Zhou Dalang stepped aside, and then Zhou Dalang stepped forward.
Qian still gave him a sling of money, thought for a while, and added another sling, "I only used a sling of money when I served the Fourth Brother a drink, but now it's different from before. This time it's far away.
Everyone in the village, old and young, will definitely be invited, and meat is also expensive now, so you should buy more to be prepared."
Zhou Lang accepted the money and agreed.
"If it's not enough, just get the things back on credit first, and then pay the money back the day after tomorrow."
Mrs. Feng went for a walk in the vegetable garden and came back and said, "Mom, I'm afraid there are some vegetables missing in the vegetable garden."
Although their family grows a lot of vegetables, Zhou Erlang goes to the county town almost every day to sell vegetables, and it is difficult to feed so many people at once.
Qian thought for a while and then stood up and said, "I'm going out for a walk. You guys should keep an eye on me at home. Let Big Tou Da Ya keep an eye on the little ones and don't allow them to run around."
"yes."
This is the time when vegetables are most abundant in the year, and everything grows at its fastest. Vegetables in the ground can grow in two or three days. Therefore, as long as the family is not lazy, there will basically be no shortage of vegetables to eat.
In Qili Village, every household does not have the habit of buying vegetables. If one family likes that family's food, they will say, go grab a handful and go back to taste it.
Lao Zhou's dishes are often asked to pick a handful.
Because they not only grow a lot of vegetables, they grow them well, and they also have many types.
What has gone has come, of course. Qian walked around the village and gathered all the vegetables that would be used tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.
These things seem to have nothing to do with the younger children. Even Friday Lang and Saturday Lang, they can only help at home and basically move things wherever they are needed. They are not specifically responsible for things.
Zhoulang, on the other hand, took some young people in the village to deliver letters to his relatives' homes, which was a way of telling them that whether they would come or not was up to each family.
But Lao Zhoutou didn't want to invite too many families, except for the current in-laws who had to be invited, so he invited more of his maternal grandfather's family.
After all, from Zhou Yin's point of view, apart from those on the clan side, the closest relatives are the relatives on the maternal side.
Man Bao knew nothing about these things. She was only asked to eat as usual and go to class as usual. When she came back from school, a large coffin was placed at home.
Qian's explanation to her was, "It's just a tomb, let them be together. When the time comes, just remember to kowtow to your uncle and aunt."
"And their child, mother, did the yamen officer say he is a younger brother or younger sister?"
Qian was stunned for a moment, then said after a while: "I didn't say, he is young, so there is no need to set up a special sacrifice. Manbao, please don't talk nonsense when you worship, okay?"
Man Bao nodded doubtfully.
Mrs. Qian was very worried, and it seemed that she had to tell the Taoist priests that when summoning souls, only Zhou Yin's husband and wife would be summoned, but not even the children.
"Did you ask for leave from your husband?"
"Please, I don't have to go to school tomorrow."
"Well," Mrs. Qian said, "You don't have to go to school but you have to go to bed early. You will cry in tears tomorrow."
After that, let her go down and take a bath, and go to bed early before getting up early.
Tonight, Lao Zhou's family and even the children in the village went to bed extra early. It was getting dark, and the sounds everywhere gradually became quieter. By the first half of the month, the only sound in the village was the sound of insects.
Old Zhou put on his clothes and went out. Zhou Dalang and his five younger brothers tied up the coffin with white cloth and quietly lifted the coffin.
Mrs. Qian and Mrs. Xiao Qian were walking aside holding torches. After walking a little further, the house next door opened the door, and a man came out with a torch and a hoe...
When they arrived at the cemetery outside the village, there were people of all ages and children surrounding them with torches.
Lao Zhou didn't ask who was coming, and the noise at night was not good.
When we arrived at the cemetery, everyone started digging.
After digging up the grave mound and digging about three meters down, they came across rotten quilts.
Everyone became gentler in their movements and began to use their hands to peel away the soil covering it, and then gently lifted off the rotten and deformed quilt, revealing the two skeletons nestled together below.
The clothes they were wearing were okay, but they were dark and ugly mixed with the original color. Except for the hair on their heads, their flesh and blood had turned into nothing.
Zhou Dalang said: "This is my brother-in-law on the left, and my aunt on the right. Don't pick up the wrong ones. Come on, come on. Those who pick up the bones, give me the one on the left, and my second child on the right."
"It needs to be wiped."
Qian and Xiao Qian immediately took out two large pieces of cotton cloth and said, "We brought the cloth."
Lao Zhou kicked the fourth, fifth and sixth child on the buttocks and said to the trembling three: "What are you afraid of? Go wipe it quickly and be careful, don't lose any bones."
The hair actually broke away from the skull, and it fell down with a gentle tug. The Four, Five, and Six had never seen such a battle before, and even though there were many people around, they were extremely scared.
Qian looked at them and couldn't help but reached out and touched their heads and said with a smile: "What a silly boy. These are your uncles and aunts. They love you so much, how dare they scare you?"
"That's right, you will be blessed if you wipe the bones of your elders. Later, your brother-in-law will bless you and make you rich."
People around him also responded, and the area around the cemetery became lively. The three brothers were no longer so afraid.
By the time they wiped the bones and put them back in the coffin, it was already the third watch.
Everyone filled the hole back and made it look like a grave. Although it could be seen that the land had been plowed, it belonged to Qili Village, so everyone had nothing to be afraid of.
The Zhou brothers carefully carried the coffin home and placed it in the middle of the main room.
Only then did Mr. Qian and Mr. Xiao Qian unfold the prepared shrouds and spread them on the two corpses.
There were also copper coins that should be put in, and Qian put them in one by one.
After taking one last look, everyone closed the coffin, and people from the village hammered the nails in to completely seal the coffin.
Everyone quietly hung white cloths on the gate and main room. Lao Zhoutou didn't buy a lot of white cloths, but the people in the village still felt that this funeral ceremony was enough.
Not everyone can afford linen to hang on the door.
It would be nice to have a white flag hanging.
Before Man Bao woke up, she was taken out of bed and put on mourning clothes. Xiao Qian simply wiped her face to make her sober up.
Seeing her looking at her with round eyes, Xiao Qian whispered: "Guests will be coming soon. You have to go and pay your respects. Man Bao is good."
"So early?"
"Yes, the master's family should be a little early." Xiao Qian coaxed Man Bao, tied a piece of white linen cloth around Mai and her fat waist, and led her to the main room.
A wave of millet knots had been burned in the main room. Xiao Qian took Man Bao to Zhou Dalang and asked her to kneel down first.