Chapter 6: Feast
Although Liu Xiangdong and his wife cannot be said to be filial, they do a good job in maintaining their reputation.
The crackling sound of firecrackers rang out, and behind the white smoke was a temporary red lattice plastic shed. The tables, chairs and benches borrowed by each family were high and low, and several large pots were set up outside to stew the banquet dishes. Liu Xiangdong asked his uncles from his hometown to write the book, and he knelt in front of the ice coffin with his two sons.
Those who come to pay their respects first will bow or kowtow, and the filial sons and grandsons with white cloth tied on their heads will follow suit and kowtow.
Jian Li had witnessed the death of two elderly people in her previous life, so she was a little confused when she saw this scene.
She whispered to her mother: "Why is this happening?"
There were deaths in the compound, but generally there was a simple ceremony followed by cremation. The cotton mill had its own funeral parlor and cemetery, and if the deceased was sent there, it would be convenient for the children to pay their respects in the future.
But Grandma Liu's funeral was exactly like the rural scene she remembered.
Wang Mengmei sighed: "Who told your Grandpa Liu to die first? He was holding on to his last breath and insisted on being buried in the ancestral tomb in the countryside. Now your Grandma Liu has no choice but to be buried with him."
Wang Mengmei felt sad for the old lady.
The old lady had said more than once before she died that she didn't want to go back to the countryside. She was different from Jian Feng's father, who came from another place with the factory. She came from a rural area in a nearby county town.
At that time, the couple was working as farmers in the countryside. The old man in the family was partial to them, and several brothers bullied others. They occupied the good land and gave the waterless sandy land to them.
When the famine struck, they were so hungry that they were vomiting acid, but the sister-in-law refused to lend them even a bowl of cornmeal.
With no other options, the two went to the city to beg for food, and then, by some strange coincidence, they came across a job posting for temporary workers. They were hired by the factory and eventually became regular workers.
The old lady is such a kind person, but she gets angry when she mentions her sisters-in-law and brother-in-law.
"My dear brother, if you don't even give us a bowl of porridge, you will watch us die."
The old lady spat, "I'd rather die than go back!"
She controlled the man and wouldn't let him go back. Anyway, it was agreed when the family was divided that they would get less and they wouldn't take turns to be raised in old age.
But who knows that men don’t think this way.
The man went to his hometown without her knowledge and borrowed money and notes. When he was dying, he wanted to go back to his hometown with his last breath.
He finally got what he wanted, but the old lady suffered.
Destined to be buried back in the place she had hated for most of her life.
Wang Mengmei brought her daughter to the gift list and kowtowed. Wang Liming's wife Xue Fang had already been there, so she quickly waved to the two of them to come over and sit together.
"Sister-in-law, come!"
Wang Mengmei sat down: "You came quite early."
Xue Fang smiled and said, "Isn't it because Beibei is hungry? I wanted to come early and go back early after eating."
Xue Fang said as she scraped a small plate of peanuts off the table and gave it to Jian Li: "Xiao Li, eat first. The hot dishes haven't been served yet."
Jian Li took it with a smile and teased Wang Beibei, who was just over four years old, to eat it together.
Among her father's childhood friends, only Wang Liming can be considered to be a man of upright character.
In his previous life, Wang Liming first went to the south and moved bricks on a construction site. Soon he had good luck and met a small contractor. Seeing that Wang Liming was diligent and efficient, the contractor gave him the job of supervising the construction site. Wang Liming worked smoothly with the contractor for several years, and later bought a house in the south and started a wholesale floor tile business.
In the beginning, Jian Feng was also called over, but Jian Feng had already lost his determination by then, so he just asked Wang Mengmei to hold him back for a while.
Later, the two families lost contact.
Wang Beibei was weak and looked like a little bean sprout when she was just over four years old.
Jian Li teased her while listening to the adults chatting.
Wang Mengmei looked around and asked Xue Fang in a low voice, "Why are there so many people here today?"
Before coming, she thought there would be no more than seven or eight tables, but now, seeing that there were almost twenty tables and many people still without seats, she could only leave the bill and leave.
"Sister-in-law, don't you know? Liu Xiangdong sent a letter to everyone he knew in the compound, and he wrote down the names of all the families... He even sent a letter to Old Zhang who worked in the boiler room."
Old Zhang has been childless these years and rarely goes out. He has no friendship with anyone in the factory. Even for this person, Liu Xiangdong went to slip him a letter early in the morning.
Xue Fang wiped her daughter's mouth and said with a hint of disdain: "These two are really capable of doing this."
It's simply amazing.
Except for a few people who were too embarrassed to respond to the posts Liu Xiangdong sent out, almost all the others responded.
Money has become less and less valuable in recent years. Families feel embarrassed to spend less than a few cents, so they insist on giving a minimum of five dollars.
Wang Mengmei looked at the person who was registering the gift list, with a wad of change in his hand. Liu Xiangdong's wife Zhang Qin was there to greet and see off guests, and her teeth were about to show because of her inability to hold back her money.
Now that the old lady is gone, the couple has lost all their dignity.
Wang Mengmei said angrily: "Having a son and daughter-in-law like this is no different from raising them for nothing!"
People work hard to save face when they are alive, and after they die they make a fortune by relying on the reputation of their elders.
Xue Fang also sighed. Her husband was not at home. If he was at home, she would have to give him some instructions.
Although the affection developed from childhood is rare, in her opinion, Liu Xiangdong and his wife are really not that good.
How can anyone associate with him when he is so cold-hearted even to his own mother?
Wang Mengmei also thought of this, but she was a little worried about her own family.
Even though Liu Xiangdong’s behavior last time was not nice and made Jian Feng very disappointed, but based on her understanding of her husband, she knew that when Liu Xiangdong came home to cry and talk about the difficulties in the past, Jian Feng would definitely soften his heart.
Wang Mengmei felt annoyed when she thought of this.
Just as she glanced over, she saw Jian Li eating peanuts, one at a time, and she was very accurate in catching them, which made Wang Beibei clap her hands in approval.
"Sister is so awesome!"
Wang Mengmei: …
Being stared at by the death ray, Jian Li immediately put down the peanuts in her hand and sat down obediently.
Her mother was looking for someone to vent her anger on, so she had to endure it. When she got home, her mother could vent her anger on her father!
Wang Beibei tilted her head, as if she didn't understand why Jian Li didn't play anymore.
Wang Mengmei was just about to start scolding her daughter.
Jian Li: "Mom, hurry up, the food is here!"
An interruption interrupted her mother's anger that had just been accumulating.
The Jane family’s family training.
Don't discipline your children while they are eating.
When Jian Li was a child, even when she was being scolded, she would only stand in the corner of the room after she had eaten and drunk enough.
Sure enough, as soon as the hot dishes were served, Wang Mengmei's thousands of words turned into just one sentence.
“…Eat it!”
Authentic country banquet dish. Jian Li confessed again before picking up the chopsticks.
I will try to reduce my weight tomorrow!
The banquet was not of high standard. After all, Liu Xiangdong and his wife didn't order any pig's trotters or spareribs. In the middle was a large plate of stewed vegetables. The two-finger-wide pork belly was fried to extract the oil, and then added with cabbage, tofu, meatballs, vermicelli... a large pot of greasy mixed vegetables was cooked.
What was left were two bowls, one with crispy chicken, one with braised pork with dried vegetables, and a few vegetarian dishes.
The amount of braised pork was not big, the largest portion was the stewed vegetables, and then there was a large plate of steamed buns on the table. Finally, there was a hot and sour egg soup.
Jian Li was steaming steamed buns with one hand and eating stewed vegetables with the other. After finishing one steamed bun, she took another one.
She broke the steamed bun open and stuffed as much dried beans as possible into the steamed bun. The dried vegetables were soaked in the juice of the fat meat and tasted soft and meaty. If Jian Li hadn't urged herself to control herself, she would have had at least another steamed bun.
Wang Beibei usually plays while eating. Today, she was accompanied by Jian Li and ate most of a steamed bun. Xue Fang was so happy that she urged Jian Li to come to her house to play more often.
"Come here, Auntie will cook for you. I will make you whatever you want to eat!"
Xue Fang likes Jian Li's cheerfulness when she eats with big mouthfuls, but the three people in her own family eat as if they were taking medicine.
Wang Beibei has never liked eating since she was a child, and now she has become a well-known "family with difficulty in eating" in the compound.
That is to say, she doesn't beat the child, otherwise Wang Beibei would have been beaten countless times.
Jian Li chuckled, and before her mother remembered to punish her, she quickly said, "Mom, I'm going to find my dad. He must be too busy to eat, so I'll give him a bite."
Jian Li ran away in a flash, and after searching for a long time, she finally found her father in Liu Xiangdong's house.
Liu Xiangdong was also there, and they were the only two people in the room.
Jian Li's heart was immediately alarmed. Why did Liu Xiangdong go to her father alone?
She went into the house and listened for a while behind others' back.
Liu Xiangdong had just cried and his eyes were red. He told Jian Feng about his difficulties.
"Brother Feng, what do you think I should do? The old lady has passed away, and the children in the family are now in junior high school. No one can take care of the children. My wife can't be unemployed forever. How can we survive without a job? I only make a hundred yuan a month, and I can't even afford the money for the children's school uniforms..."
"Brother, can't you help me ask the factory to arrange a job for my wife, even cleaning toilets? At least there will be some income for the family."
…
Jian Li: ...
She remembered!
This happened to her in her last life. Liu Xiangdong asked her father, and he did ask the factory, but the result was that it could not be arranged. Now, not to mention cleaning the toilets in the factory, even the public toilets are directly contracted out.
Where can I find any leisure time job?
Later, her father felt bad for her and introduced Zhang Qin to a job as a helper in a breakfast shop in the market. The salary was not much, only 80 yuan a month.
But after just a few days of going, Zhang Qin started complaining that getting up early was too tiring. Not only did she not want to go anymore, she also went around saying that her father was a cruel person.
Her mother, Wang Mengmei, had a bad temper and immediately started a fight with him. The relationship between the two families reached a freezing point.
Looking back now, it seems that Liu Xiangdong and Zhang Qin deliberately quarreled with their family. Since the relationship broke down, it was only natural that they should demand repayment for the money they owed.
Jian Li listened to her father saying, "It's really hard to arrange things in the factory right now... Oh, Xiangdong, okay, I'll find one for you..."
Jian Li yelled, "Dad!"
Liu Xiangdong was overwhelmed when he saw Jian Li appear.
This is not the first time. Why does this girl always appear so quietly?
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