"Mother, have you prepared Dad's burial clothes?"
Her thoughts were interrupted by Shumei's words.
"Yes, yes, it's in the closet! Go find it! I'll tell Xiaoqin and ask her to come over to help." Wu Ju said, and walked out the door in a daze.
Shumei quickly said, "Mother, please hurry up! The two children are still at home! I have to go back and take a look."
Wu Ju turned around and glared at Shumei, saying coldly, "People are so cold-hearted. What could be more serious than death? A child this big has to be pampered and cherished like this. It's all spoiled bad habits."
After she finished speaking, she turned around and walked away without giving Shumei any chance to refute.
In an instant, Shumei was left alone in this cold and desolate house.
Shumei found the funeral clothes from the closet. As Zhang Binglin's body was already stiff, it was particularly difficult to put the funeral clothes on. She took a lot of effort to put the funeral clothes on Zhang Binglin's upper body. As for the difference between men and women, she had to give up and wait for Wu Ju to come back to put them on.
She waited and waited, but Wu Ju didn't come back. In desperation, she had to go next door to look for her herself. She was afraid that the two children would be anxiously waiting for her at home, and she was also afraid that they would be hungry, so she had to go back.
She thought of going back to settle the two children first, and then coming back to take care of Zhang Binglin's funeral.
The lights were on at the Fu family next door, and it seemed that they were having lunch in the main room. She did not push open the gate and walk in directly, but stood at the gate and called "Mom" twice towards the house.
After calling out, there was still no response from inside. She called out twice, "Sister, sister!" There was still no movement in the room. It must be because it was late at night, and no one called out the name, so she didn't know who she was calling.
She simply called Zhang Xiaoqin's name, "Zhang Xiaoqin, Zhang Xiaoqin, I'm Shumei! Are you home?"
Now, there was finally movement in the house. The light on the eaves came on, and Zhang Xiaoqin walked out of the house angrily, holding a bowl of noodles in her hand, eating noodles as she walked.
She walked to the center of the courtyard and took a closer look. She found that it was really Shumei. She couldn't help but curse: "Have you taken the wrong medicine? How dare you call me by my name? It seems that you just changed men and don't even recognize me, your ex-husband's eldest sister. It's the middle of the night. Why don't you stay with your two little treasures and come to me to yell and make noises?"
Shumei looked anxious and tried to interrupt Zhang Xiaoqin several times, but ultimately failed. She waited for Zhang Xiaoqin to take a breath before she seized the opportunity to swoop in. "Sister, where's Mom? Didn't she come to see you?"
"Mother? No! She didn't come! What happened?"
"Where can she go? I'm so worried now that my father is gone."
"What? What? Daddy is gone?"
"Dad—Dad is dead."
"Ah? Why is it so sudden? This—that—wait a moment, I'll put down my chopsticks and come over."
As Zhang Xiaoqin spoke, she hurried back into the house with the bowl of noodles in her hand. A moment later, she came out hurriedly with empty hands and followed Shumei back to the Zhang family.
When the old couple of the Fu family heard the news, they rushed over soon after.
They all knew that it was not easy for this family as they had no man at home. In addition, as they had been neighbors for many years and had a good relationship with Zhang Xiaoqin, they also wanted to see if there was anything they could do to help.
Zhang Xiaoqin looked at the half-dressed burial clothes and turned back to ask Shumei angrily, "You're only wearing half of the burial clothes, what are you doing?"
"this--"
Shumei looked embarrassed, and seeing the two elders of the Fu family were there, she found it difficult to speak.
Zhang Xiaoqin did not help Zhang Binglin put on his clothes, and muttered to herself: My mother is really something. My father is gone, but she still goes out to fool around. Are the men she goes out to meet more important than my father's death?
Her voice was very soft, so quiet that only she could hear it.
Mother Fu shook Father Fu's arm and whispered to him, "Why don't you go and help out? This daughter-in-law is really having some troubles here."
Mr. Fu frowned, as if he was a little reluctant.
He looked at the woman lying there, skinny and with a miserable look on her face, with traces of tears under the corners of her eyes. Suddenly, he felt a little sorry for her and walked over with a sigh.
"Xiaoqin, Shumei, go prepare the bamboo fence for the body. I'll help my brother put on the shroud! We've been neighbors for decades, and this is the only thing I can do for him."
His tone of voice was particularly heavy, and his face showed an expression of regret and pity.
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