Chapter 1266

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Protagonist:

Li Xiulan

After re-agreeing on the hour, Wang Erhai went door to door again to notify everyone of the changed time.

Those who could be reached by phone, he called; those who couldn't, he had to visit in person.

Some villagers had only just learned the funeral procession was at nine tomorrow morning, and now it was said to be at three in the early morning; they couldn't help but grumble.

"Hey, you three brothers, you should confirm the time before coming to notify us, don't just change it on a whim!"

Wang Erhai was scolded by a village elder, and could only nod repeatedly like a chick pecking rice:

"You're right, you're right..."

"This time at three in the morning, it won't change again, right? Don't make me show up at three and find nobody there!"

"No more changes, no more changes, that's the time! Really sorry, have a smoke..."

Wang Erhai hurriedly offered a cigarette and helped light it.

Only then did that villager stop complaining.

And every household Wang Erhai re-notified, he had to exhaust his saliva explaining all over again.

Moreover, he couldn't tell the truth; he couldn't very well say it was because they were afraid the Town Government people would come to arrest them that they changed the time.

He could only say they hadn't read the previous time correctly, that nine in the morning had a clash, so they changed it.

This lie, once told, drew snide remarks from some villagers:

"Isn't your Xiao Hua a top student? Why didn't you have him check? How could he get even this wrong!"

Faced with such ridicule, Wang Erhai could only force a heh-heh laugh, too embarrassed to say anything.

Meanwhile, at home, Wang Dashan gave Du Xiaojuan a call:

"Hello, my dad's funeral time has changed; the procession is at three in the early morning tonight."

Du Xiaojuan was very surprised to hear this:

"Wasn't it agreed to be nine tomorrow morning? How did it suddenly change to three in the early morning? It's the dead of night, what am I supposed to do?"

Originally it had been agreed the procession would be at nine tomorrow morning, and Du Xiaojuan had said she would rush back at six tomorrow morning, which should still have been in time.

Because the child had started stranger anxiety, Du Xiaolan had to be the one to put her to sleep.

Also, leaving Kang Yi alone to watch her, she wasn't at ease.

But Wang Dashan said:

"You drive back right now! Originally, as my dad's daughter-in-law, you should have come back yesterday to keep the wake!"

Wang Dashan had said this to Du Xiaojuan on the phone before; Du Xiaojuan was unwilling to come back for too many days, only willing to return on the day of the procession, reasoning that if she went back she'd likely have to bring the child, and bringing the child back was inconvenient in many ways, and the unfamiliar environment wasn't good for the child either.

Because of this, Wang Dashan had already quarreled with Du Xiaojuan once, feeling Du Xiaojuan simply didn't want to come back for his dad's funeral.

In the end it was Lao Zan who said Wang Zhanggen and Du Xiaojuan's zodiac signs clashed, so she didn't have to come back so early, just show up on the procession day.

Only then was that quarrel settled.

And now, Wang Dashan suddenly called to say the procession was moved up to three in the early morning, and the two naturally quarreled again.

"Wang Dashan, how can you make such a mess of things? If it was agreed on nine, just do it at nine; you randomly change the time, do you know how much trouble I have to go through? Me driving back with the child in the middle of the night, are you at ease? If the child and I get into a car accident on the road, you'll regret it for a lifetime!"

Du Xiaojuan accused angrily.

But Wang Dashan said:

"Leave earlier, drive carefully, there shouldn't be any problem."

Then he also said:

"You come back tonight, finish the business and can go back to Guangzhou tomorrow morning, isn't that better? I'm not asking you to stay at my hometown for long."

Du Xiaojuan said coldly:

"I want to know why the time was changed! If you don't say the reason, I'm not coming back!"

Wang Dashan fell silent for a moment, then truthfully said:

"My dad is to be earth-buried; at nine in the daytime, we're afraid the Town Government people will come to intercept."

Du Xiaojuan's face changed greatly with shock upon hearing this.

Because before this, Wang Dashan had never told her about the earth burial!

"No, what are you doing, what era is this, still earth burial? You're making trouble out of nothing!"

Du Xiaojuan truly couldn't understand the Wang family's decision, and hurriedly asked:

"Do your Second and Third Brothers agree to this? Especially your Third Brother, isn't he an intellectual? Would he agree to earth burial?"

Wang Dashan said coldly:

"If he disagrees, he still has to agree! This was my dad's dying wish; he said he feared fire, didn't want to be burned! So it must be earth burial!"

"Wang Dashan, do you know earth burial is illegal?"

"I know, that's why we changed it to three in the early morning, so the Town Government people won't come running to stop it!"

"They don't come stop it now, but after a while they'll just go dig up your dad's coffin, believe it or not?"

Du Xiaojuan said this.

Wang Dashan naturally knew many secret earth burials had been forcibly dug up and burned.

But he said:

"Future matters we'll discuss later, don't waste words, just give me a definite answer, are you coming back tonight or not?"

Du Xiaojuan was fuming:

"You're simply unreasonable!"

Wang Dashan, however, twisted the facts:

"You're the unreasonable one! Not just unreasonable, but selfish too! No matter how you put it, my father is your father-in-law! Asking you to attend his funeral isn't asking for your life, so what's with all this hemming and hawing?"

Du Xiaojuan felt her head ache a little.

Her good impression of Wang Dashan naturally diminished considerably as well.

"Wang Dashan, before you act, do you ever think about the consequences?"

Du Xiaojuan's voice carried helplessness.

She was truly disappointed in Wang Dashan.

"I don't care about the consequences. My father's dying wish, I must obey! Otherwise, even if I die and go to the underworld, I'll have no face to see him!"

Du Xiaojuan gave a bleak, cold laugh:

"Heh, I should've known long ago — we're fundamentally not from the same world. Whatever I say to you is like playing the lute to a cow."

Wang Dashan was quite impatient, not sensing Du Xiaojuan's disappointment toward him at all, but instead said coldly:

"You hurry up and give me a definite answer — are you coming or not?"

Du Xiaojuan endured the anger in her heart, thinking: the dead are the greatest; Wang Dashan lost his birth father, so she should be understanding to some extent. Thus, she compromised once more:

"Fine, fine. I'll go back in a bit. I'll bring Kang Yi along. You prepare a room for her in advance."

She, such a strong-willed person, had never compromised so much before anyone — not even her own birth parents had she ever made such a great compromise.

One can only say, she truly loves Wang Dashan.

But Wang Dashan's every behavior is also continuously grinding away the love in her heart.

When the day comes that her heart turns completely cold, perhaps their relationship will also end.

"Good, I'll prepare a room for her. The house has three floors — plenty of space to stay!"

Wang Dashan hung up the phone, and his heart actually held a trace of petty satisfaction.

"If you'd just been this obedient earlier, wouldn't there have been no damn trouble at all?"

Wang Dashan spoke this one sentence to the air, muttering to himself.

Because he felt that in his contest with Du Xiaojuan, he had won another round.

Yet he didn't know — between husband and wife, who loses and who wins?

Either it's mutual loss, or it's mutual gain.

Because husband and wife are originally one body.