However, the next day early in the morning, Li Wanyun went to Lin Shouyi, who was in charge, and said that Lao Zhang would be buried today.
At this time the sun already came out, and the women and fulangs who were helping were all in the yard. When they heard her say this, they couldn't help but look over.
"This..." Lin Shouyi hesitated. They here should have to wait for three days before burying the body. Lao Zhang just died yesterday and it was not the time yet.
"Uncle Shouyi, I didn't insist on today. However I spent the last bit of money in my hand to buy a coffin. I only have a few rice bags left, and there are not many flours in the jar. I can't even afford three-days vegetarian banquet with white seats."
[白席 bái xí: lit. white seat; fig. people who greet each other at banquets in the ancient north.
Li Wanyun wiped her tears, she glanced at Wei Lanxiang and the others, and then cried again: "I know that the people in our village are kind and willing to lend me things, but I have already sold the land. From now on, I can only earn money by doing needlework. If the people in our village lend something to me, when can I pay it back? Isn't this asking others to drink the northwest wind?"
[喝西北风 hē xī běi fēng: lit. drink the northwest wind (idiom); cold and hungry]
What she said was indeed reasonable. With the condition of the Zhang family now, she wouldn't be able to pay off the debts. Her conscience alone made Lin Shouyi look at her with admiration. Who could imagine that a woman who couldn't read a single word could have such insight.
"But the grave hasn't been dug yet." Lin Shouyi said.
It usually took two or three days to dig a grave. They couldn't afford to hire people to dig and build a grave in the countryside, most of them only dig a pit for the grave. However the men who helped to dig the grave also had their own works at home, they couldn't stay on the south slope to dig grave all the time.
What was more, there were also those poor families who couldn't even afford to buy a coffin. On the day when those people died, they could only wrap the deceased with torn mats, and then buried in the soil, and nothing more. They also didn't even have money to arrange vegetarian banquet.
Li Wanyun lowered her head and thought for a moment, then raised her head and said: "The most important thing, my mother lived a long life, and I'm unwilling to say that she died because of injury or illness. I just think that as long as there's someone who can mourn for her, so that she can have good reincarnation and be a healthy baby in the next life, and not ended up become a baby with illness. In this way, Uncle Shouyi, I hope you can call more men to go to the south slope to dig the grave, and I will kill two chickens and put two tables of meat for them, to console them for their trouble and great efforts."
If she wanted to invite those men to dig the grave in one go, she had to give them better food so that they were willing to come. Digging a grave was a laborious job after all.
If everyone in the village hadn't been watching, and Lin Shouyi who was in charge also came over, anyone could tell at a glance that she should follow the rules of the three-days vegetarian banquet. Otherwise, after what happened yesterday, she wouldn't even be willing to wrap Lao Zhang in a torn mat.
It was said that weddings and funerals, for old person who could live a long life, it could be called a joy and mourning. Being able to eat meat and drink wine like a happy event, of course, it was a rare thing in the countryside, and most of them were vegetarian banquets.
Lin Shouyi thought for a while, then nodded and said, "Sure, I'll do as you say."
Li Wanyun wiped the tears on her face. She didn't sleep all night last night. She thought about it all night before she came up with these words.
The old woman was dead. Why should she set up a banquet for three days for those rotten beasts from the Zhang family to eat? That would be terrible. Everything needed money, however she needed this money to save her life in the future. She didn't want to spend a single copper coin more. In such a situation, her brain became flexible when she was forced to do so.
She thought, it would be better to bury the old woman today. Once the dead ghost was buried, the world would be at peace. As for whether the old woman could reincarnate or not, she gritted her teeth secretly, but in the end she couldn't come up with any harsh words to relieve her anger.
She went to the backyard to catch two chickens without anyone else helping her. She was too busy these days and the backyard wasn't swept. The chicken and duck excrement in the pen was all over the floor. There was also a pile of dung covered with soil beside the wall. Usually, when there was too much accumulation, it was taken to fertilize the ground.
Seeing that Li Wanyun actually brought the two chickens over, the aunts and grandmas who were helping in the kitchen quickly boiled water for the chickens.
When they heard that the men who dug the grave could eat stewed chicken, a woman came over to take a look and pretended to help with the vegetarian banquet. When she saw that the chickens were really killed and bled, she quickly slipped away and went home, then he called her man to go up the mountain with a shovel. He could come to help digging the grave and the eat meat dishes at noon.
However, the next day early in the morning, Li Wanyun went to Lin Shouyi, who was in charge, and said that Lao Zhang would be buried today.
At this time the sun already came out, and the women and fulangs who were helping were all in the yard. When they heard her say this, they couldn't help but look over.
"This..." Lin Shouyi hesitated. They here should have to wait for three days before burying the body. Lao Zhang just died yesterday and it was not the time yet.
"Uncle Shouyi, I didn't insist on today. However I spent the last bit of money in my hand to buy a coffin. I only have a few rice bags left, and there are not many flours in the jar. I can't even afford three-days vegetarian banquet with white seats."
[白席 bái xí: lit. white seat; fig. people who greet each other at banquets in the ancient north.
Li Wanyun wiped her tears, she glanced at Wei Lanxiang and the others, and then cried again: "I know that the people in our village are kind and willing to lend me things, but I have already sold the land. From now on, I can only earn money by doing needlework. If the people in our village lend something to me, when can I pay it back? Isn't this asking others to drink the northwest wind?"
[喝西北风 hē xī běi fēng: lit. drink the northwest wind (idiom); cold and hungry]
What she said was indeed reasonable. With the condition of the Zhang family now, she wouldn't be able to pay off the debts. Her conscience alone made Lin Shouyi look at her with admiration. Who could imagine that a woman who couldn't read a single word could have such insight.
"But the grave hasn't been dug yet." Lin Shouyi said.
It usually took two or three days to dig a grave. They couldn't afford to hire people to dig and build a grave in the countryside, most of them only dig a pit for the grave. However the men who helped to dig the grave also had their own works at home, they couldn't stay on the south slope to dig grave all the time.
What was more, there were also those poor families who couldn't even afford to buy a coffin. On the day when those people died, they could only wrap the deceased with torn mats, and then buried in the soil, and nothing more. They also didn't even have money to arrange vegetarian banquet.
Li Wanyun lowered her head and thought for a moment, then raised her head and said: "The most important thing, my mother lived a long life, and I'm unwilling to say that she died because of injury or illness. I just think that as long as there's someone who can mourn for her, so that she can have good reincarnation and be a healthy baby in the next life, and not ended up become a baby with illness. In this way, Uncle Shouyi, I hope you can call more men to go to the south slope to dig the grave, and I will kill two chickens and put two tables of meat for them, to console them for their trouble and great efforts."
If she wanted to invite those men to dig the grave in one go, she had to give them better food so that they were willing to come. Digging a grave was a laborious job after all.
If everyone in the village hadn't been watching, and Lin Shouyi who was in charge also came over, anyone could tell at a glance that she should follow the rules of the three-days vegetarian banquet. Otherwise, after what happened yesterday, she wouldn't even be willing to wrap Lao Zhang in a torn mat.
It was said that weddings and funerals, for old person who could live a long life, it could be called a joy and mourning. Being able to eat meat and drink wine like a happy event, of course, it was a rare thing in the countryside, and most of them were vegetarian banquets.
Lin Shouyi thought for a while, then nodded and said, "Sure, I'll do as you say."
Li Wanyun wiped the tears on her face. She didn't sleep all night last night. She thought about it all night before she came up with these words.
The old woman was dead. Why should she set up a banquet for three days for those rotten beasts from the Zhang family to eat? That would be terrible. Everything needed money, however she needed this money to save her life in the future. She didn't want to spend a single copper coin more. In such a situation, her brain became flexible when she was forced to do so.
She thought, it would be better to bury the old woman today. Once the dead ghost was buried, the world would be at peace. As for whether the old woman could reincarnate or not, she gritted her teeth secretly, but in the end she couldn't come up with any harsh words to relieve her anger.
She went to the backyard to catch two chickens without anyone else helping her. She was too busy these days and the backyard wasn't swept. The chicken and duck excrement in the pen was all over the floor. There was also a pile of dung covered with soil beside the wall. Usually, when there was too much accumulation, it was taken to fertilize the ground.
Seeing that Li Wanyun actually brought the two chickens over, the aunts and grandmas who were helping in the kitchen quickly boiled water for the chickens.
When they heard that the men who dug the grave could eat stewed chicken, a woman came over to take a look and pretended to help with the vegetarian banquet. When she saw that the chickens were really killed and bled, she quickly slipped away and went home, then he called her man to go up the mountain with a shovel. He could come to help digging the grave and the eat meat dishes at noon.
