After all, Man Bao and the others didn't wait for Xia Yi and his wife to come back and install all three beds. Man Bao checked that it was getting late, and decided to go back to the city.
Before leaving, Mrs. Qian pulled Man Bao aside, took out three strings of money and put them in her hand, winked at her and said, "Take it, it's a gift from you as a sister to your younger brothers and sisters."
Originally, I wanted to talk about the meeting ceremony for Tang Bo, but thought that she didn't seem to like Xia Yi very much, so I changed my mind.
Man Bao's eyes lit up, it was the first time for her to be her older sister.
She stretched out her hand to take it, and instead of giving it in public, she pulled the three of them aside and gave it quietly, and whispered: "Don't tell your parents, keep it yourself, this is my greeting gift for you."
Xia Dalang didn't want to accept it, so he pushed it back, and saw his younger brother and sister pulling out the string of money and trying to return it to her, but Man Bao pushed it back, saying: "I'm already an official with a salary, well, speaking of it, our two families are the best Those who are close, the same great ancestor. In this way, I am far away, and I may not come back several times a year. In the future, you go to the grave. When you see the grave of my great-grandparents, remember to clear the grass for them... "
Only then did Man Bao remember the most important thing, and stamped his feet angrily: "Oh, I forgot to visit the graves of Grandpa Taizu and Grandma Taizu."
After saying that, he turned around and ran.
Xia Dalang didn't have time to stop her, and he watched her run away with three strings of money in his hand.
Old Zhou, who was waiting outside, kept muttering: "... She was asked to give it in public, why did she give it quietly?"
This was beyond Qian's expectations, but she still held Lao Zhou's head tightly and reprimanded in a low voice: "Be quiet, give it quietly, you will go in and shout it now, kindly It also became malicious."
Old Zhou said: "You shouldn't have given so much, three hundred Wen."
Qian thought to herself: How did she know that Man Bao was so sincere that he gave it quietly
She was willing to take out so much money because she wanted her to give it in public, so as to make another good one in front of Mrs. Xia.
Old Zhou continued to mutter: "If I had known earlier, I would have paid ten cents."
Qian Shi disliked his quarrel and said, "Shut up."
Old Zhou's voice was a little lower, but he still couldn't help muttering.
Qian was thinking subconsciously, and he didn't know if it was because he was getting old, or because he had a good life, and he was nagging more and more recently.
Man Bao ran out of the house in a hurry, and said in a hurry: "Father, mother, we forgot to pay respects to my great-grandparents."
Old Zhou Tou and Qian Shi: ...
Qian couldn't help turning her head and talking about old Zhou, "What do you remember every day, can you forget this kind of thing?"
Old Zhou: "Is this also my fault?"
When Man Bao and the others rushed back to the patriarch's house, Mr. Zhuang, who had already had a good chat with the patriarch, smiled and said, "Are you done?"
Man Bao opened his mouth to speak, but Mr. Zhuang pointed to the chicken, fish and meat on the table and said, "All the sacrifices are ready for you, are you going to sacrifice your ancestors?"
Man Bao was so moved that his eyes filled with tears, he took Mr. Zhuang's hand and said, "Sir, you are still reliable."
Mr. Zhuang patted her on the head and scolded with a smile: "Naughty, quickly load the basket and go. I have agreed with Patriarch Xia. He also prepared hoes and sickles for you. Your cousins and brothers are waiting for you." Woolen cloth."
Man Bao looked left and right, and asked suspiciously: "Where is Patriarch Xia?"
Mr. Zhuang said with a light smile: "Patriarch Xia drank too much tea and felt a little uncomfortable in his stomach, so he went to rest."
Patriarch Xia and Mr. Zhuang drank tea here for a long time. They didn't ask much about Zhou Man, but they were given a lot of sacrifices. Then he thought that Zhou's family led the young people from other clans to make a feast at Xia Yi's house. Depressed, he couldn't help drinking more tea, and then his stomach swelled, and he felt a little uncomfortable for a while, so he went back to the house to rest.
Seeing that the son and grandson of Patriarch Xia were waiting for them, Man Bao pretended to be a sacrifice and went out without further questioning. Bai Shan and Bai Erlang helped to carry the sickle, while Zhou Dalang and Wu Wulang carried the hoes.
The tombs of the great-grandparents are not very far away, just on the hill next to the village, and it is only a short walk away.
But when they got to the place, even the son of patriarch Xia, who had already visited in advance, searched for a while before finding it.
There are weeds everywhere, and a big tree grows beside the grave, completely covering the tomb.
Not to mention looking at it from a distance, you can't tell it's a tomb even if you look up close.
Patriarch Xia's son was a little embarrassed, and said to Zhou Man, "Your parents haven't come back for many years, so there is no one to sacrifice, but occasionally Uncle Xia will come back to sacrifice."
It's just that the last sacrifice was several years ago.
Man Bao frowned, nodded, and started mowing and shoveling grass with everyone.
In fact, she wants to ask, doesn't the clan worship the tombs of orphans and widows every Qingming Festival
In their Qili Village, each family has a pile of tombs to be sacrificed together. The village has experienced several catastrophes, and many families have died.
Other festivals are fine, but in Qingming Village, Qingming Village will organize young people to sweep all the graves. Anyway, the sacrifice dishes are the same, but it’s just a few more graves, and you won’t eat them when you take them home
If you are a fellow villager, if you visit more graves, you may get more protection.
In Man Bao's memory, she didn't know that the grave next to her grandparents belonged to her own parents. The village even said that they didn't know whose family belonged to it. It seemed to be a wild grave. That's it. If we shoveled the weeds from the grave, they would also pay respects, and she never felt that it was wrong.
So she couldn't quite understand why her great-grandparents could not be sacrificed even if they were on the edge of the village. Among other things, there must be a lot of blood relatives in the village.
Man Bao groaned in his heart, and went back after clearing the weeds on the tomb for offering sacrifices. She didn't stay in Hongtian Village, and ran away with Bai Shanbai Erlang on a horse. It was only when she left Hongtian Village that she felt depressed Change horses.
In the end, they ran into Xia Yi and his wife who came back not far from the village. Man Bao still remembered the hatred of her great-grandparents for not being sacrificed, so others will not talk about it. With her house.
So half of his body leaned out of the window to wave hello to Xia Yi, and shouted loudly: "Uncle Yi, why did you come back, I have cleaned up your house."
Daji didn't stop, but slowed down the speed of the car, and the carriage passed by Xia Yi and his wife with a rumble. Man Bao clearly saw their two eyes that instantly widened, and he laughed loudly and said: "Your bed, you We have repacked your boxes and chairs for you, and many people in the clan have helped, so go back and see if you don’t believe me.”
Xia Yi was terribly frightened, thinking she had done something to their house, he jumped up angrily, "Xia Man, that's my house, what have you done to my house?"
"It's nothing, Uncle Yi, I love my brothers and sisters, and I love you too. I will come back to see you next year. Goodbye."