"Chun Nuan, something terrible happened at your house." Before reaching the gate, Aunt Cai hastily said to her, "Your house was attacked by mountain bandits. They set it on fire and stole your things. Your grandmother passed away."
Grandmother is gone!
Chun Nuan stumbled forward in shock.
"Careful," Zhao Minghua urgently reached out to pull back his fiancée, whispering in her ear, "Don’t panic, the family depends on you now!"
Chun Nuan took a deep breath, listening to Zhao Minghua’s advice.
"Chun Nuan is back."
The neighbors, seeing her approach, stepped back, giving her a clear path home.
But this was not a path home; it was a path to sorrow.
The sound of crying filled the house, a mournful scene.
Chun Nuan’s vision blurred with tears.
Six hundred and thirty-nine days after grandfather passed, grandmother followed him!
She had known her grandmother’s health was frail, that she wouldn’t last long, but she didn’t expect this day to come so swiftly, nor that external harm would cause it.
Chun Nuan walked step by step into the house, where everyone was crying.
"Second Miss is back," Mei’er was the first to see Chun Nuan.
Upon hearing Mei’er’s call, the cries abruptly ceased.
"Nuannuan, your grandmother is gone." Mrs. Xu looked at Chun Nuan supported by Zhao Minghua and cried mournfully, "Nuannuan..."
"Grandmother!"
Chun Nuan knelt with a thump, choked with tears, "Grandmother, I have failed you, your granddaughter couldn’t protect you..."
Since coming to Shu City, she had stayed as low-profile as possible.
Though she had the capital for a large mansion in town, she chose to build a courtyard in the countryside, to distance herself from trouble, overlooking safety, giving others the chance to strike.
Her grandmother’s passing left a deep scar in her heart, filled with guilt and remorse.
"Nuannuan..." Aunt Xu came over, tears flowing, helping her up, "Don’t blame yourself; your safe return is already your grandfather and grandmother’s blessing from above... By the way, where is Chun Ning?"
"Don’t worry, Madam. Chun Ning and my people caught the bandits and sent them to the authorities."
"Thank you, Mr. Zhao."
"No need for thanks, Madam."
I am the Xiao family’s son-in-law, there’s no need for formality: "Madam, the old lady has passed, please accept my condolences. For the funeral arrangements, don’t hesitate to ask Ming Hua for help."
Mrs. Xu looked at the capable Zhao Minghua with relief and then turned to Chun Nuan.
"Nuannuan, we are unfamiliar with Shu City’s funeral customs; each place has its ways. Your grandmother’s funeral should follow local customs, and this matter relies on you. Your mother, Aunt, and elder sister-in-law are at your disposal."
"Yes, Aunt, Chun Nuan will handle it well."
As Zhao Minghua said, the family relies on her now.
Chun Nuan kowtowed before her grandmother and stood up, seeing the helpless elders, the tear-stained young siblings and a niece clinging to Nanny Wu, her heart ached deeply.
"Elder sister-in-law, you and Nanny Wu look after Chun Qiang, Chunxin, and Muyang. With many people and things going on, the children mustn’t leave your sight."
As the Xiao Family intends to make things difficult for them, there’s no doubt they’d use underhanded tactics repeatedly; one must be cautious, not harmful but wary, and this must be heeded.
"Rest assured, Second Miss, the maid and the young mistress will take care of them."
Nanny Wu’s eyes were red and swollen from crying; the old lady was a young lady from a prominent family, a stabilizing force for the Xiao Family, strict yet kindly to her maid; her sudden departure was deeply mourned by her as well.
"Aunt, you and Mother stay by Grandmother’s side. Chun Yan, you accompany Chun Shu and Chun An," Chun Nuan said, "I’ll go ask Aunt Luo about the precautions they have."
Aunt Luo, seeing Chun Nuan coming out, hurriedly asked if she needed help.
"Aunt Luo, our family lived in the Capital and doesn’t know Shu City’s customs. Aunt said there’re different customs for each place, so we should follow the local ways here. I must ask for your and Uncle Luo’s help."
"Of course, of course," Aunt Luo said, "First, hurry and buy mourning clothes to change the old lady."
Mourning clothes?
"These are the clothes elders wear for burial, you can buy them at the elderly shop in town."
"Also, you need to buy a coffin."
"Where to buy it in the dead of night?" Aunt Cai said, "In the village, Chen Erniang’s daughter made her six sets of mourning clothes after she turned sixty, and her son prepared a coffin last year. Chun Nuan, you might buy from her or pay back afterward."
Is this really possible?
"Yes, yes, find Uncle Chen and borrow the reserve from Aunt Chen," Aunt Chen said, "Come, Chun Nuan, I’ll take you to negotiate with them."
"Can this really work?"
Chun Nuan thought these items were taboo, weren’t they?
How are they prepared when they are alive and well?
"It’s possible, come, Chun Nuan, I’ll take you to the Chen family." Aunt Luo turned to Aunt Cai, "Sister-in-law Cai, can I borrow your torch?"
"Let’s go, I also need to go home, and it’s on the way. Escort me home and take the torch."
Chun Nuan followed Aunt Luo and Aunt Cai, and Zhao Minghua also followed.
Escorting Aunt Cai home, on the way to the Chen family, Aunt Luo started to explain Shu City’s customs to Chun Nuan.
"Here, once parents turn sixty, married daughters prepare mourning clothes on their birthdays; better-off families prepare more, poorer ones prepare at least one set, two for women, one for men."
What does two for women, one for men mean?
"It means preparing mourning clothes, if it’s for the mother, prepare four sets, or six, or eight, for the father, prepare five sets, or seven," Aunt Luo explained, "Your grandmother needs to borrow four or six sets."
"For Aunt Chen’s birthday, her eldest daughter prepared six sets; last year, being a leap month, her son commissioned a carpenter to make a cypress coffin."
"When people are alive and well, how come mourning clothes and coffins are prepared, isn’t it unlucky?" Zhao Minghua, usually unconcerned with such matters, had to ask now for his fiancée’s family’s sake: "If we abruptly visit to borrow them, wouldn’t they mind?"
At this moment, Zhao Minghua regretted deeply, why hadn’t he paid more attention to such things before? Though a small matter, he couldn’t help at all.
"No, birth, old age, sickness, and death are natural, as long as there hasn’t been a quarrel, negotiation is usually possible. Choosing a leap month for coffin preparation is for good fortune, hoping she’ll live longer," Aunt Luo recalled. The Xiao family is no longer the newcomers to Shu City they once were; they have money now, even if Chun Nuan doesn’t, when has Mr. Zhao lacked funds?
"Also, borrowing is not the only way; you could also buy them at equivalent prices."
Aunt Luo almost explicitly stated: Pay the price, and the items are yours.