Ch3 - Funeral (3)

After following the traditional custom of burning paper and kowtowing, Ren Yifei withdrew from the mourning hall. From beginning to end, the eldest grandson and the others did not pay any attention to this ‘NPC’.

A very ordinary junior of the deceased, with the distinctive simplicity of the people of this era; just like the other night-watchmen, there was nothing special about him. 

The preliminary exploration of the mourning hall has been completed and he had also checked out all the ‘outsiders’ nearby, the completion of this task had exceeded his expectations.

The card game had already progressed to the next round and A Liang was sitting on a long bench, eating melon seeds. Seeing Ren Yifei coming out, he called for him, “A Fei, here.”

Ren Yifei already knew that A Liang and some of the older people were very friendly towards him. In many games, NPCs would give clues when they have high favourability towards the player. He was not sure if it was the same here.

He walked over and sat down on the other side of the bench. 

“Have you burned paper for grandma?” A Liang handed him a plate of melon seeds.

Ren Yifei took a handful of melon seeds and said slowly, “It’s burnt, aren’t you going?”

“Forget it, I don’t have a good temper, going will only make grandma angry.”

Ren Yifei peeled melon seeds and sighed unconsciously, “Why was the passing so sudden?”

A Liang’s actions paused for a moment and he stopped talking before finally just shaking his head, “It’s old age.”

The two gossiped at the edge of the table, the summer night breeze slowly passed by, carrying away the nauseating oily and waxy smell from the mourning hall.

If this wasn’t the side of a mourning hall, this place would be a good place to enjoy the cool shade. The moon in the sky was big and bright, lighting up the yard.

When they heard the screech of an owl, A Liang spit out the shell of the melon seed and looked around but couldn’t find the traces of the owl, “That old owl is calling again.” 

During this period, the table had started a new round, A Liang glanced around carefully and asked strangely, “Why haven’t I seen A Song play today? Doesn’t this kid usually rely on the card table to not leave?”

Ren Yifei’s heart moved, “A Song? Where is he?”

“Can’t you see? He’s by A Jie.”

There were two people next to A Jie, but Ren Yifei could still tell at a glance which was ‘A Song’.　　 

Everyone else was looking at the cards even more attentively than those playing. There was only one young man with a shorter stature staring at the mourning hall with a complicated expression.

Ren Yifei continued to probe A Liang, “Did he not bring any money today?”

“He used to play without bringing any money and lose.”

A Liang said with a hint of disdain as he advised Ren Yifei, “You can’t learn from him- gambling that is, he even got fired from his previous job and kept having to run to various people all day long. You are auntie’s only son.” 

“Oh, I’ll listen to you, A Li- Liang ge, I will definitely not learn from him.”

This made A Liang feel relieved, he grabbed a handful of melon seeds and gave them to Ren Yifei, “Here, eat them.”

Ren Yifei was like fish in water, treating the game as his home while the other players felt like time had slowed down to a crawl.

The NPCs were very unfriendly to the players, ignoring them would already be considered good treatment. They would also morph their faces from time to time, scaring the players. 

The girl with thick braids, ‘Xiao Mei’ was scared to tears twice and the ‘second-grandson’ had already shrunk in the corner, his mental state was concerning.

The ‘eldest grandson’s wife’ was being stared at by a middle-aged woman, and even the calm eldest grandson was reprimanded once.

But none of them resisted against the NPC, not even the experienced players.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Ren Yifei, who had observed the others choose the wrong move, knew that it was definitely wrong to provoke NPCs. The consequences were unknown but a certain price must definitely be paid. 

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Efc Tlofl tjv olclrtfv atf yfjc mjxf jcv abemtfv tlr rabwjmt, “P’w ralii tecugs.”

NPC A Jie gave him a blank look, “Why haven’t you faint from hunger?” 

“There will be food in a while, I saw smoke coming from the kitchen,” an older night-watchman smiled as he dealt the cards.

Sure enough, there was something to eat after a while.

Because staying up late was harmful to the body, it was also easy to get hungry, so the host had porridge made with mixed grains. The lady in charge of the kitchen took a large porcelain basin and said, “You all have something to eat, not having enough energy later won’t be good.”

This pot of mixed grain porridge was different from the later generations. There was a layer of water on top and some thin bean-like things at the bottom. 

“You had money to invite monks but give us this kind of porridge? No wonder Granny Chun Zhi wants…” a night-watchman couldn’t help but complain.

A Liang knocked on the table, “Focus on eating the porridge and talk less, worry more about choking.”

Huh? Only then did Ren Yifei realise that something was wrong, he turned his head to look closely.

Not only was it expensive to invite monks, but there was also something wrong with the coffin. 

For farmers of this era, their conditions were average, they would only buy thin coffins let alone paint them. However, the coffin in front of him was thick and covered in black paint. It should be worth at least a month or two of the family’s rations.

Furthermore, looking at the four walls lined with bright lights. It was a luxury to have altar lamps burn day and night, in addition to the good sesame oil being used. The golden-yellow and clear vegetable oil reveal the quality of these lights, which was not usually seen in this kind of family.

Such a funeral was pretty extravagant, however, it would be very financially straining for the family. Even if it was to honour an elder, this was a bit over the top…

On the other end, A Liang was still educating the inconsiderate young man: they were all here for sentimentality, not for other people’s porridge. The sentiment of the funeral vigil was conveyed so it was not worthwhile to complain about a mouthful of porridge. 

The person responded and walked away while holding the bowl, feeling a bit shameful.

The others also have subtle expressions as they avoided the topic as if to imply that there was more to the story than what meets the eye.

“A Liang, help me scoop a spoonful,” Ren Yifei was watching the excitement in the crowd when his hand was smacked.

The person who had hit him was leaning against the table, “Xiao Fei, go and bring Shi Tou and Xiao Wan, they had also been hungry for the whole day. The children are still young and can’t bear the burden.” 

“Huh?” Ren Yifei was stunned for a moment and couldn’t remember who this person was.

A Liang was scooping the porridge and when he saw this, he put down the ladle, “A Song, why don’t you go call them by yourself, why ask A Fei?”

Ren Yifei was so touched by the appearance of this guardian, he immediately slipped over and stood behind A Liang, his eyes circling around as the porridge was being distributed

A Jie, who didn’t like him before, also said, “A Fei has been hungry for a long time.” 

Several of the young people in the crowd looked at them and were shocked- are these people blind? What good is that kid besides his good looks and being a smooth talker? He was both lazy and greedy.

“A Song hurt his foot so it’s not convenient for him.”

“Right right, they’re a bit crooked.”

A few night-watchmen who got along well with A Song in the past help speak up for him. 

A Liang looked down, he stopped there as if that was the case, awkwardly thinking of how to end the conversation.

Upon seeing this, Ren Yifei scratched his chin and put down his bowl, “Since it’s like that, A Liang, help me scoop some more, I’ll go call Shi Tou and Xiao Wan.”

As he spoke, he turned sideways to squeeze out of the group of night-watchmen.

A Liang didn’t stop him, he watched him enter the mourning hall and shook his head as he said, “Don’t bully A Fei all the time, he’s just spoiled carelessly by auntie.” 

Bully?

A few of the night-watchmen lost their temper, fine, it’s incomparable to my brother’s pain.

Only A Song nodded subconsciously, actually agreeing with these words.

“Xiao Fei?” 

Ren Yifei walked into the mourning hall while thinking about this strange form of address. Everyone calls him ‘A Fei’, so why did that person call him ‘Xiao Fei’?

Based on what A Liang said, he and A Song were not familiar with each other, so why did the other call him that? Such familiarity and intimacy made it seem like they’re friends.

Ren Yifei had many questions:

If A Song was a player, how did he know that the two children were called ‘Shi Tou’ and ‘Xiao Wan’? 

If A Song was not a player, why did he present such a different personality? Behaving nothing like a gambler.

This person, compared to the eldest grandson, seemed more unusual and noteworthy.

A lot of people had left and the hall was brighter. Kneeling in front of the coffin was the family of the deceased: the son and daughter-in-law of the deceased who were both wearing mourning clothes, the silent eldest grandson, the eldest grandson’s wife with the golden words above her head, the second grandson who had shrunk into the corner and the two great-grandchildren.

These two children were both young, after kneeling for the whole day, they seemed muddle-headed. 

The eldest grandson was burning paper expressionlessly in front, both of his hands were stained with the smell of joss paper. Suddenly, he saw a young NPC making his way slowly towards the coffin and said to his cheap parents, “Uncle, Auntie, why don’t you two go eat?”

It was fine before, but as soon as he was reminded, the eldest grandson player couldn’t help but touch his stomach: he was also hungry.

“Oh, it’s A Fei,” the middle-aged woman recognised the appearance of this NPC and lowered her head again, “We’re not hungry.”

“Auntie, if you become exhausted due to this, grandmother would feel uneasy,” the young NPC called A Fei said with concern. 

“Cough,” the eldest grandson coughed and looked up at him: Come, look at me, I’m hungry.

When the deceased was mentioned, the middle-aged man stiffened for a few seconds and the muscles on the middle-aged woman’s face trembled, forming a horrified expression.

She hid the side of her face and once again emphasised, “We’re not hungry.”

“Then shouldn’t they have something to eat? They won’t have any energy later,” the young NPC whispered again, showing a bit of a distressed expression while looking at the two children, “They’re still young.” 

The old woman thought for a while before nodding her head, feeling a bit sorry for the children, “Come back after eating.”

“Gulu-” a noise came from the stomach of the eldest grandson, he looked up at the young NPC and hesitated to speak: why didn’t this NPC call him? As long as the other called, wouldn’t he have responded?

Even the eldest grandson’s wife, who was sitting while rubbing her stomach, looked at him: bean porridge doesn’t taste good, but if you called me then I would’ve drunk it reluctantly.

However, this NPC was extremely lacking eyesight, their glances were just being thrown to a blind man. He didn’t ask them anything and left with the two children. 

There were only so many people, were they invisible or what?　　

Isn’t the treatment of players too low?

As soon as the person left, the  face of the middle-aged woman immediately dropped and showed a bitter expression to the remaining people, “Keep kneeling to please your grandmother.”

The hungry players: ……　 

Ren Yifei took the two children out of the mourning hall.

There were bowls on the table and porridge was being poured into the bowl

As soon as Ren Yifei led the two children to sit down, three bowls of porridge were pushed over. There wasn’t much soup in it but there was an abundance of beans and grains. He raised his head to see that it was A Song.

A Song smiled at Ren Yifei then greeted the two children, telling them to eat the porridge. 

Ren Yifei looked over at other people’s bowls, it was all water, crystal clear. The night-watchmen responded with resentful eyes: don’t look, it’s all in your bowl.

“Cough-” he rubbed his nose and sat down to eat shamelessly.

The mixed-grain porridge without any seasoning tasted bland, Ren Yifei drank it slowly and from the corner of his eyes, he saw the middle-aged woman, who had previously let the two children go, hurriedly walking over.

She looked a little flustered, her eyes darted to the direction of the mourning hall frequently as she urged the two children, “Go burn some money for great-grandma, great-grandma likes you the most.” 

Ren Yifei set the beans aside: It was only after a few mouthfuls, why so anxious?

A Song next to him waited for the two children to leave before naturally pouring their porridge together to eat.

Ren Yifei put down his chopsticks, he seemed to be recalling something.

“A Fei, do you still want to eat? I can help you if you don’t want to finish it.” 

A Jie, who had eaten his share, patted him on the shoulder.

With that pat, Ran Yifei’s bizarre thoughts went away to who knows where. “In your dreams,” he lifted the bowl and left after drinking it.

With something in their stomach, the group of young men regained their spirits to play cards. There were only a few times within a year when they could justify playing poker.

Except for the presence of the coffin on the side, the funeral vigil was not as scary as imagined. 

This was probably because the elder who died was also a very kind elder in the past, when one would think of them, they would only think of how gentle and loving the elder was, so they wouldn’t be scared.

Lying in the coffin was nothing but a lifeless body. What’s so terrible about a body? Besides, there were so many people around.

The sound of people playing cards continued until late into the night, Ren Yifei got up and said that he was going to the toilet.

The few players who were playing cards didn’t look back, “Go go, don’t fall into the hole.” 

“Fu*k you, who fell into the hole? I won’t fall either.”

In this era, rural houses all had their toilets in the backyard, so he ran to the back.

Sure enough, the toilet was in the backyard, opposite the woodshed that stores firewood. He could smell the toilet the moment he entered the backyard.

The yard was not small, banana trees and pomegranates were planted in the corners with a pig and a few chickens, as well as a dried-up well. It was like the backyard or any other farmhouse.  

He went into the toilet but didn’t use it.

Ren Yifei rubbed his face with both hands, as if peeling off a piece of skin, his face no longer contained the naïveté belonging to ‘A Fei’. At a glance, it was the composed temperament of a man.

This was not A Fei, he was Ren Yifei.