Go back to the prosperous days and become a layman

Chapter 750 Chapter 749 It's really sad
Friday, September 4st.

Before leaving after breakfast, Tang Zhitong asked Zhang Guifang, "Mom, I heard from Wenwen that Liu Chengzhi's family came to borrow money yesterday?"

"Oh, she came here crying and snotting, I couldn't bear to see her, so I lent her five dollars." Zhang Guifang had no intention of hiding it, and when her son asked her, she told him the truth.

"Hey, you really are repaying evil with kindness." Recalling the actions of the Liu mother and son, Tang Zhitong did not agree with his mother's approach.

"Didn't I just look at the difficulties she described? The family has run out of food." Zhang Guifang saw her son shaking his head and felt very embarrassed. The family's money and food were all earned by her son and daughter-in-law, but she was soft-hearted and lent them to others.

"Mom, I won't say anything if you lend it to my uncle's family or to Uncle Ma's family, but if you lend it to the Liu family... As the saying goes, help in emergencies but not in poverty. The Liu family is not in an emergency. Chu Chunxue's fixed amount cannot be solved. Even if we lend them more money, it will be a bottomless pit and cannot be filled at all.

Let me put it another way. If I didn't have this job and my family was in financial difficulty, do you think the Liu family would lend me money? Would Mrs. Liu Zhang take the opportunity to ask me to mortgage my house to her?
You've been soft-hearted this time, but there may be another time."

Tang Zhitong knew that his mother was too soft-hearted and he could not criticize her. He could only persuade her and let her realize from the bottom of her heart that this behavior was inappropriate.

"I understand. I won't lend it to you next time no matter what you say." Zhang Guifang thought of the time when Liu Zhang came to her house two years ago. At that time, she thought she was here to propose marriage to her son, but she didn't expect that she had her eyes on him!
In addition, Liu Jiaming stole the chickens from their own family. Judging from what the grandfather and grandson did, they really shouldn't have lent money to the Liu family. I'm afraid the money can't be recovered, right?

"If you feel embarrassed, just put all the blame on me. Next time the Liu family comes to borrow money, just say that I'm in charge of all the money in the house and you have no money." Tang Zhitong was still worried after hearing what his mother said.

Chu Chunxue's visit yesterday to beg for sympathy had a bit of Wu Xun's flavor. She took advantage of Zhang Guifang's kindness and described herself as very miserable in order to gain sympathy and profit.

Who knows what tricks the Liu family will use next time?

"I understand. You should go to school quickly. You will be late if you don't leave now." Zhang Guifang started to chase people out.

"Okay, I'm leaving now, Mom." Seeing the unhappy look on his mother's face, Tang Zhitong immediately stepped back.

In fact, given Tang Zhitong's personality, he wanted to give his mother a few more words of advice, telling her not to rely on the money she had from selling chickens and her improved ability to manage her affairs to succumb to being fooled by others.

As for human nature, without experiencing it, no one knows how bad people can be for the sake of profit.

Xu Fugui was originally a wealthy young man with no worries about food and clothing, but due to Long Er's scheming, he became addicted to gambling and lost all his family property.

Even the second generation of rich people can encounter such pig-killing scams, let alone the poor who have just become rich.

When the real estate market was booming, as soon as some villages froze household registration, a group of people would swarm in like sharks smelling blood.

There are people from banks, insurance and financial management companies, real estate agents, car dealers, gamblers, fraudsters, etc. There is all kinds of people.

In order to attract deposits, banks will at most ask for reservations and reasons for withdrawal when withdrawing money;

The plans of those who sell insurance and financial management are not bad. They earn some commissions under the name of high interest and principal protection. But in reality, most of the time, they cannot protect the principal.
Selling houses and cars caters to the vanity of the demolition group. In order to get commissions, they blindly praise and sell low-quality and high-priced goods at most;
The gamblers and scammers are the most caring. They appear to be sincerely helping the people who are being relocated, saying this is inappropriate, that is unreasonable. Once they get familiar with the people, they will start to take action. Often, the people who are being relocated lose all their money and then disappear without a trace.

These were beyond Zhang Guifang's understanding, and since she didn't want to listen, Tang Zhitong didn't say anything.

Tang Zhitong was very open-minded. He thought that at most he would lose the 200 yuan. Maybe he would learn his lesson after this loss. Anyway, there was no one giving away eggs or selling health products.

After lunch, Tang Zhitong went to class to draw as usual, but was visited by Han Haizhou.

"Chief Tang, you made me look for you so hard. I thought you were in the office." After Tang Zhitong left the classroom, Han Haizhou smiled, with a hint of kindness in his complaint.

"There is a learning atmosphere in the classroom, and I am learning with other teachers. What's the matter, Chief Han, is there something wrong?" Tang Zhitong did not say that he did not know where the office was, so Xiaoxiao evaded the question.

"Well, you still have two classes tomorrow. Remember to pay the tuition fee." Han Haizhou reminded.

"Oh, I thought the tuition fee would be mailed to me. How much is it? How do I get it?" Seeing Han Haizhou bring it up, Tang Zhitong asked casually.

If Han Haizhou didn't come today, Tang Zhitong didn't plan to take the initiative to go to the Cultural Reform Committee to ask, at most he would write a letter to urge him.

"It's two dollars per class. Logically, you should go to the Cultural Reform Committee to get it. How about this, you give me the letter of introduction and I'll get it for you. I'll hand it over to you at the same time tomorrow." Han Haizhou knew what was going on. Not only was he responsible for inviting Tang Zhitong, but he also got three days of breakfast from him for free. He had to return the favor.

"That's great. Thank you, Chief Han." Tang Zhitong took advantage of the situation and immediately took out the letter of introduction from his pocket.

"It's not a big deal. It's just a side job." Han Haizhou took the letter of introduction and felt relieved. He didn't eat the food given to him out of pity. He earned it with his own labor...

While Tang Zhitong was having class, Fang Yuan was escorted to the union office.

"Sister Chen, how is it? Have you come to sign up?" Fang Yuan asked straight to the point.

"No, it seems that this matter still has to fall on Xiao Tang." Sister Chen shook her head. The registration for buying chickens ended today. Some cadres from other departments came, but no one signed up.

Coming to the union was nothing more than explaining the situation to Sister Chen and expressing my feelings:
After they returned, they used their connections to find out, and found out that whether on the market or the black market, a diligent laying hen definitely could not be bought for 40 yuan.

As for the market value, everyone has different opinions. Some say fifty, some say sixty. In any case, none of them is cheaper than the price reported by Tang Zhitong and Fang Yuan.

"Okay, then I'll go back and call the school for him. Xiao Tang is a busy man now. He's been busy teaching a Mandarin refresher class these days. It will probably take until next week to buy the chickens back." It would be best to get things done as soon as possible after the leader has spoken, but Tang Zhitong was tied up with something, not that he was not paying attention to the work of the unit, so Fang Yuan explained, implying that this matter cannot be rushed and we have to wait a little.

"No problem. I remember that Xiao Tang usually comes to the company on Monday afternoon. I will give him the money first when he comes, and I will refund him if there is any excess and make up for any shortfall." Sister Chen understood Fang Yuan's hint and did not rush Tang Zhitong to buy the hens back immediately. Instead, she was reasonable and said that she could pay for the chickens first.

"Okay! I'll tell him over the phone." Fang Yuan agreed with a smile.

"Okay, then I'll trouble Director Fang." Logically speaking, Sister Chen felt that it would be more appropriate for her to call Tang Zhitong, but she was not sure what role Fang Yuan played in this. Since he took the initiative to speak, Sister Chen did not force it.

Fang Yuan called the boys' dormitory of the Post and Telecommunications College as soon as he returned to the office, hoping that Tang Zhitong would receive his message as soon as possible.

Tang Zhitong has already left school, so it's obvious that he won't be able to receive it today.

After finishing today's Pinyin class, Tang Zhitong got his lunch and was walking home along Shuncheng Street when he discovered that a wealthy family was holding a funeral.

The reason why it is called a wealthy family is probably because the gate of this family is tall and the drum stone is exquisitely carved. In the Qing Dynasty, it was a kind of etiquette to use different gates for different ranks. The higher the rank, the taller the gate. This is how the term "rich family" came about.

In addition to the style of the gate, one can also distinguish whether they are civil or military officials, as well as their ranks, from the drum stone.

There are many details involved here, and Tang Zhitong has not studied them in detail, but he has heard neighbors mention them in casual conversation before.

As human beings, once they come into this world alive, they cannot leave it alive, no matter if they are from a rich or poor family. Although their living standards and status are different when they are alive, their destination is the same. The only difference is the seven-foot-three coffin and the straw mat.

Chinese people love to watch the excitement. Shuncheng Street was temporarily difficult to pass through. Tang Zhitong pushed his bicycle slowly forward and watched for a while.

At the door of this house stood a dozen people holding poles, blocking beggars from coming forward.

Even though Tang Zhitong had just arrived, he could see that those beggars wanted to cry a little to get a meal.

If this had happened in previous years, the owner would not have stopped it, because it was a good deed that would bring honor to the owner, but who can blame the bad year this year?
The crowd watching the fun seemed to be used to it, especially the old men and women with goatees and bound feet. They looked at the splendor of this family with shining eyes and envy.

Tang Zhitong was not unfamiliar with these, as he had seen a lot of them when he was young.

The people of Beijing are very concerned about their reputation, and those who can afford it will hold lavish weddings and funerals.

Things like falling down the head, receiving the third, sending the treasury, becoming the master (pointing the master), sending the funeral procession, burning umbrellas, burning the Dharma boats, one hundred days, and the anniversary are all included. Among them, receiving the third and sending the funeral procession are the grand ceremonies of the funeral, with a very large scene. Some teams can stretch for two miles.

A deacon led the way, with a pair of lanterns, a pair of gongs to clear the way, eight large drums, a pair of umbrellas, a pair of fans, a pair of golden flags, a pair of golden gourds, a pair of axes, a pair of stirrups facing the sky, a pair of mirrors, a pair of trumpets, a pair of tubas, four suonas, two shengs, a pair of cloud gongs, a pair of small cymbals, and a pair of cymbals.

In traditional culture, there has always been a saying that "treat the dead as if they were alive", and burial objects have gradually evolved from living sacrifices, dead sacrifices, pottery sacrifices to burning paper figures.

Behind the deacon were people carrying paper figures, paper horses, boys and girls, etc., scattering paper money as they walked.

All of the above-mentioned ceremonial teams must march in single file, and only wedding ceremonies allow them to march in two lines and in pairs.

Next came the porters carrying the coffin.

The pole-puller is also called a pole-puller, or a pole-lifter. This job is pure hard labor. After tying the pole, the person who hits the ruler will shout, "Is it tight?"

The polemen all responded in unison: "It's too bad!"

When the rattle is struck, the pole bearers lift the pole onto their shoulders, and the coffin cannot fall to the ground but must be carried all the way to the grave for burial.

Of course, replacements are allowed during this period, and many people work in three shifts, with one group wearing green clothes, one group wearing blue clothes, and one group wearing white clothes.

During the Qing Dynasty, princes and beile used eighty people to carry the pole, first-rank officials used sixty-four people, and so on to sixteen people, decreasing gradually; ordinary people used four or eight people, and some even used ox carts to transport the poles.

Since the Republic of China, there are not so many rules, and many rich people have begun to use forty-eight levers, or even higher.

The profession of porter is a bit like "black coffin bearers", but their social status is far lower than theirs. Not only do they not have their own professional suits, but they also have no idea where to eat. They are all very poor lower-class people.

The host family can ask the pallbearers to maintain good personal hygiene during the funeral, such as shaving their heads, taking a bath, and wearing boots. These can be done, but they will charge extra money.

The money is collected by the palanquin house and distributed to the palanquins after the funeral is completed.

The shaving and bathing are done by the porters in advance, and the clothes are taken to the host's house by the porters and changed in front of the host.

At the end of the funeral procession are the filial sons and grandchildren in mourning and the support vehicles.

Some filial sons and grandchildren, when they were tired of crying or walking, had to rest on the vehicles. Especially after the burial, when everyone went back to their homes, no one walked, they all went back in horse carriages.

Such a grand ceremony is actually not the end. There are mourning sheds along the way from the host's home to the grave, and one has to bow whenever one sees one. The rituals are very complicated and also very tiring. It is common for those who are in poor health to be sick for a month or so after a funeral.

The scene before him was much smaller than anything Tang Zhitong had ever seen, but he still felt it was unnecessary. Giving food to an elderly person and making him happy while he was still alive was much more thoughtful than making a big show for others after his death. Why bother?

After liberation, frugality in weddings and funerals has been advocated. Most weddings have become simple, but certain funeral customs have been retained, especially the pole bearers.

Because most of the people are still buried in the ground, there are always people carrying the coffins.

A few years ago, a big shot passed away. He was buried with the utmost honor and the highest etiquette. Porters carried the coffin all the way from the city's Working People's Cultural Center to the Xidan intersection, then loaded it onto a car and taken it to the cemetery in the west for burial.

If we enforce the policy of frugality in funerals, I am afraid someone will jump out and say something like "the officials are allowed to set fires, but the common people are not allowed to light lamps."

Of course, it is not without benefits. At least it has boosted the employment rate.

The higher-ups are well aware of this situation, which is why they pay funeral expenses after workers die.

The standards for funeral expenses vary depending on the cause of death.

In case of death due to work reasons, three times the average monthly salary of the unit will be paid; in case of death due to non-work reasons, two times the average monthly salary will be paid.

Apart from purchasing the cemetery and tombstone, the rest of this money is spent on the funeral, and it may not be enough.

If we want to change this situation, we may have to wait until cremation is promoted.

眼下是不可能的，现在全国的火葬场还不到一百家，而且被戏称为“三五场”或“三八场”，因为此时火葬场的建造标准是“5个人、5亩地、5万元钱”或“8个人、8亩地、8万元钱”。

The booming development of crematoriums happened after the crematorium started. There were less than 100 crematoriums before the cremation, but when the crematorium stopped, there were more than 1200 crematoriums. However, by then, the price of cemeteries would also increase day by day, and even became an investment and financial management option...

(End of this chapter)