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  At seven o'clock, Zhang Wenbin was preparing for the first round of chanting sutras to help the deceased ascend. The people in the courtyard were rushing about, those who didn't understand the ritual were eager to watch the commotion, while those who did usually chose to avoid it at this time. In China, there is a saying that white-haired people should not send off black-haired people, parents cannot kneel or wail for their children, so Lao Guan and his wife were in another room. Although Lao Guan's wife was a madwoman, she also knew that her own daughter had passed away, crying until her eyes were swollen like peaches. Lao Guan had been lying in bed, humming to himself, without eating or drinking for days.

  Around 8 o'clock, the first round of chanting was completed. I stayed in the mourning hall to hand over the utensils to Zha Wenbin. Er Dai had left about an hour ago, and before leaving, he whispered something to Zha Wenbin, but I didn't hear clearly what it was about. The people who came to help would usually go back home to rest after the first round of chanting was completed. They had been busy for a whole day, and by this time, they had finished their tasks for the day. The people in the courtyard had already cleaned up the tables, chairs, and benches, and swept the floor. Guan Fei cried alone for an hour, her voice hoarse from crying. I saw that no one was taking care of her, so I asked my mom to take extra care of her.

  It was around 8:01 when my mom hastily ran over to find me, pulled me to a secluded corner by the wall and whispered: "I just thought of going to the kitchen to prepare some food for the people inside, but when I went in, I found that Lao Guan's family had disappeared, the bed was still warm, and both husband and wife were gone. Could something have happened?"

  My mom is a relatively sensitive person, at first I wanted to comfort her and said: "There are so many people, it's possible that they went out to see off the guests, wait until all the guests have dispersed and then I'll go find them."

  "Then be careful, that child is pitiful. I'll put the food in the kitchen and you can send it over when you have time." After saying this, my mom was about to head back, there were still a few miles to Hong Village from here. When someone dies, everyone gets a little scared, so it's better to walk together with more people to boost our courage.

  At around 8:20, Cha Wenbin had packed up his things. The more I thought about it, the more uncomfortable my mind became. I went to tell Cha Wenbin, "My mom said that Lao Guan is gone, could something have happened?"

  Zha Wenbin was just making fragrant oil over there, and upon hearing me say that, he immediately looked up in surprise and said: "Not good, hurry up and go find someone!"

  Rushing out of the house, I found that almost everyone had left. I grabbed someone and asked if they had seen Lao Guan. After inquiring with seven or eight people, there was no news at all. Suddenly, Cha Wenbin rushed out of the house and told me: "Lao Guan's window is open, I went to the back room and took a look around, and saw a row of footprints under the wall corner, probably walking along the small path."

  One wave has not yet subsided, another wave rises. I hurriedly whip my horse to chase after my father. Where are you going to find someone at this late hour? I was almost at the door of our house when I caught up with him. When he heard about the situation, he also became anxious and turned back to hurry home. At that time, my father said, "Old Guan is still dragging along a crazy woman, they definitely won't go far."

  There are two exits from Shang'an Village, one leading to Hongcun and the other to Xi'an Village. The three villages are separated by a bridge in between. People heading towards Hongcun had all returned home, and we didn't encounter Old Guan on the road either. At that time, we judged that it was most likely that they went in the direction of Xi'an Village, so we immediately called out to people to search along the main roads and small paths, but after a busy night, we still couldn't find them. As dawn approached, we were exhausted and each returned home to rest. When I arrived home, Er Dai was playing with the dog at home, and I asked him: "Old Two, where did you go last night? Did you see Guan Fei's parents?"

  He continued to fiddle with an empty bowl on the ground, that stupid dog and he were stuck together licking his palm, and he actually "heh heh heh" laughed. This is completely ignoring me again. I had been holding back my anger for a whole evening, so I immediately walked over and kicked the bowl flying, saying: "Don't you have any good or bad, asking you questions and giving a response is also the most basic respect?"

  If someone wants to take revenge, the best way is to use cold violence. I couldn't stand it and felt like I was going to collapse when facing Ye Qiu. Unexpectedly, that guy stood up and said lightly, "The kick you gave me just now broke all my living expenses for these days."

  I asked, "What do you mean?" But Er Duan had already left, turning around to take Duan Duan out of the courtyard gate. It wasn't until then that I noticed the bowl from earlier didn't seem like one we used for meals at home. The entire body of the bowl was white glaze with a dragon drawn on it. The dragon's body was slender and long, its neck extremely thin, with thin legs, thin claws, and a sharp tail. The overall shape was light and agile. The dragon's head was relatively small, with deer-like antlers, its mouth open and tongue sticking out. There were whiskers on the dragon's lower jaw, but none on its upper jaw.

  When I pieced these fragments together, it seemed as if that dragon suddenly came to life and was swimming on the bowl. This craftsmanship is not ordinary, but where did these two fools get such a bowl from? When I reassembled these fragments, a term suddenly popped into my mind: Yuan Dynasty Qinghua!

  Suddenly, a million thoughts flashed through my mind. I looked at the pile of fragments in my hand. If this was really a Yuan dynasty Qinghua porcelain, I would have kicked myself to death!

  "Old Second, Old Second." I took those broken pieces and chased after him...

  The search for a whole night yielded no result, but the bad news still came at noon. Someone found the bodies of Lao Guan and his wife under the bridge in front of their house.

  When I and Zhang Wenbin arrived, the whole scene was already in a state of commotion. It was an ancient stone arch bridge, which had lost its original color and was covered with moss. At one end of the bridge there was a small land temple, next to which stood a large oak tree. The roots of this oak tree stretched across the stone bridge, extending all the way to the other side, and twisted together under the bridge, it was unclear whether the roots were supporting the bridge or if the bridge had grown trees on top of it.

  When I arrived, the bodies had already been carried up, and there were two empty nooses on the tree roots. In the river, several stones had been overturned to one side. The couple had hanged themselves at their own front door. There was no suicide note, no will. All that was left for Pingfei was a second devastating blow. She collapsed completely, in a daze. In one mourning hall, three family members, three cold corpses.

  This tragic event is more a result of human malice than bad luck. It's clear to everyone why this old man chose to end his life. The day before, their family was humiliated by others, and the young daughter had to come out and face it. This old man had lived a life of humiliation, and now he was filled with shame and indignation. So, he took the crazy woman with him and walked into the abyss together.

  This man's life was all sorrow, only in the last moment he was very brave, he chose such an extreme way to protest to the world, although heroic but speechless.

  Life may have only one death, Lao Gua understands that this life is like a stone thrown into the cesspit, it can't stir up ripples and no one will pick it up. He has already lost a daughter, he cannot drag down another one, you can't say he's not brave, he really wants to understand.

  That day, the people of Shang'an Village didn't dare say a word, they all came spontaneously, regardless of their purpose, at least they came. The people of Xiaohong Village wanted to do something to them, wanted to beat them up, but what's the use? My father only said one sentence "Death is a big deal" and never appeared again, he went home and slept for three days and three nights, I knew he was heartbroken.

  In those three days, I didn't leave the Wang's house, and Cha Wenbin didn't either. Only Er Dai went who-knows-where again.

  Er Dai's intuition was accurate, after the burial of the three members of the Pang family, Pang Fei moved to Hong Village. My mother liked this girl very much and adopted her as a goddaughter, so Pang Fei lived in our home from then on, calling my siblings and me brothers and sisters.

  It was about the fifth day when Er Dai came back, the new clothes I bought for him were tattered and had become a mop cloth, his face and body were all injured, the only thing that hadn't changed was that he still held that knife in his hand.

  On the fifth day, in the early morning, it suddenly let out a loud cry in the yard, which made me, who was sleeping soundly, feel annoyed. I hadn't had a good rest for several days and was furious. Holding my slippers, I rushed into the yard and hit it hard: "Cry, cry to death!"

  With a creak, the door opened and there was someone leaning against the door frame. At first, I thought it was a beggar, dressed in tattered clothes. I thought to myself, "It's still early for beggars to be out, no wonder Daidai is barking." But then Daidai rushed over to the beggar, wagging its tail and licking its legs. I took another look, and it wasn't a beggar at all - it was Er'dai!

  "Wen Bin! Wen Bin!" I shouted loudly in the courtyard: "Someone come quick, Second Brother is dying!"

  This time, Er Dai was seriously injured. The deepest part of the wound could see bone, especially on his back, where there were two open wounds from his shoulder to his spine. I was in a hurry at that time, and I quickly went to find a doctor. When the veterinarian arrived, he directly opened the bottle of penicillin and poured the powder into the wound. Er Dai didn't even hum, this man is really something else.

  He didn't go to the hospital, and his stitched wound was over 20 centimeters long. He slept soundly as if nothing had happened. It wasn't until then that I felt something was off, because Zhang Wenbin hadn't said a word from start to finish.

  "Come over here." I pulled Cha Wenbin out and walked to the corner of the yard, then asked him, "Aren't we brothers?"

  "What's with all these questions?"

  "Where did he go?" I saw Zhang Wenbin's eyes dodging, and I pulled his collar up with a raised tone: "Don't tell me you don't know, I clearly saw what he said to you that night, why are you hiding it from me?"

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