sinovels Chapter 854 The Meaning of Life and Death
Chapter 854 The Meaning of Life and Death
Chapter 854 The Meaning of Life and Death
After Jiang Ning crushed the Ultraman toy, he got on his motorcycle and drove towards Nanhu Lake in a leisurely manner.
After leaving the village, the flat concrete ground turned into a dirt road. It was winter, the air was bone-chillingly cold, and the ground was frozen hard. When the wheels rolled over it, there was a "crackling" sound as the tiny pieces of ice broke.
He headed south, parallel to the ditch beside the dirt road.
The wilderness in the early morning of winter is silent and empty, as if filled with a faint morning mist, as if wisps of ghosts are wandering in it, desolate and lonely.
Jiang Ning did not feel frightened by the deserted place like he did when he was a child; he just felt a little emotional.
Jiang Ning was born in the countryside. When he was a child, his parents followed the trend of the times and became two of the many rural migrant workers in the news. However, a grain of sand from the times became a mountain when it fell on his family.
Left-behind children usually live with their grandparents. The older generation is not well educated, and the close relationship between generations leads them to dote on their grandchildren more. Coupled with the backward education in rural areas, in this environment, left-behind children are like opening a blind box. Most of the ones that come out are ordinary hooligans, and if they want to become college students, they must have rare qualities.
Jiang Ning was barely considered rare, but thanks to the care of his grandparents, he had a happy childhood.
Because of this adoption feeling, Jiang Ning has a better relationship with his grandparents than with his parents who work away from home. Many left-behind children have similar ideas.
However, when his grandparents passed away, Jiang Ning was not very sad, and he didn't even cry, because he didn't seem to realize what it meant. He just accompanied his family and walked through the funeral numbly.
However, in the years that followed, whenever he thought of Jiangjiazhuang and the old house where he had lived, he would suddenly realize that he seemed to no longer have a home.
As he was riding his motorcycle, he suddenly remembered that when he was a child, his grandfather also rode a motorcycle to take him to Nanhu to visit his great-grandfather's grave, but now, his grandfather had become the one waiting for him to visit the grave.
"Is life really like this?" Jiang Ning was silent.
The speed of the motorcycle gradually slowed down. Jiang Ning drove across another stone bridge. He released the accelerator and the motorcycle stopped beside a ditch. He held yellow paper and prepared to cross the ditch to burn paper for his grandfather.
Suddenly, Jiang Ning stopped walking. He lowered his head and looked around. The ditch was four or five meters wide and was covered with dead grass. The surface of the water was frozen and the bottom was unobservable.
Jiang Ning was deeply impressed by this ditch. The ditches in rural areas not only irrigate farmland, but also connect rivers, reservoirs and even fish ponds. Every year when there is a flood, fish will jump out of the ponds or swim upstream from the rivers and swim to the ditches in the countryside to recuperate.
For rural children, the happiest time is to go barefoot into the ditch to catch fish and shrimps.
Jiang Ning had gone down many ditches, but this one was the only one he had never gone down, because the villagers claimed that this ditch had been dug by an excavator and was two meters deep, and that anyone who fell in would drown.
The more he heard it, the more it became engraved in Jiang Ning's heart.
He swept his spiritual sense, escaped into the ice surface, and extended it downwards: "The villagers are bragging, it's not two meters at all."
'It's three meters.'
Most of the ditches beside rural fields are only about one meter deep. If someone falls into a three-meter deep ditch, his shadow will be gone. Fortunately, he did not seek death when he was a child.
Jiang Ning put two bundles of yellow paper on the grass. He took a step forward, his toes stepping on the fragile ice surface. The ice surface shook and made a "cracking" sound, but miraculously it did not break.
Jiang Ning continued walking forward on the ice until he reached the middle of the ditch. Unable to bear the weight, the ice suddenly broke into pieces, ripples appeared under his feet, and Jiang Ning's body fell.
At this moment, Jiang Ning's body was filled with a flash of spiritual light, and a thin film of flowing faint light emerged. He slowly sank into the water and disappeared.
Five seconds later, Jiang Ning emerged from the water without a single stain of water on his body, and he was holding two struggling grass carps in his hands.
"Give grandpa and grandma a treat," Jiang Ning thought.
He walked to the wheat field across the dirt road, and the two bundles of yellow paper behind him suddenly rose into the air and followed him.
Walking to the two graves, Jiang Ning fixed his eyes. Jiang Hu and others had visited the graves a few days ago. There was some black ashes left in front of the graves from a recent burn.
Jiang Ning put down the yellow paper, pinched it with his fingers, and a ray of fire appeared, lighting it.
He stretched out his hand again, and a pile of fallen leaves and broken branches flew over from a distance. Jiang Ning gutted the fish, built a barbecue grill, and grilled it in front of the grave. He also sprinkled some spices.
Jiang Ning said with a smile: "Grandpa and grandma, eat more, don't worry about the money, I caught it."
After the yellow paper was burned out and the grass carp was cooked, he kowtowed three times solemnly before getting up and leaving.
Afterwards, he found the graves of his great-grandfather and great-grandmother, burned two bundles of yellow paper, and caught two fish and roasted them.
Even though he had forgotten what they looked like.
I remember one year, Jiang Ning and his grandfather came to visit the graves. His grandfather said, "With me here, you still know where their graves are, but when you bring your children here in the future, they probably won't remember them!"
If Jiang Ning’s children remember, what about his grandchildren?
A hundred years later, there will probably be only a dry grave left, without any grave mound.
Jiang Ning was still young back then and didn’t think much of it, but thinking back on it now, he feels a bit vicissitudes of life.
He looked toward the end of the fields in the east, where a winter sun was rising slowly. Its dazzling light penetrated the mist, as if dispelling the ghosts wandering around and bringing hope for a new life.
"But..." Jiang Ning said in a funny way: "Fortunately, I can live longer than my grandson."
……
Half an hour after Jiang Ning left the field, two SUVs appeared there.
Leading the pack was a Mercedes-Benz GLC, with my uncle Jiang Qitian steering the wheel, Jiang Junlong sitting on the passenger seat, and my aunt and cousin sitting in the back seat.
He parked his car next to a ditch, and the BMW X5 behind him stopped as well. The door opened, and a man in his mid-thirties got out. He had a peaceful face and seemed very reliable.
"Brother, where is uncle's grave?" Dachao asked.
He is the son of Jiang Ning's grandfather's younger brother. Their branch did not stay in Waniao Town, but went to Su Province to develop, did business there, bought cars and houses, and successfully settled down.
As the saying goes, it is hard to leave one’s hometown, so they return to Waimiao Town every year to attend weddings and funerals and to keep in touch with their families.
Getting off the car with him were a boy and a girl, who looked two years younger than Jiang Junlong, but were obviously dressed more luxuriously.
Jiang Junlong said: "Brother Ning just came and burned paper. The grave with ashes in front of it is our grandfather's grave."
Jiang Qitian slapped him on the head and said, "My father, how can I not remember him?"
He walked straight to his father's grave. Jiang Junlong was about to call his cousin to follow him, but he found that his cousin was staring at the broken ice in the ditch.
"Did someone fall down?" Jiang Fan guessed.
Her sister Jiang Qianqian, wearing a long pink down jacket, said nonchalantly, "I guess someone threw a rock at me."
After saying that, she walked past the two of them and chased after her cousin's wife in front of her.
Jiang Junlong and Jiang Fan couldn't figure out anything, so they had to give up guessing. He put his arm around Jiang Fan's shoulder and walked towards his grandfather's grave.
Jiang Fan said: "Brother, can you teach me how to play LOL?"
Jiang Junlong curled the corners of his mouth. His younger brother was from a big city and his family was better off than his. In the past, he was a "poor relative" and his younger brother was a little arrogant in front of him.
As a result, when he revealed his LOL King rank, his cousin Jiang Fan immediately showed shock.
Jiang Junlong was secretly happy: "I will definitely do that next time."
They kept walking, but when they arrived at the grave, they saw Jiang Qianqian frowning.
"What's wrong?" Jiang Junlong asked curiously.
The next second, he saw two skewers of grilled fish placed in front of the grave. The fish was grilled to a golden color, like a goldfish, and sprinkled with cumin and chili powder, which actually made him hungry.
"What's going on? Where did the grilled fish come from?" Jiang Junlong was confused.
Jiang Qianqian was suspicious: "Did we go to the wrong grave?"
Uncle Jiang Qitian: "It can't be wrong!"
Jiang Fan was quick-witted. He asked in surprise, "The ice in the ditch just broke. Could it be that someone went down there to catch some fish and brought them here to roast?"
Jiang Qianqian glanced at him and complained, "Brother, are you sick? How can you catch fish in such a cold weather?"
Jiang Fan: "You haven't seen it, so why do you deny it?"
Jiang Junlong: "Don't argue, I'll ask Brother Ning."
Soon, he got a reply, and he said, "It was indeed my brother Ning who caught it."
Jiang Qianqian's voice choked as she thought of her cousin who had an ordinary appearance and a sloppy temperament.
She was speechless: "What's wrong with you? You catch fish when you visit a grave?"
Uncle Jiang Qitian chuckled: "Ningning is still the one with the best ideas!"
He squatted on the ground and lit the yellow paper with a lighter, and the atmosphere gradually became quiet.
Jiang Qitian muttered, "Dad, your son is here to see you. Our family is doing well this year. I... Litian is now a manager... You always said that our family would fall apart after you left. Haha, how could we fall apart? After Litian is done with these two critical years, we brothers will celebrate the New Year together every year in the future!"
After muttering for a while, Jiang Qitian called out, "Come here and kowtow!"
Jiang Junlong kowtowed and said, "I will burn paper for Grandpa. Grandpa must bless me to go to Tsinghua University and make a fortune in the future."
Jiang Qitian laughed and scolded: "You wish a little, your grandfather is just dead, not a god!"
The eldest aunt couldn't help laughing: "We are visiting the graves, what are you talking about!"
After visiting the grave, everyone went to visit the grave of Jiang Fan and Jiang Qianqian’s grandfather.
Jiang Fan was very excited, and his father Dachao scolded him: "Why are you jumping around? How did you do in the exam? Do you still have the nerve to see your grandfather?"
Jiang Fan: "Can I wear a mask?"
Dachao: “Sure.”
Finally, everyone went together to look for Jiang Ning’s great-grandfather’s grave, and they burned paper and kowtowed.
Jiang Junlong looked at his phone and screamed, "Dad, you just said that Brother Ning didn't visit the grave of my great grandfather. In fact, when I asked him, he said that he had visited the grave of my great grandfather, but there was no ashes of freshly burned paper in front of the grave we just knocked on!"
Uncle Jiang Qitian took a closer look and said, "It really is!"
Uncle Dachao, Jiang Fan, Jiang Qianqian and others were all stunned.
"We are not visiting our great grandfather's grave, so whose grave is this?"
Jiang Junlong searched around and stood in front of a grave and shouted, "There is grilled fish in front of this grave. It's my great grandfather's grave!"
Jiang Qitian felt relieved and said, "It's okay, your great grandfather is right next to us, he must have seen it, just consider it as we went up there!"
Jiang Qianqian complained: "Wouldn't he be even angrier if he saw it?"
Jiang Qitian: “…”
……
In the village, in front of Uncle Jingui’s house.
Rural people’s weddings are not like those in cities, where they spend huge amounts of money to go to a hotel and are held in a grand manner.
The customs in Wa Miao Town are mainly simple. There are no sedan chairs or big horses. They just set up a simple venue, spread a red carpet, and invite a few children to spray colored ribbons and fireworks when the bride and groom walk on the red carpet.
In the early years when material was scarce, the host would scatter candies. The candies would be scattered all over the sky and women and children would scramble for them. It was very lively. Now that life has improved, no one is too lazy to pick up the candies.
After visiting the grave, Jiang Ning had nothing to do, so he went to the table at the door to pay the gift money. Since he was a close relative, Jiang Ning gave him 500 yuan: "Jiang Litian."
The old village teacher who was in charge of taking names looked at him carefully before saying, "Are you Ningning from Xiaoli's family?"
Jiang Ning: “Yes.”
The old teacher said hurriedly: "It has really changed!"
After paying the gift money, Jiang Ning received a pack of Yunnan Yunnan cigarettes and a candy bag. He opened it and saw the common low-quality candies, ordinary hard candies, plum kernel brown sugar, and unpalatable corn candies...
There was no Alps candy or chocolate candies that he liked, so he handed the candy bag to his eldest nephew Haohao.
Compared to the free and arrogant Haohao yesterday who played with his phone casually, today's Haohao was very miserable. He limped to receive the candy and showed a smile that was uglier than crying: "Thank you, uncle."
"You're welcome." Jiang Ning was happy. After his nephew's true performance was exposed yesterday, he was severely punished by Jiang Hu and his wife.
The plump Tiger's wife joined in the fun. She looked at the busy villagers and the cars coming in the distance and said with a smile, "It's really lively today!"
Haohao forced a smile to please: "Yeah, it's so lively, so nice!"
Mrs. Hu glared at him with a sharp gaze. Haohao's heart trembled, and he made small talk: "But it's not as lively as when Great Grandfather died."
Jiang Ning quietly moved his position.
Soon, Haohao's miserable crying was heard.
At this moment, Uncle Jingui and his family went to pick up the bride, and the people who were once familiar to them had not yet arrived at the home ground.
Jiang Ning had nothing to do, so he took out his cell phone to play.
Chen Siyu @ him in the group: "Jiang Ning, did you go to the banquet?"
Jiang Ning raised his phone, took a photo of the wedding venue, and sent it to the group: "The bride hasn't arrived yet."
After seeing the photo, Chen Siyu said: "Wow, it's a wedding scene!"
Jiang Ning: “Yes, that’s right.”
Meng Ziyun: "It's quite simple."
Lu Qiqi sent a message: "No way, this is a wedding scene, how funny is that?"
She continued, "If I get married in a place like this, I will never be able to get over it. This is a blasphemy against marriage..."
When Jiang Yanan saw the message from her good sister, she wanted to say that instead of having an ostentatious wedding, she would rather use the money for traveling or saving it, but considering that they were sisters, she did not refute.
Dong Qingfeng: "It's indeed a bit crude."
Lu Qiqi got the nod and continued: "How important is a wedding? I'm not talking about holding it in a high-end banquet hall, but it should at least be a mid-range one, right? People only get married once in their lives, so they can't leave any regrets, otherwise they will regret it for the rest of their lives. Listen carefully, boys in the group..."
Ma Shicheng: "Haha, the college entrance examination only happens once in a lifetime, why haven't you tried your best to get into Tsinghua University?"
(End of this chapter)