Sutton's Burdened Heart Chapter 1

"Boom--, boom!"

Two cannon shots came from the west end of the village, passing over the harvesting wheat fields, drifting far away, and no echo was heard for a long time.

Groups of sparrows, which were eating and doing nothing in the wheat fields, flew away in terror amidst the sound of cannons.

Zhang Caihong, who was holding a heavy bundle of wheat, was also startled by the sound of the cannon like the scattered sparrows. He stumbled under his feet and the bundle of wheat in his arms rolled to the ground. Zhang Caihong subconsciously bent down to grab the sheaf of wheat, but her body and the sheaf of wheat fell to the ground. The freshly cut wheat stubble drew several bloody marks on the back of her right hand.

Zhang Caihong slowly sat up and looked at her approaching father, but she couldn't stand up.

On the father's back were three bundles of wheat. He threw the wheat bundle onto the two-wheeler without saying a word, took out a "Fu" brand cigarette from his coat pocket, lit it, and started smoking slowly. After blowing out a ball of smoke, his father whispered, "Xiao Hongzi, you should go back to the village and go to Suping's house to have a look. Her mother is probably dead."

The door of Suping's house has been covered with white paper, and a pile of buckwheat husks has been stepped on by several children. A few boys under twenty years old were digging into a broken woven bag with their hands that were red and swollen from wheat leaves.

When Caihong entered the gate, she walked around the pile of buckwheat husks. That pile of buckwheat husks must have been poured out of Su Pingniang's pillow. The custom here is: when a person dies, the buckwheat hulls in the pillow are poured out on the street, and thousands of people step on them, and tens of thousands of people pass by them. Only in this way can the deceased’s sins in life be forgiven and he will not suffer in the underworld. Caihong didn't step on the pile of buckwheat husks because she couldn't think of any crime that Suping's mother had committed.

There were already many people standing in the yard, and bursts of crying came from the main room. It was Suping's tone, but it didn't quite resemble her. Zhang Caihong walked into the main room bumping into the crowd, her eyes blank.

The original Eight Immortals table in the main room was moved away and replaced by a door panel supported by two sticks. The door panel was covered with a cotton sheet with a black background and dark yellow edges. Under the cotton sheet was a thin person - the dead Suping's mother.

In front of the door panel, three women were sitting on their knees. Suping and her two sisters-in-law. The three women were all wrapped in large pieces of white cloth, and their heads were also wrapped in white cloth. Suping's body, which originally looked a little fat, still looked a little thin under the large piece of white cloth.

Suping's mouth was opening, her shoulders were twitching, but her voice was intermittent. Zhang Caihong stood behind Suping, looking at the bright light on the right side of the mortuary board. In the rough dark yellow and white ocean bowl, there is brown-red soybean oil, and a piece of cotton thread as thick as a finger is hung on the edge of the bowl. In the evening of Maisha, the crimson flame beat with the cries of the women in the main room, and slowly dispersed into pale yellow...

Suddenly, Zhang Caihong felt like someone was pulling her. After taking a closer look, it was Li Ye's mother, with Li Ye's tall shadow following closely behind.

Li Ye's mother approached Zhang Suping's two sisters-in-law, leaned down and said softly: "I've been crying for a while, please take a rest. Your mother is gone, and I still rely on you to get through life. Things are going on in this family." There are too many, so we have to deal with them first." The two sisters-in-law struggled a few more times, then stood up and retreated to the door of the east room. The elder sister-in-law rubbed her face with her hands and said, Auntie, you see my mother has been gone and suffered for many months. The second sister-in-law also went on to say, my mother has only suffered a lot in her life.

While the three women were chattering, Zhang Caihong and Li Ye also went to drag Zhang Suping. Zhang Suping glanced sideways at the two of them, suddenly her neck straightened up, but her body softened.

Zhang Caihong and Li Ye pulled Zhang Suping's arms hard, but they couldn't move a step further. Aunt Li and Zhang Suping's two sisters-in-law rushed over and half pulled and half dragged Zhang Suping to the kang in the east room. Aunt Li brought a small bowl of cold water and poured it into Suping's mouth. The water flowed down the corners of her mouth and soon seeped into the pillow. Aunt Li gritted her teeth, stretched out her right thumb, and pinched Suping hard under her nose. Suping said "hmm" hoarsely...

Outside the door, another person hanging paper came. Suping's two sisters-in-law hurriedly knelt down in front of her mother-in-law's soul and cried loudly and softly.

In the east room, Aunt Li quietly closed the door and sat sideways next to Suping. Zhang Suping was holding one hand by Li Ye and the other by Zhang Caihong, looking blankly at the roof.

"Daughter, listen to your aunt"

Li Ye's mother lowered her head and said to Su Wenping, "Your father left early, and now your mother has left you behind, and she doesn't want to."

Li Ye's mother glanced at Zhang Caihong and Li Ye and continued, "You three are the best. If this happens, you should take a good look at your sister Suping." The two nodded their heads several times in the same motion.

"Looking back, I have to talk about you, my daughter." Aunt Li brushed Zhang Suping's head, "You graduated from junior high school this year, and you are now a eldest daughter in your 18s or 19s. You can feel relieved that your mother is gone. Your mother is so Life is not easy, you have to make a face for your mother. "

"How can I make a face for my mother?" Zhang Suping asked hoarsely. Li Ye and Zhang Caihong also looked at Li Liye's mother.

"You have to live well and live a good life. Only when your mother is underground can you feel relieved and happy." Aunt Li lowered her voice again, "Now, you have to be able to cry. Your mother has raised two boys and a daughter all her life, and now she is gone. You have to make the folks feel that she didn't feed you in vain."

"Then, how do I have to cry to show off to my mother?" Zhang Suping raised her head and asked.