On the evening of the second day, Wu Yi still accompanied Li Gui to kowtow in front of his late father's grave; on the third day, he did not come, but set up his butcher stall on the street to sell meat, but who could witness that Li Gui was still going on? What about fulfilling his promise?
Li Gui is a man of his word. Regardless of whether he is accompanied by someone or not, he insists on kowtowing in order to get the shotgun with a clear conscience.
He secretly warned himself: Don't cut corners, and you must be worthy of the dead to be blessed by the dead. When he kowtows, he will spontaneously raise his neck and look up at the sky, worried that some bird will fly over and drop a piece of shit on him, but there is no such thing.
Every time Li Gui looked up, he didn't find any birds. Instead, he found a woman in floral clothes, weeding in a hemp field a hundred meters away from the tomb. She glanced here from time to time. When he looked back, she turned her face away again.
Li Gui didn't care, but the woman's colorful clothes always swayed inadvertently in front of his eyes.
Later, every day when Li Gui was kowtowing there, the woman would be weeding in the nearby hemp field.
He seemed to be filled with a new emotion, that is, every time he kowtowed at the graveside, he hoped to catch a glimpse of the woman pulling grass, but he actually saw it. A faint sweetness inexplicably grew in his heart, as if it was not to fulfill the promise. I came here just to see that woman. Now he could very clearly picture the woman in floral clothes and with a pair of pigtails in his mind.
He thought: If the seventy-seven forty-nine days are over, I won't be used to it anymore if I don't see that woman picking grass in the hemp field.
On the evening of the forty-eighth day after the contract was fulfilled, a miracle happened. The woman Li Gui had been thinking about day and night actually appeared in front of her. Her graceful and graceful appearance made him secretly intoxicated.
He knelt in front of the grave and kowtowed repeatedly. In fact, his mind was no longer on kowtowing, but on paying attention to the woman's graceful movements.
I saw her kneeling in front of the grave and kowtow. Li Gui said, I kowtow to fulfill my contract, but why do you, girl, kowtow?
The girl kowtowed three times, stood up and said to him: Other people's parents can be considered my parents. Now that Wu Yi's father has passed away, it is appropriate for me to come to the grave and kowtow. Besides, you, a descendant who is not related to Wu Yi's father, can persist in coming here to pay your respects for forty-nine days. Your filial piety is moving to heaven and earth. This is someone else's father, let alone your own father. To be honest, I was moved by your filial piety, so I came to kowtow. Is there anything wrong with this?
The girl was sensible, fierce, and a bit aggressive.
Li Gui admired her appearance very much. He stood up, rubbed his hands and praised: You are not bad. You insist on pulling grass every day. I have seen you more than forty times. Before I came, you must have persisted. That kind of farming is very difficult.
The girl pursed her lips and smiled, as if she had some secret. Li Gui was inconvenient to ask, so he only cast a passionate look at her and then left.
When the girl was talking to him, she carefully looked at his appearance and felt that he was simple and resolute. She secretly liked him and cared about him. Even the dirt on the collar of his black jacket was visible.
At this moment, Li Guicai walked away, and she caught up and called Brother Li Gui directly, which sounded cordial.
Li Gui turned around happily: Oh, how do you know my name? Your filial piety is famous, who doesn't recognize it? In this case, can you tell me the girl's last name? Standing in front of Li Gui, the girl smiled sweetly: My name is Wu Juying, and I live in the same village as Wu Yi. Do you understand this?
Li Guizhi nodded and walked out of the cemetery. Standing in the golden red light of the sunset.
Wu Juying looked at him and said: Brother Li Gui, can I do something for you? Li Gui was very surprised and said, "Don't you dare?" What do I need you to do?
You have. Wu Juying grabbed her collar and rubbed it, but Li Gui didn't understand yet. She said: Take a look at your collar! Li Gui understood now, with a look of shame on his face, and said shyly: You mean there is a stain on the collar of my jacket?
Of course it's not too ugly, but it gives me a chance to wash it for you. Wu Juying was very good at talking, so Li Gui didn't know how to answer. He was stunned for a long time before he said how dare he bother the girl.
Wu Juying kept his word, that is, in the evening when Li Gui came to the cemetery for the last time, Wu Yi also came. He brought a white jacket and handed it to Li Gui, saying that it was given to him by Wu Juying. He took the white jacket very excitedly, looked around without seeing Wu Juying, and asked her why she didn't come. Wu Yi said you will find out when you get home.
Li Gui went to the grave today and had put on an unstained top. At this moment, Wu Yi knelt in front of his late father's grave again and said: Father, when brother Li Gui's mourning period for you is over, the shotgun can be given to him at a price. Walking out of the cemetery, Li Gui asked how much it cost to sell him the shotgun. Wu Yi said five hundred yuan. Go back and prepare it!
Li Gui was unhappy and thought it was too expensive. He pondered for a while and said: Can it be cheaper? Wu Yi said: This is what the family has discussed, and no penny should be lost. If you buy a shotgun, shoot a few wild animals and sell them, you will quickly make back your investment. All right! I worked hard to raise money.
Li Gui and Wu Yi walked to the field and parted ways. A gray dirt road branched here, one leading to Wujiawan and the other to Lijia Village.
Li Gui returned to the village wearing a white jacket. When he walked to the house, he saw his mother collecting a black jacket hanging on a bamboo pole. He remembered what Wu Yi had said. He asked his mother, had anyone been here today? Yes, there is. The mother's face was full of smiles, and she said as if to announce good news: A girl is here, and she washed this black jacket for you and dried it.
She grabbed it and waved it in front of Li Gui like a flag.
Is that girl named Wu Juying? Exactly, she said she is a good friend with you. The mother said as she walked into the inner room with her son, and told her son when the girl left. She also said, she is so close to you, how come I never knew about it?
Li Gui told how he met her, and his mother asked, "Are you planning to marry her?" Li Gui nodded, and then said: Mom, you won't object, right?
The mother smiled and said: I am too late to be happy, so will I object?
At this time, it was getting late, and the mother lit the oil lamp, and the whole house was brightly lit. The mother and son swayed the huge shadows reflected on the wall and the ground, adding a sense of vitality to the home.
Li Fu, who was working outside for a while, came back. Xu Li hurriedly told him about the relationship between Li Gui and Wu Juying. He didn't seem to be interested. He squatted aside and smoked a cigarette, and from time to time brought up things that made Li Gui unhappy: Gui, it is said that you paid tribute to the deceased father of Wu Yi in Wujiawan for forty-nine days. During the forty-nine days, you kowtowed in front of the grave every evening. This is of course a good thing, but I found that you did not do this to your own family and ancestors. Filial piety. You didn't force yourself to do that just to buy that shotgun, right? If so, I don't think it's advisable. I don’t support you learning to hunt, because carrying a shotgun is very dangerous.
Dad, don't worry about this. Li Gui replied unhappily.
Finally, the marriage between Li Gui and Wu Juying came up. Li Fu said, it's okay for you two to get married, but I won't agree if you buy an L gun.
Li Gui was silent, but he shifted his thoughts and actions to emotions. Wu Juying came to accompany him for three or two days, and the relationship became closer and closer, and they were inseparable.
Gradually Wu Juying became pregnant, and she could only cover her bulging belly by wearing loose clothes. But she was shy every day. Apart from talking to Li Gui, she didn't dare to look up because she hadn't been married by Li Gui yet.
This problem put Wu Juying's family in trouble. They originally planned to ask for a betrothal gift to let the Li family get married, but now it seems that this is no longer possible. Otherwise, giving birth to a child out of wedlock will bring shame on the family, so the Wu family has no choice but to agree to the marriage.
Therefore, the two in-laws, who were both not wealthy, chose an auspicious day, held a few banquets, and set off some firecrackers, allowing Li Gui and Wu Juying to marry Qin and Jin in a joyful atmosphere.
