Druid's Country Retirement

Chapter 536 Kneel down

Under the gaze of countless pairs of eyes, the gong and drum team of hundreds of people walked to the entrance of Shilipu Village. One team split into two teams and spread out to both sides of the intersection, exposing the passage in the middle.

Li Hongbing walked in front holding a white flag and stopped more than ten meters away from Luo Long.

Li Hongqi, who was standing next to him, took out a firecracker and lit it.

The firecrackers are finished.

Li Hongbing took a step forward with a solemn expression. On the white flag were written the words "Caogou Village Dedication". The white cloth was like snow and the black characters were like ink.

"When I heard that uncle Mazi of the Luo family passed away, Caogou Village came to express condolences. The hero has gone well and rests in the green mountains forever! His name will last forever and his reputation will last forever!"

Luo Long stepped forward, slowly knelt down to the side and kowtowed.

"My dear sir, I have a spirit in heaven. I will protect you and your relatives and friends for a safe life. May all your wishes come true! I am here to entertain you with a small amount of wine. Please bear with me, my filial son, and thank you!"

A descendant of the Luo family lit a short whip, and another descendant of the Luo family took the white flag from Li Hongbing and walked back to Luo Long.

The formal meeting is over.

"Thank you!" Luo Long responded with a dull face and a hoarse voice.

"You lead the villagers to offer gifts and go in to burn incense. I will go in alone!"

A pig, a sheep, a cow, a goose, a chicken, and a duck.

Immediately shouted loudly.

But the farmland in front of us has been filled up, even the soil is new, and the rustic atmosphere has not yet dissipated.

The villagers from behind came forward, said a word of condolences, then thanked Luo Long, and Zhike took the person away.

Li Hongbing vaguely remembered that there was farmland in front of the ancestral hall, because when he was a child, he went to school in Shilipu and often wandered around the village.

Is your Caogou Village so cruel?

The shot is three live animals.

"Caogou Village will send sacrifices, one live cow, one live pig, one live sheep each."

Since time was running out, these animals could not be killed, so Li Hongbing simply brought them all up alive.

This Caogou Village is really wealthy. No wonder there are rumors in the forest area that the people in Caogou Village are now households with ten thousand yuan, otherwise they would be given ten thousand yuan as a gift for nothing.

See these sacrifices.

Too thick.

People give three animals as gifts, namely, a cow's head, a sheep's head, and a pig's head.

The Luo family next to them gulped and took out the black sleeves as a return gift from the frame.

The accountant saw the words Caogou Village Died on the envelope, took it and squeezed it, and immediately felt something was wrong.

Usually in rural areas, a gift is given for nothing, usually 10 yuan or 20 yuan, and more than 50 or 100 yuan is a huge amount, but the envelope in my hand is terrifyingly thick.

Li Hongbing nodded, the Luo brothers were doing their best.

There are sheds, stages, square tables and stools set up on the filled farmland. There are steaming cauldrons and busy villagers beside the shed.

"The condolence gift from Caogou Village is 10,000 yuan."

The helping Luo family villagers suddenly raised their heads and looked towards the accounting room, with shock in their eyes.

The young man who led the way saw Li Hongbing's doubts.

Li Hongbing came to Luo Long and whispered, "People cannot be resurrected after death. It is a good thing to mourn and accept the change. Uncle Mazi died without illness."

Luo Hu, who was in charge of the wake, kowtowed to the condolences guests and thanked him for coming to see his uncle off.

"Village Chief Li, Brother Long knew that my uncle's time was short, so he hired an excavator to fill in the fields, saying it would be convenient for the funeral."

Zhike nearby quickly arranged for someone to take the condolence team from Caogou Village to the Luo family ancestral hall.

The villagers of Caogou Village put on black sleeves and walked into the ancestral hall under the guidance of Zhike. They kowtowed three times in front of the portrait of Uncle Luo and burned two pieces of fire paper.

When they arrived at the entrance of the ancestral hall, the group of players started beating the drums when they saw people coming to express their condolences.

"Register!" Fu Sheng urged in a low voice when he saw that the accountant didn't respond.

When he took it out, the accountant took a deep breath. He didn't even remove the seal on the stack of money.

Immediately afterwards, Fu Sheng led people to pull the sacrifice forward.

Waiting for the villagers of Caogou Village to enter the ancestral hall.

Inside is a thick wad of banknotes.

Open the envelope flap.

Li Hongbing knew that there were more than ten villages waiting behind him, so he said nothing more, nodded and led the people away.

The accountant opened his mouth wide and his whole body was numb. The Luo family members who were watching the excitement and helping were also numb.

Hearing this, Jianjun didn't ask too many questions. He knew that Brother Hongbing and Uncle Luo had a special relationship. He personally picked up the old man to attend the last wedding. He heard that Uncle Luo and Boss Li also had a special relationship, and this time he expressed condolences to the Li family. All the young and old are here.

Li Hongbing gave up his position, turned to Jianjun and said.

A group of people from Caogou Village who had been taken away earlier came to the Luo Family Ancestral Hall.

Oh!

The accounting clerk reacted, picked up a brush and wrote down the sacrifices in the accounting book, and sang loudly at the same time.

So he led everyone in Caogou Village to the counting room table and handed over an envelope made of white paper.

At this moment.

The father, his two brothers-in-law, and Li Hongbing walked up to the accountant and said with a sad expression.

"Red soldiers, salute!"

Uncle Mazi and his father were of the same generation, so naturally they would not offer condolences in person. Unless the son-in-law was a single family, the son-in-law could only express condolences by the male family member.

Li Hongbing took the basket covered with black cloth from his eldest brother-in-law. It was heavy and he didn't know what was in it.

The basket is placed on the accounting table.

The accountant had just calmed down his excitement and didn't care about the gift-giving to this family.

What can be put into the basket is definitely not something valuable.

It's nothing more than meat such as eggs, chickens, and ducks.

Many people in front of me gave gifts like this, but there were still people who gave me vermicelli.

The accountant casually lifted up the black cloth covering the basket, and was stunned on the spot, staring straight at the basket.

"His second uncle, hurry up and accept the gift so that we can go back." A middle-aged woman wearing an apron came to the side. Her face was a little impatient at first, but before she could finish her words, she froze in place.

That’s a lot of money!

It was the first time in my life that I saw so much money.

How much is this bundle?

When Li Hongbing saw the money in the basket, his expression was not that exaggerated, but he was still a little surprised. He looked back at his father and asked with his eyes that he had sent it correctly.

"What are you looking at? I'm giving a gift to my brother. This little money is nothing!" Dad glared and walked to the accountant. "Hurry up and register. I have to hurry in."

The accountant trembled, his expression was a little flattering, his waist was slightly bent, he took out the money from the basket, one bundle of one hundred thousand, three bundles of three hundred thousand, and then picked up the white envelope.

He raised his neck and sang with a throat-piercing voice.

"Li Guoqing from Caogou Village and his whole family presented a gift of 30 yuan!"

What, what, what! !

Now not only the people at the entrance of the ancestral hall, but also the people inside the ancestral hall are running out.

Mr. Bookkeeper is not a dim-witted person. How can you sing a ceremony blindly!

Also three hundred thousand, you damn girl have never seen three hundred thousand.

Especially the Luo family members who helped in the ancestral hall looked at the three large bundles of banknotes on the table in disbelief.

Even his breathing became rapid.

"Dad, you are so arrogant, why didn't you tell me!" Li Hongbing complained quietly to his father.

Dad's eyes widened.

"Let me ask you a favor. If Brother Mazi hadn't secretly stuffed half a bag of sweet potato noodles into our house back then, one of your father, grandma, and I would have turned off the flames. Brother Mazi was not in good health last time. If you hadn't said that you were powerless, I’m going to take him back to the big hospital in the city.”

Gotta get it!

I won’t cause trouble today, okay!

Li Hongbing curled his lips and realized that his father was not in a good mood, so he closed his mouth wisely.

The Luo family next to them handed out black sleeves in return, but their father pushed them back, pointing at the filial piety hat, with emotion in his tone, "Mazi is my brother and their uncle. Why are you giving us black sleeves? Do you understand?" Know the rules!”

The young man who was in charge of returning gifts was said to be clueless. This was the first time he saw a return gift and asked for a filial piety hat. Their surname was Li and not Luo, so what kind of filial piety hat was needed.

"Uncle Li, the Red Soldiers, they are still young and don't know what's going on. Come on, come on, I'll get it for you!" Zhao Qianjin appeared out of nowhere wearing a filial piety hat, pushed away the young man who returned the gift, and took out a few Hand over the filial piety hat.

When the stairs came up, my father snorted coldly, took the filial piety hat and put it on, and walked into the ancestral hall alone without waiting for Zhike to arrange for someone to lead the way.

Seeing this, the two brothers-in-law quickly followed behind.

"Brother Zhao, has the road in Qinglong Mountain been repaired?" Li Hongbing pulled Zhao Qianjin and walked to the side.

Zhao Qianjin looked around and whispered back, "Don't worry, it was repaired a few days ago, and the car can drive up to the foot of Qinglong Village. If we really want to bury Uncle Mazi on the mountain, I heard that the Luo family is not willing and plans to bury Mazi." My uncle is buried in the Luo family’s ancestral cemetery.”

Buried in ancestral graveyard?

Li Hongbing frowned.

"Who said that?"

"Several elders of the Luo family."

"They are nothing. Before Uncle Mazi left, he told me not to forget Qinglong Village. I have delivered this Uncle Mazi. If anyone stops me, don't blame me for not giving him face." Li Hongbing sneered, patted Zhao Qianjin on the shoulder to express his gratitude, and then left. Enter the ancestral hall.

Wait for all the Li family to leave.

I brushed the accounting desk and was surrounded by people.

Countless pairs of fiery eyes stared at the three large bundles of banknotes on the table.

That’s three hundred thousand!

Who has seen it.

"Tell me, who does this money belong to? Isn't it easy for me to get it?"

"No wonder the two brothers went to the pole to be filial sons and grandsons. This is what they were waiting for."

"I'm just telling you, my uncle is not related, so why should they stand up?"

"You said that since I am my uncle's nephew, I should also have a share of this money."

"You are a nephew, and I am still a niece!"

Zhao Qianjin couldn't help but sneer secretly when he heard the quarrel between these people.

You are so brave to touch this money.

I don’t know that all this money has nails, and anyone who dares to touch it will have to pull off the skin.

"Yes, I forgot to tell the Red Soldier that someone from Qinglong Village is going down the mountain today."

Entering the ancestral hall, Li Hongbing saw his father sitting next to the coffin, crying and snot talking about something. The two brothers-in-law and Luo Hu next to him did not dare to come forward to persuade him. Seeing that Li Hongbing took the lead, he quickly winked and asked him to go over and say a few words. .

Make a wink.

For the older generation, there are very few opportunities to sit together, and one less person leaves.

Besides, the relationship between Dad and Uncle Mazi is not something that we juniors can interfere with.

Li Hongbing pretended not to see it and came to the portrait of Uncle Mazi.

Looking at the photos, the memories seem to go back to my childhood.

At that time, I was in primary school in Shilipu and couldn't go home at noon. Uncle Mazi was afraid that he wouldn't be able to eat well, so he often came to school to pick him up and take him home to open a small stove. There were few opportunities to eat meat, but he could eat it every time at Uncle Mazi's house. Meat.

There are people from my village bullying me at school.

Uncle Mazi picked up a wooden stick and ran to other people's houses. He beat adults and children, and said harsh words. From now on, no one in Shilipu was allowed to mess with him. Anyone who dared to mess with him would be confiscated.

There were too many such things to count, and they continued throughout my elementary school career until my father took me back to the city.

Things are people and nothing is done, and tears shed first.

Li Hongbing's eyes gradually turned red, and a layer of water shone.

He raised his head suddenly, looked at the sky, and tried not to shed tears.

A drizzle fell from the sky, and it seemed that God was also sad and sad for Uncle Mazi.

The father stood up and stood next to the coffin, holding the coffin with his hand, his expression sad, "Red soldier, boss, second brother, I will give you Uncle Mazi twenty-four bows."

When Luo Hu heard that twenty-four prayers were required, he was so frightened that he quickly got up and walked to his father, "Uncle Li, I can't do it, I can't do it."

The father's eyes widened, "Brother Mazi fought with my father when we were young, and he even saved the lives of the Li family. If there is anything you can't do, get away."

After being yelled at by his father, Luo Hu could only walk aside. If others kowtowed to his uncle and burned paper, he could just return the favor himself.

Twenty-four worshipers can bear it to the dead, but not to the living!

If an elderly person dies in a forest area, there are several ways to attend the funeral to express condolences and to kowtow and kneel down.

The first type is for people with a normal relationship to kowtow three times. Kowtowing three times is called kneeling three times and kowtows three times. In funeral etiquette, it is most commonly used by mourners and people who have no special relationship with the deceased.

Most of them are ordinary friends, general relatives, neighbors and colleagues of the deceased or his family, and they are younger than the deceased.

The second method of kowtowing nine heads is also called three kneeling and nine kowtows. Kowtowing nine heads is called three kneeling and nine kowtows. It is one of the more solemn rituals in funeral etiquette.

Those who perform this ritual have a special relationship with the deceased. Such as the deceased's son-in-law, natal nephew, etc.

The third type is the most extreme, twenty-four kowtows, also called twenty-four bows. It is an extremely rare etiquette in funeral etiquette. Most of the people who perform the rituals are the nephews, nephews, sons-in-law, or grandsons of the deceased. People, or the relationship is extremely deep.

Especially the third type of twenty-four prostrations, compared with kneeling three times and kowtowing three times and kowtowing three times and nine kowtows, the movements of bowing and kowtowing are the same and there is no difference.

But it involves kneeling eight times and kowtowing twenty-four times. There are eight places in which kowtows should be performed. They are all performed once, kneel once and kowtow three times. The basic walking pattern is a figure eight shape.

On the day my grandpa passed away, almost all the guests who came to express their condolences prayed twenty-four times. The scene was truly spectacular, with guests kneeling down all the way to the mountain road.

Li Hongbing and his two brothers-in-law stood in the courtyard of the ancestral hall.

Before saluting, Li Hongbing must be completely sure about the walking direction, the size of his steps, and the position where he will kowtow. The starting point is from the lower right corner facing the main door. He will kneel first and kowtow three times.

At the beginning, the two brothers-in-law didn't know how to bow, so they could only follow behind their brother-in-law and follow his example.

Then, Li Hongbing stood up, walked three steps diagonally forward to the left, facing the middle of the memorial table in the mourning hall, bowed, knelt, and kowtowed, which was the second kneeling.

Twenty-four prayers are in the shape of "Zukou".

The starting point of the first kneeling is in the middle, then walk three steps to the left and kneel for the second time to salute; then walk forward, stop in the middle, and kneel for the third time to salute; go forward again, kneel for the fourth time to salute, and walk to the right to salute in the middle. Five kneels; then, take three steps to the right, and kneel on the sixth step to salute; then, take three steps back, and kneel on the seventh step to salute; then step back and salute, and it is the eighth kneel.

Don't panic when performing this kind of salute, grasp the rhythm, and it will not work if you move too fast. It should be steady and slow. The fast one can take 40 to 50 minutes, and the slow one can take 780 minutes. Therefore, few people use this kind of worship ceremony now.

The ancestral hall was crowded with villagers watching the excitement.

300,000 yuan in front and 24 yuan in the back.

What kind of relationship does Uncle Luo have with the Li family? How could he still receive such a courtesy after leaving?

(End of this chapter)