Agnes was walking with a lantern, and she saw a low courtyard in front of her. A red round lantern hung in front of the courtyard door. The lantern was on, and the courtyard door was gently closed. You could see the courtyard next to the courtyard. The lights in the north and east are on.
That should be the upper room and kitchen. Agnes suddenly remembered.
Agnes gently pushed open the courtyard door, and the wooden courtyard door made a creaking sound, breaking the silence. As if some switch was turned on, bursts of laughter came from the upper room and kitchen.
As if attracted by something, Agnes walked to the upper room. She opened the door curtain of the upper room and looked inside.
Looking straight ahead, it was a large room. In the middle of the room is a nave with paintings of landscapes and couplets on both sides. The couplets read, "It is very satisfying to be satisfied with things, and people have no expectations and high standards." Below is a solid wood table. In the center of the table is a larger tablet that reads "The ancestors of the ancestors of the Xian Dynasty studied the spiritual position of Zhang Gong's treasure tree." There are two smaller tablets next to it. "Lu's Spiritual Tablet" and a tablet that reads "Xiang Tairu Zhang's maiden name Lingfang". There is also a black-and-white photo standing in front of the tablet. In the photo, there is a middle-aged man with long braids, a watermelon hat, and a robe. He sat on the Taishi chair and looked out of the photo with a serious face. There are three incense sticks not far in front of the photo, and gray smoke is floating upward.
"Huizhen is back."
Agnes saw several people gathered around the coffee table on the right, and several plates of food were placed on it. The dishes were obviously brought here not long ago. There were the necessary Chinese New Year meatballs, rolls and crispy pork, as well as steamed and crispy pig's trotters, lamb bones and Agnes' favorite fried veal. In addition, In addition, there are also cold bean sprouts and pickled cabbage with some crushed ice. The third uncle sitting at the coffee table waved to her happily.
"Well, I'm back. Where is Yueyue?"
"Yueyue ran to the kitchen, saying she wanted to help make 'red and white noodles'." Third uncle said with a smile.
"It's still called 'red and white noodles', why haven't you changed it yet?" the second aunt next to me laughed.
"Yeah, I've never changed."
Agnes remembered that this was because Yueyue had been scared when she heard the name "bloody noodles" when she was a child. She said that she would never eat bloody noodles. When her grandma was still alive, she lied to her every time she made "bloody noodles". She said she made "red and white noodles".
Agnes saw the door curtain being opened and her sister-in-law came in carrying a tray.
"Hey, Huizhen is back." My sister-in-law said with a smile.
Agnes took the tray from her sister-in-law and helped place the three bowls of bloody noodles on the tray on the coffee table.
"Well, I'm back."
"Tell your grandpa and your dad that they are ready to eat. They should be in the west room." My sister-in-law said casually.
Agnes nodded, put down the tray and walked out of the large room in the middle. She heard her sister-in-law laughing and scolding her second aunt and third uncle: "You are just like visiting relatives, you don't even know how to serve food."
The second aunt smiled and said, "Okay, okay, I'll go right away."
Agnes walked to the door of the west room, and she heard her grandfather's voice in the room.
"When I was born, I calculated Huizhen's fate. The divination showed that she was talented, intelligent, generous and kind, but she was also prone to trusting her own judgment too much, making her own decisions, and ignoring the feelings of others. Now it seems that it is my fate. Almost." This was Grandpa's calm voice.
"Isn't this great?" This was my father's voice.
"It's very good." Grandpa repeated this sentence as if he was sighing, and a sound like a wooden cane tapping on the ground could be heard.
"It was good to have such a character when her mother Xueyuan was still alive, and father, you are still alive." The father said abruptly.
"Yeah, at least I'm still alive." Grandpa's voice seemed a little ethereal.
Agnes hesitated and knocked on the door. The room became quiet for a moment, and grandpa's voice came after about a second or two.
"Who is it?"
"It's me, Huizhen. My sister-in-law asked me to invite you to dinner." Agnes replied.
"Oh, Huizhen. Okay, your dad and I will be right away." Grandpa replied.
Agnes walked out of the upper room and into the kitchen. As soon as I opened and closed my eyes in a daze, I saw grandma preparing to scoop out bowls of mutton soup from the pot. Agnes picked up a tray from the table and put a bowl of mutton soup, a plate of vegetables, a bowl of rice and a pair of chopsticks on it.
"Can Huizhen hold it?" Grandma put another wine glass filled with white wine on the tray, then turned around and asked.
"Yes." Agnes replied, realizing that she was as tall as her skinny grandma.
"Okay, be careful then." Grandma helped Agnes open the kitchen door curtain, and Agnes walked out.
At some point, there was a burst of mourning and music in the courtyard. People knelt all over the courtyard. The first half of the courtyard was full of people wearing white mourning clothes, while the second half of the yard was mostly filled with people not wearing mourning clothes but wearing white silk flowers. She saw her grandfather in the front and center, dressed in white mourning clothes. A piece of woven burlap hung from the front of the mourning hat, covering half of his face. Next to him are the second master, the third master, the fourth master, and the fifth master. Behind him are the grandma who did not know when he arrived in the team, the wives of several grandpas, and several aunts.
Agnes walked forward with the tray. Grandpa put a few pieces of paper money on fire in the brazier, picked up the wine glass in the tray, poured it into an arc in front of the brazier, and then put the food on the tray and The soup was placed on the table one by one, and he picked up the chopsticks and inserted them into the rice.
"Father, please eat well and drink well for dinner today." Grandpa said in a low voice.
Agnes saw her aunt kneeling behind her crying silently, but she did not cry out.
"The wind blows paper money flying in the wilderness, and the ancient tombs are covered with green spring grass. Tangli flowers reflect the poplar trees, which are the places where life and death part ways." Agnes faintly heard a female voice singing in her ear.
Grandpa threw a few more pieces of paper money into the brazier, and led the people in the yard to kowtow to the table. Then most of the people in the yard walked out. Agnes knew that the open space outside the yard was set up. shed for them to eat.
Agnes did not go out of the yard, she turned and walked into the upper room. The upper room was converted into a mourning hall, and the table was moved to the middle of the room, with incense candles and spiritual tablets placed on it. The spiritual flag was high and blocked what was behind the table, but Agnes knew that her great-grandfather's crystal coffin was there. There were several futons placed on either side of the table. In the north corner of the room is a futon and a low table. On the low table are a small enamel plate and a stack of paper cut into the shape of banknotes. The enamel plate is filled with bright red ink and is stacked very thickly. Red gauze and a rectangular seal placed on the gauze. This is what is used to print paper money.
Agnes walked to the low table and knelt down, picked up the seal, printed some paper money on the paper, and placed it in the cardboard box next to the low table. She raised her head slightly and twisted her neck, and her eyes were attracted by a black thing under the crystal coffin.
Agnes stood up, approached the crystal coffin, and looked carefully at the things under the crystal coffin. It was a piece of black tile, with a piece of yellow paper underneath. On the paper, there were strange words drawn with bright red lines that seemed to be able to understand the hidden meaning. The tiles covered most of the paper, leaving only a corner. Agnes did not touch it, but looked at it carefully to identify the meaning of the words on it.
"This is the talisman." Grandpa's voice came from behind Agnes.
Agnes stood up straight and turned away. Grandpa stood next to the low table and smiled, pulled a futon over, pushed the enamel plate and seal aside, took out a pencil from his pocket, wrote a line on the paper and handed it to Agnes .
Agnes took the paper and looked at it carefully. There was a line of ampersands on it that seemed to be some kind of writing.
"Recognize it? Then read it."
Agnes hesitated and read it softly.
"Wisdom comes and goes on the quiet road, and the true spirit goes in and out of the mysterious door." The pronunciation and intonation of these words are completely different from those in ordinary speech.
The color of the mourning hall in front of me suddenly dimmed, as if a photo was gradually fading. Agnes subconsciously reached out and took her grandfather's hand. Grandpa did not resist and allowed Agnes to hold her hand.
Darkness gradually infiltrated the surroundings. Agnes stared blankly as she saw her grandfather being gradually infiltrated by darkness, and he smiled helplessly. She let go of her grandfather's hand, and his figure gradually dimmed. Grandpa raised his left hand and gently rubbed Agnes's hair, and then the mourning hall in front of her shattered and disappeared like a mirror.
