Chapter 55 Chapter 55 Huo San is dead
Huo Xing spent a few coins and asked them to leave the body behind. The two men didn't want to do such an unlucky thing, and they were happy to have someone take over, so they took the money and left.
When they put down the straw mat and prepared to leave, Huo Xing stopped them and asked them how the man died.
One of them knew a little about the inside story. He said that he owed a debt to a gambling house and worked as a handyman in the gambling house. Because of the heavy work, he contracted tuberculosis, coughed up blood, and died within a few days.
He looked at Huo San's body wrapped in a roll of tattered mat and sighed. He and Huo San did not have much father-son affection. Maybe when he was too young to remember anything, Huo San had given him a little fatherly love, but he could not remember it at all now.
My mother and grandmother have already started a new life. If we bring Huo San's body back, it will only add to my grandmother's sadness. She is already old. Although Huo San is not a good-for-nothing, he is still the child she gave birth to after ten months of pregnancy. After all, it is a matter of burying a young person in her old age.
Thinking of this, Huo Xing gave up the idea of bringing Huo San home. There was no point in going back to Nankouba Village because there was no ancestral tomb of his family there. Huo San's two elder brothers had died young and were hastily buried on the way to escape. Only the tablet was left, which his grandmother had taken to the new home.
Huo Xing dragged the mat wrapped with Huo San's body into the forest. He had no tools, only a wooden stick, so he used it to find an open place and dug a hole.
Huo Xing didn't bury Huo San's body until the pit was big enough. He dusted himself off and went to the county town again to buy some incense, candles, and paper money.
The newly dug soil was still fresh. Huo Xing knelt in front of the pit, lit incense, and burned paper money.
Watching the paper money burn, Huo Xing stood up and said, "I hope to be a good person in my next life."
He should have been home in the afternoon, but because of Huo San's incident, it was already dark when he got home.
There was a light on at the door of the house. Steamed buns and cornbread seemed to have smelled his scent long ago and ran out panting to greet him.
When he entered the room, he didn't see Miao Ying waiting for him, but there was a faint light in their room.
After washing up, Huo Xing returned to the room. Miao Ying was lying on the bed with his back to him. The back of his chubby head seemed to still be angry.
"I thought you took the wrong road and couldn't come back." Miao Ying said in a sarcastic tone, but did not look back at him.
"I encountered something." Huo Xing tapped his shoulder, "So I came back late."
"What's going on?" Miao Ying turned around and sat on the headboard like him. He leaned over to sniff him again, then frowned. "It smells like paper money. What happened to you?"
"Huo San is dead." Huo Xing said in a deep voice.
Miao Ying was shocked for a moment: "Dead?"
"I met him in the afternoon. The people from the gambling house took him to a mass grave, and I buried him on the mountain outside the county town." Those things were not easy to do, but they were not difficult to say either.
"Aren't you going to tell grandma and the others?" Miao Ying moved closer, their shoulders touching.
Huo Xing looked into his eyes, undecided: "Do you want to tell me?"
Miao Ying shook his head: "Grandma is old." He had the same idea as Huo Xing, so he let his grandmother always think that he was working as a handyman in the gambling house.
I just didn’t expect that my grandmother already knew it so keenly. Maybe this is the telepathy between mother and son.
Huo Xing didn't sleep much the night before and got up very early. When he got up, his grandmother was already sitting in the yard. Huo Xing hesitated for a moment and walked to her side.
Grandma looked at Huo Xing's tall figure and patted the bench beside her for him to sit down.
Huo Xing sat beside her, and they watched the sky gradually brighten up. It seemed like it was the same when they were children. Huo Xing was very quiet at that time, and he could sit in the yard for a whole day.
"Did anything happen yesterday?" Grandma seemed to see further away, tears welling in her cloudy eyes. "I dreamed of your father last night."
Huo Xing's throat was choked.
"He cried and apologized to me." Grandma's lips moved, and the layers of wrinkles around her lips showed that she was no longer young.
"he……"
Huo Xing's unfinished words were already very clear.
Grandma sighed deeply and said, "It's my fault. I didn't teach him well."
"It's not your fault." Huo Xing said.
"I've lived a very confused life." Grandmother reached out and took Huo Xing's hand. "I failed to protect my two sons, causing them to die young on the road. Later, I neglected to discipline your father, allowing him to develop so many bad habits and causing your mother to suffer so much."
Huo Xing held her hand, which was already skinny and bony. He didn't know how to comfort her, and just kept saying that it was not her fault.
"Take me to see him. I'll see him off." Grandma found her crutches and stood up. "Let's go."
They went out when it was almost dawn. Mantou, who was guarding the door, stood up and followed them.
When Miao Ying woke up, Huo Xing was no longer at home. His mother had already prepared dinner for the children. After eating, Huo Xiaobao went to school with Xiao Mu.
Li Hongying knocked on Miao Ying's door. Miao Ying quickly got dressed and heard Li Hongying asking if he had seen his grandmother.
Miao Ying remembered what Huo Xing said last night and knew where they went. He comforted Li Hongying: "She must have gone out with Huo Xing."
Li Hongying was puzzled: "I don't see your grandmother go out on weekdays. I don't know what happened."
Miao Ying smiled and said, "It's okay as long as I'm with Huo Xing."
Li Hongying finally felt relieved. She had a lot of things to do in the morning. Now she put on her backpack and went to the field to weed, preparing to bring the grass back to feed the chickens.
Their chickens grow well and lay a lot of eggs. Now their two children need to eat an egg every day to ensure the nutrition they need, and they can also exchange the extra eggs for money.
Miao Ying had nothing to do, so he went to the fields with her.
Miaoying's rapeseed is growing well. It is now about one foot tall. It looks like it will bloom by the Chinese New Year.
Li Hongying had already cleared some of the weeds in the wheat field, and there weren't many left now. After clearing them, they only filled less than half a backpack.
On the way back, Li Hongying couldn't help but ask Miao Ying what happened when her grandmother went out.
Miao Ying didn't want to interfere in other people's affairs. This matter should be handled by Huo Xing himself, so he just brushed it off.
When they returned home, Xiao Mu was already at home, sweeping the yard with a broom. Wotou followed him and made trouble, so he had no choice but to put down the broom and rub Wotou's head. Only then did Miao Ying realize that Mantou was not at home either.
Miao Ying took the broom from his hand and swept the floor himself. He couldn't sit still, so he went to the back with Li Hongying to feed the chickens. Every day when feeding the chickens, they had to pick up eggs. That was the happiest time for Xiao Mu.
They picked up the eggs from the chicken coop and took them home, putting them together with the eggs they had picked before, and they had accumulated a small basket.
Eggs are precious these days, otherwise Miao Ying would not have snatched food from Huo Xiaobao.
Looking at the cute look of Little Mu counting eggs, Miao Ying asked him if he would like to go to school too.
Little Mu shook his head and said with a smile, "Xiaobao teaches me how to read every day when he comes back. I can recognize a lot of words now."
"But I think you can go to school, just like Xiaobao." Miao Ying gently rubbed his hair. "Tell me, do you want to?"
Little Mutou shook his head seriously: "Brother, I want to learn carpentry more than studying."
He grew up under Carpenter Yao's care. When Carpenter Yao was doing carpentry, the wooden flowers were his toys. He was even better at using a knife than Huo Xing, who had just started learning carpentry.
"Really?" Miao Ying was surprised. "Then why haven't I seen you do it recently?"
Xiao Mu felt a little embarrassed because the workshop and materials belonged to Brother Huo Xing, and he didn't dare to use them.
Miao Ying knew that he was a thoughtful person, but he didn't expect him to be so thoughtful. So he said, "Little Wood, this is also your home. You are the owner of this home. You can do whatever you want and use whatever you want without asking anyone for permission."
Xiao Mu's eyes were a little red, then he sniffed and said, "Brother, I understand."
Miao Ying took him to Huo Xing's workshop and saw that he was very skilled in using the carving knife. This set of carpentry tools were all relics of Carpenter Yao.
Xiao Mu thought about it and found a wooden stick from the pile of wood. It was not too long. He polished the stick until it was smooth without any burrs, and then picked up the carving knife.
He continued carving on the wood, and looked up at Miao Ying from time to time.
Seeing that he was very focused, Miao Ying told him that he was going back to the yard. He nodded and then returned to his own state.
Huo Xing and his friends didn't come back until the afternoon. After hearing the sound, Li Hongying hurried out to greet them. She saw her grandmother lying on Huo Xing's back, looking very bad.
Li Hongying quickly approached: "What's going on?"
Grandma got off Huo Xing's back, looked at Li Hongying and shook her head: "It's okay, I just walked too much and I'm a little tired."
It was during dinner that grandmother told Li Hongying about her trip today.
"When a person dies, dust returns to dust," said the grandmother. "I'm going to see him off for the last time."
Li Hongying was no longer in the mood to eat. She was in a very complicated mood. She and Huo San had already divorced, and now they didn't have any feelings for each other at all. But when they first got married, they had a period of loving time, but the daily necessities of life later on wore away all their affection.
In the end it ended up like this.
Huo Xiaobao was also stunned. He didn't have many feelings for Huo San. Ever since he could remember, Huo San was always drunk and had even kicked him a few times.
But when he saw that everyone at the table had a serious expression on their faces, he also remembered what the Master had said about filial piety. As a son, he had to practice filial piety even if Huo San had not raised him.
Li Hongying paused, then said, "Ah Xing, you should observe mourning for your father for another three months."
Huo Xing nodded, and Huo Xiaobao also nodded.
Originally they were supposed to observe a one-month mourning period for Carpenter Yao, but now they have to add another three months, which means it is already February.
Miao Ying had no objection either.
Huo Xing said at the table that he still had to go out to work and would be back before the New Year. Before leaving, he would go up the mountain again to hunt some more prey. He then asked Miao Ying if she wanted to go with him.
Miao Ying thought about it and agreed. He felt that he should also go and breathe some fresh air. They brought steamed bread with them when they went up the mountain today. This was the first time they brought dogs up the mountain. In the past, when Huo Xing wanted to bring them, Miao Ying always felt that they were still young and was afraid that they would get hurt.
At that time, his grandmother laughed at him, saying that Xiaoying was not even a father yet, but he was so concerned about his younger brother. If he had children in the future, he would love them very much.
After hearing this, Miao Ying tried to imagine himself giving birth to a child, but he couldn't quite imagine it. He felt that it was too far away from his life. Fortunately, he and Huo Xing were only interacting with each other through hands and words, and there was no deeper communication.
"What are you thinking about?"
Huo Xing suddenly spoke, startling Miao Ying. He touched his burning cheek with his hand and said, "Nothing. Where are you going?"
"I'm not going to the capital. I'll find a job nearby." Huo Xingxing walked beside him, brushing away the dead branches and leaves beside Miao Ying. "By the New Year, I'll come back and make you what you want."
Miao Ying nodded: "Will you do it?"
"I have a general direction now." Huo Xing said, "I can't expect all my learning to be in vain."
"Let's not send Xiaobao to school in the county town for now. He's still too young." Miao Ying added, "It won't be too late to go when he's six or seven. Let him study with Master Song."
Huo Xing did not disagree with any of his decisions, and Huo Xiaobao was indeed still young.
They went up the mountain, Huo Xing hunted some prey, and Miao Ying also picked up a few mushrooms, but the quality of the mushrooms was not very good at the moment, so Miao Ying didn't think about selling them, but wanted to cook them for dinner.
I've been eating light meals lately as I observe mourning, just radishes and cabbages every day. It's time to change my taste.
Huo Xing packed up and left the next day. He did not go to the provincial capital. Miao Ying went with him to the town. After selling the prey, they went their separate ways. Miao Ying went home, and Huo Xing went out to work.
They parted at a fork in the road. Miao Ying patted Huo Xing on the shoulder and said, "Be careful. I'm at home."
Huo Xing looked into his eyes, paused, then pulled him into his arms and hugged him gently. Miao Ying was stunned for a moment, then put his arms around his waist.
Miao Ying has always been a free and easy person. He never said goodbye to anyone when he went somewhere before, but now he felt a little reluctant.
"I'm leaving." Huo Xingxian pulled away again, "Take care of yourself."
Miao Ying nodded and watched him leave.
After Huo Xing left home, the family lived in poverty. As the weather gradually turned colder, they started making sugar again, which was considered an income, but the profit was not as much as before.
Their daily expenses are not much. After all, they don’t need to eat meat. Their daily food comes from the ground. It’s just that eggs are consumed quickly.
Ever since my grandmother learned that Huo San had died, she has been in a bad mood. When people are depressed, their bodies will also react. My grandmother has been coughing a little these days.
Miao Ying bought her some licorice and boiled it in water, which reduced her coughing, but she still felt listless.
Miao Ying knew that she was suffering from a heart disease, so he asked Xiao Mu and Huo Xiaobao, who had just finished school, to spend more time with her grandmother. The children's laughter was a good medicine to cure heart disease, and her grandmother smiled more often.
There was still a few taels of money left at home, and he didn't know how much Huo Xing could earn. He should save money for the New Year. When it was late at night and everyone was asleep, Miao Ying lay in bed, thinking that everything would be fine after the New Year. When the rapeseed was ripe and oil could be pressed, he would have money. Anyway, they had no money last year, and after a year, they would be able to repair the house.
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