The next day, the Jia family set up a mourning hall in the front yard, with a coffin, memorial tablet, and other necessities all prepared.
It was obvious that the two old men in charge of the courtyard had helped a lot, especially Liu Haizhong, who took a day off to help the Jia family receive relatives who came to pay their respects.
However, the Jia family was used to being arrogant and always treated their relatives in the countryside with disdain, so not many relatives came to offer their condolences, and Liu Haizhong's status as the steward was not fully displayed.
Chen Jun went to the Jia family's house before going to work.
Qin Huairu, dressed in white linen clothes, was throwing paper into the brazier with her head down, while Jia Zhangshi occasionally let out a wail.
Compared to when Lao Jia passed away, today's scene is much smaller.
"I want to eat! I want to eat!"
Wearing the same white linen clothes, Bang Geng didn't understand what death was, let alone funerals. All he could see were the two plates of fruit on the table, but unfortunately, he was too short to reach them even on tiptoe.
"Third Uncle, Chen Jun, you've arrived." Qin Huairu heard footsteps and looked up.
My condolences.
Chen Jun nodded, stood in front of the mourning hall for a while, and then turned around and went to work.
The relationship between the two families is limited to this; there is no need to offer incense or burn joss paper.
The next day.
While Chen Jun was washing his face and brushing his teeth in the yard, he heard a commotion coming from the front yard.
"Chen Jun, quick, let's go see what's going on."
Xu Damao glanced curiously at the front yard, then pulled Chen Jun, who was still brushing his teeth, to the front yard.
The mourning hall in front of the Jia family's house had been demolished, and several unfamiliar faces appeared in the courtyard.
"Uncle, what's going on?" Xu Damao asked Yan Bugui, not understanding what was happening.
"Jia Zhangshi wants to be buried today, so she asked Liu Haizhong to find some children to carry the coffin."
Yan Bugui explained to Xu Damao while slurping the porridge in his bowl.
"The timing is wrong, why are they going to bury them so soon?"
Xu Damao didn't know much about this kind of thing, but he knew that the mourning hall would be set up for a few days before the burial.
“The Jia family is broke. They had to borrow money to buy the coffin. The sooner the burial is done, the sooner it will be over,” Yan Bugui said.
Upon hearing this, Chen Jun looked towards Jia Zhangshi's direction.
In the countryside, if someone dies, the mourning hall must be kept for at least several days.
Then, over the next few days, relatives and friends will come to pay their respects.
Although we don't need to entertain these relatives and friends with meals, tea, melon seeds, and peanuts are still essential.
The Jia family has even borrowed money to buy coffins, so naturally they have no savings left.
It seems reasonable to bury them sooner rather than later.
"Jia Zhangshi, I've brought the person for you."
"But we need to settle the money first, for the six coffin bearers and the two musicians."
After saying this, Liu Haizhong gestured to Jia Zhangshi to give him the money.
Finding coffin bearers for the Jia family is no problem, but the payment must be settled first.
Otherwise, if Jia Zhangshi refuses to pay after Jia Dongxu is buried, then we're doomed.
These people were all recruited by him. If Jia Zhangshi doesn't pay, the masters will definitely come after him for money.
Help is fine, but money is not; Liu Haizhong still has his own principles.
What is that?
You're asking me for money now?
When Jia Zhangshi heard this, she was displeased. Her family was truly broke. They had even borrowed money from people in the courtyard to pay for the coffin. They were keeping everything simple and weren't even planning to hold a basic banquet.
But now Liu Haizhong is asking her to pay for the coffin-carrying fee.
“My son Dongxu was beaten to death by those people. The authorities have already gone to arrest them. I will pay them after they are caught!”
Only the people at the casino can be held responsible for Jia Dongxu's death, but they can't catch him now, which makes Jia Zhangshi feel extremely distressed.
On the one hand, they couldn't get the money back, and on the other hand, they couldn't get back the money they had already spent, so they had no way to avenge Jia Dongxu.
Upon hearing her words, the invited masters couldn't help but look at Liu Haizhong.
"Engineer Liu, we're only here because of you. If she doesn't pay, we won't move the coffin!"
“What do you mean I won’t pay? This money shouldn’t be mine to take. My son Dongxu was beaten to death. Have you ever lost a son? Have you ever had a son beaten to death? You have nothing, so you don’t understand anything!” Jia Zhangshi shouted loudly.
Liu Haizhong frowned: "Jia Zhangshi, I know you're upset, and I know you've always wanted to find the murderer who killed Jia Dongxu, but right now we can't catch him. You should pay the coffin fee first, and then ask him for compensation after that bald man is arrested by the yamen."
"Even if you ask for more compensation later, Big Baldy will give it to you!"
"Liu Haizhong, whose side are you on? Why are you speaking up for them?" Jia Zhangshi glared at Liu Haizhong with dissatisfaction, then glanced at the coffin bearers: "Besides, it's just carrying a coffin, why did you hire so many people? You could have just kept four coffin bearers."
"No, we have to leave the city!" Liu Haizhong was speechless.
Although the coffin was the most ordinary kind, carrying it out of the city was no easy task. Four people couldn't carry it; it required three in front and four in back.
“Then keep six coffin bearers, and let the people who blow the whistle go back.”
Liu Haizhong couldn't help but pinch the bridge of his nose, take a breath, and then continued, "That's fine, but there hasn't been any activity along the way."
As long as Jia Zhangshi pays the money now, losing two fewer people to make a fuss won't matter.
Anyway, it wasn't his family members who were being buried, so whether he had face or not was none of his business.
Why isn't anything happening?
Jia Zhangshi immediately expressed her dissatisfaction: "When Old Jia left, it was all thanks to my crying on the road that the noise from the whistling was as loud as the noise from my crying."
“No, it’s one thing to cry when Lao Jia left, but why did you cry when Jia Dongxu left? Is that proper?” Xu Damao grinned. “Jia Dongxu must have some influence to make me cry all the way here.”
"Xu Damao, shut up!" Liu Haizhong glanced back at Xu Damao.
At this point, he didn't want to see Xu Damao and the Jia family arguing.
“Alright, cry if you want, but first pay the coffin bearers.” Liu Haizhong gestured for Jia Zhangshi to take out her money.
Jia Zhangshi hesitated, reluctant to take out her pocket: "How much is it in total?"
"Each coffin bearer is charged two yuan, but considering your family's financial difficulties, I'll charge you one yuan and eighty cents. The total for six people is ten yuan and eighty cents." Liu Haizhong had already calculated the bill.
"What the hell?? You dare ask me for ten yuan and eight mao just to carry a coffin?" Jia Zhangshi became even more agitated: "Get out, get out, I won't let them carry it anymore."
"Hey Chen Jun, Xu Damao, Sha Zhu, Liu Guangqi, and Yan Jiecheng, you guys come and carry Dongxu's coffin!"
“Dongxu is a few years older than you, he is your elder brother, and you should see him off on his final journey.”
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