Chapter 238 Chapter Six The Gong Knocking Gambler

When Wen Sazi left the shed, my grandfather and I were still waiting in the shed for the person who beat the gong.Therefore, my grandfather and I didn't even know that Mr. Ichimogo had sneaked into Wen Sazi's room. Because grandpa reached Huamei Village after climbing a mountain, and I walked two or three miles along a small stream to Changshan Village, so we were not in a hurry because it was getting late.My grandfather and I listened to the white-haired woman singing filial songs in the main room, while waiting for the arrival of the gong beater.The white-haired woman's song of filial piety was indeed sung well, as if she came from the underworld in a trance.

The gong beater grandpa was waiting for was from Fangjiazhuang, about the same age as grandpa, but because he loved to gamble when he was young, his wife left him with their children after losing, and never heard from him again.This gambler doesn't know any farm work except rolling dice, so the family is inevitably poor.Later, after being introduced by his grandfather, he followed a fat Taoist priest from the Hong family to learn how to play the horn at funerals, but he was too lazy to even play the horn.The fat Taoist dismissed him because of his grandfather's affection, so he asked him to beat the gong.

Beating the gong is an easy job, and it is the easiest job in funeral ceremonies.Originally, this job was done by the Taoist priest who played the trumpet himself. After blowing a section of the trumpet or singing a section of filial piety, he would pick up a wooden stick wrapped with red cotton cloth and hit it on the gong.Now that this job is done by one person, it is even easier.The lazy man from Fangjiazhuang naturally happily accepted the task of beating the gong.However, this person is still often late.The white-haired woman had sung no less than ten short verses in the main room, and the gong-beater hadn't arrived yet.

I became impatient after waiting for a while, but considering my grandfather's loneliness, I had to sit patiently in the shed and wait. The generation of grandpa is becoming less and less common.This time, when the old man in the spirit house died, grandpa must have negative thoughts in his heart.This proves that there is one less person who can talk about their era with grandpa. "If this lazy man doesn't come, I'm leaving." Grandpa couldn't sit still anymore.His words seemed to be addressed to someone, but also seemed to be addressed to himself. "Wait a little longer." Instead, I began to persuade Grandpa to wait patiently.

Just as he finished speaking, a staggering figure walked into the shed.As soon as the figure entered the shed, his body softened, and his hands firmly grasped the pine branches on the door frame of the shed.The whole person is like a piece of bacon hanging.His skin was as sallow and sallow as bacon, but his face was red with the smell of wine. Grandpa hurriedly got up and ran over to help him: "You are not afraid of losing face to the Fang family. They have been singing filial songs for a long time, and I haven't seen you coming to beat the gong!" The man held the door frame with one hand and put the other on the grandfather's shoulder, and said stubbornly: "Old man Ma Yueyun, you don't know, how can I afford to disgrace the Fang family? I don't even have a wife and children, no matter how embarrassing I am You only lose face."

"You're still stubborn." Grandpa said him, but there was no expression of blame on his face.Grandpa supported him, and the two stumbled into the main room.I walk behind them. There are many people sitting in the main room, including Taoist priests and ordinary people listening to filial songs.There is an extra white paper screen in the main room, with some poems mourning the old man written on it.In the middle of the screen hangs a vertical picture of eighteen floors of hell.The screen blocked the coffin behind, and you had to go around to see it. I don't know if it was because they were afraid of seeing the coffin at night.

An Eight Immortals table is placed in front of the screen, and one side of the table is close to the screen.There is still a section below the map of eighteen floors of hell on the table, pressed with a gavel.The gavel is a tool used by Taoists. At the beginning and end of the practice, the Taoist will pick it up and smash it hard, like the ancient county grandpa who tried the case, knocking on the table to remind the people in the hall to pay attention. On the two opposite sides of the Eight Immortals table sit two Taoist priests, one female and three male.On the left is a fat Taoist priest sitting first, on the right is a white-haired woman sitting first, and the other two Taoist priests are also familiar faces, but I don't remember their names.The white-haired woman is in charge of singing filial songs, the other three male Taoist priests are in charge of blowing the trumpet, and the fat Taoist priest occasionally knocks on the wooden fish.

The gong-beater is also considered a member of them.But the gong-beater cannot sit with them. A bench is erected, and the gong is hung on the foot of the bench. A low chair next to the gong is where the gong-beater sits.It seems that Taoist priests also have different levels. Seeing the gong knocker coming, the white-haired woman complained a few words, gave the gong knocker a nasty look, and then continued to sing her hymn. The fat Taoist priest from the Hong family didn't seem to see his grandfather coming in with the gong beater, and he played the trumpet solemnly, his cheeks bulging like frogs.

Grandpa helped the gong knocker to sit on a low chair. The gong beater burped, picked up a wooden stick wrapped in red cotton cloth and started beating the gong.My grandpa and I sat down next to him. "Boom—" The sound of the gong is loud and long, and it is easy to bring people's thoughts back to the past. "I heard that you suffered backlash after subduing Taoist priests and female sex ghosts?" the gong knocker asked grandpa. "Yes." Grandpa answered him as if nothing had happened. "I said, don't catch ghosts. You see, this dead old man has been a spiritual house all his life, but in the end there is no one who can answer gifts for him. His skills have also gone to the underworld." The gong knocker shook his head. Said, "Old man Yue Yun, don't you don't like to listen, your craftsmanship is not as good as his, and he can use the spirit house to exchange some money for oil and salt, what about you? You can't earn oil and salt money, and you can't spend a few meals Eating wine and food makes your body tired. You are old, you need to take good care of your muscles and bones."

Grandpa smiled wryly. The man knocking on the gong continued: "Look at me, lazy is lazy, I admit it. But what's wrong with being lazy? In the end, a person is still a handful of dirt, and he still has to be buried in the dirt. Why do you have to work so hard when you're alive! " Grandpa didn't answer, he took out a cigarette and handed it to the gong knocker.The man who beat the gong didn't accept the cigarette. He said, "I don't smoke cigarettes, but I drink wine when I'm given. Smoking is not good for your health, but drinking some wine can also loosen your muscles. I'm not like you. I know how to protect myself." "Just as the white-haired woman finished singing another verse, the gong knocker knocked on the gong on the bench.

Grandpa lit a cigarette by himself, took a puff, and asked, "If your old man encounters a ghost and asks for trouble, who will your old man turn to?" "Then I can't find you?" said the gong knocker. "That's it!" Grandpa smiled, the gully on his face was very obvious. "I heard that this time you hunted nymphs and vixen, you also invited the Lost God of Jiangjunpo? How did you invite it? No one who got lost there has ever seen the Lost God. It Why did you agree to help you?" The gong knocker stretched his neck towards Grandpa like a goose, and asked curiously.