The venue was too noisy. In order to have a better conversation, Jiao Qiuer wiped the tears from his face, pulled Mao Sandao aside, and said solemnly:
"Third Commander, although you don't like to hear this, as a brother, I still want to say that after your grandfather's matter is over, you should go to work in my company. Based on our relationship, I can give you anything. A department manager Dangdang.”
Regarding work, Jiao Qiu'er told Mao Sandao more than once. If there was no such thing as a bookstore, Mao Sandao might not actually go to Jiao Qiu'er's company.
But now that I am troubled by the bookstore, and I can't say it clearly, I can only politely refuse again: "Let's talk about it later, I don't want to talk about it now."
"I know you don't want to talk about this now." Seeing Mao Sandao's refusal, Jiao Qiu'er continued, "I'm doing it for your own good. You told me before that you have a supervisor named Zhou Mingming who always makes things difficult for you. , I think you might as well resign."
"Okay, I understand. It's important to finish grandpa's funeral first." Faced with Jiao Qiu'er's kindness, Mao Sandao could only shirk the blame.
Mao Sandao felt that no matter what, he must not let him know about the bookstore.
Seeing that Jiao Qiu'er was still preparing to persuade him, Mao Sandao quickly interrupted: "Aren't you busy at the company today?"
Jiao Qiu'er thought for a moment: "There's nothing going on in the company for the time being. Besides, no matter how busy you are, you still have to stay with your brother, don't you?"
But as soon as he finished speaking, Jiao Qiuer slapped his forehead: "No, I will really go back to the company later."
"Go quickly." Mao Sandao pushed Jiao Qiu'er's fat body, "Don't worry about me."
He hoped that Jiao Qiu'er could stay with him here. After all, there was only one friend like Jiao Qiu'er in the entire Nanpu City. With Jiao Qiu'er here, he could still talk to him.
But in the face of Jiao Qiuer's repeated invitations, Mao Sandao was really embarrassed and kept refusing. Mao Sandao felt that he was a little "ignorant", so instead of doing this, it would be better to send him away.
Jiao Qiu'er looked at the time and hesitated for a moment: "Okay, I'll go back to the company first and come to see you later."
"Sandao, I have something to tell you." At this time, Uncle Zhang came over.
"Then I'll leave first." Seeing someone coming to look for Mao Sandao, Jiao Qiuer turned around and left.
"Yeah." After Jiao Qiu'er left, Mao Sandao walked towards Uncle Zhang.
"Sandao, your Grandpa Liu wants you to come in."
"good."
Mao Sandao glanced at the main room. Several elders seemed to be discussing something with their heads down.
Uncle Zhang's Grandpa Liu is almost 70 years old and is a relatively respected elder in this area.
Grandpa Liu not only knows divination, but also helps people tell fortunes and see doctors. Sometimes he also performs rituals. He is considered an all-round talent in the village.
"Grandpa Liu, look for me."
Mao Sandao, who walked to the main room, called out respectfully to Grandpa Liu, who was smoking a cigarette with his eyes narrowed and his head hanging down.
There were several older men sitting next to Grandpa Liu, and Mao Sandao called each of them respectfully.
Grandpa Liu took the last puff of the old dry tobacco, blew out the smoke, took out a wooden stick and pounded it in the pot.
Bang...bang...bang...
He knocked on the corner of the table and poured out the unburned tobacco.
He put the pipe on the table and instinctively spit out a mouthful of thick phlegm on the ground. He wiped his mouth with his hand and then looked at Mao Sandao and said:
"Sandao, there is an unwritten custom in our local area. For those who died outside, there is a saying that people who have died outside are not worthy of being admitted to the church. Do you think you should bury your grandfather as soon as possible?"
Regarding the customs dictated by Grandpa Liu, Mao Sandao was a little confused and asked: "Grandpa Liu, what does it mean to enter the hall but not three times?"
Grandpa Liu explained: "According to the customs in many places, a person's body needs to be laid to rest for three days after death. However, here we only allow three days for the person to die suddenly outside. We are afraid of unnecessary trouble, so we cannot stay at home for three days." Day, this is also for your own good."
Grandpa Liu did not explain what unnecessary trouble was, perhaps because he was afraid that Mao Sandao would have some psychological burden.
After explaining, Grandpa Liu took the tobacco bag on the table back into his hand, twisted the shredded tobacco from the blue cloth bag and stuffed it into the pot, and added: "I just did the math, and tomorrow happens to be an auspicious day, suitable for burial, sacrifice, and... Break the ground.”
Then, he put his cigarette holder in his mouth, looked up at Mao Sandao and asked, "So Sandao, do you think it's okay to bury him tomorrow?"
Grandpa Liu, a highly respected man, talked about this, so Mao Sandao didn't have to worry about anything.
He turned his head and looked at his grandfather's coffin outside the hall. Even though he was reluctant to part with it, he could only obey the custom here.
"Listen to the arrangements of the grandfathers."
"good."
Bahba...bahba...
Grandpa Liu pressed the lighter.
"Ba...ba..."
After taking two strong puffs, Grandpa Liu looked at the other old men beside him and said, "That's it, let's carry the coffin into the mountain at 5 o'clock tomorrow morning."
The old men nodded in unison, seeming to think that Grandpa Liu's arrangement was very reasonable.
"Cough! Cough!"
Grandpa Liu, who might have been choked, coughed twice and looked at Mao Sandao again: "Sandao, you followed your grandfather to come to us more than 20 years ago, and we don't know if you have any other relatives.
Now that your grandfather has passed away, I don’t know if you have any relatives, Grandpa Liu.
Why don't you think carefully about whether your grandfather told you the names of other relatives before he was alive, so that we can inform you. "
Mao Sandao nodded, carefully recalling every detail of his time with his grandfather.
But after sifting through his mind several times, Mao Sandao didn't remember that his grandfather told him that he had other relatives.
A few minutes later, he shook his head: "Grandpa Liu, I can't remember."
"Okay." Grandpa Liu knocked off the ashes of his cigarette and stood up slowly with his hands on the table. "I will perform a ritual ceremony tonight and bury him in the mountain early tomorrow morning."
"Thank you for your hard work, Grandpa Liu." Mao Sandao bowed to Grandpa Liu.
Grandpa Liu walked slowly to Mao Sandao, his expression gradually becoming serious: "Sandao, your grandfather left suddenly. Now you are alone. You must stay strong, but don't think too much."
"Don't worry, I will do it." Mao San nodded heavily.
After a while, Grandpa Liu returned to Mao Sandao's house wearing a yellow Taoist robe, holding a peach wood sword and some other magical weapons.
Grandpa Liu, who had put on his Taoist robes, seemed to be a different person now. His previous senility had disappeared, and he now seemed to be full of energy.
At first glance, he looks a bit like Uncle Jiu.
After dark, Grandpa Liu set up the altar and placed several yellow symbols with red characters on it.
"Have a good trip Mao Daguo!"
Grandpa Liu shouted, and the wooden sword picked out a yellow talisman.
He read in his mouth:
"The sky is round and the earth is round, and there are nine chapters of laws and regulations.
The yin and yang are here to send you to the west.
You are in yin and I am in yang. If yin and yang do not come together, there is nothing wrong with both inside and outside. I will send you to the west and you will go to heaven immediately.
…”
The voices behind him became smaller and smaller, and Mao Sandao couldn't hear clearly what he was saying.
After Grandpa Liu finished reciting, he picked a talisman paper, put it on the candle, lit it, and then stamped his feet three times.
At the same time, the other hand poured a glass of liquor.
laugh! ! !
The burning talisman was thrown into the cup.
Grandpa Liu put the wooden sword aside, stirred it with the fingers of his right hand for a moment, then raised his head and put it into his mouth.
"puff!"
Then, Grandpa Liu took a step back and suddenly sprayed out toward his grandfather's photo.
Then he quickly grabbed a handful of glutinous rice and threw it towards the photo of his grandfather.
Grandpa Liu began to circle the coffin clockwise, chanting:
“With your head resting on the mountain and your feet on the treasury, your descendants will be rich for generations to come.
Covered with gold on top and silver on the bottom, children and grandchildren can hold the treasure pot.
If the seed flowers are placed on the left side of the body and on the right side of the body, the descendants of the descendants will be able to make a fortune. "
After turning around three times, Grandpa Liu stopped. What he sang next was something Mao Sandao couldn't understand. It seemed to be in a specific language.
"Three handsome men."
Mao Sandao, who was watching Grandpa Liu's actions attentively, was startled by a hand on his shoulder.
Looking back, he saw Jiao Qiu'er standing behind him.
"You're here." Mao Sandao pulled Jiao Qiu'er aside.
Jiao Qiu'er raised his head toward the court and asked, "What is this old man doing jumping around here?"
Mao Sandao glanced at Grandpa Liu's swaying figure in the field: "Oh, Grandpa Liu is performing a ritual for my grandpa."
Jiao Qiu'er stared at Grandpa Liu's back and said with a smile: "You can't tell, this old man who has half of his body in loess can still do this."
"Don't talk nonsense!" Mao Sandao glared at Jiao Qiu'er and quickly put his hand to his mouth as a shut-up gesture: "Most people here respect Grandpa Liu. Don't talk nonsense. It's not good for others to hear you." .”
Jiao Qiu'er quickly covered his mouth and glanced around quickly. When he saw that no one was paying attention to them, he took his hands off and asked, "Are you optimistic about the future? When will you be buried?"
"tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" Jiao Qiu'er thought he heard wrongly and stared in surprise, "Buried tomorrow? So soon?"
In Jiao Qiu'er's understanding, the deceased should be buried at least three days later in order to allow the family to mourn better. Jiao Qiu'er was a little surprised when he learned that the deceased would be buried tomorrow.
Mao Sandao explained: "Well, there is a custom here, which is called entering the hall but not more than three days. Grandpa passed away outside, so he can't be buried for three days like other people."
Jiao Qiu'er curled his lips, still feeling a little strange about this custom: "Why haven't I heard of this custom?"
Mao Sandao was also the first to come into contact with this custom, so he shrugged: "It's also the first time I've heard of it. No matter what, just follow their customs."
"That's all we can do." Jiao Qiu'er handed Mao Sandao a cigarette, "The company's affairs have been taken care of. I was afraid that you wouldn't be able to handle it alone, so I hurried over."
Mao Sandao took the cigarette, lit it, and took a puff: "Thank you for your hard work."
Jiao Qiu'er waved his hands pretending to be angry: "As I said, your grandpa is my grandpa. It is appropriate to send him off for the last journey."
