On New Year's Eve, it was said that Xiao Nanzhu would teach Qingming if he couldn't see it, but to be honest, Xiao Nanzhu really had no interest in arguing with Qingming, a boy with a tough temper. This is because he knows that New Year's Eve actually cares about Qingming, otherwise he would not talk to himself about him again and again, and the second is because Qingming belongs to one of the eight festivals of the year.
The eight festivals of the year refer to the eight festivals of New Year's Eve, Spring Festival, Lantern Festival, Qingming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Zhongyuan, Mid-Autumn Festival and Winter Solstice. In the past, people in the Chaoshan area used to regard these eight festivals as the most important eight traditional festivals in the year, and they were also inherited after the confusion between the solar calendar and the new calendar. Because they have withstood the test of time, they still have a clear festival origin and customs, so the divine power of these calendar gods is relatively prominent. As one of the special ones, Qingming has the dual meanings of festivals and solar terms, so Xiao Nanzhu, as a calendar teacher, did not need to be too stiff with him, so when Qingming came out to work, Xiao Nanzhu only In a routine manner, he told him his plans for the day, and by the way, he handed over all the housework to him. He heard that Xiao Nanzhu actually asked himself, as a god, to wash clothes, wash dishes, and mop for him. After the land, the Qingming Jun, who had changed into a thin pear-blossom white shirt today and looked like a crown of jade, suddenly widened his eyes, then clenched the Qiu Shuang sword in his hand and shouted angrily,
"I never do these things! I don't know how to do them! I don't want to do them either! As a God of Li, my duty is to kill evil spirits. Is it no wonder that Master Li made me do these things to humiliate me on purpose!!"
Stunned for a moment by his words, Xiao Nanzhu glanced at him subconsciously, frowning impatiently when he saw his blushing face, but looking at New Year's Eve's face, he finally refused. He wanted to care about Qingming too much, so he smiled playfully, then pointed to the bathroom and said,
"Since you think I'm humiliating you, so be it... But don't you want to kill the evil spirits? There's something in there. If you can deal with me that Tai Sui today, I won't bother you, Qingming-Jun. , and treat you as the first festival in our old yellow calendar, what do you think?"
These words were rather sarcastic. When Qingming heard it, his anger was unclear. He stared at Xiao Nanzhu and wished he could raise his sword and slash at this third-rate teacher who embarrassed him everywhere. But he also understands that even if he does it himself on New Year's Eve, he may not be able to kill the old star in the bathtub who has lived for more than 600 years, and he can't do it himself. , Xiao Nanzhu was not irritating him, but only looked at the weather today from the balcony, and simply left the Qingming Festival at home and went out alone to burn the paper money that he was going to give to his old lady this year.
Speaking of the habit of burning paper, in fact, many young people will not do it now. After all, it's already 2027, and the older generations who believe this are almost gone, and the rest of them naturally can't remember the custom of burning paper on the 15th day of the new year.
However, there must be some big festivals, such as Qingming and Zhongyuan, and some people will burn some paper money under the reminder of their parents, but compared with the past, people today just buy it in paper money shops. Some ready-made folded ones were carried over and burned, and there was really not much left for the sincere mourning for the ancestors.
It is inevitable that people can't help but want to refute, after all, the behavior of burning paper is really feudal and useless in the eyes of some people. However, in the past, people set the rule of burning paper and floating money, not because they completely believed in the existence of ghosts and gods, but because in the sad days of the passing of relatives and friends, people will one day forget because of the weakening of memory, but even if they die The specific date is forgotten, and people can still have a specific day to remember their former family and friends. At this time, they naturally needed something to convey their feelings for the deceased, and these yellowish paper money ingots became the best sustenance.
"Xiaowei, Mom burned some more paper for you this year. Mom dreamed of you last night. You told me that the following prices have risen and you can't afford to eat. You made Mom cry in the middle of the night. Mom I'll burn some more for you now, but don't save too much, buy whatever you want..."
When carrying the gold ingot and silver ingot in his hand to the cemetery, Xiao Nanzhu happened to see a hunched old aunt who was holding an umbrella in the drizzle and muttering these words, because Xiao Nan was far away. Zhu Zhu didn't hear what the old man was saying at first, but when he walked over, he just happened to hear it clearly.
I can't tell what I felt in a moment, in short, Xiao Nanzhu suddenly felt a little emotional. When a person dies, the one who is sad and sad is always the one who survives. Even though he knows that the other person can't hear what he said, he still wants to tell him a lot of what he has kept in his heart. He kept speeding up a few steps and walked towards the cemetery area on the mountain. Seeing a familiar tombstone in front of him, Xiao Nanzhu first paused for a while, then walked slowly away. past.
The old lady's tombstone was very clean, and Situ Zhang's grandfather was buried near this mountain, so he could help himself burn some paper money every year. Now that the grandson of Xiao Nanzhu is back, it is natural for him to come over in person, and seeing this old lady who left only a black and white photo attached to the marble monument, Xiao Nanzhu's expressionless face has many Feeling a bit complicated, and after crouching down in front of the tombstone and lighting a cigarette for himself, he put a bundle of white floating money on the tombstone, and took out a lighter from his pocket.
"I'm coming to see you."
Putting the gold ingots, paper money and the like on the pad with yellow paper, Xiao Nanzhu frowned and muttered to himself while igniting the piled up coins. His face softened a little, and some messy things passed through his mind, but more were some memories of his past.
Xiao Nanzhu knew very early that he was picked up by his grandmother.
Although his grandmother wouldn't mention it to him, there were always some idle adults and children who would take the initiative to remind him that those words mixed with ridicule and ridicule went from his seven or eight years old to his teens, and even if he tried hard not to He cares, but when he sees other people with parents and mothers, he will always be a little jealous.
Due to his precocious personality, Xiao Nanzhu naturally would not stupidly ask his grandmother where his parents were, because he knew that this crazy old lady with a bad temper would definitely beat him up, so he never dared to ask questions. , and just one day when a boy of the same age as him was trying to trouble him with this matter, Xiao Nanzhu heard a detailed statement from the boy's mouth that he had never heard of.
"My aunt said that you were picked up by your grandmother from the garbage when you were four or five years old! When you picked it up, you couldn't even say a word, only shouting, just a wild child from the mountains! Ah! How dare you kick me! Xiao Nanzhu, you grandson! Don't let Situ Zhang help you if you have the ability! Help! Dad! Mom!"
The child's cry for his father and mother doesn't sound like a lie, but Xiao Nanzhu has no impression of what happened when he was a child since he can remember. Or let Xiao Nanzhu, who was still holding a glimmer of hope, be completely convinced that his parents did not intend to raise him and then lost him, and thinking of this, Xiao Nanzhu, who has already taken these things to heart, looked at him. The picture of Mrs. Xiao on the tombstone suddenly caught my eye.
What he regrets most in his life is not being able to repay Xiao Ruhua properly. When he was young, this old lady gave him everything well, but when Xiao Ruhua got old, Xiao Nanzhu didn't have time to give her anything.
The disease was about to take her life. Eighteen-year-old Xiao Nanzhu was helpless. He ran out of control and hid his violent emotions, but it was of no use. At the most difficult time, he even sold his blood secretly. He just hoped to use every means he could think of to keep the life of his only relative in this world, and the reason was just because... Without Xiao Ruhua, there would be no more in this world. There is no longer his home.
"I'm good now, I'm not bad at school, I'm at work, you can't guess what I'm doing... I'm still smoking, I haven't quit, and then I'm in a relationship... "
Talking like this with a cigarette in his mouth, it's boring for a person to talk like this, but Xiao Nanzhu didn't stop. He didn't know who he was talking to, but he always felt that his grandmother was there. The other side can also hear it. If he was at that time a few years ago, he might not be able to say these words today, but maybe he has finally found some meaning in life recently, so Xiao Nanzhu is not ashamed now. explained to his grandmother.
"Everyone is nice, but he has a bad temper. You used to say that in the future, you have to find someone who can restrain me, but this time I will definitely be able to do it... But you also know that I can't stand other people the most. , This person is just like this, okay, I want to treat him well... But when I am with him, I will definitely be responsible, so I hope that I can guard him for the rest of my life, and love him for the rest of my life. Good for his life..."
Saying this, Xiao Nanzhu's eyes suddenly changed. The photo of the old lady in front of him stared at him and smiled. He couldn't help laughing. So now he knelt down at his grandmother's grave and kowtowed a few times, and then muttered to himself,
"Anyway... I always die before him."