(1)
Funeral homes always seemed to be located far away from the city.
The car had been driving for a long time on this narrow path that was barely wide enough for two vehicles to pass each other. The last time they had seen a roadside inn was 5 minutes ago.
The vehicle began to jolt. The road ahead seemed to have deteriorated significantly, and mud mixed with rainwater splashed up during the swaying, even making one wonder if they were still driving on a road at all.
Soon, however, the path ahead became smooth again, and the five large characters of “Xiaocheng Funeral Home” glowing in red light became clear.
In the past, rural people didn’t really go to funeral homes. When someone passed away, the funeral was held in their own home. Later, the village built a house specifically for funerals, so everyone started holding them there. Now, just like with her uncle’s passing, it was actually being held at the Xiaocheng Funeral Home.
She didn’t know if it was because the people from the entire island had just moved to their new residences and hadn’t had time to arrange many things yet, or if there were some new regulations…
Anjing, half-awake, squinted her eyes as she looked out the window. In her daze, she murmured softly, “Folk customs are gradually being replaced by laws, I suppose…”
“What?” Yu Mingfei didn’t hear her clearly.
“Did I say something just now?”
“Hey, you little brat, don’t go scaring people. This is a funeral home. Don’t act like you were possessed for a second there, okay?”
“What are you talking about, Sister Fei…” Anjing’s lips quirked. “It’s pitch black out here. Are there no streetlights?”
“Looks like there aren’t any.” Yu Mingfei gripped the back of the driver’s seat and leaned her head forward. “Huihui, where should we park?”
“Let’s drive forward a bit further; it’ll be easier to unload the things.”
“Alright.”
Anjing listened to her two sisters’ conversation and tilted her head to look out the window. There was a row of long, low, single-story buildings. Each room looked very simple, with the only decoration being the white paint on the walls and the glass doors that let in a lot of light.
These small rooms were the mourning halls of the funeral home. Half of them were empty, and the rest looked more or less the same — basically a casket, a framed photo, and some offerings like flowers and fruit.
Yet, every mourning hall was different.
Some were desolate, with only one or two people sitting inside.
Some were lively, where one could even hear the shouts of people playing mahjong — as if no one had died there at all.
In others, bursts of weeping could be heard one after another, as tragic as the souls of those who had died wrongful deaths on the streets.
The biggest advantage of a funeral home being built in the suburbs was that there was plenty of open space.
The white Fukang parked in front of the mourning hall at the very end. Several other vehicles were already parked there, including vans, small trucks, and some expensive-looking business sedans.
Yu Minghui pushed open the car door and walked straight toward the mourning hall without even using an umbrella.
Anjing and Yu Mingfei followed closely behind her as they pushed open the glass door.
The sound of the rain outside was cut off as the glass door automatically closed. The mourning hall where the casket was placed held a coldness that made one feel a bit uneasy.
Her uncle, who had been laughing and talking with everyone during the New Year and had even drunk a few sips of liquor in high spirits, was now lying silently inside that casket covered by a transparent glass lid.
His eyes were tightly shut, as if he were merely asleep.
But if one looked a little closer, his face felt exceptionally stiff, as if it had just been taken out of a cold storage unit. And if one looked for a few moments longer, his face seemed to blur into a mass that felt like it was about to crawl out through the glass lid in a distorted fashion.
This caused Anjing to hurriedly look away in panic, not daring to look any longer.
Strangely enough, when she let her gaze fall upon the color photograph, her heart felt calm again. The icy chill permeating the air turned into a hint of soft warmth.
Flower baskets were placed on the floor, and several offerings sat on the table. There were fruits, pieces of wood with a special fragrance, and some Anhai Deity sachets and charms. The most exquisite item was likely a statue of the Anhai Deity, about 20 centimeters tall. The gold-eyed Anhai Deity was depicted as a young maiden at this time. Her eyelids were slightly lowered, emitting only a faint golden light. Looking at it made one feel calm and peaceful.
They were greeted by their grandmother. Her body looked even more hunched than before, yet she still wore the same kind smile as always. “You’ve all arrived.”
“Yes, Grandmother. Is anyone else missing?”
“Old Five and Old Eleven haven’t arrived yet. Light a stick of incense first and tell A-Long that you’re here.”
As she spoke, Grandmother slowly pulled three golden incense sticks from a box, lit them on a continuously burning candle, and distributed them to the three sisters. “Say a few words. A-Long will be happy that you’ve come…”
Yu Minghui silently accepted the incense and bowed toward the casket.
“What should I say?” Yu Mingfei felt a bit at a loss.
“Say whatever you want.”
“I don’t want to say anything.”
“Then just bow.”
“Oh…”
Anjing, who had grown up in the village, felt that her uncle was both familiar and a stranger.
He was familiar because he handled almost every festival and activity. Even if he hadn’t organized it, he was usually the busiest person there. Therefore, the festival snacks, drinks, and even toys she received were usually given to her by her uncle.
And as for the stranger… apart from those festivals and activities, she almost never saw her uncle. He seemed to stay at home all the time, always having things to do, yet also always appearing quite idle…
As for her final memories of her uncle, they were all stuck in the period during the New Year.
She still remembered when she had just returned to the island, it was her uncle who had taken her to the Anhai Deity to draw a lot. He had specifically given her a golden candle and told her to worship properly.
When she drew a good lot, he was exceptionally excited and thrilled — holding that ‘Permitted’ slip and looking it over several times.
But her deepest impression was probably when she had dressed as the Human Spokesperson of the Deity and sat on that sedan.
“Lift the sedan — !! The Deity’s Procession — !!”
For some reason, those words suddenly echoed in Anjing’s mind. Her uncle’s shout had been exceptionally loud; even a healthy person probably couldn’t have shouted with that kind of momentum.
At that time, her uncle really didn’t look like someone suffering from pneumoconiosis… He could clearly still speak so loudly, and his voice was so full of vigor.
“Ow, hot!” Anjing was dazing off when her hand was suddenly burned by incense ash. “It’s burning so fast.”
“You were daydreaming for too long. What were you thinking about? Come in once you’ve offered the incense.” Yu Mingfei stood by the side door, leaning her body as she urged her.
“Oh, okay…”
Anjing hurriedly inserted the incense and then quickly followed Yu Mingfei into another room.
This was also part of the mourning hall. If the front was the main hall, then this was the place where those attending the shouye gathered.
Inside this room were two others. At the large table in the outermost area, many women were gathered. They were folding paper ingots and chatting about the trivialities of daily life.
At a time like this, they seemed even more harmonious with each other than they were during the New Year. Everyone was saying nice things to one another, as if everyone’s lives were flourishing.
And after pushing open the door at the end and going further in, there was the men’s room.
It was foul with smoke in here, smelling entirely of cigarettes. At the two tables, one group was playing mahjong, while the other was playing cards. Others were either watching from the side or pulling others away for a chat.
Her uncle’s eldest son, Yu Mingli — Anjing and the others’ eldest cousin — was a man who didn’t look very young anymore. He had a smile on his face right now as he cheerfully served tea and water to everyone.
“Oh! Huihui is here, and Feifei and little Anjing too. Come, come, have some tea. It’s been hard on you coming so late. Little Anjing, do you want a drink?”
“You have sodas?”
“We do, of course we do. Coconut milk or milk?”
“…What about Coke or Sprite?”
“Those aren’t healthy.”
“I’m not a child anymore.” Anjing’s lips quirked. “Then… coconut milk it is.”
Not much sorrow could be seen on her eldest cousin’s face, as if today were merely a family gathering and he had invited his relatives over as guests. Even when someone said something funny, he was the one who laughed the loudest.
This made Anjing feel a bit dazed — she even felt she had misremembered things, and that the person before her wasn’t her eldest cousin, but the son of some other uncle…
“Cough, cough… It’s foul with smoke in here.” Yu Mingfei fanned the air with her hand, a look of disgust on her face.
“Haha, it can’t be helped. This is the men’s side, after all; there are just a lot of smokers.”
“It smells terrible.”
“Then why don’t you sit outside for a while? The outer room has the heater on, so it’s warmer than it is in here.” Her eldest cousin looked at Anjing, who was coughing even harder than Yu Mingfei. He smiled and grabbed a large handful of snacks from the table, stuffing them into her arms. “Come, come, little Anjing. Take these snacks outside to eat. The shouye will be hard on you today. If you’re really sleepy, just get some sleep, okay?”
The shouye was one of the few customs that had been preserved.
Furthermore, only close relatives were required to keep the wake — Anjing scanned the room and confirmed that almost everyone present was a relative she was familiar with.
With such a large group of people needing to stay up until the next day, they wouldn’t be able to persevere if they didn’t chat or play games. Thinking about having to stay up all night, Anjing couldn’t help but let out a wide yawn.
She suddenly regretted not having Yu Minghui drive home to bring her GBA.
The adults still had things to talk about, but she had nothing to do. After all, it was impossible to have a computer for gaming in a mourning hall.
“Jingjing, if you’re tired, go sleep in the car for a while.” Yu Minghui rubbed her head.
“Yeah, staying up until dawn is super boring.”
“By the way, do I need to ask for leave tomorrow?”
“I already called your teacher to ask for leave.”
“Sister Hui has everything arranged…”
“I still have to go to work tomorrow.”
“Huh? Sister Fei isn’t taking leave?”
“No. Anyway, the funeral starts at 4:00 AM. I’ll sneak off to the car to sleep for a bit later. Once the funeral is over, I’ll have Huihui drop me off at work so I can keep working.”
“Then should I also…?”
“Forget about it! A little brat like you should get plenty of rest. Sigh, I really envy you. Honestly, who wouldn’t want to rest? It’s just that I couldn’t get the time off…” Yu Mingfei sighed and fanned the air with her hand. “Let’s go, let’s go. It smells like smoke in here. If I stay any longer, I’ll be marinated in the scent.”
“Feifei, have you all eaten yet? If not, I’ll have my mom make you some stir-fried rice cakes in a bit.”
“Huihui has stuff to eat in the car — Big Brother, just worry about your own business; don’t mind us.”
“Alright, that’s fine too, haha… Let me know if you need anything.”
“Mhm, don’t worry. I’m not like Huihui — I won’t be polite.”
“That’s for the best, haha…”
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