Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 1156 Go get whatever you need

Village Chief Zhao said, "Alright, I'm a roughneck with little education. These are just ideas, but I'll need your help with the legal details. Don't worry, I guarantee I can get production up and running. I don't have any other ambitions; I just want to take this opportunity to help everyone make some extra money. That's for real."

Xiao Wei said, "Okay, I'll arrange it when I get back. I'll have my lawyer come down then, and you can discuss the details further. I'll leave the matter of erecting the monument to our two families to you. I'm going to Kyoto after the New Year, and I probably won't be back until summer." He took out a thousand yuan and handed it to Village Chief Zhao: "I'll make up the difference when I get back."

Village Chief Zhao took the money, counted it, and put it in his pocket: "Okay, you can go without worry. I'll take care of things for you here. Xia Yingtian, come back and see."

Xiao Hong said, "Isn't the inscription just written?"

Village Chief Zhao smiled and said, "No need, they're all from the village, their names are already in my head, I guarantee it won't be wrong."

Xiao Wei nodded and said to Xiao Hong, "Just carve a name, that's fine. Anything else is pointless. Grandpa, you know the location, right?"

Village Chief Zhao said, "I know. We dug the pit for your grandpa back then. Don't worry, it can't be wrong."

As we left the village chief's house, the sky became a bit overcast, and the wind picked up.

Xiao Wei looked up at the sky: "It's going to snow."

Xiao Hong looked up and asked, "How do you tell? I think this function is amazing. I've always wondered since I was little, how can you tell whether it's raining or snowing just by looking at it? My grandpa could do it back then, and so can my dad."

Qin Xuemei smiled and said, "The sky is overcast, and the wind is getting stronger. Can't you feel it?"

Xiao Hong took a moment to assess the situation, then looked up at the sky again: "I feel they're all about the same."

Several people got into the car and left the village, driving south along the horse-drawn carriage road by the river. After turning a corner along the mountain, Xiaowei said, "We're here, let's stop here."

After getting out of the car, Xiaowei looked up at the mountain and said, "This is it, let's go. Sister Xuemei, why don't you wait in the car for a while?"

Qin Xuemei said, "Let's go together. It's scary to be alone in the car."

The group started climbing up the hillside.

At first, there was a path that the villagers had dug out to gather firewood, but once they reached the halfway point and entered the woods, the path disappeared. Fortunately, the snow in the woods wasn't that deep, and in some places there wasn't any snow at all, as the woods blocked the way, making it much easier to walk. The wind howled as it blew through the trees.

After walking through a small pine forest, Xiaowei picked up two pine cones and showed them to Xiaohong and Qin Xuemei: "We met a lazy squirrel, and it even left us two."

Qin Xuemei, with Xiao Wei's help, took a closer look. Xiao Hong, who had seen this before, wasn't surprised. Looking up at the tree, she said, "Enough to eat, such a big patch of pine."

Wang Jiwei walked to the side with a stick he'd picked up somewhere, saying, "It's not that there are more, it's that there are fewer squirrels. There are fewer and fewer animals now; they've all gone into the mountains."

Xiao Wei said, "Pretty much. More and more people are going up the mountain to hunt for wild game these days, and the animals can't compete with them, so they have to run into the mountains. It's a good thing, though, because if they get caught outside, they're dead."

Xiao Hong said, "The bigger one is bullying the smaller one, why should they?"

Xiao Wei waved the pine cones in his hand: "Aren't you going to eat them? If you eat them, what will you eat next?"

Beyond the woods was a small clearing where the snow was thicker. The area was blocked off by the woods on all sides, but the sky was visible overhead, and the snow couldn't be blown away by the wind.

The Zhang family's ancestral graves are located in this small open space.

Little Red turned her head and looked around: "Did they cut down the tree?"

Xiao Wei said, "No, it's because this area wasn't planted. This whole forest was planted by my family for generations, and it grew on its own, so it gradually expanded into a forest."

There was nothing they could do about this place. Stepping through the thick snow to the grave, Xiaowei and Wang Jiwei found some dry branches to clear the area in front of the grave, which was better than nothing.

They took some yellow paper and placed it on the grave mound. They lit the yellow paper ingots they had brought up in front of the grave, and the smoke formed an almost straight column that rose into the air from the small clearing in the woods, only dispersing in the wind after passing the treetops.

First, we paid respects to Xiaowei's great-grandparents, and then to Xiaowei's grandparents. Xiaowei knelt on one knee in the snow, burning paper money and saying, "Grandpa and Grandma, your grandson has come to see you. Our family has moved to Fengtian now. We've been a bit busy these past two years, so I haven't been back much. Please don't be angry. I'll come back to see you every year from now on."

The grandson has made arrangements. Next spring, he will hire someone to erect a monument for you. Don't scare them when that happens.

My grandson is married now, and the bride is from Old Wang's family at the north end of the village. You two are in-laws now, so don't go arguing with Grandpa Wang anymore. Our family is doing well now; my grandson has earned a lot of money, and we're all living comfortably and starting to enjoy life.

You're all down there, eat well, spend money as you please. If you need anything, just tell me in a dream, and I'll send you whatever you need. May you all be well, and may you bless my parents and your granddaughter-in-law with good health.

Your granddaughter-in-law is an official; you must pray for her to have a smooth and successful pregnancy. Next year, may she give you a big, healthy great-grandson, and I'll bring him over so you can see him and he can kowtow to you.

Xiao Hong covered her mouth and rested her head on Qin Xuemei's arm, giggling.

After Xiaowei finished chanting and the paper money and ingots had been burned almost completely, he knelt down and kowtowed three times respectfully before standing up. Xiaohong took a breath, went over and knelt down in the snow mark left by Xiaowei's kneeling, and also kowtowed three times.

Xiao Wei walked around the two graves in the snow, then checked the paper money and ingots again to make sure there was no more fire. The group then turned and went down the mountain.

Grandpa Xiaohong's grave is across this mountain, at the foot of the mountain. Now the village has expanded its land to this side, and the grave mound is right next to the land.

There's a small grove of trees here, but it's all behind the graves, making it difficult to walk on this side; you have to wade through the snow to get across.

Because no one was walking around, the snow was knee-deep. Xiaowei and Wang Jiwei walked in front, while Xiaohong and Qin Xuemei followed behind, holding hands, slowly moving forward in Xiaowei and Wang Jiwei's footprints.

Xiao Wei looked back and said, "This doesn't seem right. Your boots are both over your knees. Shouldn't you two be walking in front?"

Xiao Hong said, "Our feet are small, so walking in front is useless. This is fine."

Xiao Wei glanced at Xiao Hong: "Aren't our feet about the same size?"

Xiao Hong grabbed a clump of snow and threw it at him: "Shut up and just walk." She was tall and had big feet, wearing size 38 shoes, the same size as Xiao Wei. This had always been a source of shame for her.

Qin Xuemei didn't say a word after coming down from the mountain, and walked quietly with her head down.

When they reached the grave, Xiaowei and Wang Jiwei used tree branches to pry open a small patch of ground and then stepped on it before placing yellow paper on top.

The paper money and ingots should be braised.

Xiao Wei glanced at Qin Xuemei, thought for a moment, and said, "Sister, you and Xiao Hong are together, and you're also a granddaughter, so you two should burn this paper."

Qin Xuemei was stunned for a moment. Xiao Hong pulled her and said, "Kneel down, kneel down! You're bullying me!"

Qin Xuemei did not resist. She knelt down, tears streaming down her face, and obediently followed Xiao Wei's example as she burned paper money. The tears fell more and more.

Xiao Hong also knelt down on both knees and said, "Grandpa and Grandma, Xue Mei and I have come to see you. How are we? We haven't disgraced our family, have we? We're both as beautiful as flowers. I'm married now, married into the Zhang family. If you need anything in the future, just go to their house and get it. Don't be shy, it's only right."

(End of this chapter)