Chapter 4 The Moon of Yesteryear
Upon hearing this, Xie Ning immediately understood why the woman had been wary at first. She had probably called her husband over to bolster her courage. However, she didn't care about the courtyard, since she couldn't stay there for long anyway.
“Auntie, you’re joking. I will definitely keep my promise before my grandmother passed away. However, I’ll take care of the funeral arrangements myself. It’s just that I’m young and inexperienced in these matters. I’ll need your help, Auntie and Uncle Zhang, and all the other villagers.”
Seeing Xie Ning agree, the couple breathed a sigh of relief, and the man's unease lessened considerably. "No problem, no problem, it's all my pleasure."
The Zhang couple were overjoyed to receive a courtyard for free, without having to pay for their own funeral. Although the courtyard was small and dilapidated, they had many sons, so any space they could have was better than nothing. They planned to repair the small courtyard and use it for their eldest son's wedding.
The couple were shocked when they learned that Xie Ning was going to raise the banner and smash the tiles for the old lady.
"Mr. Xie, are you really going to be a dutiful son and grandson of Granny Liu?" You know, it's already considered very good that they could find a good place to bury Granny Liu and burn some incense and paper money.
Xie Ning not only agreed to break the basin, but also set up a memorial tablet for Granny Liu... "Granny Liu is so lucky."
Everyone sighed in the same way, and their gazes toward Xie Ning were filled with admiration. Xie Ning looked at everyone with a sincere expression, "As you all know, my great-aunt and I have been separated for many years. Now that we are going to hold a funeral for my great-aunt, we should do it in a fair and open manner. I wonder who I should contact if I want to register my great-aunt's household registration?"
Some people didn't understand why Xie Ning would register under the name of a deceased person, while others lamented that this was the only remaining relative who had died.
By this time, Granny Liu's body had been taken home, and many neighbors who lived nearby came to visit. Most of them were elderly. Although Granny Liu had a sharp tongue, she was a very nice person. When the neighbors saw that she was gone, they would come to take a look. However, most of them were invited by Xie Ning.
When it comes to funerals, it's always best to have an elderly person familiar with the procedures preside over the event.
Moreover, Xie Ning was not short of money to hold a funeral, so although he did not hold a grand funeral for Granny Liu, it was still quite proper.
What Xie Ning considered conventional and proper was seen as extremely glamorous by others. Everyone said that Granny Liu was very lucky, as she even had a grandson-nephew in her final days. Not only did they hold up the banner and break the basin for her, but they also offered her a memorial tablet.
It's not really a form of worship. Here, most people who die have their descendants set up memorial tablets for them. If they don't have descendants, those with money can take the money to a Taoist temple to have one set up, while those without money are simply wrapped in straw mats and buried in a mass grave.
With money, people will naturally do things for you. So Xie Ning not only easily handled the funeral arrangements but also obtained the household registration certificate. But that was all he could do.
When she was processing these documents, she discovered that there were no ID cards in 1931. Other forms of identification were only for people with status, and ordinary people would not bother to obtain them.
Only simple household registration is required, which is convenient for local management.
In any case, the origin is settled, at least she's no longer an unregistered person. Moreover, she played a trick by registering two identities, one male and one female. She said the female identity was her twin sister, and when the male identity was no longer needed, she would use the female identity.
After placing Granny Liu's memorial tablet in the Taoist temple, Xie Ning did not delay any longer. The next day, led by Zhang Er, he arrived at the train station, where Zhang Er drove a mule cart.
On the way, Zhang Er asked Xie Ning where she was going. Xie Ning herself didn't know, so she pretended to be asleep and didn't hear him. Anyway, she had been "busy" these past few days and looked weak, so Zhang Er didn't suspect anything.
After a long, bumpy ride, Zhang Er saw that they had arrived at the train station and immediately shook Xie Ning awake. "Mr. Xie, we've arrived at the train station. You can go in and sleep after you buy your ticket. But you should be careful, I've heard there are a lot of pickpockets on the train."
Xie Ning looked around in a daze before getting out of the car. "Uncle Zhang, thank you for bringing me to the station. I'm so grateful for your help these past few days. Here, take this and buy some meat for my little one."
Xie Ning was genuinely grateful to him and the woman. Although he was a little selfish and greedy, he was still a good person. He never shirked his responsibilities and always did things conscientiously.
She gave him a silver dollar, which is one dollar.
Zhang Er's face immediately turned red. He waved his hands and backed away, saying he didn't want it, but his eyes were still uncontrollably glued to the silver dollar. After some refusals, he finally accepted it.
Although he looked a little guilty and embarrassed, his eyes were full of smiles. Now he felt more confident in finding a wife for his eldest son. He could even buy some fabric for his wife and have his wife make pants for the children. His youngest son was also growing up and was still wearing his older brothers' old pants, with patches on the crotch and knees that had been patched again and again.
If his youngest son weren't so mischievous and lacked the brains for studying, he would have worked even harder to send him to learn a few words and accounting skills so he could support himself when he grew up.
The train station wasn't very big. Xie Ning glanced at the train timetable and found that there was only one train to XX this morning. For Xie Ning, it didn't matter where she went now; she would go wherever she could get a ticket, preferably a larger city.
There were many people queuing to buy tickets. Some were wearing long gowns and carrying suitcases like Xie Ning, while others were wearing inconspicuous short jackets, probably buying tickets for their hosts.
The ticket windows weren't open yet, so Xie Ning didn't push forward.
The air was filled with the rich aroma of meat, which made Xie Ning's stomach rumble, even though she had only eaten a sweet potato that morning. Perhaps she had been really tired these past few days, so she always felt hungry very quickly.
Following the aroma, Xie Ning saw a meat pie stall. In front of the stall, a burly man was chopping meat into minced meat. Next to him was a pot of mutton soup, which smelled delicious. Even before taking a sip, one could feel the warmth emanating from it.
There were still quite a few people standing next to the stall, probably travelers who hadn't eaten breakfast.
Xie Ning swallowed hard, glanced at the size of the meat patties, and figured he could finish them, so he said, "Give me three meat patties."
She'll eat one right away and save the other two for the train. She doesn't know if the food on the train will be any good, so she'd better buy some snacks. This meat pie looks delicious!
The burly man squinted and chuckled.
He took a slightly charred flatbread from the stove, cut it open, and stuffed it full of meat and vegetables, with more meat than vegetables, showing great honesty.
The stall owner quickly cut three pancakes, chopped up the meat and stuffed them in, filling them completely, then wrapped them in an oil paper bag and handed them to Xie Ning.
A meat pie costs two cents, but Xie Ning gave the big man seven cents, saying, "And a bowl of mutton soup, please."
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