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268 The funeral with great momentum

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    With everyone's concerted efforts, the wooden coffin came to the drying yard outside the door smoothly.  At this time, the floor truck was already waiting outside.  Under the command of the coffin bearers, the driver stretched out the boom on the floor truck.  All the coffin bearers quickly untied the symbolically tied lifting bars, and then fixed the coffin to the boom with ropes.  After being signaled by everyone carrying the coffin, the driver started to activate the boom to hoist the wooden coffin into the open carriage.

    After the wooden coffin stopped in the middle, all the coffin bearers jumped up and evenly divided into two groups to sit beside the wooden coffin.  Immediately afterwards, there was drumming.  Amidst the mourning music of the military band, the floor truck moved forward slowly.

    Under my guidance, a group of relatives and friends stood up one after another, and then slowly followed behind the floor truck.  As my father's only son, I was naturally at the forefront throughout the process.  If there are many sons, the firstborn must be the first.

    Of course, the "walking in the front" here only refers to all the relatives and friends who attended the funeral.  In fact, we are not allowed to walk in front of the coffin.  During the whole process, I may be the most tiring.  Others can do it empty-handed, but I can't.  Not only did I have to carry the mourning stick, but also my father's portrait and tablet on the tray.  Poor me, I only have two hands, and after holding the tray with both hands, I can no longer have the hands free to carry the mourning stick.  So, in desperation, I had no choice but to hold the mourning stick under my arm.  If the clamp is tight, the armpits will be painfully pressed; if the clamp is loose, the mourning stick may fall from the armpits.  This pain of not being tight and not being loose greatly affected my hands holding the tray.  Therefore, it didn't take long for the arm that was hanging and exerting all the time to gradually become sore.

    We have been walking along the cement road.  According to the speed of the motor vehicle, it could have been driven to the field in an instant.  But the driver can't do that.  Although a motor vehicle is hired, it must be done according to the old rules.  If the driver put the wooden coffin into the field first regardless of his care, it would violate the local funeral customs.  The driver tried to slow down the speed of the motor vehicle so that we could follow closely behind.

    Amidst the roar of tractors and the mournful sound of military bands, many crowds gathered on both sides of the cement avenue soon.  In addition to the big wooden coffin sitting high on the floor cart, the most eye-catching thing is me in sackcloth and mourning.  Of course, I am not the only one who wears sackcloth and filial piety, but don¡¯t forget, I still hold that unique tray in my hand!  The photos and tablets on the tray are also very particular when placed.  The front of the photo and tablet must face outward.  After passing the wooden coffin, looking head-on, the first thing the onlookers saw was the face of the father and the name written on the tablet of the father.

    Thinking about it now, there is some reason for doing so.  People live a lifetime, and once they die, they will inevitably be gradually faded from people's vision.  As a family member, I don't want this phenomenon to happen.  Therefore, in the process of doing funeral affairs, they will try their best to attract everyone's attention, hoping that everyone can remember their deceased relatives better and for a longer time.  Therefore, the grandness of the funeral, in addition to showing the world's fear of death, is also full of deep nostalgia for loved ones.  The reason why the father chose the cement avenue for his funeral was, after all, to attract more people's attention.  Since it is a cement avenue, there are naturally densely populated places along the road. Hearing the "chug" sound of tractors and the noise of military band drums, there are absolutely few people who can't help but take a look.  Therefore, a high-profile walk along the way will inevitably attract the attention of many people who watch the excitement.  Seeing his father's portrait and his name, they can't help but think of his father's past.  This can be regarded as the last memory of the villagers for their father.  I think the greatest significance of this grand funeral is nothing more than this!

    In the past, when there were no motor vehicles, the coffin bearers would never be as leisurely as they are now.  In the past, when cremation was not yet widely accepted, the coffin carried was a real person.  Although there were eight people, but the wooden coffin plus the deceased, the importance shared by everyone's shoulders is not light.  What's more, when going out for a funeral, the choice is not the straight-line distance, but the most popular section of the road.  Under normal circumstances, such a road is much longer than a straight line.  Therefore, it is completely unrealistic to think of lifting the wooden coffin to the field at once.  Therefore, during the funeral process, it became normal to put down the wooden coffin to rest temporarily.  Now, although many families will ask motor vehicles for help, the pretentious rest on the road has been continued.

    In order to commemorate the ancestors, the momentum on this journey has always been highly valued.  Therefore, my brother Gan, who was a soldier, kept saying to the people who were carrying the coffin on the floor truck: "Don't you need to lift it up, can't the sound still come out?" "Amplify your voice! One or two  Three!" Then, all the coffin bearers raised their voices.He shouted desperately.  That posture is definitely much louder than the actual coffin-carrying chant.  It is said that the louder the chant is played during the funeral, the more prosperous the descendants of the person lying in the coffin will be in the future.  I think this kind of statement is nothing more than to encourage the coffin bearers to amplify the sound of the chant as much as possible to attract more people's attention.  In fact, the effect of the roaring shouts of carrying the coffin was quite good.  Because, along the way, I saw more and more onlookers.

    From my home to the grave, I stopped and rested three times on the way.  Of course, for the coffin bearers, such a stop is completely fake, because they are all sitting on the floor truck from the beginning to the end.  If you don't even need to walk, how can you rest?  However, such a pause seems very necessary to me.  Because I had to hold a mourning stick under my arm while carrying the tray, so you can imagine the degree of discomfort.  Therefore, whenever I take a break, my reaction is the fastest one.

    As long as the floor truck stops, I will go around to the front of the floor truck at the fastest speed, and then put the pallet on the ground in reverse.  The so-called "reverse" means to face the front of the photo and tablet towards you.  Next, I knelt down in front of the tray facing the coffin.  All the other relatives and friends knelt down behind me.  At the end of the break, I stood up first, then reversed and picked up the tray and let it out to the curb.  After the floor truck passed, I led a group of relatives and friends to follow slowly.  (Remember the site URL: www.hlnovel.com
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