funeral
Following the direction the mechanical kite had gone, Yue Lang recalled the teahouse where he first met Meng Yan. He picked up his hat and quickened his pace, trying to figure out what had happened.
"A big deal? What do you mean, sir? What big deal could possibly happen in a small place like ours?"
The waiter wiped the table with a rag, slung it over his back, poured Yue Lang a cup of hot tea, and turned to leave.
"A small matter is fine, whatever you ask for is acceptable." Yue Lang turned him over and stuffed a piece of silver into his hand.
The waiter's face immediately lit up with a smile, and he bent over laughing. But then, remembering what he was about to say, he quickly swallowed his laughter back.
"Does a funeral count, young master?"
Yue Lang sipped his tea, tacitly allowing him to continue.
"Madam Lin passed away a few days ago. These past two days have been the funeral, and she will be buried tomorrow. In my opinion, it's not all bad. I heard she fell ill suddenly and passed away before a doctor could be called. It's good that she suffered less."
It's good that it's not the Meng family. Although Yue Lang thought this way, he still couldn't put his mind at ease. Suddenly, a muffled thunderclap sounded outside the window, and his hand holding the teacup trembled, splashing water out.
"Speaking of which, there's another matter related to this." The waiter hurriedly grabbed a rag to wipe the table dry and refilled it for him, then continued, "The Lin family has two daughters. The eldest daughter is said to have married a wealthy man as a concubine. In the past three years, she hasn't come home more than a few times. When she does come back, she acts arrogantly and domineeringly towards her relatives. She gets neither money nor favor, and I don't know where she gets her confidence. Some say she's gone mad, while others say she's climbed up the social ladder and thinks she's a phoenix, looking down on these old relatives. The second daughter is completely different. Rumor has it that she's well-educated and beautiful, but I wonder why such a woman is still unmarried. Is she really, as people say, staying by her parents' side to fulfill her filial duties?"
After scoffing, the waiter realized his rudeness and bowed his head to Yue Lang, giving a dry laugh. "Without the young master, this is the only thing worth mentioning lately."
Yue Lang waved for him to leave, and was about to get up and go out when he heard the woman at the next table cough twice and say, "Don't believe what they say."
Just then, a torrential downpour began outside the window, as if someone had lifted a river or lake into the sky and punctured it. The sound of rain and thunder crashed down, swallowing up all other sounds inside the building.
Yue Lang glanced out the window, worried about whether Meng Yan had brought an umbrella in her mechanical kite, and if not, whether she had found a place to take shelter from the rain.
After a loud bang, Yue Lang sat down opposite the woman, took out some loose silver and gave it to her: "I would like to hear the details."
"They're all filthy bastards who eat people without spitting out the bones." The woman pushed the broken silver back with her teacup, covered her face and coughed, then looked up at Yue Lang. "Those Lin family relatives, apart from a few women, are all worthless. The father of the family head is biased; he disliked his eldest daughter for not being able to speak properly and kicked her out of the house. For years, he hasn't repented or looked for her once. Only last year, when the eldest son came home and gave them some silver to take care of her mother, these relatives started targeting her."
Upon hearing "cannot speak," Yue Lang's brows furrowed instantly, but he did not interrupt the woman.
“I would ask her for money under various pretenses every day, and if I didn’t get it, I would curse her behind her back. Only when I got it would I smile like a normal person. I would tell everyone that my family had become powerful. But I don’t think that girl is someone who has become rich. Her hands are calloused more than mine. She is always injured. She is choosing fabrics and catching fish and shrimp. Rich people don’t need to go through all this trouble. They can just give her money directly. Why bother with all this trouble!”
"The second sister is indeed unmarried. Before her eldest sister was alive, she had some friends. But after her eldest sister left home, her father kept a very strict watch on her. Before long, she lost all her friends and was confined at home every day, building up her reputation. It's not that no one came to propose marriage, but either they felt deceived after meeting the people, or her father didn't care about the money offered. So it's been dragging on ever since her sister was kicked out of the house and turned 18. It's been four years now and there's still no news."
The woman was tired of talking, so she took a sip of tea. Yue Lang hurriedly called the waiter to refill her teacup with hot tea. He was holding his own teacup tightly in his hand, and the waiter was in agony as he tried to refill it, managing to pry it out of his hand.
Nodding her thanks, the woman gave a bitter smile: "These two sisters are so pitiful. They've never enjoyed any happiness since they were young. When they grew up, one was rumored to have become a concubine, and the other was tied up and waiting to be sold for a good price. Even this funeral for Sister Meng was spread by those cannibals. Their purpose was to take advantage of the last opportunity to lure the eldest sister home and then take money from her."
After saying that, she stared blankly at the hot tea in her cup for a while, then smiled apologetically at Yue Lang and said, "It's really presumptuous of me to tell you this, but I just can't stand their behavior. They're ruining perfectly good girls."
Yue Lang seemed lost in thought, holding his teacup without answering for a long time. Just as the woman was about to leave when the rain subsided, she suddenly heard him ask in a low voice behind her, "Does the eldest daughter of the Lin family take her mother's surname?"
"Yes." A hint of surprise flashed in the woman's eyes. "Father disliked her and wanted to throw her into the wilderness to be fed to the dogs. It was only because Sister Meng stopped him that the child was allowed to stay and take her surname."
Thank you.
Yue Lang got up and rushed into the rain before her. Xiao Er followed behind, carrying an umbrella and shouting as he rushed out. After a while, he crawled back into the house, soaking wet.
.
When she was rushing through the sky, Meng Yan vaguely heard someone calling her, but time was of the essence and she dared not linger on the way. Only now that her feet were on the ground could she spare some time to think about things.
According to local custom, a person is buried on the morning of the third day after death. The news reached her ears on the second day. If she didn't hurry, she wouldn't be able to see her mother one last time, not even in a coffin.
Stepping onto the dusty road I've walked countless times, the sky seemed to change color with each step, darkening with muffled thunder, pressing the dust that usually filled the air down to the ground, no longer vying for space with pedestrians.
"Xiao Jian, is it Xiao Jian?"
The white funeral banners stretched far into the distance, fluttering even without wind, extending to the walls of the neighboring houses on both sides. Before Meng Yan could even step into this gray and white expanse, the gate of the neighboring courtyard opened a crack, revealing the swollen face of the old woman next door who had been crying.
“Good child, you’re back. Come, sit with Grandma for a while.” Seeing the hesitation in her eyes, Grandma shook her head, took her hand, and glanced silently at the Lin family’s gate. “They’re all waiting for you to come back. They won’t close the door if you don’t go.”
As soon as I sat down inside the old lady's house, it started to drizzle outside, and I could vaguely hear the cursing from next door.
“Your mother left in a hurry, without leaving us any words. She fell ill in the first half of the night and passed away before the second half. In a way, at least she is free from the suffering of this world, isn’t she?”
Yes, it means leaving suffering, leaving happiness, and leaving people.
“Your relatives arrived early and couldn’t arrange any funeral arrangements for a whole day. It was the village chief who found out and helped us find people. Your mother has been helping the neighbors for so many years, and it’s finally time for us to help her out.”
"The thugs knocked on your door several times before your sister finally opened it. If the village chief hadn't been there in advance, they probably would have driven everyone out."
“We hung up the cloth and followed the proper etiquette, while they were huddled inside, plotting something. My child came to me, saying that they were spreading the word by making people spread the word, just waiting for you to come back and extort money from you!”
Meng Yan knew immediately that they were after her money again. After her mother's burial, she would never set foot in the Lin family again, and she had completely severed ties with these bloodsucking relatives. Taking advantage of this last chance, they naturally wanted to cut a piece of her flesh.
If money could solve everything and allow my mother to leave peacefully, that would be fine. But I was in such a hurry this time that I didn't bring any cash with me and I don't have a single penny on me. I should have known they would be here watching over her and I should have brought money with me from the beginning.
With her desired destination so close at hand, Meng Yan felt much more at ease. She pondered her relatives' grand plans and her own oversight. If she missed it because of this, she would not forgive the entire Lin family, nor herself for her lack of foresight.
Amidst the flashes of lightning and thunder, raindrops poured down from the eaves, silencing the shouts and curses from next door, leaving only a vast expanse of white in the world.
“We know how you feel, and your mother understands it better than any of us. It’s not easy for a young woman to earn money outside. You’ve suffered so much all these years. Listen to your mother’s advice and don’t go back. If you’re willing, just see your mother off in my yard.”
The old woman stared at the white banner for a while, then turned around and saw Meng Yan staring intently at the courtyard wall.
Separated by a wall, on one side is the sleeping mother, and on the other side is the awake self.
She wiped away two hot tears that hadn't yet rolled down, the burning sensation stinging her hand. It was like an illusion; how could she still feel pain? Shouldn't all the pain have gone with her mother?
She nodded and thanked the old woman, then got up and went to the door. It took her a long time to walk those few steps, until the rain was about to touch her nose, when the old woman called her from behind.
She brought Meng Yan an umbrella; it was an old-fashioned style that every household used more than ten years ago.
"Good boy, go wherever you want, but don't ever come back."
The clamor of rain pounded on the umbrella. She silently walked into the rain, waded through the water, turned out of the courtyard gate, and disappeared into the thick, hazy silver rain.
As soon as Meng Yan arrived at the Lin family's gate, the quiet courtyard seemed to receive some kind of instruction, and the sound of crying suddenly broke out, lingering in the rain and tearing at Meng Yan inch by inch.
"Xiao Jian, you're finally back! Your mother has passed away—"
"Shuangmei has left us. She died without ever seeing you one last time—"
Meng Yan watched silently as they howled and screamed at the door, their cries heart-wrenching, yet not a single tear fell from their eyes.
The women who were crying and keeping vigil did not get the response they wanted. They stared at each other blankly for a moment, then turned to Meng Yan.
Oh, they only remembered that they wanted money from her, forgetting that she couldn't speak and couldn't comfort the weeping crowd as usual.
The understanding relatives immediately stopped crying, put on a fawning attitude that had nothing to do with the occasion, came forward, took her arm, and led her to the door to take shelter from the rain.
Meng Yan nodded his thanks, but without stopping, he opened his umbrella and tried to walk inside, only to be stopped as expected.
“Xiao Jian, the money for your mother’s funeral was raised by everyone. You know your family’s situation. Where are you going to get that money?”
"Yes, there are funeral banners, religious ceremonies, and these mourning clothes we wear—doesn't all of that cost money?"
This shows that since there was no way to communicate emotionally, they simply asked for money directly.
Meng Yan understood, closed her umbrella and turned her clothes over. Everyone stared at her movements, but not a single copper coin fell out for a long time.
She spread her hands in front of everyone's eyes: I have no money.
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