MMB Chapter 12 Who Reached Out, Who Had a Guilty Feeling?
Chapter 12 Who Reached Out, Who Had a Guilty Feeling?
The next day, before dawn, some people from Kaoshantun went out.
When Chen Shi arrived, it was already getting a little bright.
He had a hemp rope draped over his shoulder and was holding a roll of white cloth in his arms, both of which he had taken from the team.
The accounts are kept very clearly.
Old Liu nailed Han Changgui's coffin together overnight.
The planks were thin, and the wood wasn't very neat; when the coffin lid was closed, one side was higher than the other.
These days, being able to be buried in a coffin is considered quite dignified.
When the coffin was parked next to the brigade, many villagers gathered around to watch, some there to actually help, and others just to watch the spectacle.
Some people muttered, "It's just not right for a man to die and his wife not to show up."
No sooner had she finished speaking than Aunt Wang squeezed in from behind, "How can you be so unreasonable? Why don't you carry him to your house? Xiulan got sick from taking this person home, are you going to take care of her for the rest of her life?"
The woman blushed after being rebuked, "I was just saying it offhand."
Aunt Wang spat on the ground, "They're used to bullying honest people."
Chen Shi ignored them.
When the coffin was carried to the west slope, the sun had not yet risen.
The wind blew in gusts, making people's faces sting.
Tian Guizhi also came.
I didn't wear a red headscarf today; I wore a different one, which I wrapped up tightly around my head.
She didn't cry at the top of her lungs like she did yesterday, nor did she throw herself at the coffin. She just stood there, occasionally humming a few words.
A few old women in the village huddled together and whispered among themselves.
"They really came?"
"Can't you not come? Didn't you say yesterday you were still short one roll of money?"
"Tsk, she doesn't seem sad at all."
"What's there to be heartbroken about? Han Changgui isn't her man."
As soon as she finished speaking, Tian Guizhi's eyes swept over them.
Several old women immediately pretended to be looking after the grave.
Chen Shi stood to the side, observing her reaction.
When Han Changgui was buried, she didn't even glance at the coffin.
On the contrary, wherever Zhao Defa went, her eyes followed him.
Chen Shi understood the situation.
The grave wasn't dug very deep; in this freezing weather, it's already quite an achievement to be buried at all.
When Zhao Defa had the coffin lowered into the ground, someone in the crowd remarked, "Not even a single person is kowtowing."
Chen Shi turned his head to look over.
The man immediately shut his mouth.
Zhao Defa, leaning on his wooden cane, said, "If anyone feels they're not being polite enough, they can go down and kowtow to him themselves."
Chen Shi grabbed a handful of paper and burned a few sheets. "Consider this my sister burning it for you."
The flame flickered briefly.
He threw another handful. "This one is for Ya Ya and Xiao Man. From now on, you go your own way, and they go theirs. You didn't protect them while they were alive, so don't bother them now that you're dead."
After he was burned, they started filling the coffin with soil.
Chen Shi stood to the side, watching the pit until it was filled in.
Han Changgui has been laid to rest; this matter is half settled.
The crowd gradually dispersed.
Most people were eager to go home and warm up, but some lingered, glancing at the gravesite with reluctance, as if something extraordinary could possibly happen in the mass grave.
Chen Shi followed Zhao Defa to the brigade to check the accounts.
"The white cloth is twelve feet long."
"Two hemp ropes."
"Three cuts of paper money."
Dahai, listening nearby, scratched his head. "Uncle Zhao, are all these records on Shizi?"
Zhao Defa glared at him, "Or else you can take the blame?"
The sea shrank back.
Tian Guizhi came over at this time.
"team leader."
Zhao Defa didn't even look up. "What is it?"
Tian Guizhi softened her voice, showing none of her usual shrewishness, "You took that red cloth strip yesterday, can I take a look at it?"
Zhao Defa stopped writing with his pen, turned to look at her, and asked, "Why are you looking at that thing?"
Tian Guizhi forced a smile, "I'll just take a look to see if it's a note Chang Gui owes me. If I can't see anything clearly, I'll burn it to avoid keeping it as bad luck."
Chen Shi, standing to the side, suddenly interjected, "Aunt Tian, how did you know there were strips inside those cloth strips?"
Tian Guizhi's eyelids twitched. Seeing that softening her stance wasn't working, she started yelling again, "Who doesn't know there's paper wrapped inside? I'm not blind! What? Does your Chen family want to pin this on me?"
Chen Shi didn't speak, he just looked at her.
Tian Guizhi felt uneasy under his gaze, and her voice became even shriller, "Han Changgui owed me money. He's dead. I don't want the money anymore, but he still has to return the IOU, right? You can't just throw all sorts of filth at me just because I'm a widow. Captain, don't you think that makes sense?"
Zhao Defa closed the notebook and slowly tucked it back into his pocket. "Tell me," he said, "how much does Han Changgui owe you?"
Tian Guizhi stammered in response, "Well...how could I remember that clearly?"
"It wasn't written on the IOU?"
"You've written it."
"Writing is writing, not writing is not writing. What does 'writing' even mean?"
"Why should I, a widow, be interrogated like this? Are you the police? Changgui is dead, can't I even look at his belongings?"
Chen Shi sneered from the side, "Who are you to him? His wife, my sister, is still lying on the kang (heated brick bed). Who gives you the right to look at the things he left behind?"
"Stop making things up about me!"
"They're eagerly pushing themselves forward, and they're afraid of what others will say?"
Tian Guizhi's chest heaved with anger, but her eyes kept glancing at Zhao Defa's chest.
Zhao Defa clearly understood as well. "Alright, the things are with me, no one can have their eyes on them. If it really is an IOU, Xiulan is the one who should be worried. If it weren't an IOU, anyone who reaches out would be guilty."
Tian Guizhi wanted to continue arguing.
Zhao Defa added, "If the village can't handle it, there's the commune, and if all else fails, there's the police. I know what I'm doing."
Upon hearing the word "police," Tian Guizhi visibly panicked and managed to say, "You're all bullying people."
After saying that, she turned and left.
As a result, I was walking too fast and almost slipped and fell.
After regaining his footing, he looked back at Zhao Defa and Chen Shi once more.
After Tian Guizhi had walked a distance, Dahai dared to ask, "Uncle Zhao, why is she so fixated on that tattered piece of cloth?"
Zhao Defa glanced at him and said irritably, "You already said it's just a rag, but she still cares about it. Why do you think that is?"
The sea scratched its head.
He couldn't understand why he asked that question.
Zhao Defa looked at Chen Shi.
When the funeral procession started in the morning, he left his willow basket at the brigade headquarters and asked, "It's almost finished here. Where are you going?"
"Let's go up the mountain," Chen Shi said directly, without hiding anything.
"today?"
"Um."
Zhao Defa frowned. "You went up the mountain right after burying the body?"
"We're out of firewood and grain, and the firewood for the little tiger isn't fully cooked yet. I'm going to go up the mountain to take a look and check on the rabbit traps while I'm at it."
Chen Shi carried the willow basket on his back and fastened the knife.
"Come to my house for a hot meal, your aunt has cooked."
"No, time waits for no one."
"But you can't go up the mountain on an empty stomach."
Chen Shi pulled a cornbread out of his pocket. "I brought it with me."
"Don't be a hero..."
"Okay, I promised Yaya I'd bring her something nice when I come back."
Zhao Defa looked at the pitifully small cornbread and sighed, "You child..."
Before he could finish speaking, Chen Shi had already headed towards the back of the mountain.