Chapter 4

Jian Feng was in a bad mood, so Jian Li didn’t dare to ask any more questions.

Wang Mengmei urged her daughter to go to bed: “Remember to take your medicine before sleeping!”

Jian Li responded with an “Okay.”

The Jian family lived in a cramped 30-square-meter apartment. They had managed to divide a small bedroom for Jian Li, while Jian Feng and Wang Mengmei slept on a large bed in the living room, with a curtain pulled at night.

There was no bathroom at home, so Jian Li took a basin and went to the water room at the end of the hallway to wash up.

Inside the house, only Jian Feng and Wang Mengmei were there.

Wang Mengmei, half relieved and half heartbroken, said, “I told you, but you didn’t believe it. Just look at how Liu Xiangdong and his wife acted today, their little schemes were all over the place!”

Jian Feng grumbled, “Xiangdong…”

He was about to make an excuse, but his mind was in turmoil, and he didn’t know how to say it.

Everything had happened so quickly today, too fast for him to understand.

When Old Lady Liu passed away, he rushed there and didn’t say a word at first. He bowed three times to the body with a loud sound, and then the tears flowed uncontrollably.

She was such a kind old woman, and Jian Feng couldn’t help but feel sad.

Old Lady Liu had also lost her husband early, but unlike his mother, she chose to live with her son. Liu Xiangdong was young at the time and couldn’t take over, so she carried on working herself.

When her son grew up, she handed the job to him and found a temporary job as a kitchen helper in a factory.

After decades of hard work, she had a very good reputation in the family compound, and many younger generations came to pay respects, bowing and offering incense.

Some older women of similar age came, supported by their children and grandchildren, crying uncontrollably.

Amidst the mourning atmosphere, Liu Xiangdong came to ask for his advice after only a short time.

“Feng Ge, what do you think we should do next?”

Jian Feng, being the oldest of the five, naturally took the lead in such matters. Liu Xiangdong came straight to him for advice, and Jian Feng immediately began to talk about the funeral arrangements.

“Buy the coffin and burial clothes, get the things to burn, and ask your dad if there are any customs regarding burial rites. Also, since your dad’s grave was set early, you may want to consult a geomancer about where your mother should be buried…”

“By the way, it’s hot now, it’s better to rent an ice coffin.”

Jian Feng was getting dry-mouthed and sadder as he spoke, but he forced himself to pat his good friend’s shoulder.

“Xiangdong, the old lady has already passed, you need to look forward now.”

Zhao Xiaopeng and Xu Jianguo also spoke up, trying to console Liu Xiangdong.

Liu Xiangdong froze for a moment, the words on his lips turning over, but he still said them in the end.

“Feng Ge, I know… but… I really can’t leave here, could you help me order the coffin?”

As soon as Liu Xiangdong finished speaking, Zhao Xiaopeng and Xu Jianguo fell silent, but Jian Feng was about to agree when Wang Mengmei arrived.

Wang Mengmei had gathered the wives of the other men—Zhao Xiaopeng’s wife Wu Haixia, Xu Jianguo’s wife Sun Yan, and Wang Liming’s wife and child.

When Wang Mengmei heard Liu Xiangdong’s words, she knew she had arrived at the right moment.

She broke in with a loud wail and then tried to kneel to the old lady’s body.

—She remembered how, when she gave birth, her own mother didn’t come to help with the confinement, but the old lady had brought her food for several days. She was willing to kneel to her in gratitude.

Liu Xiangdong had no choice but to stop talking and helped his wife Zhang Qin lift Wang Mengmei up.

Once Wang Mengmei stood up, Liu Xiangdong couldn’t continue with his earlier words.

Now that they were all married, men could lend each other things or money with just a few words, but if their wives were present, they all knew that asking for help with funeral arrangements was too much.

Liu Xiangdong exchanged a look with his wife Zhang Qin. Zhang Qin rolled her eyes, then put on a face mixed with sorrow to deal with the women.

Zhao Xiaopeng and Xu Jianguo’s wives quickly saw the situation and came forward reluctantly, but they were very unhappy with Wang Mengmei. These two women had good relationships with Zhang Qin, so the three women huddled together to gossip.

Wang Mengmei snorted and, along with Wang Liming’s wife Xue Fang, burned paper money in front of the old lady’s body.

Wang Liming wasn’t at home, and Xue Fang had no one to discuss things with, so she secretly asked Wang Mengmei, “Sister-in-law, how much are you planning to give?”

They were all old friends, and if one family gave a lot and another gave little, it would be embarrassing.

Xue Fang wasn’t the type to make a scene, so she just wanted to match whatever others gave.

Wang Mengmei calculated the social favors in her mind: “Give thirty yuan!”

Not too high, not too low, and Xue Fang sighed with relief. She was worried that others would give 50 or 100, but since she was alone at home with kids, she didn’t have that much money to spare.

“Then it’s thirty, I’ll bring it tomorrow.”

Wang Mengmei appreciated people who were straightforward like that. If it were the other three, they would have been nitpicking about whether it was too much or too little.

Unlike Xue Fang, who just asked and didn’t make a fuss.

The two women burned the paper money, and when Liu Xiangdong’s family arrived, they stepped aside to make room.

The family of Liu Xiangdong’s relatives were all senior members, and Wang Mengmei felt relieved. After all, once the elders arrived, she wouldn’t have to worry about getting involved any further.

As soon as she felt her heart settle down, something happened.

Since it was nighttime, the loudspeaker hadn’t arrived yet, but those handling the funeral had already come. One of Liu Xiangdong’s older relatives did this kind of work and directly brought their tools along.

In front of so many people, Liu Xiangdong suddenly said that he wanted his childhood friends to carry the coffin for his mother.

“After all these years, my mother has already treated you as her own brothers.”

Wang Mengmei immediately felt anger rise in her heart.

When the old lady was alive, she never said she would take anyone as an adopted son, but now that she’s dead, why should these people, who have no clear relationship with her, be asked to carry the coffin? What sense does that make?

Are they supposed to be considered adopted brothers, or just ordinary friends?

Wang Mengmei was fed up with Liu Xiangdong and his wife for making such a scene. She tightly grabbed Jian Feng and wouldn’t let him speak.

What a joke, carrying a coffin! Liu Xiangdong would do anything, even avoid paying back the money, just to get what he wanted.

As expected, Zhao Xiaopeng and Xu Jianguo’s wife were both unhappy. But everyone spoke politely.

“We should stick to the rules; we don’t need to go through all that ceremony.”

In the end, it didn’t work out.

Liu Xiangdong didn’t achieve his goal, and his face reddened. He found an excuse to leave.

The other families exchanged glances, and in the end, Xu Jianguo’s wife, Sun Yan, said something harsh.

“Really treating others like fools.”

As if only the two of them were clever! They would do anything for a bit of money, not even caring about their face.

Jian Feng wasn’t really foolish; with just a little thought, he understood, and he suddenly felt weighed down and uncomfortable.

He could accept that his old friends had become shrewd, but he couldn’t accept that they were trying to use everything to their advantage.

When did Liu Xiangdong become like this?

Jian Feng had intended to help out at the funeral, but after this incident, looking at the stark white mourning hall, he suddenly felt it was pointless.

So, after working for half the night, he rejected Liu Xiangdong’s offer to stay over and went home with his wife.

Wang Mengmei could easily see Jian Feng’s disappointment. Seeing him like that made her heart ache, so she told him to quickly wash up and go to bed.

“You have to work tomorrow!”

Jian Feng murmured and lay down on the bed, his mind full of what his daughter had said at the dinner table earlier that night.

“People change.”

But when did they change?

“Sigh…”

Jian Feng sighed, feeling like something warm had left with the passing of that gentle old woman.

—-

The next morning, Jian Li got up to find her father had already gone to work, and her mother had gone to the market.

Jian Li opened the pot lid and saw two steamed buns inside. Below the steamer, there was millet porridge. In the large bowl was freshly mixed cucumber.

She smacked her lips, rummaged through the cupboard, and took out a jar of her mother’s pickled salted eggs.

She picked one, cut it in half with a knife, and the golden egg yolk flowed out, dripping down her wrist. Jian Li quickly used chopsticks to put the salted egg white and yolk into the hot steamed bun.

The large white bun immediately became coated in yellow oil, and the smell of saltiness and fragrance filled the air.

Jian Li took a bite of the bun, feeling the simple joy of carbs and fat, her eyes closing in satisfaction.

She had another bite of the crispy cucumber, the refreshing and greasy combination perfect together.

Jian Li finished one steamed bun with millet porridge, still feeling a little unsatisfied as her stomach stretched. But she still stopped eating.

She cleaned the table, then started doing burpees, ten per set. She did three sets and was already flushed and exhausted.

Once she rested, Jian Li put the salted egg away, then thought for a moment and took out a package of soy milk powder.

When she arrived at the market, it was the busiest time in the morning.

She quickly found her mother’s stall, where some people buying vegetables also grabbed a baked pancake as a snack.

Overall, there weren’t too many people.

Wang Mengmei was in a bad mood, which Jian Li understood clearly.

It was the same in the past. The market had just started, and the first few weeks were slow. Back then, her mother almost gave up.

But eventually, it became the largest and busiest market in a ten-kilometer radius.

However, her mother regretted one thing—the first time the market management came to register and asked about her business scope.

Her mother didn’t think much of it and simply said she sold baked pancakes. They asked if she wanted to move to an area with more cooked food, but her mother refused, thinking her location was the best.

Later, it proved to be a wrong choice.

The cooked food section had much more foot traffic, far better than her area. More importantly, the two vegetable vendors next to her were hard to get along with and kept occupying her space. They often clashed, and fights broke out several times over the years.

This was the root cause of Wang Mengmei’s financial struggle.

To prevent her mother from making the same mistake as last time, Jian Li decided to push her a little.

Ignoring her mother’s glaring gaze, Jian Li set up the salted eggs and wrote a sign with the black marker she brought.

“Salted Duck Egg—3 Mao each.”