Arrived at the tomb, several aunts and uncles were already there. These relatives dont often come and go, after exchanging greetings I went down to burn paper money. Probably because it was too cold, someone over there had lit a bonfire, and Fatso was roasting by the fire. I pretended to kowtow and finished up, preparing to leave - who would want to stay here during the New Year?

  According to custom, my uncles son, that is, my cousin, had to stay until dawn. Some guests came from afar and arrived on the first day of the new year, so he had to wait until the last guest left. The grave looked quite shabby, with cement tombs on either side, some even had ceramic tiles attached, while my uncles grave was just a pile of yellow mud. I muttered to myself in a voice that only I could hear: "Giving birth to so many children and not one of them is useful, in the end its still just this broken house."

  "Im cold." A faint voice came over, the voice was similar to the one I heard on the road earlier. I suddenly looked up and saw a pale old man sitting on top of the yellow earth package, huddled together looking at me.

  Isnt that the uncle in the portrait! I know, I finally saw him. He lowered his head and took a look around, those children were laughing and chatting, some were eating melon seeds, others were playing cards by the fire...

  I didnt say anything, and after getting up, I ran to the other side and said to my second uncle: "Uncle Quan, I had a dream yesterday that I saw Grandpa."

  He smiled and said to me: "Xiao Yi, I heard youve made a fortune recently. How about it? In the spring, Ill take your uncle to the south to make some money too?"

  I said seriously: "I said I dreamed of my uncle." "Oh, what did you dream about?"

  I turned back and took a look at the mound, the figure on the mound was still there. "I dreamed that he said its cold down there, are you going to burn two more pieces of clothing for him?"

  "Clothes? Ah, youre just like your grandfather, still believing in these superstitions. Whats the use of being fancy when youre dead?" He lit a cigarette and looked at the grave with disdain, saying: "You dont know, we farmers are worse off than you city folks who do business. Were poor! I didnt even dare to make new clothes for the New Year, and now Im burning them for him? Thats just pretending to be rich for the dead!"

  I know that continuing to talk to the person in front of me will only lead to hearing more unpleasant words. On New Years Eve, hitting people is never right. Looking at the person on the grave with his head already buried in his legs, I understand that he has a cold heart.

  Theres a saying that the paper money burned is not about how much, but whether your heart is sincere or not. If your heart isnt sincere, he cant receive it, and what he gets is just a pile of ashes. So I knelt down again, spreading out one sheet of paper at a time, burning them slowly, muttering to myself: "Uncle, dont be stingy with money, theres plenty here, eat and drink as you should, enjoy your blessings even after entering the earth... As for those unfilial descendants, if you have time, go back and take a look at them, see which one is good, and take him away to be your companion..."

  "Hes gone." I said to Fatty.

  "Three 2s!" Fatso was still watching them play cards, "King Bomber!" My big cousin shouted excitedly: "Come on, come on, give money, give money!"

  My big uncle was holding a cigarette in his mouth, with smoke coming out of his brain, and enthusiastically shouted: "Ah, little Yi, come on, lets play two more rounds before you leave?"

  "He wouldnt even look at us, were just a bunch of nobodies!" The speaker was the older sisters husband of the maternal grandmother, reeking of alcohol.

  I said irritably: "Uncle, youve had quite a bit to drink tonight, how about keeping your father-in-law company for a few more drinks?"

  "This kid is talking nonsense." He said with a smile to the person next to him, while shouting: "What kind of crap did he drink? Before he died, he drank a whole bunch of shit and was full!"

  Maybe he was really drunk to say such a thing, but I dont know if the people next to him were also drunk. What I heard was a burst of laughter from everyone in the room, as if they were all amused by this shameless and outrageous remark. Just like Cha Wenbin later warned me, my biggest problem is that I love to take charge and interfere with other peoples business.

  I grabbed the table that was originally used to place offerings, but now held a big sign, and smiled at them saying: "Its New Years, so Ill also wish you an early departure. Your father-in-law asked me to pass on a message to you, people who have done wrong will eventually face retribution!"

  With a "bang", I overturned the card table with one hand, the laughter stopped, and the mouth of the melon seeds also stopped moving. The dozen or so people on the scene were all quiet.

  My drunk uncle was the first to react, getting up and swinging a stick at me from under his feet, but unfortunately there was a fat man standing next to him.

  Fatso stretched out his foot and my big uncle rushed forward with a loud crash. In the next second, Fatso had already flashed in front of him, pinning his neck with one hand, and twisting his right hand behind his back with the other. I only heard my big uncle let out a pig-like scream from his mouth.

  "Ive never seen anyone as shameless as you, come here and let your father-in-law take a look, how did he choose you to be his son-in-law back then!" The fat mans strength was quite fierce, my big uncle was twisted by him like a little chick to the front of the grave. The fat man looked around at those people and said: "Whose husband is this? Wheres his wife? Come out!"

  My big aunt finally reacted and immediately showed her fierce side, waving her claws to scratch the fat boy.

  "Let go of my man! What kind of rascal is running wild here!"

  The fatty rudely freed up a hand and grabbed the womans shoulder, then twisted his wrist, and the couple simultaneously faced my uncles grave. With a push of their calves, they both knelt down with a thud.

  He didnt care how the woman and man scolded, pressed down on the couple and poked them to the ground, heavily smashing three times. The ground was full of burnt paper money ash, and after getting up, they all became Judge Bao.

  "These three heads are for your just now words and actions!"

  The fatty grabbed the two people who were already dizzy and prepared to come again. My two cousins couldnt take it anymore, one on the left and one on the right, rushed up. The fatty was like having eyes behind his back, throwing the two people he was holding onto the ground, turned around and "slapped" with two feet directly hitting the opponents belly. This guy wore the most popular high-top military police leather shoes that year, my two cousins didnt even have the strength to hum, both knelt down directly, the fatty said disdainfully: "Dont kneel so early, Ill find you later!"

  He turned around and went back to deal with the couple, grabbed the clothes on the back of his neck "thud thud thud" and knocked down three more: "These three are for your father who was ruined by you bunch of bastards for so much food!"

  After the two of them finished, no one else dared to move. The fatty shouted: "What are you still dazing about for? Those who should kowtow, kowtow; those who should cry, cry! What a bunch of things you all are!" After that, he himself knelt down and said: "Old master, Im sorry, I helped you teach this group of unfilial sons a lesson. Ill follow you to apologize, disturbing your New Years celebrations."

  I and Fatso went down the mountain like this, and there was no more noise or movement all the way home. As soon as I got back to bed, I fell fast asleep.

  In our place, the first day of the Lunar New Year is not for visiting. Theres a saying that goes: on the first day of the year, one must rest at home; otherwise, theyll be busy all year round. So generally, nobody visits on the first day.

  I vaguely heard the sound of firecrackers, its not unusual for someone to set them off on New Years Day. I turned over and was about to continue sleeping when there was a knock at the door. My dad shouted: "Get up, get up, hurry up, somethings happened!"

  As soon as I got up and put on my clothes, my father stormed at me at the door and shouted: "Was there a disturbance last night?"

  "Whats wrong with them? Theyre looking for you early in the morning to settle scores?"

  "Oh no, youve done it big time!" My dad was so angry that he raised his hand halfway and then stopped: "Hurry up, theres been a death at your uncles house early this morning. Your eldest maternal aunts husband said he fell into the manure pit, just like his father-in-law."

  I had a bad feeling about this as soon as I heard it, but still replied with a sentence: "Whats that got to do with me?"

  "My dad sighed and said, Youll know when you get there. Later on, when there are more people, listen carefully to what I say. Ill take you with me, but dont bring that friend of yours, or else things might get out of hand and someone might even get killed!"

  "Hey, youre going to kill me!" The fat guy also got up at this time, presumably having heard our conversation. He straightened his clothes and laughed: "This is a good thing! This is called getting whats coming to you! Theres nothing better than starting the new year off like this, feeling so comfortable on the first day of the month. The heavens are smiling!"