losest existence to a god among mortals. How can you not understand this" "Following the natural order is the best way. Why bother worrying about what you can't do" Jiang Qiyun spoke in a cold tone. I...His uncle had four brothers, and he was the eldest. After leaving home as a child, he never returned.
The Shen family is now prosperous and successful, thanks in part to the contributions of their uncle.
The ascetic lived a simple life. Aunt Gong sent all her money back to her hometown. She repaired bridges and roads, helped the poor and needy, so as a result, Old Zhou's family was well-respected in the village.
This time, as Linghu returned to his hometown, every household that had received help from him hung white paper lanterns. At a glance, most of the village was immersed in a solemn atmosphere.
Now the Zhou family has only one man capable of making decisions, and that's this man before me, with only half a face, the youngest son of the Zhou family.
A disciple of the Shen family stepped forward to bow, then bowed towards me and introduced me.
Zhou Lao Yao looked rather fierce, but when he spoke, he was surprisingly smooth and worldly.
"How come the head of the Shen family came in person What a shame to not welcome him properly..."
I bowed and said, "My uncle has enjoyed a great deal of respect in the Shen family for decades. Now that he has passed away, it is natural for him to return to his roots. The Shen family naturally wants to fulfill his last wish and send him home."
"Then you could just send someone. Our place is remote and the roads are bad, it would be too much trouble for you to come in person..." Zhou's youngest son managed a half-hearted smile on his disfigured face.
"It's fine, no need to fuss. Are you being so polite because you don't want us here" I asked.
I intended to ease the awkward formality, but unexpectedly, the other person's face changed color. They hurriedly explained: "How could we not welcome you The Shen family has helped us a lot over the years. You are a distinguished guest, it's just... there are some customs here that you might find disagreeable..."
"When in Rome, do as the Romans do. I understand that."
"That's good, that's good..." He waved his hand, and several family members came up from behind, helping to carry the Lingzhu into the old house from the car.
We followed behind, and my brother whispered, "Zhou Laoyao's face looks pretty scary, but he seems to be quite eloquent."
"This Zhou Lao (the youngest) is a good guy," the middle-aged man with glasses quickly interjected. "The scars on his face are from when he was rescuing someone during a fire. The firebreak on the back mountain was all cleared by him, one shovelful at a time. Everyone in the village is grateful to him."
"Oh..." We nodded at each other, exchanging a glance. This was the first time we'd heard "the back mountains" since arriving in the village.
My brother passed a cigarette to the village official and asked, "He just said that there are some customs here about precious land that we might not be used to. Are there any things we should pay attention to"
》》》
My uncle's hometown has a strange custom, sending funerals at the dead of night and going up the mountain in the middle of the night.
This seems strange to me, but the country is too large and we are young and inexperienced. Perhaps there really are such customs in some places.
Mountains rise and fall, strange rocks are clustered.
That's my first impression of this place.
The residents here are not wealthy, and for weddings and funerals, everyone needs to help each other out — they need "hanging gifts."
We also followed local customs, with the Mu family and the Shen family each hanging a gift of 10,000 yuan. The old man who registered the gifts looked at us in surprise.
“...Maybe we overdid it a little, I should’ve just hung around for five or a thousand.” My brother frowned slightly and whispered to me, “Keep a low profile. I didn’t expect things to be this poor here. It’s best not to cause any trouble.”
Under the big tree at the entrance of Zhou's old house, a plastic shed had been set up. Inside, dozens of tables were arranged. My brother and I sat at one table with the disciples of the Shen family. Several villagers sent by the village officials sat with us for company.
This is a test.
My brother kept thinking about the incident on the mountain. He gave these villagers two packs of good cigarettes and started chatting with them.
"Don't you guys usually go to the back mountain" My brother asked curiously.
The villagers all shook their heads, saying that the back mountain looked close, but there was a ravine separating it. It was often shrouded in mist, and if one wasn't careful, they could fall into the ravine. They wouldn't even choose to bury people there.
And Zhou's youngest son these years, has been digging a firebreak on the back side of the mountain, and when he sees someone passing by, he will yell them back.
"He got burned on his face while fighting a fire in the mountains before. That's why he's worried that someone will start another fire in the back mountain, and the village committee doesn't allow villagers to go there..."
"The Zhou family's ancestral tomb is in the mountains." A villager chimed in.
"Yeah, the Zhou family is quite a big name in our village. There are three or four hundred relatives altogether... It's said their ancestor was a high-ranking official, so he's buried on the back mountain. Maybe it was easier to travel back then..."
Maybe Zhou Laoyao is afraid of grave robbers... There have been cases like this in recent years... People haven't come out..."
These villagers were very open about what they said, and since they saw my brother as a "gold master," they shared some gossip about the old Zhou family.
Zhou Jia's second son disappeared while playing in the mountains when he was a teenager. A few years ago, the third son of the old family also went missing after going to the mountains.
"No one ever goes to that mountain behind the house, right" My brother pressed.
The villagers chuckled and said, "It's not that nobody goes there. The men and women who work here go out once a year. Some of the left-behind husbands and wives, even some lonely old men and women, can't stand being alone and secretly sneak around to have affairs. They go in the middle of the night! Hahahaha, anyway, it's so foggy there that you can't even find anyone if you try to catch them cheating!"
Bystanders chuckled and seemed to agree with the statement.
As the ancients said, "When the granaries are full, one knows the proper etiquette." This makes a lot of sense. In places where people can't even fill their stomachs, they only have basic needs to worry about; there's no room for etiquette.
I glanced at the time, a bit absentmindedly.
I quarreled with Jiang Qiyun the night before last. Last night, I was jolted around in the car and slept until dawn. I don't even know if he showed up.
I don't know if he will come tonight.
I would speak to him loudly because I was truly helpless. I'm currently struggling with the dilemma of "playing dead" parenting.
Jiang Qiyun's way of disciplining children is completely different from the world, but the children still admire him very much and listen to his words.
"Because the child is still young and could get into trouble if they told the truth, I taught them a little white lie."
He got angry.
Sigh... It's not easy to appease the Emperor. I wish I hadn't gotten on his bad side in the first place.
It's exhilarating to get angry for a moment, but regretting it afterwards.
As the hour of Child approached, a cool breeze blew from the mountain pass. I turned my head and looked around in all directions.
My brother said speechless, "What, waiting for your husband"
Plala...
A gust of wind blew through the scattered paper money along the roadside.
As we arrived, a white sedan faintly appeared at the crossroads where we came from.t At the factory"“No, behind the factory there's a ravine where his jade mine is. There are water sources nearby too, and he built a manor there, acting like an emperor of the land.”"So, do we go thro...