At about five o'clock in the afternoon, my father and the others came back with and second master . I also asked for leave and went back with them.
My father didn’t say anything while holding his brother’s urn along the way. My husband told me how it was handled. I listened silently and some scenes from the second master’s lifetime flashed through my mind.
The wind made my face hurt a bit. It was quite quiet all the way, just like the second master had no movement in his life. He was lonely when he came and desolate when he left.
arrived home and took the second master back to the place where he had lived for more than seventy years. He was born and buried in this land and returned to his roots. Dad found a place on our own self-retention mountain and buried the second master under two trees. This was a familiar place where the second master had been grazing cows and cutting grass when he was alive. Opposite there was also buried a single uncle who had died many years ago. Dad said they could talk now. Listening to this, my eyes were a little moist.
The uncle passed away when he was about fifty years old. When he was alive, he lived with the second grandma and their three mothers and sons. The uncle could read and calculate and took charge of the house. When the second master went out to plow the fields, the uncle would keep records of the work and accounts. The uncle managed the living expenses of the three mothers and sons. I remember that at that time, my grandma was at home to wash and cook for them. My grandma's eyesight had been bad for a long time. Eating, washing, feeding pigs and raising chickens all depended on trial and error. My uncle had asthma and died in his fifties. When my uncle passed away, my father arranged the funeral arrangements. After my uncle passed away, my grandmother couldn't see clearly. I was still in elementary school. Every week, my father would arrange for me to clean the house and wash clothes for my grandmother. When I went there, my grandmother would call me and say that she knew I was there when I heard footsteps. When I couldn't see clearly, I saw a blurry shadow getting closer and closer. When the uncle passed away, my grandmother often pointed at the second uncle and told her with tears, "What should we do with this idiot when he is gone? My grandma was very miserable. She was from a good family. After she married my grandfather, my grandfather died early and it was too hard to leave these children. Later, my grandma and the second uncle's lives were all supported by my father. There was a third uncle who got married, but that aunt was well-known in this village. The third uncle always looked at his aunt's face." Therefore, grandma’s advice to pay homage to dad has always been ineffective. I clearly remember that time when dad suggested that my third uncle and two brothers, who were married, should give grandma five yuan a month. Dad was scolded by his aunt, and his third uncle was scolded and got into a fight. Once, grandma was pushed to the point of an argument. Later, it was dad who always fulfilled this responsibility. This aunt's old age was not easy, her third uncle also died early, and her three sons were not filial to her. They died a few years after remarrying. I remember that she was very miserable when she died. The man did not bury her, saying that she had several sons, and her father asked his sons to pick them up and bury her.
The second master is more miserable than the elder, but he is simple-minded and does not feel bitter. He is uneducated and cannot read, calculate accounts, or cook, let alone life plans. Grandma often talks about what kind of work he should do, so he just goes. Moreover, the second master is always stubborn and disobedient. He always yells at grandma, and his voice is loud and often vicious. Grandma and dad both said that he was uneducated, ignorant and just a fool. At that time, I thought the second master was a fool. But he doesn't know how to settle accounts when he goes out to work, and he can do as much as others tell him. He likes to go out to work, and he likes to squat and listen to the crowds where the aunts and ladies gather to chat. He doesn't know how to chat, and he laughs when others laugh. Sometimes the aunts make fun of him and scold him, but he doesn't respond and just giggles. Sometimes when it's not busy in farming, he goes to any house and asks him to help with some heavy work. He likes it when he eats a meal, and he goes home very late all day long because he can't cook. Grandma can't see clearly and everything she cooks is salty and delicious. He works for others and has delicious food. He has a big appetite and eats several bowls of rice. Because of his big appetite, some people take care of the food without paying him. I often hear grandma calling the second master to eat.
My grandma passed away the year I went out to work, and my father arranged the funeral arrangements. At that time, I wrote letters. When I received the letter, my grandma was no longer there. My mother said that grandma was still talking about me a few days before she died. It took me a long time to go back. I cried while reading the letter.
Grandma passed away, and the second master became a single man without a mother. After living alone for a while, my father looked sad, so he told my mother to move him from the old house that was about to collapse and live with us to take care of him. Mom knew that the second master had a bad temper. I was very willing but had no choice. Who knows how long the second master came to live with us, but my mother complained for a long time. Because the second master has no brains, he always listens to outsiders' instigation. Sometimes he says that we are not good to him, and sometimes he says that mother does not leave food for him. We eat the delicious food and leave the bad for him. , one moment he said that all his family property was given to us, and the next moment he said that all his wages were given to his father. Our whole family ate his wages, and they often made noises, and lent the wages for plowing the fields to outsiders. His nephews also came to borrow, and a good friend of Dad told him that the second master had lent his wages to others, and many people had borrowed the hard-earned money and could not pay it back to him. No matter who you are, leave him alone. There were several times when my father was so angry that he didn't care about it, and my mother was even more angry. Later, she decided to make him a stove and let him cook and wash himself, and take care of himself. Alas, he had to forget about those days. It was terrible. Summer clothes had to be worn all summer long. In winter, when it was cold, he added one more, and then two more when it was cold. He kept adding more, and it took him through the whole winter. He never cleans or washes his feet. The towel he washes his face with is darker than the rag. There is ashes on the cooking stove and he often doesn't wash the pot. His house smells all the way to the door. We don't want to enter his house, but it affects everyone, and his father sometimes yells at him. It's also strange that although the second master doesn't care about hygiene or cleans, he doesn't get sick and has never been sick before.
Anyway, during those days when he was on his own, he felt that we were going to harm him and were on guard against us. When he was not busy with farm work, he would take his old cow out early in the morning every day and not come back until dark. The cow was often not fed and often barked in the pen. Sometimes his parents would remind him to cut more grass for the cow to eat and feed it, and he would scold the cow, scold it very harshly, and even beat the cow. Alas, his mother often said that although the cow is a beast, it is still humane. If you don't feed it well, how can it work? Even if you rely on that cow, you have to feel sorry for that cow. It's a pity that my second uncle doesn't care about cows. I used to hear him scolding cows while working in the fields. The neighbors would know it was him whenever they heard cows being scolded, and they would often make fun of him.
I couldn’t laugh or cry when I lived with us, but I have never disliked the second master, I just thought he was pitiful. He had no ill intentions towards us, the younger generation, and would not scold us. My brother and I would give him some food when we grew up, and he would sometimes give us a blanched pear or a sugar cookie.
As time went by, the family situation also changed. My father's health was not as good as before, and the second master's old cow could no longer work. The second master sold his poor old cow, and he had a miserable life. Thinking about the second master's future, the father made several trips to the village and the government to send the second master to a nursing home.
The second master entered the nursing home and left us. Maybe he just remembered how good we were. I went to see him once. When he saw us in person, he would talk about how so and so did to him and who treated him badly. When he left, his eyes were full of reluctance. Because he was not good at talking, he always cursed people and said bad words. Many people there did not like him. We would always tell him to be obedient and not to curse. He shook his head and said he didn't curse. Later, I had Alzheimer's disease. I took my daughter to see him. He still remembered that I had a boss and asked me to ask him to visit him when he came back. I said yes.Until last year when he went to the hospital, the people in the nursing home notified us to see him, saying he was crazy and couldn't be taken care of. My father had surgery last year and couldn't go. My husband and I went there. During that time, I saw the second master sitting in a wheelchair, with one foot bare, his pants about to fall off, his forehead was broken, the skin was bloody, and his nose was running. As soon as I saw him, tears immediately rolled down my face. I said, second master, why are you like this? He also looked at it. I cried while I was crying, and I cried too. Someone in the hospital said he was going to run away, smash the door, hit people, so he tied him up, and he cut off the rope to run away. At that moment, I didn't listen much. My poor second grandfather became like this. I cried and cried, and the tears kept flowing. He looked at me crying, groped with trembling hands and took out a handful of money from the chest of his clothes. He handed it to me tremblingly and said, "Girl, here you go." I couldn't help but burst into tears. I didn't want you to get what you wanted to eat. Ren Ran didn't hold back when he provoked me. My two nephews started crying. My husband went to the side for consultation. After completing the procedures, he was sent to a nursing home in the city for hospitalization. There are caregivers there. , I went to buy some food and shoes for the second master, soothed him and told him to be obedient. Then we went to pick him up to play. He nodded and stopped crying. Two months after we returned, we heard the news that the second master was much better and the nursing home took him back. We were relieved.
In the first month of this year, my brother came back and we all went to see him. He was very thin and mentally healthy. He wore thin clothes and was barefoot and wearing slippers. When he first saw me, he shouted, "Honey, who are you?" I couldn't help but shed tears. I said I am your daughter. He stopped talking and seemed to be trying hard to find some memories in his mind. After a while, he called me, and my brother went to put on his clothes and socks. He also called out his name. With trembling hands, I took out a paper box from his pillow and took out a few hundred yuan. This money should be the money of his five-guarantee household and wanted to give it to me.
I didn’t expect to be gone forever this time. Erye, we brought you back. You have family in this place you are familiar with. Rest in peace. If you are a human again in the next life, you must be a blessed person and enjoy the happiness that life should have!
