The last button
In the height of summer, a prolonged drought struck.
Old Mrs. Cheng in the village lost her daughter.
The dome-shaped sky, like a bowl, covered the small village surrounded by mountains, without a single cloud in sight. The heat was so intense that the old ladies, whom Old Lady Cheng had invited to mourn, couldn't muster any energy.
Old Mrs. Cheng was worried that people would get sick from the heat, so she borrowed a large loudspeaker and had the sisters take turns shouting into it. She then hung the loudspeaker in the room where the body was laid to rest and played the recording on a loop.
The short recording, which was interspersed with static, could not conceal the old ladies' profound skill. It was so loud that people's ears rang and their eyes were dizzy, so they all went to hide in the shade to play cards and chat.
There was only a little boy, about five or six years old, sitting cross-legged in the room, holding a small pair of scissors, cutting off the buttons from one dress after another in front of him.
The boy had fair skin and light-colored lips. If it weren't for his jet-black hair and eyes, he would really look like a snowman about to melt, covered in sweat in the sweltering room.
"Xiao Zhou, Xiao Zhou." After finishing her accounting, Grandma Cheng stuffed the money she had just received into her bag and called out to her grandson Cheng Zhou in a hoarse voice, telling him to go and stay in the air-conditioned living room.
Cheng Zhou pretended not to hear his grandmother's words and buried himself in dealing with his mother's clothes. The red clothes had to be taken out separately and couldn't be burned; the buttons on the other colored clothes had to be cut off first. His little head was filled only with the geomancer's instructions; he didn't think about anything else, including his mother, Ms. Cheng Yin's, death.
Just as Old Mrs. Cheng was about to try to persuade them again, she heard a piercing car horn. A black sedan stopped beside the Cheng family's yard.
"Aunt Cheng, the groceries are all bought."
The short-haired woman in the driver's seat got out of the car, and Old Mrs. Cheng went to greet her. The two women clasped hands tightly, and their eyes reddened as they looked at each other. But neither of them cried; once this started, they wouldn't have the strength to serve the guests.
This person's name is Hu Jiale, and he is Cheng Yin's best friend. The two have known each other since elementary school, were deskmates for twelve years, went to the same university, and settled in the same city after graduation. Their friendship is exceptionally deep.
"Thank you for your trouble..." Old Mrs. Cheng thanked her repeatedly, which made Hu Jiale unhappy and say that she was being too polite.
Hu Jiale's husband was a bespectacled, refined man. Not wanting to disturb his wife's conversation with Old Mrs. Cheng, he silently opened the back door and urged his daughter to get out of the car with his eyes.
As soon as the door opened, a girl with soft, fine hair tied in a small bun angrily crossed her arms, pouted, and pounded the seat with her chubby little legs like clubs.
"Hu Tong." Hu's father pinched the bridge of his nose. "Come down quickly."
"No, no, no!" Hu Tong shouted. "Mom and Dad are both big idiots!"
"Oh dear, what's wrong, Tongtong? Tell Grandma Cheng." Grandma Cheng bent down and skillfully lifted the girl out of the car.
Hu Tong pouted, about to resist, but found it comfortable in Grandma Cheng's arms, and her back, which had been bent backward, snapped back. She hugged Grandma Cheng's neck and complained, "Mom and Dad went to the wrong place to buy groceries."
“Two is more than one, three is more than two, right, Grandma Cheng?” With Grandma Cheng's agreement, Hu Tong's lips curled slightly. She counted on her fingers, “The vegetable voucher says 'two,' and the same vegetables at the shop next door have 'one' written in front of them… and meat…”
Hu Tong was a chatterbox, rambling on and on about all the different kinds of fresh food piled up in the back seat and trunk of the car.
It turns out that Hu Tong was unhappy that his parents had spent a lot of money on vegetables.
She didn't know that the restaurant was chosen by the chef whom Grandma Cheng had hired to cook the dishes.
Although the cook received a wage, Old Mrs. Cheng paid for the vegetables and oil herself. However, the weather was hot and there were many guests, so the cook and his apprentice built a large makeshift stove outside and worked up a sweat. Not to mention how hot everyone must have been while they were cooking.
Grandma Cheng wanted to help them out, so she specifically instructed Hu Jiale to buy vegetables from a place where the cooks could get a commission.
Grandma Cheng held Hu Tong in her arms and bounced him around, saying nice things about buying candy and books, which made Hu Tong giggle. She watched Hu's father and the cook carrying vegetables back and forth, and said to Hu Jiale with emotion, "After two more meals, we can send Xiao Yin up the mountain to be buried."
Before Hu Jiale could reply, Hu Tong in the old lady's arms started to fuss again, kicking his little legs incessantly and staring wide-eyed at her with his deep brown eyes.
Hu Jiale called out in a low voice: "Hu Tong!"
"It's alright, it's alright." Grandma Cheng adjusted her holding position and tried to comfort the little girl again. "It's hot, how about Grandma takes Tongtong to enjoy the air conditioning?"
Hu Tong wasn't afraid of her mother's glare at all, and asked clearly, "Where's Cheng Zhou?"
Hu Tong and Cheng Zhou attend the same kindergarten, and after the summer vacation, they will go to the same primary school. The two families are close, but the two children don't get along. Hu Tong thinks Cheng Zhou is boring, while Cheng Zhou thinks Hu Tong is too loud and boisterous.
Therefore, when Hu Tong asked about Cheng Zhou, it surprised Old Lady Cheng.
“Xiao Zhou is in that room.” Old Mrs. Cheng gestured with her chin toward a spot. “The Taoist priest said that before burning Aunt Xiao Yin’s clothes, all the buttons on the clothes should be cut off first, otherwise it would be bad luck. As soon as Xiao Zhou heard that, he dragged all the clothes over there and didn’t even turn on the air conditioner.”
Hu Tong struggled even more violently, and Old Lady Cheng could no longer hold her, so she had to put her down. The little girl immediately kicked her legs and stormed angrily toward Cheng Zhou's room.
"This child!" Hu Jiale cursed helplessly.
Grandma Cheng waved her hand and laughed, "Let her be. It's good that someone is keeping Xiaozhou company while she makes a fuss."
Hu Tong entered the room and stood next to Cheng Zhou for a while. Seeing that the boy didn't even glance at her, she sat down next to someone else on her own.
Still ignoring him! Hu Tong held his breath, glaring at the person, sometimes crossing his arms in front of his chest, sometimes putting his hands on his hips, making quite a commotion.
Cheng Zhou silently cut the buttons, beads of sweat clinging to his long, dark eyelashes.
Hu Tong noticed that Cheng Zhou had left a button on every piece of clothing he cut, and secretly mocked him for being lazy.
"Cheng Zhou!" Hu Tong couldn't hold back any longer and shouted in a shrill voice.
Cheng Zhou looked up at her, bewildered. The little girl stood with her hands on her hips, her eyebrows raised in anger, and the little tuft of hair on her head looked like the antennae of a longhorn beetle, long and imposing.
Hu Tong demanded, "Why did you sell Aunt Xiaoyin?"
Cheng Zhou blinked slowly. He had never liked to talk to Hu Tong; in his mind, Hu Tong was even more troublesome than the neighbor's big yellow dog.
The big yellow dog would only bark twice when Cheng Zhou passed by the neighbor's yard, but Hu Tong was different; she could make sounds even more terrifying than a dog's bark, no matter where she was.
But now, anger overwhelmed fear, and Cheng Zhou answered slowly and firmly, "Nobody wants to sell my mother."
"Liar!" Hu Tong said, "I just heard Grandma Cheng say that you were going to take Aunt Xiaoyin up the mountain to sell her!"
Cheng Zhou's brows instantly relaxed, and a crystal-clear drop of water slid down his chubby cheeks, whether it was sweat or a tear, it was hard to tell.
"It wasn't sold. It was buried."
Why was it buried?
Hu Tong tilted her head in confusion. In Cheng Zhou's eyes, she looked a bit like the big yellow dog next door. When the big yellow dog lay at its owner's feet, it often tilted its head like that, listening to people talk.
"Because my mother died."
Cheng Zhou lowered his head sullenly and continued cutting buttons.
Hu Tong's concept of life and death was far less clear than that of buying and selling. After all, she often had the opportunity to go to the supermarket with bills in hand, but rarely attended funerals.
She paused for a moment, then continued, "So who will play with Aunt Xiaoyin from now on?"
“My dad,” Cheng Zhou said in a muffled voice, “my dad is dead too. He’s in heaven, playing with my mom.”
Hu Tong suddenly let out an exaggerated sigh, her straight back slumping. She pressed her face against Cheng Zhou's shoulder and wiped her sweat haphazardly—she couldn't bear to use Aunt Xiao Yin's pretty clothes to wipe her sweat.
"It's so hot," Hu Tong muttered, then continued, "But I really envy your dad. I wish my mom and I were dead too, so we could all go to heaven and play with Aunt Xiaoyin."
Cheng Zhou's little brain suddenly couldn't process it. He turned his head and glared at Hu Tong, seeing her sincere expression, he even forgot to complain about her getting his clothes dirty.
Hu Jiale brought a plate of watermelon to visit the child. She had just stepped inside when she heard these words and almost twisted her ankle.
"Hu Tong!"
...
Hu Tong enjoys banquets, where there are many people and it's lively.
She would recite ancient poems and the multiplication table with a swaying head, earning praise from the adults and making her feel incredibly happy. There were rarely opportunities like this to gather so many adults together to hear Hu Tong report on her recent learning achievements.
There are only two downsides.
Firecrackers were constantly going off outside the courtyard, and everyone who came to the feast carried a roll of bright red firecrackers. Each family would have a roll set off. The firecrackers crackled and popped, and no one could hear Hu Tong reciting his lessons.
Another point is that there are too many adults here, but very few children of the same age. They are either little kids sucking their fingers in their elders' arms or big kids sitting on benches who are two heads taller than Hu Tong.
This won't do. When Hu Tong participates in any exam or competition, he values equality the most.
She never gets discouraged when she loses to older children, and she's not arrogant when she wins against younger children. Her mother once said that there's a gap between children of different ages!
Only children of the same age could stir Hu Tong's emotions and competitive spirit... But now, there is only Cheng Zhou, who seems to be mute.
Hu Tong looked at Cheng Zhou with disappointment. The other man sat obediently on the stool and ate whatever food others put on his plate.
An elder placed a piece of pickled pepper chicken giblets on his chopsticks, and Cheng Zhou slowly finished what was in his bowl. Even his gasps from the spiciness were as soft as a kitten's meow.
Cheng Zhou's most unusual reaction was to look up at her busy grandmother and slightly shift her body.
"Cheng Zhou!"
With a snap, Hu Tong slammed her chopsticks on the table—a move she'd picked up from watching TV. She jumped off her stool, strutted arrogantly to Cheng Zhou's side, and commanded, "I need to use the restroom. You're coming with me."
Not to mention that Hu Tong had a habit of taking her best friend Miao Miao to the toilet in kindergarten, just because the toilet door at Grandma Cheng's house was broken and couldn't be locked from the inside, she was determined to find someone to go with her.
With her parents busy helping Grandma Cheng, and Grandma Cheng looking down on the other children, Hu Tong reluctantly accepted Cheng Zhou as her follower after much thought.
Cheng Zhou's dark eyes widened. "But, you're a girl—"
"Oh well, never mind, you have to watch the door for me! The toilet door won't lock!"
Amidst the laughter of the elders, Hu Tong dragged Cheng Zhou to the restroom.
Upon arriving at the location, Hu Tong didn't rush in. Instead, she pushed Cheng Zhou inside, saying, "You go first!" and closed the toilet door.
"Oh, oh." Cheng Zhou was somewhat touched. Despite Hu Tong's constant chatter, she actually noticed he needed to use the restroom. He whispered, "Thank you, Hu Tong..."
"Okay, you're welcome. I'll watch the door for you."
Hu Tong thought smugly, "There are a lot of mosquitoes in the toilet. Let Cheng Zhou go in first, and by the time I go to the toilet, the mosquitoes will have eaten their fill and won't bite my butt."
However, this method still had a downside: Hu Tong also really needed to use the restroom. While her parents weren't watching, she drank a lot of orange juice at the table, and now her stomach felt like it was about to explode!
Hu Tong paced back and forth outside the toilet, legs clamped together and teeth clenched.
The tiny figure's projection on the toilet door really did look like a soldier on patrol. Cheng Zhou was even more moved. Just as he was about to open the door to let Hu Tong use the toilet, the projection on the door suddenly enlarged.
Hu Tong banged on the door loudly, "Cheng Zhou! Hurry up! I can't hold it in anymore!"
...
The next morning, Old Mrs. Cheng and a group of relatives and friends carried Cheng Yin's coffin up the mountain.
Firecrackers went off all the way, leaving bright red firecracker casings everywhere, and a thin, grayish-white haze filled with a pungent smell enveloped the entire mountain.
Hu Tong covered his nose, pressed himself against his mother's leg, and watched as the log coffin was lowered into the grave. Shovelful after shovelful of yellow earth filled the grave, eventually turning it into a small mound.
She knew that Aunt Xiaoyin lived inside, but she couldn't understand how someone who lived underground could go to heaven.
Hu Tong wanted to ask someone, but seeing her mother crying so sadly, her father pursing his lips, and looking further ahead, Grandma Cheng was also hugging Cheng Zhou and crying uncontrollably. She decided to ask later.
The Hu family of three stayed with Old Master Cheng for the third day after her death and the seventh day after her death. After arranging Cheng Yin's funeral, Hu Jiale swept the Cheng family's courtyard and prepared to drive them back to the city.
Hu Jiale works at a microelectronics company and is considered a mid-level executive; his words carry some weight. But his leave has been extended too long, day after day, and his superiors have started to complain.
The children will be starting school soon, and there's a lot to do, so they have to go back.
But Grandma Cheng had said she was all right yesterday that she would go back with them, but when it was time to leave, she started wiping away tears.
“Xiao Yin is gone, I’m afraid to go back.” Old Mrs. Cheng turned her back, not wanting her two children to see her like this. “I’m scared, I’m scared to go into that house.”
Hu Jiale understood, of course, that Old Mrs. Cheng wasn't afraid of any house where a dead person had lived. That was her own daughter, and even if she really turned into a ghost and came to her, Old Mrs. Cheng wouldn't be afraid.
It's just that everyone is bound to be moved by the sight of something beautiful.
The two hugged and cried, then talked for a while.
Grandma Cheng was an only child, as was her daughter, Cheng Yin. Their son-in-law passed away a few years ago. Most of their relatives weren't close; their relationship was limited to exchanging gifts at weddings and funerals.
Grandma Cheng didn't want to go back to the city. In the village, she could still visit her old friends often. But she also didn't want to leave her grandson behind to attend the village school, where there were hardly any children left.
Hu Jiale's eyes darted around, and she immediately understood the old man's idea. "I have a way. Xiaozhou can come with us. But we have to ask the two children if they're willing. If they are, I'll take them away right away and send them back during summer and winter vacations. If they're not willing, then it's hard to say how much money we'll have."
Grandma Cheng, both amused and exasperated, scolded, "I know you and Xiaoyin are both stubborn, and that's why you had two children."
Hu Jiale hummed smugly twice, then squatted down and asked Hu Tong, "Tongtong, would you like Xiaozhou to live with us?"
“I still prefer you to call me Hu Tong loudly, Mom,” Hu Tong replied, seemingly ignoring the question.
She pouted, actually quite unwilling, but seeing the several large bumps on Cheng Zhou's calves and remembering his heroic act of feeding mosquitoes, she grumbled, "Okay, fine..."
From the moment her grandmother started wiping away tears, Cheng Zhou huddled behind the old woman, clutching her clothes tightly.
Just then, seeing Hu Jiale walking towards him, Cheng Zhou secretly glanced at his grandmother and spoke up before being asked, "I'm willing to go to Aunt Lele's house."
Grandma Cheng blushed and asked the Hu family to take care of Cheng Zhou.
She had saved money, inherited from Cheng Yin, and received a monthly pension. She paid for Cheng Zhou's tuition and living expenses, and Old Mrs. Cheng even offered to give her an extra sum each month for a nanny, knowing that raising a child was not easy.
Hu Jiale got angry, feeling that Old Lady Cheng treated her like an outsider.
“My salary is high enough, how could I take your retirement money!” Hu Jiale grabbed Old Lady Cheng, who was about to withdraw money. “I can’t even count how many meals I’ve had at your house before. I treat Xiaozhou like my own son, what’s with all this talk about a nanny or not.”
"I don't want your money. If you really feel bad about it, let Xiaozhou pay me back when he grows up."
Grandma Cheng was relieved and just breathed a sigh of relief when Hu Jiale grabbed her arm.
"However, you still have to come to the city with me. The procedures for Xiaozhou to start primary school will require your help, as his maternal grandmother." Hu Jiale said with a smile, "Stay at my house. I'll let you come back after everything is settled."
Hu Tong added meticulously, "And middle school and university!"
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