At the junction of Tianmen and Jingshan, there is a bay called Sanlianfen Bay. At the east end of the bay, there is a tomb with three mounds connected together. Every Qingming Festival, people from all over the bay go to the Sanlianfen to burn paper and worship. It is said that this custom has continued for decades. There was a tragic story about the origin of the Sanlianfen in that area.
In the 1920s, there was a man named Pang in Pangjiawan, Jingling, who was a well-known butcher. He didn't need help or a hammer to butcher a cow. He would take a sharp knife and touch the side of the cow, and suddenly cut the top of the cow. It is said that the numbness point of the cow is there. Even the strongest cow will fall to the ground after being cut by a knife. Therefore, people called him Pang Yidao. Although Pang Yidao was a butcher, he married a beautiful wife, which made people around him envious.
However, not long after, Zou Dakui, the bandit leader in this area, robbed Pangjiawan. Pang Yidao was not there at the time. When he came back, he learned that his wife was robbed by Zou Dakui. He dreamed of dead mice and was so angry that he grabbed a sharp ox-ear knife and wanted to fight Zou Dakui, but was persuaded by the villagers. From then on, Pang Yidao seemed to have changed. He spoke less than before, but his temper was worse than before. He would pull out a knife with others at any time. People knew that he was unhappy, so they gave in to him.
One night, Pang Yidao had just finished his work when there was a sudden knock on the door. Pang Yidao opened the door and was surprised to see his wife Lu Hua standing at the door, holding a bundle in her hand. Pang Yidao said unhappily, "Bitch, you still have the nerve to come back!" Lu Hua glared at him fiercely, and suddenly her eyes went black and she passed out. Pang Yidao was busy and quickly carried her into the house. After feeding her a few sips of water, Lu Hua finally woke up, burst into tears, and then told the whole story. It turned out that Zou Dakuzi had been coveting her for a long time, and he robbed the bay that night just for her. Last night, Zou Dakuzi was drunk and unconscious, so she took the opportunity to escape, and when she left, she brought back some of the gold, silver and jewelry they robbed… Fearing that Zou Dakuzi would come looking for them, the two of them quickly packed up and left Pangjiawan overnight.
After that, Lu Hua got pregnant. After ten months of pregnancy, she gave birth to a baby boy, but Pang Yidao always felt that he was not pleasing to the eye. That chubby and tiger-like appearance was just like a little big-legged pig! So when Lu Hua was not paying attention, he secretly threw the child into the woods to feed the wolves. Fortunately, Lu Hua found out, and from then on the child treated him like a mouse treating a cat. Seeing that the child was timid, he simply called him "Hanhan".
Ten years passed in a blink of an eye, and Hanhan grew into a strong young man. Although Pang Yidao was usually indifferent to him and sometimes even fierce, Hanhan did not bear any grudges. Whenever Pang Yidao had a headache or fever, Hanhan would serve tea and water, boil medicine and feed him medicine. Over time, Pang Yidao's heart gradually softened, and he even taught him his skill of slaughtering cattle.
Soon, the Japanese devils came to Pangjia Bay and burned, killed, looted and did whatever they wanted.
One night, there was a burst of fierce gunfire outside the bay. At dawn, a large group of Japanese soldiers surrounded the bay. It turned out that there was a mysterious and strange team active in this area, sneaking into sentries, pulling down gun towers, and ambushing, making the Japanese dizzy, so the Japanese took out their anger on the common people. They drove all the people in the bay to the sun drying field in the east. A Japanese squad leader named Kameda said in half-understood Chinese: "The people who killed the imperial army are hiding among you, hand them over quickly. If you don't, you will all die. I will count ten times, and if you don't hand them over, I will kill them all!" When he counted to "nine", suddenly a thunderous voice rang out in the crowd: "Don't count, it was me!" In a blink of an eye, a man in his thirties separated the crowd and walked out. It was Zou Dakuazi, a famous bandit leader in this area. In the battle last night, he was trapped in the bay because of a leg injury and didn't have time to leave. Seeing that the Japanese were about to attack everyone in the bay, he stood up.
Kameda circled around him for a few times and asked in confusion: "You are… Zou Dakuzi?" Zou Dakuzi said: "I will always be known as your great grandfather Zou. You bastard, it was your great grandfather who sneaked into the sentry post, took down the artillery tower, and set up an ambush. It's none of our business, so you let them all go. If you want to kill or chop him up, just go after your great grandfather!" Kameda said: "Yasi! Yours, the Chinese one. What did you say just now? Chop? That's what you said!" After tying Zou Dakuzi to the tree, Kameda dragged Pang Yidao and Hanhan out through the informant of a traitor. Kameda threw a butcher knife to the ground and said with a grin: "You, the one who chop the cow, right? His skin, you peel it. If you peel it well, you will be rewarded!"
Under the threat of Kameda, Pang Yidao had to pick up the knife and walked step by step to Zou Dakuizi. Zou Dakuizi said: "Pang Yidao, sixteen years ago, I robbed your wife. You hated me as much as these Japanese devils, right? I died in your hands today, and we are even. But before I die, I will tell you a secret. Hanhan is indeed my child. In fact, people like us who risk our lives, how can we leave offspring? But I am the only son. When my father died, he held my hand and said that I could leave nothing but I must leave him a child to carry on the family line. After I sowed my seed into your wife's belly, I was worried about leaving her on the mountain, so I sent her back. All the gold and silver jewelry she brought back were given by me. She didn't sneak down the mountain, but I deliberately let her go back… I've finished what I said, you can do it!"
Pang Yidao gnashed his teeth when he heard this and said to Zou Dakuazi: "Over the years, I really wanted to skin you alive like a bull. But today I see that you are still a man, so I will grant your wish!" As he said this, he stabbed Zou Dakuazi in the chest with his knife. A stream of hot blood rushed out, splashing all over Pang Yidao's face and body.
Seeing that Pang Yidao refused to skin Zou Dakui alive, but stabbed him to death with one knife, Kameda, who was standing by, was furious. He immediately ordered people to tie Pang Yidao up, and ordered Hanhan to skin Pang Yidao. Hanhan had never seen such a scene before? He was already scared silly. Pang Yidao said: "Shao son, Dad has treated you badly these years, often beating you, scolding you, and punishing you. Today I let you skin Dad, and Dad doesn't hate you at all. But there is one thing you have to remember. When the day comes to drive away the Japanese devils, don't forget to tell Dad to put a big whip on Dad's grave…Shao son, come on!" Pang Yidao urged several times, but Hanhan didn't do anything, as if he was stupid. Kameda, who was standing by, had been impatient for a long time, and pulled out a knife and put it on Hanhan's neck, shouting hysterically: "Hurry up, don't do it, you're dead!" When the knife touched his neck, Hanhan couldn't help but tremble all over. However, before Kameda could understand what was going on, Hanhan suddenly turned around and shouted, "Little Japanese, I'll fuck your mother…" and stabbed Kameda in the stomach with a knife. Kameda shouted weakly, "Kill him…" The Japanese sword in his hand fell to the ground with a "bang". The Japanese soldiers on both sides raised their bayonets and stabbed Hanhan fiercely. Pang Yidao on the opposite side couldn't help laughing and said, "Hanhan, you have guts!" The Japanese killed Hanhan and stabbed Pang Yidao one after another. Facing the bloody scene, Lu Hua, who was standing in the crowd, had black eyes and fainted.
When Lu Hua woke up, the Japanese soldiers had already left. She took off her headscarf and wiped the blood off Hanhan's face with tears in her eyes, then hugged him tightly in her arms… Soon, a group of people came here with shovels and coffins. It turned out that they saved everyone in the bay, and the three old men in the bay took the initiative to donate their coffins. Everyone dug a big pit on the nearby barren slope, buried the three grandfathers and sons together, and built three big graves on top. In order to commemorate them, people changed the name of the bay to "Sanlianfen Bay". Every Qingming Festival, people would sweep their graves and worship them as if they were their own relatives.
From then on, bursts of miserable crying were often heard from the shabby hut where Lu Hua lived. Later, the sound turned into silly laughter that was uglier than crying. She was going crazy.
Soon, something strange happened.
One night, Lu Hua had just taken a nap when she saw her son Hanhan coming back from outside carrying a bundle of firewood. Wasn't he stabbed to death by the Japanese with a bayonet? Lu Hua rushed over and saw that Hanhan's clothes were indeed stabbed by the bayonet. She couldn't help but stroke him gently and asked, "Son, does it still hurt?" Hanhan shook his head honestly. Lu Hua said, "Take it off quickly and let mom sew you a few stitches…" Just then, she was awakened by a burst of "woof woof" barking of dogs, and then she realized it was a dream. She opened the door and saw a bundle of firewood at the door. Sure enough, her son came back! Thinking of the clothes with holes stabbed by the bayonet in her dream, she felt bad, so she quickly cut some clothes, pants, shoes and socks with paper and burned them overnight.
The next night, Lu Hua dreamed of her son again. This time he came back carrying a bag of rice. When she looked at her son again, she saw that he had changed into new clothes. She was so happy that she said lovingly, "Hanhan, are you leaving? Mom misses you so much. Please don't see you in your dreams all the time, okay?" Hanhan said, "Mom, today is not a dream. If you don't believe me, pinch yourself!" Lu Hua pinched herself secretly and it really hurt. She touched it with her hand, but there was nothing in front of her. Hanhan saw her doubts and said, "Mom, you forgot that your son is a ghost… But don't worry, just hang the coarse cloth jacket I often wear on the head of my bed, and I can stay at home…" Lu Hua heard it and quickly found her son's coarse cloth jacket and hung it on the head of the bed. Then the mother and daughter talked for most of the night and went back to their rooms to sleep.
The next morning, there was a sound of sweeping the floor outside the door. Lu Hua put on her clothes and went out to see, but she didn't see her son, but saw an empty broom sweeping the floor. Lu Hua said, "Hanhan, are you sweeping the floor?" Her son's voice came from the other side: "It's me, Mom. The yang energy is strong during the day, so you can't see me…" After sweeping the floor, she heard the sound of chopping wood. She only saw the axe going up and down, but there was no one in sight. After a long time, Lu Hua got used to it.
One day, Han Laosan, who sold tofu in Dongwan, passed by the door and gave Lu Hua four silver dollars, saying that her son often went to help him grind soybeans at night, but he refused to take the wages, so he had to deliver them to his home. Since then, Han Laosan came almost every day, sometimes putting a few copper coins at the door, and sometimes throwing a few pieces of tofu here, saying that it was in lieu of wages. Lu Hua was afraid that her son would be tired, so she told Han Laosan not to let her son work. Han Laosan was helpless: "I also told him what you said, but he just didn't listen… Sister, you are so lucky to have such a filial son!" But he didn't know that his son had been killed by the Japanese devils… As soon as Han Laosan left, Lu Hua dreamed of dead mice and couldn't help wiping tears.
One night, Lu Hua was sewing when she heard someone climbing over the wall. Lu Hua asked in surprise, "Who is it?" Suddenly, a wretched man appeared at the door. It was Er Gouzi, a vagrant bachelor in the bay. Er Gouzi said with a playful smile, "Big sister, aren't you bored at home alone? I'm here to accompany you…" Before he finished speaking, he was hit hard on the back with a stick. Er Gouzi looked back and saw no one, but a stick floating in the air. He was so scared that he screamed "Oh my God…" and turned around and ran away. From then on, he never dared to make a move on Lu Hua again.
After driving Er Gouzi away, Han Han also showed up. He advised: "Mom, Dad has been gone for three years. Have you ever thought about getting married again? I think Han Lao San, the tofu seller in Dongwan, is not bad. He has been interested in you for a long time. If you agree, I will help you get together. This will prevent the vagrant bachelors from targeting you again, and I can leave here without any worries!" Lu Hua felt that her son's words made sense, so she agreed to the marriage.
On the wedding day, Han Lao San invited more than a dozen tables of wine and took Lu Hua to the wedding in a grand sedan chair. This made people around him wonder: Han Lao San is such a smart man, there are many virgin girls around him, why did he marry a crazy woman? Facing people's doubts, Han Lao San just smiled and didn't answer. Strangely enough, after Lu Hua got married here, she was no longer crazy. She was only in her early thirties, and she was already pretty. After dressing up, she was no worse than a girl in her twenties.
Afterwards, she burned the coarse cloth jacket hanging on the head of her son's bed. From then on, she never dreamed of her son again. Not long after, she became pregnant and gave birth to a son who looked exactly like Hanhan. She thought that Hanhan must have been reluctant to leave and came back to be reincarnated, so she named her son Shasha.
Many years have passed, and Han Laosan and Lu Hua have become grandfathers and grandmothers. They often tell their grandchildren the stories of Zou Dakuazi, Pang Yidao and Hanhan. Especially the fact that Uncle Hanhan still came back to work for his grandmother after his death was too mysterious. Facing the doubts of his grandchildren, Han Laosan finally told a shocking secret. It turned out that Han Laosan was also one of the leaders of the bandits. When Han Laosan was trapped in the bay by the devils that day, he was with Zou Dakuazi. Zou Dakuazi stepped forward to protect the villagers of the whole bay and to save Han Laosan. Because before he went out, he had entrusted all his affairs to Han Laosan. Whether it was sending firewood or rice to Lu Hua, helping her work and driving away the vagrant bachelors who came to harass her, it was all done by Han Laosan. His purpose in doing this was to fulfill his promise to Zou Dakuazi. As for Lu Hua seeing her son's soul working for her, it was because she was too sad and mentally confused. Han Laosan and Lu Hua had only one son, but the son gave them three grandsons. So Han Laosan gave the three grandsons the surnames Zou, Pang, and Han respectively.