Lin Shitou remained silent, holding Lin Xiaobao and playing by himself.
“Fine, if you don’t care about Grandpa, I will. I’ll take care of everything for Grandpa’s funeral. I’ll find helpers, order a good coffin, and send Grandpa off in a grand and splendid manner.”
Li Cuihua's eyes darted around, and another idea popped into her head. She raised her voice and said to Lin Xiao:
"No, the old man still has a son. What would it be like to hand him over to you? If you want to take care of it, bring the money, and I can definitely manage it well, right, Lin Shitou?"
Lin Shitou reacted this time, nodding and saying, "Yes, I've also thought about taking good care of your grandfather, but I just don't have the money. If you can come up with the money, your mother and I will definitely do our best."
Fine, let them take advantage. If money can buy their filial piety and make Grandpa rest in peace, he'd be willing.
Just then, the village chief arrived, and Lin Xiao called out, "Grandpa Village Chief, it's perfect that you're here to be a witness. My grandfather has passed away, and I'm going to take out fifty yuan so they can properly take care of him."
Passerby A: "Wow, Lin Xiao is such a filial son. He took out fifty yuan without batting an eye. Looks like he's quite well-off now."
Passerby B: "That's right, Brother Lin is lucky. Who can get their younger generation to give them fifty yuan when they get old? Ten yuan is the most they can ask for."
Passerby C: "This is the first one in our village."
Lin Fugui stroked his beard and said with satisfaction, "I haven't spoiled you for nothing. Don't worry, I will definitely keep an eye on the two of them and make sure that all the money is used for your grandfather."
Li Cuihua objected, "How can we use them all? Wouldn't that mean we'd been helping for nothing? We wouldn't get any benefit from it. Who would want to do something that loses money?"
“That’s your father-in-law, Lin Shitou’s biological father. It’s normal for you children to take care of his funeral arrangements, not to mention that all the money was paid by Lin Xiao. If you two are unwilling, our village can’t accommodate your family anymore. You should just move out.”
Upon hearing this, Lin Shitou became anxious and quickly stopped Li Cuihua from saying too much. He smiled and said, "Alright, let's do as he says. This woman is ignorant, village chief, please don't take it to heart."
The village is their foundation, their home. If they are driven away because of this, where can they go? Besides, other villages won't welcome outsiders.
That was settled. Lin Xiao took out eighteen yuan from his pocket and handed it to Lin Shitou: "Here's all for you. Go buy a good coffin first. I'll get the rest of the money from home."
When Lin Shitou saw that he could get money right away, he snatched it, spat on it, counted it again and again, and finally confirmed the amount. He couldn't hide the smile on his face. He said he would use it all, but what did a child who hadn't even grown up know? There were many tricks involved.
After taking the money, she reminded Lin Xiao, "This money is barely enough to make a coffin. You'd better take out the rest quickly. It's hot now, so you need to bury your grandfather as soon as possible."
Lin Xiao scoffed: "Now you know to hurry up and bury Grandpa? Don't worry, I won't shortchange you a single penny. I hope you'll consider how much Grandpa raised you and not let him die with regrets."
"No, no, I'll go buy things right now. Honey, watch over the baby and make sure he doesn't get hurt."
Li Cuihua said "Okay," took Xiaobao happily, and went back into the house. She didn't care about what was going on here anymore. Anyway, she had the money in her hands, and she had to hurry inside to think about how to earn more.
Lin Fugui felt sorry for Lin Xiao, a child who knew nothing, so he called a few people to help. Although Lin Shitou was a scoundrel, he was right about one thing: his brother needed to be buried as soon as possible.
With such a filial grandson, the old man could die in peace.
A group of people hurriedly began preparing things, but Li Cuihua didn't come out even once from beginning to end. Everyone secretly cursed that this woman was really heartless.
Lin Jianguo also came over to greet them. After all, Lin Xiao called him godfather, so he had the right to take charge of some things.
Having found the right person and determined that tomorrow afternoon would be an auspicious day for the burial, Lin Xiao didn't want to waste any more time or argue with Lin Shitou.
Even Lin Shitou came to find Lin Xiao, looking dejected and saying that he didn't have enough money and asked Lin Xiao to take out some more.
Lin Xiao, who was kneeling in front of Grandpa Lin, was so angry that he laughed: "Do you think I'm really stupid? Fifty yuan, how much did you buy? You have the nerve to say you don't have enough money? Do you dare to say that to Grandpa?"
Lin Shitou was speechless after hearing these words. He glanced at his grandfather lying on the ground, said nothing, and walked out with his head down.
According to rural custom, when an elderly person in the family passes away, the host family must provide a meal for the person who helped them, regardless of the quality of the meal. It is unacceptable for someone to go home hungry after a long day of work.
But it was already getting dark, and Lin Shitou and his wife still showed no sign of offering to feed them. The people who were helping them cursed Lin Shitou a few times, calling him a scoundrel. Lin Fugui glared at them, signaling them to stop talking, and shouted at them to hurry home for dinner and come back early tomorrow.
Just as they were getting ready to go home, Er Ya came over carrying a basket and started calling out from afar, "Grandpa Village Chief, come and help me, I can barely hold on to it!"
Lin Fugui quickly stepped forward and took the basket. He glanced at it and exclaimed, "Wow!" No wonder the girl couldn't carry it. The basket was full of steamed buns, with two pieces of meat in each bun. He looked at Er Ya in surprise and said, "What do you mean by this? Why are you carrying so much stuff?"
Er Ya pulled Lin Fugui aside and whispered, "My mother said that since Grandpa Lin is gone, Brother Lin Xiao must be very sad and might neglect you in some way. His parents definitely won't take good care of things. We're leaving all the funeral arrangements to you. She asked me to bring you some food."
Actually, this was not what Jiang's mother had thought of. Although they had become godparents, there was no reason for her to bring them food and drinks. It was Er Ya who insisted on bringing them. She knew that the couple would definitely not let the people who helped them eat. Although they could not say anything at the time, they would inevitably complain about Lin Xiao afterward. In order to prevent this from happening, Er Ya wanted to use food to shut them up.
Lin Fugui nodded and said, "Your mother is so thoughtful. Lin Xiao is a lucky boy to have become a godparent. Alright, I've received the things. It's getting dark. Wait for me a bit, and we'll go back together."
To be continued!
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