Liu Gen cried loudly, and the more she cried, the louder she cried. Finally, her legs softened, and she knelt down beside the kang. She beat the hard kang and cried: "Dad... Genwa didn't do anything harmful to God... those
The money was compensated to Genwa...it's all clean money...Dad..." He cried hoarsely and couldn't speak anymore.
Xiangzi also cried and said: "Mom, that fifty thousand yuan was earned by Brother Gen with his life. In order to earn money to treat his father, Brother Gen suffered a lot and was almost killed..."
…”
At this time, Liu Zhi came back from the water and heard Liu Gen's cry in the cave. He rushed in and took Liu Gen's arm without saying a word: "Get out! I don't have a brother like you! Dad was killed by you.
Yes! If it weren’t for the fifty thousand yuan, dad wouldn’t have died... You don’t deserve to cry here! Get out..."
"Liu Zhi..." My mother jumped off the kang, raised her hand and slapped Liu Zhi in the face: "He is your brother! Why are you talking crazy things if you are older or younger? Please apologize to your brother..."
Liu Zhi covered her cheek that was sore from being slapped by her mother with her hands, stared into her beautiful eyes, and tears rolled down from her big eyes: "Mom, you are still protecting my brother...it was all the money he sent that harmed my father."
It's... I lost my father... Wuwu..." Liu Zhi cried in grievance.
"Shut up..." Mom yelled at Liu Zhi: "Mom's child, I know whether it is good or bad... How could Genwa harm your father..."
"Liu Zhi, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." Liu Gen stood up with tears streaming down his face, hugged Liu Zhi into his arms and apologized: "Brother just wanted dad to take good care of himself before the operation... Brother didn't expect that.
Dad misunderstood me...I'm sorry, it's all brother's fault...You're right, it was brother who hurt dad..."
"Brother...wuwu..." Willow Branch no longer complained about Liu Gen, and the brother and sister hugged each other and cried.
"Brothers and sisters, don't cry!" Mom sighed: "Your father has suffered so much, and death is a relief for him. You two must remember your father's words before he died, and take good care of yourself.
Become a human being!" After my mother said this, she walked out of the cave and went to another cave to make food for Liu Gen and Xiangzi.
Xiangzi followed.
Willow roots and willow branches sit on the kang.
"Liu Zhi, what did dad say before he passed away?" Liu Gen asked.
Liuzhi wiped her tears with her sleeves and said with sobs: "After my father passed out, he didn't wake up until a few hours ago. The first thing he said when he opened his eyes was to call my brother's name and hold my hand.
He said intermittently, "Liu Zhi, it seems that dad can't support your brother to come home. After I die, don't tell your brother. Don't distract him from studying because of me. When your brother comes back, tell him, you two."
You must be a good person, be filial to your mother, and take her to live in the city in the future. Sooner or later, your mother will be killed in our poor valley. Remember what dad said, never tell your brother about dad's affairs.
, Otherwise, dad will not feel at ease even if he dies." After saying this, dad closed his eyes, took a long breath, and finally said, "Dad is tired, feels better, and wants to sleep for a while." That's it, dad is
Pass away with a smile.”
"Where is dad buried?" Liu Gen cried silently, recalling the dream he had. In the dream, his dad said he wanted to leave, which happened to be the night he died.
"On the ridge opposite, my father told my mother that he would be buried there after his death, with the grave facing our cave dwelling, so that he could guard our home," Willow Branch replied.
"Let's go, take brother to see our father." Liu Gen took Liu Zhi's hand and walked out of the cave.
"Brother, look, that's the water cellar built with money donated by General Manager Ouyang." Liu Zhi pointed to the gray smooth cement wall about half a person's height on the right side of the cave dwelling and said, "Unfortunately, it hasn't snowed yet this year, so there's nothing we can do about it.
Use it."
Liu Gen didn't say anything. He carried the woven bag into the cave where his mother and Xiangzi were cooking. He took out the sweets and specialties he bought and put them in a basket. Xiangzi followed, and the three brothers and sisters walked together to the opposite ridge.
It's said to be a tomb, but it's actually just a piece of bluestone with words engraved on it in front of a mound. You can't even see it when you turn your head.
Liu Gen placed the food he brought one by one on the loess in front of the tombstone, lit three sticks of incense, and the three siblings knelt in front of the tombstone and kowtowed three times in unison.
"Dad, Gen'er came back late. It's Genwa. I don't have the ability. I couldn't raise enough money as soon as possible. If I had money earlier, Dad wouldn't have left Genwa so early. Genwa swears in front of Dad! When I come back this time,
I need to take my mother away and prevent her from suffering in this place anymore! Dad, Genwa needs to make a lot of money to make her mother live a good life. In the future, Genwa may rarely come back to see her father, but Genwa doesn’t care if she leaves.
No matter where I go, no matter how successful I am in the future, I will always keep what dad said in my heart! Dad, rest in peace, Genwa will take good care of mom and Liuzhi!"
Willow Branch seemed to want to say something, but didn't.
Xiangzi also knelt down and said: "Dad, I am Xiangzi. Mother has recognized my son. In the future, my son will follow Brother Gen and be a good man. Brother Gen will also be very promising. When we two brothers are prosperous, we will come back."
Let me build you a magnificent house..."
Liu Gen poked Xiangzi in the elbow and told him not to say this.
The three brothers and sisters knelt silently in front of the grave for a while, packed up their things, and on the way back, Liu Gen said: "In the past few days, the three of us are going to renovate dad's grave and buy hundreds of green bricks.
, we can’t let dad sleep in the cold wind!”
"Brother, do you really want to take your mother away?" Liu Zhi then asked what he wanted to ask just now.
"Mom's old cold legs must be treated as soon as possible. Regrettable things like dad can't happen again." Liu Gen had already thought about it. Wen Hanmei wanted to rent an apartment for himself. He could arrange for Mom and Liu Zhi to live there.
There, he still lived at the school and only went there when he was working: "Liu Zhi, you also want to go to Nanhai with me to go to school."
"Mom won't agree." Willow Zhi said.
"Why?"
"After my father passed away, I had long thought about using the money you sent me to rent a house in the county, take my mother to the city, and treat her leg disease, but my mother refused to agree, saying that her father was here, and she
You have to guard dad." Liu Zhi replied.
"Let's slowly convince Mom that she must come with us," Liu Gen said.
"Brother Gen, how about we cremate my father's body and take his ashes to the South China Sea, so that my mother will come with us." Xiangzi came up with an idea.
"Cremation... no, my mother will definitely not agree to it!" Liu Zhi immediately objected.
Liu Gen walked silently, thinking about how to convince his mother to go to the South China Sea with him.
"Willow branch, where did you buy the turning head for building a water cellar?" Liu Gen asked his sister when he was about to get home.
"They are all purchased from the countryside and brought back in donkey carts."
That night, when the old and young men in the village knew that Liu Gen had returned home, they all came to greet him one after another and praised Liu Gen's father for his good deeds during his lifetime. It was not until late at night that the neighbors dispersed.
Early the next morning, Liu Gen and Xiangzi borrowed a donkey cart and went to the countryside to buy three hundred bricks. They took them home after dark.
But there was no water, and they could not mix the mud. Liugen and Xiangzi spent a day carrying water back several times.
"Brother Gen, Ouyang Xue's father is really amazing. In a place like Gangou Village where there is no water or river sand, so many water cellars have been built. It will cost a lot of money. They all have to be purchased. It's really not worth it.
It's easy." Xiangzi said at night, lying on the kang.
"Yes, it's so difficult for us to build a grave. Such a big water cellar is still one for each family. This kind of kindness is worthy of our admiration." Liu Gen now knows what Ouyang Xue's father has done.
amazing.
"Brother Gen, how should we convince mother?" For two days, Liu Gen has not told her mother that he wants to take her to live in the South China Sea.
"First repair the tomb so that my mother feels comfortable looking at it. Then we can talk about this and she will feel more at ease." Liu Gen replied.
"So it turns out that Brother Gen repaired my father's grave just to convince my mother?" Xiangzi understood.
"Okay, go to sleep now. You have to work early tomorrow morning. Have you been exhausted these past two days?" Liu Gen said.
"Haha...Brother Gen, don't tell me, I'm sore all over." Xiangzi got into bed, the kang was very warm and comfortable: "Fortunately, I slept on this earth kang for one night, and the next day,
I recovered immediately. I didn’t expect the kang to have such benefits.”
"Brother...Brother Xiangzi...you two come out quickly, it's snowing!" Willow Zhi shouted outside the cave.
"It's snowing!" Liu Genyi grunted as he stood up, put on his clothes, and ran out of the cave without even having time to put on his shoes.
The sky is filled with heavy snow, which is falling and falling, which is really spectacular.
Liu Gen stood barefoot on the white snow, raised his head and stretched out his hands: "What a heavy snow! Snow in time! Snow to survive!"
"That's great!" Willow branches happily jumped around in circles in the yard: "There is water to drink!"
"But, Brother Gen, I'm afraid I won't be able to do any work tomorrow!" Xiangzi said, looking up at the snowflakes in the sky.
"Why? Don't you want to be lazy?" Liu Gen said jokingly.
"It's ice and snow, how can it be mixed with mud?" Xiangzi replied.
Liu Gen was stunned, yes, as soon as water was poured into the soil, it immediately turned into ice lumps. How could one build a tomb?
It snowed heavily overnight, and when I woke up the next morning, snowflakes were still falling. The yard seemed to be covered with a thick white quilt, and my feet were almost up to my knees when I stepped on it.
The three brothers and sisters used basins and shovels to shovel the snow into buckets, carried it into the kitchen, poured it into a hot cauldron, boiled water, put it in buckets and carried it out, put the snow in and it melted immediately.
Open it, wait for the bucket to be full, pour it into the water cellar, and the snow inside will be melted by the hot water.
Just like this, bucket after bucket, after almost all the snow in the yard was melted and poured into the water cellar, half of the water cellar was filled with water. The snow continued to fall.
Men, women, and children in the whole village were in high spirits. Every household slaughtered sheep and chickens as if they were celebrating the New Year. Some even set off firecrackers to celebrate.
On this day, for the people of Gangou Village, they are extremely happy because they have water.
In the afternoon, Liu Gen and Xiangzi collected the snow in front and behind the cave dwelling, turned it into water and continued to add it to the water cellar. When the snow stopped falling from the sky, the water cellar at home was already full of snow water.
My mother killed a big rooster, stewed a pot of chicken soup, steamed a basket of white flour steamed buns, and the family happily had a full meal.
"Xiangzi, there is a way to build a tomb for my father." Liu Gen thought of a good idea while eating.
"What can I do?" Xiangzi asked while chewing on the chicken leg.
"Melt the snow, heat it up, and mix it with mud." Liu Gen said.
"It's a good idea." Xiangzi replied with a smile.
That night, Liu Gen boiled the bath water and let her mother and sister Liu Zhi, who had not taken a bath for more than half a year, take a good bath in hot water.