Go back to ancient times to engage in sideline business

"Get out! If you don't go, I will let the dog go!"

While speaking, the clerk threw the blackened silver circle out of his hand, the silver circle bounced twice on the bluestone steps, and rolled down the steps.

Tang Zhong hurriedly chased out from the room, his legs had just stepped over the threshold, when he heard a "bang" behind him, the shop door was slammed shut by the clerk.

When he was driving the mule cart earlier, Tang Zhong just remembered that in the town of Fengguan closest to his home, there was a cousin of the Tang family who made a living out of coffins.

In line with the principle of not letting the fat and water flow to outsiders, Tang Zhong decided to take care of his relatives' business.

After a little inquiring, he parked the mule cart directly at the door of this Chen Ji coffin shop, and then Shi Shiran entered the shop.

Perhaps the store clerk saw that he was dressed in shabby clothes, so he didn't even greet him enthusiastically, but Tang Zhong didn't care. He was in his relative's shop and tried to be tolerant as much as he could.

After picking among several coffins on display, he chose a thick coffin made of vermilion lacquer cypress, and raised his hand to call the assistant over to negotiate the price.

The man folded his arms and squinted, and then looked at the person in front of him again, and there was indeed a sense of poverty.

The buddy didn't talk too much, and directly offered five taels of silver, which was a lot of money.Tang Zhong chuckled, climbed up to the clerk's shoulder, emphasized that the boss was his cousin, and took out a small half of copper coins in his pocket with his big hand, asking for a discount.

"Go away if you don't have money, stop pretending to me!"

"Don't be so rigid, look, I still have a silver bracelet here, maybe it's an antique from a previous dynasty, look."

With a sullen smile, Tang Zhong gave the bracelet to the waiter.Unexpectedly, the clerk glanced at it casually, grabbed the bracelet and threw it out without showing any sympathy.

The roads in Fengguan Town are paved with loess, and it has just rained, and many ponds of various sizes have accumulated on the ground.

Tang Zhong groped for a long time in the yellow mud pond at the entrance of the coffin shop before he retrieved the silver bracelet, wiped the muddy water off it with his sleeve, turned around and stepped up the steps to knock on the door.

"Brother, open the door. I am really the nephew of your shopkeeper. If you don't believe me, please come out and have a look!"

"Brother, I don't want to buy such an expensive coffin. Can you sell me the cheapest coffin in the store? If you don't have enough money, you can put it on credit first, and I will pay it back in a few days! I work at Dongchengmen in the county, and I am a serious unit." ! Civil servants!"

"Cousin, are you at home? I'm Tang Zhong, your cousin! You can't bear to see your aunt buried without a coffin!"

After talking for a long time, the door of the store is still closed, and there is no room for negotiation.

They are clearly relatives of the boss, why don't they give him any return?The dude is so unkind!

The King of Hades loves to see little ghosts as troublesome, but Tang Zhong is not discouraged. He believes that as long as he sees that Uncle Chen, the matter of the coffin will be handled easily!

Leading the mule cart, he walked through a row of shops on the main street and turned into the narrow alley behind.It was inconvenient for the mule cart to pass, so he randomly found a wooden stake and tied it, and went into the alley alone.

Chen Ji Coffin Shop is the fifth from the left on the main street. Tang Zhong counted the doors while walking, and finally stopped outside the wall of a green brick courtyard.

In the nearby houses, the stones used to build the courtyard walls were piled up at random, and it looked like they were planed from the mountains.

In contrast, the green brick walls of the Chen family look much more majestic.Not only are the bricks uniform in style, but even the courtyard walls are much higher than others.

As expected of a coffin shop owner with a big business, even the back door is so grand.

The gate is tall, and the host's heart is naturally open.Tang Zhong first gave a thumbs up to this cousin he had never met in his heart, and as soon as he touched the door knocker, he heard the voices of an old man and a young man coming from inside.

"Did you really leave? Did you see clearly?"

"It's not wrong. I saw him lead the mule cart out of town with my own eyes."

The person who spoke was the buddy of Caicai, Tang Zhong was very familiar with his beating voice, so he couldn't help but put his ears on the courtyard door.

"Boss, that kid has repeatedly said that he is your cousin, is it true?"

"So what if it's true, so what if it's fake? Their Tang family is poor and virtuous, and whoever gets married with them will be unlucky! I heard that the old lady of the Tang family is gone this morning, so I just left you in front. Look, I really expected it." Come on, the Tang family is really embarrassed to come to ask for a coffin! How could my coffin be used by someone like them?"

"Who says it's not! Shopkeeper, no matter how many coffins you have, you can't hold your relatives who die every day! But, don't we still have two worm-eaten crappy ones in our yard? Anyway, no one wants them, so we can sell them to him. Look, he also has a silver bracelet in his pocket!"

"Hey, you can't give it to him even if it's rotten in the yard. You don't understand, once a poor relative is provoked, it will be difficult to get rid of in the future!"

"Tsk tsk, the shopkeeper has a better opinion..."

While speaking, a group of yellow and black shadows flew in from outside the courtyard, and hit shopkeeper Chen's face heavily.

"what!"

"Who!"

Shopkeeper Chen touched the left side of his face covered with yellow mud, screaming in pain, and quickly pointed to the outside of the yard, asking the staff to go out and have a look.

The boy opened the door and looked around, but found nothing suspicious except for a pile of stones by the courtyard wall.

Tang Zhong hid in a corner, not daring to catch his breath, until he heard the sound of the courtyard door closing, he jumped out from the pile of firewood.

A lump of rotten yellow mud is considered polite, if he encounters it next time, he will definitely throw a big stone over it!

After going back and forth, he understood that it was impossible for him to buy a decent coffin with the money he had on him.

If there is no need for a coffin, it would be too unkind to bury the body hastily with a mat!

In the memory of this body, the Tang family's grandma was a very kind old lady who worked hard for her children and grandchildren all her life and never had a good day.The funeral after death is the last thing the grandchildren can do for her.

No, I have to think of a way again!

While lowering his head to ponder, Tang Zhong didn't realize that the gray figure at the narrow alley had been staring at him for a long time.

"The mule is yours?"

The old man at the entrance of the alley is about five or sixty years old, his beard and hair are all gray, and his slightly thin blue-gray jacket makes Tang Zhong feel cold for him even when he looks at it.

The old man pointed to an open space beside the narrow alley. Tang Zhong turned his head and saw that his black mule had broken free from the rein and was gnawing on a cabbage on the side of the ground.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

Tang Zhong trotted over and slapped the mule hard on the buttocks.The mule was in pain, neighing and jumping with its hooves on, spouting while jumping to show its dissatisfaction. The five-fingered yellow mud palm prints on the black buttocks were particularly eye-catching.

Tang Zhong Houjue laughed dryly, put his hands behind his back, and rubbed the mud on his trousers vigorously.

Bodhisattva bless, I hope the old man didn't see anything just now.

"Does the cabbage belong to your family? How much is it, I will pay you!"

Tang Zhong brought the topic back, and touched the copper coins on his waist with a sincere face.The old man didn't say a word, he just looked him up and down for a while, and finally said coldly: "Come with me."

Opposite the vegetable field is a courtyard. From the outside, it is no different from other courtyards piled up with rocks.

Pass through the courtyard gate and enter a small courtyard. Various wooden piles and cut boards are piled up everywhere in the courtyard, leaving only a path in the middle that can just pass people, which is particularly cramped.

In the pile of logs in the yard, a shirtless young man was digging his head into the wood. Seeing Tang Zhong coming in, the shirtless man turned his body for a glance, and then concentrated on pondering the wood again.

The old man led Tang Zhong all the way in silence, walked around to the eaves, pointed to something in the corner and said lightly: "Take it back, and bury your grandma properly."

After repeated confirmation, Tang Zhong could see clearly that the one covered with tarpaulin was actually a coffin that had not been painted.

This……

He didn't understand it for a while, his mind was running fast, trying to find some clues in his limited memory.After thinking about it, I really don't remember that the Tang family has any other relatives who make coffins.

"excuse me, you are……"

"You don't have to know me, and I don't have to know you."

The old man's attitude is still cold, making people have no idea of ​​wanting to get close.

"This coffin was only made a few days ago. It was originally used by a merchant family, but the other party thought the board was too thin, so the owner returned it. The coffin has not been painted yet, but it is enough for ordinary people to use. , I know there is mourning in your family, so take it back."

Without waiting for Tang Zhong's reaction, the old man stepped forward and directly lifted the oilcloth, beckoning the men in the yard to come over to help, but he didn't want to sink, his arms were tightly hugged by Tang Zhong behind him.

Tang Zhong seemed to see a relative who had been lost for many years, his eyes widened with excitement: "You can't be, my grandma's old friend when she was young, okay!"

The old man's face was ashen, and the corners of his mouth twitched slightly.Next time I see the poor thing again, I will definitely not pick it up.

With the help of Uncle He and other neighbors, the matter of the Tang family's grandma's death was finally completed with dignity.

Wealth and no relatives ask the three doors, and poor relatives do not communicate.In the past few days, except for the two neighbors who came and went to help, the family has not seen half of the relatives visiting the house. It has always been the same since ancient times.

Sitting under the sour jujube tree in the courtyard, Tang Zhong raised his hand and broke off a branch. He casually broke it off in pieces and threw it into the broken medicine jar in front of him.

On the threshold of the main room directly opposite him, two big oil bottles sat neatly, staring at him in a daze.

And the smallest oil bottle, at this time, was struggling with the threshold of the east room, and was thinking about how to climb out with his short legs.

There is no such thing as a three-year filial piety in a small place, especially for a low-level official like the city gate guard. Hu Touer only granted a ten-day funeral leave, and asked someone to bring a message back, saying don't be too sad, remember to go back on time.

Counting today, there are five days left for Tang Zhong's funeral leave.There are still many places inside and outside the house that need to be tidied up. Tang Zhong looked around and planned to start tidying up from the vegetable garden.

The Tang family's vegetable garden is right next to the yard. When the Tang family's grandmother was still there, she planted some vegetables in it. Now the field is already full of weeds, and it is hard to see what has grown.

Tang Zhong took out the hoe from the main room and waved it in the air a few times, it was barely strong enough to be used.Rolling up his sleeves and tightening his belt, he jumped out of the fence with his hoe on his shoulders, threw off his arms and began digging.

At first he was still a little rusty, he hesitated for a moment, and faintly sensed that something was missing in his hand, after thinking about it, he spat on his hand and rubbed it back and forth.Well, it's really easy!

Seeing my elder brother starting to work, the two younger ones consciously came over to help.The eight-year-old brother also brought a hoe, and started to dig the ground from the other side of the garden. The five-year-old sister took a stick and followed Tang Zhong, smashing the big clods that had been turned up.

Thinking about it, when the Tang family's grandma was alive, they also helped out in the same way.One old and two young, it's really difficult for them.

The three brothers and sisters worked for a while, and finally cleared out a cabbage field, and sat on the edge of the vegetable field to rest while drinking water.

Tang Zhong crossed his legs and was taking off his shoes to shake off the dirt inside when he saw his younger brother Uncle Tang handing over a gourd ladle, which contained water from the well the boy had just dug up.

Tang Zhong was not polite to him, and directly swallowed a few mouthfuls. It was sweet and refreshing, not as cool as imagined.

Uncle Tang was a solid-eyed child. After Tang Zhong drank the water, he took the gourd ladle and drank the remaining water in it.

"Tang Laosan, let me ask you, you always call me second brother, so where is your eldest brother?" Anyway, he was idle, Tang Zhong casually flirted with his younger brother, and asked about this memory that he didn't know clearly.

Uncle Tang wiped his mouth with his torn cuff, showing a surprised expression.

"Second brother, you forgot. Eldest brother went swimming in the river a few years ago and failed to come back."

"Cut, how could I forget, but it's just to test if you forgot!" Tang Zhong laughed casually, and continued to ask: "Then I'll test you again, what's your brother's name?"

"I know, it's Tang Bo!"

The older sister on the side rushed to answer, she was energetic, she didn't feel tired after working for a long time, she was squatting by the vegetable field, poking the mouse hole with a stick.

"You weren't even born then, how would you know?"

"I just know!" The little girl ran over and pointed a stick at the two elder brothers: "Your name is Uncle Tang, and the second brother is Tang Zhong. Isn't the eldest brother Tang Bo!" Grandma taught.

The Tang family took a lot of trouble to choose a name, Tang Zhong muttered to himself, let’s call him Tang Laosan in the future, if someone who is uneducated hears it, he calls an eight-year-old child Uncle Tang, what does it look like!

"What about you, big girl? Do you like your own name?" Tang Zhong grabbed the other end of the stick, fearing that the little girl's men would not be accurate and accidentally hurt him.

By the way, she's been yelling all day long, what's the name of this fierce girl?

"I don't like it..." The little girl pouted, "Grandma calls me Da Ya and my younger sister Er Ya, but the two daughters of Aunt Gu's family are also called Da Ya Er Ya."

"Dare you not even have a name?"

The little girl shook her head, her mouth pouting even higher.

"Isn't that easy? I'll give you a hot name right away!" Tang Zhong brought the big girl to him, glanced at the stick, and then met her deer-like eyes.

"From now on, your name will be Tang Meng."

The little girl was startled, then screamed and ran away.Tang Meng, Tang Meng, none of the girls in the village who were her age were called this!What a great name!

"What about Erya?" Tang Meng hopped to the other side of the vegetable garden, remembering that the good things should be kept for the younger sister, and shouted loudly: "What's her name?"

Tang Zhong picked up the stick, threw it far up the slope with one arm, and opened his mouth without even thinking about it: "My name is Tang Biao, how about it?"

In the fenced courtyard behind, the girl wrapped up in a ball turned out from the threshold of the east house at some point, and was crawling out of the yard on all fours, when suddenly heard the word "Tang Biao", the girl babbled out After a few sounds, he kicked his legs on the ground, squatted and sat on the ground, and cried out.

The author has something to say:

Tang Zhong: How about it? I chose a good name, right?

Tang Meng: Very good, as soon as I mention my name, I know that I am the village tyrant in the village.

Tang Biao: Let me cry again, you should experience it well.

Uncle Tang: It's very good. I won't allow it next time.