After Qin Sheng’s mother had passed away, the Zhu Family and the Qin Family had a quarrel over the location of her grave. The Zhu Family thought she should rest in the Mountain Babao Cemetery since her parents, who were the Zhus, were going to rest there after they died. They hoped that they could rest in a place close to their daughter.
However, the Qin Family hadn’t agreed. Old Master Qin was a master of feng shui theory. According to feng shui, the location of one’s grave would influence one’s other families and even the future generation. Old Master Qin had insisted that he must find an appropriate grave location for his daughter-in-law mostly for the benefit of the Qin Family. Thus, he had been fiercely against the Zhus and looked throughout Beijing, finally finding a suitable location at the foot of the Great Wall near Huairou.
Old Master Qin believed that the nice grave he had found would guarantee that the dead would lead a better life in the heaven and bless the families alive with more benefits and luck. This had also been a reason why Qin Changan, his son, had a soaring career. Unsurprisingly, the feng shui might sometimes change, for which Old Master Qin had taken Qin Sheng away 20 years ago. However, nobody had known the exact reasons except for Old Master Qin.
Old Master Qin was a Tiger Man living in a low profile. He was destined to live a hard life, wandering a long way to overcome all kinds of difficulties and ending up with dying in a remote place. For Old Master Qin, he had led a worthwhile life, during which time he hadn’t cared for the length of life, but the quality, in other words, the experience. Throughout his life, he had witnessed the ups and downs of the Chinese nation, big families, and a mass of common people.
Fate was always filled with changes. One who used to be at high a position might end up with being nobody. One who used to be a nobody might gain great success one day. Old Master Qin had witnessed and experienced so many stories. He was grateful to the God for his length of life.
He had lived a meaningful life and others’ comments were none of his business.
The grave location Old Master Qin had chosen was so remote that even his son Qin Changan had been against with his decision. Unfortunately, Qin Changan had been unable to persuade his father. The Zhus had eventually compromised with him, for they trusted Old Master Qin’s ability and his knowledge of feng shui.
Over 20 years later, great changes had happened. The remote place was now close to a large-scaled cemetery. But as for the feng shui in this area, thanks to Old Master Qin’s feng shui ability, Qin Sheng’s mother’s tomb had taken a point which was much better than the cemetery.
When Qin Ran and Qin Sheng arrived at the foot of the mountain, Gongsun had been waiting there and had gotten everything needed prepared. He had done these for several years and was familiar with the preparation work.
But except for Gongsun, there was another car. A middle-aged couple got off the car when Qin Ran parked their car. The couple was Qin Sheng and Qin Ran’s uncle and auntie.
Qin Ran had called their uncle last night, telling him that the next day would be their mother’s death anniversary, and she would be going to take Qin Sheng to their mother’s grave. She had never expected that her uncle would come as he hadn’t told her that yesterday.
“Uncle, auntie, why did you come?” Qin Ran got off the car and walked toward them excitedly.
Zhu Weiguo, their uncle, wore casual garments with a black coat. He smiled and said, “Today’s your mother’s death anniversary. You came instead of Qin Changan. He didn’t come, but I had to come. I haven’t seen her for a long time. I’d better come to tell her what happened in the Zhu Family recently, or she might worry in the heaven.”
“Ranran, I didn’t intend to come. But in the morning, your uncle said he dreamed about your mother. In the dream, she said she hoped us to take care of you and your brother. So I came to see you two,” said Wu Yajun, Zhu Weiguo’s wife. She had the typical look of an upper-class lady, but she also looked kind and friendly. Wu Yajun was that kind of person who had been born to live a smooth and wealthy life.
Qin Ran laughed out loud happily, like a child, before their uncle and auntie, who had been treating her very well. She poked Qin Sheng and said to introduce, “Qin Sheng, this is our auntie. She bought you a lot of new clothes when you were a kid.”
Wu Yajun stared at Qin Sheng, having a mix of feelings. However, she hid her emotions and kept calm. The other reason she had come today was to meet Qin Sheng. Wu Yajun had wanted to meet him the day Qin Sheng had returned but hadn’t done so as she had heard that Qin Sheng had not been not in a good condition.
“Auntie.” Qin Sheng greeted Wu Yajun. He was getting used to quickly accepting that a stranger was his relative these days. They must have had a very close relationship, but with the passage of time, he had lost too many memories.
Wu Yajun gave Qin Sheng a hug and touched his hair. She smiled and said, “You’re a grown-up now. I thought I would never meet you again. Thanks God. He was not cruel to me.”
Qin Sheng comforted his auntie and said, “Auntie, it’s all right now. I’ll never leave, and I’ll never let you worry about me anymore.”
“Good boy, good boy.” Wu Yajun was moved by Qin Sheng’s words. Since Qin Sheng had been found, a long-term knot in the Zhu Family had been undone.
Zhu Weiguo checked the time and said, “Let’s go. When we finish with the tomb visit, you can talk more during the lunch time.”
Wu Yajun touched Qin Sheng’s face before she let him go. Qin Sheng felt a little bit awkward as many people still treated him like a kid.
They walked for over 10 minutes from the highway to the tomb. A few years ago, some land agent had wanted to develop this area. However, Qin Changan had gotten the information and bought the land making use of his social relationships to prevent his wife’s tomb from being disturbed. Nominally, this land was a forestry station, but actually, nobody else was working there except for a tomb watcher.
The tomb watcher was an elderly person living in a village nearby. He lived alone and had no work, so Qin Changan had chosen him to be the watcher, living beside the tomb. The watcher didn’t have to do anything else other than wandering around in case of others coming to disturb.
The elderly man knew that it was the date when some people would come to visit the woman’s tomb, so he had been waiting at the graveyard gate early. He almost knew every one of the Zhu and Qin Family, and the date each of them would come.
In the previous years, it had been the day when Qin Changan would come. He hadn’t expected that so many people would come, but Qin Changan. He was surprised and asked, “Lao Sun, why didn’t Lao Qin come?”
“Brother Guo, Lao Qin was busy today, so he asked his son and daughter to come,” explained Gongsun. He got along well with the tomb watcher and often asked people to bring gifts here. Brother Guo was a good man and kept the Qin Family in his heart. He trusted this person.
The watcher was 63 years old, but still in a good condition. He often wandered around, which was doing exercise for him. Qin Ran, Zhu Weiguo, and Wu Yajun all knew this elderly man and greeted him politely.
Lao Guo heard Gongsun’s words and frowned surprisedly. “His son?”
He had met all people of the Zhu and Qin families and had never heard that the woman resting there had a son. He had been working there for almost 10 years and never met her son. Thus, he was very surprised.
On the way, Qin Ran had mentioned the tomb watcher to Qin Sheng. Qin Sheng felt grateful to this elderly man as he had been working to guarantee his mother could rest in peace. Hence, he greeted the elderly politely and said, “Hello, Uncle Guo. Thank you for your efforts all these years.”
Lao Guo was still surprised, and he showed an unnatural smile. “Never mind. This is my work.”
Gongsun didn’t explain to Lao Guo now. But he would answer if Lao Guo asked. He giggled and said, “Lao Guo, you just go to mind your own business. We’re going to visit her.”
They went ahead, going through a bush and a stream, and finally reaching the tomb. Compared with the mound of Old Master Qin at the foot of the Zhongnan Mountains, her tomb was better built and decorated.
The tomb was built with tiles, and the tombstone in the front was one meter’s height. The mound was surrounded by green pines and cedars, and the surrounding area was cleaned. It was winter, all the flowers and grass withered, adding the scenery a sense of desolation. But if it was spring time, when all the weed sprouted and the flower bloomed, this must be a wonderland. From spring to fall, this area would be covered with blooming flowers and flourishing plants, which was planted by Qin Changan as Qin Sheng’s mother had fancied flowers when she had been alive.
When they arrived at the tomb, the sad feelings emerged suddenly.
Qin Sheng stared at the tombstone, her mother’s photo, and the name attached to it. He had seen this photo before in the old house. His mother looked extremely beautiful in that photo. Under the photo, it was carved: “THE TOMB OF GREAT MOTHER ZHU QINGHUAN.” And there was a margin beside, which, Qin Sheng knew, belonged to his father—that tombstone should have been built by his father traditionally. After Qin Changan died, he would rest there with his wife.
Though Qin Sheng had seen this photo in the old house, he gained more feelings now when he was standing in front of his mother’s tomb. His emotions were too complex to be expressed with words.
Then they began to do the traditional routine for tomb visit. Gongsun put the fruit and flowers beside the tombstone. Qin Ran put out the incense to light and the paper money to burn. Zhu Weiguo and Wu Yajun stood by and looked around to check whether the tomb yard needed any mending. And then they just stared at Qin Sheng and Qin Ran.
Zhu Weiguo was depressed, thinking about all these years after his sister had passed away. He often recalled his sister—her voice, her look, and her behavior. Sometimes he thought his sister was still alive, but only to find that it was his daydream. Sometimes he imagined the happy life where his sister was alive and lived with everybody. If so, Qin Sheng wouldn’t have been taken away by Old Master Qin for all these years. Today, the Qin Family was totally different. His sister could have lived a peaceful and happy life.
Zhu Weiguo sighed and thought that his sister was the smartest woman in the family, but her fate was terrible. Wu Yajun held her husband’s arm and said nothing to comfort. She had said enough in the previous years.
Gongsun got everything prepared and walked to the other side.
Qin Sheng’s mind was wandering somewhere. Qin Ran ignored him and ignited the paper money. She said to the tombstone, “Mom, I’ve finished my task. I found him. Don’t blame Dad anymore. He had led a hard life these years. As for the future, you don’t have to worry. I’ll take care of my younger brother now. I know you love him, better than anybody else. I used to feel jealous. But now I understand you. I’m lucky to be his sister.”
When the paper money almost burned to ashes, Qin Ran lit the incense and passed it to Qin Sheng. “Come on. Mind your business now. Offer the incense to Mom.”
Qin Sheng’s mind went back, and he received the incense. He bowed to the tombstone for three times and then put the incense into the censer.
Qin Ran kneeled down and kowtowed to the tombstone. Qin Sheng followed, doing the same thing.
Qin Ran stood up after kowtowing, but Qin Sheng was still kneeling on the ground. He took a deep breath and cried out loud, “Mom, I’m back. I’m sorry for being a son failing to carry out my filial duties. Wish you rest in peace.”
His words made everybody here sad and even shed tears.
Zhu Weiguo, who was standing beside, said in a low voice, “My sister, you can really rest in peace since now.”
