"How could this be?" Yuan Doudou stared blankly, muttering to herself.
Zhang Aiju's eyes reddened as she looked at Yuan Doudou with heartache: "Doudou, don't be too sad. I'll have Qiqiang go to town to fetch a doctor."
Yuan Doudou was bewildered. She remembered Li Tianlang's words: if her mother-in-law were to have another one, even a miracle wouldn't be able to save her.
"Grandma, no, it's too late." Yuan Doudou squatted by the bedside, hoping her mother-in-law would wake up.
"Mother, wake up!" Yuan Doudou cried, tears streaming down her face. Wang Shi had raised her, and now she was gone. How could she not be heartbroken?
Hearing the calls, Wang slowly awoke.
Knowing her time was near, she weakly instructed, "DouDou, bring me my burial clothes. They're at the very bottom of the cupboard."
shroud?
Yuan Doudou then remembered that for a while, Wang would go into the house after eating and close the door. At first, she didn't know why.
It turned out that the mother-in-law was making her own funeral clothes.
"Dou Dou, go get it. I'll watch over your mother," Zhang Aiju reassured her.
Yuan Doudou got up, her legs were weak, and she walked towards the cabinet while holding onto the bed frame.
The shroud was dark blue, bulging inside, and felt like willow catkins.
Yuan Doudou felt heartbroken, blaming herself for being useless, unable to even provide her mother-in-law with a decent funeral shroud.
"Come on, let's help your mother put this on." Zhang Aiju helped the elderly woman in the family put on her pajamas, and seeing Yuan Doudou crying incessantly, she went over to help.
Zhang Aiju moved very quickly, and in no time, the funeral clothes were on.
Wang Qiqiang prepared straw mats in the main room and helped carry Wang Shi into the main room.
Anji lay beside his grandmother, sobbing and calling out, "Grandma, Grandma, don't die."
Wang's mouth opened and closed, but she could no longer speak; her cloudy eyes had lost their luster.
"Anji, be good, don't let your tears fall on Grandma's clothes." Zhang Aiju's eyes were red and her voice was hoarse.
Yuan Doudou held Wang Shi's hand and cried, "Mother, don't worry, I will take good care of this family and wait for Anrong to come back."
Wang seemed to hear her. She squeezed Yuan Doudou's hand tightly for a moment, then let go, closed her eyes, and gradually shut her mouth.
"Mother!" A painful cry pierced the sky.
"Qiqiang, go and inform the An family quickly." Zhang Aiju was heartbroken yet calm; she couldn't leave the An family at this moment.
Angie seemed to know something and cried along with his mother.
"Grandma, Grandma." Grandma loves him the most, why is she ignoring him?
Yuan Doudou knelt on the ground, stunned and blank.
"Dou Dou, you can't fall down, Anji is still so young." Zhang Aiju was afraid something would happen to Yuan Dou Dou, so she quickly comforted her.
Yuan Doudou nodded blankly, as if to agree.
The old lady is right. With her mother-in-law gone, she needs to be even stronger to support the family.
"Good girl, if you want to cry, just cry." Zhang Aiju hugged Yuan Doudou tightly. She had watched Doudou grow up and liked the girl from the bottom of her heart.
My life is so hard.
After a long while, Yuan Doudou burst into tears.
When Wang Qiqiang entered the room, he saw Yuan Doudou crying her heart out, and his own heart ached as well.
He had just gone to Anbihuai's house, and when they heard that Wang Shi had died, they were all unmoved.
Zhuang Shuhui went even further, saying that it would be a good thing if someone died.
Wang Qiqiang was speechless for a moment and could only stand quietly, waiting for their response.
With a living person standing at the door, An Bihuai couldn't sit still any longer and stood up. "Wang Qiqiang, you go first, I'll get ready and go."
Wang Qiqiang was skeptical, but he still went back.
When Zhang Aiju saw her son return, she hurriedly asked, "Where is he?"
"Uncle Bi Huai said he'll be here soon," Wang Qiqiang replied truthfully.
Zhang Aiju snorted inwardly. This An Bihuai was truly heartless.
Funerals cost money, and Yuan Doudou had just given all her money to help their family. Now that Doudou's family is facing such a big event, they are dragging their feet.
They've lost all their conscience.
"Auntie, don't be angry. If they come, Mom will be unhappy too." Yuan Doudou stopped crying, slowly got up, and went into the inner room.
Anji cried until he was exhausted, so Zhang Aiju carried him inside to rest.
Wang Qiqiang was busy in the yard; there were too many things to prepare.
Village head Zhou Chuangen brought the villagers, and the people who came were all elderly people in the village who were very familiar with the funeral process.
When Zhou Chuangen saw Wang Shi on the ground, he couldn't help but sigh. She used to be the most beautiful woman in the village, and every man who saw her would love her. But she married a useless man named An Bisheng and suffered poverty all her life.
As Zhou Chuangen thought about it, he couldn't help but shed tears.
Yuan Doudou came out of the house with the money bag and handed it to Zhang Aiju.
"Auntie, this is all the money we have. I don't know anything about these things, so I'm leaving it to you." Yuan Doudou tried to calm herself down. The most important thing right now was to arrange the funeral properly so that her mother-in-law could pass away peacefully.
With tears in her eyes, Zhang Aiju took the money, saying, "Don't worry, with your aunt here, I'll make sure everything is taken care of."
Then she asked her family to come and help.
Music is very important in funeral rites.
Whenever the village needs to hold an event, they always hire musicians from the town, who are excellent at playing the yu (a type of reed instrument).
Of the three children, Wang Qiqiang was the most capable, so Zhang Aiju still sent Wang Qiqiang.
Wang Qisheng and Wang Ningjing stayed in the yard to work.
Yuan Doudou, dressed in mourning clothes, knelt before the coffin. When someone came to offer condolences, she would return the gesture.
"Hasn't An Bihuai's family arrived yet?" Zhou Chuangen asked casually as he was about to leave.
Zhang Aiju kept a cold face, not wanting to mention that family.
"Qisheng, go and call the An family again. What kind of family would it be if they weren't here?" Zhou Chuangen said, sounding like a patriarch.
Wang Qisheng remained motionless, staring at his mother.
Zhang Aiju sneered: "You're the village head, you should be the one to handle this kind of thing. My son doesn't have that kind of influence."
She had already sent her eldest son, but he couldn't get anyone to come, so why would she send her second son to face the same rejection?
To deal with An Bihuai, the village head is the only one who can handle it.
Zhou Chuangen was speechless and could only leave dejectedly.
On the way, he cursed as he walked, saying that An Bihuai was really too insensible.
No matter how many grudges you may have, you should understand the principle of respecting the dead.
When Zhou Chuangen arrived at An Bihuai's house, he found that the gate of his courtyard was tightly closed.
Could it be that he/she is not at home?
"Knock knock knock." Zhou Chuangen knocked on the door forcefully. "An Bihuai, open the door quickly, it's me, Zhou Chuangen."
An Bihuai was lying in bed pretending to be asleep when he heard the noise outside and quickly got up.
"Where are you going?" Zhuang Shuhui grabbed him, not letting him go.
An Bihuai asked anxiously, "Didn't you hear it was the village head?"
Zhuang Shuhui wasn't afraid of any village head, as long as she didn't have to attend the funeral.
"Forget about the village head, no one is allowed to go anywhere today." They can go out after three days, when Wang is buried.
An Bihuai sat down angrily. That damned woman! Why wasn't she the one who died? Just think of his sister-in-law. What a remarkable person she was! To say she was as beautiful as a beauty that could make fish sink and geese fall from the sky would be an understatement.
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