Chapter 1263: Rural Absurd Past Events Chapter 1263: My Father's Dying Words Must Be Obeyed!

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Protagonist:

Li Xiulan

"In this life, did you ever love me?"

Wang Zhanggen's sorrowful eyes carried a hint of pleading.

Li Xiulan's body trembled slightly; she remained silent for a long time before nodding:

"I loved you……"

Actually, that wasn't exactly a lie.

At least when she was young, she truly loved Wang Zhanggen.

If she hadn't loved Wang Zhanggen, how could she have borne him three children under such arduous conditions?

But love ultimately could not defeat cruel reality.

After being hurt again and again, her love for Wang Zhanggen had long since been worn away.

All that remained was numbness.

Hearing Li Xiulan say the two words "I loved you," the pain on Wang Zhanggen's face eased considerably.

A teardrop slid down from the corner of her eye once more.

But this time, it was not caused by pain.

Rather, it carried a hint of relief, and a hint of guilt:

"Xiulan, I'm sorry……"

Wang Zhanggen spoke those words, then slowly closed his eyes.

Respiration stopped.

The heartbeat followed and stopped.

Li Xiulan's tears flowed uncontrollably.

If this "I'm sorry" had come twenty years earlier, how wonderful that would have been.

But there are no "ifs" in this world.

"Dad!"

Wang Dashan shouted as he burst into tears.

"Dad, rest in peace!"

Wang Erhai also began to cry.

Xiao Hua said nothing, remaining silent, only his eye sockets were somewhat red.

Wang Zhanggen's hearing was still there; he very much wanted to respond to his son:

"Dad is here!"

In a daze, countless memory fragments surged into his mind, as if returning to an afternoon more than twenty years ago, the sunset fiery red, he returned from the city carrying various cheap gifts—fruit jelly, hawthorn cake, biscuits, candy, and a Hami melon that no one in the family had ever eaten.

"Dad! Dad!"

The children rushed up, jumping around him, cheering joyfully.

Back then he seemed like a hero of this world, at least in the eyes of his children, he was a hero.

A hero who shouldered the family's economic burden.

The hospital issued a death certificate for Wang Zhanggen.

Wang Zhanggen was dead, but the matter was not over.

The aftermath work had only just begun.

Wang Dashan said they should take their father back to their hometown of Shanggou Village, keep the vigil at home for three days, and then bury him.

This was the rule; it could not be broken.

Wang Erhai had no objection to this.

Li Xiulan also felt that the funeral that should be held must be held, and could not be skimped on.

But Xiao Hua discerned the true meaning behind Wang Dashan's words:

"Big Brother, keeping the vigil for three days and then burying him—you mean, no cremation?"

Wang Dashan lowered his voice:

"Don't say it loudly here; this is part of our father's last words. Are we not even going to listen to our father's last words?"

"But, burying him directly is illegal……"

"No 'buts,' don't speak!"

Wang Dashan snapped:

"I am the eldest brother; I have the final say on this matter!"

But Xiao Hua still said:

"Last time when we held a memorial service for Jianjia, someone reported it; this time if it's really an earth burial, and someone reports us again……"

"Whoever dares to report me, I'll go block their door! Last time that dog thing Liang Xinghua did something good; after I handle our father's funeral arrangements, I'll go settle accounts with him!"

Wang Dashan's eyes were red, his heart full of anger.

"Big Brother……"

Xiao Hua still wanted to continue persuading him, after all this matter could be big or small.

"Don't say another word; if you keep talking, I'll get angry!" Wang Dashan's face looked somewhat ferocious.

Wang Xiaohua knew that no matter what he said now, Wang Dashan would not listen.

So he could only do this for now.

Wait until they returned to Shanggou Village, when his emotions had calmed a bit, then speak with him again.

Wang Zhanggen's corpse, that very evening, they hired a minivan and brought it back into Shanggou Village.

Placed in the side room of the old home.

Covered with a straw mat.

In the south, late September, the weather was still very hot, not even a trace of autumn wind.

So Wang Zhanggen's corpse, after only one night, already had some smell.

The underlying code of human genes naturally has a sense of rejection and fear toward this kind of smell.

In a blink, they barely managed to persist until the next day.

Wang Dashan personally went to invite Lao Zan over to help, while Wang Erhai went door to door, notifying the villagers that tomorrow their old father would be carried out for burial.

Originally Wang Dashan had agreed to keep the vigil for three days, but that smell spread too fast; Wang Dashan himself could barely endure it, so he relented a bit, saying last night also counted as one day.

Yesterday, today, and then tomorrow.

That also counted as making up three days.

He kept saying the rules could not be broken.

Yet now he had easily broken them.

To Wang Xiaohua, this so-called persistence looked so ridiculous, so nonsensical.

The matter of insisting on earth burial was actually the same.

Lao Zan arrived at the Wang Family Building.

"Tomorrow the funeral procession goes out, so today the incense must be added in full. The weather is still stiflingly hot; once the temperature rises at noon, it will stink even faster."

Lao Zan spoke like this.

In this aspect his experience was still quite considerable; after all, he had helped many other families handle funeral affairs.

Recently there was a family whose father died; they still wanted to keep the vigil for seven days, to display their filial piety as children.

Result: because it was summer, after only one night that family could not bear it, hurriedly held the funeral the next day, switched to cremation, then kept the ashes at home for seven days, and only then went to bury them.

Wang Dashan listened to Lao Zan's words, nodded, then turned and handed the car keys to Wang Xiaohua:

"Third Brother, you drive my car to Town now and buy some incense! Also red robes, yellow paper, white cloth and such, buy them back; buy them just like last time when you handled your wife's affairs!"

Wang Xiaohua nodded:

"Okay."

Then he took the keys and drove to Town.

After Wang Xiaohua left, Lao Zan spoke again:

"This time is different from last time. Last time it was a clothing-and-hat mound; no need to contact the crematorium. But this time you must contact them in advance; otherwise if you wait until tomorrow to contact them, their people won't be able to come according to the appointed hour."

Wang Dashan said expressionlessly:

"No need to contact the crematorium. This time also carry him directly up the mountain."

Lao Zan's face showed surprise:

"That's not good. Enforcement is strict now. Last time even the clothing-and-hat mound had Town people come to stop it. This time we probably can't hide it from them either. After all, once a white affair is held, the whole village, even people from several nearby villages, will all know."

Wang Dashan said:

"This is my father's dying wish. He said he feared fire, did not want cremation."

Lao Zan said:

"No problem. Nowadays the body won't be pulverized; after burning the bones can stay quite intact, won't affect later bone collection."

Wang Dashan said:

"This is my father's dying wish. I cannot disobey!"

Lao Zan patiently persuaded:

"Even if you bury him now, later there will definitely be people coming to investigate. Once the death certificate is issued, the hospital side will contact the relevant departments in the native place. If your side has no cremation record for a long time, they will certainly come to inquire. Listen to me: even if no one reports it, it's impossible to deceive heaven and cross the sea. Don't harbor a fluke mentality. Otherwise in ten days or half a month, your father will be forcibly dug up and taken away to be burned. That not only makes him suffer more, but also makes your whole family suffer along with him."

Lao Zan had seen quite a few who wanted to deceive heaven and cross the sea by secretly doing earth burial; up to now, not a single one had succeeded.

In the neighboring village there was a family who even skipped holding a white affair for the sake of earth burial.

In the dead of night they dragged the body up the mountain and buried it.

Yet even so, half a month later it was still discovered by the relevant departments.

The arm cannot twist against the thigh.

In this era, everyone is cremated, and after cremation, bone collection and such are also convenient.

If not burned, bone collection would be difficult.

The cremation policy has been implemented for so many years.

In this era, finding a Geography Master willing to do bone collection for earth burial is not easy at all!

After all, this kind of thing tests psychological endurance too much!

For so many years everyone has stopped doing the flesh-scraping bone-taking work. Now asking a Geography Master to pick up that kind of ancient craft from decades ago — who could pick it up?

Lao Zan earnestly persuaded Wang Dashan, not only telling him he might face relevant department personnel forcibly breaking open the grave and digging up the body, but also explaining the many subsequent inconveniences.

However, Wang Dashan still said the same thing:

"This is my father's dying wish. I must obey."