"The store will be closed in the afternoon and will be open as normal tomorrow."
Tang Qing finished lunch, closed the door of the shop, and put up the notice board.
The words Carpenter Wang said angrily last night kept Tang Qing from sleeping well all night.
"If you don't listen to my advice, you will suffer consequences sooner or later!"
Lying on the bed, Tang Qing thought about Carpenter Wang's words over and over again.
"Nothing to do with them!"
Still can’t deal with him? He’s so hard-spoken!
But you can’t blame me?
Our Tang family and Li family have been in contact for generations. From our ancestors, the Li family has only accepted haircuts for them from our Tang family.
But they are one of the largest households in Shan City, and you are just barbers.
I know this well, except for giving haircuts to the Li family, I don't do anything else.
You still say that you don't have any contact or contact? Then why do you insist on pretending to be a good guy to participate in the division of their property?
This is also a last resort.
Forced?
Yes, there are instructions from our ancestors: No care should be taken when it comes to important matters. Haircuts deal with people’s hearts, their emotions, and the relationships between people!
If I had not been involved at that time and had not lied about sharing the property equally among the three of us, the old man would probably not be buried today.
Okay, okay, you are awesome. Tang Qing is now a very different person and has become a well-known celebrity in Yancheng!
What you said is a bit too much. Why do I need that title?
Then why are you? Oh, I understand, you are trying to please that Li Zapo!
Did I please her? Did I lie to her to please her? Didn't you see the way she looked at that time? She wanted to eat me alive!
Humph, don't think that I don't know what's in your heart, Xiao Jiujiu.
What is there in my heart about Xiao Jiujiu?
You pretend, pretend...
I'm not pretending, I want to go to the toilet...
Tang Qing spent the night talking in sleep with her dead husband.
Although this marriage was arranged by his parents, Tang Qing didn't hate him either.
As the saying goes, a couple's love lasts for a hundred days. The ordinary she and the ordinary him have lived together for more than three years. They are relatives and members of their own families.
For some reason, after shaving Mr. Li's pubic head, Tang Qing's dreams were all about her dead husband, and Li Li's shadow never appeared once.
When Tang Qing learned that Li Li had hosted a banquet for those "incompetent people" and the neighborhood committee director Liu, police officer Xiao Wang, and lawyer Gao at the hotel last night, he felt terribly disappointed.
It's not that she couldn't enjoy the feast because she wasn't invited.
Tang Qing was not used to the dishes served in big hotels, but he still liked green vegetables and radish strips. Besides, it was very uncomfortable to have so many people sitting around the same table eating and drinking.
Tang Qing didn't know why he was disappointed, but he started to hate Li Li a little.
Li Zapo, what's so great about you?
It is also wrong for you to want to monopolize the family property alone. Even though Li Zhong and Li Cheng are not human!
Wouldn't it be better for the three of us to share the family property equally? From now on, we will still be one family in harmony.
Li Zapo, I don’t need to be coy to please you! You have never looked at me in the first place!
If you look down on me, just look down on me. I am still me, and I still do what I should do!
After Tang Qing came out of the barber shop, he was thinking wildly and came to Master Li's tomb unknowingly.
Today is Mr. Li's "first seven".
There is a custom in Yancheng to make "Qi" for the deceased. Counting from the day of death, seven days are called "Qi". It is said that after "Five Seven" is completed, the deceased will truly say goodbye to their relatives and leave.
Mr. Li, forgive me, I just want you to close your eyes in peace.
They are noisy like this. If you are not annoyed, I am.
I really can't figure it out, the three of them are not short of money, why are they so fussy about it?
Mr. Li, Li Li has you as her father in her heart, otherwise she wouldn't be so sad, and she wouldn't want other property but your old house.
Mr. Li, rest in peace. I will visit you again during the holidays. You live very close to my family.
After Tang Qing paid homage to Master Li, he went to sit in front of her husband's grave.
Both Mr. Li and Tang Qing's husbands are buried in Xishan Cemetery, not far from each other.
Alas, these days feel slow when sitting in the store, but they go by so fast. You have been gone for almost three years.
Don't worry, my son is fine. He just often asks about you, why did you suddenly disappear?
I didn't know how to answer him, I could only smile.
I can't laugh?
Why?
Oh, you said I look uglier when I laugh than when I cry, so it’s better not to laugh.
Actually, I didn’t want to laugh, and I didn’t think there was anything to laugh about.
Hey, why do you say that I want to laugh so much in my heart?
How many times did I laugh out loud in the dream?
Nonsense, is it possible?
Alas, here you go again!
Even if I laugh out loud in my dream, it's not because of her.
What does her divorce have to do with me?
Didn't you see?
In order to divide the family property, I am not a human being inside and outside when I testify.
Do you support me testifying like that?
real or fake?
…
On a hot summer afternoon, Tang Qing was the only one in the entire cemetery. She sat quietly in front of her husband's grave until the sun set.
"Huh? Why is there no sound?"
In the dusk, Tang Qing went directly from the cemetery to the Li family's old house.
Seeing that the old house was quiet, I felt a little strange.
Logically speaking, today is Mr. Li's "first seventh day" and his relatives should buy him a table of food and wine at his old house and burn some paper money to pay homage to his soul who has not yet left.
Tang Qing pushed open the ajar door and walked into the old house.
There are three entrances to the old house. First, there is a paved ground paved with cobblestones. When you walk on it, you will immediately stop sweating profusely.
Tang Qing looked inside and saw that there was no light in the hall and the main room inside. It was dark and it was hard to see if anyone was there.
Why is it so quiet?
Tang Qing had been to the old house countless times, but this was the first time it was so quiet like today.
It's so quiet, so eerily quiet.
This silence is eerie.
"Cough cough cough..."
Tang Qing stood in the tunnel and coughed a few times. This was not to embolden herself. She was not afraid, but to remind the people inside that someone had come in.
The door was unlocked, which meant there must be someone inside.
The old house was still silent and soundless.
Tang Qing continued to walk inside, and it became darker and darker as she went inside. She could only move forward based on her memory.
When she was young, Tang Qing came to the old house regularly with her father to give haircuts to the Li family. After learning the craft, Tang Qing came here on her own. She was as familiar with the old house as the Li family.
The Tang family has been giving haircuts to the Li family since Tang Qing's grandfather, and they never stopped until Mr. Li passed away a few days ago.
"Ouch!"
Tang Qing tripped over something and fell to the ground like a dog eating shit.
"Who? Who are you?"
Tang Qing groped on the ground for a while and found a foot, a person's foot. But no matter how much she shouted and asked, there was no response.
"Master Li, today is your 'first seven'. I kindly came here to pay homage to you, but you can't do this to me?"
Tang Qing wanted to get up from the ground, but she was unprepared for the fall. The fall was not light, and she couldn't get up at once.
"Master Li, there is no fragrance to guide you in this 'first seven', and there is no candle to illuminate you. You have been wronged, but you can't bump into me on purpose."
The older generation, who do not understand science, say that lighting three pillars of incense can lead the way to the soul of the dead and guide him home.
"Crack!"
With the sound of the switch, the hall of the old house was as bright as day.
Tang Qing suddenly had difficulty adapting to the strong light. She shook her head, blinked her eyes, looked up, broke into a cold sweat, got up from the ground, and then sat down on the ground.
Tang Qing saw Mr. Li wearing a crisp black suit and sitting upright on a Qing-style screen-backed chair at the top of the hall.
This Qing-style screen-backed chair is old and has a three-screen armchair. People in Yancheng call it the "Taishi Chair".
It is said that after Mr. Li's grandfather won first place in the provincial examination that year, he was specially rewarded by the county magistrate.
When Tang Qing was a child, she didn't dare to approach this chair. The black and shiny color scared her. When she walked through the hall, she always walked around it, and her little hands couldn't help but squeeze her father's big hand.
Later, when Tang Qing grew up, he came alone to give Mr. Li a haircut. He would always close his eyes when passing through the hall, still afraid of looking at the old chair.
Tonight, Tang Qing habitually closed his eyes when he was passing through the hall, and then he fell.
In fact, it was completely dark at that time, and it was the same whether it was closed or not.
But at this moment, Tang Qing thought that it was because she closed her eyes and ignored Mr. Li's existence that she was punished and fell so hard.
Now that Tang Qing was sitting on the ground, he still didn't dare to look at the chair, let alone Mr. Li sitting on the chair.
"Master Li, I told you at the cemetery this afternoon that I lied for your own good, for the sake of the two eldest brothers and Li Li. Otherwise, could you be buried in peace? Can they still be a family?"
Tang Qing sat on the ground and lowered his head to explain to Mr. Li. After a while of silence, he continued:
"Master Li, I did wrong Li Li this time, but I said that for her own good. It's better for her to be a little wronged than to be criticized by outsiders, right? You still have to earn your own money. She is still young and so capable, so she can definitely let you