Chapter 97
At the beginning, Lu Yuanzheng wanted to laugh at Xu Wen’s stupidity, who would rush to die first As he listened, he stopped talking
After a long time, he nodded his head and promised: “Okay, I will try to live! No matter how many sons and daughters you have, no matter how filial they are, I will accompany you to the last moment of your life I’ll stay and be the lonely one”
Commitment is serious, but this is really the most uncertain thing Lu Yuanzheng, even now on the island, not really far from the war, every now and then have to clean up a few on the island to reconnaissance people
In case of a large-scale war, he was not sure if his life could be saved
Even in times of peace, there is no guarantee that one will live to see the end of time
Life and death were not up to anyone
Lu Yuanzheng has always been a person who has to do what he said, if he can’t do what he said, he will usually be silent
But this time, he is willing to be impulsive once, to promise a thing that he is not half sure
New Year’s Eve was destined to be a night of bad sleep
Even without Grandma’s business, there will be the sound of booming firecrackers
There would be people who started eating dumplings in the middle of the night
Xu Wen felt like he had just fallen asleep when he was woken up by Lu Yuanzheng
“Big uncle just came over to call, won’t let us cook anymore, said to go to his house to eat”
It was known that Lu Yuanzheng and Xu Man had only been back for a short time, and the family hadn’t prepared much in the way of New Year’s goods
Xu Man didn’t really want to go
“Consider it a favor to Big Uncle You have to go to pay your respects anyway, don’t you?” Lu Yuanzheng advised her
Only then did Xu Man reluctantly get up
She changed into a red jacket
The matter of her grandmother’s death had been suppressed for the time being, and today was business as usual, so Xu Man couldn’t wear a red jacket
In addition, although she and Lu Yuanzheng had been married for a year and a half, last winter, Lu Yuanzheng’s matter came out suddenly, and she didn’t spend New Year’s Eve at home while she was gone
According to the rules, this year she is still considered a new bride and must wear red
Xu Wen did not sleep well, cool water to wash the face is still a little sleepy, yawning hair behind the head
This is to wake up Dongsheng, together to the eldest uncle’s house
Children love New Year’s Eve, although Dongsheng especially sleepy, or did not have a tantrum, such as wearing new clothes on the happy to dance
Early in the morning meal has not yet begun to eat, first picked up a few candies on the coffee table
Before the morning meal, the practice is still firecrackers
Xu Man knows that today the Xu family will not release firecrackers again
Thinking of his grandmother still makes his nose a little sore
Xu Man sniffled
Lu Yuanzheng patted her on the back
At four or five o’clock in the morning, there were no streetlights, but it wasn’t dark
The streets were filled with children carrying lanterns, running ahead in groups, excitedly paying New Year’s greetings to everyone
Adults are also, even if they have met yesterday evening, the first morning of the New Year also have to smile and say hello
When we arrived at the eldest uncle’s house, Lu Yuanzheng and Xu Qanshen greeted each other as usual
The eldest uncle was making chopsticks, and when he saw them, he greeted them, “I just want Tao Zi to call you again, come and sit down! Your aunt has just finished cooking the dumplings, and Tao Zi is ready to set off the whip”
On the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, firecrackers are also set off before dinner
They are white paper whips, and they are very powerful
Tao Zi is his youngest son, a few years older than Xu Che
Uncle one, two, two women, the upper two daughters are married, the first day of the year can not come back, slightly cold
After eating breakfast to group to pay tribute to the New Year
The eldest uncle’s mother’s little uncle and aunt, as well as their children and Lu Yuanzheng’s family of three, together to go out
Before going out, Xu Man first received two bridal red packets
According to custom, the bride into the door of the first Spring Festival, the man’s family all the family members are to prepare red packets to the bride
Uncle and uncle naturally have to bear the brunt of the red packet to Xu Man, but also have to give a relatively large red packet
One person gave ten dollars
More than what Dongsheng received
According to reason, like Dongsheng so big children, in the production team have not given red packets
Maybe uncle and uncle out of guilt, or maybe Dongsheng back less, in any case also gave, a person two dollars
The winter is not a good time, but it is a good time!
Xu Man was not going to take it, Lu Yuanzheng advised her: “Do not be upset with the money Besides, you don’t accept it is not a loss?”
When she asked her uncles to take care of Dongsheng, they all paid generous living expenses, and as a result, Dongsheng wasn’t taken care of very well
Xu Man thought about this, and frankly took the red envelope
The day gradually brightened up, at least you can see the opposite side of the person’s appearance
After Xu Man married Lu Yuanzheng, she didn’t stay in the village for a few days, so she didn’t know most of the people
Lu Yuanzheng didn’t know them either
But on this day, it didn’t matter if you knew them or not
If you know someone, add an honorific, such as a certain uncle, a certain brother, a certain grandfather, and so on, and ask for a good New Year’s Eve
Do not know directly, smilingly said a good New Year!
We all greet each other and wish each other well, recognize or not recognize, in a day becomes unimportant
Everyone’s face is smiling, a harmonious
Uncle led them to pay New Year’s greetings to their closer relatives, every household, Xu Wen will receive a red envelope
The so-called red envelope refers to give money, no matter three five a two dollars, are considered red envelope
There is no outside layer of red paper is not necessarily
Dongsheng was particularly envious, and asked Lu Yuanzheng in a low voice: “Dad, obviously I’m a child, Ma Ma is an adult Why does she have a red envelope and I don’t?”
Lu Yuanzheng answered especially casually: “About because Ma Ma is better looking than you”
Dongsheng: “”
Okay! Ma Ma is very good-looking
The group of people were amused to the point of laughing
“Dongsheng, your father lied to you When you grow up and marry a new daughter-in-law and go home, we’ll give your daughter-in-law a red packet too”
Dongsheng let out an oh, “Then next time I’ll bring Doudou back”
“Who is Doudou?”
“A very pretty girl, I’m going to marry her when I grow up”
“You’ve got a lot of talent! Only five years old and the daughter-in-law is already found”
Dongsheng retorted defiantly, “I’m six!”
He had just eaten six dumplings at Great Grandpa’s house!
From New Year’s Eve until the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, they were able to be free for a while
Lu Yuanzheng went home with Xu Wen and Dongsheng to catch up on some sleep
The three of them slept until the evening
After waking up, Lu Yuanzheng made some food and called Xu Man up
“Eat more I feel like I won’t be able to eat or sleep again tonight”
Xu Man nodded and changed the red clothes on his body into a plain color
For the common people, the end of the first day of the year didn’t necessarily have to wait until twelve o’clock in the middle of the night
Having dinner was considered the end of the first day of the year
After washing the dishes, the family rode their bicycles to Xu’s house
When Zhu Meizhen saw them, she sighed softly, “According to reason, you really shouldn’t have come back today”
But life and death are impermanent, and it’s not always possible to talk about rules
Besides, you can t go to ask people for help on the first day of the New Year, happy things are okay, white things are more or less bad luck on the first day of the New Year
This is also why the first day of the year old people, will be postponed a day
No help, light Xu family these few people really a little busy
The things to be prepared are too many and too fragmented
Xu Qiushi and Xu Wen were building a spiritual hut in the yard, and Lu Yuanzheng stopped his bike and went to help
The hut looks similar to a tent, with a frame and a piece of cloth, except that the frame of the hut is made of tall bamboo poles and the cloth is white and a bit higher, making the whole thing a rectangle
Both ends have a door, and there is a curtain separating the three-seven position
The front end was supported by a shelf and padded with a door panel The grandmother was parked in front And then in front of the table set up for people who come to pay their respects to incense
At the back was the place where the filial sons and daughters kept watch
At this time of year, it was cold, and the ground was covered with a thick layer of wheat straw
The two sides of the hut were also open, like many curtains
In the inner room, Xu Che was sitting on the kang teasing Chunsheng, while Sang Xiaoqing sat on the edge of the kang cutting white cloth
Filial sons and daughters, especially those like Xu Qiusi who led the streamers and smashed the pots, had to wear all white, and even the uppers of their shoes had to be taut with white cloth The shoes of the filial son could not be lifted up, but had to be heeled
The forehead should be white, and the back of the head should be draped with a white cloth belt
The length of the white cloth band is also a matter of principle
On the head, there is also an openwork hat made of twine, with two small balls hanging down by the ears The brim of the hat must cover the eyebrows to see the face
Like the second uncle and Xu Qiushi not too much difference, just a little difference in the details
The younger uncle didn’t have to wear a hemp rope hat because he had passed on
Daughters-in-law like Zhu Meizhen, or daughters-in-law like Da Gu and Xiao Gu, on the other hand, are all half white That is, the upper half of the white coat, the waist tied with a white belt, the lower side of the black pants but to tie the legs with grass rope, shoes wrapped most of the white, leaving only the heel of the piece of black
The upper of the shoe is white, but the heel is still black
Also, white foreheads should be worn, and a white band should be draped around the back of the head
When the relatives who came to offer condolences, all of them have to need white smudges, and it depends on what kind of relationship whether the white belt is needed or not
For example, Lu Yuanzheng didn’t need to wear a white belt, because he was his granddaughter’s son-in-law, he didn’t need to wear a white belt on the back of his head, but he had to wear a white belt around his waist, and he didn’t have to go into the hearth
But Xu Wen had to enter, not only into the hearth, the same white forehead, white cloth belt behind the head, waist is a white belt, shoes only taut half of the white cloth
Xu Wen will have to be similar to Zhu Meizhen, to be half white
Chunsheng is still small, do not wear white, but to wipe the forehead and hanging down the white cloth belt, and, his white does not have a small section of red silk belt
Because he is a heavy grandson, this is called a happy grandson
Xu Man has been a man for two lifetimes, and only then did he realize that there are so many things to be said about a white affair, and that there are all sorts of things to be said about the proximity and affinity of the person wearing the mourning clothes
Xu Man and Sang Xiaoqing listened to Zhu Meizhen popularize these differences while cutting white cloth with scissors
Zhu Meizhen was in control of how many mourning clothes and how much cloth to cut
Xu Man only needed to cut the white forehead, the white belt, and the strip of cloth on the back of his head
Sang Xiaoqing cut the uppers of the shoes and sewed white cloth on all the family’s shoes according to the rules
Other people might not need to wear white shoes when their grandmothers were buried, but Xu Qiusi and Zhu Meizhen did
Both of them would have to wear cloth shoes for some time to come
So Sang Xiaoqing sewed them very carefully
She was busy until the middle of the night
Xu Qiushi and Zhu Meizhen didn’t sleep much last night, and if they stayed up any longer, they wouldn’t be able to sleep for two days and two nights
Fearing that their bodies would not be able to cope, Xu Man advised them to rest early
Xu Qiushi and Zhu Meizhen also did not much excuse, after the matter is still a lot to worry about, can not be collapsed at this time the body
Dongsheng and Xu Che hugged together, slept at Xu Wen’s house
Fear that he was freezing on the road, did not wake him up, anyway, Lu Yuanzheng and Xu Wen a while back again
They just went home and squinted for a while
Lu Yuanzheng’s biological clock is particularly punctual, five o’clock on the rise, and incidentally called Xu Wen up
The two of them didn’t even eat and rushed to Xu’s house
On the second day of the Lunar New Year, the new year officially began
For the Xu family, it was a sad beginning
Lu Yuanzheng and Xu Man heard thunderous cries from the Xu family from afar
This is the report of mourning
The family already has many neighbors who have spontaneously come to help
Customs are customs, all understand them but none are stupid
Everyone who came to the house on the first day of the New Year did not see the grandmother, surely all will ask
After all, on the first day of the New Year, milk an elder, many younger generation will come to her New Year’s greetings, more or less near to hear a bit of noise not to say anything, some of the nephews far away from home and what will certainly look for grandma
Xu Qiu Shi ambiguous, only said that the grandmother is not well, asleep
Grandma is not a person who does not know the etiquette, how can you know that everyone comes to pay New Year’s visit, but also sleep
So they all understood
All unspoken to give way to the first day of the New Year just
So this morning, as soon as they heard that the Xu family was moving, they automatically came over to help
Lu Yuanzheng and Xu Wen arrived just in time for the meal
Today, many people come to help, the Xu family to manage the meal, early in the morning there is nothing to eat is steamed bread on the cabbage and tofu soup
Zhu Meizhen was so busy that she didn’t even bother to greet Lu Yuanzheng
According to custom, Lu Yuanzheng is also the new son-in-law for the first time to pay tribute to the New Year, the Xu family to host a serious banquet Lu Yuanzheng, and also have to call direct relatives to accompany
The same will have to give Lu Yuanzheng a red packet
Zhu Meizhen directly jumped to the last step, stuffed a red envelope into the hands of Lu Yuanzheng: “The family this year, special circumstances, the commission of your child”
Of course, Lu Yuanzheng can’t be so ignorant and shook his head, “Mom, I’m fine I’m fine, mom We’re all family, so we don’t have to be so particular These two days are spending money, you keep it”
Zhu Meizhen shoved the money into his arms, “One size does not fit all I’ve already wronged you by not serving you today, so I can’t afford to have less red packets I’m afraid I’ll be busy and forget about it later, so you can keep it first”
After saying that, he hurriedly went out to find someone to help, tomorrow he still needs someone to help sew the quilt
That is to sew the big red festive quilt and grandmother now lying together, directly racked to the car to send to the crematorium
In fact, white events are even more challenging than red events
For example, when you get married, you can choose the date more than half a year in advance, and start preparing the wedding quilt and dowry as early as possible
In the middle of the day, you have to buy whatever you can think of
By the time you get married, there’s nothing to worry about except entertaining the guests
It’s not the same with the wedding
After all, no one can predict when they or others will die
For this reason, many elderly people prepare their own birthday suits in advance, choosing the fabric, hats, and shoes themselves
The coffin will also be made in advance
Like Grandma was
As early as the year before last Grandma had her birthday suit ready, she was afraid she wouldn’t make it past seventy-three
The coffin was made by Xu Qiusi when she was hospitalized and the doctor said she would not live long
However, the Xu family place is small, can not put, temporarily placed in the place of the coffin
Even the white cloth Zhu Meizhen bought early
But still did not expect the grandmother will go so quickly, a lot of details are still not ready
In time for the New Year, most of the stores selling things are closed
Grain, oil, rice, flour, cigarettes and alcohol is not bad, the family more or less prepared for the New Year, can not go to the neighbor’s home to borrow a little
The main problem was the lack of food, the food for the guests
The family is either short of this or that, especially difficult for the people
The white wedding is similar to a wedding, but it is the day of the funeral, so there are still two days to prepare
If you could not buy them, you had to borrow them from your neighbors
Borrowing cabbages and tofu
Fortunately, every family has cabbage
Tofu family will also buy a lot
Chicken, duck, fish and meat, the Xu family prepared some, may not be enough, also have to borrow
Xu Qiushi and Zhu Meizhen should be inexperienced in the white matter, the day passed, a voice mute a mouth corner of the blisters
The second day of the new year is called mourning, that is, the production team people to help go to notify the grandmother of all relatives
The first day of the year is called the day of mourning, which means that the production team will help to notify all the relatives of the grandmother
The family of Xu Wang and the family of Lu Yuanzheng are also notified
Including the second uncle and second aunt’s family, all the relatives must be notified
No matter how stingy your sister-in-law is, you can’t afford to be ambiguous about this kind of thing
There is also a potential iron law in Wei Zhuang, can not help red but can not ignore white
It means that if you are asked to help with a wedding, you can refuse if you don’t want to help
But the white matter can not be refused, who have the day of old age, sickness and death, have to accumulate blessings for themselves
After all, even the most powerful people can not decide how to deal with their own death
Need to cry funeral to come first, like Zhu Meizhen mother’s family these distant relatives only need to bury the day over to send gift money to eat dinner
They have to take two gift money, condolence one, but also a daughter of their own family, sister or something one, called the head of the money
It is the female filial son will give the female family kowtow
This head can not worship kowtow, have to give money
After breakfast, near the letter of the relatives began to come
As soon as they enter the village, they start to cry, not necessarily shedding tears, but their voices must be loud
Like the eldest and second aunts, they cried and shouted at the top of their voices, “My dear mother! Why did you just leave!”
In fact, they were present when Grandma Ming left
Xu Wen and Sang Xiaoqing heard the commotion and went to help the eldest and second aunts back, kowtowing and offering incense to their grandmother before going into the hut to kneel
The other filial sons and daughters also followed the same procedure
All day long, the hut from only the Xu family slowly more and more, to the evening, young and old kneeling in a hut
Most of them Xu Man did not recognize
Many of them are grandma’s nephews and nieces
As for Xu Man, apart from occasionally picking up the women’s families, most of the time he knelt on the straw in the hearth
In the hearth, there was a row for each gender, with the men on the left, the women on the right, and the empty coffin parked in the center
Lu Yuanzheng and Dongsheng could only accompany her outside
It can’t be helped, sometimes the so-called near and far affinity is actually very impersonal
Before the grandmother’s death, Lu Yuanzheng was still a granddaughter-in-law who stayed by her bedside
Nowadays, a lot of people Xu Man has never even met kneel in the hut to observe the spirit, but Lu Yuanzheng and her brother-in-law are just “outsiders”
In the evening, the gongs, drums and suona team came and started playing and singing
Many people from the production team came over to watch the fun
Xu did not quite understand the significance of this move, but perhaps it was a show for his grandmother
Late at night, the crowd dispersed, and all the relatives in the neighborhood went back to their homes, while Xu Qiusi and his second uncle kept watch at the funeral hut
Xu Man was also ordered to return
Zhu Meizhen felt sorry for her and didn’t want her to stay here: “You’re still young, it’s so cold outside at night, what if you freeze? Go back and rest for the night, you’ll still have a busy day tomorrow!”
Xu Wen was not that cold, Lu Yuanzheng knew that she had to kneel for a day, and went home to bring his coat over to her to cover her legs
In the end, she couldn’t resist Zhu Meizhen and had to go home
On the third day of the Lunar New Year, the grandmother was cremated
After breakfast, not long after the grandmother sent to the crematorium
Before sending, but also let the filial sons and daughters to look at the meeting after a glance
The moment the grandmother carried on the car, all the filial sons and daughters cried at the same time
Xu Wen then had the real feeling that his grandmother had really passed away, and cried his heart out
Now, although the grandmother’s eyes are closed, but still flesh and blood, and then come back to the ashes
The cremation of only a few people to follow, not the turn of Xu Man a granddaughter
The next time you come back it will be after noon
The car stopped outside the production team, Xu Qiushi holding the grandmother’s urn in front, the second uncle holding the grandmother’s portrait followed on the side
Xu Qiu Shi held his grandmother’s urn in front of him, and his second uncle followed him with his grandmother’s portrait
Afterwards, they lined up behind Xu Qiushi to receive their grandmother back to the hut
This time, the cloth curtains in the coffin were removed
The urn was put into the coffin and the lid was closed and nailed shut
Men and women were still kneeling separately on the left and right sides of the coffin
At night, there was still a lot of noise and singing
The fourth day of the Lunar New Year was the day of Grandma’s burial
On this day, the Xu family was even more lively
People like Xu Wang’s in-laws, aunt and sister-in-law, Sang Xiaoqing’s in-laws, aunt and sister-in-law, and Lu Yuanzheng’s uncles and uncles all came over to offer their condolences
At noon, the Xu family had to treat their guests with great pomp and circumstance
Xu Man’s house was small and he had to borrow a neighbor’s house
The banquet for the white affair was also eight big bowls
After lunch, it was the main event before the burial
Xu Qiushi led the male filial sons and Zhu Meizhen led the female filial sons
First go to these seated guests to thank a circle, is kowtow
The guests came over to offer their condolences, and then the families thanked them once more
More than 1:30 pm, the master of ceremonies shouted: “Start the spirit!”
Xu Qiushi raised the basin and dropped it on the ground, crying loudly, “Mother, you go well!”
After that, the grandmother was buried in the ancestral grave
The funeral procession was also organized
The table was in the front, followed by the coffin bearers, and then two lines of filial sons and grandsons in mourning
There were several stops along the way, and each time the person in charge would shout something
Xu Wen could not hear
Anyway, after he finished shouting, there would always be the same old man coming out to offer incense
Her maternal grandfather was the first
Then the filial sons and daughters kowtowed
So they walked all the way to the Xu family’s ancestral tomb
Grandma and Grandpa were buried together, and the pit was dug
After the coffin was put in, it was filled with earth
At that moment, the sound of crying resounded again
Xu Qiusi cried until his nose and eyes watered, kneeling at the edge of the grave, his hands clasping the stone slab on the coffin to prevent it from being filled in
A man in his fifties, he cried like a child, “Mother, I won’t have a mother after you’re gone!”
It didn’t matter how old a person was, having a father and a mother made him a child
Xu Qiushi had been prepared for the fact that his grandmother would leave, but the moment he actually got off the ground, he still broke down
Xu Wen cried while pulling Xu Qiushi
Zhu Meizhen cried more sadly than the two aunts, since she married into the Xu family and grandma together for twenty-three years, with grandma than these two aunts are more like daughters
After all, the grandmother is not the kind of evil mother-in-law, Zhu Meizhen as soon as she came into the door she decentralized, usually less control more work
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law occasionally quarrel, but Zhu Meizhen that character, have something to say, said, and then forget and do not hold grudges
Grandma is also open-minded, so the two are considered to be the entire commune more famous model mother-in-law and daughter-in-law
Xu Wen is also crying, but she is not adapted to this kind of crying, just silent tears
For the first time in her two lives, she sent her closest relatives away
Xu Man was having a hard time
She thought to herself, how painful should her parents in her previous life have been when they learned that she had been killed?
Lu Yuanzheng stayed by Xu Man’s side, wrapping his arm around her shoulders, patting her gently to soothe her, repeating in a low voice, “You still have me” “I’m still here”
After Grandma’s burial, she still had to deal with the aftermath
The production team helpers returned all the borrowed tables, chairs and benches, and the hearth was dismantled
Everything was cleaned up before they went back to their own homes
Zhu Meizhen dumbly thanked one by one, each person stuffed a handful of sugar cubes melon seeds or cigarettes
New Year’s Day, all have to go to relatives, take the time to help all the people favor
When other guests are also sent in, the family only left two uncles and two aunts small uncle small aunt big aunt and two aunts they
Xu Wang’s family, Xu Wen’s family, Xu Wen’s family are also present
Xu Wang Xu Wen Xu Wen is simply want to stay a little longer to accompany Xu Qiushi and Zhu Meizhen, after all, this year has been chaotic, there is no time to sit down to eat a meal and talk
The grandmother has just passed away, and both parents are very sad
Moreover, Xu Qiusi and Zhu Meizhen are obviously exhausted, they want to see what else is missing to help do
Seeing that Xu Qiushi’s siblings still had something to say, Xu Wang and his siblings went into the inner room and sat on the bed to chat
The children all ran out to play
They were still too far away from death to understand what the death of their grandmother meant
Xu Che should have understood, and cried the hardest Grandma was the one who loved him the most in the family
But, just because he understood and knew that adults need to talk, but also sad or take away the children, including Chunsheng
As for the uncle and aunt, they sat in the hall waiting to settle accounts
Second aunt rare this patience to sit at the square table and wait
Xu Wen shook his head, lowered his voice and opened his mouth, with a few points of sarcasm: “This is the first time I’ve seen Auntie Two sitting in our house for so long”
In previous years, no matter whether it was New Year’s Eve or Grandma’s birthday, Auntie Two would always come to show her face and then find an excuse to leave
Xu Wang bristled and whispered, “Not to mention you, I haven’t seen her a few times in my entire life She always told people outside that Grandma was biased and gave our family all the good food and drink, and the money she had saved for her whole life was also given to our family
If Grandma had any money, she would have taken it away from us long ago Some years ago, when Grandma went to her house, she secretly went through Grandma’s things every time If we are talking about favoritism, the only things our family has really left behind are these two old houses”
Sang Xiaoqing also nodded: “The first year I married over, Xu Wen took me to my second uncle’s house to pay my respects, and my second aunt gave me 50 cents I truly don’t want it!”
It’s not that she doesn’t know what’s good for her, and that she dislikes the poor and loves the rich
Wei Zhuang Commune is poor, but even if it’s poor, there’s no such thing as an aunt giving 50 cents to her nephew-in-law
This is not taking Sang Xiaoqing as a new daughter-in-law seriously
Since then, Sang Xiaoqing has not treated this second aunt well
Xu Wen let out a snort, “Needless to say, she must have thought that Grandma still had some money left for the gift She must have thought that Grandma still had a lot of gift money left over and was waiting for her share! Dream on! Grandma has been in the hospital for more than a month, and her expenses are not small Before the year buy food and expensive, I’m afraid not only leftover money but also have to pay part of their own money”
As soon as he spoke, he heard the second aunt ask outside, “Big brother! How much money is left over from Mother’s gift? Have you finished counting? Hurry up and finish counting, I have to go back and cook, Cuizhi and the others are still staying at home tonight”
Cuizhi was her daughter
Xu Qiushi looked up at her and didn’t say a word
Zhu Meizhen couldn’t stand it and opened her mouth to dislike her, “Wang Yulan, do you still want some face? Mother has only just been buried, the soil on the grave is warm, is it appropriate for you to speak like this?”
“Why is it inappropriate? I didn’t let the old lady die I’ve been here for three days to honor her memory and fulfill my duty as a daughter-in-law, so what else is there to do? Besides, isn’t the purpose of keeping us here to settle accounts? What’s wrong with me rushing?”
“Are you waiting to settle the accounts or to share the money?” Zhu Meizhen used her voice excessively in the past two days, her voice was hoarse, and her throat hurt to the point of coughing when she said two sentences
In the inner room, Sang Xiaoqing’s eyes are going to roll up to the sky, “Is that a wake for her? She’s not as punctual as she is when she goes to work The sun comes out in the morning and leaves in the afternoon without waiting for the sun to go down She stayed the longest today because her mother’s family came to give her kowtow money”
Outside the house, the eldest aunt was busy rounding up, “You two are not to say a few words, let Qiu Shi to finish the account, should be divided, should be made up”
The second aunt still refused, “I’ve been to the cabinet! I’ve received more than a thousand dollars! I can’t spend more than a thousand dollars in the next two days Don’t try to fool me”
Xu Qiushi slapped the table, the pencil in his hand broke, the tip flew out, and bounced right on the second uncle’s face
The second uncle let out an ouch
The second aunt stood up, “Xu Qiushi, what do you mean? You’re not happy about sharing the money, are you? You want to take my mother’s gift money for yourself? I’m telling you, there’s no way! The gift money and the food and drink that Mother receives at New Year’s festivals are all cheap for you Do you want to take Mother’s money? Don’t even think about it!”
Xu Qiushi opened his mouth without making a sound
He had cried too much, and his voice was so muffled that he couldn’t speak, or rather, his speech was silent
Seeing this, Auntie Two became even more dejected, “Why don’t you say anything? Let me say that the center is weak, isn’t it? I’ll tell you, I purposely went to Uncle Wu, the bookkeeper, today and asked him to copy a gift book for me I also know how to read, so none of you can fool me”
In the inner room, Xu Wang rolled his eyes, “You still know how to read! You only know your own name, who are you fooling?”
Xu Wen shrugged his shoulders, “To scare our father!”
Xu Qiushi glared at his second uncle
Second uncle stood up in fear and tried to pull second aunt, but second aunt had been a shrew at home for more than a day or two and did not give second uncle any face
The two aunts couldn’t stand it and held her up, “Yulan, if you make any more trouble, you’ve gone too far! Isn’t Qiu Shi settling accounts? It doesn’t say you don’t have a share Why are you getting so worked up?”
“That’s just it! Mother’s bones are cold You didn’t visit for a day when she was in the hospital, and you didn’t even have a footprint when she came back, so aren’t you jumping up and down a little too much? My second brother is a wimp, but the rest of our Xu family is still alive” Little Aunt’s tone wasn’t too good either
Meaning you don’t go too far
As soon as the second aunt saw that all the people were talking about her, she flung her sleeves and was about to leave, halfway there, then backtracked and found herself a way out: “Don’t try to gang up on me and get rid of me Tell you, want to pit our family’s share of the money door no!”
After all, she wasn’t as cross as she was just now
No one paid any attention to her
After a while Xu Qiushi slapped the calculated accounts in the center of the square table and squatted to the side to smoke, meaning to let them see for themselves
The second aunt was one step ahead of the others, grabbed the bill and copied it into her hand, shoved it to the second uncle, and instructed him, “Look quickly, how much is the share for one family?”
“One hundred and fifty-seven for one family” Second Uncle whispered
Second Aunt’s eyes lit up, one hundred and fifty-seven dollars is not a small amount
She reached out to Zhu Meizhen, “Sister-in-law, you can give us our share first”
Before Zhu Meizhen could say anything, Second Uncle added, “It’s not money for us, it’s money we have to make up”
“What?” The second aunt became anxious and turned around and slapped the second uncle, “Don’t follow the kneeling for two days and fool me with the Xu family! After receiving over a thousand dollars in gift money, how can they still share a hundred and fifty-six dollars each?”
There are five of us here, so that adds up to
Auntie Er is counting with her fingers, at 200 a piece, that’s 1,000 yuan, minus 40 yuan for each person
The second aunt can’t figure it out, shook her hand and turned back to Xu Qiushi: “Big brother, you’re making a fool of yourself with this calculation How can there be a small difference of 1,000 dollars?”
Xu Qiusi wanted to explain, but he couldn’t make a sound
Zhu Meizhen shouted in a mute voice: “Don’t you need money for hospitalization? It’s not like you don’t know that my mother has been hospitalized for more than a month!”
“Why do you want us to get money to support your mother? It’s not like we didn’t stay in bed with her! Besides, the money collected for funerals has always been used only for the funeral, with the children adding to what is not enough and sharing what is extra How come the hospitalization fee is included?”
“Based on what? Based on the fact that the man you married has the surname Xu! He was also born to my mother in October!” Zhu Meizhen was so angry that she was trembling, her voice became more and more mute, and when she coughed and sprayed, she even brought blood
“Sister-in-law, stop talking! You are roaring your throat” Big Aunt was busy coming forward to check
Xu Wen and the others couldn’t sit still any longer and ran out from the inner room one after another
Xu Wen and Xu Wang helped Zhu Meizhen sit down to the side
Xu Wen glared at the second aunt
The second aunt was obviously a bit scared, and took two steps back, just in time to support the second uncle, angry, both hands took turns to slap on the second uncle, “You loser! Can’t you see that people are beating your wife? Don’t you care? Sit here like a log!”
Shamed and annoyed, Uncle Two pushed Auntie Two away, “Have you had enough? My mother has just been buried! I’ve seen the bill! I’ve also seen the hospital bills! It cost a lot of money to keep my mother in the hospital for more than a month! She needed injections, medicine and a ventilator If it weren’t for the gift money, we’d have shared even more after the funeral Besides, we owe the hospital this money We have to pay them
As the old saying goes, “You can’t owe money to a doctor and a teacher I was also raised by my mother, I can’t ignore this”
“You hit me?” Second Aunt became anxious and stepped forward to tear Second Uncle apart, “How dare you hit me! I gave you children, raised them, arranged to build you a house, and got you a daughter-in-law Now you’ve hardened your wings, haven’t you? How dare you hit me!”
“Don’t you mess around! Who hit you, you tripped over me yourself” Second Uncle didn’t dare to fight back, only daring to yell with his mouth
Xu Wen was quick to pick up a tea bowl that was almost knocked off the floor by the two of them, and heavily poured it onto the table, “Have you had enough? Not enough to go back to your home to make trouble!”
“Do you have a right to speak as a junior when adults are talking?” The second aunt was red-eyed and indiscriminately grabbed Xu Wen
Before the second aunt’s hand could land on Xu Man’s face, it was grabbed by Lu Yuanzheng
He looked down at Auntie Er and warned her, “Although I don’t hit women, if you dare to touch my daughter-in-law for a moment, I’ll definitely throw you out!”
The second aunt jerked her hand and didn’t move it
She had always been used to being cross, and subconsciously wanted to scold, but when she looked up and saw Lu Yuanzheng’s pair of ice-hardened eyes and the lurid scar, she cowered for a moment, her eyes showing timidity
She is no longer rude and unreasonable, but also just an ordinary citizen, at most, a soft and fearful of hard