The courtyard was crowded with villagers from the village in twos and threes.
Most of them gathered together and did not talk loudly, but just gathered around and communicated quietly.
The old man smoked a dry cigarette and glanced in the direction of the main room from time to time, with sadness in his eyes.
When they saw Xiao Yi walking into the courtyard, they didn't speak, they just nodded to him.
After all, they were some old people who attended the wedding and were no strangers to Xiao Yi.
Directly south of the living room, there is a bed, with the end of the bed facing the direction of the main entrance and the head of the bed facing the statue of the god.
Grandma was lying on the bed with her eyes closed, and her clothes had been put on new ones by the women in the village.
Three or five women were sitting in the room.
The senior sister was lying on the bedside of her grandma, her eyes were red and her cheeks were full of tears.
Hearing the sound of the door opening, the women looked over and whispered.
"It's Xiao Xiao who's back..."
With just this sentence, Jiang Qingyi turned her head and couldn't help but shed tears again on her pretty fair face.
Xiao Yi walked forward, and the senior sister didn't say anything, she just lay in his arms and cried loudly again.
And most of those women had tears in their eyes, turned their heads, and secretly wiped their eyes with their sleeves.
………
Through questioning, Xiao Yi also roughly knew what happened.
The reason is that grandma did not show up for a stroll in the village in the morning.
Old people like them basically sleep very lightly and get up almost before dawn.
Grandma's habit is to take Xiao Huang for a walk around the village after breakfast and visit the houses.
There is a lack of entertainment activities in the village. Visitors are almost all activities, or they go to the old locust tree at the head of the village to watch others play chess.
But around nine o'clock in the morning, the attentive villagers discovered that grandma had never appeared, and there was no smoke from cooking fire in the house.
Their hearts skipped a beat, knowing that something had happened.
Then they came to grandma's house, only to find that grandma hadn't gotten up yet and was breathing intermittently, as if she might die at any time.
This scene is all too familiar to them.
After all, several old friends in the village leave like this every year.
As a result, with a greeting, every household stopped being busy, and several women hurriedly invited nearby doctors.
The doctor just shook his head after looking at it.
Everyone knows that the end is approaching and there is nothing human power can do.
Then someone asked again if he should be sent to the hospital. The doctor thought about it carefully, shook his head again, and sighed softly.
"This is not the reason for illness..."
"She still has some consciousness at the moment, but the nearest hospital is a hundred miles away. There is no point in sending her to the town's clinic. Instead, she may die on the bumpy journey..."
After hearing this, the villagers still didn't understand.
At noon, grandma finally woke up, but she had no strength and could only speak in a weak voice.
The women fed her some porridge, suppressed their sadness, and whispered in her ear if there was anything else that needed to be explained.
Grandma didn't have any feelings of compassion. Instead, she had a faint smile on her face and just called the senior sister's name softly.
The women knew that grandma wanted to see her granddaughter again before leaving.
So the villagers who had mobile phones immediately called Jiang Qingyi.
The senior sister who received the news naturally rushed back immediately.
But by the time she got home, her grandmother had completely fallen into a coma, and the senior sister didn't have time to say a word to her.
Experienced old people know that grandma will leave almost tonight.
Therefore, the villagers in the village did not dare to go to bed at this time, and gathered around the yard waiting for that moment to come.
According to custom.
After a person dies, his bed cannot be without someone.
Someone needs to speak, cry, and shout loudly, which means that it will not be deserted when she leaves, and there will be many people to see her off.
………
Three o'clock in the morning.
It was pitch dark outside the village, the mountains and rivers were silent, and the shadows of the trees were swaying in the night wind.
Every house in the village lights up, illuminating the road in front of each house.
From time to time, an old man from the next village would come to grandma's house with his wife supporting him.
There was sadness, silence and pain on their faces.
………
The senior sister had already dried up her tears.
From the moment Xiao Yi walked in, she didn't speak, nor did she ask why Xiao Yi rushed back.
He just knelt down in front of grandma's bed and stared at grandma's face carefully.
Xiao Huang no longer had the joy of the past, he lay down at the senior sister's feet with his head pulled up, and from time to time he stuck out his tongue and licked her feet.
Animals are psychic.
Not to mention that grandma has raised Xiao Huang for so many years, and he may know some things better than humans.
Wave after wave of people came to the bed, but none of them cried, because it was not the time to cry yet. They just stood quietly in front of the bed for a while with a bitter look on their faces, and silently muttered a few words "Only for themselves"
Only words that can be heard by my grandma.
The atmosphere in the room was so depressing that Xiao Yi could not breathe at one point.
He put his coat on his senior sister's shoulders and walked out of the room.
There were several tables set up in the yard, and a group of old people were sitting around, quietly discussing the arrangements for the funeral.
When Xiao Yi walked out of the house, an old man waved to him, and Xiao Yi walked over.
"Xiao Xiao, since you are back and you are also a man, you should also help with Wen Yue's funeral arrangements. After all, you are also the only man in Wen Yue's family."
"Originally, a few of us old friends discussed it and arranged Wen Yue's funeral in a grand way. The event was lively and the town's opera team was also invited to come over. But I still want to hear about you and Qing'er.
Opinion."
Hearing this, Xiao Yi was silent for a while.
After a while, he said seriously.
"Let's make it simple. Grandma was indifferent by nature when she was young. After she left, she probably didn't want many people to be busy with her affairs."
It is the tradition of the older generation to hold funerals.
What's more, grandma is well-known as a kind person in all the villages and towns. She is full of talents and countless children have learned knowledge from her and left the mountains.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! She devoted her whole life to education, but never took away any needle or thread from the villagers. After all, the village was poor at that time, and many people could not open the pot at home, let alone give it away.
The children went to learn knowledge.
At that time, farm work was very important, and due to old-fashioned thinking, many people felt that reading useless books was not as useful as doing more work.
It was their grandmothers who persuaded them one by one to send their children to school, exempted them from tuition fees, and often took care of the students' meals.
In this way, many scholars were created in this poor village, and they were able to successfully get out of the mountains through knowledge.
After hearing what Xiao Yi said, some old people nodded to express their acquiescence, while others also expressed their objections.
"Wen Yue never enjoyed it when she was alive. Is it possible for her to be so peaceful and silent when she leaves?"
Xiao Yi sighed softly and spoke.
"Wouldn't it be better to be quiet?"
"It's good to have so many people see grandma off. Besides, Qingyi probably doesn't want to do it either.
At this moment, a surprising sound came from the room.
Grandma woke up.
Xiao Yi didn't care to talk anymore and hurriedly ran into the house.
………
Grandma woke up again feeling more energetic.
The senior sister was bending down beside her, talking softly, crying and laughing, with a small face like a tabby cat.
Although grandma woke up, the women in the room had no expressions of joy, because they all knew that this was a sign that grandma had come back to her senses, because there were still things on her mind and things to say.
Seeing Xiao Yi come in, they knew that the family had something to say, so they walked out of the house sensibly, leaving the last time to them.
Xiao Yi walked to the bed.
Grandma glanced at him, with a smile on her seemingly rosy face, and said slowly.
"You're back too."
Nodding, Xiao Yi felt a lump in his throat. He held his senior sister's trembling shoulders and whispered softly.
"grandmother…"
"Okay, okay, we're all back."
Grandma said with a smile, then looked at Qingyi and scolded her.
"Why are you crying? Grandma is already very happy to see you."
"Grandma knows that she won't be able to survive this summer, but there will always be a day. If you leave earlier, you can see your grandpa earlier."
"I dreamed of him yesterday. He was wearing the suit he wore when he got married. He was as handsome as when he was young. He stood at the door and smiled and said to me, I'm here to pick you up and enjoy your happiness."
"He has been waiting for me down there for a long time. I will be reunited with your grandpa soon."
“…”
"Xiao Xiao, grandma's only wish is Qing'er. She has a quiet temper and a kind personality, which is a good thing, but she is easily bullied. Even if she is wronged, she will keep it in her heart. You can take more care of her in the future."
"Grandma probably won't be able to drink your wedding wine..."
At first, grandma's voice was still very strong, but as she spoke, the tone gradually weakened.
Taking advantage of the last glimmer of clarity, she stretched out her dry and cold palms to grab Qingyi's little hand, and then placed her in Xiao Yi's hand, struggling.
"Xiao Xiao, I leave Qing'er to you..."
After saying this, grandma slowly closed her eyes and stopped breathing, but there was still a faint smile on her wrinkled face.
"grandmother……"
The senior sister’s painful cries sounded!
At the same time, the door of the hall opened wide, and a group of old people poured into the inner hall.
The next second, there was loud crying.
………
The gentleman is gone.
Three fifty-seven minutes and twelve seconds in the morning.
There was no pain when I left, with a satisfied smile on my face.
Following Xiao Yi's advice, there was no grand ceremony for Mr.'s funeral, but a simple ceremony was held in the village.
Although at the request of Xiao Yi and Qing Yi, grandma's funeral was relatively simple and not many people were notified, many people still came on the day of the burial.
Most of them have families to support, some are company employees, some are teachers, doctors, and many are already elderly.
They were all scholars who came out of this small mountain village. Now that they learned that their teacher had passed away, they came from all over to see their teacher on his last journey.
The small mountain village that had been deserted for decades became lively again.
It rained on the day of the burial.
Perhaps God also knows that he has wronged this ordinary but great old man too much.
A heavy rain washed the entire sky to see the old man off.
The burial place is in the back mountain.
My late grandfather is buried there, and there is a photo of my grandfather when he was young and very handsome posted on the tombstone.
The cemetery is very clean. Grandma usually takes Xiao Huang to clean her grandfather's grave when she is alone. After cleaning, she will sit for a while, look at his photos and talk to him.
………
Rest in peace.
After grandma left, the remote mountain village became deserted again.
The villagers lived their lives day after day as usual.
It's just that under the old locust tree at the head of the village, the figure who often leaned on a cane and silently watched others playing chess could no longer be seen.
I can't see the figure who wakes up every morning and brings Xiao Huang to visit the house to talk.
………
Qingyi slept for a long time.
From the time she returned to the village until her grandmother was buried, the senior sister barely slept a wink, her eyes were crying like light bulbs.
Finally, Xiao Yi agreed to go to sleep in the house only at Xiao Yi's strong request.
But I woke up several times in the middle, crying and laughing as if I had lost my soul.
………
The moon is bright and the stars are sparse.
The third day Xiao Yi left Suzhou.
The yard is very quiet.
Xiao Yi sat on the chair where her grandma usually sat and stared at the night in a daze. Xiao Huang lay at his feet, losing the usual energy of a dog chasing a cat.
a long time.
Xiao Yi hugged Xiao Huang in his arms, rubbed the hair on his back and said softly.
"Grandma is gone, and you will be the only one left in the future."
"Come with me, I will introduce you to a new friend."
After blinking twice, Xiao Huang seemed to understand Xiao Yi's words, barked twice, and stretched out his tongue to lick Xiao Yi's face.
Suddenly.
There was movement behind me.
Jiang Qingyi walked out of the house.
She washed her face, but because she hadn't eaten much in the past few days, she looked very bad.
Xiao Yi held her in his arms and comforted her.
"Are you hungry? I'll get you something to eat."
After saying that, Xiao Yi made a gesture and walked towards the kitchen, but Jiang Qingyi grabbed his hand, pulled him to sit down on the stone steps, shook his head and said softly.
"I'm not hungry…"
Xiao Yi knew how the senior sister could be in the mood to eat at this time.
When a loved one dies, you don’t know how long it will take for you to recover from the grief.
Grandma is her only relative in this world.
now…
Now only Xiao Yi is left.
………
The night is deep.
Xiao Yi and her senior sister sat quietly on the stone steps in front of the house.
From time to time, you can hear the sound of dogs barking in the distance.
One voice rises and a hundred voices respond.
A quiet mountain village like this is far away from the world. Every household has a dog. Without the company of relatives, raising a dog or cat can be an added comfort and someone to talk to.
There was a long silence.
Jiang Qingyi looked at the side face of the junior student under the moonlight and suddenly said softly.
"Xiao Yi~"
"Yeah, I'm here."
Tightening her nose, Jiang Qingyi snuggled into his arms and said the words she had always buried in her heart.