This kind of sound is only used during funerals, so when I heard the sound, I thought, is there something wrong in the village? But the sound is still far away, and it is just faintly coming. I can't see it yet.
to people.
I really felt a little unlucky. Although I didn’t believe in these nonsense things, I had a hard time asking for directions in the morning, and now I saw someone attending a funeral. It was so unlucky. The three of us subconsciously stood aside and turned around.
The road to the village was cleared, and then he looked towards the place where the sound came from.
The sound was indeed made by the musical instruments used during funerals, but the instruments may not be complete, and the person playing the instruments seemed to be weak, causing the sound to be intermittent, which sounded strange and a bit weird. We have been waiting since the sound appeared.
It took almost ten minutes, but I still didn’t see any mourners. Although this village was small and large, it wasn’t ten minutes without seeing anyone. After waiting for a while, I wanted to follow the sound and have a look, but Li Fusheng stopped me.
, let me not move.
After waiting for a few more minutes, we saw a string of white paper money being scattered across the village. Judging from the string of paper money, the person who scattered the money was a veteran. In our words here, it is called "Three Festivals".
Gao, throw a handful of paper money into the air, separate it layer by layer and then scatter it, this seemingly simple skill, if you really want to become proficient in playing, you will not be able to do it without ten or twenty years of experience.
Although I haven't seen anyone yet, I saw paper money, which undoubtedly means that this is a funeral procession.
Two or three minutes after the first bunch of paper money appeared, the second bunch of paper money was thrown into the air. At the same time, the funeral procession also appeared in the field of vision. They walked very slowly. If the old woman I saw before was half dead,
If there are zombies, then this funeral procession is just a row of zombies, lifeless and lifeless.
We stood still and continued to watch. Gradually, the complete funeral procession appeared. There were about twenty people. When I saw this, I thought, how could there be such a funeral procession?
All the people attending the funeral were old and out of shape. There were men and women. They were all hunched over, struggling to hold the things in their hands and knocking them. The person I saw throwing paper money before was probably in his sixties.
Although he looked like a young man in this team, he was already quite young. This group of people couldn't even carry the coffin, so they got a donkey cart and put the thin coffin on the donkey cart, slowly heading out of the village.
pull.
This immediately confused me. The weird funeral procession, walking under the sun, still made me feel eerie. I looked at Li Fusheng, but he had no intention of leaving. Maybe he wanted to wait for the procession to get closer.
I'll take a closer look later. He didn't leave, and Kuang Haige and I didn't move either. We just stood there and waited.
After a long time, the funeral procession arrived at the entrance of the village. The customs here were still a little different from ours. When they were about to leave the village, the two old ladies tremblingly took out a large handful of folded papers.
People, small paper horses and other mysterious objects were thrown in all directions. When the wind blew, the paper people and paper horses were flying everywhere, and they were all white. I quickly took a few steps back and got out of the way completely.
The three of us were standing at the entrance of the village. There was no reason why we couldn't see the funeral procession, but they were indifferent and continued to do their own things. Only the man throwing paper money glanced at us. In my opinion, this is also me.
The most normal look I saw. But he was busy with his hands and ignored us. He shouted twice to avoid us, and then led the funeral procession towards the east.
When the funeral procession passed by slowly, I saw that the old woman who had asked for directions before was among them. I thought, did she know that there was something wrong in the village today, so she let us go?
After waiting for a long time, the funeral procession completely disappeared from sight. The three of us discussed with each other and realized that this village is full of old people who can hardly move. According to the theory, strong labor is indispensable for funerals.
Kuang Haige asked if he should go into the village to look for it now.
"I don't think it's necessary." Li Fusheng said, "If there are other younger people in the village, they will definitely help."
"Are these the only old men and women left in this village?" I thought to myself, if that were the case, it would be troublesome. I don't think the other old men and women are any easier to deal with than the first old woman.
"Let's wait." Li Fusheng pointed to the funeral procession that had gone away and said, "Did you see that the person who was leading the paper money scattering was old, but he seemed to be able to talk. They were doing something.
It’s inconvenient for us to go there. When the white matter is done and everyone has returned to the village, we will try to find a way to talk to the person who threw the paper money."
I also thought that only the person who spread the paper money could probably communicate, so I did as Li Fusheng said and waited patiently at the entrance of the village. This wait lasted for several hours, from early in the morning until three or four o'clock in the afternoon. The funeral procession finally arrived.
Slowly reappeared in the field of vision. The coffin on the donkey cart was missing. It must have been buried. I felt that just digging a grave to bury the coffin was a very severe test for these people. It was estimated that the person would die.
A few days ago, they took turns digging.
The person who scattered paper money stood at the front when going to the funeral and walked at the end when he came back. Other old men and women walked into the village one by one. They looked at us, but there were still no more expressions or expressions. I guess those who live to this age will
People, except for a little desire to live a few more days, have lost interest in anything else, and they don't even bother to ask who we are.
The person who threw the paper money was really different from the others. He was holding a cigarette pipe with his hands behind his back. When he came to us, he stopped and stood looking at us. Li Fusheng went over to chat with him for a few words. This person who threw the paper money was obviously
Having lived some life in the world, I can understand Li Fusheng's Mandarin.
"What are you doing here?" He was smoking a dry cigarette, and the smell of dry cigarette, which has disappeared in modern cities, drifted over, making even an old smoker like me feel slightly dizzy.
"It's okay, let's hang out." Li Fusheng would not reveal the true purpose of his visit easily. He needed to talk to the other party before making a decision.
But my own speculation had already made me a little confused. As soon as they said a few words, I squeezed over and asked: "I want to ask, is there anyone with the surname Zheng in the village?"
"Zheng?" The person who threw the paper money took off the bags under his eyes, looked at me and said, "Why are you asking?"
"Just asking..."
I was just thinking about how to make up a lie, but the person who spread the paper money actually spoke directly. He should be the kind of silly person, not a fool, but more straightforward. If he knows a little bit, he will tell me what he knows.
speak out.
"If you want to find someone with the surname Zheng, it will be difficult to find one." He pointed to his nose and said, "My surname is Zheng, and everyone in this village has the surname Zheng."
"All surnamed Zheng?" I was a little confused and a little excited at the same time. I didn't know if my guess was correct, but at least it had a certain basis. If all the people in a village were surnamed Zheng, then it was very likely that my father would be He came from this village.
"We are tired from walking, and there is no place to stay before and after. Would it be convenient for us to rest here and have some food by the way?" Li Fusheng took out a few hundred-yuan bills and handed them over while talking to the man.
"What is this! What is this!" The person who threw the paper money was obviously very happy when he saw the banknotes, but he was too embarrassed to directly reach out and take them. He was pushing them back and forth, so Li Fusheng took the initiative and stuffed them into his hands. The man was so happy that his hands holding the banknotes were shaking a little. The village was so isolated and looked so poor, so a few hundred yuan was probably a considerable amount of income for him.
"Let's go, let's go." The person who threw the paper money accepted the money, and his attitude became much more enthusiastic. He stretched out his hand to let us go towards the village: "A few bowls of rice are not worth a penny. You gave so much, this and this... can't do it." I just want to stay a few more days. There is not much good food to eat in the village. After today’s rest, I will go for a walk outside the village to see if I can trap a badger.”
"It's okay, you can eat whatever you want, we won't be picky."
Funerals in the old village are different from other places. In other places, after all the idle work has been done, the host family wants to have a meal, but here after the funeral, everyone goes back to their homes. The man who threw the paper money told us as he walked away, his name is Zheng Shitou, a native of the old village.
"Why are there so many old people in this village?"
"Well." Zheng Shitou smiled and said: "If your family is from here, run away to live for a few years and become famous, will you come back?"
"You mean, everyone in the village has gone out?"
"Everyone who can leave has left." Zheng Shitou led the way with his hands behind his back, saying: "After the Cultural Revolution, the policy changed. Those who could leave went out while they were young, and after running around for a few years, they became prosperous. I have taken away my wives and children, and left behind some old people who have almost died in the past few years. In a few years, this village will be overthrown."
"That's it..." I couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief. The old village was too remote. The outside world had developed like that, but there was no electricity here. Those who left the old village many years ago were used to living a new life. The old village has all been forgotten, Zheng Shitou said. Except for the descendants of a few families who come back to visit during the holidays and leave some money and things, the rest of the people are almost ignored and no one asks. Once someone passes away in the village , everyone must help, because when they themselves leave this world, the only ones who will help are the old toothless villagers in the village.
While we were talking, we arrived at Zheng Shitou's home. Zheng Shitou was the "youngest" one in the village and could still do some work, so his house looked a little tidy and looked like a home. When we arrived at the door , Zheng Shitou let us go toward the house. After we left the stone-paved road and stepped in front of Zheng Shitou's house, I suddenly felt uncomfortable on the soles of my feet, as if I had stepped on something.
When I lowered my head and looked at it, I felt very embarrassed. I don’t know when a white paper figure was stuck on the sole of my shoe.