Daylight broke.
A ray of sunlight broke the tranquility of our village, and every household started to light fires and cook, and soon the village was filled with wisps of smoke.
My house, however, was very quiet. It was a mess, as if it had recently been through an earthquake. Only the big red coffin at the door remained quietly there.
Aunt Wang rushed to my house early in the morning. Along the way, she called out to more than a dozen villagers, telling them that my mother had passed away in childbirth last night.
They all came to help with the funeral arrangements.
Our village is called Dafeng Village. Everyone in the village has the surname Feng, except for my family, who have the surname Zuo. My family moved here from outside. Decades ago, my grandfather came to Dafeng Village and settled down here.
My family are kind people. We have lived in Dafeng Village for decades and have never had any conflicts with any of the villagers. My grandfather is also a master, or in layman's terms, a ritualist. If any villagers have encountered something unclean, they would ask my grandfather to perform the ritual. Therefore, my grandfather has a high reputation among the villagers of Dafeng Village, and even the village chief treats him with great respect.
When Aunt Wang arrived at my front door with her people, they saw a blood-red coffin. Nobody thought much of it, assuming it was something my grandfather had been working on overnight and delivered that morning. The coffin looked old, but nobody asked any further questions.
After Aunt Wang came to my house, she learned that my father had also died. My grandfather made up an excuse, saying that there was an earthquake last night and something fell from the roof and killed my father. Apart from Aunt Wang, no one suspected anything. Some of them seemed to have noticed the house shaking last night. They never expected that Huwa would be so unlucky as to be killed by something.
Overnight, both her son and daughter-in-law passed away. What a devastating blow that must have been.
The villagers began to comfort my grandfather.
Aunt Wang's face showed a hint of suspicion. My grandfather had told her last night that something was going to happen to our family, and my father died the next day. How could Aunt Wang, who knew some of the details, not be surprised?
Besides, Aunt Wang used to work at a hospital. When she saw my dad's wound, she already knew that he wasn't killed by something hitting him. But since my grandpa didn't intend to say anything, she didn't press him further.
Later, more and more people in the village learned about what had happened to my family and rushed over to help. Soon, my small courtyard was filled with people.
Village chief Feng Dahai saw that there were too many people to work, so he sent most of them home, leaving behind some young and strong middle-aged people, as well as some women who washed and cooked vegetables.
"Master Zuo, what should we do about this ritual?" Feng Dahai asked my grandfather. In the past, whenever someone in the village passed away, my grandfather would lead the ritual. Now that it was Huwa and his wife who had passed away, the village chief didn't know what to do.
“I can’t hold a funeral for my son. Let Hu Ergou from the neighboring village do it. Keep it simple. The burial must take place before dusk,” my grandfather said.
"Master Zuo, don't you usually work half a day and a whole night, only going up the mountain in the early hours of the next morning?" Village Chief Feng Dahai asked, puzzled.
"Do as I say. I'll tell Hu Ergou what to do later." My grandfather's tone was serious; he had already made up his mind.
Seeing my grandfather's somber expression, the village chief stopped asking questions and quickly began assigning tasks.
My grandfather thought of something and instructed the village chief to have two coffins made immediately.
"Master Zuo, isn't there one at the entrance?" the village chief asked.
"That was a second-hand item; someone took it and burned it."
The village chief didn't ask any more questions and immediately arranged for someone to take care of it.
Soon, Hu Ergou from the next village arrived and talked with my grandfather in the room for a while.
Only after Hu Ergou came out did they begin setting up the stage for the ritual.
“Master Zuo, the baby hasn’t had milk in so long, he must be hungry. Feng Laosan’s wife is also breastfeeding, let her help feed him some milk,” Aunt Wang said to my grandfather.
My grandfather nodded, went back into the inner room, carried me out, and handed me to Aunt Wang.
When Aunt Wang saw that there was still a black cloth wrapped around my eyes, she seemed to understand something. Without saying anything, she took me to find Feng Laosan's wife to breastfeed.
Feng Laosan's wife is named Xiaojuan. She listened to Aunt Wang's words and did not refuse. She held me and started breastfeeding.
But after a short while, Xiao Juan screamed and pushed me away from her arms.
"Xiaojuan, what happened?" Aunt Wang asked anxiously.
"She bit me!" Xiao Juan immediately put me back in Aunt Wang's arms, exclaiming in horror.
“It’s impossible for him to bite. He was just born last night.” Aunt Wang said, prying open my mouth. Her face turned very ugly.
Aunt Wang saw that I had already grown four baby teeth.
"Aunt Wang, Huihui's son is so strange. He doesn't cry or fuss, and his teeth are coming in so fast. Also, why are his eyes covered with cloth?" Xiaojuan asked Aunt Wang.
Aunt Wang simply said that my eyes were injured, and asked Xiao Juan to express some milk, which she then fed to me with a spoon.
After Aunt Wang fed me, she carried me home. It was already noon. My grandfather took me from Aunt Wang, told a young man to hold me, and placed an incense burner on my body.
This is a custom in our village. When someone passes away, their descendants are supposed to carry the incense burner and perform the ritual. Because I am too young to carry an incense burner, I had someone help me.
Everything proceeded in an orderly manner. At 2 p.m., the simple ritual was completed. My grandfather took out two "water-covered blankets" (a common term in our village, which are actually blankets used to cover corpses) from the house and covered my father and mother with them. He also sprinkled incense ash from the incense burner in the main hall on them. The villagers didn't understand, but no one asked.
"Close the coffin lid and carry it to the burial site immediately." After giving the order, my grandfather sprinkled the last of the incense ash onto the coffin lid.
The people who carried the coffin in our village were called strongmen. They carried my parents to the place my grandfather had told them to go.
"Master Zuo, are we really going to bury Huwa and the others in that place?" The village chief came to my grandfather's side and asked in a low voice.
My grandfather just nodded and didn't say anything.
My parents were finally buried before dusk. My grandfather breathed a sigh of relief and told the villagers to pack up their belongings and go home, and to try not to go out at night.
After the villagers left, my grandfather carried me back into the house. It was getting dark, and my grandfather glanced at the gradually darkening night outside, a resolute look flashing in his eyes.
My grandfather took out a needle and thread from the drawer, glanced at me, and said, "My dear grandson, I have to do this so that you can live."
My grandfather took out the only red copper coin he had left and stuffed it directly into my left eye, then sewed my left eye up with needle and thread.
Strangely enough, I didn't cry or make a fuss during the entire sewing process, and I didn't even seem to feel any pain.
After my grandfather stitched up my left eye, I immediately burst into tears.
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