half thorns, half joy

The next day is the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month.

According to the local customs in Songyang County, Xiao Zihan and Tang Xuan bought paper money and sacrifices, and drove to the cemetery together.

Songyang County is located in a remote area, and its development is slow. A few years ago, in response to the call of the state, burials were banned and cremation was replaced.

When Tang Xuan's parents left, they were still buried. There was a big mountain behind the county seat of Songyang County. The government hadn't considered protecting the mountain in the early years. People who died in Songyang County were buried on that unnamed mountain. Tang Xuan's parents didn't either. exception.

After the cremation began, except for the Qingming Festival and the Zhongyuan Festival, no one came to the back mountain, and it gradually became barren.The road up the mountain was very narrow and it was impossible to drive up. Xiao Zihan drove to the foot of the mountain, turned off the engine, and got out of the car with Tang Xuan.

"Hold me, baby." Xiao Zihan opened the trunk and took out the things, divided them into two parts, one light and the other heavy, and put the heavy part under his feet.

Tang Xuan smiled and shook her head, "It's okay. I've walked the road here many times, and I'm very familiar with it. But you, I'm worried that you'll be unsteady if you carry things and hold your baby. After all, this is a mountain road."

"Don't underestimate me. I participated in a rock climbing competition back then. What is this?" Xiao Zihan took the baby from Tang Xuan without saying a word, as if to show his strong physique, and deliberately put his powerful arm He waved in front of Tang Xuan's eyes.

"Okay then, I'll lead the way."

Tang Xuan knew that Xiao Zihan was very persistent in this regard, so she didn't argue with Xiao Zihan, she picked up her things and walked ahead to check the road conditions.

After all, Xiao Zihan was more careful when he was holding the baby than he was when he walked alone. He always paid attention to whether the soil under his feet would be loose, and he didn't have the time to argue with Tang Xuan.

The two walked up the winding path. Tang Xuan's parents were buried halfway up the mountain. After walking for about half an hour, they arrived at the place.

"It's here." Tang Xuan stepped over a small ditch that was man-made or naturally formed, turned her head and said to Xiao Zihan.

Xiao Zihan suddenly became serious, let out a nervous breath, and walked over to stand side by side with Tang Xuan.

Tang Xuan circled around and saw some people coming to the grave to burn paper money in the distance.We were all from the same small place, and Tang Xuan basically knew who the nearby graves belonged to, but they were far away, so she didn't intend to say hello.

"You should hold the baby and stand over there first." Tang Xuan put the bag on the ground, took out a small shovel from inside, rolled up her sleeves, and prepared to shovel weeds.

Just as Xiao Zihan was about to say he was coming, Tang Xuan stopped him with a gesture.

Tang Xuan knelt down and said as she shoveled, "You can't do this job, and you can't do it well either, so don't try to be brave."

"...Okay." Xiao Zihan had never done this kind of thing before. He watched Tang Xuan carefully shoveling the weeds and patting the upturned soil on the grave with great care.

While watching, he wrote down Tang Xuan's actions.

"Okay, let's burn paper money." Tang Xuan jumped down and knelt down in the middle of the two graves.

Seeing this, Xiao Zihan immediately became solemn. He walked over and knelt next to Tang Xuan, asking with his eyes what should baby Tang Xuan do.

Tang Xuan divided the paper money and said softly, "It's okay, just hold him like that, he can't stand up yet, don't let him down."

"Ah."

Taking a look at the baby, Tang Xuan pushed the paper money away, took out the lighter from the bag, and lit the paper money.

Xiao Zihan watched Tang Xuan divide the paper money into piles and lit them separately, and listened to Tang Xuan continue to say a series of memorial words in his hometown dialect. Xiao Zihan analyzed the main idea with the sporadic and simple words to tell his parents that he was doing well and let them Don't worry about yourself, live your life below.

The ashes of the burnt paper money were blown by the wind and instantly flew into the air.

"Next, it's time to place the offerings." Tang Xuan opened the bag, took out the latest melons, fruits, snacks, and meat, and placed them on a small stone slab in front of the grave.

When Tang Xuan bought it, she bought two copies, one for each side, to be impartial.

After finishing, Tang Xuan knelt down beside Xiao Zihan again, looked at Xiao Zihan, "Kowtow, kowtow three times."

Xiao Zihan responded inaudibly, and together with Tang Xuan, kowtowed three times to the two graves with infinite respect and nostalgia.

After kowtowing, Tang Xuan didn't get up immediately. She looked at the grave and smiled slightly.

"Dad, Mom, I brought Xiao Zihan and our children to see you." She glanced at Xiao Zihan as she spoke, with tears in her eyes full of smiles, "Xiao Zihan is fine, we are very happy together Happiness, I have my own home now, I am no longer alone, you don’t have to worry about me.”

Xiao Zihan's Adam's apple rolled, and his eyes became hot because of Tang Xuan's few words.

He looked towards the grave, swallowed, and said firmly, "Dad, Mom, please rest assured, I will definitely protect Tang Xuan and the children, and will never let them suffer in any way."

After speaking, he and Tang Xuan looked at each other, their eyes were red.

After staring at each other for a long time, Tang Xuan burst out laughing. She wiped away her tears and pulled Xiao Zihan to stand up.

"Let's go back now."

After all, there are graves all around, and the ashes of burned paper money are floating in the sky, so it is really not a place to stroll leisurely.

After returning to the car, Xiao Zihan and Tang Xuan's mood stabilized a lot.

Through the car window, Xiao Zihan looked at the tombs protruding like steamed buns on the almost bare mountain, feeling heavy in his heart.

It is the kind of heavy that is weighed down by the heavy history and human feelings.

A complexity that cannot be understood without personal experience.

On the way back, Xiao Zihan and Tang Xuan didn't speak, only the sound of the baby biting his fingers and learning how to make sounds filled the entire carriage.

"Do you want to go home directly?" Xiao Zihan asked Tang Xuan when the car drove out of the mountain road to the busy street and waited for the red light.

Tang Xuan hummed, and then asked, "Is there anything else you want to do?"

Xiao Zihan glanced at the low buildings in front of the car, and suddenly said, "Why don't we just drive around."

"...That's fine too." Tang Xuan nodded, "Anyway, I haven't been here for several years, so I can take a look."

Xiao Zihan slowed down the car, and casually turned right into an unfamiliar street.

……

After wandering outside, a day passed by, and when Xiao Zihan and Tang Xuan returned home, it was already dark.

The baby was so tired that he fell asleep in Tang Xuan's arms.

"I should have come back earlier. If the baby is sick, it will be troublesome." Xiao Zihan took out the key and opened the door with self-blame.

At this time, the iron door downstairs opened with a bang, and a series of footsteps sounded.

"Hey, you're finally back. I've left the door open to wait for you." Aunt Liu who ran up the stairs was Aunt Liu from downstairs.

Tang Xuan was puzzled, "Aunt Liu, what's the matter?"

Xiao Zihan opened the door, and Aunt Liu followed Tang Xuan into the door, her face blushing, "Didn't you give me those two bags of good things last night and told me to share them? I gave a bag to your Aunt Wang in Building 7. 3 Uncle Li in the No. [-] building shared a bag, all of which were former colleagues of your father."

"Well, thank you." Tang Xuan handed the child to Xiao Zihan, and bowed politely to Aunt Liu.

"Thank you, the two of them were waiting to say a few words to you, but you didn't come back. They couldn't wait, so they went home first. Didn't I hear that you came back, so I specially told you Just say it. Auntie is not greedy for your stuff."

Tang Xuan couldn't help laughing, "Aunt Liu, I understand what you said."

Seeing Tang Xuan's tired face, Aunt Liu said goodbye with winks, "That's fine, then you guys go to bed early, I'll go back first."

"okay."

Tang Xuan sent Aunt Liu to the door, and watched Aunt Liu trot downstairs again.She thought it was fun, and the corners of her mouth turned up unconsciously.

Originally, the health care products were bought as gifts, but for her, it was the same for anyone.And even if Aunt Liu took it herself, she wouldn't feel bad about it.

After all, among these people, she is relatively familiar with Aunt Liu.

But I didn't expect that Auntie Liu would treat the things she casually told Aunt Liu as if it was a big deal, and not only helped her do it seriously, but also came here to explain it.

Kind of cute.