Chapter 1005

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Protagonist:

Li Xiulan

No one wants to encounter something like this, but once it happens, there's nothing to be done about it.

Wang Changgen could only pick another date.

He finally settled on the twenty-seventh of the twelfth lunar month for the housewarming.

Then he went door to door to notify them, telling them the housewarming date had changed.

Because Zhong Zhiming had notified everyone about the funeral in advance, when Wang Changgen went to tell them the housewarming was postponed, they didn't show much surprise.

Everything was perfectly understandable.

After all, a funeral takes precedence over everything; no matter what, everything must give way to a funeral.

It's just postponing the meal by a few days, completely no problem.

It's just that after Wang Changgen bustled about all day, he couldn't help feeling a bit depressed.

Why does something unexpected always happen at the critical moment?

Before, the building construction was abandoned several times.

Even after the shell was already finished, something like Zhou Aidi going to hang herself happened.

Now the house is built, renovated, and all the furniture bought; the housewarming was just around the corner, yet they ran into Zhong Jianguo's death.

Is this perhaps what they call "fate"?

Li Xiulan saw the depression in Wang Changgen's heart, so she comforted him:

"Don't wear such a long face. You should be glad, at least the one who passed away wasn't you!"

Hearing this, Wang Changgen became even more displeased:

"What kind of talk is that? I'm not even sixty yet, and you're saying this to me!"

But Li Xiulan said:

"You'd better not play the Mark Six lottery anymore. That thing harms people deeply; I'm afraid if you get too excited, your brain bleeds again, then no one can save you."

Wang Changgen kept a straight face:

"Rest assured, I absolutely won't touch that stuff again."

This was his honest truth; after he learned of Zhong Jianguo's death, he truly made up his mind never to touch the Mark Six lottery again.

Then he added:

"But you mustn't tell Dashan and Erhai about me playing the Mark Six lottery, afraid they'll come back and scold me!"

Li Xiulan said:

"Rest easy, I won't say anything. By the way, did you tell them about the housewarming postponement?"

Wang Changgen smoked dejectedly:

"Not yet."

Li Xiulan said: "Then you call and tell them."

But Wang Changgen wasn't in the mood:

"You call, I don't want to talk right now."

Li Xiulan knew Wang Changgen's stubborn temper, so she didn't press him further.

Instead, she took out her own mobile phone and called Wang Dashan:

"Dashan, the housewarming date has changed."

Wang Dashan received this call, somewhat surprised:

"Wasn't it agreed on the twenty-third of the twelfth month for the housewarming? How come it's changed?"

To be able to come home on the twenty-third, Wang Dashan had done a lot of preparation work in advance.

Li Xiulan said:

"Zhong Jianguo passed away, the funeral procession is on the twenty-third, we can't clash with their day; besides, holding a funeral and a celebration at the same time isn't auspicious."

"Is that so... wasn't Doctor Zhong in pretty good health before? How did he pass away?"

Wang Dashan was somewhat stunned.

The image of Zhong Jianguo, that kindly old man, floated up in his mind.

Another person in the village was gone; although they had no kinship ties, Wang Dashan still couldn't help but sigh, feeling secretly saddened.

"He lost some money playing the Mark Six lottery, his son found out and quarreled with him, then he couldn't take the anger, fainted, was taken to the county town for treatment, but it was already too late, he just passed away like that, sigh!"

Li Xiulan also found Zhong Jianguo's passing hard to accept.

She had a pretty good relationship with Zhong Jianguo.

Before, the family killed a few chickens to worship the gods, couldn't finish them the next day and sent them to Wang Erhai's place, and also put the chicken meat in Zhong Jianguo's refrigerator to freeze.

Zhong Jianguo was such a good person; if you asked him to help with something, he almost never refused.

Going to his place for IV drips, buying medicine and such, was also very affordable.

With him gone like this, the village health station probably won't be able to keep operating.

"Dashan, you mustn't go play the Mark Six lottery, that thing harms people deeply!"

Li Xiulan reminded Wang Dashan.

Wang Dashan smiled:

"Mom, rest easy, I'm so busy with work I can't keep up, where would I find time to play those messy things! By the way, when is the housewarming rescheduled to?"

Li Xiulan said:

"Your father and I checked the almanac and decided to move it to the twenty-seventh of the twelfth lunar month!"

Wang Dashan said:

"The twenty-seventh is practically the New Year; let me see if I can get leave early, and when I go back I'll just stay until after the New Year before heading back down to Guangzhou!"

"That's wonderful; this year we can spend the New Year in the new house. Now that the family's circumstances are better, you three brothers can stay at home a bit longer!"

After notifying Wang Dashan, Li Xiulan went to notify Wang Erhai.

Wang Erhai also felt very shocked by Zhong Jianguo's passing.

He also said he would come back in three days to personally see Zhong Jianguo off.

But Li Xiulan said if he was busy with business he didn't have to come back; with Wang Zhanggen there as a man to help with Zhong Jianguo's funeral, that would count as fulfilling the obligation.

After finishing the call to Wang Erhai, Li Xiulan called Wang Xiaohua.

At this time Wang Xiaohua was already on winter vacation.

However, he had not gone home.

Instead, he was in Guangzhou together with Li Jianjia.

Li Jianjia's condition now was much better than before.

With Wang Xiaohua's companionship, she had already gradually emerged from the psychological issues brought on by her family upheaval.

Wang Xiaohua and Li Jianjia had originally agreed to return together to Shanggou Village on the twenty-third of the twelfth lunar month to attend the new house Housewarming ceremony.

Now his mother Li Xiulan called and said to postpone it to the twenty-seventh, and he had no objection to that.

Staying a few more days in Guangzhou with Li Jianjia, enjoying a few more days of their private world together, was quite nice too.

After hanging up, Wang Xiaohua said to Li Jianjia:

"Let's go back to Shanggou Village on the twenty-seventh then; my mom just called and said the new house Housewarming is postponed to the twenty-seventh."

Li Jianjia nodded in reply:

"Okay!"

Wang Xiaohua said again:

"This year you'll spend the New Year at my place; we've already got our marriage certificate, so by custom you really ought to come to my family for the New Year."

Li Jianjia also agreed readily:

"Okay, no problem!"

After all, her home now had long since ceased to be a home in any real sense.

Her father was imprisoned, her mother had fled abroad.

If she stayed at her own home for the New Year, she'd only be able to eat the New Year's Eve dinner all alone.

Wang Xiaohua worried at this point:

"Just don't know if you'll be able to adapt to rural life; the countryside and the county town are ultimately still a bit different."

Li Jianjia smiled and said:

"As long as you're with me, it's the same wherever we spend the New Year!"

Wang Xiaohua then said:

"Then we'd better go buy some New Year goods in advance, and also prepare some red envelopes; now that we're married, when kids come visiting we'll have to start giving out red envelopes too."

Li Jianjia at this moment looked surprised, wearing an expression of disbelief:

"Ah! Put that way, we've already counted as adults!"

The custom here is like this: those who give red envelopes count as adults, those who receive them count as children.

Whether adult or child, there's generally no fixed age rule.

Rather, it's based on whether one is married as the dividing line.

Once married, you have to start giving red envelopes.

If not married, even if you're in your twenties, you can still receive red envelopes at the New Year!