With a "clang" sound, the bowl in Zhou Guilan's hand fell to the ground and broke into pieces.
Zhou Guilan didn't seem to notice it, and just stared at the young man who delivered the letter with a pale face, "What's going on? Speak slowly."
As soon as I spoke the words, I realized that my voice was shaking badly.
"Aunt Xu, there was a call from the camp to our commune, saying that your old mother passed away, and asked you and Uncle Xu to go quickly."
When the young man saw Zhou Guilan's appearance, he knew that the old man couldn't bear the blow and was too sad, so he repeated it word for word.
Zhou Guilan staggered twice, but luckily she was supported by Xue Xiulin and Chen Chunling beside her.
"Mom, be careful. Grandma is no longer here, so you have to hold on."
Several daughters-in-law looked at their mother-in-law with worried faces and began to offer advice.
On the other side, Xu Chenghou also looked shocked and came over to help Zhou Guilan.
"Don't cry. Our mother has suffered a lot over the years. She feels miserable. Now that she's gone, it's a relief."
Zhou Guilan didn't cry, but looked a little dull, "Well, is there a car in the afternoon? We have to leave quickly, we can't delay."
When her mother passed away, Zhou Guilan had to pay her last respects.
Xu Chenghou didn't know if there was a car, so he just turned to look at Xu Shide.
"Yes, there is another train in the afternoon. The Yanling train from Quanyang to Songshu Town will arrive at three o'clock."
Xu Shide is in Daying. He has to take the train every time he comes to Donggang. He knows this best.
"It's only one o'clock. I still have to go. San'er, hurry up and set up the car."
Jianshe, you catch the bus and take Uncle Xu, Aunt Xu, and your third brother to the station."
At the other end, Zhao Dahai raised his wrist and saw that it was just after one o'clock, so he quickly ordered his son to drive the person to the station.
Grandma's death was a big deal, and there was no room for delay. Everyone could understand it, so they got up one after another.
Yang Chunming and Zhao Jianshe hurried to the livestock shed, took out the Xu family's horse and hitched it to the carriage.
On the other side, Xu Chenghou discussed with his sons who would go.
"Dad, all six of us have to go. My wife and children can stay at home.
The children are young, so it would be a bad occasion." Xu Shixian was the eldest son, so he had to say this.
Xu Chenghou thought about it, the children in each family were not very old, and besides, this was two generations apart, so there was no need to let the children go to such an occasion.
"Okay, it's settled then. Old lady, let's go, go back and pack, and bring two changes of clothes. Let's leave quickly."
Zhou Guilan's mind was very confused at the moment and she couldn't think at all. She did whatever Xu Chenghou said.
So I followed Xu Chenghou back to his home, took out a few plain clothes from the closet and put them in a pocket.
He took out some money from the cabinet and put it in his pocket.
On the other side, when Yang Chunming, Han Limin and others saw this, they all stood up and left.
"Shi Yan, this happened suddenly, we won't stay here for long.
You should hurry up and go to the camp, and take more care of your parents, they are old and cannot stand the trouble."
Han Wenzhong came to Xu Shiyan and gave him instructions.
"Uncle Han, I'm really sorry. I wanted to invite everyone to have a good time."
Xu Shiyan let out a long sigh. To be honest, he had really forgotten about it.
"Hey, why do we men have to say this? No one here today is an outsider, and no one will care.
It is human nature to grieve after birth, old age, illness and death. In the past, we should prepare funeral arrangements for the elderly.
Allowing the old man to be buried in a dignified manner is considered your wish as a younger generation."
Han Wenzhong patted Xu Shiyan on the shoulder to comfort him.
In this way, Zhao Jianshe and others got on the carriage, pulling Xu Chenghou and his wife, Xu Shixian's six brothers and sisters, and Wu Qiuyan's mother and son, straight to Songjianghe Railway Station.
Zhao Jianshe dropped the people off, returned directly, and sent the car back to Xu Shiyan's house.
Xu Shiyan and others arrived at the station to buy tickets and took the zero train into the station at three o'clock in the afternoon.
A group of people got on the bus and drove along the car for more than an hour, finally arriving at Xianren Bridge.
We got off the car at Xianrenqiao and walked to the camp. On the way, Wu Qiuyan took her daughter and son back to the Hebei brigade.
Zhou Anping's home is located in the middle of Daying Village.
After crossing the small bridge and walking a few steps to the west, I saw a long string of "trash paper" raised in front of Zhou's house from a distance.
The inscriptions can be made from paper strips, or directly from burned paper. The length of the inscriptions can tell the age of the deceased, and the placement can tell whether the deceased was male or female.
Outside the front door of Zhou Anping's house hangs an upside-down paper on the right side, and a white obituary notice on the left side. There is also a long strip of red cloth with a banner written in white paint on it.
Write the name of the deceased, age, etc. on it.
Although Zhou Guilan felt uncomfortable in her heart, she gritted her teeth and endured it all the way, but now when she saw this scene, she could no longer bear it.
Tears fell down instantly, and I cried until I burst into tears.
Xu Chenghou helped Zhou Guilan walk into the yard, where the younger members of the Zhou family came out to greet him, "Second aunt, second uncle, cousin."
When relatives meet under such circumstances, it is inevitable that they will feel sad and shed tears.
After entering the courtyard, before they even came to the funeral, Da Zhangluo, who was responsible for organizing the funeral, called Zhou Guilan and others over and pulled off the mourning cloth. Xu Chenghou and Zhou Guilan both wore sackcloth and mourned.
Xu Shixian and others are grandsons and granddaughters, so they only need to wear filial piety belts around their waists.
Zhou Guilan knelt in front of the soul and cried bitterly, and Xu Shiyan brothers also shed tears.
Although their grandma has been crazy for many years, she is pretty good to her grandson.
Every time they come to see her, the old lady smiles and gives them delicious food.
Now that the old man has passed away, everyone can't help but feel sad and sad when they think of what their grandma has experienced in her life, and their tears fall uncontrollably.
The origin of the Zhou family is also in Qingshangou, Kuandian, in Jiangjiabaozi, not too far from Yinmeizi.
When Zhou Guilan's father, Zhou Huaimin, was still alive, the Zhou family was prosperous.
The family has a lot of land, a cooking pot, a weaving mill, livestock and carts, and many long-term workers are hired to carry the work.
Zhou Huaimin is a man of good character, generous in giving away money and making many friends.
Regardless of whether they are people with official status or bandit beards, we all have friendships.
In the past 30 years, the Kuandian area was occupied by the Japanese, and the local beards actively responded to the call to revolt against the Japanese.
One of the teams had a close friendship with Zhou Huaimin, and Zhou Huaimin often sent food and information to this team.
As a result, the Japanese discovered him and took Zhou Huaimin away. He was never seen again, neither alive nor dead.
In those years, people sent messages from time to time, saying that they had seen Zhou Huaimin's body in front of a certain mountain temple.
Otherwise, it would be said that Zhou Huaimin's head was chopped off and hung on the wall of the county town.
Zhou Huaimin's wife Jiang is an uneducated and illiterate woman with small feet. Something happened to her husband and the youngest daughter in the family is only three years old. What can she do?
I was just worried and crying all day long, and I didn't even protect my own property, it was all misappropriated by others.
The only thing Mrs. Jiang could do was to quickly arrange a marriage for her eldest daughter and send her away.
Zhou Guizhi, the eldest daughter of the Zhou family, was married off when she was fifteen years old, and later moved to Fusong.