In rural areas, the festive atmosphere is especially strong after the Laba Festival.

Every day, people set off firecrackers, whether they're thunderous or small pops.

In short, firecrackers could be heard from time to time throughout the village, and the air was filled with the smell of sulfur and gunpowder.

However, the string of firecrackers that just went off was clearly not something that people set off randomly.

Li Lan and Li Xiangdong exchanged a glance, both noticing something amiss in each other's eyes.

Combined with the shadowy figures under the bright lights, it's clear that someone is dead.

In fact, in rural areas during the 1970s and 80s, winter was the season when people were most likely to die.

Many elderly people with underlying health conditions or poor health often cannot withstand the freezing weather of the seventh and eighth days of the twelfth lunar month.

I wonder who is gone!

The siblings quickened their pace and ran right into Guo Daming, whose hair was disheveled and whose eyes were red and swollen.

Li Xiangdong's heart skipped a beat, "Brother Da Ming, what is this...?"

Guo Daming's eyes were filled with tears, and his voice trembled, "Xiang Dong, my mother is gone."

At this moment, Li Qing walked over.

"Daming, your sister-in-law is all dressed in her wedding clothes. You need to make a decision about things like preparing the coffin, buying mourning cloth, buying vegetables, and steaming buns."

Guo Daming said in a hoarse voice, "Uncle Qing, my mind is a mess right now, and I need you to make all the decisions for me."

Li Qing is the village's head; he usually arranges weddings and funerals.

However, the Prime Minister does not receive a salary or subsidies; he is helping out voluntarily.

Therefore, most people would be very polite in inviting the Premier to come and take charge of the overall situation.

After Guo Daming finished speaking, he promptly kowtowed to Li Qing.

Li Qing quickly helped Guo Daming up, saying, "Alright, alright, get up quickly."

Li Xiangdong and Li Lan didn't sit idly by either; they quickly went to help.

Outside Guo Daming's house, there was a funeral banner made of paper money stuck in the air, and two pieces of paper money were pasted on the door.

All the lights were on in the houses, and villagers were coming and going. Women were busy making mourning caps, while men gathered in twos and threes, some sitting and some standing.

Li Xiangdong went inside and saw that Guo Daming's mother's body had already been placed on the door panel of the main room for burial.

Three plates of fruit were placed in front of the coffin, with three dog-beating sticks made of dough stuck in the middle, and an iron basin for burning paper money in front of that.

Guo Daming's family lived alone in Lijiapo, without any relatives or close associates.

But now Guo Daming is a big shot in Lijiapo, and people working at the aquatic product base have all come to visit.

Guo Daming's mother is usually a very kind person, and the aunties and grandmas in the neighborhood all come to help.

As they worked, they chatted in hushed tones, saying that Guo Daming's mother was an unlucky person.

The widow and her child had endured so many hard years, and just when things were finally getting better, she died at such a young age.

"He didn't even have a daughter-in-law, and he never got to see his grandchildren. He just died like that!"

"Yes, she left this afternoon with her eyes still open."

"How could Aunt Guo just pass away like that? She was never sick or weak, and she wasn't that old."

"I don't know. I heard she had a headache and her vision was blurry. Before Daming could even get home to take her to the hospital, she was gone."

"That's how it is. Many people look perfectly healthy, but you never know when they'll suddenly pass away. On the other hand, some sickly, medicine-addicted people, who seem to be in poor health, actually live much longer."

"This is what they call 'making a good pot from a broken one'!"

"..."

Li Xiangdong kowtowed to Aunt Guo, listened to his aunt and uncle talking for a while, and then left.

Judging from their conversation, it seems that Aunt Guo died suddenly from a cerebral infarction.

As soon as he came out, people came up to him and started talking to him.

Before they could exchange more than a few words, a commotion broke out outside the door, and someone shouted, "What? Dead?"

Everyone heard it, exchanged glances, and stepped outside to see what was going on.

"Xiangdong, you're here! Your grandma just choked to death!"

One sentence was earth-shattering!

"What?! He choked to death?!"

Li Xiangdong was incredulous.

Li Wanshi is the kind of person who is like a broken pot that can be boiled down to a good pot. She looks delicate, but in fact, she has a very strong vitality.

"What on earth is going on?!"

"Hey, I heard it from my mom. Li Song bought two donkey meat sandwiches for her, but she ate them too quickly and choked."

"If you choke, just drink some water to wash it off. How could you choke to death?"

"Who knows! Anyway, he choked to death. Maybe it was because he ate too much?"

Li Jin never expected that his mother would choke to death on a bite of donkey meat sandwich.

Although his mother had broken his heart in recent years, now that Li Wanshi had suddenly died, Li Jin had completely forgotten all the bad things that had happened in the past.

Now, what comes to mind are all the good things Li Wanshi has done for him since he was a child.

When Li Xiangdong and Li Lan returned home, Li Jin had already cried.

Li Qingshan and Li Wanshi still followed their old ways. When they were in their thirties, they prepared two coffins, which were usually placed in the side room and painted with a layer of black lacquer every year.

The clothes for mourning, and the white cloth used to make mourning hats, robes, and headbands, were prepared well in advance.

With Li Wanshi suddenly gone, these things were readily available, unlike the Guo family who were in such a panic.

Li Jin, Li Yuan, and Li Song knelt with Li Qingshan before Li Wanshi's spirit tablet, while Zhao Sufang, Qi Yuexian, and Qi Chunlan knelt on the other side.

Li Jinshan and his wife Zhou were busy taking care of things inside and out, their feet never stopping.

Looking at Li Wanshi lying quietly on the bed, covered from head to toe with a cloth, Li Xiangdong felt an extremely unreal feeling.

In her previous life, Li Wanshi lived to the age of ninety-three, outliving Li Jin, and neither she nor Li Qingshan died.

Although I had very little affection for this grandmother, which was mixed with a lot of dislike, now... well, she's gone.

Li Xiangdong kowtowed three times to his grandmother and changed into mourning clothes from head to toe.

There are no telephones now, so if you want to announce a death, you have to send someone to notify the person.

Therefore, Aunt Li, Second Aunt Li, Third Aunt Li, Fourth Aunt Li, and Li Ying all rushed over early the next morning.

Li Jin and Li Yuan stayed up all night, both heartbroken and exhausted, and looked much older than before.

At this moment, seeing Li Sangu and Li Sigu crying uncontrollably and clinging to Li Wanshi, refusing to let go, the two brothers couldn't help but burst into tears again.

Aunt Li and Aunt Li's relationship with their biological mother was not as deep as that of their third and fourth sisters, even though their biological mother was quite confused and usually very critical of them.

But a mother is a mother. Even if she's biased, she's still her mother. There's only one mother in the world.

The mourning hall was filled with sorrow and grief as the Li brothers and sisters wept, and Li Qingshan fainted several times from crying.

Zhao Sufang and Qi Yuexian felt a chill in their hearts, and didn't feel like crying at all.

The two exchanged a glance, then tacitly took out a handkerchief soaked in chili water and held it up to their eyes, tears streaming down their faces.

Li Jinshan was greatly pleased and quietly said to Zhou, "Don't look at how badly the second son's family treats his nephews' wives. Look, the nephews' wives are still filial."