These barbed words made Tang Yuanxu's face turn pale and then red. He felt like every word his niece said was an insult to him, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He even felt a little short of breath. Looking at his older brother, whose face was dark and sullen, he finally chickened out and nodded with an awkward smile, saying, "It's my duty, it's my duty."
Tang Yuanxu backed down, and Cui Hua and Tang Qianqian both cowered in silence, pretending to be quails. Tang Xiaoxiao also stopped talking and continued to eat her cake in small bites.
Honestly, why would anyone offer themselves up for torture?
Apart from her and Xiao Xuanxuan, everyone else at the table lost their appetite. Since they were already quite full, they quickly put down their chopsticks.
Tang Xiaoxiao and Tang Xinxin put the remaining cake into the refrigerator. After cleaning up the dishes, Tang Yuanzhou gave the order, and the group put on their outdoor clothes, went to town to buy incense, candles, paper money, and other items, and headed towards Grandpa Tang's grave.
As it was nearing the end of the year, many families burned paper money to worship their ancestors every night, so it wasn't strange that they went to visit the graves. However, it was already dark, and the villagers of Hou Tang Village were mostly staying at home in the cold weather. They didn't encounter many people along the way, and Tang Yuanxu couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, he didn't run into any acquaintances from his hometown, otherwise he would have been utterly humiliated.
It took more than half an hour to reach Grandpa Tang's grave. This was only because Tang Xiaoxiao from Hou Tang Village had paid for the road repairs, so the road was smooth and there were no bumps along the way. Otherwise, the old dirt road would have been much slower to walk on.
Cui Hua and her daughter Tang Qianqian braved the cold wind and walked such a long distance, feeling miserable but daring not to complain, enduring the hardship.
There aren't many rules about burial sites in the countryside. Grandpa Tang passed away early, when the situation was still very tense and the country was cracking down on feudal superstition. The Tang family didn't dare to hire any feng shui masters, so they chose a shady slope halfway up the mountain, next to a stream, for his burial.
Grandma Tang is now buried in this grave as well.
Tang Yuanzhou placed the offerings, set up the incense table and candles, and bowed three times with Tang's mother, Xu Xiumei, before signaling to Tang Yuanxu that he could come forward to worship.
Tang Yuanxu didn't know what he was thinking at that moment. Even if he was a heartless person, he wouldn't be completely unmoved by his parents' graves. With complicated thoughts, he knelt down and kowtowed three times. He choked for a long time without saying anything, and buried the burning incense in the incense burner.
Cui Hua reluctantly knelt down and kowtowed as well, then got up without delay. Tang Yuanzhou watched coldly, ignoring her.
This sister-in-law has been unreliable for quite some time now. She'll just go through the motions; as the eldest brother, he's too lazy to waste words at our parents' graves and disturb their peace.
The three sisters, Tang Xinxin, Tang Xiaoxiao, and Tang Qianqian, came forward last. Even Xiao Xuanxuan knelt down in a proper manner. After a round of worship, they burned the ingots and paper money they had bought, and the memorial service came to an end.
As the remaining embers in the ashes gradually died down, two more bottles of water were poured on the ashes to prevent wildfires. Once there was no longer any safety hazard, everyone went down the mountain and back to the villa.
After this experience, Tang Yuanzhou finally felt some of the pent-up frustration that had been building up in his heart for the past two years since his mother's passing.
As the eldest son, he was furious and felt a pang of self-reproach when his younger brother refused to attend their mother's funeral. As the eldest brother, he felt responsible for his brother's disloyalty and lack of filial piety, especially now that their father was gone.
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