NOVPUB
Chapter 503: Chapter 503: Funeral
Tong Yao glanced at the gossiping old lady and replied with a less than pleasant tone, "You really never miss a chance to pry into other people’s affairs, do you?"
Tong Yao recognized this old lady, who was notorious in the village for stirring up trouble. She always felt the need to thrust herself into every matter.
The old lady’s face darkened, her lips quivered but she kept silent, glaring at Tong Yao.
Entering the Gu Family’s gateway, Tong Yao and Guo Jinnian heard sobs coming from the hall. The yard was crowded with people, obscuring the view inside. But seeing the white cloth on people’s heads and arms, it was not hard to tell that something had indeed happened to Gu Hongwei’s father...
People in the yard were slightly agog upon seeing Tong Yao.
The fact that Tong Yao, a former daughter-in-law of the Si family, came back was surprising enough, but visiting the Gu family directly, what was she up to?
Ignoring the looks cast her way, Tong Yao walked straight up to the entrance of the hall. In the hall, Gu Hongwei’s father’s lifeless body was laid out on a long bench, already dressed in funerary clothes. Gu Hongwei was kneeling by the body, his face a mask of grief, silent.
Tong Yao tightened her lips, gently patting Gu Hongwei’s shoulder for console. "Please accept my deepest sympathy."
Guo Jinnian opened his mouth as if to say something, but ended up being silent.
Upon hearing the voice, Gu Hongwei lifted his head, nodded at Tong Yao, and then lowered his head again, lost in thought. Guo Jinnian made a clucking sound under her breath. Admittedly, Gu Hongwei in his current state was a pretty pitiful sight.
His only father had passed away. He was more pitiful than she was. She still had relatives, though they were of no help and only sucked her blood dry. But the thought of having no one in the world was pretty terrifying.
"Oh my brother, you’ve endured hardship all your life, and you didn’t even get to enjoy a good day before you perished. My poor brother, how will I live without you..."
Long before entering the gate, a woman was already crying. Supported by the villagers, she collapsed on the ground as soon as she entered the hall, crying and wailing even more dramatically than Gu Hongwei.
From the woman’s cries, Tong Yao and Guo Jinnian inferred that she must be Gu Hongwei’s aunt.
It seemed she had just received the news of Gu Hongwei’s father’s death and had come to mourn. But from what Tong Yao knew, the two families hadn’t been in contact for many years.
But it was none of Tong Yao’s concern. So she led Guo Jinnian to the side of the wall, trying as much as possible to make herself inconspicuous.
Gu Hongwei showed no intention of comforting his aunt or engaging in conversation with her. After his aunt cried for several minutes, she looked up at Gu Hongwei, her face twisted in anger and criticism.
"Your father worked so hard to raise you, and look what you’ve done, abandoning him in the village to study in college, are you even human, huh? Did you learn anything at all?"
As she scolded, she started to physically lash out, hitting Gu Hongwei. The subtext was clear: Gu Hongwei should have stayed in the village to take care of his father instead of going to college.
Upon hearing her words, the village chief furrowed his brows and ordered people to pull her aside. He then started to speak up for Hongwei, "Don’t blame Hongwei for this. His father has been sick for many years. Staying by his side wouldn’t have done any good. The little land they have is hardly enough to make ends meet. Hongwei, though he wasn’t there to look after his father, paid others to care for him. That wasn’t easy for him either."
Gu Hongwei was the second person from their village to go to college. While other villages hadn’t produced a single college student in over a decade, their village had produced two in less than six years. For this, he had been praised by city leaders. This prestige was enough to make him proud for a lifetime.
After going to college, Gu Hongwei never sought financial aid from his family. He would even send ten yuan a month to pay for his father’s care.
Since his father wasn’t healthy and Gu Hongwei wasn’t a doctor, staying and taking care of him would have only ruined his future, serving no real purpose.
Upon hearing the village chief’s words, Gu Hongwei’s aunt refuted them with tears streaming down her face, "If he had come back earlier, my brother wouldn’t have died so soon. He, as a son, is not fulfilling his filial duties, thinking that spending a bit of money would be enough. Is this what a son is supposed to do?"
The irrational behavior of the aunt irritated those standing by not a little bit.
"Hongwei didn’t come back because your brother didn’t want us to tell Hongwei about his illness. He wanted Hongwei to focus on his studies in Kyoto."
Another person spoke up, "Your brother has been ill for so many years, and you didn’t even visit him once. What gives you the right to blame others here?"
Everyone knows that when Gu Hongwei went to college, she didn’t lend a cent, fearing that the Gu family might become a burden to her. She didn’t maintain any contact with the Gu family for years. But now that Gu Hongwei’s father had died, she suddenly came to mourn- a clear case of crocodile tears.
With all those words said, Gu Hongwei’s aunt, finding it hard to defend herself, stopped nagging and started crying again, even louder this time.
Guo Jinnian snorted and mumbled to herself that Gu Hongwei’s aunt was a complete nightmare. She almost couldn’t resist the urge to kick her, but Tong Yao pulled her and reminded her not to cause a scene.
But on second thought, it made sense. Gu Hongwei’s father had just died, and his family was in chaos. It wasn’t the time for them to cause more issues for Gu Hongwei.
Luckily, there were reasonable people in the village, and the village chief was trying to mitigate the situation as well.
No one from Gu Hongwei’s aunt’s family had come to mourn, only she herself. She cried but did no productive work. The funeral rites were mostly managed by the village chief and his assistants.
Fearing that Gu Hongwei might not have enough money, Tong Yao had Guo Jinnian clandestinely give him some. Being the center of attention, her every move was under the watchful eyes of the villagers. It wouldn’t be appropriate for her to interact too much with Gu Hongwei.
Gu Hongwei did not refuse Guo Jinnian’s help. He was slightly taken aback, then nodded in acknowledgement and passed the money to the village chief at the next opportune moment.
The chief had helped arrange the casket and other things related to the funeral. These all required a significant amount of money. The village chief didn’t expect Gu Hongwei would give him so much. Despite being surprised, he didn’t reject the money, as he managed to keep track of the expenses and promised to refund the surplus to Gu Hongwei.
When someone from the village passed away, which was considered a big event, adult males from the village would usually lend a hand. Si Boyi was one of them.
Si Boyi only learned Tong Yao was back in Li City when Gu Hongwei asked him to inform her in the morning. As he had been running errands for the Gu family in the town, he didn’t know Tong Yao had returned to the village.
When he and other villagers were carrying the casket back to the village, someone shouted, "Boyi, your former sister-in-law is back! She’s brought a slightly effeminate guy with her, and they’re at Hongwei’s place."
Slightly surprised, Si Boyi quickly guessed why Tong Yao had come back. Now that it was during Gu Hongwei’s father’s funeral, he had to contain his excitement. He just nodded in Tong Yao’s direction as a form of greeting when he saw her.
When many hands make light work, things get done swiftly. The crowd managed to set up the cooking pots and hung white cloths on the door in less than half a day. Everything was ready for burying Gu Hongwei’s father the following day.
