Chapter 455 Funeral (Part 2)
Manbao thought for a moment and replied, "Okay, I'll ask him, Dad, is our uncle really dead?"
The smile on Old Zhou's face froze. He sighed deeply, pulled out the pipe from his waist belt, and nodded, "Yes, he's dead."
Manbao turned around and squatted with him, supporting his chin with both hands, and sighed softly, "I haven't met my uncle yet."
As soon as Old Zhou put the pipe in his mouth, his eyes turned red. The smoke choked him and he couldn't help coughing violently, and then tears and snot flowed down.
Old Zhou wiped it off without any care, turned to the surprised Manbao and forced a smile, "You choked..."
But it seems like the tears can't be wiped away.
Old Zhou wiped his eyes and muttered incoherently, "This is too choking..."
Manbao didn't know why she also became very sad. She patted her chest and promised, "Don't worry, Dad, I will definitely let Bai Shanbao get a lower price."
Of course Bai Shanbao couldn't get a bargain, because he just learned from his cousin that the grain merchants might not have received the grain, so the price of wheat had risen again. Yesterday it rose back to 30 wen per dou, and today it jumped to 32 wen per dou.
I heard that the price of wheat sold by the grain shops has also increased by two cents. Obviously, the cunning grain merchants are not willing to pay more for nothing.
Therefore, Bai Shanbao had no trouble selling the remaining three bags of wheat. As long as a grain merchant came to him, he could easily sell them for 32 cents.
If Manbao wasn't an acquaintance and her eyes were a little red, obviously having just cried, he would never have sold it to her for thirty cents.
Manbao's eyes were still red from the fight she had with her father. She discussed with Bai Shanbao, "Then why don't you tell my father that you sold us cheaply and I'll make up for the difference, okay?"
Bai Shanbao scratched his head and asked, "Why go through so much trouble? Why don't you just tell your father that you bought it from me?"
"No, my father would be happier if the wheat was cheap."
In Lao Zhoutou's mind, whether she spends money or Lao Zhoutou spends money, it's the same.
"Okay, so how much should I tell your dad?"
"Twenty cents?"
"Will your father believe it?"
Manbao thought about it and felt that maybe not.
"Then let's say twenty-five cents," Bai Shanbao said decisively, "and you'll have to make up the difference later."
"no problem."
After finishing the business, the two children sat together on a rock not far from the gate and talked. "I saw a lot of noise over there at your house. What are they doing?"
"My father is going to hold a funeral for my uncle and invite Taoist priests from the Taoist temple to summon his soul. From now on, my uncle and his family can come back to eat with my grandparents during festivals."
Bai Shanbao thought for a moment and said, "My father doesn't seem to have summoned his spirit. Should I also summon one for him?"
"No need," Manbao didn't quite understand, so he was a little hesitant, "Doesn't your father have a body? My uncle's family has no remains left, so we need to summon the soul."
"Okay, when the funeral starts, I'll go and deliver the funeral money."
"Maybe the day after tomorrow. My eldest brother and his family are going to buy a coffin tomorrow."
Bai Shanbao asked curiously, "Are you going?"
Manbao shook his head, "Children can't go."
In fact, people usually provide the wood themselves and ask the carpenters in the coffin shop to make the coffin. However, there are always sudden deaths where there is no time to prepare. In this case, you need to go to the coffin shop to buy a ready-made coffin.
Sometimes there were no coffins left in the shop, so they had to borrow from others, or directly use the ones already made in the shop. There were too many troubles involved. A child like Manbao should stay away from these shady things. Why would Qian let her go with them?
Manbao returned home with the good news. Old Zhou personally took his two sons to buy the three bags of wheat. Of course, he had to thank Bai Shanbao first.
On the way, they went to see Mr. Bai and told him about Zhou Yin, hinting that the matter of Zhou Yin should be over here. They also asked him to burn a stick of incense when he was free, as their family would like to express their gratitude to Mr. Bai.
Mr. Bai had already learned about the incident from his aunt and knew that it was the work of Lord Wei in the capital, so he readily agreed.
Old Zhou brought the food home and said to Zhou Sanlang, "I guess a lot of people will come. But families are not well off right now, so we need to get more flour to avoid running out of food."
Zhou Sanlang nodded.
"Shell all three bags and collect the bran. Grind the bran from one bag of wheat and mix it with the flour."
Zhou Sanlang: "...Dad, will this look bad?"
"It's not good-looking, but it's affordable," Old Zhou patted his head and said, "Even though our village harvested a lot of wheat this year, no one can eat white flour to their heart's content. Don't you see how many people there are in the village, young and old, including your uncle's family and your in-laws..."
Old Zhou gritted his teeth and said, "There's also my uncle's house!"
Zhou Sanlang thought of something, shuddered, nodded repeatedly, and asked, "Dad, is one bag of wheat bran enough? Should I add more?"
Old Zhou hesitated for a moment. "Although it has to be affordable, it can't be too ugly. The steamed buns have to taste good. Why don't you ask your sister-in-law? She's the one who makes steamed buns, so she should understand."
Zhou Sanlang touched his head and went to the kitchen to ask Xiao Qianshi.
Soon, she was chased out by Xiao Qian. "How could you come up with such a plan? You even added a bag of wheat bran. How can you make steamed buns out of it? I would think it's too much if you added one pound of flour to ten pounds of flour. Now you want to add one bag of wheat to just three bags of flour..."
Zhou Sanlang ran away with his head down, looking pitifully for his father.
Old Zhou sighed sadly, "Okay, let's bring another bag of wheat from home to grind. Oh, and ask your sister-in-law to mix some wheat bran into the steamed buns when she makes them tonight. We need to save some food at home, as there's still some time before the summer harvest."
Zhou Sanlang nodded and turned to move the wheat.
Qian was giving Zhou Dalang money to buy a coffin. "A coffin that's not made fresh is much more expensive. Take five taels of silver and buy the best one you can. Your uncle and aunt are being buried together, so try to buy a spacious one."
Zhou Dalang agreed.
Qian opened another money box and took out a hundred coins from it and gave it to him. "Also, buy white paper, linen, and white banners from the coffin shop. Be careful not to miss anything. We only have one day to prepare the funeral, so this must be done with dignity."
Qian wiped her eyes and said, "We were in such a hurry back then that we buried them in the dark. We only had a mat and a quilt. Now we have to make sure they come back safely and leave safely."
Zhou Dalang took the money and agreed.
(End of this chapter)
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