Old Yan of Liuwangtun was sick. Ever since he found a cemetery for himself, built an empty grave, and erected a tombstone, he was bedridden and only half of his life was left.

Yan Laoliu lay on the bed and sighed, "It's good to be dead, so that I don't have to sweep the ancestral graves by myself every year, like a bachelor!" The voice accused the two sons of going out to work for a long time and not returning home.

Old Yan was an orphan in his sixth year and his family was poor. At the age of 35, he still had no family.

One day, a human trafficker brought a silly girl who couldn't speak and laughed when she saw people.

The trafficker found Yan Laoliu and said, "You give me 3,000 yuan, and I'll give you a woman."

Yan Laoliu rummaged through his pockets and trousers and said, "Do you think I have a few cents all over my body?"

"Yan Laoliu, how can there be no woman to carry on the family line?" The human trafficker was persuasive, "Don't you have a cow? 3,000 yuan is not available, and 2,500 is also cheap for you!"

Yan Laoliu thought, "Yes, I'm lonely. If I don't have any more children, I'll be dead." He gritted his teeth, sold the cow, and smashed the pot to sell iron. Finally, he collected enough 2,500 yuan and happily took the silly girl home.

"I don't expect you to work for me," Yan Laoliu said to the silly girl, "I just want you to give me a child."

The silly girl smiled when she heard that. A year later, she really gave birth to a pair of twin sons to Yan Laoliu.

Yan Laoliu was so happy that he laughed even in his dreams, and he jumped and jumped as he walked: "God has eyes, let me have two sons, and the Yan family has descendants, who am I afraid of?"

He named his two sons Big Tiger and Little Tiger, which means "brothers fighting tigers, father and son soldiers." Unfortunately, at the age of 40, his silly wife died of illness.

Big Tiger and Little Tiger became the capitals that Yan Laoliu was most proud of.

In the era when food could not fill his stomach, Yan Laoliu was still happy. He said, "Although it is not easy to raise a child, you will be worry-free when you grow old."

He carried the plough with a hoe every day, went out early and returned late, and worked on the crops. In his spare time, he found native products to sell for money for his children to study. But after Dahu and Xiaohu graduated from primary school, they were reluctant to study again.

The two brothers seemed to have made an appointment and said, "Father, we don't want to study, and we can't. Don't waste any more money. If you have less money, you can keep smoking and drinking; if you have more money, you can keep it for us to marry a daughter-in-law."

"Cows don't eat grass, and pressing horns is useless! I don't dare to expect our family to be the champion." Yan Laoliu sighed, "From now on, you can follow me to grow crops."

In the first few years, Big Tiger and Little Tiger plowed the fields honestly with their father, looking for native products. But after the age of 16, they thought that agricultural work was not profitable and just wanted to go south to Guangdong to work.

"Who said that women don't stay in school? Men don't stay in school either!" Yan Laoliu sighed, "Your wings are hard, it's time to leave the nest to find food."

When Yan Laoliu took out the fare and handed it to Big Tiger and Little Tiger, he said earnestly, "I'm old, and from now on our family will rely on you two brothers!"

Big Tiger and Little Tiger listened to their father's words and nodded solemnly.

"After you arrive in Guangdong, save how much money you have to work for. You don't have to worry about my food and drink.""" Yan Laoliu said, "If the big tiger marries a wife, the little tiger will help; if the little tiger marries a wife, the big tiger will pull a hand. Only in this way can our Yan family hope to continue the incense."

Big Tiger and Little Tiger said in unison, "Dad, don't worry, we won't go home if we can't save money to marry a wife!"

When only Yan Laoliu was left at home, he often spoke to his silly wife in the air: "When these two bastards are around, I find them annoying, but when they go out, I miss them a little.

As he got older, Yan Laoliu only grew enough crops for rations. In his spare time, he carried a hoe and a scythe up the mountain to dig for local specialties for money. He thought that the big and little tigers were uncultured and fledgling, so they couldn't make much trouble in Guangdong. He sold local specialties to earn money, saving a few pieces of land for dozens of yuan, convinced that less would always make more money.

"One day when they marry their wives, I, the father, will take out a stack of money to scare the bastards!" Yan Laoliu thought to himself, and couldn't help but be silly.

Three years passed quickly, and there was no news of the big tiger or the little tiger. They didn't go home during the Chinese New Year, nor did they go home when they visited graves.

At first Yan Laoliu said, "What's wrong with these two silly children? If you have money or not, you should go home for the New Year. At least you should go home to visit graves to recognize your ancestors."

Every year, Yan Laoliu would complain to his foolish wife when he was sweeping the tomb. "If you have time, persuade your two foolish sons to go home! If this goes on, I'm afraid that no one will know when they will die and stink."

Another three years have passed, and there is still no news of Big Tiger and Little Tiger. Yan Laoliu couldn't sit still any longer. During the Chinese New Year, he found fellow villagers who went to work in Guangdong to inquire about Big Tiger and Little Tiger.

Yan Laoliu learned that his two sons went to the feed factory to carry feed bags. Because they couldn't stand the heavy pressure, they quit their jobs after three months. Then he went to the aluminum factory to work as a boiler worker, and his underwear was so hot that water was wrung out during working hours. After half a year, he quit his job. Then he went to the pig farm, busy from morning to night, smelly and tired, and he didn't have much money. Finally, he switched to the mold factory, but there was a lot of noise and dust. Although the salary was high, I don't know how long it could last.

"These two bastards!" Yan Laoliu said, "Do the work in Guangdong if you can, and go home to farm if you can't. What's the big deal?"

Yan Laoliu asked fellow villagers to call Dahu and Xiaohu home, saying that it was not too late to return to Guangdong to work after sweeping the tomb.

But Yan Laoliu waited left and right, and the two sons were still missing. That day, when Yan Laoliu was carrying the Huai Mountain weighing dozens of catties down the mountain, he slipped and fell due to the rain and injured his waist. He could only get up after half a month in bed.

After being able to move around freely, the first thing Yan Laoliu did was to climb to Nangang to find a cemetery for himself. There was a big maple tree there, and Yan Laoliu used to sit at the bottom of the tree to rest when he went to herd cattle or cut firewood. Although the cemetery could not see the village, he could hear the crowing of chickens and dogs in the village. And the front was open, backed by high mountains, which was refreshing.

Yan Laoliu decided that it was a feng shui treasure that was hard to buy, so he waved his hoe to build an empty grave and erected a tombstone with the words "Yan Laoliu occupies an area".

That day, Sixth Yan lay in front of the empty grave and cursed, "Although I, Sixth Yan, have given birth to two sons, I have spent so many years alone sweeping the graves of my ancestors.

In fact, Big Tiger and Little Tiger also wanted to go home, but neither of them had earned the money to marry a daughter-in-law, so they dared not face their father.

Like many nearby villages, Liuwangtun was also a single village. Many married women thought that the local area was poor and the conditions were poor, so they went out to work and got married.

Big Tiger said to Little Tiger, "Brother, go back and see Father Zan. Let's make money for marrying a daughter-in-law slowly!"

Xiaohu said to Dahu, "Brother, you should go back to your father. Later, we will work hard to earn money!"

Brothers, you push me, I push you, but no one comes home. Year after year.

Strangely enough, Old Yan placed an empty grave on the sixth base, and after the tombstone was erected, Big Tiger and Little Tiger, who were working in Guangdong, had nightmares one after another. In their dreams, there were always a few strange men carrying chains to catch Old Yan, saying that someone was waiting for him there, urging him to hurry up.

The big tiger found the little tiger and said, "Brother, it's so strange! I dreamed that our father was captured!"

Xiaohu also said: "Brother, it's so weird! I also dreamed that our father was captured by someone with an iron chain!"

The brothers were so shocked that they bought tickets and rushed home to see what was going on. When they got home, they asked their father what had happened, but Yan Laoliu didn't say anything. Later, they learned the ins and outs of the matter from the neighbors, so they went to consult the old Taoist in the village.

The old Taoist said, "According to the local custom, it is not appropriate to raise a grave and a monument for yourself before you die. Probably because you haven't been home for a long time, your father was so suffocated that he did something stupid."

When Big Tiger and Little Tiger heard this, they quickly knelt down and confessed their mistake to Yan Laoliu, saying, "Father, in the future, whether we have money or not, we will go home to visit graves."

Afterwards, the brothers rushed to Nangang to level Yan Laoliu's empty grave and chopped the tombstone with an axe.