"That probably won't work. I've heard about Gong Bao. He's a typical second-rate guy, and he's not easy to deal with!"
"It is said that he is not popular in their village either..."
"That's what I said, but there is no one else now!"
"Oh, this matter is really difficult..."
"..."
After Li Quanyou said Gong Bao's name, everyone began to discuss and analyze Gong Bao.
In conclusion, this person is not a good person and his conduct is not upright.
Ten minutes passed, and no one had finalized the matter.
"I said never mind him, there is no other suitable candidate now, so it's okay to use him as the top candidate!"
Seeing that everyone was silent, Li Quanyou in the crowd said something else.
But everyone still had doubts about Gong Bao and remained silent.
Finally, Li Laixi from the village looked at Uncle Zhang and said, "Old Zhang, come and make an idea."
Uncle Zhang lowered his head and thought for a moment, then replied: "Now I can't find anyone else for a while, so I can only invite him..."
"But I heard that although Gong Bao is a dabbler, he keeps asking for prices. I'm worried that the price is not low!" Li Laixi added.
Uncle Zhang frowned, feeling very embarrassed.
"I'll pay for it!" Mao Sandao stepped forward and said.
"No." When Uncle Zhang heard that Mao Sandao wanted to pay, he shook his head hurriedly, "How can I let you pay this money? This is definitely not possible."
After saying that, he turned to everyone present: "If we all get together again, no matter what, this matter must be resolved."
"Uncle Zhang, let me pay for this money. Just think of it as my kindness as a junior."
In fact, Mao Sandao still felt guilty in his heart, thinking that he could do what he could for Grandpa Liu at the last moment.
Besides, most of the villagers are not rich, and they have already spent a lot of money on the funeral.
If the money for rituals is shared equally, it will undoubtedly increase the burden on each family.
He felt that it was reasonable for him to contribute some money.
"This...but..." Uncle Zhang looked confused and didn't know what to say for a moment.
"Oh, Uncle Zhang, don't worry, I don't have much money for myself. The most important thing right now is to help Grandpa Liu finish the funeral smoothly." Mao Sandao said resolutely.
"Well... that's okay." Uncle Zhang sighed, agreeing to Mao Sandao's request.
He turned around and looked at everyone and said: "Okay, things have been arranged. Let's go and get going. Lao Li, you go to the longevity store to buy the longevity materials."
"I'll go now." Li Laixi responded and walked out.
After everyone left, Mao Sandao sat next to Grandpa Liu, feeling heavy again.
He felt that he was a man after all, so he could only endure the sadness in his heart and comfort the woman beside him.
After the woman had almost calmed down, Mao Sandao walked out of Grandpa Liu's house.
After coming out, he discovered that it was already bright at some point.
Outside the house, several villagers have worked together to build a shed.
In less than two hours, Li Laixi also bought the coffin.
After the villagers helped Grandpa Liu change into clothes, Uncle Zhang and several other villagers worked together to place Grandpa Liu's body in the coffin and placed it in the middle of the main room.
The portrait is an enlarged version of Grandpa Liu's photo when he was young.
After the prerequisite work was ready, Li Quanyou invited Gong Bao over.
Gong Bao was not tall. Mao Sandao's visual inspection suggested that he should be less than 1.7 meters tall.
He is slightly fat, has short hair, a round face and a flat nose, eyes as small as rice grains, and dark skin.
All dressed in black.
If he hadn't held a wooden sword in his hand, Mao Sandao would never have associated him with practicing rituals.
However, Gong Bao only took a wooden sword and almost went into battle lightly.
The villagers greeted him with smiles, but Gong Bao held his head high and swaggered to the main room with a "air" and sat down.
When Zhike handed over a cigarette, he glanced at it, took it with one hand, and threw the cigarette into his mouth in an extremely "cool" manner.
Wow...!
He took out his lighter and swiped it hard on the wall, and the lighter erupted into flames as the pulley moved.
ignite.
"hiss……!"
Take a puff.
Immediately, he leaned his back against the wall, placed his right foot on his left thigh, and began to shake his foot up and down.
Show your "enjoyment" and "satisfaction" to an outrageous level.
After Gong Bao's series of operations, Mao Sandao smiled contemptuously.
Others introduced Gong Bao, and Uncle Zhang walked into the main room with a smile on his face. It seemed that he was going to discuss the cost of the ritual.
Grandpa Liu's funeral was arranged by the elders, and Mao Sandao couldn't get involved, so he simply sat under the shed and smoked silently.
And, he took out all the money from the cowhide bag in his arms and put it back into his pocket.
But soon, he heard a quarrel coming from the main room.
Throwing the cigarette butt on the ground, Mao Sandao quickly stood up and walked in.
"It's too expensive? If it's too expensive, don't invite me! Please give this fucking place a sparing place!"
Gong Bao sat on the chair and looked at Uncle Zhang fiercely.
"What are you talking about!" Uncle Zhang stared angrily, "You must explain to me clearly today, what happened to us here?!"
"Who doesn't know that your village is the poorest!" Gong Bao sneered, looked around Grandpa Liu's house, stretched out his index finger and pointed around, and said with a disdainful smile,
"Look, look, you must be so poor here, right? You are so poor and poor, and your temper is like a mad dog!"
"What did you say!" Uncle Zhang stepped forward and grabbed Gong Bao's collar, glared and shouted, "Try saying it again?!"
Gong Bao pulled Uncle Zhang's hand away, raised his head and said angrily: "What's the matter? Mad dogs are just a group of mad dogs. You beat me. If you have the ability, come and beat me!"
Uncle Zhang clenched his fist and was about to swing it at Gong Bao when Mao Sandao quickly pulled him away and whispered in his ear:
"Uncle Zhang, don't be angry. Today is Grandpa Liu's funeral. Please bear with it."
Uncle Zhang also realized that it was not good to cause trouble at the funeral. He took a deep breath and slowly lowered his fists.
Gong Bao sneered: "Mom, you're such a bastard, you still have to do ridiculous rituals when you don't have money!"
"Then you can't ask for high prices!" Uncle Zhang said unwillingly.
Mao Sandao suppressed the anger in his heart, walked to Gong Bao, and tried his best to smile:
"Haha, what are you talking about, Brother Gong? Even if you don't have the money, you still need to have the necessary procedures, right? Don't worry, tell me how much money you need, and I'll give it to you."
As soon as Mao Sandao finished speaking, Uncle Zhang quickly pulled him aside and lowered his voice and said, "He is a lion's mouth. He is too tall, so we can't take advantage of him in vain."
Mao Sandao blinked at Uncle Zhang and replied: "Uncle Zhang, don't worry, I will let him get back all the money he takes."
"Huh?" Uncle Zhang didn't understand what Mao Sandao meant and scratched his head in confusion.
"Uncle Zhang, just leave it alone." Mao Sandao smiled, turned back to Gong Bao, "Tell me, how much does Brother Gong want?"
"Finally, here comes a reasonably sensible person." Gong Bao raised a finger: "I don't want more, ten thousand, just ten thousand!"
"Why did you increase the price? You just said five thousand!" Uncle Zhang looked at Gong Bao and felt angry again.
Immediately, he turned to look at Mao San and said, "Sandao, we can't give him this money. Let's find other ways."
Mao Sandao patted Uncle Zhang's arm to show him not to worry, and replied: "Okay! Ten thousand is ten thousand!"
Unexpectedly, Mao Sandao agreed so readily. Gong Bao couldn't believe it and quickly added: "Then you have to pay first and do the work later!"
"Okay, listen to Brother Gong." Mao Sandao counted out 10,000 yuan from his pocket and handed it to Gong Bao.
Looking at the wad of money, Gong Bao's eyes suddenly lit up and he rubbed his hands vigorously.
Just as he was about to receive the money, Mao Sandao suddenly pulled back his hand holding the money and said with a smile: "Brother Gong, don't blame me for being rude."
"Don't worry!" Gong Bao grabbed the money, the smile on his face almost piled up, he licked his fingers and counted them.
"Master...Master...wuwu..."
There was a sudden sound at the door.
Mao Sandao heard the sound and looked over, only to see the fool Zhu Dagang staggering across the threshold and walking in while wiping his eyes.
thump!
The fool knelt in front of Grandpa Liu's coffin.
"Idiot, what are you doing!"
Mao Sandao stepped forward and put his hands on the fool's arms, trying to hug him up.
"Sandao, leave him alone." Uncle Zhang stepped forward and pulled him down, "Your Grandpa Liu often takes him home to eat, and sometimes leaves him to sleep at home. This Zhu Dagang, I guess he has already taken your Grandpa Liu to the house. Becoming a grandpa."
"That's it." Mao Sandao withdrew his hand, wiped the tears on the fool's face, and sighed slightly, "They are all poor people..."
