Chapter 4: The Mountain God's Blessing - Zhong Ying wasn't worshipping a god, but rather confronting her directly...
After only two days of sleeping in, Zhong Ying was dragged out of bed again while it was still dark.
Zhong Ying followed behind her mother in a daze, "Do we have to go so early? Didn't we say we'd go to the Li family to help out at dawn? And why is it just the two of us? Where are Dad, Zhong Cheng, and Zhong Xin?"
“Let’s go to the mountain god’s temple to pray first. Also, stop calling your brother by his full name all the time. It’s disrespectful.” Deng Xia said, turning her head to see her daughter following behind her like a lost soul, her eyes half-closed.
Deng Xia could only move the basket she was carrying to her other arm, freeing her hand to pull Zhong Ying along, and couldn't help but scold her, "You're such a big girl, how can you still walk with your eyes closed like a child? Aren't you afraid of falling and scraping your face!"
Zhong Ying's reaction was to completely close her eyes; she figured her mother was holding her back, so she wouldn't fall.
Before the production team's daily morning whistle blew, most people in the village were still asleep, and the country lanes were very quiet. Before long, the mother and daughter reached the back of the village.
When they stopped, Zhong Ying opened her eyes to see where her mother had brought her. Before her was a house made of bluestone, which was quite grand, like the mansion of a wealthy family. However, the plaque above the house did not read "Mansion of So-and-so", but "Mountain God Temple".
Seeing her daughter staring intently at the three characters "Mountain God Temple," Deng Xia couldn't help but chuckle to herself, "Why does she always seem so mesmerized every time she comes here, unable to look away?"
After saying that, Deng Xia stepped over the high threshold and entered the temple.
The mountain god temple is impressive on the outside, but not very big inside, only slightly larger than the main room of an ordinary family. There was no one in the temple, but the clay statue of the mountain god was kept clean and tidy. In front of the statue was an offering table with countless burnt incense sticks in the incense burner, which was enough to show the villagers' faith in him.
Deng Xia put down the straw basket slung over her arm, took out the incense and two pieces of fruit she had prepared inside, and said, "I heard that the Panpokou Production Brigade demolished the medicine god temple in their village. How disrespectful! They're so forgetful. Aren't they afraid that the people in the brigade will suffer retribution when they get sick in the future..."
Panpokou Production Brigade was closer to the commune than Tonggan Production Brigade, which was located deep in the mountains. Therefore, it was more able to respond to the changing times above, which is why it was influenced by the current events and razed the Medicine God Temple in the village.
The Medicine God Temple was originally called Yao God Temple. It was not actually dedicated to gods or Buddhas, but to a traditional Chinese medicine doctor surnamed Yao from Panpokou Village who saved countless lives in the surrounding area. After his death, people built a temple in his honor, and over the centuries, it came to be known as the Medicine God Temple.
The mountain god temple in Tonggan production team is similar to, yet different from, the medicine god temple. The mountain god temple does indeed enshrine the mountain god of Yingshan Mountain, but the villagers also believe that the mountain god has saved their lives.
The mountain god temple looks like the house of a wealthy family because it originally was.
In earlier years, a wealthy merchant surnamed Chen moved his entire family to escape the ravages of war. After traveling to many places, they finally settled on this small village at the foot of Yingshan Mountain. Tonggan Village is nestled against the mountains and beside the water, but it is located deep in the mountains and has inconvenient transportation. However, this was perfect for the wealthy merchant surnamed Chen who wanted to escape the war.
The Chen clan, along with the servants they brought, numbered nearly a hundred. The master of the house domineeringly drove away the local villagers, sending them to a mountain gully six miles away. This was the predecessor of Liwangou Village, while Chenjia Village was established at the foot of Yingshan Mountain.
Deep in the mountains, the Chen clan lived like local tyrants. The people who had served them for generations and suffered oppression prayed day and night that their inhuman masters would be punished. Unexpectedly, one year after a torrential rain, a mudslide rushed down from Ying Mountain and, just as the people wished, took away all the Chen clan members in the village.
The servants, now freed from their straits, rejoiced and became deeply convinced of the mountain god's protection. After the disaster, they salvaged the original Chen residence and rebuilt it into a mountain god temple. They also renamed the village Tonggan Village, not only because it was adjacent to the Ganlin River, but also because they had shared hardships and hoped that the future would only bring shared happiness.
Zhong Ying recalled the stories the original owner of the body had heard from the village's third aunt when she was a child, and couldn't help but silently complain in her heart, "Good heavens, it turns out that I transmigrated into a 'house-born child'."
However, even without that mudslide, the landlord-beating campaign would have allowed the villagers to turn their lives around.
Zhong Ying, who didn't believe in ghosts and gods, secretly thought to herself that she should be grateful to the country and to socialism, since not every village was lucky enough to have a natural disaster that wiped out the exploitative landlords in one fell swoop.
But Deng Xia was clearly more grateful to the mountain god, for in no time she had lit incense and set out the offerings.
"What are you still standing there for?" Deng Xia pulled Zhong Ying. "Quickly kneel down and kowtow."
Zhong Ying had no choice but to kneel on the prayer mat in front of the offering table.
"May the Mountain Goddess protect me," Deng Xia prayed devoutly, her hands clasped together and her eyes closed. "It is said that the soul of the deceased returns home during the funeral. May the Mountain Goddess protect my daughter from being haunted by ghosts and ensure that she passes away peacefully..."
As Zhong Ying listened to her mother muttering these words, a sense of fear rose in her heart.
At that time, most people in the countryside were like Deng Xia, backward and ignorant. If she were discovered to be not the original Zhong Ying, what would await her? Would she be burned like a witch in the Middle Ages?
Zhong Ying couldn't help but look up at the compassionate clay statue with its lowered eyes. What she feared was not gods or ghosts, but people.
At the moment she bowed her head in worship, Zhong Ying was not worshipping a god, but confronting herself.
Zhong Ying suddenly realized that she was no different from the original owner of the body.
She, too, despicably sought to possess what did not belong to her.
She doesn't want to die again, nor does she want to lose her current family.
——
After leaving the mountain god temple, Deng Xia took Zhong Ying directly to the Li family's house. They arrived just as firecrackers were being lit, crackling and popping loudly, breaking the morning's tranquility in a very forceful way, to let the villagers know that a funeral was taking place today.
Li Ming, carrying a rooster, along with his eldest son Li Gangshi and Zhong Cheng, who had come to help dig the graves, went up Ying Mountain. The shady spot on the hillside was where the villagers were buried after they died.
Zhong Chunsheng then went to the Liwangou production team in the lower reaches of the Ganlin River to get the paper money, paper figures, and carts that had been made by the paper craftsmen there.
Deng Xia and Liu Hongyan were busy preparing the funeral meal, while Zhong Ying, along with Li Rou, the daughter of the Li family, and her husband Qian Ming, served the villagers who came to pay their respects.
Miao Suyun entrusted her son to Fan Dani, a young woman she knew well, for help. She and Nie Jinfeng, the second daughter-in-law of the Li family, tore white linen into strips, which would be tied around the waists of the servants. There was no grand funeral for the death of an unmarried child, and the parents and relatives did not need to wear mourning clothes; simply tying a strip of white cloth around their waists was enough to express their feelings.
These days, the infant mortality rate is high, and most people don't hold special funerals for them. Only when an only son or an adult son passes away will a simple funeral be held. The villagers who came to pay their respects today are truly grieving for the passing of Li Linshi, such a fine young man.
In the side room, which was originally Li Linshi's room, Zhong Xin's face was a little pale, but he still bravely helped to hand over clothes and shoes.
Li Rongshi reached out and took it, glancing at the boy who was only up to his shoulder, and once again couldn't help but advise, "I can do it myself, you should go out."
Zhong Xin shook his head.
Li Rongshi had no choice but to ignore the child and continue helping his younger brother, who was lying down, change into a brand new set of clothes.
The person lying on the wooden bed, their skin pale and bluish from being soaked in the river, exuded an eerie and unsettling aura. Zhong Xin felt a chill run down his spine at the sight, while Li Rongshi seemed oblivious, preoccupied only with changing his younger brother into clean clothes. Overwhelmed with grief, he couldn't help but cry out, "Brother—"
In the house diagonally opposite, Li's eldest daughter-in-law, Tian Mei, avoided the others and placed her hands on the shoulders of her six-year-old son, Li Guangzong, instructing him, "Your uncle is unmarried and has no children. You are the eldest grandson in the family, his nephew. It is only right that you break tiles for him."
Li Guangzong raised his chin. "I know. Dad told me that the eldest son breaks tiles and inherits the family property, so everything my uncle owns will be mine in the future, and the new house next door will also be mine!"
Tian Mei choked up and fell silent for a moment.
Although this sounds absurd, it's not entirely wrong. The house next door was started in March when Li Ming received a letter from his son saying he would be returning to his hometown after graduation, all for the sake of his youngest son settling down and starting a family. This month, the roof tiles were just laid and the doors and windows were installed. All that was left was to paint the walls and order furniture. He had planned to have a matchmaker ask around and help him find a suitable house after the busy summer harvest season, but then this tragic accident happened.
The house next door is now vacant, and it's very likely that it will belong to my son in the future.
Thinking this, Tian Mei didn't correct her son's words, but continued to remind him of the things he needed to pay attention to, "Before the funeral, your grandma, your aunt, your eldest aunt and I will all wail. The louder we women wail, the better. Don't be afraid, just remember what you need to do. When you walk out of the courtyard, stand at the door and wait for your father to hand you a tile, then smash it on the ground..."
The sun was high in the sky, everything was ready, the grave diggers returned, and the paper offerings were brought over. Steam rose from the large cooking pot, and the meal was served. The funeral meal had no meat, just ordinary stew with some vermicelli and tofu, and everyone had a steamed cornbread. People from the fields weren't picky; a full stomach was happiness.
Zhong Chunsheng didn't rest after returning. He first rummaged through a pile of paper offerings and found the "left money," which he hung on the left side of the Li family's gate according to the rule of men on the left and women on the right.
"Left money" is made by cutting straw paper into strips three inches wide and three or four feet long. The number of strips is equal to the number of years the deceased lived. The white paper strips rustle and flutter in the wind. If you count carefully, you will find that there are exactly twenty-two strips.
"Her dad, eat something to fill your stomach. You'll be busy later." Deng Xia said, holding a large bowl of vegetables, and handed Zhong Chunsheng a steamed bun from her other hand.
Zhong Chunsheng couldn't help but smile.
This scene struck a nerve with one of the men.
Lai Hunzi couldn't help but wink at the men from the other production teams, signaling them to look over there. "I've never seen anyone so eager to help. If Li's son hadn't died, it would have been fine if the two families had become in-laws. But now, Zhong Lao Er's family is rushing to help. What's with all this showing off? They're licking the team leader's boots like this. Liu Qiang is the team leader's brother-in-law, but his family isn't this eager to show off."
The other men were clearly used to Lai Hunzi's gossip. He was an old bachelor in the production team, without parents, wife, or children, and had no ties. He had no self-control and talked more than the women in the fields.
Nie Jinfeng's brother, Nie Jinlong, buried his head in his food and said, "Isn't this because Li Si saved Zhong's little sister's life? It's only right that his family is busy helping out like this."
Another middle-aged man with small eyes, Fan Wu, retorted, "Speaking of which, Lai Hunzi, aren't you and the captain cousins? Why haven't you lent a hand since you came over?"
And then there were those who didn't care about making things worse. Lai Hunzi was only focused on his momentary pleasure when he spoke, and didn't notice that there were two men surnamed Zhong sitting at the table.
Zhong Chunsheng's elder brother, Zhong Qiushou, seemed not to have heard anything, but his son, Zhong Shuanzhu, shouted directly to Liu Qiang at the next table, "Uncle Qiang, Lai Hunzi said you're the team leader's in-law, but he's not helping you today!"
His voice was loud enough that not only Liu Qiang heard it, but also Liu Qiang's sons, and Liu Qiang's wife, daughter-in-law, and daughter at the other table. So it can be said that everyone heard it.
All eyes turned to Lai Hunzi, whose slovenly, greasy face flushed bright red. "That's not what I meant!"
You little rascal who uses dirty tricks! He clearly said that the Zhong family was eager to get involved!
Liu Qiang was too lazy to pay attention to this guy who was even more talkative than a woman. Justice will prevail, and it wasn't like he hadn't helped with anything since he arrived.
Liu Qiang's wife, Lin Shuhong, was also concerned about the fact that they were currently handling the funeral arrangements for the team leader's son. Not wanting to cause any trouble, she restrained her angry daughter, Liu Ximei, and spat at the scoundrel, saying, "You'll die from that mouth of yours sooner or later!"
Lai Hunzi wanted to argue a few more times, but Li Ming, who had come over, interrupted him, saying, "I'm really sorry, my family's little matter has delayed everyone's production."
He immediately apologized, which prompted the others to quickly finish the last bit of vermicelli and tofu in their porcelain bowls in a few bites.
"What do you mean by delay? It's only half a day. It's a good opportunity for everyone to catch their breath. We've been working on this for quite a few days now." Fan Wu spoke tactfully, avoiding offending anyone.
Zhong Qiushou then spoke up, "What nonsense are you spouting, Captain? We uncles watched the child grow up, and it's our way of seeing him off on his final journey."
"Alright, then I won't stand on ceremony with you all," Li Ming said, "Have you all finished eating? We're about to leave when we are—"
The funeral procession can only proceed after the meal is finished, and there are specific rules regarding the timing of the procession. The older the person, the later the funeral procession can be. For young people like Li Linshi, whose parents are still alive, the funeral procession must be held before noon.
Following his father Li Gangshi's instructions, Li Guangzong threw tiles forcefully at the yellow earth in front of the Li family's house; Li Rongshi lit the paper-made carriages and horses, the black ash flying up and gently floating into the air; the strong men in the production team, together with Zhong Cheng, carried the wooden bed board and the person into the coffin, and then worked together to lift it onto the oxcart at the door. The old ox exhaled from its nose and started to move.
A sharp whistle from the suona seemed to pierce the heavens, its mournful melody causing Liu Hongyan, who was following closely behind the oxcart, to no longer suppress her emotions and burst into tears, crying out, "My son... my poor son... my fourth son..."
Li Rou supported her mother, who was crying so hard she could barely move, and also wiped away tears for her younger brother who had died young.
The music and the wailing were intertwined, making it a heartbreaking sound.
As Zhong Ying walked in the line of mourners, she couldn't help but grip Deng Xia's arm tightly.
Fortunately, in order to save time, the funeral procession moved quickly and soon passed through the village, and the group went up Ying Mountain.
On the shady hillside stood a series of bulging mounds of earth, and a dark, already dug grave pit, as if the earth itself had opened its mouth, coldly observing people's actions.
The men crowded at the front, each exerting all their strength, some carrying hemp ropes on their shoulders, others lifting with their bare hands, shouting in unison as they unloaded the coffin from the oxcart and slowly lowered it into the grave.
Zhong Ying was kept on the periphery by the crowd, only able to watch from afar as the coffin disappeared into the pit, and was then buried by shovelfuls of soil until the land was completely restored to its original state.
Zhong Ying suddenly felt a sense of relief; the mess left behind by the original owner since her transmigration was finally coming to an end.
Once the soil was filled to slightly above ground level, Li Ming stopped and spoke up to the people working hard beside him, "Alright, alright, let's leave the rest for when we finish filling the grave."
The funeral was now over. The subsequent "rounding the grave" and burning of paper money for the "first seven days," "third seven days," and "fifth seven days" were matters for the Li family to handle.
The villagers packed up their belongings and took the shovels and other tools they had brought down the mountain.
Zhong Ying was about to leave with the others when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Liu Hongyan pluck a willow branch from a nearby willow tree, wrap it with a piece of white linen, and stick it onto the slightly raised mound of earth.
"Is this a mark?" Zhong Ying asked Deng Xia curiously in a low voice.
Deng Xia glanced at it and quickly looked away, her voice very soft, "What do you mean by leaving a mark or using willow branches to summon the soul? It's all to ensure that the deceased can be laid to rest in peace, reach the underworld smoothly, and be reincarnated as soon as possible."
Zhong Ying shut up; it was just those superstitious ideas again.
Deng Xia firmly believed in this teaching and then instructed her daughter, "Also, don't look back when you're going down the mountain."
"Oh." Zhong Ying let it go in one ear and out the other; she didn't believe any of this anyway.
The group descended the mountain in a grand procession, then went home to have lunch before heading back to the fields to earn more work points.
The Zhong family's gate came into view at the end of the road. For some reason, Zhong Ying suddenly wanted to look back, and she did just that.
Looking at Yingshan from a distance, the mountains and fields are shrouded in a deep, dark green. Through the lush summer foliage, you can only vaguely see the mounds of graves. It's as if a dark shadow is standing there. Are there still people who haven't come down the mountain?
Zhong Ying squinted, trying to see more clearly.
"Your mother didn't tell you not to look back."
With the sound, a hand pressed down on Zhong Ying's head, and Zhong Cheng unceremoniously turned his sister's head back.
Zhong Ying immediately forgot who it was and said anxiously, "Don't you know how strong you are? You almost twisted my head off!"
Deng Xia, who was walking ahead of Zhong Chunsheng, immediately shot him a dagger, "Hey! How can you say such things at a time like this! You're all grown up, and neither of you is as worry-free as your younger brother!"
After being scolded, Zhong Ying and Zhong Cheng became obedient and immediately followed their younger brother Zhong Xin's example, remaining as quiet as chickens.
On Ying Mountain, under the willow trees, a tall and slender figure can be vaguely seen standing in the shade, looking down at the village at the foot of the mountain.
A note from the author:
----------------------
Prosperity, democracy, civility, and harmony
Although Zhong Ying felt that she had taken over the original owner's body and family, it wasn't really like that. As will be explained later, it wasn't a simple case of possession.
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