Chapter 15: Leaving He Daqing

He Yuzhu got up from the bed in a daze and started cooking.
By the time the father and son had almost finished preparing breakfast, all the people participating in the funeral today had arrived at the courtyard.

After breakfast, everyone got busy under the leadership of the leader.
After [farewell to the spirit] and [leaving the hall], the process soon came to the stage of breaking the auspicious basin.

Jia Dongxu was seen wearing a heavy mourning attire of coarse cloth with rough edges, holding a tube-shaped banner made of white silk in his left hand, and then he stepped on the small plate with holes placed on the brick and crushed it.

Then I heard the leader shouting,
"Let's get started!

"Sijiaoer and his husband... wu... the master of this family gave us a reward of one hundred and twenty taels!"

"One hundred and twenty taels!"

"One hundred and twenty taels!"

……

As the leader of the pole shouted "Add more money" in a trembling voice, the lamas began to chant, and drums, music and firecrackers also sounded.

Old Wang, who was wearing mourning clothes and following behind Jia Dongxu, threw a small stack of paper money with round edges and square holes into the sky.
As the paper money fell densely,
The porters also followed the chant with tremolo.
He Yuzhu, who was standing in the yard and following the funeral, got goosebumps when he heard this.

At this moment, he heard quite a few people cheering quietly.
"Wow! Old Wang's skill in waving money is incredible. It's so high and dense, covering the sky and the earth. If there's some wind, it'll probably take a long time for it to fall to the ground."

"Of course not. Old Wang is the signature of Xinyi Gangfang.

Unique skill!"

"Oh, by the way, do you think the boss's shout of 120 is a [false increase] or a [real increase]? If it is a real increase, then Sister Zhang is really generous."

"How can it be real money? 120 taels is 120 yuan, do you think it is the old legal currency?

Besides, it's not like you weren't there yesterday.

The funeral of Lao Jia was supposed to last for 7 days, but the funeral director changed his mind and it only lasted for 3 days. How upset must Zhang be to have added more days to her funeral?

I think it’s hard to justify the extra money, so I think they will have to [deduct the extra money]. ”

"Okay, okay, stop talking. We were also involved in what happened yesterday.

I don’t want Lao Jia to appear in my dreams.”

When Jia Dongxu and the pallbearers carrying Old Jia's coffin were the first to walk out of the courtyard, He Yuzhu also followed the crowd and started to line up.
At the front are wreaths, elegiac couplets, and plaques;
Followed by [The Guide King], [The Fighting Ghost] and other paper and loose work;

Then there are the various deacons such as the Shadow Pavilion, the Snow Willow, and the Umbrella Sitting;

Finally, there are He Yuzhu and other relatives and friends.

Accompanied by various mournful music and cries, the group quickly left the inner city of Peking.
Out of the city gate,

In order to reach the cemetery quickly, the deacons and other ceremonial guards would be withdrawn; only the official drums and lamas would be left; most of the paper and pine work would also be burned;
At the same time, ordinary friends and relatives like He Yuzhu also had to bow and leave.

On the way back to the courtyard,
On their way back, they encountered two other families who were killed by Gao Shigui.

The two families were relatively poor. One family used a two-man pole, and the other used a three-man pole.

Let the neighbors praise He Daqing and his neighbors.

"Lao He, I heard from Lao Yi that you helped to raise some money for Lao Jia's funeral?
The neighbors in your courtyard are so united!"

"Yes, when we heard Lao Yi say that the day before yesterday, we were a little bit unconvinced. That's 10 yuan, enough to buy 60 kilograms of fine grains. He gave it to us as soon as he said it.
I can’t do it if it’s me.”

Hearing this, He Daqing admitted it with a smile without thinking, and then started chatting with the neighbors.

He Yuzhu, who was walking beside him and holding He Yushui's hand, couldn't help but complain in his heart, thinking that Yi Zhonghai really never forgot to maintain his good image. When he returned to the courtyard, he saw that the aunt and auntie who stayed at home had already packed up the food for lunch.
He Yuzhu and his son started cooking.

It was almost time for lunch when Jia Dongxu and the others returned from the cemetery.

After lunch, they saw off the neighbors and put away the tables, chairs, benches, pots and pans. After being busy for several days, He Yuzhu and his son finally had time to have a good rest.

Sitting cross-legged on the kang in the main room, He Yuzhu asked He Daqing about the neighbors' talk of hiding from the limelight.
He took this first butterfly effect very seriously.

"Dad, do you think we should go out and hide like the neighbors did, and come back after the car theft is resolved?"

Hearing He Yuzhu talking about this, He Daqing said unhappily,
"What are you avoiding?

We both go to work every day, leaving early and returning late, so what is there to avoid?

If you can't avoid it, then it's your fate.

Besides, our family doesn’t have much money, and we can’t stay out for more than a few days before we have to come back, and it will be the same then.”

He Daqing is right.

Chefs are hard workers, working from dawn to dusk, almost 365 days a year.
Not to mention that big shots like to hold banquets during festivals and holidays. As the number one restaurant in Peiping, the chefs of Fengzeyuan are extremely busy.

As for his lack of money, He Yuzhu also knew what was going on.

Ever since Shazhu's mother passed away, He Daqing didn't remarry because his two children were still young.
The eight alleys are the solution to all physiological problems.

Of course, He Daqing himself is also happy to change people so frequently.

Most of his salary was spent on this, so He Daqing had no money left to save. This was also the main reason why he proposed to raise money for Lao Jia's funeral.

After all, the He family looks glamorous on the outside, but they are really poor on the inside.

If it was him instead of Lao Jia who was beaten to death by Gao Shigui two days ago, Sha Zhu would probably have no choice but to buy him a thin coffin and throw him into a mass grave.

That is to say, both the father and son of the He family are cooks, so they don't have to pay for meals.
Otherwise, life would be pretty tough.

Thinking of this, I remembered that at the end of 49, the Eight Great Hutongs were banned in Beiping, and when Sha Zhu came out, He Daqing followed the White Widow and ran away.

He Yuzhu decided to keep this cheap father.

He knew that Sha Zhu's tragedy actually started when He Daqing and Bai Guafu ran away.

Otherwise, with my father watching over me, all those bad things wouldn’t have happened.

Although He Yuzhu's current ideology is that of an adult who has lived for more than 70 years, and his values ​​have been formed, it is impossible for him to repeat the mistakes of Shazhu.

But if we leave He Daqing, our cheap father, in Peking,

He is the one who deals with the neighbors in the courtyard in everything, and He Yuzhu himself is just a spectator in the courtyard. His life is so great.

After thinking about it, the reason why He Daqing ran away was simply because he couldn't control his lower body.
As long as he gets married early,

He must be crazy to give up his successful job in Peking, the connections he had accumulated over the years, and his two children, and follow the White Widow to Baocheng, a place he was unfamiliar with.

If He Daqing is really so heartless and ungrateful,

It is not necessary for him to run away and send money to the brother and sister every month.
You have to know that at that time Sha Zhu was already 15 or 6 years old, and he had learned most of the family cooking skills and was fully able to support himself and his sister.

(End of this chapter)