Chapter 7 Funeral Procession

  Qing Lan and they returned home when Jia Zhi Lan was still at Bai Cui Fen's house.

  All afternoon, Zhi Lan and Liu Xiu Zhen were at Bai Cui Fen's home helping to entertain the guests.

  Qingsheng and the elderly in the village discussed the burial of An Bingwen and discussed some details.

  "Bingwen is not a member of the Liu family, and he died so young, so according to the Liu family's rules, he cannot be buried on the ancestral mountain of the Liu family," said an old man with white hair wearing a green robe.

  Qingsheng stood in front of the old man, his hands under his chin, nodding thoughtfully. "Mmm, I know this, no matter what can't break the clan rules. But now we must find a place with good feng shui to bury Bingwen, he's so young and gone, it's also our responsibility, our Liu family village didn't take care of him well, I as the village head didn't take care of him well..." Qingsheng's eyes were red.

  "It's not your fault." Several elders immediately comforted him.

  Qingsheng's father-in-law, Liu Xiu Zhen's old father Liu Dezhou, patted Qingsheng on the shoulder and asked him to sit down. "Bingwen is our Liu family village's nephew. His grandfather moved from outside the mountain to settle in Liu family village to avoid flooding years ago. Their family was also a scholarly family of high birth when they were outside the mountain. Now he has passed away at such a young age, no matter what, our Liu family village cannot mistreat him."

  After listening to Old Man Liu's words, several other elderly members of the clan nodded in agreement.

  "Although Bingwen can't go to the ancestral grave, there is a good piece of land at Laohutou, I've already picked it out for Bingwen. Laohutou just happens to face southeast, the direction of his hometown, let's bury him there." Liu Laojie finished speaking, picked up the cane leaning against the stool, and hobbled home one step at a time.

  After settling on a burial site, Qing Shu and the other elders discussed and inquired about the remaining matters while making arrangements in an orderly manner.

  Because An Bingwen died of illness, he was not yet 40 years old when he passed away, and his ancestors were not Tujia people, so they did not follow the Tujia custom of keeping the body for three days or inviting a Taoist priest to perform rituals. Everything was done according to Han customs. Therefore, on that night, after the new clothes were hastily made, they sent him off.

  Zhilan never brought Shaojie and Shaomin back to the big village, nor did she tell them that their father had left, gone forever. She let them stay in the small village with Lin Xie, playing at home.

  Until Biao Wen was put into the coffin, Zhi Lan brought Shao Jie and Shao Min from the small village over, helped them put on mourning clothes and a mourning cloth, and had Shao Min and Shao Jie kneel down in front of Biao Wen's coffin.

  When the coffin was lifted, Qing Shu picked up Shao Jie and placed him on top of the coffin, sitting across it with his hands supporting him. After walking a distance, he picked him up again.

  This time, Shao Jie obediently let Qing Sheng hug him and put him down without glaring at Qing Sheng with hostility as he usually did. Usually, he wouldn't even let Qing Sheng touch his fingertips.

  After seeing off An Bingwen, for a very long time, except occasionally going to the vegetable garden in the morning and evening to pick some green vegetables back, Bai Cuifen almost never left her house.

  But the villagers can still often see An Shaojie carrying a bamboo basket out of the door in the morning or evening, either going up the mountain to pick some wild vegetables, mushrooms, kudzu roots, medicinal materials and so on, or picking something from the fields.

  Three months later, it was the sweltering June.

  The peach blossoms have fallen, the pear flowers have dropped, and both the cold spring and warm spring are gone. After the village of Liu's family, which was once full of beautiful flowers, has retreated, it is hidden in a lush greenery at the beginning of summer.

  The daytime in the mountain village is always shorter than the night, even in June. At 5 o'clock in the afternoon, the sun has already begun to set slowly westward, but the intense heat has not retreated, and the ground is still like being roasted by fire, steaming with heat.

  Bai Cuifen wore a cotton green flower short-sleeved shirt, dark green trousers and cotton shoes. After locking the gate, she shouldered a hoe and went out.

  Behind her were An Shao Min and An Shao Jie.

  Shao Min held a small rake in his hand, and Shao Jie still carried a bamboo basket on his back.

  Bai Cuifen was a Han Chinese from outside the mountains, so her clothing style remained that of the Han people. After she married into Liu Village, this way of dressing made her stand out in the eyes of the village women, who would often gossip about it.

  At the west end of the village, a group of women gathered at the arch bridgehead, some leaning against the railings on both sides of the bridge, and others sitting on stones at the side of the bridge.

  Under the bridge, a pool of clear water, flowing slowly from under the bridge.

  The bridges on the east and west sides of Cun Kou are where the women of Liu Jia Village often gather. In late autumn and early winter, this is the sunniest place, making it a great spot to bask in the sun. At the head of the bridge stand two ancient pagoda trees, which bloom with white flowers in spring, filling the air with their fragrance from afar. When summer arrives, the dense shade of the pagoda trees reflects off the surface of the water, keeping this place cool even at noon, much like autumn.

  So whether it's spring, summer, autumn or winter, a group of women often gather here, chatting idly at the bridgehead.

  When Bai Cuifen passed by the bridge head, the women stopped talking and greeted her with a sympathetic tone and a smile.

  "Cui Fen, are you going out now?" At the same time, he still looked at her with a sympathetic gaze, sizing her up from head to toe.

  Bai Cuifen smiled in response to their overly enthusiastic greetings.

  Shao Min used a rake to splash water under the bridge, Shao Jie held his face down and didn't glance at the people on both ends of the bridge.

  As soon as Bai Cui Fen and others got on the bridge, there was an immediate silence behind her, with over a dozen pairs of eyes staring fixedly at her back.

  Soft and plump waist, lightly swaying under the thin shirt, the old white-based green flower shirt looks like new, simple and clean, with folded lines still faintly visible.

  But before White Cuifen had gone far, their noses emitted a slight hum of disdain again, and several women curled up the corners of their mouths, revealing contemptuous eyes.

  "Hum! Byungmun hasn't even been gone for a few days yet! Not a hint of sadness on his face."

  Yes

  "Those few days she locked herself in the house and didn't go out at all, I thought she was really heartbroken."

  "That's right."

  "Alas! Poor Byungmun hyung..."

  "Ah, ah, it will be even more convenient from now on..."

  Haha...

  Fortunately, as soon as they got on the bridge, Shao Min and Shao Jie walked ahead of Bai Cuifen. By the time Bai Cuifen crossed the bridge, the two of them had already run far beyond the village entrance, laughing and playing, and couldn't hear these faint words.

  Or they heard it but pretended they didn't. At least Shaojie was like that.

  Shao Jie, walking in front of Bai Cuifen, intentionally spoke loudly with Shao Min as they chased each other, their clear and crisp voices ringing out and drowning out the faint and obscure sounds behind Bai Cuifen.

  In the past, as long as Bai Cuifen made an appearance in front of these women, she could immediately spark endless conversations among them. Now, having just lost her husband for a second time and become a widow once again, Bai Cuifen's radiant reappearance in front of them stirred up even more memories of past events and gossip, just like they were recalling their own wedding nights, with excitement and happiness radiating from their faces.

  People easily forget pain and pity.

  When the group of women standing on the bridgehead began to chat about Bai Cuifen and An Bingwen again, they had already forgotten that when Bingwen had just left, they had sympathy and pity for Bai Cuifen.

  Looking at the front, bouncing and jumping, self-playing Shao Min and Shao Jie, listening to the faintly discernible sharp and bitter words behind her, Bai Cuifen couldn't help but think of the scene when she first came to Liujiacun.