careful."
Miao Dong had no choice but to accept the money and leave with Miao Dahai.
When Miao Ying returned home, the yard was silent. He hadn't noticed it in the past few days when people came every day during the funeral, but today, the whole yard was eerily quiet.
Fortunately, Huo Xing left a light on for him in the yard.
He turned off the lights in the yard and walked to the door. Huo Xing was coaxing Xuetuan to sleep. He stopped and did not go in to disturb her. Instead, he turned and went to Li Hongying's room.
Since last summer, when Li Hongying felt that her grandmother was not in good condition, the two of them had been sleeping together. Now Li Hongying opened the cabinet and sorted out her grandmother's old things.
The two little ones stayed by her side and helped her tidy up.
"This dress." Li Hongying picked up a dress with many patches on it. "This is what your grandmother wore when I got married."
Xiao Lin touched the dress that hadn't been seen for who knows how many years: "Grandma used to wear such bright clothes."
Li Hongying folded her clothes and said, "Silly child, was grandma born as a grandma? She was once a girl."
Xiaolin's face looked much more lost.
Li Hongying picked up another piece of clothing and said, "Grandma, this life hasn't been easy. I hope I can be born into a wealthy family in my next life."
Huo Xiaobao nodded: "Mom, I definitely will. Grandma is so kind, I definitely will."
Li Hongying wiped her eyes and said, "Yes."
Together they packed up the remaining clothes of their grandmother and put them into a box. The box was already very old. Xiao Lin skimmed off the peeling leather on it and asked, "Mom, is this box also Grandma's?"
Li Hongying shook her head: "This was made for me by my grandmother when I got married." How could her grandmother have a box? She fled here, lost her husband and son, and raised her remaining son. She watched him get married and have children, watched him go astray, and finally saw his son die before her.
"Fortunately, your brother Xing and brother Xiaoying are doing well, allowing grandma to spend her old age in peace." Li Hongying closed the box, sealed everything belonging to her grandmother, and finally placed it in the deepest part of the room. From then on, it would never be touched again, but she could see it by turning around.
The dead are gone, but their lives must move on.
After the New Year, the weather began to warm up, and the rape flowers in the whole village were in full bloom. The yellow color all over the mountains was very beautiful.
The death of his grandmother seemed to have made Huo Xiaobao grow up quickly. Although he was only ten years old, he already looked like an adult.
They spent the year in peace because they were in mourning and did not participate in many activities in the village. They just stayed in their own courtyard.
After the second day of the second lunar month, Huo Xiaobao was going back to school. This time, Miao Ying did not prepare any food for him. He dressed him in plain clothes and wrapped black cloth around his arms to indicate that he was in mourning.
Huo Xing sent Huo Xiaobao out. It was still dark. He glanced at his grandmother from a distance, nodded, and left home with his own hopes.
After Huo Xiaobao left, Miao Ying carried the sleeping Xuetuan to Li Hongying's bed, and drove the donkey with Xiaolin to the town to open a shop.
Li Hongying watched over the sleeping Xuetuan, sewing non-stop, always wanting to do something more for them.
As day and night change, spring goes and autumn comes, those who leave home will never go too far, because home is always behind them.
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