Chapter 173

My father was finally buried, and the funeral was settled.

There is a rule in Hengyue City. After the ancestors are buried, the descendants must send torches to the grave for three days at dusk. The torches are tied into a long strip with rice straw. After lighting, there is no open fire. The faint fire stars burn from beginning to end. The next day, only a strip of ash remains on the ground, and the outline remains the same. If the torch is not burned out, it means that the ancestors still have unfulfilled wishes, or they are still dissatisfied with something. It is said that the torch is for the ancestors to illuminate the road to the underworld, and it is also said that it is for the ancestors to illuminate the way home. Regardless of the function, it is a rule left for thousands of years, and I cannot be an exception. I must go to send torches to my father at dusk for three days.

Zhu Shizhen carried a bottle of Yuntou Daqu, saw me coming out with my head down, stopped me, and insisted on pulling me into the house for a drink.

The funeral had just passed, how could I have the heart to drink? I firmly refused! It was not good to make him sad directly, so I had to comfort him: "Old Brother Zhu, think about things openly. After working for so many years of revolution, are you still afraid of a little setback?"

Zhu Shizhen smiled without saying a word, but his hands refused to relax at all.

I said: "There is a rule in ancient times. When parents die, they must observe the mourning period. Although it is a new society now, ancient teachings must still be followed. Not for anything else, just for a kind of comfort in my heart, don't you think?"

Zhu Shizhen opened his mouth and said: "It's my business, I can't think about it, I want to find you to chat."

"Chatting is good." I said: "I also want to chat, but I won't drink. After the forty-nine days, I will accompany you to have a good drink."

Zhu Shizhen didn't force me, opened the door, pulled me to sit on a wooden sofa, found a cup from the drawer, filled it with wine, pinched a peanut and threw it into his mouth, chewed with his cheeks bulging, and then poured the full cup of wine into his throat, tasted the wine carefully, and spit out a long breath comfortably.

I looked around his office, simple and simple, the walls left a few traces of muddy water because of water leakage, not fresh, but a breath of death flowing in the house.

"Can't sit still?" Zhu Shizhen asked me after drinking three cups in a row.

I shook my head and said: "It's okay, you drink, I think it's good."

"Good my ass. To put it nicely, I am a director of the management office, to put it badly, I am a grave keeper. Dealing with dead people every day, there is a smell of dead people on living people." Speaking of this, suddenly feeling that the words were a bit abrupt, he laughed at himself: "I don't mean anything else, don't take it to heart."

I smiled without answering.

"Chen brother, look, I am a management office, which is a deputy section-level unit, and the finance is fully allocated. But I am also a bare commander. Except for me, there is an old gardener. The two of us guard five mu of land and six graves. Counting living people and dead people, there are eight people. To tell you the truth, I usually say that there are eight people in the unit outside." He laughed.

"Everything is working for the country. Although the size of the unit is different, the goal is the same. Isn't it all serving the people?" I said brazenly, going up to the line.

"What you said makes sense! In fact, these people of ours are a chess piece of the country. No matter where they are placed, they have their own uses. Even if a pawn crosses the river, it can be used as a small car, don't you think?"

I felt that his words seemed to have a sour taste, and my butt began to be unable to sit still.

"You are overthinking again." He seemed to see through my mind.

"No!" I defended: "I still have to rush back to Suxi. I don't have a place to live in the county, so I can't open a hotel to live in just to send a torch."

Zhu Shizhen gave a thumbs up and praised: "Chen brother, to tell the truth. You came to send a torch today, which makes me admire you. How many young people nowadays are like you who are filial? People die, dig a pit and bury it, and that's it. Those with conscience will come to burn some paper money on Qingming, and those without conscience will not even come to take care of it even if the grass grows taller than people."

"Parents give birth to parents, the way of human ethics, should be filial, and those who can't do it can also be understood." I explained: "In fact, people die, it is a piece of soil. No matter how much the descendants do, the dead will not know."

"The words are this reason." Zhu Shizhen pointed to the peanuts: "Have one?"

I reached out and picked up a peanut and put it in my mouth and chewed slowly.

"What happened to you saying you want to retire yesterday?"

Zhu Shizhen sighed and said: "Brother, you don't know. A few days ago, the County Party Committee suddenly notified me that a revolutionary cadre was going to be buried in the Martyrs Cemetery. No one has been buried for decades. Suddenly, I don't know what rules there are? Originally, I wanted to go to the County Party Committee to understand the situation, and told me to set up the Martyrs Monument within three days. Isn't this killing me? Not to mention that the project can't be done so fast, just say the words on the monument, where can I find the handwriting of Secretary He of the old district committee?"

"It's really troublesome for Old Brother Zhu." I said, full of apologies.

"I don't know that your father passed away and wanted to come to Chunshan. If I knew earlier, even if I took off a layer of skin, I would have to make a look." Zhu Shizhen drank half a bottle of Yuntou Daqu, and the wine was obviously on his head.

"I tell you, for this matter, I quarreled with Secretary Guan. I don't care, I slapped his table. Hahahaha" He laughed, leaned his body over, mysteriously and proudly: "At that time, Secretary Guan's face was green with anger."

"Old brother's courage is not small now." I laughed: "Simply, I will accompany you for a drink."

Zhu Shizhen looked at me up and down, got up and excitedly found a wine glass for me, filled it and handed it to me.

"You don't know." He knocked on the table and said: "When I was acting as the township head of Suxi Township, he told me that the position of township head must be reserved for me. Who knows that you, Cheng Yaojin, killed halfway, making me not have a township head, and Old Liu found an agricultural bureau to spend the rest of his life. Why should I come to guard the grave? Guarding the grave is guarding the grave, anyway, I am old, guard for a few years and retire. Why should he, Secretary Guan, ask me to build a martyr monument in three days? If it is not built well, it will be punished according to discipline! He thinks Chunshan County is opened by his family."

Zhu Shizhen was emotionally excited, knocking on the table.

"You Guan Peishan have the ability, you dismantled it yourself, why did you ask me to top it?" He began to speak incoherently.

"I am a bullshit Martyrs Cemetery Management Office Director, no car, no house. I tell you, brother, the entire family property of the management office is these four small houses, one is my office, one is for the martyrs' spirit tablets, the next door is the room I live in, and one is our kitchen. You say, I live next door to the dead, can I not be stained with the bad luck of the whole body. To say something you don't like, some old friends in the past, heard that I am in this situation now, and they don't call me when they have a happy event at home." Zhu Shizhen slammed the wine glass heavily on the table indignantly, sighing: "I can't even compare with the old gardener. People have a home in the county, a place to live, what about me? My wife is still farming in Suxi Township, relying on the sky to dig oil and salt money from the chicken butt. This revolution has been done for a lifetime, and it is such an end."

I had to comfort him again: "Slowly, it will improve."

"Improve my ** hair. I don't hide it from you. Some time ago, the Guangdong boss wanted to hit the idea of these five mu of land. Secretary Guan's meaning is to move the Martyrs Cemetery to the outside of the city, saying that dead people cannot occupy the land, and cannot destroy economic construction in the name of martyrs. Go to his mother's big talk, I am not good, if you want to change land, give me a set of houses first. I, Old Zhu, cannot live with dead people every day. You dare to ask for a few sets, I want one, if you want to kill, you can't kill me first."

He was clearly drunk. Being able to say words to this point is not drunk, but intentional. The so-called borrowing wine to go crazy is actually the mentality of people relying on wine that others don't care about, and letting out the words buried in the bottom of their hearts happily.

"We cadres cannot violate discipline and law." I advised, and picked up a peanut and threw it into my mouth.

"What discipline? What law?" Zhu Shizhen looked at me with his neck tilted: "In the eyes of some people, the law is bullshit."

"Words can't be said like this."

"How else to say? Anyway, I have mixed to the end, afraid of a ** hair. I am not afraid of your jokes, I have been thinking about mixing a township head in my life, not to mention glorifying the ancestors, but also a formal state cadre. Mixing and mixing for a lifetime, watching the cooked duck fly, I have no other ideas. To tell you the truth, I don't blame you, you are still a cadre with ideas, ability, and youth. Suxi Township is in your hands, I am more at ease than anyone else. Of course, you have an uncle who is a big official, so, you will definitely have a bright future in the future." A bottle of wine bottomed out, he swayed to get up, took out another bottle from under the desk, and prepared to unscrew it.

I quickly stopped him and said that I would not drink no matter what.

He looked at me with slanted eyes, and a thick smell of wine came out of his mouth: "What are you afraid of? If you are drunk, if you don't dislike it, just sleep here with your brother. Anyway, in these five mu of land, except for me who will breathe, the rest are silent. If you add one more, they will also feel lively."

I suddenly felt a layer of cold sweat on my back, and it seemed to be cold to the bone.

"Another day, another day, okay?" I firmly stopped his hand unscrewing the wine bottle.

Zhu Shizhen stopped his hand dejectedly, staring at my eyes and saying: "You won't be afraid, right?"

I smiled and said: "Not afraid, my father is sleeping here, what am I afraid of."

"You won't go out and talk about what I said today?"

"No."

"I believe you!" He laughed, leaned against my ear and said: "The Martyrs Monument was dismantled by Secretary Guan. This time your uncle came, didn't see it, and lost his temper."

"Why?"

"I heard that Secretary He went out when he was very young, and Secretary He of the old district committee passed away and didn't catch up. The words on this monument are afraid that it is the only ink left by Secretary He of the old district committee in the world. Secretary He also knows about this, now the monument doesn't know where it was thrown, can he not be angry?"

"A monument thing, no need, right?"

"More than a monument? Someone reported that Secretary Guan used national relief funds to collude with Guangdong bosses to engage in development. Just this piece of land, I heard that Secretary Guan's family has several sets of houses." Zhu Shizhen was mysterious, looking around, as if afraid of being heard by others.

"Don't spread rumors." I warned him.

"Rumors are generally predictions!" Zhu Shizhen sighed: "It seems that the officialdom of Chunshan County is going to have an earthquake."