When she arrived at the funeral home, the cold air made her shiver. It was Fang Yu's first time in such a place, and the air was filled with the mixed smell of disinfectant and incense.
Yu Jihong, with her hair disheveled, huddled alone in the corner, her eyes swollen like walnuts. When she saw them, she rushed over, hugged Fang Yu, and cried again.
According to regulations, cremation was required. When Fang San Di returned, there was a handful of ashes in a box. The funeral was held at home on a chosen date, and the atmosphere was so oppressive that it was hard to breathe.
Fang Meixiang's mother told Yuan Tingting that the child couldn't go to Fang Yu's house for a while, and that she would go see Yu Jihong herself.
Fang Meixiang learned about this from her family's discussion. When Fang Meixiang's mother said she was going, she called out "Mom!" and pointed to herself.
"You also want to go see Jihong, don't you?"
"Um!"
Fang Meixiang's mother thought for a moment but still didn't want her to go. "You stay at home, I'll just go and check on things."
Yuan Tingting stood on tiptoe, covered her mouth with her hand, and whispered in Fang Dongqiang's ear, "Go and see Sister Fang Yu. She must be very sad right now."
"Dongqiang, you stay home and watch over everyone. I'm going to Fang Yu's house," Fang Meixiang's mother said to Fang Meixiang, then turned to Fang Dongqiang.
"Grandma, I'll go with you!"
"You're going too?"
“You said Fang Yu’s mom speaks nicely to my mom, and that my mom smiles whenever she sees her. I’ll go and see her on my mom’s behalf.”
"You shouldn't go. Her family has that there now, just leave it at home." Fang Meixiang's mother still didn't want her children's generation to go.
“Grandma, my brother is an adult now, not a child anymore. He’s not afraid,” Yuan Tingting said as she came out. “You go ahead, we won’t come out. I’ll keep an eye on Fangfang and Zhezhe. Once you’re out, I’ll close the door.”
“Then…” Fang Meixiang’s mother looked at Fang Dongqiang.
"Let's go!" Fang Dongqiang and Fang Meixiang's mother went to Fang Yu's house together.
Before, when he went to the fields with Fang Meixiang's mother, he was only as tall as his grandmother carrying a vegetable basket. Now, with his grandmother next to him, he only reaches Fang Dongqiang's shoulder.
Fang Yu's family has had some relatives visiting these past few days. Fang Meixiang's mother walked over to Yu Jihong, took her cold hand, and patted it. Glancing at the urn on the table, she choked up and couldn't say anything to comfort her.
Fang Dongqiang went to Fang Yu's side, not knowing what to say, and after a while, he said, "Fang Yu, don't be sad."
Fang Yu nodded, and tears fell again.
Those who passed away in the village were still buried in the ground, so the villagers had more to discuss and lament about Fang Sandi's passing.
"I left home a perfectly healthy person at the beginning of the year, and came back as a pile of ashes. Sigh!" someone sighed.
"Yes, I saw them that morning when the three of them left early. I even told them to make more money this year."
"My third brother is truly pitiful. His life has already ended like this, and in the end, he didn't even have a proper burial."
"How could it be burned to ashes? Everyone says that burial brings peace, so what's the point of burying ashes in an urn?"
"I heard that people in the city are cremated when they die. Our crematorium is under construction here, and people will be cremated after it's finished."
Later, a thick wooden case was made for the urn, and the funeral was held according to the burial ceremony. Fang Meixiang's mother sent a wreath, and Fang Meili, as Yu Jihong's friend, also sent one separately. Fang Huahua didn't go to work that day and saw Fang Sandi off on his final journey.
Fang Sandi was buried in a ravine behind the village, facing the rice paddy he had cultivated when he was alive. The wind blew from the ravine, carrying the fresh scent of the rice paddy.
As the hustle and bustle of the funeral procession subsided, the air was filled with the smell of incense ash and the dampness of summer, so oppressive that it was hard to breathe.
Yu Jihong sat in the room, lost in thought.
Fang San Di left and would never come back. She looked up and vaguely felt that Fang San Di would still walk in from outside the door as usual, carrying a hoe. The thought that he would never come back made her dry eyes well up with tears again. Fang Yu squatted down next to him and leaned on her legs, silently shedding tears.
The summer insects chirped tirelessly outside the window at night, and occasionally a few dogs barked from the edge of the village. Yu Jihong and Fang Yu lay in bed without saying a word, making the silence in the room seem even more abrupt.
"Fang Yu, from now on it'll just be the two of us," Yu Jihong said in a hoarse voice.
"Mom, come with me to the county town. Don't stay home alone."
Yu Jihong turned around and hugged Fang Yu, "How could this happen?" She started sobbing again, thinking about what had happened.
That morning, before the shop even welcomed its first customers, flames leaped from the coal stove, and thick smoke and heat instantly filled the small shop. Yu Jihong was so frightened that her legs went weak. She turned to run but was choked and coughed. Fang Sandi grabbed her and pushed her towards the door, "Get out of here!" Just as he finished speaking, the wooden beams of the roof crackled and popped from the fire, and a burning rafter suddenly snapped, crashing straight into Yu Jihong's back.
Fang Sandi reacted quickly, shoving her aside, but he himself was struck squarely on the shoulder by the wooden rafter. He groaned and fell to his knees, his clothes instantly ablaze. "Don't worry about me! Go!" He looked up at Yu Jihong, who stood frozen in the doorway, and roared with his last ounce of strength.
Yu Jihong was pulled back to the alley entrance by her neighbors. When the fire was extinguished and she found him under the charred wooden rafters, his hand was still in the position of pushing her.
“Fang Yu, Dad is protecting us, he’s always protecting us,” Yu Jihong said, her voice choked with emotion.
Fang Yu leaned against Yu Jihong, holding her arm. Yu Jihong reached out and hugged Fang Yu back. In the long, dark night, the two leaned on each other like this, and in the long years to come, they would rely on each other like this.
The chirping of insects outside the window continued, but the sorrow inside the house, like a tide, engulfed the entire night.
Fang San Di's ashes had only been buried for a few days, and the incense ash hadn't even cooled down yet, when his two older sisters stepped over the threshold and came in.
Yu Jihong knew that the two women hadn't come for anything good, so she told Fang Yu to go to her room.
His eldest sister spoke first, her tone firm and unyielding, "Jihong, this house is our family's ancestral home. If you take Fang Yu with you and don't marry, you can continue living here. But if you do marry, no other man can live here. The house must be returned to our family."
"Big sister, our third brother just left, and you're already eyeing the house?" Yu Jihong was trembling with anger.
“Jihong, it’s not that we’re heartless. We’ve already said that if you’re not married, you and Fang Yu can continue living together. But if you marry another man, it wouldn’t be right to bring him to live with us, would it?” His second sister chimed in.
“Fang Yu and I are registered here, so this house belongs to us.” Yu Jihong also insisted, “Even if you go to court, you can’t take this house away.”
"No wonder I was so quick to let Fang Yu take my family name and register her household there. It was all for the sake of my family's house."
"Eldest sister, second sister, Fang Yu and I didn't say anything, so please don't make a scene here," Yu Jihong said in a low voice.
“We used to be hesitant about it. Now that our third brother is gone, we don’t have to hide it from Fang Yu anymore, Ji Hong,” his second sister pulled her chair closer, “Look, Fang Yu isn’t much older than my Fei Hao. If we marry Fang Yu to Fei Hao, this house will go to Fang Yu. We’ll become even closer as relatives, and you and Fang Yu will have someone to rely on.”
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