The train driver in the courtyard

Chapter 251 Opening the Coffin (Additional Update)

Human death is divided into two stages.

Physical death is the first stage.

But the traces of your life in the world are still there, and there are still people in the world who remember you.

Wait until the last person who remembers you is gone.

The last trace of your existence in this world is gone, and that is true death.

The information that belongs to you is completely annihilated in the universe.

This is also called the death of information.

Also called total death.

To avoid total death.

Literati and poets found ways to write books and commentaries, leaving poems and essays to be passed down from generation to generation.

The emperors, generals and ministers tried their best to leave a strong mark in the history books.

Build a tomb as big as a mountain, hoping to be respected by future generations.

Ordinary people can only spend half their life savings to build tombs and erect tombstones, trying to leave the last traces.

But this approach is futile.

"The tomb does not contain five clothes, and the monument does not contain three generations."

These tombs are estimated to have only existed for a few decades. They are exposed to wind and rain, and become shorter every year.

At first, relatives would visit the grave every year and add soil to the grave, but after three or four generations at most, no one would come again.

When the tomb completely disappears, the last trace of this person left in this world disappears, and he encounters information death.

The people buried in Mentougou Cemetery are poor people, and most of the graves are like this.

"There are so many things about opening a coffin. First of all, those with conflicting attributes cannot be present at the scene."

"First, three liang of live poultry must be used to clear the way forward, and then the suona, flutes, gongs and drums will sound in unison."

"When digging a grave, you need to start from behind the tombstone. This is called the order of dignity."

"You also have to pull a red cloth strip and bow three times and nine times before the bones can be joined together."

On the jeep, Zhang Ruide kept chattering all the way.

Li Aiguo was dumbfounded.

It’s still understandable if the attributes conflict, but what the hell are three liang of live poultry?

Was this guy a tomb robber before?

Finally, Minister Niu couldn't bear it anymore.

He said in a cold voice: "Old Zhang, if you stop talking, I will let you come to the cemetery to ambush you at night."

"I have good intentions too." Zhang Ruide shrank his neck and said nothing.

Considering that it is impossible to find the grave of the woman named Zhao directly through the tombstone.

The task force went directly to the management office located at the entrance to the cemetery.

It's said to be a management office, but it's actually just a few shabby rooms.

Weeds grew on the roof, and the wall covering had long since peeled off, glistening with a faint blue light under the scorching sun.

Thick grass grew in front of and behind the house, and the front steps were covered with moss. It looked like no one had been here for a long time.

Also, the cemetery here has long been full, and cremation has now begun. Residents like to store urns in Dongdaqiao Cemetery.

The cemetery manager is an old comrade in his 60s.

The surname was Feng. When he saw several people arriving, his eyes swept over their uniforms, and there was no warmth on his face.

"It's all a matter of old age. The files are too messy and you may not be able to find them."

After checking the IDs of Li Aiguo and others, Uncle Feng called the civil affairs department for verification, and then reluctantly walked to a broken door.

Pointing to the inside, he said: "The information on the tombs before liberation is all there. If you have time, you can find it yourself."

After saying that, he put his hands behind his back and staggered back to the duty room.

Zhou Ke had a hot temper. He wanted to argue with him at that time, but was stopped by Minister Niu: "The people guarding the cemetery have weird tempers. Why do you argue with him?"

"But."

"Stop it, let's just stay calm."

Minister Niu unscrewed the wire tied to the door, pushed the door open and entered the house.

Li Aiguo soon understood that the old comrade was not deliberately trying to embarrass them.

This is the cheapest cemetery in the capital. Before liberation, you could bury your loved ones here for just an ocean.

Over the years, the cemetery has become overcrowded.

There are even cases of graves piled on top of each other.

The bookshelves in the house are filled with files, probably thousands of them.

Each portion is a person's life.

Fortunately, the old comrade was quite dedicated, and the files were sorted by time.

It only took seven or eight comrades of the task force an hour to find the grave file of the woman named Zhao.

Name: Zhao Guanzhen.

Burial place: Southeast Area 128, No. [-].

Purchaser: Shang Chonghou.

Time: December [-], [-].

Price: 1 million gold yuan coupons.

"Good guy, how much is a 1 million gold yuan coupon worth?" Li Aiguo couldn't help but clicked his tongue.

At this time, Zhang Ruide, who had been silent, said angrily:
"Forget it.

Knowing that the situation was over, the enemy desperately searched for wealth from the people and issued a "Financial and Economic Emergency Punishment Order".

Residents and merchants in the city were forced to exchange silver dollars, foreign currencies, and gold for gold yuan certificates.

Harvest the common people through gold yuan coupons.

Inflation was so severe that a 50-yuan gold yuan coupon could only buy a box of matches.

Back then, the business firm I worked for was killed by this method.

The old club's decades of savings were exchanged for a pile of waste paper. "

Zhou Ke said in surprise: "Isn't it possible if I don't change it?"

"No change?"

Zhang Ruide looked Zhou Ke up and down and laughed: "What do you people from other provinces know? The enemy always comes with rioters. If anyone dares not to change, you will be attacked on the spot." Most of the comrades in the locomotive depot came from China after liberation. Transferred from other provinces.

It is not wrong for Zhang Ruide to call someone from another province.

Li Aiguo was also dumbfounded.

In later generations, it was said that the other side of the sea developed well and soon became the Four Asian Tigers.

But no one mentioned that they looted more than 426 million taels of gold that year.

This is just statistical data on the surface.

The real data is probably many times higher.

Minister Niu has heard of these things for a long time.

He waved his hands at them: "Okay, stop talking, we found the file, let's dig the grave quickly."

"You want to dig a grave?" Uncle Feng appeared outside the door at some unknown time.

He was smoking a pipe and pot. When he heard this, he loosened his grip and dropped the pipe and pot to the ground.

He quickly picked it up, wiped off the dust on the cigarette holder, and said with wide eyes: "Comrade, let's live in peace. Why should we disturb the dead because of things in the human world?"

"Alarmed?" Zhou Ke had long been dissatisfied with him. He stood up, pointed to the white words painted on the wall, "Break Feudal Superstition," and said, "Old comrade, please tell me, what do these words mean."

Uncle Feng was stunned for a moment, then suddenly smiled bitterly and shook his head.

"Oh, people's memories are bad as they get older. Young boy, you reminded me well."

"Now that you have the file and the instructions from above, go find it yourself."

"I'm too old to walk."

As he spoke, the old man slowly returned to the duty room, sat on a broken chair, and smoked a cigarette pot.

Zhou Ke was young and energetic, and immediately wanted to rush out of the house, pick up a hoe and go to the cemetery.

But was stopped by Li Aiguo.

"Do not impulse."

Li Aiguo walked slowly to the old man and explained slowly: "Old comrade, it's not that we are disrespectful to the dead, but this grave involves a Dieter case. I hope you can understand."

"Catch Dieter. You should have told me earlier." Uncle Feng's attitude changed 180 degrees.

A few traces of blood appeared on the originally dry face, as if he had become ten years younger in an instant.

"Come on, I'll take you there."

Uncle Feng also walked vigorously.

He picked up a shovel, led a few people out of the door, and walked deeper into the cemetery.

Minister Niu is a careful person. He chatted with the old man from time to time along the way, and he soon understood the reason.

The old man’s surname is Feng, and he was married when he was young.

The other party is a grown-up girl from Dongshan. Because she likes to wear a white cardigan, she is nicknamed White Snake by her neighbors.

After marriage, the white lady gave birth to two children for him, and the two of them made a living by selling sugar and roasting chestnuts on the street.

The world is difficult, and although life is hard, having a wife and children to warm the bed is still considered happiness.

In [-], the Japanese were defeated and the enemy's Third Army took over the security of the capital.

In those days, the situation in the capital was chaotic, with various warlords coming and going, people in the capital were panicked, and many residents were hiding in their houses.

In order to make more money, Uncle Feng asked Madam Bai to hide at home, but he still took the risk of going out to the stall.

One day, Uncle Feng met a noble man, earned two yuan, and ran home happily.

His wife and children did not come out to greet him as usual, and the door of the house was ajar.

Uncle Feng's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly rushed into the house, only to collapse to the ground after just one glance.

The two children fell in a pool of blood, and the white lady was hanging from the beam. Her white clothes were filthy and her feet were bare.

The neighbor's aunt told Uncle Feng.

A small group of rebel soldiers passed by his house and happened to see his wife emptying the toilet. They coveted the beauty of the white lady and rushed into the house.

The white lady would rather die than obey, and finally there was a burst of gunfire in the house.

Uncle Feng's first thought was to avenge White Snake.

But the local security officer at the time didn't care at all as soon as he heard that it was the work of rioters.

Uncle Feng couldn't swallow this breath.

Arsenic was added to the sugar-roasted chestnuts and sent to the barracks of the rebel soldiers, where more than a dozen rebel soldiers were poisoned to death.

Then he lit his house on fire and fled out of the capital, wandering outside for a full seven or eight years before returning.

He spent money to buy a job as a tombkeeper and wanted to be with his wife and children before he died.

"Tell me why I won't die." After Uncle Feng said these things, his cloudy eyes had long since shed tears.

The comrades of the task force were silent.

Zhou Ke said slowly: "Old man, I'm sorry, I"

"Son, I don't blame you. It's just that I'm old and confused. I think this is before liberation." Uncle Feng sighed: "If White Snake and my two kids can survive and see the blue sky of this new society, How wonderful it would be.”

Li Aiguo said: "The reason why we dig graves and pursue the Dieter case is so that more people like White Snake and your two children can live a peaceful life."

"Yes, that's right."

Uncle Feng's spirit perked up, he picked up the shovel and pushed aside the weeds and low bushes, and walked deeper into the cemetery.

Everything around was silent, except for the rustling in the grass.

Looking at the densely packed tombs, Zhou Ke understood Li Aiguo's good intentions.

Even with the directions and tomb number, they would never be able to find the tomb of the woman surnamed Zhao without someone to guide them.

"These tombs were all buried before liberation. At that time, nine of the ten rooms were empty, and there were no descendants to offer sacrifices. Old man, I am old, so I can only do some cleaning work."

As Uncle Feng spoke, he used a shovel to pick up a long green worm hanging on a bush and dropped it into a ditch aside.

It took more than ten minutes before he led his comrades from the task force to a grave.

This tomb is no different from the surrounding tombs. It has collapsed long ago and is completely covered by weeds and shrubs.

Years of desolation have caused the cemetery stone monument to be obscured by weeds, and the brazier has long disappeared.

Uncle Feng picked up a shovel, shoveled away the weeds next to the stone monument, raised his sleeves, wiped off the mud on the tombstone, and said, "This should be the tomb of the woman named Zhao."

As soon as he finished speaking, Uncle Feng exclaimed: "That's not right, why is this soil new?"

Li Aiguo frowned and walked over to take a closer look.

really.
The soil on the grave showed signs of being turned over.
Although the grave diggers were very careful to cover it up, a small part of the weeds that had grown randomly were still covered under the soil.

(End of this chapter)