Chapter 76

The family still continued to drive to the airport, where they canceled their tickets and purchased new ones for their hometown.

Since there was no airport in their hometown, they bought tickets to the provincial capital and planned to transfer to another mode of transportation to get home.

Flying was much faster than taking the train. They took a flight at nine in the evening and arrived in the provincial capital just after one in the morning.

Given the late hour, it was impractical to take a train, so they decided to spend the night in a hotel in the city.

This was Li Xiao and his family’s first time visiting the provincial capital of their hometown. Previously, when they traveled to G Province, they took the train directly to the neighboring provincial capital, which was closer to their hometown and more developed, making travel more convenient.

The flight to the neighboring provincial capital was later, so they opted for the provincial capital of their hometown instead.

While it was an unfamiliar place for Li Xiao and his family, Jiang Rou felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity.

Jiang Rou had trouble remembering many details from her childhood. Her parents were among the last to return to the city, and since they came from different cities, her brother mentioned that their mother would take him to visit their father every weekend, or their father would come to see them. They didn’t reunite as a family until her brother was nine, and a year later, Jiang Rou was conceived.

Afterward, due to job changes, her parents moved twice more before settling down when Jiang Rou was about seven or eight years old.

During her time traveling to this world, Jiang Rou had considered looking for her parents but found it unfortunate that she knew little about her family’s past. Her mother had mentioned that everything had been torn down, including the place names, making it hard to recognize anything. Her mother had also lost track of their old home after moving.

When the topic came up, they would only discuss the hardships of the past or small neighborhood matters.

On the other hand, Jiang Rou felt that her real family was her parents, brother, and sister-in-law from her previous life.

There might be people in this world who looked exactly like her parents, or perhaps a girl named Jiang Rou, but they were the parents of the “Jiang Rou” here, not her real parents.

Her parents belonged to her previous world—where they shared beautiful memories together.

In her world, there was only one version of herself, and therefore, only one set of parents. No one could replace them.

Yet, as she looked at the scenery of the provincial capital, Jiang Rou couldn’t help but feel nostalgic. She missed her parents, her brother who was both protective and bullying, her sister-in-law who was like a close friend, and her gluttonous and tearful little nephew.

She did not know if there would be another chance to see them in this lifetime.

Lying on the bed in the hotel room that night, with An An held in her arms, An An suddenly looked up at her mother and asked, “Mommy, are you unhappy too?”

Jiang Rou instinctively looked down and asked, “Why do you say that?”

An An said seriously, “Daddy has been unhappy since the afternoon, and now you are too.”

Jiang Rou did not know what to say and simply patted her little head, “Daddy is unhappy because he lost a childhood friend.”

An An furrowed her brow and asked, “And Mommy?”

This time Jiang Rou did not answer. She just lowered her head and kissed An An’s forehead, “Mommy is just feeling a bit down. Go to sleep.”

An An looked at Jiang Rou, then reached out and hugged her, “Mommy, I love you.”

Then she closed her eyes and obediently found a comfortable position in Jiang Rou’s arms to sleep.

Li Xiao, lying beside them, heard this and turned over to embrace the mother and daughter.

Jiang Rou met Li Xiao’s worried gaze and smiled, “I’m fine.”

Li Xiao looked at her without speaking, only holding them a bit tighter.

After a night’s sleep, they ate breakfast and then took the bus back to the City. The road conditions were not as good as in the later years, so the bus was not very fast. They boarded the bus at seven in the morning and did not return to the City until after one in the afternoon.

Upon arriving at the City bus station, Jiang Rou asked Li Xiao to go to Wang Tao’s house first while she took Li Xin and An An home to tidy up.

Li Xiao called a van to take them to their destination before leaving.

An An still remembered the old home and looked out the window at the scenery, puzzled, “Mommy, why are we going home?”

Jiang Rou explained again, and An An nodded as if she somewhat understood, “So, we’re not going to the capital?”

Jiang Rou fixed An An’s messy hair from sleeping and said, “We’ll go to the capital next time. Daddy’s friend has passed away, so we have to come back to send him off.”

An An responded with an “Oh.”

She was still young and probably did not fully understand what death meant. However, after Jiang Rou explained the reason to her, she would obediently listen.

After returning home, Jiang Rou paid for the car fare and, along with Li Xin, unloaded their luggage. The door of Aunt Wang’s house next door was closed. In the rush of returning home, Jiang Rou had also forgotten to call Aunt Wang.

The gate to the yard was locked. Jiang Rou asked Li Xin to watch An An outside while she retreated a bit and then ran toward the yard wall, quickly climbing up it.

An An opened her mouth in surprise, “Mommy is amazing.”

Jiang Rou smiled slightly. Her body was not what it used to be. In her past life, she would have easily jumped over, but now she had to use both hands to climb the wall and her right foot to step up, slowly climbing over. Once she was over, she jumped down into the yard.

There was a spare key hidden under a stone beside the threshold.

After finding the key, Jiang Rou unlocked the door and then moved a small table and ladder outside. She had Li Xin and An An climb the ladder from outside while she stood on the small table to help them inside.

Since the lock on the yard gate was with Aunt Wang, this was the only way in.

An An thought it was great fun. After being helped up the ladder by her aunt and quickly caught by her mother, she hugged her mother and laughed joyfully.

Li Xin then passed the boxes one by one and climbed over the wall herself.

Having been away for half a year, the old house was much colder and emptier. However, it was not dirty, as Aunt Wang must have cleaned it regularly.

Jiang Rou let An An play alone in the yard but warned her not to wander too far. She and Li Xin then cleaned the house, opened the windows and doors to let in fresh air, and hung out the bedding to dry. The bed sheets were washed with clean water.

By the time they finished, it was already past two in the afternoon. They had not had lunch yet, and with nothing available at home, they decided to go out again for lunch.

They found a restaurant on South Street, ordered a few dishes, and after eating, Jiang Rou packed two portions of egg fried rice to take with them before heading to Wang Tao’s house.

No matter what, they still had to go there to pay their respects.

Jiang Rou had never been to Wang Tao’s house and had only heard about it from Li Xiao. It seemed to be located in front of the street where the bus station was.

Wang Tao’s family situation was quite complicated. Li Xiao had mentioned it once or twice. It seemed that Wang Tao’s mother was originally married to his uncle, but after his uncle died in an accident, his mother, unable to find another husband due to their poor situation, married his uncle’s younger brother—who was Wang Tao’s biological father.

Wang Tao’s grandmother had initially not planned to find a wife for this son because his father had some intellectual impairment, having suffered brain damage from a fever as a child.

Wang Tao’s mother had two sons: Wang Tao and Wang Tao’s younger brother.

Wang Tao’s younger brother was only a year younger than him. He had been adopted out as a child and had almost no contact with their family.

Li Xiao had once said that Wang Tao was unlucky because a distant relative had wanted to adopt Wang Tao. They thought Wang Tao, being honest and straightforward, would grow up to be a reliable person who could support them in their old age. Unfortunately, Wang Tao’s mother intervened. She favored her younger son, wanting him to have a better life, so she tricked Wang Tao into going out to buy something. By the time Wang Tao returned, his younger brother had already left.

Later on, his mother also arranged a not-so-good marriage for Wang Tao, which was his current wife, Han Xiaojun. Wang Tao had originally been interested in a much better girl, but his mother had heard that Han Xiaojun’s family did not ask for a bride price, so she rejected the girl Wang Tao liked.

It turned out that Han Xiaojun had a questionable reputation in the town, having had inappropriate relationships with other men, which was why her family did not ask for a bride price.

If it had not been for his mother, Wang Tao might have been living a better life in the city by now. At the very least, he would not have had to marry Han Xiaojun.

The City was not large. Jiang Rou had a general idea of the location and, with Li Xin and An An, found their way there. They did not need to search specifically; after walking a short distance down the street, they saw that Wang Tao’s home was holding a funeral. The ground was covered with paper money, and faint sounds of crying could be heard from inside.

As Jiang Rou, Li Xin, and An An approached, they saw Li Xiao at the entrance of the yard, wearing a white cloth hat and helping with the reception. Li Xiao, tall in stature, quickly spotted them.

After saying something to the person in front of him, he walked briskly toward Jiang Rou. When he got closer, Jiang Rou noticed that his eyes were a bit red.

Jiang Rou pulled him aside, “You haven’t had lunch yet. I bought you two portions of rice. Eat something first.”

Li Xiao took the food, and Jiang Rou glanced inside, “I’m going in to pay my respects.”

Holding An An’s hand, she led her and Li Xin inside to bow.

Upon entering, they saw Wang Tao lying inside the coffin, dressed in a burial garment. The body had been cleaned up and was not as dirty as Zhu Qiang had described over the phone.

But it was still a dead body, and it was frightening to see it even just once.

An An, frightened, hid behind her mother. Jiang Rou stepped forward to shield her, covering An An’s eyes with her hand.

Wang Tao’s mother was kneeling on the ground, crying, “I’m sorry, Tao. I regret it now. I shouldn’t have let you marry such a wife. Now I’m sending you off while I’m still alive. How will I live the rest of my days…”

“Why were you so heartless? How could you leave me behind? I know I was wrong. Come back…”

Several older grandmothers went over to try to console Wang Tao’s mother, but she cried even harder.

When Jiang Rou, An An, and Li Xin went to pay their respects, Wang Tao’s mother again rushed over to Jiang Rou, crying.

Jiang Rou quickly took hold of her, “Auntie, please don’t be too heartbroken. Wang Tao is watching from above and wouldn’t want you to be so sad.”

Wang Tao’s mother cried, gasping for breath, “My son’s fate is so tragic…”

Jiang Rou offered a few more words of comfort and then led An An and Li Xin out. Before leaving, she noticed a boy silently kneeling and burning paper on the other side. She recognized him as Wang Tao’s son, Wang Dazhi.

Without saying anything, she went straight out.

After leaving the house, Jiang Rou held An An and patted her, soothing her gently to ease her fear.

An An obediently clung to her mother’s neck.

Jiang Rou then saw Li Xiao and Zhu Qiang standing in a corner eating. As she walked over to them, she heard Zhu Qiang angrily complaining while eating, “Han Xiaojun is a harmful woman with a heart of stone. The coal mine lost two hundred thousand, and she took it all, leaving not a penny behind. She even abandoned her child. Wang Dazhi is still in school. How is he supposed to survive now?”

He had once thought Mei Zi was heartless for abandoning such a young child, but now he realized there could be even worse.

At least Mei Zi had left some money before she left.

Zhu Qiang asked Li Xiao, “Brother, can we recover that money?”

Li Xiao took a bite of food, “I’ve already contacted someone. We’ll see what happens.”

In reality, the hope of recovering the money was slim. If Han Xiaojun had fled far away or spent all the money, there would be no way to retrieve it.

Zhu Qiang sighed, “When he was alive, I hated him so much. Now that he’s gone, all I can think of are his good qualities. There’s nothing left to hate. If I were in his place, I probably wouldn’t have done any better.”

Wang Tao was truly unfortunate to have such a mother and wife.

Li Xiao said nothing.

—o—o—o—

Jiang Rou stayed there for a while. When it was past four o’clock, Li Xiao suggested that Jiang Rou take the children back, as An An was still young and might be scared by the scene.

Jiang Rou nodded and reminded him to remember to have dinner.

As she was leaving with An An and Li Xin, they had just reached the door when a well-dressed man came in from outside.

Upon closer inspection, he resembled Wang Tao to some extent, but only in facial features. Otherwise, he appeared much better off than Wang Tao, with fair skin and a briefcase tucked under his arm.

Jiang Rou glanced at him and instinctively turned her head to follow his figure.

She saw him enter the house, and Wang Tao’s mother rushed forward, trying to embrace him and cry. However, the man instinctively stepped aside, and from Jiang Rou’s perspective, he frowned and displayed an unmistakable look of disdain.

Wang Tao’s mother looked aggrieved and called out, “Xiaobao.”

The man performed three bows and then left. As he reached the door, he took out two hundred yuan from his pocket and handed it to Wang Tao’s mother, “I have other matters to attend to, so I’ll leave now.”

Wang Tao’s mother looked at the two hundred yuan and then at her younger son’s impatient expression. With reddened eyes, she prepared to take the money.

Jiang Rou frowned at the scene. Standing next to her, Li Xin couldn’t help but mutter softly, “Even the younger brother is not as considerate as the brother-in-law and Zhu Qiang.”

On the way there, Jiang Rou had told her about Wang Tao’s family situation.

Li Xin felt that even if Wang Tao had been adopted, there was no need for such coldness.

She had also been adopted out when she was young, but when something happened to her, her sister immediately sent her brother-in-law to find her. If it hadn’t been for her sister, she might not have known what kind of life she was living now, or even if she was still alive.

Since it was a family matter, Jiang Rou did not want to pry further. She was about to turn and leave when she saw Zhu Qiang angrily stride forward, snatch the two hundred yuan from Wang Tao’s mother, and throw it back, “Is this a meager compensation? Your brother has already spent no less than five hundred yuan since he was brought back. You’ll need more money for the funeral and banquet. If you have the means, bring out two thousand yuan; otherwise, don’t pretend to be generous here.”

Wang Tao’s mother was startled. Seeing her younger son’s displeased expression, she couldn’t help but try to tactfully advise, “Zhu Qiang, he’s just arrived and doesn’t know the situation.”

In other words, she was suggesting that he shouldn’t make a fuss.

Zhu Qiang was furious as soon as he heard. He snapped angrily at Wang Tao’s mother, “Does he not understand the situation? If he doesn’t understand, can’t he just ask? How come, after I’ve been running around these past few days, you think it’s just my duty? Are you my mother or is Wang Tao, my real brother? If it weren’t for the past connections, would I even bother with this mess?”

He continued, “I’m really sick of this, I came to help but ended up disliked. Who wants to handle this mess? It’s a thankless job.”

With that, he turned and walked away.

Wang Tao’s mother was alarmed and said, “Zhu Qiang, Auntie didn’t mean it that way, please don’t misunderstand…”

If Zhu Qiang were to ignore this matter, she truly didn’t know what to do next.

Seeing Zhu Qiang’s angry back, she turned to look at Li Xiao. Seeing that Li Xiao’s expression had also turned cold, she felt anxious, “Xiao…”

Li Xiao remained silent.

In the end, Wang Dazhi stormed out of the house, shouting at his grandmother, “What more do you want? Are you any better than my mother? Haven’t you already caused enough harm by causing my father’s death? What else do you want? Do you want him to be unable to even be buried?”

“You always show favoritism. When my father died, he didn’t come back. It was Uncle Zhu Qiang who paid for and took care of everything—buying the coffin and the burial clothes. All this was paid for by Uncle Zhu Qiang. Uncle Li Xiao is still in G Province but he came back for my father, but where is that person? Where is he? Our family owes him nothing.”

“Who cares about your fake kindness, or your two hundred yuna? Don’t think I don’t know. It was you who told your mother to send my father out to buy things, to replace him and live a good life in the city. None of you are good people. This is my family; you all get out. I don’t want to see you.”

He shoved his grandmother towards the door.

Wang Tao’s mother turned pale as she heard this. She didn’t want to leave, “Child, Grandma didn’t say anything…”

“Get out. I hate you. You and my mother only criticized my father, saying he was useless. If he was so useless, let your favorite son provide for you in your old age.”

“Dazhi…”

Wang Dazhi gritted his teeth and pushed her out. At ten years old, he was a strong and robust boy, and he used his strength to push her all the way to the door.

Wang Tao’s mother could only offer weak resistance.

Wang Tao’s younger brother, feeling embarrassed, didn’t even pick up the two hundred yuan thrown on the ground. He just turned and walked away.

Upon reaching the door, Zhu Qiang heard the commotion and paused.

After pushing his grandmother out, Wang Dazhi immediately knelt in front of Zhu Qiang, with red eyes, and kowtowed three times, “Uncle, I will repay this money when I grow up. My grandmother is my grandmother, and I am me. I remember your kindness.”

Zhu Qiang looked at him, sighed, and bent down to help him up, “Get up. Uncle isn’t angry with you.”

After being pushed outside, Wang Tao’s mother simply collapsed on the ground and cried.

The relatives who had come to offer their condolences were at a loss for words and could only offer a few words of comfort.

After all, it was a family matter, so they couldn’t say too much.

However, Wang Dazhi refused to let his grandmother back inside and looked at her as if she were an enemy.

Jiang Rou found it uncomfortable to stay any longer. She took An An and Li Xin and came back home.

—o—o—o—

There was nothing in their home, so they had dinner outside.

When they returned home, it was already 5:30 p.m. Aunt Wang from next door had also come back. Jiang Rou knocked on the door, and Aunt Wang opened it, momentarily stunned to see Jiang Rou, then exclaimed in surprise, “You’re back? How come?”

Realizing what was happening, she quickly invited them in, “Come in quickly. Have you eaten? We just got home too. My family had some issues these past few days, so I went back with your uncle. The house is a bit messy right now.”

Jiang Rou and An An entered, explaining the reason for coming back.

Aunt Wang was shocked to hear about Wang Tao’s incident, disbelievingly asking, “How could this happen? He was only a few years older than Li Xiao. I saw him not long ago; how could he suddenly be gone?”

Jiang Rou explained what had happened, detailing Wang Tao’s work at the coal mine, and added, “Li Xiao and I couldn’t believe it when we heard the news, so we rushed back. We arrived this morning.”

She then recounted the events at Wang Tao’s home to Aunt Wang, “I used to think Wang Tao was thick-skinned, always mooching off others, but now, seeing it this way, he had it hard enough. At least he didn’t turn bad; if someone else with ill intentions had been in his place, who knows what would have happened.”

Aunt Wang had a recollection of Wang Tao. “This child was always so well-behaved when he was young. Every time he saw me, he would greet me politely. He was a good person, but his mother was a bit clueless. I heard she always used the family’s money to support the youngest son. The family that adopted him was well-off; perhaps they feared that the adopted son would forget them once he had a better life.”

She sighed, “It’s hard to say. Parents always favor the younger ones. Just like your uncle, he worked the hardest and was the most filial to Min Jun’s grandmother, yet he didn’t even get a kind word from Grandma.”

After chatting for a while, Jiang Rou took her leave and went home.

At home, she first put away the bedding in the room and then took the child to the bathroom to wash up.

That evening, Jiang Rou was unsure when Li Xiao would return, so she closed the courtyard gate but left the main door of the house open. She held An An and went to sleep.

In the middle of the night, Li Xiao came back quietly. Jiang Rou sensed something but was too sleepy to wake up, so she turned over and continued to sleep.

—o—o—o—

The next morning, when Jiang Rou woke up, Li Xiao had already left.

After staying in the hometown for about three days, during which Wang Tao was buried, Jiang Rou took An An back there again.

Wang Tao was buried in a mountain grave. After placing him on the ground, the younger relatives all knelt and kowtowed.

The weather was still a bit gloomy today, and there was a light drizzle on the way back.

An An clung tightly to Jiang Rou’s neck and, feeling a bit upset, asked in a soft voice, “Mommy, is this uncle never going to wake up again? Does he have to stay on the mountain forever?”

The little girl had seen her father and a few others place the uncle, who was sleeping, into the coffin that morning. She hadn’t understood what was happening until that moment when she vaguely grasped the concept of death and felt very sad.

Jiang Rou kissed her little face and reassured her, “Don’t be afraid, Mommy is here.”

An An looked up with her little head, “Mommy, can you not die? I want you to always be with me.”

Jiang Rou met her sincere gaze, her heart softening. She replied seriously, “Everyone has to die, but Mommy will try to stay with you as long as possible. For example, until you’re as old as Grandma Wang, Mommy will still be by your side.”

The little girl tilted her head, thinking about Grandma Wang’s age, and felt that it would be a very long time. Nevertheless, she greedily said, “Not enough. Mommy should live to be 120 years old and die with An An. An An can live a little less.”

Before Jiang Rou could respond, Li Xiao, who had followed behind, overheard the mention of the word “die” and immediately scolded, “No talking about death. Stop saying such things.”

An An huffed, “Daddy should live to be a thousand years old, and Mommy and I won’t be with you. You’ll be all alone.”

Jiang Rou: “…” She’s truly his own daughter.