Chapter 56 Zhu Mingyue stood before four grave mounds…
Zhu Mingyue stood in front of the four graves and saw seven people engraved on the tombstones, a hint of embarrassment flashing across her face.
Forehead……
The day before buying the offerings, he only thought of his parents and Xie Hong, and didn't think about the others at all.
Fortunately, he always liked to buy things in bulk, so splitting them up shouldn't be a problem, right? Aside from anything else, Xie's great-grandparents have been dead for many years; they might have already been reincarnated. The person who probably needs the most money is Xie Hong, but he didn't plan to burn too much for Xie Hong.
In ancient times, it was believed that the dead should be treated as if they were still alive. Often, when a husband and wife died, they would be buried together by their descendants, signifying that their marital relationship continued in the afterlife. This is why Xie Hong's maternal grandmother insisted on having him drowned in a pig cage after his death and then buried with him.
Therefore, Xie Pei's parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents were all buried in the same tomb.
Zhu Mingyue turned to look at the tombstone in front of Xie Hong's grave. The wooden tombstone clearly read, "Tomb of the late nephew Xie Hong and his late nephew's wife Zhu Mingyue." Her pupils dilated slightly.
Well, it was obvious from the start that they wanted him to be buried alive with them. They even had his name engraved, but they had to regretfully give up because they were afraid of Xie Pei. Xie Hong was buried in a hurry, and there wasn't time to change the tombstone, so it's like this now. Or maybe it wasn't that there wasn't time to change it, but they just wanted to annoy him.
Okay, he admits he was indeed annoyed.
Building a tomb for himself was secondary; the main reason was that he didn't want his name next to Xie Hong's, as it was increasingly irritating to look at.
Xie Pei didn't notice anything unusual about him and divided the paper in the bamboo basket into three parts.
A pile was placed in front of each of the joint graves, but when it came to Xie Hong's grave, it was... empty.
The flames ignited, and a gentle breeze scattered the ashes. In previous years, burning paper money had frequently caused wildfires, and once ignited, they were difficult to extinguish unless the initial sparks were detected. Their area was quite close to the forest, which was now filled with dry branches and leaves, so the two could not leave until the paper money had burned completely.
Zhu Mingyue tentatively began, "Um..."
Xie Pei coldly replied, "Oh," and without even raising his head, he stretched his foot towards the paper money for his parents and kicked it horizontally, causing several tattered pieces of paper money to be scattered in front of Xie Hong's grave.
Zhu Mingyue: ...He just wanted to ask how much longer it would take to leave. He had only casually put on two thin layers of clothing this morning, but he hadn't expected the temperature to drop again today; it was quite cold. The other party had misunderstood again.
By the way, Xie Pei only gave Xie Hong these few pieces of paper money because of Xie Hong's sake, right?
Zhu Mingyue found it somewhat amusing, but restrained herself considering the presence of the deceased. While she outwardly kept quiet, her thoughts wandered. If Xie Hong could know this in the afterlife, he'd probably be waiting for money to be sent, and she wondered what he'd think upon receiving a few tattered banknotes. He'd probably be so angry at Xie Pei that his face would turn green—no, ghosts are naturally green.
Xie Pei is so mean, how could he even bully ghosts, haha...
A speck of ash drifted into Zhu Mingyue's eyes with the wind. He let out a soft cry and subconsciously squinted, rubbing his eyes vigorously at the corners.
A pair of warm hands removed his fingers and pried open his eyelids.
The already red and swollen eyes were instantly misted out by the wind.
Zhu Mingyue wanted to struggle,
"Don't move," Xie Pei said.
Zhu Mingyue stopped struggling and obediently cooperated.
Xie Pei leaned down slightly, his warm breath brushing against her eyelids, making them tickle. He then ran his fingertips across her eyelashes and rubbed them against her eyelids.
“Blink,” he said.
Zhu Mingyue blinked, and the foreign body sensation disappeared, making her eyes feel much more comfortable.
He pursed his lips and quickly glanced at Xie Pei: "Thank you."
If it weren't for the fact that the two of them were facing Xie's ancestors for three generations, plus his cheap husband, he would have felt that the atmosphere was a bit ambiguous.
In ordinary households, the fruits and vegetables offered to ancestors are only displayed briefly during the burning of paper money, and then taken back before leaving. The deceased spirits only absorb the essence, and as long as there are no taboos, people can eat what the ghosts have eaten. Therefore, some families wander around various graves during the Ghost Festival, hoping to plunder the offerings from other families' sacrifices. Everyone is aware of this, so after offering their food, they immediately take it back to their own homes to eat, not wanting others to take advantage. However, this practice has a more respectable explanation: they say their offerings are too abundant, and their ancestors can't finish them all at once, fearing it will attract wandering ghosts from the neighborhood to steal them, thus disturbing their peace.
Zhu Mingyue put all the fruits she had arranged into the basket and went home with Xie Pei. Halfway there, Xie Pei suddenly stopped and told her that he had lost a sickle and needed to go back to get it.
Zhu Mingyue watched his retreating figure thoughtfully. When did they start bringing sickles? Didn't they just casually pull the grass off the graves with their bare hands? Oh well, let him be. He scratched his face and headed home.
Time flies, and November will arrive after the Yin Festival.
This was the time Zhu Mingyue had arranged with the blacksmith in the county to pick up the knife.
Once noon is over, there are almost no customers coming to the shop. After the customers leave and the shop is cleaned up, it can close. One person can stay behind to finish the work.
Zhu Mingyue brought He An with her this time, leaving Li Zhengyang at the shop.
He An had never been to the county before, but he had heard Li Zhengyang say in casual conversation that the county was much more lively than the town, and everything there was excellent, even the shops had a wider variety of goods than those in the town.
He An took it to heart after hearing it once. He wasn't interested in the hustle and bustle of the county; he just wanted to see how the county pharmacies differed from those in the town, and whether they had the full range of products that Li Zhengyang had described.
His mother's health was deteriorating, and if it weren't for the ginseng tendons used to support her, she probably wouldn't have survived even the autumn.
Since Zhu Mingyue needed someone to accompany her to the county town, he took advantage of the early hour to go and check out the county's pharmacies.
As the Lunar New Year approached, the county tightened its security controls, and the displaced people were sent to a unified management center. In short, there were very few refugees to be seen on the streets, and the area seemed relatively safe.
“The pharmacy is just ahead,” Zhu Mingyue pointed to a spot not far to the left and said to He An, “Go and see what good medicine they have. You don’t need to follow me.” After saying that, he took out his money pouch, took out two taels of silver, weighed it in his hand, and handed it to him.
"No need, shopkeeper, I brought money with me." He An hurriedly waved his hand. Since he had come all the way to Shangyang County and was looking for good medicine for his mother, he naturally brought all his belongings with him.
Zhu Mingyue stuffed the silver into his hand, "Take it. You can pay me back if you don't need it. How much you use will be deducted from your monthly salary from now on."
He An felt relieved upon hearing this. The shopkeeper was kind and had always helped him a lot, and he was unwilling to let him spend any more money.
He glanced at the pharmacy not far away. Unlike the single doors that were only wide enough for two people in the town, this one had tall double doors and was always bustling with customers. If Zhu Mingyue hadn't pointed him in the right direction, he would have thought it was some popular tavern. His eyes suddenly filled with hope.
He turned to look at Zhu Mingyue again, a hint of hesitation in his eyes.
Zhu Mingyue: "Don't worry about me, you go ahead! I'm going to get some things, we'll meet here when I'm done."
After He An left, Zhu Mingyue watched his figure enter the pharmacy before turning and leaving.
Stepping back into the blacksmith shop, he saw the same master and apprentice. The apprentice looked up at him with a start, then smiled after a few seconds.
Zhu Mingyue immediately returned the smile.
The two seemed not to recognize him and were still somewhat bewildered.
After all, he was dressed as a woman when he last visited, and because he didn't want the hassle, he didn't even bother to point out that he was a man dressed as a woman. The master kept calling him a girl, and he didn't object, so he probably didn't associate him with the so-called girl at all right now.
He was there to pick up something, so he decided to reveal his identity and explained, "I'm the one who agreed with you last time to come and pick up those two knives today. Are they ready?"
The old man and his apprentice looked at each other for a while, trying to recall who this person was. When they couldn't remember him at all, they hesitantly asked, "May I ask who you are? What kind of knife are you using?"
Zhu Mingyue: ...Do we really have to say everything outright?
"Do you remember the one in red from before? He was carrying a short knife and a strangely shaped tool about the size of a palm."
The apprentice spoke first: "Isn't that a young lady? May I ask who you are to her?"
Zhu Mingyue took a deep breath and smiled at the opportune moment: "I am the one from that day."
The apprentice dropped the hammer to the ground with a clatter, then made a painful gesture of retracting his leg.
The old craftsman frowned and glared at him, cursing him inwardly for making a fool of himself. He put down his hammer, wiped his hands, and walked over calmly: "You say you are her, so she is? One is a girl, and the other is a man. How could I confuse them?"
Fine, blame him. Blame him for not clearly stating that he was a man back then. Now he still has to waste his breath explaining himself to someone.
He spent fifteen minutes explaining to the man, and even drew a picture on the spot that was the same as the one he had given to the master craftsman that day, before he could barely convince him.
"How could anyone dress up as a woman in public? This is simply..." He struggled for a long time before finally managing to swallow the word "disrespectful." His face turned a deep purplish-red. After learning the truth, he looked at the person in front of him and realized that the person was indeed similar in every way, from height to features.
Although he couldn't understand it, he accepted it well. But the apprentice was sullen, hanging his head as if he had just broken up with his girlfriend, and even his reaction was a beat slower.
Zhu Mingyue didn't pay attention; his mind was entirely focused on the cloth bag the old craftsman had handed him.
The old, brown coarse cloth was spotless. Zhu Mingyue flicked the cloth with her fingertip and was immediately blinded by the glint of a knife.
"A fine knife!" That was his first thought.
Zhu Mingyue tried to pick up the knife, but put it down regretfully after only a few tries. The blade was very thin and the back of the blade was only slightly thick. It seemed to be relatively light, but he didn't expect it to have so much weight in his hand. At least his wish to show off his skills with the knife was dashed.
The master craftsman, beaming with pride, casually picked up a thick piece of wood and chopped it in the opposite direction with his blade. In just a moment, the wood was swiftly split in half.
He raised an eyebrow: "So? I didn't lie to you, did I?"
An idea suddenly came to Zhu Mingyue's mind. He reluctantly plucked a strand of hair, placed it in front of the blade, and blew on it.
It broke, it really broke!
So this is what they call a sharp blade; he's certainly learned something new today.
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