Listening to Zhang Hongmei's breathing, Li Cuihua knew the child wasn't asleep yet. "Hongmei, don't think too much. This is the worst that can happen. Go to sleep. You'll be fine once you're asleep." Li Cuihua knew she was being too simplistic.

Zhang Hongmei forced herself to sleep, knowing that thinking too much was useless. She slowly regulated her emotions, slowed her breathing, and finally drifted off to sleep. But her sleep was restless; in her dream, she was running, as if something was chasing her, and she couldn't shake it off no matter what she did.

Zhang Hongmei suddenly woke up, touched the sweat on her forehead, turned her head and saw that Li Cuihua was asleep. She sent a cup of water from her spatial storage and drank it to calm her racing heart. She lay back down in bed. She used to always sleep on a soft bed, and now lying on this hard kang (heated brick bed) was really tiring. She turned over and looked at the time; it was only four o'clock, still too early.

Unable to sleep, I tossed and turned in bed, so I got up, dressed, and put my mourning clothes on the outside before the coffin. I knelt down and lit the paper money. There was no wind at all, but it was eerily cold.

Yu Chenglong hadn't closed his eyes at all. Hearing the commotion, he quietly went out of the house and saw Zhang Hongmei kneeling outside. He walked over and squatted down next to her.

"Hongmei, please accept my condolences. What's done is done, so we should try to move on in the best possible way. What are your plans for the future?"

"Uncle Yu, I will live a good life and make my parents' lives meaningful too. I have already registered at school and will be starting sixth grade soon. The principal and teachers took pity on me and let me study at home and take the exam later."

"It's good that you can go to school, so why don't you go to class?"

"I need to farm the land at home and eat; I can't always rely on others."

“Don’t worry about going to class. We’ll take care of you. I don’t know if your parents have told you about us? We are six sworn brothers. Your dad is the third oldest, and I am the fifth oldest.”

“My parents said that my eldest uncle and second uncle have been discharged and returned home, while you are still in the army.”

"Yes, your eldest and second uncles are from the south. They can't come to see you because of their health. Your fourth uncle couldn't come this time because of a mission, and your sixth uncle couldn't come because he was injured."

"Don't worry about me, I can manage. I don't need you to support me, you all have it tough, and besides, farming won't interfere with my studies."

Yu Chenglong looked at the ten-year-old girl, her eyes filled with unwavering determination as she made her promise to him. He felt a pang of guilt; his third sister-in-law had been unjustly implicated this time. She hadn't needed to go at all, but orders were given and had to be obeyed. Could he tell Zhang Hongmei about this?

“Hongmei, you don’t need to work so hard. We can support you.”

"Uncle Yu, relying on mountains is unreliable, and relying on people is unreliable. Only relying on yourself is the most reliable thing." Zhang Hongmei chatted with Yu Chenglong without stopping throwing paper money into the brazier.

Zhang Hongmei's words left Yu Chenglong speechless: "You can rely on yourself, but you can't refuse our help."

"Of course, you are my uncles and elders."

Yu Chenglong nodded with satisfaction. That was for the best; this girl had good character.

“I brought all your parents’ belongings, they’re in two suitcases. I’ll take you to the city’s armed forces department tomorrow, and then we’ll go to the county to collect the pension. You’ll also get a living allowance every month until you come of age.”

"Okay, thank you, Uncle Yu. It must be very difficult for you to carry these two big suitcases on the train, right?"

"It's alright. My comrades helped me get on the bus, and there were kind passengers when I got off. Red Plum soldiers are treated very well. Why don't you join the army in the future?"

"I don't know yet, but I don't like fighting and killing. We'll see when the time comes. Maybe I'll even want to go."

Zhang Hongmei is indeed not fond of moving around, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to be a top student in her previous life. It's because she can sit still for long periods of time.

However, if history really follows the same path as before, then the military is relatively safer. Let's take it one step at a time. Anyway, there are back channels to get into the military.

As they chatted, dawn broke before they knew it, and Li Cuihua got up too. "Hongmei, why are you up so early?"

"Third Aunt, I got up as soon as I woke up."

"Comrade Yu is up too? You guys chat, I'll go cook. Your great-grandfather chose ten o'clock as the burial time, so I have to cook for the people who are carrying out the burial."

"Auntie, we don't have any meat at home. Please add more lard so everyone can have energy. If we don't have enough cornbread, please steam two more batches so everyone can have their fill and then we can send some to my parents."

"Okay, I understand. Since you have a lot of sauerkraut, make sauerkraut stew with potatoes. Add plenty of lard, and a big pot of it will be enough. One pot of steamed cornbread will be enough."

"You can arrange it as you see fit. The vegetables are in the cellar, and the grain is in the warehouse."

At this moment, Liu Maocai came over with Jianguo and Zhuzi. Wang Hongxi and her husband also came over. The two women cooked, while the men tidied up the yard and set up the table.

The five elderly people were helped over again, and the sixteen strong laborers who had been hired yesterday to carry the poles also came. Wang Hongxi first led them to the brigade headquarters' storeroom to get the poles. Each of the four poles was as thick as a bowl, and four people were arranged on each side.

It was almost eight o'clock when Liu Maocai called everyone to eat. There were fewer people in the morning, so there were seats available. The old man, Yu Chenglong, and the young soldier ate inside, while the rest of the people sat around two tables. Zhang Hongmei was still kneeling in front of the coffin to eat.

After finishing their meal, the sixteen men used thick hemp ropes, about the thickness of rolling pins, to tie the coffin securely before attaching the carrying poles. Wang Hongxi shouted a slogan, and everyone got up and carried the coffin out the door.

As the filial son, Zhang Hongmei walked in front of the coffin, carrying the earthenware pot, her head bowed, wailing as she went. Li Cuihua and Wang Hongxi's wife followed on either side of her. After them was the coffin, flanked by Jianguo and an overturned pillar.

Liu Maocai, Wang Hongxi, and Yu Chenglong followed behind the coffin, followed by the village men and boys, some of whom carried shovels. Behind them were the women and girls, with the elderly bringing up the rear.

Of the 173 people in the village, only six pregnant women and three paralyzed people who couldn't get out of bed didn't come; the rest arrived.

The funeral procession was long and impressive. The men all said they wore mourning sashes around their waists, while the women wore them around their necks.

Zhang Hongmei had a hemp rope tied around her waist and white cloth wrapped around her legs, and she looked extremely haggard.

Because the Zhang family's grandparents were buried halfway up the mountain, the people carrying the coffin had a hard time, but they were not allowed to put it down along the way, so Yu Chenglong and his colleagues helped out on the steep parts.

Finally arriving at the cemetery, Wang Hongxi ran ahead and lit a string of firecrackers, and the pallbearers lowered the coffin into the pit.

Watching everyone shovelful by shovelful of dirt being thrown onto the coffin until it disappeared completely, Zhang Hongmei burst into tears. Only then did she truly feel the pain of parting. It was truly a separation from another world; perhaps this was Zhang Hongmei's true emotion.