After Tian An returned home, he changed into plain clothes and went to pay homage to Xiaoqi's family with Zhao Yiming. Xiaokang had accompanied Xiaoqi there early in the morning.
Xiaoqi's house, with its collapsed roof, had been simply repaired, and the mourning hall had been set up, with nine coffins placed in order. Xiaoqi and Tian Ping's family, dressed in mourning clothes, knelt in the center and burned paper.
Tian An and Zhao Yiming went forward and lit a stick of incense. Tian An then went to the next room to help cut paper clothes and shoes for the funeral. Xiaokang was in another room helping to write the envelopes.
Zhao Yiming was from an outsider family, so he didn't have to do any of this. If anyone had any questions, they could just go to him and he would make the decision. After all, Tian An and he had paid for the funeral.
Tian An, being a girl, couldn't help with many things; she could go home after completing her own duties. Xiao Kang, on the other hand, had to help with everything, but thanks to Tian Mingcai and the village elders keeping an eye on things, nothing went wrong.
The next day, the seventh day, the sky was dark with occasional snowflakes. Early in the morning, after the ceremony, the mourners set out to go up the mountain.
Because there were many deaths in Xiaoqi's family, all the men in the village were mobilized for the funeral. The adults were responsible for carrying the coffin, and even half-grown boys were asked to carry wreaths.
In the afternoon, the snowflakes stopped falling and turned into a continuous drizzle.
By the time the mourners returned, the already gloomy sky had grown even darker. Their hair was wet, whether from rain or sweat, and their bodies were covered in mud that clung from their shoes to their waists.
Carrying the coffin took a lot of effort, and since we had been hungry all day, each of us ate four or five large bowls of food at the banquet.
He didn't notice Xiao Qi kneeling in the mourning hall before, but when he came back in the evening, Tian An found that he had lost a lot of weight, his eyes were red and swollen, and he looked much quieter.
Tian An couldn't bear to watch, so he gently held him in his arms, gently stroked his back, and comforted him silently.
"Sister, I don't have any parents, grandparents, or anything else anymore..." Xiaoqi in her arms murmured with sobs in her voice.
"Don't be afraid. From now on, you will have your sister, brother Yiming, and Xiaokang. You will not be alone." Tian An comforted him softly.
Xiaoqi cried in her arms for a long time, and finally fell asleep because she was tired of crying.
Xiaokang had been busy these past few days and had lost a lot of weight. He was already exhausted. Tian An asked him to wash up briefly before taking them back to their room to sleep.
Three days later, the village chief asked Tian An to go to his house to get Xiaoqi's land deeds and house deeds.
"The 240 mu of land allocated to Xiaoqi's family has been taken back. This is the 120 mu of permanent land passed down from their ancestors, as well as the title deed to his house and the two taels of silver found when renovating the house." The village chief handed several deeds and two taels of silver to Tian Andao.
Tian An took it and was about to speak when Tian Ping and his family came in.
"Village chief! Xiaoqi's grandfather is my brother. The fields, houses and money left by his family should naturally be given to my family. How can they be given to Tian An?" Tian Ping's father shouted.
The village chief glanced at him and snorted coldly, "If you pay for the burial of your elder brother's family and adopt Xiaoqi, I will give you the land deeds, title deeds, and silver."
Tian Ping's father said shamelessly: "My eldest brother's family has been buried. As for Xiaoqi, it's just a matter of adding a pair of chopsticks, no problem."
Tian An was almost amused by his shamelessness. "Master, the body has been buried, but the money spent on the funeral banquet, the coffin, and the funeral supplies is all recorded in the account book. I won't charge you any interest, just settle the bill according to the account book.
As for Xiaoqi, it's not as simple as just adding a pair of chopsticks. You have to provide for his studies, buy him books, writing brushes, paper, and inkstone, as well as clothes and shoes for all seasons. Nothing can be missing."
Tian Ping's father avoided talking about the funeral expenses and yelled, "My grandson's education will cost a lot of money! My family can't afford to support another person.
As long as he has enough to eat, it's good enough. As for clothes, my son Xiaojun is older than him, so he can wear the smaller clothes Xiaojun wears. This is how every family in the village raises their children."
Seeing that the village chief's face was getting darker and darker, Tian Ping anxiously pulled his father a few times.
What's going on with his dad?! Didn't we discuss this at home? Why did everything go haywire the moment he started talking?! Even if it's true, you can't just say it like that! What nonsense are you talking about?
Unfortunately, the old man paid no attention to his son and continued talking to himself.
"Enough!" The village chief slammed the table and stood up.
"Tian Dashan, do you still have some shame? The agreement to sever the relationship we signed last time is still fresh in my mind! What are you trying to do? Huh? Don't throw a tantrum like that on me."
Tian An glanced at the family coldly, "What are you doing? It's obvious that you're taking advantage of Xiaoqi's youth to wipe out the whole family!"
Hearing the commotion at the village head's house, the people who came to watch the excitement happened to hear Tian An's words.
"Your eldest brother's family has only been buried for three days! And you're already thinking of wiping out the entire family? Aren't you afraid that your eldest brother's family's coffins won't be able to hold them shut?"
An uncle held up nine fingers and said, "Yes! Nine people!"
Tian Ping and his son looked at his nine fingers and felt a chill around them, and they shivered together.
I originally thought that the father and son would end their conflict here, but I didn't expect that a man could be so shameless.
Tian Ping said, "Tian An! We don't need the land, house, and money, but you have to build four large houses with blue bricks and tiles for our family to compensate us."
Tian Dashan added: "What four? It's six."
Tian An suspected that he had misheard. "Make it up to you? What do I owe you?"
Tian Ping said as if it was a matter of course: "We gave you Xiaoqi's land, house, and money. Shouldn't you compensate us?"
"Didn't you just say it belongs to Xiaoqi's family? What does it have to do with you?" Tian An said speechlessly.
"Xiaoqi's family is gone, and the things left behind should belong to our family. Now that they are given to you, you should compensate my family." Tian Ping said.
Tian An corrected him: "Who said these things are for me?"
Tian Dashan pointed at the land deed and silver in Tian An's hand and said, "The things are still in your hands! Don't try to deny it!"
Tian An picked up a land deed and unfolded it for everyone to see. "Please take a look at whose name is written on this deed."
The village chief's grandson, Dacong, ran up and took the deed from Tian An. He looked at it and said, "It's Tian Qi's name that's written on it. The teacher taught us how to write our names on the first day of school. I remember it all! I won't make a mistake."
Tian Ping didn't give up. He turned his eyes and pointed at Tian An and said, "Who knows if you can trick him into giving it to you?"
Tian An was too lazy to argue with him. He looked at the village chief and signaled him to speak with his eyes.
The village chief didn't say much. He just took out a piece of paper and showed it to everyone.
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