The road to wealth of a peasant widow

Chapter 127 The lights go out

Holding a funeral on such a hot day is really torturous. Fortunately, the eldest son and daughter-in-law of the first wife are in charge of taking care of it, and the people from the second wife only need to follow the arrangements.

When Chen Cui rushed back with the children, the mourning hall had already been set up. The old lady's coffin had been prepared long ago and had already been wrapped and placed in the coffin.

The mourning clothes were also sewn by everyone in the village, and they only had to wear them according to their status.

As a daughter-in-law, Chen Cui had to wear two layers of mourning clothes inside and outside, and a mourning hat on her head. Changping and the others were slightly better off, but they also had to wear a layer of mourning clothes over their clothes.

Even though mourning clothes are made of coarse linen and are breathable enough, the weather is hot.

In this kind of weather, even if you do nothing, it would be unbearable to kneel on the ground all day in mourning clothes.

The paper money in the brazier in front of the coffin was burning all the time, emitting heat and smoke, which made people feel uncomfortable, not to mention the occasional crying and wailing. As a result, Chen Cui was sweating all the time.

The three brothers and cousins ​​knelt on the other side. Next to Chen Cui were Zhou, Yue Niang and Tan, and Sui Sui also knelt beside her.

Although the child couldn't cry, he had to kneel here to make up the numbers. The smoke and fire made his little face red with heat.

Tan's daughter was not brought here because she was too young. Chen Cui also wanted Sui Sui to go to the next room to take care of her, so that at least she wouldn't have to suffer from the pain on her knees here.

But Zhou said, "Sister-in-law, my granddaughter can't walk and can't kneel down to mourn for her grandmother. Suisui can run, jump and talk now. If people knew that she didn't kneel down to mourn for her grandmother, it would be bad for her reputation in the future!"

Chen Cui: My daughter is only one and a half years old and she is almost having heatstroke. I don’t care about my reputation!

"Sister-in-law, I heard that mom died because of the kick from dad, is that true?"

Chen Cui did not ask Sui Sui to go and rest nearby. Instead, she mentioned the cause of her mother-in-law's death.

In fact, ever since she received the letter of mourning from Mrs. Zhou, she suspected that her mother-in-law died from that kick, and the most likely possibility was a ruptured spleen.

Even in modern times, if a person with a ruptured spleen is not rescued in time, the chance of survival is very slim, let alone in ancient times.

Zhou's heart trembled when she heard this. What she feared most now was that someone would mention this matter.

When she came back from the clinic today, she cried all the way in the car, and Changxing was also driving the car in front and wiping his tears. The two were seen as soon as they entered the village.

Her crying could be heard before the ox cart entered the house. This kind of drawn-out crying was impossible unless someone in the family had died.

When Liu Youliang heard the tone of his daughter-in-law crying, he was shocked. Could it be...

After confirming the news from his daughter-in-law and seeing the old woman's face still filled with pain and unwillingness, he fainted.

Fortunately, everyone in the village got the news and came to help.

Although Liu Youliang woke up, he was so shocked that he felt dizzy and couldn't get up, so he could only lie down.

Liu Youcai also came with his son and daughter-in-law. Together with Zhuzi, who was good at presiding over weddings and funerals, and the enthusiastic villagers, even without Liu Youliang to preside over the situation, the funeral of Old Zhou proceeded in an orderly manner.

Whenever a decision needed to be made, they would first ask Zhou's opinion. If the decision did not require the master's decision, they would just proceed according to the usual practice.

Someone was sent to the county town to call back Liu Wende and his son and the second wife's mother and son, to buy funeral supplies, and then to take Liu Wende to relatives' homes to report the death. All this was done in one afternoon.

Of course, there are many people talking at a funeral, so it was inevitable that someone would ask about the cause of death of old Mrs. Zhou. Mrs. Zhou insisted that her mother-in-law died of an acute illness, but as for what the illness was, she was vague and didn't want to say more.

Of course, no one would be so tactless as to ask more questions about this, but many people in the village watched the farce in the morning. Liu Youliang kicked Old Zhou to the point where she lay on the ground and couldn't get up, so naturally many people witnessed it.

Everyone was discussing secretly that the cause of old Zhou's death was suspicious, and that she might have been kicked to death by Liu Youliang.

Zhou naturally told the truth to her husband. After all, it was his mother who died and his father who did the kick. As for what attitude to take, it was up to him to decide.

Liu Wende was also extremely shocked when he heard this. He had not expected that his own mother's death would be so closely related to his father. However, his mother was already gone, and it would be too unwise to let his father's reputation be implicated because of this.

"Tell everyone that mom died of an acute illness. Tell everyone that, and don't say a word to Changsheng's grandfather."

Liu Wende was silent for a while and then gave these instructions to Zhou.

Changsheng's grandfather is Zhou's father and old Zhou's younger brother. He is the current head of the Zhou family and the most important guest at tomorrow's funeral.

When Zhou heard her sister-in-law question the cause of her mother-in-law's death and clearly pointed out her father-in-law's actions, she trembled in her heart.

Although this sister-in-law had originally been kind and gentle, she became strong after Eryong passed away. She even managed to hold her own against her parents-in-law several times. Zhou was amazed from the bottom of her heart.

She also experienced Chen's aggressive and shameless side, and was really afraid that she would take the lead in causing trouble at this juncture.

Although the second branch has been separated, outsiders still feel that they are a family at heart. If family members quarrel, it will definitely be a laughing stock.

As the eldest daughter-in-law, she is the one in charge of the bereaved family and must not lose face for the family at this time.

Zhou had no choice but to compromise and said, "Sister-in-law, don't listen to what outsiders say. I am confused. Sui Sui is only one and a half years old. We adults can't stand it. Let her stay away and don't suffer here."

Chen Cui then carried Sui Sui to the next room, fed her some boiled water, and placed the kettle and a small purse with snacks in front of her: "Sui Sui, stay here honestly, and don't go out. Mother will come to see you soon."

Sui Sui rubbed her little knees pitifully and nodded vigorously. It was too uncomfortable to kneel on the ground and she didn't want to kneel anymore.

Because the weather was hot and there was no ice in the countryside, the body would have a smell after a long time, so Old Zhou had to be buried after just one day of keeping the body.

The next day, many guests came to pay their respects, and the most important guest among them was Zhou Dagui.

He was not only old Zhou's younger brother, but also Zhou's father, Liu Wende's father-in-law, and a distinguished guest at this funeral.

Unfortunately, this distinguished guest was not very well-behaved.

After he arrived, he complained that there were too few paper-made items and said that he should burn a few little maids for his sister to serve her. His sister had worked hard for the Liu family all her life, and it was time for her to enjoy a good life in the afterlife.

He even complained that there were only six musicians invited, saying that at least eight should be invited to make the event more lively and grand.

He even found fault with the coffin and old clothes that had been prepared years earlier, feeling that his sister was being treated unfairly.

In short, Zhou Dagui found a lot of faults at Old Zhou's funeral, and in the end he even lay on Old Zhou's coffin and cried loudly, and couldn't get up.