If he crouched down and complained about not having a father or uncle who cared for him, Fang Dihua might hit him with a hoe.

He even felt guilty, thinking that if his father hadn’t sent Lu Shaotang to the most dangerous military post, perhaps Shaotang wouldn’t have died.

After all, why did Lu Shaotang get into trouble while his own son was safe?

He was sure that good things were given to his own son and bad things to his nephew.

If he were in his father’s position, he would have done the same, so he thought his father must have done so too.

Thus, he dared not make a fuss.

Other women pointed and whispered, finding the situation amusing.

He felt embarrassed and quickly left on his bicycle.

He first went to the nursery, where Lu Dage and Lu Erge were working.

Before breakfast, the two brothers hadn’t finished repairing the grave, so they hurried to finish the tasks assigned by the team leader in the afternoon, and now they were back at the grave.

Their parents said once the grave was fixed, that would be enough.

There were no ashes to bury, and no clothes or bedding were to be placed for a symbolic burial.

They just put Lu Shaocang’s birth date and time in a wooden box and placed it in the grave, waiting to find the remains for a proper reburial later.

Lu Dage didn’t have much feeling about it. When their father said to repair the grave, they did.

He took the lighter tasks, while the heavy work was all done by Lu Erge.

Lu Erge was like a silent old ox, tall and handsome, but as reticent as a closed gourd, always burying his head in work.

He had been closer to the third brother since childhood and felt even more pain knowing that Lu Shaotang might be gone.

He was even less talkative.

His feelings were always shown through his actions.

He made the grave as perfect as possible, with not a weed in sight, and very close to their parents’ graves.

Lu Dage noticed his brother wiping his tears several times and threw a bit of soil onto Lu Erge’s foot, whispering, “Old Two, stop crying. Little Three was tough.”

He remembered when he was lazy and didn’t want to work, he would get the second brother to help, and even the tiny third brother would dare to come out and kick his calf, calling him lazy.

He even threw soil onto the grave of their grandfather, and Little Three wasn’t afraid.

He would even pull out weeds from the grave and catch snakes to cook at home.

Who was he to judge who was fit for the underworld?

The brothers were busy repairing the grave, while the people delivering paper offerings chattered away.

Curious onlookers gathered around, and some older people were giving advice on how to repair the grave.

At this moment, Lu Shaocai arrived on his bicycle and said to Lu Dage and Lu Erge, “Eldest Brother, Second Brother, did you bring money to pay for the paper offerings?”

Lu Shaocai appeared apologetic. “Brother, I don’t have a single penny on me, and you know how stingy my mother is.”

Onlookers chimed in, “Wasn’t it you, the elder brother, who was supposed to pay for Shaotang’s things? Why are you asking for money now?”

“Yeah, why is he charging us?”

“Still so stingy and calculating. He’s been praised in vain.”

Lu Shaocai urged his elder brother and second brother to come home and get the money, insisting that they had to pay for the things he bought for their younger brother.

Elder Brother Lu Dage replied, “You didn’t discuss this with us.”

Lu Shaocai insisted, “Of course, I did. I discussed it with Aunt, and Shaotang’s wife knew too.”

Elder Brother Lu retorted, “That’s impossible. My mother never agreed to give money. My sister-in-law was so devastated she’s been crying her eyes out at home.”

To Elder Brother Lu Dage, Lin Shu was just a fragile and dependent young wife, mainly confined to cooking, sewing, and taking care of the children.

Their parents didn’t let them come to the cemetery, fearing they might cause trouble.

Elder Brother Lu’s wife had told him that their sister-in-law was devastated and crying frequently, with a lot of detail.

Lu Shaocai’s face turned pale.

He desperately tried to convince his brothers to pay for the things for Lu Shaotang, saying, “Brother, today is Shaotang’s burial. Don’t you think it looks too shabby and disrespectful to bury him with just a simple grave? Doesn’t he deserve something better, a place to stay, a horse to ride?”

Elder Brother Lu Dage looked at him confusedly, “Brother, are you planning to accompany him in the grave or something?”

Lu Shaocai was speechless, “You fool.”

Second Brother Lu said, “Our parents said that there’s no body, just a simple grave, so there’s no need for anything extravagant.”

Lu Shaocai protested, “But I’ve already ordered all these paper goods for Shaotang.”

Elder Brother Lu Dage suggested, “Since the old lady’s grave visit is coming up, just burn them for her. Let her enjoy them on the other side.”

Lu Shaocai replied, “My mother’s grave visit only needs a couple of pieces of paper, not ten-some yuan’s worth!”

The elder brothers couldn’t help since they didn’t have any money.

Lu Shaocai was frantic, pacing around the grave site like a donkey, and eventually had no choice but to discuss returning the paper goods.

But what could they do?

They were unhappy. “I said, Accountant Lu, if there’s no expense, don’t put on such airs. What’s this all about? Are we supposed to make these offerings and then take them back to sell to someone else? Nobody wants them anyway.”

“Exactly. Aren’t you saying your father is a big official in the capital? With a monthly pension of over two hundred? Can’t he afford ten or twenty bucks?”

“Always showing off.”

A few workers couldn’t help but speak up.

They didn’t need to curry favor with Lu Shaocai.

His father’s position in the capital had nothing to do with them.

If the money wasn’t provided, they would have trouble settling accounts with their unit.

Lu Shaocai was already embarrassed and frustrated coming back from the capital to his hometown.

He felt hurt and resentful.

This was his unspoken pain, and now being reminded of it like this made him even more upset.

“Why are you whining? Do you believe I won’t talk to your supervisor about this?”

“Accountant Lu, we don’t dare offend you. It’s just that we need to balance the accounts. Otherwise, we’ll have trouble reporting back. We only earn 15 bucks a month, which doesn’t even cover basic living expenses,” several people added, trying to smooth things over.

Lu Shaocai had no choice but to pay the amount himself, still short two bucks, so he asked them to get the rest from Zhao Meifeng.

Lu Shaocai was feeling the sting, both financially and emotionally.

He regretted it so much that he wanted to slap himself.

So much money, and it all came out of his own pocket.

He decided he needed to write to his father to let him know about the stinginess and scheming of his uncle and to ask his father to send him some money.

After all, the offerings were meant for his grandparents and mother’s graves.

Lu Shaocai had Lu Dage and Lu Erge help place the paper offerings at the graves of Old Master Lu, Old Madam Lu, and his own mother.

He also specifically used a shovel to build a small dirt wall.

Lu Dage asked, “What’s this for?”

Lu Shaocai sneered but didn’t reply.

You’re not contributing a single penny, so why should I let you benefit without any cost?

I can’t let even a bit of flame or ash drift to your grandmother’s grave for her to receive any blessing!

Only my grandparents can be blessed because I’m the one making the offerings!

Onlookers were stunned, having never seen such an operation before.

Even Lu Dage, who was usually easygoing, was shocked.

When his father and elder cousin were not around, he and his father had burned so much paper and visited many graves.

They always made offerings, filled in dirt, burned paper, and bowed—never missing any detail.

This fool…

Forget it, Lu Dage decided to head home with Lu Erge.

There were so many offerings that the flames were twisting through the air.

The flames shot up, making popping sounds.

Lu Shaocai kneeled in front of the grave, loudly reciting prayers and kowtowing, asking for blessings for himself and his descendants to ensure their smooth and successful lives.

He made sure to pray that the stepmother and second brother would not receive any blessings!

While he was praying, he saw a paper effigy of a big ox drifting toward the grave of Old Master Lu’s wife.

He hurried over with a stick to push it away, even using his fingers to grab the drifting ashes and press them into the soil at his mother’s grave.

Not a single bit of paper should benefit the second family!

The paper offerings he burned were meant to bless only himself!

“Look at this person, it’s really rare to see someone like this!”

“Why is he so stingy?”

“Indeed, the accounting work was arranged by his uncle.”

Lu Shaocai replied, “And my father arranged for Lu Shaotang to become a soldier too!”

“Hey, Shaocai, why did you only burn paper offerings for your grandparents and mother, but not for your second grandmother and Shaotang? When you weren’t around, your uncle burned who knows how many offerings for your grandparents.”

“Exactly, one should be open-hearted and generous, not stingy.”

“Yeah, think about it. When you were young, your second uncle protected you so much. Without him, would you have lived so comfortably?”

“Remember when you fought with the landlord’s children? Wasn’t it your second uncle who sorted things out for you?”

Lu Shaocai was so enraged that he wanted to leave.

The old people watched him and said, “Be sure to bury the ashes. It’s dry and could cause a fire.”

Lu Shaocai was furious.

He paid for it, so why should he burn offerings for them?

He felt wronged and couldn’t argue with the elderly who couldn’t work anymore. Fuming, he left.

The elderly people sighed, “Ah, this person, you can see his true nature from a young age. He was stingy and petty even as a child.”

“Indeed, he bullied the children of his second uncle a lot. When Shaotang was only two, he was already so big—about twenty, right? Little Shaotang got a piece of crispy rice, and he snatched it and shoved it into his mouth. How outrageous!”

“This person seems proper, but he’s really no good. The difference between good and bad is clear. The second master is truly a good person—kind, generous, and never holds grudges.”

Because of Lu Shaocai’s actions, the elderly began reminiscing and brought up his childhood misdeeds again, contrasting them with the virtues of his second uncle.

The elderly began to sing praises for Old Master Lu, comparing him favorably and extolling his virtues.

In the eyes of the people, Old Master Lu’s reputation had soared even higher than when he was young and vigorous.

Time was the best filter and the greatest purifier.

Especially after witnessing the true nature of people over the years, it made one even more emotional.

Lu Shaocai had dealt with the paper offerings, but Zhao Meifeng was still troubled by the pile of chickens and ducks at home!

The chickens and ducks she bought from the villagers were all paid for; none were on credit.

Now that the leaders hadn’t arrived and the banquet couldn’t be held, what was to be done with all this meat?

She and her sons had bought ten large chickens, ten ducks, over a thousand eggs, and a dozen big fish…

Originally, she had planned to buy the smaller old hens at 1.2 yuan each, but to make a good impression on the leaders, she bought many larger ones at 1.6 to 1.7 yuan each.

She had spent her own money on these, intending to recoup the cost by impressing the leaders and then getting money from Fang Dihua!

At least she hoped to make an extra two hundred yuan!

With the added cost of gifts and consolation items, she expected to earn an extra two hundred yuan.

Who would have known… it all ended up in her hands.

“Are there any guests? When will the banquet start? We took time off from work to come here and now we haven’t even eaten. We’re starving! Hurry up and serve the dishes and meat!”

These were guests that Lu Shaocai had invited, including his mother’s side relatives, brothers, and cousins from his maternal aunt’s family.

Zhao Meifeng’s silent sobs were ear-splitting!