Tears were like broken beads, sliding down Yang Duiye's pale face. She walked to the yard, said with a cry, and knelt down with a plop. Making coffins, making shrouds, inviting Mr. Yin and Yang, and hosting funeral banquets. The impoverished family simply cannot afford these fune

"I kowtow to everyone!" Tears fell down Yang Duiye's pale face like broken beads. She walked to the yard, said with a cry, and knelt down with a plop.

The disaster has overwhelmed this illiterate woman, and she does not know how to solve the predicament at hand. Making coffins, making shrouds, inviting Mr. Yin and Yang, and hosting funeral banquets. The impoverished family simply cannot afford these funeral expenses. Without the help of the villagers, it would be difficult for them, orphans and widowers, to lay the deceased to rest in peace.

At her wits' end, she knelt in front of the villagers and begged them to lend a helping hand. She kowtowed her head to the ground like a gift to the Kitchen God in the new year. Her humble and sad look made everyone sad.

"We will try our best to bury your man properly!" For a simple rural woman, the death of a man is a disaster, and the villagers sympathize with this miserable woman.

The villagers did not add insult to injury like Zhang Junjie did, nor did they sit idly by. Everyone actively participated in Lu Yongnian’s funeral. This moved Yang Duiye beyond words, and he kowtowed to Ye like pounding garlic. Lu Yaxian and Lu Yaru also imitated their mother and knelt in the yard, kowtowing to everyone.

The old man Niu Jiahui felt indescribable sadness in his heart when he saw Yang Duiye, mother and daughter, kneeling in the yard and banging their heads on the ground. It's a pity that the Lu family has very few resources and no one can take charge. If there were more men in the Lu family, it would not be so difficult to hold a funeral for the deceased. The old man hopes that one day, the Lu family will become a famous family in Shuangtuoling. But her hope was completely shattered by Lu Yongnian's death.

Rural people’s desire for men is deep-rooted. The power in the countryside is controlled by the upper surnames, because there are many households with the upper surnames and more males, while the families with the lower surnames have fewer males. When distributing or safeguarding interests, the big surname always has the upper hand because of its strength in numbers. It is common in rural areas for people with a small surname to be bullied. Rural people's preference for sons over daughters and the desire to have more sons are deeply related to power struggles.

Although the Lu family was a rich farmer before liberation, there was only one family. The ancestors of the Lu family migrated from under the big locust tree in Hongdong to Tongwei, after several generations of migration. They also fled from Tongwei to Huining Shuangtuoling to escape famine. The great Haiyuan earthquake in the ninth year of the Republic of China buried most of the aborigines in Shuangtuoling underground. Lu Guozhong, who was lucky enough to escape the disaster, found his own land by opening up wasteland on the ruins of the earthquake.

Lu Guozhong had two sons, the eldest son Lu Guangwu and the second son Lu Guangyao. After liberation, the eldest son Lu Guangwu went to Tongwei to avoid family problems. Later, he wrote that he had found the ancestral grave of the Lu family and that he had settled on the site of the ancestral house. Lu Guangyao only had one son, Lu Yongnian, so the Lu family in Shuangtuoling failed to spread out and had only one family.

Funeral arrangements are very particular, and red tape is indispensable, but these are all for "happy funerals." If the person dies young, it is considered unknown, and those without children will be buried on a barren slope outside the village. Although those with children are allowed to be buried in the village, the funeral will be simple.

Although the funeral is simple, Mr. Yin Yang and the carpenter must be hired. Choosing a geomantic treasure land and building a coffin is the most basic funeral culture and is indispensable. Villagers can help with things like digging tombs, carrying coffins, and burying people, but Yang Duiye has to make his own decision on whether to hire Mr. Yin Yang and a carpenter for these things that cost money.

"Do you think we should invite Mr. Yin Yang and the carpenter?" Wang Jincheng helped the kneeling mother and daughter up and looked at the dull-looking Yang and asked Ye.

"Ah! I want to invite..." Yang Tingye choked and couldn't say any more. How could the impoverished family have the money to hire Mr. Yin Yang and the carpenter. Yang Duiye lost all his strength and sat down with his back against the wall, his eyes suddenly filled with tears again.

Yang was extremely disappointed with Ye! Yes, for a woman as ignorant as she is, a woman like her who has never been out of the mountains, her husband is her backbone. Now that her spine has collapsed, her waist can no longer stand up. Faced with the desperate situation in front of him, Yang Tieye was at a loss what to do.

Seeing Yang Tuiye's helpless expression, Wang Jincheng realized that the Lu family could not afford to hire a carpenter and Mr. Yin and Yang. This thorny issue is before the eyes of the villagers. There was neither anyone who knew Feng Shui nor a carpenter in the village, so Lu Yongnian could not be buried.

"Let's come up with a solution together. Everyone has seen the situation. It's such a bad situation. Everything else is easy to handle, but what should we do with the cemetery and the coffin?" Wang Jincheng asked everyone helplessly.

"If it doesn't work, just bury it on Lao Yaozi Slope." Hu Rongfa suggested.

"Fart!" Hu Qian reprimanded angrily: "What a bad idea. Although she died young and had two daughters, why did you treat her as someone who died young! Can you bury people casually in that place? "

Hu Rongfa blushed and rebutted: "You are so powerful that you know how to show off in front of your own family!"

Although Hu Rongfa didn't like his uncle very much, he didn't dare to say anything too harsh. He lost his father when he was young. He was raised by his uncle. Hu Rongfa was scolded by his uncle, and he sat aside and smoked a dry cigarette.

Lao Yaozi Slope is a relatively steep barren slope, located behind the mountain of Nanshan Mountain in Shuangtuo Ridge and outside the village. It was a place where people who had died young and livestock that had died from the plague were buried. When burying people in Laoyaozi Slope, you don't have to pay attention to Feng Shui. You can just dig a hole in a random place and bury them.

In fact, most people have the same idea as Hu Rongfa. They are not from his own family, so they randomly find a piece of land to bury it. As long as it does not affect the luck of the village, it can be considered a help to the Lu family. But after Hu Qian's scolding, everyone was embarrassed to think so anymore.

The reason why Hu Qian spoke uprightly was because he remembered the old feelings of his ancestors. Hu Qian's father was a deaf-mute who lived a difficult life and was repeatedly bullied in the village. However, Lu Yongnian's grandfather Lu Guozhong often came forward to defend him.

"Then you have an idea?" Everyone turned their attention to Hu Qian. Everyone had the same idea. Since Hu Qian wants to stand out, let him come up with an idea. We can't let him talk and everyone will suffer.

"There is a family named Wang in East Bay who is preparing a nine-year certificate for their ancestors. They have invited Master Wang to read the memorial text. I will go and invite him to see if he is willing to come. When he comes, we will discuss the follow-up expenses." Hu Qian Suddenly I remembered that yesterday when I was tending sheep behind the mountains, I heard the sound of gongs and drums coming from a family named Wang in East Bay and the low voice of Mr. Yin Yang chanting sutras.

After Hu Qian said that, he went to Dongwan to invite Mr. Yin Yang. Dongwan is a village behind the Xishan Mountain of Shuangtuoling. The distance between the two villages is only four or five miles. Although Hu Qian was in his fifties, he had developed a good pair of legs and feet from tending sheep all year round. He walked more briskly than a young man. Soon he arrived at the Wang family in Dongwan Village.