184 The Meadow Granny stayed with them for a few months and cooked. Ye had to grow up overnight and took care of herself and Hua. Ye never witnessed dage’s secondary burial ceremony. The secondary burial practice was due to the constant move of the Hakkas. For centuries, the forefathers of the Hakka people were constantly on the road. Whenever they moved again, they would unearth their ancestors’ remains and bury them near their new dwelling place. Her ancestors could rest assured that wherever their descendants went, they would keep the remains of them nearby. Yet she did not know where she would be buried after she died, probably in her future husband’s family mausoleum. This was not the place for her bones. She felt isolated and distant at dage’s new tomb. Why would her parents insist they all show today? Mother continued, “This morning, I picked up his bones and placed them into the new pottery vessel. It’s nothing scary. Your brother’s bones were so small. He was just a little boy when he died.” Dage was 7 when he died. I was 5, Hua was 3, and xiaomei would have been four months old. Ye could only call her youngest sister xiaomei because she “disappeared” a few days after she was born, before she even had a name. They never talked about dage or xiaomei. Ye remembered asking Mother where xiaomei was when she could not find her, and Mother told her xiaomei passed away and warned her to never bring it up again. Mother never explained why. dage and xiaomei were taboo. Ye wanted to ask Hua if she remembered xiaomei and the woman with red lips and red heels. Ye remembered the woman also gave Hua a red packet that contained lucky money as a Spring Festival gift per the custom and commented that xiaomei looked exactly like Hua. But how could you count on a threeyear-old’s memory? So, Ye never mentioned xiaomei to her sister. As Mother promised, the ceremony ended quickly. They
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