Celestial Masters Alliance

"How are you? Are you tired?" As he spoke, the uncle stretched out his hand to take my backpack. I resisted, but the uncle insisted on pulling it onto his back. I could only sigh and let him be. The uncle looked at me as he walked and said with a smile: "Have you grown taller again? You are a head taller than the uncle."

I looked at his slightly arched waist and slightly bent legs, and pulled the muscles on his cheeks to reveal an expression that I didn't know was a smile. The uncle looked sideways, gave me a heavy slap on the shoulder and said with a smile: "I haven't seen you for a few days, but you are already estranged from me."

I scratched my head and said with some embarrassment, "No way! The wind with the window open along the way gave me a headache."

The uncle led me towards my second aunt's house. The bus had already driven away, leaving a cloud of dust on the roadside. I unconsciously looked back at the jeep that was following the bus. It was far behind, and the speed was extremely slow. , is the car broken down?

"You can go back to the house and rest in a while! The funeral hall will be handed over to your second aunt and aunt. Bai Xue is also back and is helping to organize the arrangements! Your grandma is frozen in the funeral parlor and will be cremated after the first seven days." The uncle noticed something strange about me. , slow down a little and wait for me.

I took two steps to catch up with the uncle and said, "No! Just go back and take some headache powder. This is an old problem of mine." After that, I took out the 8,000 yuan I had prepared from my pocket and handed it to the uncle.

The uncle was stunned for a moment when he saw me handing him the money. He stopped and stared at me in surprise and asked, "What are you doing?"

I was a little embarrassed, so I took the uncle's hand and put the money directly into his hand: "This is the money for grandma's funeral. I have never experienced these things when I was young. I don't understand the rules. I have to ask the elders to help." get together."

The uncle was a little angry after hearing this, and took my hand to push the money back: "We are elders, how can we let the juniors pay for it! What nonsense are you talking about!"

I retracted my hands and put them in my pockets, not giving the uncle a chance to put the money back: "This money doesn't belong to me alone, but also my father's share."

When the uncle heard me mention my father, his eyes darkened. I quickly continued: "My father is gone, and my mother asked me to bring them their filial piety."

The uncle tightened the money in his hand, looked at me for a while and then said: "Okay! I will give it to your second aunt when I go back. She is responsible for the funeral. But this is too much, how can I use so much money." "

When I heard that my uncle agreed to take it, I felt relieved: "You can keep it when you need it." After that, I quickened my pace and walked towards my second aunt's house.

The mourning hall was set up in the front hall, and many people who came to worship were sitting in the yard. As soon as I stepped into the courtyard, I heard someone commenting, "Grandma Chang's grandson is back. This child has a conscience." Although I didn't know them, I still walked over and saluted them one by one to thank them for coming to pay homage to grandma.

There is a black and white cloth strip hanging at the door of the front hall. Grandma's portrait is placed on the table facing the door. There is a black lacquer tablet on the altar under the table, with "Zhu's Chang Wu" engraved in gold characters on it. There were fireworks all around. The aunt, the second aunt and Bai Xue were kneeling in a row on the right side of the altar in mourning clothes. The second uncle was wearing the same black suit as the uncle and was sitting on a small bench on the left. There was a copper in front of him. The basin is burning paper money.

They all stood up as soon as I entered. Bai Xue was the first to greet me and shyly called out softly: "Brother Mo!" I nodded in agreement and greeted all the elders one by one. The second aunt held my hand eagerly and said, "You're back. Your grandma has been asking to see you. We couldn't get through on the phone, so we were all anxious."

My aunt took three sticks of incense and handed them to me: "Hurry up and give incense to your grandma! Just come back!" As she said this, she glanced at the second aunt, who was stunned. The second uncle stepped forward and gave the second aunt a hand. Bai Xue quickly led me to burn incense.

After offering the incense, my second aunt took me to the back room to put on sackcloth and mourning. She kept mumbling: "It's just Huang Xiao who failed to live up to his expectations. He said he was busy and couldn't come back, which made me lose face both inside and outside! You are so far away." He is the only one who knows how to rush back without a conscience."

"He is different from me. I am an only grandson, so there is no reason not to come back. You will be shameless if I don't come back." I tried my best to explain to my second aunt.

After hearing this, the expression on my second aunt's face relaxed. She tied a white cloth strip on my arm and said, "You are the only one who can talk. You have been the most painful person since you were a child."

I laughed and said, "But grandma always says that I am stupid and tongue-tied. It would be nice if I could be a little bit like grandpa."

After hearing this, the second aunt's face turned cold. I immediately realized that the grandfather my grandma mentioned was my grandfather, not the second aunt's father. It would be great if I could catch what I said out loud. I will definitely swallow it back.

The second aunt took a futon and handed it to me and said: "Go to your second uncle and hand out incense to the guests. You guys are setting up in the front hall. Your aunt and I will go cook. You can work hard first and then have a good rest at night."

"Hey!" I took the futon, feeling annoyed that I had spoken so freely just now.

There was an endless stream of guests in the front hall, and I kept repeating the task of handing out incense and thanking them. The second uncle and the uncle kept burning the offerings brought by the guests in a copper basin. The fireworks made me dizzy, and Bai Xue cast concerned glances from time to time.

Finally, after the guests had dispersed, the second aunt invited us to eat. I stood up from the futon shakily, my legs and feet were numb. Bai Xue came over to help me. I looked at her strangely and asked, "You have been kneeling too, why are your legs not numb?"

Bai Xue laughed loudly: "The hem of the mourning clothes is so big that you can move your legs and feet freely inside. Why don't you know how to move it?"

I threw her away a little unhappy: "You are not sincere!"

Bai Xue's face turned slightly red, and she walked straight to the dining table and ignored me.

During the meal, the uncle took out my gift money and gave it to the second aunt: "This is from Zhiquan's wife and Mo, please keep it!"

The second aunt took the money, looked at me and said, "If you are interested, I will arrange it properly. If you have any requests, just ask."

I replied politely and courteously: "Just follow my second aunt's arrangements."

The second aunt nodded: "You just arrived today, and you didn't take a break before helping to take care of things. There will be no wake tonight. Your uncle and I will keep watch. You have a good sleep." The second uncle looked up from the rice bowl and looked at the second aunt. One glance.

"Second aunt and uncle were responsible for guarding yesterday, right? When I come back today, you should let me guard. You and uncle have a good rest!" I said while eating.

The uncle put a piece of tofu into my bowl and said, "You'd better have a good rest! You've been working hard all day on the boat. Don't you still have a headache when you come back?"

"It's okay. I've taken medicine and the pain is gone now. I slept on the train for several days and I can go without sleep for a few days. Don't worry! Leave it to me tonight!" I patted my chest.

"Brother Mo and I will guard together." Bai Xue said suddenly.

I smiled at Bai Xue and said, "Okay, we haven't seen each other for a long time, so we can have a good chat."

The second aunt put some vegetables into my bowl: "This is the oil spinach I grew myself. I remember you used to eat this the most. You two can stay here tonight, eat more, and I will give it to you in the middle of the night." Noodle."

The uncle looked at me and said, "You two go to Grandma Wang's place for me after dinner. I went to report the funeral the day before yesterday, and she said she would prepare some things for your grandma and asked me to take the time to get them. You go there for me. She must be happy to see you both."

"Yeah! Okay! Does the pickup truck at the door belong to uncle? Let me drive it later." I responded in a muffled voice.

"You lazy boy!" the uncle scolded and took out the key and handed it to me.

After dinner, I took Bai Xue to drive the pickup truck to my eldest grandma’s house. Dusk is falling, and people in the south have gone to bed at this time. I am a little uncomfortable with this time difference. The autumn wind broke in mercilessly through the open car window, it was cold and fresh. I especially liked this dry smell. The road here is the same as before, everything is the same as before. Time seems to have settled here, only changing us.

"Is it cold? Do you want to close the window?" I glanced at Bai Xue in the passenger seat. She shook her head and looked out the window.

"I like the autumn wind." She said softly.

"You seem to have grown up!" I said with a smile. The last time I saw Bai Xue was three years ago, when I was celebrating my grandma's 80th birthday. She had just entered college.

"I'm a junior in college. I'll graduate in two years." She opened the window fully, rested one elbow on the window frame, rested her cheek on her palm, and let the wind ruffle her short hair.

"When you were admitted to the Military Medical University, the whole family felt honored. Even I suddenly felt a lot more energetic when walking on the street." I wasn't kidding, I really envied Bai Xue for getting into such a good school. Bai Xue burst out laughing when she heard this. "How many days did you take leave? Will it delay your studies?" I asked.

Bai Xue sighed softly: "I only invited you for three days, so it won't be a waste. It's a pity that I didn't get to see grandma for the last time."

"We have all tried our best, but things always go against our expectations in life!" I suddenly thought of the last phone call from my grandma. Seeing that Bai Xue was not in a high mood, there was no need to tell her.

As the car entered the intersection, I saw the grandma dressed in black sitting at the door of the yard in a daze. She is still waiting endlessly for the few visits from her children and grandchildren. That lonely figure makes me feel sad. As soon as we parked the car, the grandma came to us unexpectedly.

"It's Mo Mo and Bai Xue!" She stretched out her hands as dry as branches to greet us.

"It's us! Grandma!" Bai Xue quickly got out of the car and walked towards the grandma, holding her hand that stretched forward. I followed Bai Xue and said, "Grandma!"

Grandma's cloudy eyes were filled with water, and her withered lips trembled for a long time before she responded: "Hey! Hey! What a good boy!" She stretched out her other hand to take me and lead us to her home.

As soon as she stepped through the threshold, the eldest grandma shouted excitedly: "Shuang'er! Come out and see who's coming!"

Bai Xue and I helped the grandma into the yard, and a tall and thin figure walked out of the hall. He had a shaved head and was wearing a black short-sleeved T-shirt. Under his thick eyebrows, his deep and dark eyes were vicious and sharp, as if they could penetrate People's hearts. The tall nose bridge makes the whole person's outline particularly firm, and the thin lips are pursed into a line. Standing at the door and looking at us.

"Zhao Shuang?" I called tentatively.