Chapter 454: Ninth Uncle's Outburst

Chapter 454: Ninth Uncle's Outburst

Once everyone had gathered, Deng Shirong spoke up, "The main reason for gathering everyone here today is to discuss the construction of a public cemetery within our clan."

Everyone looked at each other, not understanding what such a public cemetery meant.

Deng YunGui asked, "Ninth Uncle, what do you mean by building a public cemetery?"

Deng Shirong explained, "In simple terms, it means building a memorial park and then relocating all the old and new graves to this park. This way, not only will it be convenient for future generations to pay respects, but most importantly, the clan members won't be scattered across different mountains as they are now."

"Right now, it doesn't seem like a big issue, but imagine what it will be like in a few decades or a hundred years. With so many graves, wouldn't all the mountains be occupied? Think about it, and you will understand!"

After these words, the clan members present understood what he meant.

No one had thought about this issue before, but now, thinking about it, they felt a bit uneasy.

Deng Shi'an pondered and said, "Old Ninth, what you said makes sense. Now, our clan has already a few thousand members, and in a hundred years, there will be several thousand more graves. If we continue to bury them as we do now, that will indeed be a big problem."

"Perhaps in a couple of hundred years, our current living area will be surrounded by graves."

Deng YunGui said, "Ninth Uncle, if we share this terrifying vision with the clan, and they agree to relocate the new graves to the public cemetery, there shouldn't be much of an issue. But to relocate the old graves to the public cemetery, that will be very difficult to unify opinions on."

Villagers, from ancient times to now, have been superstitious about ancestral graves. Relocating ancestral graves is a serious matter.

Especially in the Bo Bai region, where the ancestral graves are highly valued, and many disputes arise from them.

Even if it's the graves of their parents, if one brother disagrees, the graves won't be relocated.

To reach a consensus on relocating graves is very difficult.

The reason is simple: those with many descendants and a thriving life are very satisfied with their current state and naturally unwilling to relocate the graves. If the feng shui (feng shui, a form of geomancy) is disrupted, leading to adverse conditions at home, then it will be too late to regret.

Therefore, unless absolutely necessary, it is very difficult to get the well-offspring descendants to agree to relocate the ancestral graves. As for those who are not living well, they would have the intention to relocate the graves.

After all, they won't blame themselves, but instead blame their ancestors for not protecting them, thinking that after moving the ancestors, the ancestors might start protecting them, allowing them to live a good life.

There are indeed many people who hold this thought, as the saying goes, "If you don't shit, you don't leave the land hard."

Deng Shirong naturally understood this point and said, "My idea is this: for the ancestors of the De clan and above, we won't relocate their graves. We will only relocate the graves of the Wan clan and below. Of course, the decision to relocate or not is voluntary, not forced."

"But for new graves, we can't bury them as we do now. Once the public cemetery is built, they must be buried there, so that in one or two hundred years, the living area won't be surrounded by graves."

"If the relocation is voluntary, there shouldn't be any problem."

Deng Yunqiang nodded and said, "As for the new graves, Ninth Uncle, you can discuss it with everyone, and there shouldn't be any problem."

Deng Shi'an asked, "Old Ninth, where do you plan to build this public cemetery?"

Deng Shirong had already thought it through and answered, "I plan to build the public cemetery at Gao Long Hall, where our clan's ancestor, the Ye Deng, resides. That is our clan's highest and largest mountain. I think building a thousand or so graves there shouldn't be a problem. What do you think?"

He advocated building the public cemetery differently from the city-style cemeteries, still using the current burial method, only concentrating the graves together, thus saving space, and that's all.

"Building just a thousand graves wouldn't be enough!"

Deng Shirong replied, "We can start by building a thousand or so graves first, and then choose another location for the rest. The important thing is to have the awareness of centralized burial, rather than burying them scattered as we do now."

Deng Shi'an asked again, "So, where will this public cemetery be located? After all, everyone wants to bury their ancestors on the mountaintop, not at the foot of the mountain."

Deng Shirong said, "I have this in mind: build the public cemetery in layers, then arrange them by generation from high to low. For example, the ancestor will be buried on the mountaintop, the Wan generation on the second layer, the Shi generation on the third layer, and so on."

"If one layer isn't enough, we can continue to the next layer."

Deng Shi'an nodded and said, "That's a good idea, but I think we can add a condition: the outstanding figures of the clan, regardless of their generation, can be buried on the second layer, just below the ancestor, like Chang Yong."

And those like you, Uncle Ninth, who have made great contributions to the clan and have a dedicated page in the clan register, can be buried on the mountaintop with the founding ancestor after a hundred years, for all descendants of the Ye Deng clan to worship."

Deng YunGui nodded in agreement, "Uncle Shi'an's proposal is good; I support it."

Deng Yunqiang smiled and said, "I also agree. I believe the clan members won't have any objections. After all, this isn't a matter of one or two generations but of thousands of years. Any family could produce outstanding descendants."

Deng Yunxing added, "This is fair. I also support it."

The other clan elders all nodded in agreement with the old clan head's proposal.

As a direct beneficiary, Deng Shirong naturally had no objections, so the matter was settled.

...

The next day.

Deng Shirong convened a clan meeting to discuss the construction of the public cemetery.

Since this was proposed by the clan head and all the clan elders agreed, the other clan members naturally had no objections.

Moreover, after the clan head reminded them of the hazards of random burials, everyone realized the importance. Building a public cemetery for unified burials was indeed a very good solution.

As for determining the burial positions based on generations, and allowing those who have made significant contributions to the clan and have a dedicated page in the clan register to be buried on the mountaintop like the founding ancestor, this proposal also received unanimous approval, and everyone was convinced.

Furthermore, allowing the clan's outstanding figures to be buried on the second layer was an incentive for all clan members, so naturally, no one had any objections.

Seeing everyone in agreement, Deng Shirong decided, "Since everyone has no objections, this matter is settled. The corporation will fund the construction. During the construction period, everyone can discuss with their relatives whether to relocate their ancestors' graves to the public cemetery."

"This is indeed something to be discussed thoroughly. Relocating graves is no laughing matter."

"The feng shui master said my father's grave has 'rejection of the shell,' so his grave won't be relocated."

"Everyone can first consult a feng shui master. If the feng shui master says it's suitable for relocation, then it can be relocated. If not, it won't be."

"You can relocate if you want, but my family is thriving, and our days are prosperous. I won't disturb my ancestors; let them rest in peace!"

"..."

The clan members unanimously agreed to build the public cemetery, but when it came to relocating ancestral graves, nine out of ten expressed reluctance. Since the clan head said it was voluntary, everyone spoke their honest opinions.

The main reason, as mentioned earlier, is that most people, living well, do not want to relocate their ancestors' graves, fearing that disturbing the feng shui could lead to dire consequences.

In fact, even Deng Shirong himself had no intention of relocating his parents' graves.

However, his late wife could be relocated to the public cemetery's mountaintop to be buried with him after his passing.

After discussing the public cemetery, the next item on the agenda was setting the date for the mountain-clearing ceremony. This event happens annually, and the clan's administrators handle all the arrangements without needing Deng Shirong's intervention.

For the next half-month, the entire Bo Bai region was busy with mountain-clearing and mountain-worship ceremonies.

Since the Ye Deng clan initiated the mountain-worship ceremony, other surnames have followed suit. The ceremony, if conducted, must be performed for three consecutive years.

Thus, in every town and village, large trucks with banners of different surnames could be seen, carrying clan members who paraded through the markets, beating drums and gongs.

After such a lively half-month, things gradually calmed down.

...

One afternoon, while Deng Shirong was chatting and drinking tea with Deng YunGui, Deng Yunqiang, Deng Changbao, and others at his villa, a clan member suddenly arrived on a motorcycle, shouting, "Ninth Uncle, something big has happened! Changshou's Gaima Qi is about to jump from a building."

This news shocked everyone who was drinking tea.

"What happened?"

Deng Shirong put down his teacup and stood up, asking, "Why would he suddenly want to jump from a building?"

The clan member replied, "I'm not sure of the details, but from Gaima Qi's current mental state, he seems to have taken drugs."

"Bang!"

Deng Shirong slammed his hand on the table, angrily cursing, "What a damn fool!"

He was genuinely furious. He was well aware of the dangers of gambling and drugs, so he had long issued a ban in the clan.

Initially, it was a ban on gambling. If anyone dared to gamble, he would not hesitate to kick them out of the corporation. This threat hanging over their heads ensured that the Ye Deng clan has been free from gambling for years. While other villages with different surnames had gambling dens, the Ye Deng village had none.

Additionally, those who played poker basically only played a game called "tractor."

As for those who played mahjong, they didn't gamble for money but instead bet on drinking water or alcohol. No one dared to bet for money.

Apart from the clan-wide gambling ban, in the late 1980s, drug use began to increase. At that time, Deng Shirong also issued a clan-wide drug ban. He told his children that anyone who dared to use drugs would have their legs broken. He said the same to the clan members, stating that he would personally break the legs of anyone who used drugs.

Over the years, thanks to his influence in the clan, while many clans in Bo Bai had members involved in drugs, the Ye Deng clan remained completely drug-free. This made Deng Shirong, as the clan head, very proud.

After all, in his previous life, the Ye Deng clan had seen many members fall into drug use, and none of them had good endings.

Changshou's son, Gaima Qi, was one of those who had used drugs in his previous life.

He never expected that even after issuing the clan-wide drug ban in this life, Gaima Qi would still fall into drug use.

In his anger, Deng Shirong immediately realized that this matter had to be handled properly. Otherwise, the clan-wide drug ban would become a laughingstock, and there would be a second or third drug user. Gambling might also make a comeback.

This was something he absolutely could not allow.

Thus, Deng Shirong got on his motorcycle and, along with the clan member who had reported the news, took Deng YunGui and others to Deng Changshou's house.

The distance between Deng Shirong's villa and Deng Changshou's villa was about one kilometer, so they arrived quickly.

By the time they got there, many clan members had already gathered around Deng Changshou's house, watching Gaima Qi, who was sitting on the railing of the third-floor balcony, speaking incoherently.

At that moment, Deng Changshou and his wife were standing on the third-floor balcony, carefully trying to persuade their son. They wanted to walk over and pull him back from the railing but were afraid of agitating him and causing him to fall from the third floor. They were at a loss for what to do.

The clan members watching from below also dared not say much. If they said something that agitated Gaima Qi, and he really jumped or fell, they might be hated by Deng Changshou and his wife.

So, everyone just watched quietly, whispering to each other.

When Deng Shirong arrived on his motorcycle, the clan members finally had a leader and greeted him:

"Uncle Ninth!"

"Grandpa Ninth!"

"Clan Head!"

Deng Shirong nodded, parked his motorcycle, and then looked up at Gaima Qi, who was clearly in a state of mental distress on the third floor.

At that moment, Gaima Qi was sitting on the railing, babbling incoherently, his expression shifting from excitement to anger to fear...

Although many people in this era used drugs, due to Deng Shirong's early drug ban, most clan members did not know what the reaction to drug use looked like. They had only heard about it but never seen it firsthand.

Seeing Gaima Qi's reaction, many clan members became wary, determined to keep their children away from drugs.

After watching for a few seconds, Deng Shirong walked directly into Deng Changshou's house and quickly made his way to the third-floor balcony.

"Grandpa Ninth!"

Deng Changshou hurriedly greeted Deng Shirong, his eyes filled with shame.

After all, Grandpa Ninth had implemented a clan-wide drug ban, and for years, no clan member had touched drugs. Now, his son had broken the rule, causing him both shame and fear. He didn't know how to face Grandpa Ninth.

Deng Shirong didn't waste time on formalities. With the system space, he had ample confidence. He walked out onto the balcony and, with lightning speed, grabbed Gaima Qi's arm, pulling him back from the railing amidst the clan members' cries of alarm.

Seeing Grandpa Ninth pull their son back onto the balcony, Deng Changshou and his wife reacted and immediately rushed over, firmly grabbing their son and dragging him inside the house.

"Give him plenty of water. When he sobers up, drag him to the ancestral hall."

Deng Shirong gave the instruction, not waiting for a response from Deng Changshou and his wife, and then quickly went downstairs. He then announced to the clan members below, "Everyone, spread the word. We will hold a clan meeting at the ancestral hall at seven o'clock tonight."

With these words, the clan members understood that the clan head was going to "settle accounts." They wondered how he would handle Gaima Qi, who had broken the drug ban.

...

Evening.

At the entrance of the Ye Deng clan's ancestral hall.

Except for those who were out, all the clan members who stayed in the hometown gathered for the clan meeting after dinner.

"That good-for-nothing Gaima Qi dared to break Grandpa Ninth's drug ban. He must really be tired of living comfortably!"

"I heard Grandpa Ninth was so angry he slammed the table. Gaima Qi is indeed a fool. I've heard that those who get involved with drugs never have a good end."

"Using drugs indeed has no good end. I have a relative from my wife's family who has been using drugs for years. He's now as good as a vegetable, having sold everything he could, and his wife left with the children. A once thriving family is now gone."

"From the looks of it, Gaima Qi must have been using drugs for a while. If he had just started, he wouldn’t be threatening to commit suicide."

"Who knows if Changshou and his family were aware of it before. If they were and still tried to cover it up..."

"..."

Amidst the murmurs of the clan members, Deng Shirong, along with Deng Shi'an, Deng YunGui, Deng Yunqiang, and other clan elders, arrived at the ancestral hall.

Within three minutes, the main character of this clan meeting, Gaima Qi, was dragged to the meeting by his father, accompanied by his mother and siblings.

By now, Gaima Qi had likely sobered up. When he saw the clan head sitting solemnly on the platform, he couldn't help but shiver.

Deng Changshou looked at Ninth Uncle with a face full of shame and said, "Ninth Uncle, I've brought this disobedient son here!"

"Sit down!"

After they sat down, Deng Shirong turned to the clan members and said, "Everyone, I have long said that gambling and drugs are things that should never be touched. Once you get involved, the consequences will be severe.

First, let’s talk about gambling. This is a bad habit left over from the old society, a form of theft and robbery.

Once you get into gambling, no matter how much wealth you have, it is all illusory. If you get addicted, you can lose everything in one night.

I worked hard to lead you all to prosperity, so you could live good lives, not to have you gamble and lose all the money you worked hard to earn. If that happens, all my efforts to help you make money will have been for nothing.

Why would I want that?

Therefore, I said from the beginning that anyone who dares to gamble will have their shares in the corporation taken away.

Fortunately, over the years, you all have restrained yourselves from gambling. No one has been found to be involved, and this is something to be commended."

The clan members nodded in agreement. They had seen the dangers of gambling firsthand. In other villages with different surnames, there were gambling dens, mahjong, poker, and dice, all kinds of gambling methods.

Those who gambled, unless they became professional gamblers, would often lose everything they won in one night. Ordinary people easily get addicted to gambling, leading to unstable lives and frequent borrowing from others.

Especially those who once made a lot of money through business but lost everything to gambling. Such examples are common.

Therefore, the clan members were very grateful for the clan head's ban on gambling. Without this ban hanging over the heads of those who liked to gamble, most families would not have been able to maintain their current wealth.

"If gambling only leads to financial ruin and family breakdown, then drugs are truly a matter of life and death."

Deng Shirong glanced at Gaima Qi and continued, "Since the Daoguang era of the Qing Dynasty, imperialists began to flood our country with opium, causing great harm to our people and leading to a century of humiliation. Those of you who are older have likely seen clan elders smoking opium, which made them emaciated and led to early deaths.

Today's drugs are even more potent than opium. Once you get involved, it's not just a matter of dying early; you will also become mentally unstable, constantly suspicious and hearing voices that don't exist. You might hear people talking about you, and the content can vary. Sometimes it's many people saying bad things about you, and other times it's someone revealing your thoughts.

You can't distinguish between real voices and hallucinations, leading to fear and confusion.

Some people will interact with these imaginary voices, arguing and cursing with things that don’t exist.

Severe cases can lead to hallucinations, seeing things that aren't there, such as being chased by someone. Others might experience olfactory hallucinations, smelling strange odors in food or toxic fumes in the air.

You might also believe that things around you, which have nothing to do with you, are actually targeting you.

For example, if you see someone spitting on the side of the road, you might think they are spitting at you. If you see people talking in a group, you might think they are discussing you. Everything around you seems to be against you.

In short, when someone is addicted to drugs, they become like a demon. Many people, after experiencing hallucinations, have killed their own parents, spouses, and children. Therefore, drugs are absolutely not to be touched. Once you touch them, there is no turning back.

The best outcome is that you die yourself, but in severe cases, you might drag your loved ones or others to their deaths with you."

As he finished speaking, the entire hall was in an uproar!

...

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(End of Chapter)

Chapter end