Chapter 506: Cremation!
Wu Shunquan ran to the telephone booth where he had agreed to meet with Wu Shanshan yesterday, and handed a package to the owner who was guarding the phone. The owner was an old lady wearing glasses. She put on her reading glasses, carefully checked the things Wu Shunquan gave her, and then gave him three dollars.
Wu Shunquan, having easily won five yuan, was so overjoyed that he completely forgot about his family members who were still crying at the factory office and went to the video parlor alone to watch videos. He had no money, so he usually watched videos with his friends, but today he could treat them all.
However, the Wu family did not cry for long in the factory office before they were asked to leave.
They were also sensible and knew that there was no need to cause trouble with the factory. They just needed to make a fuss so that Wu Shanshan could see that they could make money.
Seeing that it was almost noon and they were feeling hungry, the family took off their mourning clothes and went to eat at a restaurant.
The old lady who was answering the phone called Wu Shanshan. Wu Shanshan looked at the time and it was earlier than she expected. It seemed that Wu Shunquan really wanted to get the money as soon as possible.
She led Wu Jun to the phone booth. The old lady who was answering the phone was reading a book. They shouted:
"Teacher Shi."
"Shanshan and Xiaojun are here." Teacher Shi took off his reading glasses and rubbed his eyes. He put the bookmark between the pages, closed the book, and looked at the two of them with a smile.
"Don't read for too long, your eyes will hurt." Wu Shanshan said with concern.
"Ah, this is my problem. I can't put down a book once I pick it up. Thank you for sending me so many good books over the years." Teacher Shi looked kind.
Wu Shanshan shook her head.
Teacher Shi was her elementary school Chinese teacher. Now retired, she helps her family look after the telephone booth in her spare time. The address is not far from Yue Sheng's dormitory.
Yesterday, Wu Shanshan asked her to help collect the things that Wu Shunquan might send, and she agreed without saying a word.
Teacher Shi took out the iron box containing his money from the cabinet beside him, opened it, and handed the things carefully placed inside to Wu Shanshan.
Wu Shanshan saw that she also wrapped it with a clean handkerchief.
Teacher Shi said, "I checked, everything is here. Keep it. I've also given the money to the child."
"Thank you, Mr. Shi."
"What are you thanking me for? Teacher Shi can't help you at all. You have suffered..." Teacher Shi liked Wu Shanshan very much and knew about her family affairs.
She was glad that her two children left the broken family with the help of many people and their own efforts.
Wu Shanshan and Wu Jun thanked him and walked for a while before Wu Shanshan opened the handkerchief bag, which contained the Wu family's household registration book, Wu Jianguo's work permit and salary book.
Looking at the black and white photo of Wu Jianguo on his work ID, Wu Shanshan felt mixed emotions.
Chen Wenfu was waiting on the roadside. Huang Ling knew that Wu Shanshan would probably be running around in the next two days, so she asked Chen Wenfu to drive with her. On the one hand, it was convenient to have a car, and on the other hand, he could protect her if anything happened.
The car moved forward. The brother and sister were silent, but their hands were tightly clasped together.
......
Zhang A'mei sat in the security department for a whole day and fell asleep with her clothes on on the bench in the duty room of the security department at night. She planned to go out and hide for a while after Wu Jianguo's matter was settled and she received the funeral expenses, or go look for Zhang Min again. Now she only had Zhang Min.
The memorial service will be held from 8:00 to 11:00 a.m. on the ninth day of the lunar year.
It is not recommended to hold lavish funerals nowadays. The logistics team in charge of funerals has a simple set of procedures. Wu Jianguo is not an important leader and does not have many relatives and friends, so only half a day is arranged. As it is on a working day, it is estimated that even half a day will not be used.
In the morning, the comrade from the security department who came to take over the shift woke up Zhang A-mei.
When Zhang A-mei saw that it was getting late, she hurried to the funeral home.
The factory had previously informed her that she didn't need to worry about anything, as everything had been arranged and she just needed to go there.
By the time she hurried over, it was already past eight o'clock.
The auditorium was empty.
Not only were there no relatives offering condolences, there were no factory staff either.
Some funeral home staff were cleaning up the mourning hall.
Zhang A-mei was a little confused and wanted to go in to see what was going on, but the staff stopped her:
"Comrade, the time is not up yet. Please come back later."
"Here we are! It starts at 8 o'clock. I am Wu Jianguo's wife." Zhang A'mei excitedly pointed to the place where the body was placed in the auditorium.
"No! We don't have any arrangements at 8 o'clock. Comrade, you must have made a mistake. There are arrangements this afternoon, and the person's surname is not Wu." The staff told her.
Zhang A-mei was stunned and stood blankly in front of the auditorium.
Seeing her distraught, the staff member was not surprised, because he had seen many family members who became abnormal due to excessive grief after losing their loved ones, so he advised:
"You can go to the office and ask if there's a mistake in the time. There are records there for you to check." He pointed to an office on the side of the auditorium. "Room 102, go ask."
There was no other way, Zhang A-mei could only go and ask for clarification. She thought that the factory’s schedule might have changed and she was not informed, because she did not go home yesterday.
"Hello, I would like to ask when is Wu Jianguo's memorial service scheduled?"
The other party was polite and opened the notebook while answering:
"Wu Jianguo... I have some impression of this person's name. He was originally from this morning..."
"Oh, may I ask which day it has been postponed to?" Zhang A'mei breathed a sigh of relief and asked again.
"It's not postponed! It's cancelled." The other party pointed to a line on the notebook and said to Zhang A-mei.
Zhang A-mei snatched the notebook away in astonishment and angrily said, "Impossible!"
"Comrade, don't worry," another staff member in the room stood up and walked over. "Wu Jianguo... Let me think about it, it was indeed cancelled. It was cancelled yesterday."
The staff member was a woman in her forties who looked very kind and spoke gently.
Zhang A-mei asked: "Is that something you plan to arrange later?"
The female comrade helped Zhang A-mei sit down on a chair and replied:
"Please sit down and listen to me. Comrade Wu's two children came yesterday with people from the factory. I was the one who received them, so I know everything. They informed us that today's farewell ceremony was canceled. He was cremated yesterday."
The lesbian spoke softly, but every word was like a needle piercing Zhang A-mei's body. At this moment, her blood seemed to have solidified.
"Didn't his family notify you? In that case, you should also be more considerate and go home or visit his home." The female comrade looked at her expression and advised her again.
Zhang A-mei seemed to remember something and tugged at the staff member's sleeve, asking, "Cremation! I'm Wu Jianguo's lover! How can you cremate him without my consent?"
"Ah," the female comrade asked inquiringly, "yesterday your daughter and son said you were too ill to come. Your daughter is already an adult and has all the paperwork, so we helped her with it."
In fact, lesbians are more tactful. Yesterday, Wu Shanshan and her brother said, "Mom is crazy."
As she spoke, she looked at Zhang A'mei. Zhang A'mei had a fight and stayed outside with her clothes on for a whole day and night, so her clothes were disheveled, her hair was messy, and her eyes were dull. She did not look very normal.
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