Rebirth of the pastoral landlady

Chapter 309 What Happened at the Wake Night (Two in One)

Tan's death by drowning was already an unchangeable fact.If Jin Xi hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she really wouldn't have believed it. The tough and savage old lady in the past, Mrs. Tan who stood in the yard with her hips akimbo and directed her daughters-in-law around, would really have gone like this?

Mrs. Sun, who had passed out, was directly carried home by Madam Dong, and Mrs. Sun worriedly followed behind to take care of her. Tao Zhi was here to accompany Jin Xi.Liang Yuzhong and Liang Lisheng knelt by Tan's side, weeping and beating the ground beneath them.Old Liangtou also looked overly sad and somewhat dazed.

A man does not flick his tears lightly, just because he has not reached the sad place!Jin Xi watched Liang Yuzhong hug Tan Shi's body, hoarsely, crying loudly: "Mother...Mother..."

Jin Xi felt very uncomfortable, and felt an indescribable guilt. If she hadn't taken revenge on Liang Yumei, if she hadn't designed her, there would be nothing like this.However, there are no ifs in this world.

Even if it is true, it still cannot change Jinxi's determination to take revenge on those who have slandered her!Tan's is an extra factor that was not planned. Jin Xi is a human being and not a god, so these unexpected factors cannot be counted.

Besides, there are many ways to save Liang Yumei from the old Liangtou, but Mrs. Tan chose the most unwise and dangerous one. Everyone should be responsible for their own actions. , this is the path chosen by Tan herself, and it is also her fate... Jin Xi expressed regret and sadness.

Chun Zhu and Daniu were on the sidelines persuading him, and Li Zheng and a few old men in the village were also there to remind Old Liang.

"Death is like a lamp going out, old brother Liang, let's deal with sister-in-law's affairs as soon as possible!" Old Jiang nodded.

Old Liang wiped his gray face, nodded weakly, his eyelids drooped layer by layer, as if he had aged several years in an instant.

"Third brother, send someone to the town to urge your fourth brother back! Go and deliver the letter to your relatives!" Old Liangtou began to order Liang Yuzhong and Liang Lisheng: "Go to Lao Yang's house in the west of the village to find Your second uncle, let them all come back!"

Naturally, on Liang Yuzhong's side, Cai Qingyang got the order and quickly sent someone to the town.Chunzhu and Daniu ran to find a makeshift stretcher, and together with Liang Yuzhong, they moved Mrs. Tan onto the stretcher, covered it with a white cloth, and covered it from head to toe.

"Old lady, let's go home!" When the stretcher in front stood up, the old Liangtou suddenly let out a stern cry, and the surrounding people were all moved by the atmosphere, and all of them looked sad.

Liang Yuzhong lifted the front, Chun Zhu and Daniu worked together to lift the back, Liang Liqing supported Jin Shi, Tao Zhi supported Jin Xi, and followed each other on both sides of the stretcher.Cai Jinshan supported the old Liangtou from behind, and the old Liangtou dragged his feet. Every step he took seemed to be more difficult than moving a mountain.Further behind, there was a large group of villagers, among them were those who had made good friends with Lao Liangtou and Liang Yuzhong.

All the way to the bluestone alley of Lao Liang's house, Jin Xi found that all the houses and courtyards she passed, without exception, had a sieve hanging outside the courtyard door.This is a custom in this area. All the way the deceased passed, every household had to hang a sieve to ward off evil spirits, especially because Tan's death was not normal, and some people even hung up gossip.

After finally reaching the main gate of Lao Liang's house, Lao Liang placed Tan's body in the main room of the main house.Liang Yuzhong went to the inner courtyard to remove the door of the east wing and moved it over. The two ends were placed on two long stools to form a door panel. Tan lay on the door panel with his head inward and his feet outward.The white cloth was covered from the neck to the ankles, the face was covered with several thick layers of yellow straw paper, the wet hair was stuck together and knotted, and dripping water was still dripping down.

Old Liangtou couldn't stand up again after entering the room, and sat beside Tan's corpse, watching with cloudy eyes and muttering to himself.

"Old woman, old woman, why are you doing this? I know you want to scare me with diving, lest I really push Meier into the water, why are you so stupid and stubborn, old woman? How could I Really push it!" Old Liangtou muttered to himself, his old face full of grief.Reaching out to wipe the dripping water from Tan's hair, she shook her head and smiled wryly: "Look at the girl you are protecting with your life, you are lying here, she doesn't show up, and no one comes to change your shroud. Old lady, why are you doing this?"

Among the four sons, Liang Yuzhong is currently busy with Tan's funeral.Liang Lisheng went to look for Liang Yulin and the others, but they haven't come back yet.

Seeing that Liang Yuzhong was too busy, the old Liangtou ordered Liang Liqing who was following Jin's side: "Go to the kitchen in the backyard, get a big bowl for eating, fill it with rice, and bring it here for incense!"

Liang Liqing shrank back behind Mrs. Jin, and mumbled: "Master, let someone else go, I'm afraid!"

Old Liangtou's eyes almost popped out, and then they darkened again.

"Master, I'll get it." Jin Xi took the initiative.

Old Liang raised his head to look at Jin Xi who had red eyes in front of him, nodded for a long time, and then said to Jin, "You accompany girl Xi to the back!"

Jinshi wiped her tears and nodded, Taozhi also accompanied them, and the three of them went to the inner courtyard behind where Lao Liangtou and the others lived.

On the way, Jinxi asked Mrs. Jin about the details of what happened before the incident. Judging from Mrs. Tan's methods and methods of protecting Liang Yuju and Liang Yumei in the past, there should be a reason why she chose to go diving without saying a word when she came tonight. .

From Mrs. Jin, Jin Xi learned that when someone came to pass the message, the old Liangtou immediately became furious at Mrs. Tan at the dinner table, threw his chopsticks on Mrs. Tan's face, and pushed Mrs. Tan to the ground. Tan's lower back was also sprained at that time.

Not only that, the old Liangtou also threatened to destroy Liang Yumei and clean up the house in front of Tan Shi, and Tan Shi took it seriously.Knowing that Liang Yumei could be rescued from the hands of old Liangtou this time without crying and fussing, there was the extreme scene of diving.

Jin Xi once again deduced deeply that Tan definitely didn't intend to die, but just used diving to frighten the old Liangtou. Unexpectedly, he was very unlucky to encounter a big sucking hole, and his life was lost because of it...

Although Jin Xi has found out the whole story, the guilt in Jin Xi's heart has eased a little, but the guilt and sadness still exist.

"Xi'er, did your aunt really run away?" Tao Zhi glanced at the row of dark rooms in the East Wing, and asked in a low voice, interrupting Jin Xi's thoughts.

"When Grandpa twisted her to stand on the rolling stone, she was scared to death. Grandma threatened my Grandpa by diving into the water. My aunt must have slipped away by taking advantage of the chaos!" Jin Xi recalled the scene at that time, analyzing Dao, the contempt and disgust for Liang Yumei deepened in his heart.

"Girl Xi, where do you think she will go if she slips away?" Tao Zhi asked again.

Jin Xi thought for a while, and said, "I don't know, but I definitely didn't elope with Zhang Daqiang, because Zhang Daqiang was kidnapped and escorted back by Zhang Butcher and the others." Speaking of this, Jin Xi suddenly thought of something, and took it from Jin's hands. After passing the torch, he strode towards the house where Liang Yumei lived.

The door was really ajar, and it opened without a light touch.Jin Xi led the way into the room, followed by Jin Shi and Tao Zhi. The room was in a mess, and Jin Xi saw that the bottom drawer of Liang Yumei's dressing table was open, and there were only some worthless fluffy flowers left inside. of.On the ground, there was also a silver earring falling down.

"If it wasn't a thief, or my aunt ran away with her belongings!" Jin Xi gritted her teeth, holding the silver earring she picked up from the ground tightly in her palm...

Jin Xi handed a bowl of sharp rice to Lao Liangtou, and handed over the silver earring along the way, and told what she found in Liang Yumei's room.

In an instant, Old Liangtou and Jin Xi thought of going together, and his whole body immediately petrified!Holding the silver earring in the palm of his hand, the muscles on his cheeks twitched violently.

Over there, Liang Yuzhong took the bowl of rice from old Liangtou, put it in front of Tan's head, and put three burning incense sticks on the rice mountain.

He also put a gray-brown soil basin used for heating and lighting fires in winter under Tan's head. Cai Jinshan had already bought two bundles of toilet paper, a few large incense sticks, and a few hanging whips.Cui Xique's parents, Lao Cuitou and Lao Jiangtou, sat behind the Eight Immortals table in a corner of the room. One started cutting straw paper, and the other cut firecrackers into small pieces.

Mrs. Sun hurried over after waking up, and changed into plain clothes.Mama Dong accompanied her with a solemn expression.Because it was already late at night, the third and fourth children were less than one year old, and they were all asleep again, so they didn't bring them here, only Jinrou.

A few people kowtowed to Mrs. Tan in front of the door, and then Mrs. Sun went to Liang Yuzhong to help. Jinrou glanced at Mrs. Tan facing the door. Her feet, which were not covered by the white cloth, were raised upside down. The skin of the blistered feet was all wrinkled.Jin Rou grew up under Tan Shi's anger and suppression since she was a child. Tan Shi basically never showed a smile to her. Now seeing Tan Shi lying like this, Jin Rou is still instinctively afraid, and has an added layer of fear of death. of fear.

Jin Xi waited for Jin Rou to finish her kowtow, then hurried over and pulled her to her side, squeezed Jin Xi's cold hand, and found her younger sister's body shaking slightly.Obviously, she was afraid.

Jin Xi pulled her to sit on a bench beside the wall, Tan Shi and Jin Shi were also sitting together, Jin Rou held Jin Xi's hand tightly, trying not to shake, but her eyes didn't dare to go away. Look at Tan's body in the middle of the front room.

Liang Yuzhong was kneeling beside the earth basin in front of Tan's head, and put the lit toilet paper into the earth basin one by one.Older people say that after a person dies, other paper money burned during the Qingming Yulan Festival is just for the mourning of the descendants, and it will never reach the hands of the ancestors.

Only the paper money burned in front of her in the earth basin in front of her head just after she died, can be effective.Moreover, it can only be effective if it is burned by men such as sons and grandsons, and it is useless if it is burned by daughter-in-law, daughter-in-law and granddaughter.

Liang Liqing was still timid and afraid to go forward to burn the paper, so Liang Yuzhong had to take some time off from his busy schedule to strengthen his head.The main room was filled with the strong smell of burning incense and the ash smell of burning straw paper, mixed with the fishy smell of the pond water on Tan's body, the air in the main room was a bit turbid.

The objective reasons are these, but there are also subjective factors in it. Jin Xi always feels that there is a strong smell of death and decay in the air, which makes her almost feel sick several times.So, she got up several times and came to the door of the house, breathing in the fresh air of the summer night outside, and suppressing the discomfort in her stomach.

Time passed bit by bit, Liang Liqing dozed off lying on Jin's lap, Jinrou couldn't stand it anymore, and fell asleep leaning against Sun's arms.The villagers who had followed all the way to the door of Lao Liang's house before could not stand the sleepiness at night and dispersed one after another.Liang Lisheng went to Lao Yang's house in the west of the village to look for Liang Yulin and the others according to the old Liangtou's order, but he still didn't come back.In the main room, these people stayed behind:
Old Liangtou, Jin Shi, Liang Liqing, Liang Yuzhong and Sun Shi, sisters Jinxi Jinrou, Cai Jinshan, Dong Ma and Taozhi.Ah Cai and Ah Wang didn't leave either, they stood in the dark at the entrance of the main room.

In addition, there are old Cuitou and Lao Jiangtou who are friends with old Liangtou, and Chunzhu and Daniu who are friends with Liang Yuzhong.Old Cuitou and the others helped to do a lot of things, Liang Yuzhong persuaded them all to go home when it was late at night, Chunzhu and the others made an appointment not to go to the field tomorrow, and they all came to help with Tan's funeral, old Liangtou and Liang Yuzhong He was so grateful that he personally sent the four of them out of the main room.

After a while, there was the sound of carriage wheels on the bluestone alley outside. Hearing that it was coming towards the old Liang's house, Jin Xi hurriedly got up and went to the door, just in time to see Liang Yuzhou jumping out of the unparked carriage, With a livid face, he rushed towards the door of the main room, followed by Cui Xique in plain clothes.

Because Liang Yuzhou was running too fast, he fell hard at the door of the main room, and a piece of the cloth on his knee was torn at that time. He didn't care about it, and walked into the main room on his knees...

Later, Jin Xi goes up to meet Cui Xique, who also has red eyes, obviously crying all the way back to the village.When the two met, although they usually muttered and condemned Tan's harshness and injustice, when Tan really passed away, the heart of a kind-hearted person would unanimously resonate with sadness and regret.

"Just as we were about to take a break after closing, we heard Cai Qingyang come to deliver the letter. We couldn't believe it. We were doing well a while ago, but in the blink of an eye,..." Cui Xique squeezed Jin Xi's hand, Unable to speak, he went into the main room crying.

In the main room, Liang Yuzhou removed the layers of straw paper covering Tan's face, revealing Tan's remains.Jin Xi hastily glanced at Tan's remains, her heart beat a beat slower.

Tan's face has changed from the way he fished out of the water before. How can I put it, if the way he was lying on the pond before was still fainting, then now, in the country saying, he has completely disappeared. Showed a 'dead look'.

Cui Xique's fingers visibly trembled, not daring to look any further, and so did Jin Xi.Liang Yuzhou was different, he was his own mother after all, hugged Tan's head, opened his mouth wide, couldn't make a sound for a long time, and his face was livid.

Liang Yuzhong was so worried that he patted Liang Yuzhou on the back hard, and then he burst into tears.Liang Liqing, who was sleeping soundly, was awakened, and Jinrou rubbed her eyes and looked at this scene in a daze. Sun put Jinrou on Taozhi's lap, went to support Liang Yuzhou, cried and comforted him, and took Tan's hand from Liang Yuzhou's hand. head, put her back, and covered the papyrus.

"Fourth, from now on, you will all be motherless children..." Old Liangtou was crying.

Although his words were true, they undoubtedly incited the atmosphere even more on such an occasion.Liang Yuzhou completely lost control, knelt on the ground, and hit the ground hard with his head, making a bang bang sound.Cui Xique was kowtowing to Mrs. Tan, and when she saw this, she burst into tears in fright.

Liang Yuzhong's sadness that had been forcibly suppressed before was aroused by Liang Yuzhou's crying. He held Liang Yuzhou to prevent him from torturing himself, and the two brothers hugged each other and cried.Jin's, Sun's, and Cui Xique's daughter-in-law all knelt or stood, crying together.

The drowsy and dull atmosphere in the main room suddenly became agitated, and the cries of men and women were heard far and far in the night wind, startling the alley and the dogs in the village from far and near, Dogs barking one after another.

Tired of crying, everyone centered on the door panel and sat under the walls on both sides. Old Liangtou began to discuss with his son and daughter-in-law about Tan's funeral.Jin Xi took a breath from the night outside the house, re-entered the house, sat quietly in the corner and listened.

Tan's affairs are arranged from two aspects.

One is to invite Taoist priests to perform rituals and choose a cemetery.Cut filial piety clothes for the family.

The second is to prepare food and drinks and white hats, and go to deliver letters to relatives and friends early in the morning.And entertain relatives, friends and villagers who came to mourn.

The latter second matter is not difficult to handle. Old Liangtou handed it over to the housekeeper Cai Jinshan to take care of it.The main thing is the first thing, especially all aspects of Taoist practices, which are very trivial.

"Your mother and my shrouds, she had already prepared them two years ago. The longevity of our old couple is also ready-made." Old Liang said.

In the area of ​​Wanghai County, the elderly pay attention to preparing the shrouds and life materials behind them before the age of 60. Lao Liangtou is 65, and Tan's is 58, not yet 59.But when Lao Liangtou was [-] years old, Mrs. Tan made all the preparations for the belongings of the two of them.Unexpectedly, now she is the one who is the first to use these.

"I did some calculations just now. Not counting your eldest brother, the four-bedroom members of our family, including Boy Hui who went to the Zhou family in the county, his wife, Lan Yatou and Yang Feng, there are a total of twenty people. The two members of the third family Boys are too young to wear them, and that bastard Meier hasn't returned yet, so we need to prepare seventeen sets of mourning clothes!" Old Liang said.

The vigilantes in the room didn't make a sound, they were all listening to the old Liangtou's arrangements in silence, so quietly that even the sound of embroidery needles falling to the ground could be heard.

"According to the customs in our area, after death, a person has to stay at home for twelve hours before being carried to the shared ancestral hall in the village, encoffined, and performed ceremonies. The weather is hot, and your mother is a clean and tidy person all her life." People, definitely don’t want their corpses to stink.”

Old Liangtou said, and she shed tears, thinking of all the good things that happened before Tan's life.

Just as Lao Liangtou said this, the sound of hurried and chaotic footsteps came from outside the house again.

"It's definitely the second child's house!" Old Liang raised his head and said.

Sure enough, Liang Lisheng rushed into the house before he could finish his sentence, his brow was sweating.Immediately afterwards, Liang Yulin was heard crying into the door with a long voice, with two snots hanging from his mouth.As he entered the door, a faint smell of alcohol quickly spread in the room.Liang Yuzhong and Liang Yuzhou brothers looked at each other, and they frowned subconsciously.

"Mother, my poor mother... my son is late..."

Liang Yulin went into the main room crying, and seeing Tan Shiguo lying there upright, he froze for a moment, then suddenly fell to his knees with a wow voice, beat his chest and slapped the ground, and swung a lot of snot!

Kneeling and walking to the door panel, he slapped the door panel, and it was on the verge of falling, crying in his mouth: "...Mother, my sincere mother, my son is back, open your eyes and see him..."

Old Liangtou sniffed hard at the side, his eyes were red again, he choked up and said to Liang Yulin, "Second brother, where have you been all day? Your mother has been going back and forth since the afternoon. Look at the door of your house, you can't stop talking!"

Liang Yulin wept sobbingly, and said: "After fighting with the third child, I felt unhappy, so I went back to the house to get some money and went to the town to drink!" After speaking, he squeezed his nose hard, and continued: "Lan Erniang took Boy Bo to the town and had dinner at Brother Yang's house."

"Second brother, where is second sister-in-law? Why are you here alone?" Cui Xique cast a glance behind Liang Yulin, did not see Mrs. Yang, and asked involuntarily.

Liang Yulin was stunned for a moment, then turned his head and glanced at the door of the house outside, and said, "Who knows, the carriage that clearly got off with me should be sending the burden back to the house, right? Boy Bai was swollen with chili powder. Lan'er left him in the town, and their siblings will rush over tomorrow morning!"

Cui Xique's eyebrows and eyes darkened, and he was about to stand up and drag Yang Shi over, when Yang Shi's distinctive loud voice rang out at the door of the main room.Then, he patted his thigh and cried and entered the room, his voice was up and down, he didn't know whether he was crying or singing, and he was stunned for a while.

"Second sister-in-law, what gold and silver treasure did you bring to the house? Mother is lying here and you don't even bother to take a look first?" Cui Xique snorted coldly and asked loudly.

Yang's cry suddenly started, and she stood there stomping her feet and shouting for innocence, saying: "Oh, I have been wronged to death, what gold and silver treasures can there be, isn't it just a few plates of meat and vegetables that can't be eaten at night!"

"Yo, the second cousin went over to deliver the letter, and the second uncle and mother are still thinking about packing meat and vegetables?" Jin Xi sneered.

"I'm not a glutton, it's not that your second uncle and Bai boy are so rare about the meat dishes, cold and spicy tripe, and fried grass carp pieces!" Yang said quickly.

Mrs. Tan was lying there, and Mrs. Yang howled twice when she entered the room, and then began to talk about the food there. The people in the room looked at each other in blank dismay.

Old Liang looked at Yang with gloomy eyes, interrupted her, and said, "Don't talk nonsense, your mother is dead, and you will go to the funeral later, and there is no shortage of meat and vegetables for you! If you don't think you can't eat enough, you can kill me!" The bones are also chopped up and stewed, let's feed your bottomless pit!"

(End of this chapter)