Chapter 96

Xu Qiushi frowned and retorted, “Mother, what are you talking about in the New Year?”

“Birth, old age, sickness and death are normal, there’s nothing that can’t be said” Grandma smiled blandly, as well as the openness of life to the end

Sang Xiaoqing hesitated and took the initiative to speak, “Grandma, do you want to hug Chunsheng?”

Grandma’s eyes lit up, “Can I?”

Xu Wen interjected, “What’s wrong with hugging your own grandson?”

Grandma opened her arms

Sang Xiaoqing wanted to put Chunsheng on Grandma’s lap, but Chunsheng looked at Grandma and howled, grabbing onto Sang Xiaoqing and refusing to let go

Sang Xiaoqing was a little embarrassed

Xu Qiushi and Zhu Meizhen’s faces became very pale

It wasn’t because Chunsheng wouldn’t let Grandma hold him

Rather, it was because in Wei Zhuang Commune there was a saying that had been passed down from an unknown time and place

It is said that babies are purely connected to yin and yang, and as long as the baby keeps crying at the old man and refuses to look at him or let him hold him, it means that the old man’s body is too heavy with yin qi

It means that the old man has too much Yin energy and will not live long

Although there is no basis, but has been quite accurate

The so-called baby crying to the old man, means that usually do not cry, nor the child playful state, just because see the old man suddenly cried

Or multiple children who see the old man cry

Often the old man died within a few days

Chunsheng had a good personality and didn’t usually cry

Before Grandma was hospitalized, during the autumn rush, she even helped take care of Chunsheng so that Sang Xiaoqing could go to the production team to do work

Even if it is recognized, such as the first time to see Xu Wen, she hugged, Dongsheng did not cry

Grandma also knows this, so she waved her hand, let Sang Xiaoqing carry the child away, raised her hand and pointed down to the dining table: “Our family has not had such a sumptuous New Year’s dinner for many years Why are you looking at me? Hurry up and eat!”

Xu Qiushi took a deep breath and ordered, “That’s right! Eat! Come on, let’s all have a toast! Happy family reunion today!”

Everyone raised their enameled cups, wine in the men’s cups, water in the women’s cups

Zhu Meizhen also said, “This year is the most complete Like my mother said, the four generations will live together! Asked to get married, Xu Wen also added a son I hope you’ll all be better next year! I’ll toast to you too”

The family spoke to each other, either over wine or tea

I don’t know if it was happiness mixed with sadness, or happiness mixed with sadness, but I always felt that there was a hint of regret in the happiness

Xu can see that the grandmother is actually very painful, but she did not say a word, so with a smile and insisted on accompanying everyone to eat New Year’s dinner, chatting

Whether it was the New Year’s dinner or the New Year’s Eve dinner, there was a problem, that is, the meal was often longer and longer

When the meal was over, Grandma was visibly tired

Lu Yuanzheng carried Grandma back to the bed and let her rest for a while

When Grandma fell asleep, the smiles on the Xu family’s faces were all withdrawn

Xu Qiushi lit a cigarette and instructed Xu Wen, “Go and inform your great aunt and your uncle Your grandmother is estimated to be just tonight ”

He didn’t finish, but everyone understood what it meant

Xu Wen nodded and was about to head out, Lu Yuanzheng followed, “I’ll go with you”

Xu Qiushi stopped Lu Yuanzheng, “Don’t go! You’ll accompany me to the commune later Before the commune closes, let’s go to the funeral store to rent a hut and there are some other things that I can’t get back alone”

Otherwise, it will be closed for the New Year, and it will be even more troublesome to rent it

Lu Yuanzheng nodded and answered yes

Xu Qiushi asked Zhu Meizhen, “Are Mother’s clothes ready?”

Zhu Meizhen nodded, “The old lady personally picked out the cloth samples, it was done a long time ago, and she even looked at it and was very satisfied”

Xu Qiushi let out a long sigh, extinguished his cigarette, and led Lu Yuanzheng outside

In the evening, grandma’s spirit was not good, so she did not get up to eat

From the beginning of dinner, the sound of firecrackers did not stop

As soon as Zhu Meizhen cleaned up the dishes, she started making bread dumplings

Xu Wen took Chunsheng, and Lu Yuanzheng took Xu Che and Dongsheng to set off firecrackers outside the door

If they didn’t set off the firecrackers today, they wouldn’t have a chance to set off the firecrackers they bought for the New Year

Xu Wen and Sang Xiaoqing both helped Zhu Meizhen

Sang Xiaoqing asked in a puzzled manner, “Mother, don’t you usually wrap the dumplings at almost midnight? It’s so early this year”

“I want your grandmother to eat New Year’s dumplings”

Sang Xiaoqing stopped talking

In Wei Zhuang Commune, years were not counted according to birthdays, they were counted according to the New Year

As long as you ate the dumplings on the first day of the New Year, you grew a year older It is the so-called false age

In other words, as long as Grandma survived past eleven o’clock in the middle of the night, she would be seventy-four years old as engraved on her stone tablet

The three of us were quick in making the dumplings, and as soon as the dumplings were ready, the eldest aunt and the youngest uncle all came

Zhu Meizhen took the finished dumplings outside

The cold weather outside is equivalent to a natural refrigerator

You can instantly freeze the dumplings

It was almost ten o’clock when Grandma woke up

When she woke up, she was in better shape than she was in the morning

She waved for her great aunt to help her sit up

“You’re all here!”

Big Auntie started wiping her eyes

Both First Uncle and Little Uncle called out to their mother

“You’re all gathered here, I can’t catch my breath, all go out, one by one come in”

Everyone knew that this was Grandma’s time to explain the aftermath, and they all obediently withdrew from the inner room

Starting with the eldest aunt, one by one, they went in

Xu Qiu Shi was behind his younger uncle and spoke to him the longest

Last was Xu Wen with Xu Wen

“Ask” Grandma took Xu Wen’s hand, “This girl of yours hasn’t let anyone worry about her since she was a child However, she’s also too much of a worrywart Don’t be so stubborn as a girl

Your family and Xiaozheng are all your closest relatives If you’re tired, talk to your family Don’t keep everything in your heart and carry it all by yourself

Especially for a man, you need to be able to speak softly to make life more enjoyable”

Xu Man answered repeatedly, and brought water to Grandma’s mouth

Grandma drank two mouthfuls and gasped for a moment, “You child ”

She shook her head and laughed softly, “It’s really not quite like our Xu family”

Xu Wen thumped in his heart and looked at his grandmother

Grandma’s eyes were clearly cloudy, but Xu Man felt that her eyes could see through people’s hearts

After a few words, it was basically almost eleven o’clock

Grandma asked Zhu Meizhen to bring out her birthday suit, “Now wash and change it for me! I want to take a look”

Zhu Meizhen said with red eyes, “Then I’ll go boil water”

You have to purify yourself before wearing the birthday suit

It was eleven o’clock when grandma put on her birthday suit

The sound of firecrackers outside the window signaled the end of one year and the beginning of a new one

Sang Xiaoqing took the mirror from her wedding day and gave it to Grandma to look at

The overall style of the birthday suit was like a Tang suit, and the color was positively red with gold thread patterns, very festive

Xu Man took out the cosmetics and helped Grandma put on her makeup

Sang Xiaoqing helped Grandma coil her hair

After looking in the mirror, Grandma smiled with satisfaction, “I can finally go see your grandfather I don’t know if he grows old over there, otherwise I would be older than him! He shouldn’t mind if I look pretty like this”

By the time she said these words, Grandma was already very weak, and her spirit seemed to have suddenly dissipated

Xu Man’s nose was a little sore

Everyone gathered around the bed, and there were faint sounds of sobbing

Zhu Meizhen brought over a tray of dumplings, “Mother, the dumplings aren’t hot anymore They’re filled with cabbage and pork, you want to try them?”

Grandma was already a bit disoriented, but she answered, opened her eyes, took one with a shaking hand, took a bite, swallowed it with difficulty, and laughed, “I’m still past the seventy-three mark Don’t cry! I have no regrets I have welcomed my grandchildren, I don’t want to be a starving ghost, and I’m very relieved that my children are all guarding me! Don’t cry!”

After saying this, the dumplings in her hand fell to the ground and she closed her eyes

“Mother!”

“Grandma!”

The Xu family shouted their hearts out

After a short period of panic, the family sat around the hall to discuss Grandma’s death

In Weizhuang Commune, if an old person is like Grandma on the first day of the New Year, the day is secret but not reported

It is to pretend that the grandmother is still alive, and wait for the first day of the New Year to say

But the Xu family place is small, just two rooms, there is no suitable room for the corpse

You can’t have a human being and a corpse living in the same place, even if Xu Qiushi and Zhu Meizhen are willing to do so, the temperature in the room is too high for Grandma

First Uncle’s family was a little more generous, and he stammered, “Why don’t we send Mother to my place first?”

Big Aunt grunted, “It’s New Year’s Eve, don’t fight with your younger siblings on the street over your mother When the time comes, my mother will really be dead and not be able to close her eyes”

First Uncle snapped

He married a shrewish daughter-in-law, and unreasonable

When he was young, Zhu Meizhen was not happy with her, and she fought with her sister-in-law a lot

In the earliest days, after the great aunts got married, it was actually Xu Man’s family that took turns raising the grandmother with the first uncle’s family

The youngest uncle succeeded his cousin’s grandfather, not counting as Grandma’s son, so he only had to support his cousin’s grandfather

This aunt was particularly calculating, and really didn’t miss a beat when it came to supporting Grandma

The grandmother will lose weight every time she stays at the first uncle’s house for a month, and she also looks quite emaciated

At Xu Man’s house, she gained another round of weight, and every time she changed places, the old lady didn’t want to leave

Of course, the grandmother will not complain, but Zhu Meizhen fast-talking, no less than find an aunt

The two often fought on the street, and finally Zhu Meizhen, in a fit of rage, took her grandmother directly to her home, and then prevented her from going to an uncle’s house

Aunt is also a shameless, really do not care about the grandmother, in addition to the Chinese New Year festivals, will carry some worthless things over to see the grandmother, usually like a severed relationship

This kind of aunts can let the grandmother into the door?

It’s impossible even if you think about it with your toes

Lu Yuanzheng spoke, “I have a place there”

He lived in a courtyard

This courtyard is not owned by the Lu family, it is the place that the Wei family secretly asked Grandpa to leave for him

Xu Qiushi waved his hand and refused, “You’re kind, but Xiaozheng, you have to follow the rules Your grandmother has children and grandchildren can not move to the granddaughter’s home People will laugh Besides, you and ask just got married not long ago, it’s still a new house, you can’t do this”

Xu Man sighed softly

Sometimes he especially didn’t understand these pedantic preoccupations

Obviously, it’s hard to be like this, but still talking about etiquette and rules?

Big Aunt wiped her eyes, “What then? There is a place at my home, but it’s too far away”

Her home is almost thirty miles from here

Xu Qiushi gritted his teeth, “I’ll go find the team leader and borrow a house from the team for Mother to stay for the night”

Zhu Meizhen shook her head, “The production team department definitely can’t let our mother stay That leaves the cowshed We can’t let our mother stay in the cowshed, can we?”

Xu Wen spoke up, “Go to the funeral parlor They have a morgue”

Uncle One let out an ah, “But there’s a fee for that It’s quite expensive!”

Xu Man’s voice chilled a few points, “I’ll pay for this”

Lu Yuanzheng held Xu Man’s hand and nodded, “Yes, we’ll pay for it”

The reason why he opened his mouth to agree with this sentence was because the production team sometimes did things in a really feudal way

Don’t look at the fact that women are usually in charge of the family, but when it comes to the big things, it’s the men who do the talking

If he didn’t open his mouth, the others would either take it as if Xu Qiang hadn’t said anything, or find a reason to refuse, and wouldn’t take it seriously anyway

Xu Qiushi is still reluctant, not because of the money, “New Year’s Eve, let mother alone to go so far away ah!”

He can’t afford to do that

Zhu Meizhen has been married to Xu Qiushi for many years and knows how difficult it is for him, so she hesitated and suggested, “Why don’t we just put up a shrine?”

Uncle Yiyi refused, “That won’t do! Our commune has never held a funeral on the first day of the Chinese New Year Besides, we can’t even ask for help on New Year’s Day It’s even more of a joke”

Zhu Meizhen didn’t like First Uncle either, and disliked his face directly: “Then take Mother to your home!”

First uncle immediately did not say anything

Zhu Meizhen spat, “A big man who is usually a wimp, even if it’s not enough! He didn’t even dare to take his own mother home when she died, but now he’s getting on our nerves Still not good? What do you think?”

This is not good and that is not good

So many people in the room couldn’t come up with a solution that satisfied everyone

In the middle of the day, Xu Man spoke up, “Stop arguing, I have an idea Tonight, mom and dad will go to their brother’s and sister-in-law’s side to make do for one night, and the stove in this house has stopped, so don’t burn the fire Make some ice cubes and spread them underneath Grandma’s body through the plastic sheet for one day Tomorrow when people come, don’t open the door to the inner room”

“This is a good idea” Zhu Meizhen was willing, “It’s still smart to ask”

Xu Qiushi was also fine with it, this way grandma could still spend the New Year at home and didn’t have to bother anyone else

Xu Wen and Sang Xiaoqing also had no problem with it, although the kang in their house wasn’t that big, but how could they not sleep for just one night

The others were fine with it

Some of them were busy making a big ice bed for Grandma, with plastic sheets on the top and bottom to prevent the ice from melting and leaking

The rest of us carried chisels and sledgehammers to the river to knock down the ice

Tossed until about two o’clock, before settling down the grandmother

Xu Qiushi told everyone to disperse and come back tomorrow night

He also sent Xu Wen and Lu Yuanzheng back, “You can’t stay at your mother’s house on the first day of the Lunar New Year!”

In the custom of Wei Zhuang Commune, everyone’s daughter can’t come to the door on the first day of the Lunar New Year

Even if you live in the same village, as long as your daughter is married, you can’t go to your mother’s house on the first day of the Lunar New Year

Xu Man and Lu Yuanzheng had to go home

Dongsheng was already asleep Xu Man wrapped Dongsheng up tightly and sat on the back of the bicycle with him in his arms

Lu Yuanzheng put his jacket on Xu Man before riding his bike back and asked her, “Dongsheng is so heavy, can you still carry him?”

“It’s okay to hold him for a while, but I probably won’t be able to hold him for a long time” Xu Wen lamented, “Time flies! Tomorrow, no, today Dongsheng will be six years old”

As a matter of fact, Dongsheng had only just passed his fifth birthday a few days ago, which was a bit much

“Hm” Lu Yuanzheng nodded, “This is the first year I’ve spent with you In the future, I’ll strive to be with you every year”

Xu Wen remembered her grandmother, her nose a little sour again, and called out to him, “Lu Yuanzheng”

“In”

“I have something to discuss with you”

“Uh, go ahead”

“When we get old, you must not die behind me”

Lu Yuanzheng subconsciously gave a hmmm, and then reacted with an ah: “What?”

“I said, you have to die behind me”

“What nonsense in the New Year!” Lu Yuanzheng knew that his grandmother’s death had touched Xu Man a lot, but it wasn’t this big, was it?

Xu Man had died once, he couldn’t say that it didn’t hurt, but he had also lost consciousness and opened up again are still in a young state, while Grandma was only an ordinary person’s life

“I’m serious” Xu Man emphasized, “Anyway, you have to promise me that you can’t die before me”

“Why?”

“We’re both alive, no matter how old we are, we’re both companions, otherwise people would say ‘young couples grow old together’!

I before is the last life, rented neighborhood, there is a pair of old men and women, they are particularly old, the old grandfather are wearing diapers, may also have Alzheimer’s disease

Oh, a diaper is a diaper, but not the kind that leaks

I often saw the grandmother holding the grandfather with one hand and carrying the diaper to the garbage At that time I felt envious, I felt that this is what love really looks like

But now, in addition to envy, I think there is a new layer of realization

As long as we are both alive, we will not be a burden to our children, we don’t need them to support us, and we don’t need to look at their faces

But no matter which one of us is gone, the one who is left will have to live with his or her children

It is said that there is no filial son in front of the bed for a long time, even the most filial son serves a person for a long time, will also give a face from time to time

Not to mention the fact that the two generations live so differently and have different habits together, there will be verbal arguments Of course, the one who is living under the fence loses

It’s even more troublesome when you have more children, as they are raised in shifts and have to change places when they get used to living together

You’ll have to change places before you get used to them, and you’ll have to look at your son-in-law’s face when you get to know your daughter-in-law

That’s why I don’t want to follow my children, I don’t want to die alone, I want to die in your arms”