Chapter 190
The Wu family’s funeral was a quiet affair, with no suona or drums, but at least the presence of relatives coming to mourn and offer condolences prevented it from being too lonely. Since the feast was modest, Wei Lanxiang and a few other older women helped by supporting the elderly, fetching water, and keeping things running without too much fuss.
Lu Gu hadn’t gone out much these past few days, staying at home instead. Shen Xuanqing and Shen Yaoqing spent the nights at the new house, and last night, Shen Yan came over to sleep with him and the child.
After the three-day vigil, at noon, the village men finished the vegetarian feast and carried the thin coffin up the southern slope for burial, mindful of the timing.
Since their house was the last along the path leading up the mountain, they could hear the commotion outside. As long as those in mourning clothes didn’t enter, there was no issue with them passing by the door.
Lu Gu had just finished feeding little Lingjun milk fruit and was coaxing him to sleep when he heard the noise of the coffin being carried outside. He paid it little mind, continuing to pat the child until he finally dozed off. Only then did he lay him down on the bed and tuck him in under the quilt. Afterward, he took Shen Xuanqing’s red waistband from the chest and draped it over the head of the bed, it would be needed for changing when he returned.
Wei Lanxiang had been helping at the Wu family’s place. Though she hadn’t gone to the gravesite, she also had slept at the new house these past couple of nights, since there were two young children at home. Lu Gu guessed she’d return early, so he fetched firewood from the woodshed and lit the brazier using the embers from the clay stove.
"Yan Yan, go get Mother’s red waistband," he said, adjusting the brazier before calling into the house.
"Ah, got it," Shen Yan replied. After changing into clean clothes, she brought it out. Seeing Lu Gu crouched there tending the fire, she asked, "Brother Guzi, do you have any clothes to wash?"
The water was icy cold in this weather, so the family usually heated water for washing clothes. Washing clothes for just one person wasn’t efficient, so they typically did it all together.
Lu Gu finished with the brazier and stood up. "Not for me, just Lingjun’s diapers and pants. When Eldest Brother and Erqing get back, they’ll probably have dirty clothes too, after digging graves and moving earth these past few days. We can wash everything together then."
"Alright, we’ll wait for them," Shen Yan said before calling toward Ji Qiuyue’s room, "Sister-in-law, what about you? Any clothes to wash?"
Ji Qiuyue was struggling to coax the unruly Zhao’er to sleep and answered, "I’ve got two pieces here, soiled by this stinky little one’s pee. I was just thinking about washing them today."
"Good, that’s plenty of clothes to wash. We’ll do it all together later," Shen Yan said, then went to fetch a wooden basin from under the eaves and gathered her own clothes along with little Lingjun's diapers and pants.
Before long, Wei Lanxiang returned as expected. Guaizi had gone out to play, so there was no barking to announce her arrival. Before even stepping inside, she called from the gate for someone to bring her the brazier.
Lu Gu carried it over, and once she crossed the threshold, Shen Yan handed her the red waistband to change into—only then did she relax.
"Well, that’s one matter settled. Let me rest a bit," Wei Lanxiang sighed, sinking into a chair in the main hall.
Though she hadn’t been overly exhausted these past few days, the constant wailing at the funeral had worn on her. The Wu family was pitiable, they were so poor they couldn’t even afford oil, scraping by with nothing to spare. They’d even found a small bag of wheat kernels hidden beneath the broken bed planks of the Wu family’s grandmother. The grains were dirt-stained, clearly gathered one by one from the fields during her lifetime. Even in the bitter cold of winter, she hadn’t eaten them, saving them instead.
The Wu family mentioned that before her death, she had patted the bed planks, lips pressed tight without uttering a word. Only after they found the hidden wheat did they realize it was her final gift - a mouthful of food for her children and grandchildren. The heaviness of it all weighed on the heart.
Lu Gu took a stack of returned bowls to the kitchen. Seeing Wei Lanxiang sighing mournfully, he brought out a packet of osmanthus cakes for her to nibble on.
The Wu family was so poor that Wei Lanxiang couldn’t bear to eat their food. By now, she was genuinely hungry and said between bites, "Guzi, are there any leftovers from lunch?"
Lu Gu quickly replied, "No, Mother. I thought there’d be a feast there today, so I didn’t save any. I’ll start cooking now."
"Ah, I meant to eat there, but seeing how destitute the Wu family was, I figured it’d be better to leave that food for them, they need it more than we do." Wei Lanxiang sighed again. "Just steam me a bun and stir-fry some cabbage. That’ll do."
"Understood, Mother." Lu Gu rolled up his sleeves and headed to the kitchen, with Shen Yan following to assist.
Since the Wu family’s vegetarian feast hadn’t offered much to eat, they steamed extra buns and made a larger portion of stir-fried cabbage. They served Wei Lanxiang a bowl and kept another aside in case Shen Xuanqing and Shen Yaoqing wanted some when they returned.
Zhao’er refused to nap today, squirming and fussing. Unable to settle him, Ji Qiuyue carried him out to play with Wei Lanxiang, who was resting in the main room.
Holding her eldest grandson, Wei Lanxiang recounted the story of the wheat kernels to Ji Qiuyue, sighing over how wretched poverty could make a person.
Last winter, during the bitter cold, she had gone to the riverside fields to dig up grass roots for the rabbits and encountered the Wu family’s grandmother doing the same. Unlike their family, the old woman was gathering them to eat. With no wild vegetables available in winter, the Wu family relied on dried ones, but they were so frugal that the grandmother would scavenge for grass roots whenever the sun was out. By eating those, she left more of the precious dried vegetables for the rest of the family.
Moved by pity, Wei Lanxiang had told the old woman to wait by the river and keep quiet. She then sneaked back home to fill a small hemp sack with several bowls of rice, instructing her to hide it in her broken bamboo basket and take it back secretly, lest others in the village see and stir up gossip.
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