The day after the fourth uncle's funeral, the cousin withdrew from the family group and flew to a unit thousands of miles away
The next morning, I received the ** from Lao Shi. His voice was anxious and helpless: "Fifth brother, the ambulance has set off from us, and we have to rush back to our hometown, but the road is long, we have to walk more than 1,500 kilometers, and it will take at least 17 hours to arrive." Dad's situation is not optimistic, whether he can reach his hometown is still unknown, we can only rush back as soon as possible. ”
I hesitated for a moment and said, "Old ten, if the fourth uncle was quieter in the hospital, it might be safer, can't you stay in the hospital?" ”
Lao Shi smiled bitterly: "Fifth brother, Dad insisted on going back to his hometown, and he went back a few days ago. I can't go against his will. I have arranged for an ambulance to take my father back to his hometown, and the two drivers take turns driving. ”
I was silent for a moment and said, "The fourth uncle asks to go back to his hometown, so let's listen to him." This is also considered filial piety. But be careful on the road and remind drivers to pay attention to safety. ”
After I hung up, my heart was full of worry and uneasiness. I have a hunch that the fourth uncle may not be able to make it to his hometown, and may die on the way.
I hurriedly called my cousins in my hometown to inform them of the news that my fourth uncle had rushed back to my hometown in an ambulance.
My name is Ma Jun, I am 51 years old and I live in a small mountain village in Hechi, Guangxi. Just now I had a conversation with my cousin Ma Xiang, who lives and works in a distant prefecture-level city in Anhui Province, and he is the tenth in our family.
Ma Xiang is 11 years younger than me, the son of my father's elder brother and fourth uncle, and is 77 years old this year. The fourth uncle's health suddenly deteriorated this afternoon, coupled with a variety of diseases, and the hospital was powerless. At the moment of his life, he insisted on returning to his hometown ......
Ma Jun is the fifth in our family, and our grandparents have a total of 10 grandchildren and 11 granddaughters, and we are known as "10 Donkey Kongs" and "11 Golden Flowers".
Our siblings' childhood was full of joy, and despite the poverty of the family, we all had a lot of fun together. But once, I saved my cousin Ma Xiang's life, and this incident became a good story in our family.
Ma Xiang has liked to read since he was a child, is talented and intelligent, and became the first college student in his family. After working hard, he became the technical backbone of the unit, bought a house, and gave birth to children.
However, his parents left their hometown to take their granddaughter to the city where he worked. Our family is proud of him, but his parents are inseparable.
A few years later, Ma Xiang's mother suddenly became seriously ill, and he had to call for an ambulance to take her back to her hometown ......
All this worries and upsets me. Can the fourth uncle return to his hometown safely? This became the biggest concern on my mind.
After they drove two hours onto the highway, the fourth aunt died at the age of 63. According to the tradition of the homeland, the body of a person who has died of illness should be transported back to his hometown and not allowed to enter his or her own house. Lao Shi and the fourth uncle felt very helpless, so they could only hurriedly set up a grass hut in the field across the road from the mountain village, and simply buried the fourth aunt. Such a hasty and humble funeral seems a bit hasty, especially since the fourth aunt is a relatively young mother in the mountain village......
At that time, Lao Shi felt very incomprehensible about the customs of his hometown, but these were traditional practices, and he couldn't go against them. Later, Lao Shi left his hometown with his father and went to work.
In the next few years, Lao Shi did not return to his hometown, and every year on the Qingming Festival, the third sister who married into a nearby village led the family to sweep the tomb. Lao Shi's wife gave birth to a second child, a son, and the fourth uncle was so happy that he cried. The fourth uncle also said that Lao Shi changed to a big house with four bedrooms and two living rooms, with an area of 143 square meters, which is very beautiful.
Later, one day, the fourth uncle suddenly called me ** and said: "Nephew, I have a girlfriend, she lives in Nanning, Guangxi, and is 11 years younger than me. ”
I said, "Okay, Fourth Uncle, you have a girlfriend, take her back to your hometown to meet us." Ma Xiang shouldn't object to you making friends, right? ”
The fourth uncle said: "Ma Xiang didn't object, he just said that he didn't have the money to buy me a house and let me go back to Nanning to live with my girlfriend." ”
I could only comfort the fourth uncle and say, "Elderly people make friends of the opposite sex, don't take it too seriously." If you get along, you can communicate more, and if you don't get along, forget it......”
In the fifth lunar month of last year, Lao Shi and the fourth uncle returned to their hometown, and the old ten asked us cousins to sort out the ashes of the fourth aunt who had passed away for a few years and rebury them. I quietly asked the fourth uncle if he was still in contact with his girlfriend, and the fourth uncle said that he did not go to Nanning to buy a house, and the girlfriend blocked him. After that, they returned to Anhui.
Two months ago, I talked to my fourth uncle a few times**. The fourth uncle told me: "Ma Xiang is 40 years old this year, he has become the leader of the unit, and there are always guests at home who bring some souvenirs. Ma Xiang will stay in Anhui for the rest of his life, and our family will have a family ...... in Anhui in the future”
I said, "Fourth uncle, the population of our family has increased, and it should develop like this. It is a good thing that Lao Shi has the ability to develop in Anhui, but it is necessary to remind Lao Shi not to accept money and gifts from others. The fourth uncle should pay attention to his body, grandpa could live to be 86 years old in that era, and you have to surpass grandpa to ......”
Unexpectedly, Lao Shi suddenly called** to say that the fourth uncle was dying and was being sent back to his hometown by ambulance ......
At this moment, I am very worried about the situation of the fourth uncle, and every hour I will ask the old ten dozen ** about the situation of the fourth uncle. Lao Shi told me: "The car is entering the Shanghai-Rong Expressway, and my father has just passed away." Dad didn't survive and didn't make it to the ...... back home”
Lao Shi couldn't cry and ......I tried my best to comfort him, told him to mourn, let him mourn in the family WeChat group and the village's WeChat**, and then calm down, and then discuss the matter of handling the aftermath later.
30 minutes later, Lao Shi called me ** to discuss the funeral of the fourth uncle. We analyzed the situation of the existing people in the mountain village, as well as the situation of the fourth uncle's family, and then developed a plan.
After I finished talking to Lao Shi, I immediately contacted the Eight King Kongs in the family. Through a ** contact, there is only the old.
3. Old. Fourth, the sixth child can participate in the funeral of the fourth uncle, and the fourth child promised to rush back from the city the next morning.
After a while, the third and sixth children came to my house, and we discussed the specific matters of handling the funeral.
The third said: "The fifth, our family has ten King Kongs and eleven golden flowers, and when we encounter such a big thing, the eleven golden flowers have already been married, and I understand that we can't come in time." But among the top ten King Kongs, in addition to the old ten, we also have nine King Kongs. ”
I said, "I just contacted them one by one, and the boss was not in good health in Nanning and could not come; The second child is the natal year this year and cannot participate in the funeral; The fourth or sixth child only went to Guangdong from his hometown, and only found a job three days ago to start work, and it was ......difficult to even pay the fare to go home”
I briefly explained the reasons why the brothers could not attend the funeral, and after hearing this, the sixth child said: "Fifth brother, the reason why they did not participate in the funeral is not valid." To put it bluntly, the fundamental reason is that the people of the fourth uncle's family have rarely participated in the family's red and white affairs in the past ten years, and they have not even been here eight years before the death of the second uncle, and the tenth has never come. Everything is a courtesy, and brothers are no exception. ”
I said: "Sixth, you are right, in the past ten years, the people of the fourth uncle's family have not participated in the red and white affairs in the family, let alone the red and white affairs in the village, and sometimes even the gift money is not in place. Therefore, this time the fourth uncle died, and the funeral was handled, mainly asking outsiders to help. ”
I paused when I was done. The third said: "Fifth child, you must discuss it with the tenth child, you can tell me about the arrangement of things, and we will implement it." ”
I said: "Lao Shi has realized that over the years, he has not helped any family in the red and white ceremonies in the village. Therefore, this funeral all costs money to hire someone to handle it, as long as there is no shortage of money, it should go well, and Lao Shi happens to be not short of money. I have already arranged: (1) ask the merit service team in the next village to be responsible for loading the coffin, moving the coffin, digging a pit and making a grave; (2) Contact a restaurant on the street, which provides 30 tables of meals in these three days, and I suggested increasing it to 30 tables, and Lao Shi accepted my suggestion; (3) The funeral site is only set up for one night, and we will contact the dojo, and someone will immediately contact the dojo in the next village. The whole funeral was handled by outsiders, and a few of us only needed to make a fuss. Let's split up and get in touch......”
After I made the arrangement, the sixth child immediately said: "Fifth brother, you and your sister-in-law are really affectionate, I saw in the WeChat group that my sister-in-law came back by plane from Fujian." ”
I said, "At the critical moment, it's up to everyone, and you can't force it." Didn't the sixth brother and daughter-in-law also come from Guiyang? ”
The third child said: "My wife can't come over, she takes her granddaughter in Yulin, and I am the only ...... in my family who can help."”
I said, "Don't worry, the third child, in fact, this funeral has all been handled by someone, we don't have much to do, just a few of us can do it." I think that in the future, the funeral handling in rural areas will become professional, and it will be more convenient if the rural funeral reform is promoted, such as promoting cremation. ”
After that, I contacted the merit service team, and they asked for 7,000 yuan and sent seven people to help. I contacted a restaurant on the street, they provide 30 tables of meals in three days, a table of dishes is 400 yuan, they can deliver the food to the door, it only takes 12 minutes from the street to our hometown ......
At this time, the three daughters of the fourth uncle returned home. I asked them to clean the house, and at the same time asked the third and sixth children to build a tent. One or two people from the village also came to help, and soon a shed was erected in front ......of the fourth uncle's house
At about 10 a.m. the next morning, an ambulance slowly drove into the village and stopped in front of the fourth uncle's house. A few of us stepped forward, carried the fourth uncle out of the car, and put him in the prepared place.
Because of the dojo's explanation, the fourth uncle died outside, and he needed to do something to be buried. This is not a superstition in our case, but a custom, and we just follow the procedure.
After we left the body of the fourth uncle in the shed, the ambulance left. I said to Lao Shi: "How much will it cost for an ambulance to come here from where you work in Anhui?" ”
Lao Shi said: "It costs 17,000 yuan, and the cost is not a problem." Oh, I see, I'll check it out, have you been connected about buying a shroud, inviting a dojo, and asking someone to load a coffin and carry a coffin to make a grave? ”
I said, "After contacting, the shroud will be delivered to the door immediately, the dojo is already on the way, and the merit service team is almost ......."”
The funeral of the fourth uncle proceeded in an orderly manner: the shroud was delivered to the house; After the master of the ashram recited the sutras in the shed, the body of the fourth uncle was moved into the house; According to the arrangement of the dojo, Lao Shi asked me to bathe the fourth uncle with him, change into a shroud, and the people from the merit service team assisted us in loading the coffin; The master of the dojo took Ma Xiang and two people from the merit company to find the cemetery, and in less than half an hour, the cemetery was selected, and it was determined that the burial would be carried out at 6 o'clock in the morning on the third day, the funeral would be carried out at 6:20 a.m., and the burial would be carried out at 7 o'clock, and the people of the merit service team immediately began to dig the grave and prepared the bricks and cement ...... needed to build the tomb
Lao Shi told me that at noon the next day, five friends from Anhui would come to our hometown together and ask me to receive them. Sure enough, at noon the next day, five guests from Anhui drove an off-road vehicle to the fourth uncle's house. Lao Shi actually cried like a child......In the afternoon, the guests from Anhui drove away again.
In the afternoon, Lao Shi's sister and brother-in-law arrived, and my wife also returned to her hometown from Fujian. However, among the eleven golden flowers, except for the five daughters of the fourth uncle's family and their husbands, only my sister and brother-in-law came to help, and the other five golden flowers did not see ......At half past seven o'clock in the evening of the third day, the fourth uncle's family opened a dojo, and Lao Shi and his five sisters and their husbands wore linen and filial piety, and throughout the night, several people in the dojo beat gongs and drums. Originally, I was supposed to follow the old ten and them, kowtowing and turning circles to the fourth uncle according to the instructions of the dojo, but because I was the general coordinator of this funeral, I did not participate in the ranks of their siblings ......
At around 2 p.m. on the third day, the merit service team left after eating, indicating that the funeral of the fourth uncle had ended a stage. If according to the usual custom, Lao Shi and his sisters, as well as me and my cousins, should immediately go to Qingming, and then do three days of "three mornings", but because the burial of the fourth uncle is a "secret burial", even firecrackers do not need to be ......
At this time, Lao Shi came to me and said, "Fifth brother, you helped me with all my father's funeral, and my sister-in-law also flew back from Fujian to help." Thank you so much. I owe too much to my family and the people in the village, and many people did not come to see me for this funeral, and I was also very helpless. I don't blame them, I have five friends in Anhui who drove nearly 4,000 miles to our small mountain village, but when I was most helpless, not many people from my parents and villagers came to visit me......The funeral is over, I will go to the provincial capital immediately, and I will take a plane back to Anhui ...... tomorrow morning”
The next morning, I received a WeChat message from Lao Shi: "Fifth brother, I'm going to get on the plane, I quit the family's WeChat group, let's contact directly in private chat in the future." Fifth brother, you are my savior, you helped me when I was most helpless, you will always be my fifth brother! ”
After I received the news, I was full of emotion, although Lao Shi is my nephew, he is like my own brother in my heart. 