My 1979

Before entering the ward, I heard a cry that spread throughout the corridor.

Li He's aunts and cousins ​​were crying while putting on the shrouds they had prepared for the dead old man.

Li He said, "Grandpa, please lie down for a while."

The old man didn't cry, but the wrinkles on his forehead and his pursed mouth showed that he wasn't feeling very well.

"Is the car here?" the old man asked Wang Yushan, "It's hot today, so I have to go back quickly."

Wang Yushan said, "Come here in a minute. It's an ice coffin. Nothing will happen."

As soon as he lit up a cigarette, he was scolded by a passing nurse, and he put it down hurriedly. When he saw that he was gone, he lit it up again with a sad face.

When the car carrying the coffin arrived, he picked up the old man without using a stretcher and said, "It's so light, it doesn't weigh anything at all."

Wang Yuguo said, "I haven't eaten anything for a whole week, and I rely entirely on glucose."

Wang Yushan left the ward first, and Li He trotted to the elevator and opened the elevator door first.

After going downstairs, with the help of the driver, the old man was put into the ice coffin.

The driver vowed, "It's like a refrigerator, it's frozen. If it stinks, I won't charge you a dime!"

"Let's go." Li He urged the driver. After seeing the driver get into the driving seat, he said to Xizi, "If you know the way, just follow the car, in front, and we will follow behind."

At the same time, he stopped his grandfather who was about to get into the hearse and pulled him into Liu Laosi's car.

"Still sober? Let someone else drive." Li He asked Liu Laosi.

Liu Laosi said, "This is how much alcohol you have. It's okay. I can handle it when you encounter the traffic police."

"Then drive slower." Seeing that he was awake, Li He didn't make a fuss and asked several cousins ​​and cousin-in-laws to follow him in the car. After making arrangements, he turned back to Li Long and said, "Then you wait here until noon and receive the call. Grandma and Dad will go back."

Li Long nodded, "Don't worry, it won't be delayed."

After telling Li Long, Li He got into the passenger seat of Li Hui's truck and asked Wang Yushan and Wang Jun to sit on the second row of bunks.

These two men were not from Li Zhuang and were not familiar with Li Hui. Seeing that Li Hui was willing to help, they were naturally extremely polite and kept passing out cigarettes.

The car started, closely following the hearse in front.

"Have you informed me at home? Buy whatever you need to buy, including firecrackers, tobacco, alcohol, and vegetables." Wang Yushan asked his eldest son Wang Jun.

Just like a wedding, a funeral also involves a banquet. Not only must it be held, but it must also be grand. The more lively it is, the more filial it appears to the children.

Wang Jun said, "I just used the hospital's payphone to call my home. They will take to the streets at dawn."

Wang Yushan nodded, stretched his head over the chair in front of him, and said to Li He, "Erhe, you have a phone number. When I arrive in town, I will trouble you to call and ask them to prepare the firecrackers. As soon as the car enters Yingzi, You have to let them set off firecrackers."

Li He said, "Okay."

The night was very beautiful, with the moon and stars filling the sky unevenly.

When a group of people and three cars arrived in the town, it was already around five o'clock in the morning and it was already dawn.

Li He took out the phone, handed it to Wang Yushan and said, "Uncle, call it yourself."

"I don't know how to use this. I'll give you the number. You dial it, and I'll do it for you." Wang Yushan reported the landline number. After Li He dialed it, he took the phone and explained it carefully.

While he was talking, the car had entered the river bend, and the sound of firecrackers suddenly exploded in his ears.

Then before the car stopped, a group of women chased the hearse and started crying.

"Oh my god. Why did you just leave?"

"Mom, what should I do?"

"My life is so miserable."

"."

When the men carried out the ice coffin, the women all fell on it and cried loudly.

"Don't press it."

"Carry it in and cry slowly."

The four men carrying the coffin couldn't stand the torment of a dozen women.

"You guys go on your way." Wang Yushan was the first to go up and pull his wife away from her daughter and daughter-in-law. Then other men came over and pulled away the women who were crying heartbrokenly.

"There is ashes on the ground, wipe it." Li He also went up and pulled the eldest sister Li Mei away.

"Where is the third child?" Li Mei wiped the corners of her eyes and asked nonchalantly.

Li He took a puff of cigarette, spit it out and said, "I'm going to pick up Aniang and the others."

Then he asked, "His father hasn't come back yet?"

He didn't see Yang Xuewen.

"I went to the county to sell fish. I'll probably be back soon. They're cooking over there. Go get something to eat." Seeing that the ice coffin had entered the main room, Li Mei followed her in without saying anything more. Keep crying.

There was a large cooking pot set up outside the door. The stove was temporarily built with mud and red bricks, and the cook was a cheap cousin of Li He's.

"Is there anything to eat?" Li He looked at the vegetable pots on the big table. They were basically empty, except for a pot of mung bean dumplings.

Cousin Wang Yucheng waved a big spoon and pointed to the place where the water well was pressed and said, "Get the bowl yourself."

After saying that, he kept wiping the sweat that was falling from his forehead.

Li He walked to the water well, moved the bowl and basin under the water outlet, put his head under it, pressed the water with one hand, and flushed it directly, making it wet.

But this does relieve the fever.

From the time he got off the bus to now, he hadn't stopped sweating at all.

He took a large bowl and without looking for a shovel, he used chopsticks to scoop up a large bowl of mung bean dumplings.

After eating casually, he touched his pockets and found that the cigarette was gone and his luggage was all in Li Long's car.

Seeing Xizi smoking there, I asked for a pack of cigarettes. Although the smoke was poor, it was better than nothing.

Before he finished pulling out a cigarette, Wang Yucheng shouted at him at the top of his lungs, "Erhe, help me chop wood."

"Okay." Li He did not refuse, picked up the ax and went to the firewood pile to work.

Zhang Bing wanted to come over to help, but he refused, otherwise it would look like he was too delicate, even having to split wood for him.

Zhang Bing whispered, "It's so hot, I'll do it."

Li He waved his hand, "You go to the town and find a place to rest, not here."

"This" Zhang Bing was a little hesitant.

Li He whispered, "Are you afraid of what I might do at the door of my house? Go ahead and leave me alone."

Zhang Bing thought about it. He paid 10 yuan at the place where the gift account was dropped, turned around and left.

Wang Yushan came over and said to Li He, "Your friend left without eating?"

Li He said, "You don't have to worry about him, he has his own place to go."

He picked up the ax and split the thick wood into two pieces. He was quite capable of cutting wood.

But before a while, Liu Laosi wanted to come over to help, but Li He refused. Li Hui came over again, and he continued to refuse.

People from Li Zhuang came to attend the funeral one after another for the sake of Li He and his family. Originally, they had no polite dealings with the Wang family in Hewan.

Liu Chuanqi asked, "When did you come back?"

Li He wiped his sweat with his clothes and said, "I arrived at night and haven't had time to go home."

He saw He Laoxi coming over, holding his son He Yao, but he didn't see the person he wanted to see.

"Hey, when did you even start smoking across the river?" Fatty Chen took Li He's cigarette and joked.

"Where's yours?" Li He glanced at Fatty Chen's jacket pocket, took it out, and saw that it was a good cigarette, so he put it in his pocket.

"There is a consignment store nearby, let me go and buy it." Li Dong stood nearby. He came with Li Fucheng and others.

"You do some work for me and lose weight at the same time. Look at you, you're so fat." Li He gave the ax to Li Dong and asked his brother to work. The other person couldn't say anything.

"Okay." Li Dong didn't refuse, he raised his arms and worked hard.

When dinner started at noon, the Wang family's sons and grandsons all stood guard by the ice coffin in the main room, kowtowing in return, moving tables, setting out bowls and chopsticks, and serving dishes. Li He, Yang Xuewen and others were naturally responsible for such tasks.

After the sixteen dishes were served and he was sweating profusely from work, he had time to squeeze into the table where Liu Chuanqiu and others were sitting, drink a bottle of beer, and eat some rice.

Wang Yulan didn't come until after three o'clock in the evening. As soon as she entered the door, she still cried loudly and seemed to be paralyzed.

Li Zhaokun went to the coffin, kowtowed twice to his mother-in-law, burned two pieces of paper in front of the brazier, and then went to the side to chat with others.

In the evening, Wang Yulan wanted to keep vigil here, and Li He and others went home.

Aunts Duan Mei and Li Mei came back early and cleaned the house and brushed the mats.

As usual, the coffin was suspended for two days, and the Li family was so busy that they couldn't even touch the ground.

On the evening of the next day, Li He told Li Fucheng about seeing Chen Mingjing. Li Fucheng said, "That's a relative of his own. If you can help, just help. Don't really think of yourself as an outsider."

"Definitely." Li He knew that his father must have said so.

This old man always values ​​relatives and family ties very seriously.

"Hey, I don't know how long your wife can survive. She's over ninety." Li Fucheng had his own worries. Obviously, the death of his biological mother had touched him.

Li He thought about it and said, "How about I accompany you to Kaifeng again?"

This was his grandfather's wish, and he still had to fulfill it.

Besides, his grandpa is not young anymore. Li He feels a little sad when he thinks about the good life he has in just a few years. He doesn't want to leave any regrets to the old man.

"Are you quite busy?" Li Fucheng neither agreed nor disagreed.

Li He said, "I'm not busy. I'll go with you. Otherwise, I don't know when I'll be back next time."

No matter what time or age a person reaches, it is natural to miss his mother.

In the eyes of the mother, no matter how old the child is, he or she is her own child and will never be less loved.

"Then let's wait for two days." Li Fucheng didn't know why he was hesitating.

Li He nodded, "Okay."

After taking a bath, Li He lay down. He didn't have enough sleep.

But he always felt like he was woken up just as he lay down.

"Get up quickly." Standing at the head of his bed was Li Zhaokun.

"What are you doing so early?" Li He found that it was still dark outside and it was not dawn.

"I'm going to the crematorium today." In matters such as weddings and funerals, Li Zhaokun was not even a bit better than Li He.

"Oh." Upon hearing Li Zhaokun say this, Li He had to get up even if he couldn't.

Li Long's car had stopped at the door, and Li Fucheng said to Duan Mei from the side, "Let's see if your nurse has come and let her see the child."

Duan Mei said, "I've already gone to the nursery. You're cooking porridge for me there. I can eat it when the child wakes up."

"Let's go." Li He looked at the time. Afraid of being late, he just grabbed a handful of water and washed his face without even having time to brush his teeth.

Five or six handcarts and hearses have stopped at the door of Wang Yushan's house.

As soon as the ice coffin left the main room, firecrackers came to mind, and then there was another burst of women's cries.

As soon as you enter the crematorium, the first thing that catches your eye are the eight large white lime characters on the high wall that read "Change customs and implement cremation".

The crematorium is a square courtyard facing north and south, and the largest building is the incineration room.

After getting off the car, Li He looked at the gray smoke coming out of the towering incinerator chimney, and then looked at the dust falling on the ground. He didn't know whether it was coal ash or bone ash, but he always felt that the air was a bit heavy.

Wang Yushan went to pay and get the number, then waited for a gap in the queue, then went to a special place of worship, set off firecrackers and burned paper.

Li He never cried. In fact, most men didn't cry.

However, the moment they saw the old man entering the incinerator, everyone present, both men and women, burst into tears.

Li He thought he wouldn't cry, but when the old man's thin body was stuffed into the stove by the rough workers with a smile, the tears couldn't stop falling. Finally, he took a long breath and wiped the corners of his eyes to prevent himself from crying. Make a noise.

Li Zhaokun also wiped the red and swollen corners of his eyes and sighed, "Humans are so useless. How can we distinguish between old and young on the road to hell?"

He saw his father-in-law squatting at the door, looking at the incinerator without blinking, so he went up and waved his hand in front of his eyes, pulled him up and said, "It's okay, I'll drink two cups with you at noon."

"Go and ask, when are you going to get the ashes?" Grandpa stood up hard.

"I asked, half an hour later." This is the first time Li Zhaokun has been so polite to his father-in-law.

He has been married to Wang Yulan for nearly 40 years, and everyone from his father-in-law to his two brothers-in-law doesn't treat him very well. What's there to say about a second-rate guy!

It would be shameful not to beat him!

What else to say!

He is not a bitch either. If you look down on me, I still look down on you!

Therefore, for decades they have been non-aggressive and each has lived its own life, and everything has been peaceful.

After taking out the ashes, Li He asked Wang Yushan to hold the urn and get into Li Long's car first, then he found a handcart and climbed on.

The cemetery was chosen on a high ground in the Wang family, next to a river, which was difficult for someone to find.

"This area has good wind and water." People who are good at Feng Shui took a fancy to this place at a glance yesterday afternoon.

Rural areas pay special attention to the feng shui of cemeteries. Whoever's grave has good feng shui will have prosperous family members and prosperous people.

The cemetery is occupied by men, and women are not allowed to come. The men dig and carry the soil, and no one is idle.

After the grave pit was dug, in order to prevent water from leaking, the four walls were paved with red bricks and filled with cement. When the cement was almost dry, the ashes were lowered and the men began to bury the soil. After a while, a small earth bag came out.

After pounding the soil with a shovel and setting off three firecrackers, the men smoked a cigarette and lit the paper money. The sons, grandsons and grandsons knelt down one by one according to their seniority and kowtowed three times.

After the sound of firecrackers, everything became quiet.

"Family members pay tribute!" Li Zhaokun roared!

Brothers Wang Yushan and Wang Yuguo, together with their sons and grandchildren, bowed to everyone.

"Okay, okay, let's go home and eat." Li Zhaokun patted the dust on his hands.