1987 My Era

Chapter 3, Du Guan

Hearing this, Zhang Zhiyong raised his head in disbelief: "That's impossible. Grandma Chun just died. She's not at home?"

As if to fulfill his words, as soon as he finished speaking, the sound of firecrackers was heard at the intersection.

There was also a lot of heart-wrenching cries, which were obviously the children and grandchildren crying out for their filial piety.

According to the local customs of Shangwan Village, when a person dies, a string of firecrackers must be set off immediately at the door of the deceased's home.

Then you have to go to the Mahuang Temple to set off a string of firecrackers, burn a stack of paper, and light three incense sticks.

The old man said that this is to notify the underworld to open the temple door and send the soul of the deceased down, otherwise the soul will easily become a wandering ghost if it floats in the human world.

As for children crying for their parents' funeral, besides being sad, it is also a necessary ritual. Otherwise, it would be a taboo and the villagers would not dare to come to help.

Almost no one in the village knew that the relationship between the Chen and Li families had broken down. On this point, the two families were surprisingly tacit and did not publicize it.

In other words, the two heads of the family, Li Jianguo and Chen Gaoyuan, are both knowledgeable and cultured people. They are different from ordinary women and will still say hello when they meet.

That's why Zhang Zhiyong was so enthusiastic about arranging the show for his brothers.

Old Li's house was located at a crossroads, separated from the river by seven or eight paddy fields. When Li Heng ran all the way home, he was soaked all over.

The main room door was wide open, and as soon as I entered, I could smell a strong smell of medicinal herbs. Li Jianguo was squatting in front of a clay pot boiling Chinese medicine. He puffed up his cheeks and blew hard on the bamboo fire tube, so he must have just started the fire.

Li Heng looked at his father, who was wearing a gray Mao suit with patches on the collar and pot soot on his face and forehead. He felt distressed:
"Dad, I'm making medicine."

Li Jianguo wiped his forehead with his sleeve, half turned around, and his kind face was filled with anticipation: "You're back. How was the harvest today?"

"Do you even need to ask? I always carry at least 5 kilograms of clothing when I go out."

Li Heng proudly handed over the bamboo basket, which was full of small fish, shrimps, loaches and rock shrimps.

There were also a dozen river crabs with their claws removed mixed in.

A rough glance revealed that the area around my eyes weighed no less than five and a half pounds.

Although he was not good at tending crops and often cheated when doing hard labor, when it came to catching loaches, fishing, and hunting wild rabbits and pheasants in the mountains, Li Heng was very talented and learned all these unconventional things without a teacher. Among the more than 20 households at the crossroads, he considered himself second, and no one dared to compete for first place.

Li Heng looked around and asked, "Where's my mother?"

Li Jianguo was not afraid of meat and fish. He reached into the bamboo basket and said, "Feeding the pigs in the back."

Li Heng pricked up his ears and noticed the muffled squeals of pigs coming from the backyard. He immediately handed the camellia in his hand over.

Looking at the bright red romantic camellia, Li Jianguo was surprised, and later said humorously:
"What day is today? This doesn't make sense."

Li Heng winked and said, "Don't worry, this is not for you, give it to your mother.

Didn't you often send her flowers in the past? I haven't seen you do that in years."

Li Jianguo stared at the camellia in a daze. After a moment, he took the camellia with a smile and turned to go to the backyard.

Today's wind brought romance back to the day when they met twenty years ago.

Not long after, Tian Run'e came out. She found an empty bottle, filled it with water, and put the camellia flowers into it one by one.

Li Heng leaned over the table when he saw this, and joked in an artistic way: "Mom, you can't trap all your love in a vase."

Tian Xiao'e subconsciously asked: "What should we do then?"

Li Heng gestured and said, "When the petals wither, you can dry them and make them into sachets and give them back to dad. This is called following your loved one like a shadow."

Tian Xiao'e couldn't hide her expression, and cursed in a low voice: "Slippery tongue!"

Then she secretly sighed. No wonder Chen Zijin, who had been well-behaved and sensible since childhood, was ruined by Manzi. This mouth was really...

Zhang Zhiyong, who was standing by, was stunned! A thought flashed through his mind: “Oh my god, how can this be possible?”

The wet clothes stuck to his body and it was uncomfortable anyway, so Li Heng hurried to take a shower.

Looking at himself in the mirror, he couldn't help but sigh: My mom's genes are so strong!
If he were to make a movie, Ken Takakura would have no chance of success.

He has also seen the movie "The Chase", and he has seen it over and over again. It's so commonplace. I wonder why it is so popular in China these days?

Is this what they call a tough guy with a soft heart, and that rare things are valuable?

He looked good, and had grown to 17cm at the age of 178, which was not considered short in the south. It was just that he was malnourished, and those few shabby ribs made him feel scared.

Small fish and shrimps do not need to be processed and can be put directly into the pot; loaches need to rest for a few days to spit out the mud and sand.

For larger fish such as rock carp, crucian carp, etc., you need to use a bamboo stick to pick out the internal organs.

As for the river crabs that can be sold for a good price in the future, hey! There are too many of them these days, and they are all used as fertilizer. Unless you are particularly greedy, you will eat a few. Although five and a half catties of fish and shrimps look a lot, they are still visible to the naked eye under the skillful hands of Li Heng, Li Jianguo, Tian Run'e and Zhang Zhiyong.

Just as the four of them were chatting and dealing with the miscellaneous fish, a middle-aged man, Chen Gaoyuan, came straight over from the opposite side of the street.

Chen Gaoyuan, dressed in mourning, knelt down in front of Li Jianguo and Tian Run'e as soon as he entered the room, saying that his mother had passed away and asked the couple for help.

Kneeling is a local custom. Whenever someone dies in a family, the filial son will wear a white cloth on his head and go door to door asking for help.

Shangwan Village has a population of about 3000. Apart from the Chen family, who are all very wealthy, Li Jianguo is the only college student in the village. He has seen the world and is methodical in his work.

For this reason, whenever there are weddings or funerals in the village in recent years, everyone is accustomed to calling him first and asking him to be the "manager".

As the name suggests, "douguan" means to take care of everything.

How much money will be spent on weddings or funerals, which neighbors to invite to help, which neighbor to arrange for what to do, how many bowls will be on the buffet, which dishes will be served, including all the purchases and inviting the Taoist priest to the venue, all of these are taken care of for the host.

Most people can't do this kind of work.

Li Jianguo has outstanding eloquence, strong ability, wide network of contacts, and is fair in his dealings. Both young and old people trust him, making him the best choice for the position of "captain of the city".

Many people even joked that it was a good thing that Li Jianguo was fired, because since the death of the old village chief, the village has lost someone who can take on important responsibilities.

Li Jianguo quickly dropped the stone shovel in his hand, helped Chen Gaoyuan up with both hands, and comforted him: "Gaoyuan, please accept my condolences! I will change my clothes and come over."

Chen Gaoyuan stood up and said to Tian Run'e, "Sister-in-law, you are a good cook. I'll trouble you to help prepare dinner later."

When an elderly person passes away in the family, the filial sons and grandchildren have a lot of things to do, and serving tea and cooking are usually done by the neighbors.

Ever since Chen Gaoyuan's wife refused the marriage between the two families, she hasn't been to the Chen family for half a year, even though the two families are only separated by a street.

In a sense, the daughters-in-law of the Chen and Li families are now in a bad mood.

Thinking about setting foot in the Chen family, Tian Run'e felt very uncomfortable and was unwilling to do so.

But the dead are the most important, and since Chen Gaoyuan, who is a man of status and reputation, came to her in person to ask for help, it is difficult to refuse. Otherwise, if the news gets out, she will be known as a petty person.

After weighing the pros and cons, Tian Run'e finally agreed and said gently, "Okay, I'll go get the firecrackers."

The old idea is that when you visit the deceased's home, you must set off a string of firecrackers. This is called "watching the dead alive". It is an unwritten rule.

But firecrackers can be big or small, and can be used by more than ten or twenty people at the same time, no one cares. It doesn't matter, it doesn't cost much anyway.

After Li Jianguo and Tian Run'e left the main room, Chen Gaoyuan's gaze naturally fell on Li Heng.

He did not react as strongly as the women in the family to the boy who coaxed his eldest daughter into bed, but his feelings were also quite complicated.

After the incident was exposed, he found an opportunity to secretly ask his eldest daughter: "Zijin, what's going on between you and Li Heng?"

At that time, Chen Zijin blushed and lowered his head, pleading for Li Heng: "Dad, I volunteered, don't blame him."

With the word "voluntary", Chen Gaoyuan suppressed all the opposition voices at home and did not make a big deal out of the matter or bring it to the surface.

Even every time he went back to his hometown, he would take the initiative to give Li Jianguo a cigarette and chat with him.

This is also the reason why the neighbors did not know that the wives of the Chen and Li families were secretly breaking up.

Past events came to mind, and Chen Gaoyuan asked Li Heng: "When are you going to school?"

Li Heng replied: "School starts in December."

Today is the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, and there is still a week or so before school starts.

Hearing this, Chen Gaoyuan silently patted Li Heng on the shoulder, said "Study hard and get into a good university" and left.

Perhaps inspired by what he had just seen Li Heng, Chen Gaoyuan returned home and found his wife, and again said in a negotiating tone:

"Alan, why don't you let Zijin come back? Let her take her last journey."

When Zhong Lan heard this, he immediately became furious, and his calm face was instantly filled with anger:

"Chen Gaoyuan, what do you want to do? If you let my daughter come back like this, I will hit my head and die in front of you!"

Chen Gaoyuan, who had experienced many hardships, was very calm. He did not get angry with his wife. He just sighed and said, "I'm just afraid that Zijin will blame us in the future."

Zhong Lan frowned and looked at him coldly.

Seeing this, Chen Gaoyuan completely gave up the idea of ​​bringing his eldest daughter back.

(End of this chapter)