Meng Chijian did not respond to this.
He said with great sorrow, "Father, go in peace. I will take good care of A-Mian."
They just wouldn't talk about money.
Every family must have clan property or public land, and a portion of it should be used to help the weaker family members, such as those whose husbands have died unexpectedly or orphans in the family.
If they don't even want to spend the money, and instead try to take advantage of A-Mian, who is getting married, then the patriarch of this family must be very unpopular, and the whole family will fall apart.
Seeing that this group of people were indeed unreasonable, Lu Xingjia simply put on a show and led his men away.
Anyway, no one will break the basin when the time comes, and the old man won't be able to be buried. It's not them who will be anxious.
Meanwhile, the Meng family had already quickly set up a mourning shed next to the mourning hall. The villagers looked on curiously. A mourning shed had already been set up before, so what were they doing now?
Ah Mian explained the matter of the "Letter to the Neighbors," and her second sister-in-law, sitting on a small stool, translated earnestly in a way that everyone in the village could understand: "Ah Mian's father loves to drink, and his dutiful daughter wants to accumulate some good karma for him! That's why she's going to make 'distribute filial piety noodles'... Oh dear, don't talk nonsense, this isn't about making money! It's about giving to the neighbors without asking for any money, it's about filial piety! How many children like this can you find in the whole world?"
Free of charge?
Everyone looked at each other, wondering if Ah Mian was trying to profit from her father's funeral.
Besides, if the noodles are free, you can get a bowl yourself, so why not eat them?
So everyone showered her with compliments, their tone genuinely sincere: "Don't let Ah Mian's past troublemaking fool you, she's completely different now!"
"Yes, Uncle Lu is blessed! He has such a filial daughter!"
“Ah Mian can even read now! Look at the papers pasted here, these black lumps are amazing, Ah Mian’s mother will wake up laughing in her dreams.”
The crowd swayed with the wind, and now that so many people were praising it, the other voices naturally faded away.
Ah Mian's reputation in the village has always been poor since she was a child.
When she was little, she was the little tyrant of the village. She started talking later than other children. If other children pinched her face and made her unhappy, she would bite them while making noises since she couldn't talk. Many parents complained to A-Mian's family about this.
At one point, some people even speculated that Ah Mian was mentally challenged.
Only Amian's mother thought Amian was the smartest and cutest little child in the whole village.
After Amian's mother left, Amian's reputation suffered even more. She acted eccentrically, and all sorts of rumors circulated about her.
This is the first time Ah Mian has been praised by so many people.
Amian nodded with satisfaction as she looked at the villagers who had realized their mistake.
She took the iron pot she had brought from the donkey cart, and Meng Er and Meng San had already set up a simple stove.
Since it was a funeral, it was natural to serve vegetarian noodles.
The noodles were made from mixed grains, and the toppings included radishes, daylilies, greens, and bean sprouts. The vegetables were picked from the backyard, so it didn't cost much. Ah Mian was making a vegetarian soup, using minced ginger and freshly picked mushrooms. She cooked a large pot, and the cost of three bowls of noodles was only one cent.
Having prepared all that, A-Mian brought out another bamboo box with a piece of paper on top that read "Filial Piety Money Box" in large characters, and placed it at the entrance of the mourning tent.
The noodles are indeed free, but the filial piety is not.
You're eating noodles meant for a filial daughter, and it's a funeral. How can you come empty-handed in front of everyone?
The second sister-in-law sat beside the money box for the funeral offerings, weeping bitterly: "The filial daughter, Lu Amian, remembering the profound kindness of her late father, personally made vegetarian noodles to give to the neighbors. This kind of good deed should be donated to the temple; it's a great act of accumulating merit for her father..."
They wouldn't hawk their wares, otherwise they'd be accused of "profiteering from a funeral."
However, there will always be some people who, thinking that it's free, will casually ask for a bowl of noodles.
As usual, A-Mian brought someone a bowl of noodles.
To my surprise, it tasted pretty good after I tried it.
"How is this vegetarian noodle made? It's not bitter or astringent, and it's quite flavorful."
Ah Mian lowered her head, feigning grief. Meng Chijian smiled bitterly, gazing into the distance, his voice deep and somber: "What else can be added? It's nothing more than Ah Mian's filial piety..."
this--
Of course, that's impossible.
Actually, it was just a small spoonful of lard added to the soup base.
However, this story is quite touching, so it wouldn't hurt to take out a penny.
Before long, more and more people arrived. Most of them still had some sense of shame, and when they came to eat noodles, they would put a coin or two into the box as a sign of their condolences.
Although the stall was small, it had a lot of manpower. The division of labor was roughly as follows: A-Mian cooked noodles, Meng-Jing served noodles, Meng-San washed dishes, Er-Sao did publicity, and Meng-Er... did nothing but act as a servant to protect everyone.
The free noodles, made with special filial piety, were an instant hit, drawing rave reviews and even attracting villagers from nearby areas to come and see for themselves. These people, though further away, had been hearing about it along the way, and many were already scolding their children, saying, "Learn from others! Be this filial to your grandparents!"
A door slammed shut nearby. Lu Xingjia kicked an empty bamboo basket away. "Dad, are we just going to let them make money and gain fame there?! The coffin and everything are already ordered. If they don't pay for it, then it's our turn to pay for it!!"
Lu Xingjia's grandfather was the eldest brother of Lu Amian's father's generation. He had three children, two girls and one boy. The boy's branch is Lu Xingjia's father's lineage, so they should be responsible for handling the funeral properly.
Since there is still a branch of the family, the clan will not pay for it.
Lu Xingjia's father was considered a "kind and benevolent man" in the village, and his reputation had always been good. At this moment, he sighed and said, "The dead are the greatest, what can we do? Lu Amian is a filial daughter now. What would we look like if we went against her?"
"But...but..."
The father knew his son well and gave him a look of disappointment: "The coffin will only cost six or seven hundred coins. As for the rest, we can be more frugal, right?"
"Oh!" Lu Xingjia understood. They didn't need any funeral clothes, shoes, or offerings. Anyway, they would be the ones doing the burial, and others wouldn't be able to see anything from a distance. They could just buy some yellow paper.
“That young lady Lu Amian is clever and full of ideas. But she absolutely shouldn’t be profiting from her father’s death like this. If the clan chief finds out, who knows what he’ll think of her.” The middle-aged man shook his head and sighed. “If she’s still doing this at the burial tomorrow, we’ll have to try and dissuade her, lest her father be heartbroken even in death…”
After saying these words, he left with heavy steps.
Lu Xingjia paced back and forth, muttering to himself. Suddenly, he slapped his forehead and ran towards the clan chief's house.
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