Chapter 226: Chapter 226: Midnight Grave Visit, A Dream Message

“So, does he really have no descendants? What should we do with all these things?” If he had any heirs, they could be handed over to them.

Xu Huai’an shook his head. “No, he doesn’t. I heard his wife was the daughter of a wealthy family in the provincial capital. She was frail since childhood and raised in seclusion, but she was well-educated. The two of them were a good match.

Because of her health, they lost several children before finally having a son. But that year, the boy was falsely accused and jumped into the river...

He himself was an only child, so the Wang family line ended with him.”

No wonder, she thought. She’d been curious how Old Wang’s family could bear to buy so many expensive pieces of jewelry.

Though he was a landlord, at that time he was only moderately wealthy, with some property and savings.

Even with all those gold bars, their total value probably just matched the jewelry. It made sense now—his wife came from a rich family.

Gu Qinghuan couldn’t help but sigh. What must they have felt when handling these possessions back then?

Life is unpredictable; enjoy it while you can.

When a person dies, it’s like a lamp going out—nothing is left, not even the clothes on your back.

“It’s kind of funny, actually. As soon as Xu Mingshan got the Wang family house, he secretly dug all over the place, hoping to find Old Wang’s hidden gold bars, but found nothing.

When he was young, he’d worked as Old Wang’s page boy. Old Wang treated him well, so he knew the family’s situation.

The flowers you tend may not bloom, but the willows you plant by chance will. Who would have thought we’d be the ones to find it in the end?” Xu Huai’an said with a hint of irony.

Gu Qinghuan hadn’t expected it either. They were living in someone else’s house, and now they’d found the family’s hidden treasure. Taking it felt a bit wrong.

“Since he has no descendants, we’ll just have to keep these things safe for now.

Do you know where Old Wang and his family are buried? We should go pay our respects. When times get better, we can restore their tombstones and offer incense. It’s the least we can do after receiving so much from them,” Gu Qinghuan said thoughtfully.

It wasn’t realistic to put the things back, so for now, they could only keep them.

Old Wang had been a kind and generous man. Gu Qinghuan decided that, from now on, she would use what he left behind to do as much good as possible. She believed that, watching from above, he would be comforted.

“You’re right, we should pay our respects,” Xu Huai’an agreed.

Some things are only real if you believe in them. He used to be a staunch materialist, but ever since Gu Qinghuan came into his life, he’d begun to believe in past and future lives, and that good deeds would be rewarded.

Xu Huai’an knew where Old Wang was buried. That winter, Old Wang died alone in his house and no one noticed. Xu happened to come home for a visit, discovered the death, and personally buried him.

His son was buried in the same area.

There were no tombstones, but it was easy to remember.

So the two of them set out in the middle of the night.

Gu Qinghuan wore a military coat, bundled up tightly with only her eyes showing. The night was freezing, and it was hard to walk in the cold.

She bought incense, candles, paper money, fruit, sweets, and white wine from the vending machine for offerings.

The Wang family’s burial place wasn’t far, just at the foot of the mountain on a barren hill. Hardly anyone dared to go there.

Xu Huai’an pointed to a few small mounds. “This one is Uncle Wang’s grave, that one is his wife’s, and over there is the Wang family’s son.”

They set out offerings at all three graves, lit incense and candles, and burned plenty of paper money at each one.

As she burned the paper, Gu Qinghuan whispered, “Uncle Wang, Auntie, little brother, thank you for watching over us. May everything go smoothly for you.

Take this money and use it well—it should be enough to buy a villa and a luxury car in the underworld. If it’s not enough, send me a dream, and I’ll burn more for you.”

She spoke such amusing words, but her tone was utterly sincere.

Gu Qinghuan had heard that when burning offerings for the dead, you must call their names, or else wandering ghosts might take them instead.

Her grandmother had told her that. No matter the truth, she chose to believe the family was reunited below, watching over everything.

A gust of wind blew the ashes far away.

Gu Qinghuan pulled her coat tighter.

They waited until every ember was out before quietly leaving.

It was deep into the night, and everyone else was asleep.

Gu Qinghuan took a comfortable bath in her space before returning to bed.

The Lantern Festival, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

Early in the morning, Zhong Luoning cooked yuanxiao (sweet rice dumplings) for everyone.

Northern yuanxiao and southern tangyuan look similar, but they’re actually quite different.

Yuanxiao are usually made fresh and eaten right away—they can’t be frozen, or they’ll crack. Tangyuan can be frozen and stored for a long time.

Yuanxiao fillings are firmer and usually sweet, while tangyuan fillings are softer and can be sweet or savory.

Yuanxiao are made by rolling, tangyuan by wrapping.

Yuanxiao can be boiled or fried, tangyuan can only be boiled.

To make yuanxiao, you start with the filling, mix it, shape it into a big round sheet, let it cool, then cut it into cubes about the size of a ping-pong ball.

Then you put the filling cubes in a basket, sprinkle on glutinous rice flour, and roll them around until they become balls and the flour coats the surface.

Since Gu Qinghuan’s family had plenty of ingredients and Zhong Luoning was in high spirits, she made three different flavors of yuanxiao.

There were black sesame, peanut, and red bean paste fillings.

Youran had eaten Zhong Luoning’s yuanxiao in previous years, but for Dabao and Beibei, this was their first time learning that people eat yuanxiao on the Lantern Festival.

Liu Guifang had never made any for them before, and even if she did, none was ever set aside for them.

So the two kids watched Zhong Luoning make yuanxiao with great excitement.

As soon as the yuanxiao were cooked, Dabao and Beibei couldn’t wait and took a bite before Zhong Luoning could warn them. The dumplings were so hot they almost spat them out, but in the end, they couldn’t bear to waste them and swallowed them down.

“So this is what yuanxiao tastes like! It’s delicious, just too hot,” Beibei exclaimed.

Zhong Luoning felt a pang of sadness at their words.

“From now on, every year, Mom will make yuanxiao for you. You don’t have to envy anyone else.

Beibei, the one you just bit into was red bean paste.

Dabao, yours was black sesame.”

“Thank you, Auntie! Your yuanxiao are so good, I’m going to eat them all up!” Beibei said with a sweet smile.

Youran echoed, “I’ll eat them all up too!”

“Alright, you all eat as much as you want. If it’s not enough, I’ll make more—there’s plenty for everyone.”

Gu Qinghuan had slept in again today.

She sat on the heated bed, recalling her dream from the night before, still a bit dazed.

Maybe it was because she’d been thinking about it all day, but last night she actually dreamed of Old Wang.

Old Wang thanked her for the incense and paper money. He said his family had reunited in the underworld, but to secure a better fate in their next life, they still needed more good karma.

He hoped Gu Qinghuan would use the treasure to do good deeds and help them accumulate more merit."

"Chapter 227 Lantern Festival Preparations

Whether or not that dream was really Old Wang coming to her in a dream, Gu Qinghuan had made up her mind: she was going to use the money to do good deeds and help her family accumulate more merit.

But for now, the times hadn’t opened up yet, so there wasn’t much she could do. She’d have to wait a couple more years.

Gu Qinghuan tasted the tangyuan (sweet rice dumplings) made by Zhong Luoning and couldn’t stop praising them. Her cousin had always been meticulous, and even these little tangyuan were beautifully made and delicious.

After the meal, the whole family got busy again.

Today was not only the Lantern Festival, but also the last day at home for Xu Huaian and the others before they left.

After breakfast, Gu Lanting tidied up and went next door to the cowshed to help Zhong Zijun shovel manure and clean up. Once everything was in order, she brought the family of three back to have lunch together and celebrate the Lantern Festival in the evening.

Zhong Luoning and Gu Qinghuan were in charge of preparing lunch.

Ming Ruxue took the children out to play all over the village. Thanks to her “money power” and the candies in her pocket, all the kids in the village were completely won over and followed her around everywhere.

Xu Huaian was sent off by Gu Qinghuan to deliver things.

There were a lot of extra tangyuan left over from the batch Zhong Luoning made in the morning—far more than the family could eat, especially since there would be other dishes for lunch and dinner.

So Gu Qinghuan had Xu Huaian deliver some to Ji Linhai, Erdan’s family, and their eldest brother’s family. It wasn’t much, just to share the festive spirit.

Xu Huaian also needed to have a word with his eldest brother.

Everyone had their own tasks, and the family was bustling with activity.

Barring any surprises, these would be the last two big meals Xu Huaian and the others would have in Xujia Village. Early tomorrow morning, they would set off for Beijing.

Gu Qinghuan was determined to feed them as well as she could before they left.

The lunch menu: garlic pork ribs, fish with pickled vegetables, spicy sliced pork, braised pork bones, white radish and lamb offal soup, vinegar cabbage, and cold shredded potatoes.

Fish with pickled vegetables was a family favorite and a must before they left.

There was still a lot of wild boar meat stored away, so some of the meat and bones needed to be used up.

After delivering to the other two families, Xu Huaian finally arrived at Xu Huaizhi’s house.

When Xu Huaizhi heard that he was leaving for Beijing the next day, he was full of mixed emotions.

“Second brother, don’t worry. I’ll help look after your wife and the kids,” Xu Huaizhi said, patting him on the shoulder.

Xu Huaian knew about Gu Qinghuan’s abilities—there was never any shortage of food or drink at home—so he didn’t really expect Xu Huaizhi to help with anything substantial.

What he was worried about was that after he left, Xu Mingshan and Liu Guifang might make things hard for Gu Qinghuan. She was the type to only share good news and keep troubles to herself.

So he gave Xu Huaizhi a few words of advice: “Big brother, I’m not worried about anything else, just that Mom might give my wife a hard time. If anything happens at home, I hope you’ll help out and try to talk some sense into her.”

“Of course. Don’t worry.”

“Thank you, big brother. It’s the Lantern Festival today—these tangyuan are for you and sister-in-law to try.”

Lin Xiaomeng took the tangyuan, eyeing him suspiciously.

“Sister-in-law, is something wrong?” Xu Huaian asked, puzzled.

“Uh, it’s nothing. I just heard some of the village gossips say you beat up Xu Lao’er this morning?”

Actually, that wasn’t all. After Xu Lao’er came back yesterday, he went around telling everyone that Xu Huaian had beaten him up and even stolen his game.

He claimed Xu Huaian was abusing his position as the Party Secretary’s son to bully others.

Since his injuries were real, everyone was talking about it, trying to figure out what really happened.

Xu Huaian hadn’t expected that little weasel to go around spreading rumors. Looks like he’d gone too easy on him.

“Yeah, I did beat him up. I set a trap, and he stole the prey I caught. He refused to give it back and acted shamelessly, so I gave him a beating.”

He didn’t mind telling the truth. Worst case, he’d just beat him up again.

Lin Xiaomeng’s eyes lit up visibly.

Good for him—Xu Huaian had finally done something satisfying.

That scoundrel Xu Lao’er deserved a beating. He should have been beaten up long ago.

“I knew you wouldn’t hit someone for no reason. He deserved it! People like that need a good beating,” Lin Xiaomeng said, her attitude toward Xu Huaian clearly improving.

When Xu Huaian left, she even gave him some of her homemade red bean buns to take with him.

Xu Huaizhi looked at his wife in surprise. Why was she being so warm to Huaian today?

Lin Xiaomeng explained how Xu Lao’er had harassed her before, and Xu Huaizhi finally understood the whole story. He wished he could go beat Xu Lao’er up himself.

And in fact, he did find an opportunity to do just that later.

Lin Xiaomeng’s words reminded Xu Huaian that Xu Lao’er was a sneaky troublemaker. Before leaving, he’d have to give him a stern warning, or else he might bully his wife and kids after he was gone.

Troublemakers are always the hardest to deal with.

Xu Huaian made a mental note and strolled home.

Zhong Zijun and Zhong Weiqian arrived around eleven o’clock.

When they came, Gu Lanting was carrying a big basket on her back.

Inside were things the three of them had prepared for their grandson, granddaughter, granddaughter’s husband, and the little Ming girl to take with them.

There were dried wild pheasants and rabbits they’d saved all winter, fish that Gu Qinghuan had given them and they’d carefully salted and smoked, and dried goods like hazelnuts, pine nuts, and black fungus.

Zhong Zijun had already divided everything up so everyone got a share.

Gu Lanting hadn’t wanted her to bring so much, but Zhong Zijun’s love for her children was obvious, and he couldn’t bear to refuse her kindness.

“A mother’s worries follow her children wherever they go”—it’s not just an empty saying.

Gu Qinghuan understood, so she didn’t refuse Zhong Zijun’s kindness. She had plenty of good things in her own space and could always send more later.

But seeing all this, Zhong Luoning’s eyes turned red with emotion.

She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt this kind of love from her elders.

She’d grown up surrounded by love and had always taken it for granted.

But when you’re down and out, you realize just how precious family affection really is.

The bonds between family members are even more sincere and steadfast.

Cheng Shuying took her hand and said, word by word, “Ningning, don’t cry. These are just small things.

What’s more important is that when you go back, you start over and live well.

I raised you myself, and I believe you can build a good life again.

We’ve survived so many hardships already—things will only get better from here.

Look at our little Youran, so smart and lively. That’s worth more than anything.”

Cheng Shuying didn’t mention any of the painful memories, but her words made Zhong Luoning feel even more emotional. She finally couldn’t hold back and threw herself into her grandmother’s arms, sobbing.

During this time, everyone had been considerate of her, never bringing up her past, and the Zhong family pretended not to know anything.

But she understood—they were just looking out for her feelings.

Everyone quietly left the main room, giving the grandmother and granddaughter some space.

Zhong Luoning had grown up with Cheng Shuying by her side. With her comfort and guidance, hopefully the road ahead would be smoother for her."

"Chapter 228: A Mother’s Heart, The Last Supper