Chapter 218: mourning
Chapter 218 Funeral
With a clang, the bowl in Zhou Guilan's hand fell to the ground and broke into pieces.
Zhou Guilan didn't realize it, she just stared at the young man delivering the letter with a pale face, "What's going on? Please speak slowly."
It was only after I spoke that I realized that my voice was trembling.
"Aunt Xu, the other side of Daying called our commune, saying that your old mother passed away, and asked you and Uncle Xu to go quickly."
When the young man saw Zhou Guilan's appearance, he knew that the old man couldn't bear the blow and was too sad, so he repeated it word by word.
Zhou Guilan swayed twice, but fortunately she was supported by Xue Xiulin and Chen Chunling beside her.
"Mom, be careful, grandma is gone, you have to hold on."
The daughters-in-law looked at their mother-in-law worriedly, and began to persuade her.
On the other end, Xu Chenghou was also shocked, and came over to support Zhou Guilan.
"Don't cry, our mother has suffered a lot in these years, she is suffering in her heart, and it is a relief to leave now."
Zhou Guilan didn't cry, but she looked a little numb, "Well, is there still a car in the afternoon? We have to leave quickly, we can't delay."
Mother died, Zhou Guilan had to go to see her off for the last time.
Xu Chenghou didn't know if there was a car, so he turned to look at Xu Shide.
"Yes, there is another train in the afternoon, from Quanyang to Songshu Town, at three o'clock."
Xu Shide is in Daying, he has to take the train every time he comes to Donggang, he knows best.
"It's only one o'clock, and I still have time to catch up, Saner, go to the car.
Jianshe, you drive the car, and take you Uncle Xu, Aunt Xu, and your third brother to the station. "
On the other side, Zhao Dahai raised his wrist to see that it was just after one o'clock, so he hurriedly ordered his son to drive the car to the station.
Grandmother's death is a major event, there is no delay, everyone can understand, so they got up one after another.
Yang Chunming and Zhao Jianshe hurried to the barn to pull out the Xu family's horses and put them into the carriage.
On the other end, Xu Chenghou discussed with his sons who should go.
"Father, all six of us have to go, the daughter-in-law and children should be at home.
The children are young, it is not good to go to this occasion. "Xu Shixian is the eldest son, so he has to say that.
Xu Chenghou thought about it, the children in each family were not very old, and it was two generations apart, so there was no need for the children to come to this kind of occasion.
"Okay, then it's settled, old woman, go, go back and pack up, bring two changes of clothes, let's go quickly."
Zhou Guilan's mind is in a mess right now, she can't think at all, she will do whatever Xu Chenghou says to do.
So he followed Xu Chenghou back to his home, dug out some plain clothes from the closet, and put them in a pocket.
He dug out some money from the cabinet and put it in his pocket.
At the other end, Yang Chunming, Han Limin and others also got up to leave after seeing this.
"Shi Yan, it happened so suddenly, we won't stay here for long.
You hurry up and go to the camp, take care of your parents, they are old and can't stand the trouble. "
Han Wenzhong came to Xu Shiyan and told him.
"Uncle Han, I'm really sorry, I wanted to invite everyone to have a good time."
Xu Shiyan let out a long sigh. To be honest, he really forgot about it.
"Hey, do we guys still need to talk about this? No one here today is an outsider, and no one will care.
Birth, old age, sickness and death, it is human nature to mourn. In the past, we made good arrangements for funerals for the elderly.
Let the old man be buried in a grand manner, which is also your wish as a junior. "
Han Wenzhong patted Xu Shiyan on the shoulder as a comfort.
Just like that, Zhao Jianshe got into the carriage, pulled Xu Chenghou and his wife, Xu Shixian's six brothers and sisters, and Wu Qiuyan's mother and son, and went straight to Songjianghe Railway Station.
Zhao Jianshe sent the people there, returned directly, and sent the car back to Xu Shiyan's house.
Xu Shiyan and others went to the station to buy tickets, and entered the station along the zero train at 3:00 pm.
A group of people boarded the car, swayed along the zero car for more than an hour, and finally arrived at Xianren Bridge.
Get off at Xianrenqiao and walk towards Daying. On the way, Wu Qiuyan led her daughter and daughter back to the Hebei brigade.
Zhou Anping's house is in the middle of Daying Village.
After crossing the small bridge and walking west a few steps, I saw a long string of "dump papers" raised in front of Zhou's house from a distance.
Tots can be made from paper strips, or directly from burnt paper. The age of the deceased can be seen from the length of the toss paper, and whether it is a man or a woman can be seen from the placement of the tots.
Outside the gate of Zhou Anping’s house, there is an inverted paper on the right side, a white obituary on the left side, and a long row of red cloth with a banner written on it with white paint.
The name of the person who passed away, the year of death, etc. are written on it.
Although Zhou Guilan felt uncomfortable, she gritted her teeth and endured it all the way, but seeing such scenes at this time, she couldn't bear it anymore.
Tears fell in a rush, and the crying became a tearful person.
Xu Chenghou helped Zhou Guilan to walk into the yard, and the younger members of the Zhou family came out to greet her, "Second Aunt, Second Uncle, Cousin."
When relatives meet in such a situation, it is inevitable that they will be sad and cry.
Entering the courtyard, before arriving at the coffin, Da Zhang Luo, who was in charge of the funeral, called Zhou Guilan and the others over, and tore off the filial cloth. Xu Chenghou and Zhou Guilan both wore sackcloth and filial piety.
Xu Shixian and others are grandsons and granddaughters, so they only need to wear filial piety belts around their waists.
Zhou Guilan knelt before the coffin and wept bitterly, and Xu Shiyan and his brothers also shed tears.
Although their grandma has been crazy for many years, she is not bad for her grandson.
Every time she came to see her, the old lady would smile and give them delicious food.
Now that the old man passed away, everyone thought of what happened to their grandmother in this life, and they couldn't help but feel sad and grieved, and tears fell down uncontrollably.
The origin of the Zhou family is also in Qingshangou, Kuandian, belonging to Jiangjiabaozi, not too far from the silver mine.
When Zhou Guilan's father, Zhou Huaimin, was still there, the Zhou family was very prosperous.
The family has a lot of land, cooking pots, weaving workshops, livestock and carts, and many long-term laborers are hired to do the work.
Zhou Huaimin has a good personality, he donates money and makes many friends.
Regardless of whether it is an official person or a bandit beard, they all have friendship.
In the past three years, the Kuandian area was occupied by devils, and the local Huzi actively responded to the call for an uprising against Japan.
Among them, there is a team that has a deep friendship with Zhou Huaimin. Zhou Huaimin often sends food and information to this team.
As a result, he was discovered by the devils and took Zhou Huaimin away. He has never seen him again since, neither alive nor dead.
In those years, there were rumors from time to time that someone saw Zhou Huaimin's body in front of a certain mountain temple.
Or say that Zhou Huaimin's head was chopped off and hung on the wall of the county town.
Zhou Huaimin's wife, Jiang Shi, is an illiterate woman with small feet. Her husband had an accident, and the youngest daughter in the family is only three years old. What can she do?
He just washed his face with tears all day long, and didn't even protect his own little property, which was embezzled by others.
The only thing Jiang can do is to quickly arrange a marriage for the eldest daughter and send the eldest daughter away.
The eldest daughter of the Zhou family, Zhou Guizhi, was married off at the age of fifteen, and later moved to Fusong.
(end of this chapter)