When the village king returned home, it started raining heavily.
"In this terrible weather, it won't rain sooner or later, and it will rain for the dead. It won't be easy to bury them tomorrow!" the village king complained.
"The people who died are pitiful! The family left behind is even more pitiful! God is crying for them!" Xueer sighed.
"Oh my God, I have pity on them. It shouldn't have rained like this!"
"God may have cried all my tears tonight." Xueer said quietly.
It's strange to say. After Zheng Shuang got up from his sleep, it didn't rain anymore.
"Xue'er, you said God really cried for Dagou and the others last night!" the village king said as he went out.
"Yeah. As expected, I cried all my tears."
"You will go over there in a moment and see off Dagou and persuade his wife. Dagou himself is dead, and he doesn't want to see the woman suffer alive."
"I know. You go first."
After breakfast, we prepared to lift up the coffin and bury it. Everyone was busy, looking for excuses, ropes, and hoes, and the whole place was noisy.
The coffin was carried onto two large stools and the poles began to be tied.
Cuihua suddenly threw herself on the coffin, and the two women supporting her were almost pulled down by her.
Cuihua threw herself down on the coffin, patted the coffin and cried: "My big dog, my man, you're gone and you've left us alone - huh! My big dog, my man."
Ah, how can I survive as an orphan and a widower after your cub and I?—Shut up! My big dog, my man, take me away too. I don’t want to live anymore—
-Have to-speak..."
Cuihua beat the coffin while crying with runny nose and tears.
The coffin is tied up and it's time to raise the pole.
The chief shouted: "Eight Vajras! Everyone is in his place!"
Cuihua heard the shouting and grabbed the rope on the coffin with her hands: "My big dog, my man, I can't live without you. I don't want you to go alone. If you want to go, take me with you."
——Have to——Stop..."
The two women couldn't pull her away at all, and two women in tears came next to them and tried their best to open her hands before dragging her away from the coffin.
"Panglongshan Oh! Great Oh!" the chief shouted and threw the bowl on the ground. The Eight Great Vajras followed with a "Great Oh!" and the coffin left the stool.
"Stand still! Swing forward to the left, swing back to the right, great!" the leader of the Eight Great Vajras shouted again.
"Let's start! Wei!" the other Vajra voices immediately followed.
The gongs and drums were beaten, the suona was blown, and the crying became louder.
The funeral procession set off.
Cuihua followed the coffin, crying and staring. The two women supporting her were so tired that their sweat and tears mingled together. The women around them kept wiping their tears.
"We've reached a fork in the road! Wei!"
"Swing right in the front and left in the back, great!"
The person who supported the child quickly took him to the front of the coffin and knelt down in front of the Eight Great Vajras.
The Eight Great Vajras have changed shoulders.
Cuihua cried so hard that she lost all strength after a break. Her feet were dragged on the ground, and her body was held up in the air by two women.
The Eight Great Vajras changed their shoulders and said, "Go through the fork in the road! Wei!" and walked forward quickly.
The person who was supporting the child quickly picked up the child and dragged it to the side, letting the eight kings pass before following behind.
When Cuihua heard the shout, she stared at the soles of her feet and rushed forward. She was about to send the big dog up the mountain!
"Hold Cuihua! Hold Cuihua! Don't let her go up the mountain!" the village king shouted three times in succession.
The two women supporting Cuihua looked at the village king, Cuihua rushed forward with all her strength!
"Hold her! Pull her back! Two more women! Do you hear me?" The village king's voice was so loud that it drowned out all the noise!
Two more women passed by, and four women pulled Cuihua to turn around.
"Let me accompany the dead man! I want to accompany him..." Cuihua couldn't break free from the pull of the four women and cried desperately.
"What happened to the village king?"
"Who knows what the village king thinks!"
"If Cuihua takes her son and remarries..."
Someone started talking.
After the village king came to the village, he changed many customs.
However, the custom of funerals for young and middle-aged women has not changed: if you send your husband up a mountain, it means you will not remarry; if you send your husband to a fork in the road, you can remarry.
Ergou is single and has a father at home. All his hopes for the future lie in Cuihua's son.
In everyone's heart, they only hope that Cuihua can be worthy of Dagou by raising her eldest son, and that he can keep it in their family and pass it on to their family for generations to come!
However, the king of the village only asked Cuihua to be sent to the fork in the road. Cuihua would then take her son to marry outside the village. Wouldn't the Dagou family be divorced?
Everyone couldn't understand and started talking about it.
But Cuihua wanted to send the man up the mountain life and death.
The village king ignored him and gave a loud order to pull Cuihua back.
At the fork in the road, the mourners began to split into two groups, continuing to go to the funeral and returning to the village.
Those who go to the mountain for burial are close relatives and best friends. Women, except the wife of the deceased, will not be sent to the mountain.
Cuihua was dragged back, crying and fussing all the way, and her throat became hoarse.
The king of the village stood at the fork in the road and watched the funeral procession go away, then turned and walked back into the village.
Some people discussed it, but they did not dare to question the village king after all, so they could only sigh and speculate secretly in their hearts. Some people even speculated that the village king deliberately punished Ergou, leaving him helpless in his old age.
The village king heard some comments but ignored them.
After lunch, it suddenly rained again.
Someone lamented: "Dago liked to drink a few glasses of wine when he was alive. God sent him wine!"
Some people also lamented: "Dago's life in this world was difficult and the road was difficult. God is cleaning his way so that he can have a good road in the future!"
Everyone finally reached a consensus: God is wise, it rained last night, it rained this afternoon, it will not rain when I am buried alone, and I will let the big dog rest in peace.
The village king thought of what Xue'er said about God being merciful, and he sighed in his heart: Xue'er, Xue'er, your heart is so kind and soft.
After lunch, the handyman began to clean up the mess.
The village king felt physically and mentally exhausted, so he comforted the Ergou family for a few words, then went home and lay down on a chair.
Xueer arrived home a little earlier than the village king. When she saw the village king looking tired, she poured him a cup of tea without saying anything.
The village king lay on the chair for a while, picked up the tea and drank it slowly.
Xueer watched Zheng Shuang drinking tea, but still said nothing.
The village king closed his eyes after drinking tea.
Xueer stood up and put her hands on Zheng Shuang's shoulders, gently pressing him down.
After pressing for a while, the village king opened his eyes. He looked at Xueer and said "Thank you!"
Xueer smiled: "Are you polite to me?"
The village king turned around and took Xueer's hand: "Stop pressing it, sit down!"
Xueer sat opposite the village king: "Zheng Shuang, do you feel that your heart is more tired than your body?"
Zheng Shuang nodded.
"Many things do not change according to human will. Don't pay too much attention to Dagou's death."
"Well. Dagou wants to make preparations to build a house early. Who knows, he will meet a squib. Xue'er, you heard other people's comments, why didn't you ask me?"
"What am I asking you?" Xueer's voice was calm.
"Ask me why someone took Cuihua home instead of letting her send Dagou up the mountain?"