Joyful Motherhood in a Rural Family

Chapter 764: Chapter 764: Di Hongyuan’s Heart Disease

Before Liu Sisi and Di Yelei could say a word, Di Hongyuan called Di Yelei away.

“Big brother, do you need something from me?”

The two had ridden non-stop from the Flying Horse Hostel to Macheng County and hadn’t rested for a moment since then. Both of them were worn out.

After a silent moment, Di Hongyuan asked softly, “Has Ms. Zhao been forever by father’s side?”

Di Yelei only then remembered. The primary reason Di Hongyuan left home years ago was precisely because of Ms. Zhao.

“She… these last years since big brother left, a lot has happened at home. Happened just last year…”

Di Yelei started from the beginning, telling about how Ms. Zhao had prostrated herself step by step to worship at their mother’s grave, about the situation back then, about the subsequent mediation by the Land Officer… He didn’t embellish nor hide anything, telling Di Hongyuan exactly how things were.

“Back then, mother really did die because of her, but she admitted her mistakes before everyone in the village, and since she has no relatives left….” and with that, he tried to explain why Ms. Zhao was still with the Di Family.

Di Hongyuan fell silent for a long while before sighing deeply.

“These years, I’ve reflected a lot on this matter while traveling afar, and early on I realized, the reason mother died might have something to do with Ms Zhao, but largely because she herself wasn’t strong enough…” @@novelbin@@

She wasn’t strong enough, and so, upon hearing Ms. Zhao’s accusations, she fell into a distressed retreat, eventually falling down the steps and going into premature labor, dying from massive hemorrhage. Ms. Zhao indeed bore a certain responsibility in this matter.

“Forget it! Let’s put this issue behind us. Right now, there are more important matters to attend to.”

Di Hongyuan turned back:”Before father passed away, he entrusted us to bury him together with mother. The problem is that mother wasn’t buried in the Upper Village because she died in childbirth. Now we need to exhume mother’s remains for the joint burial, and I’m worried there will be objections in the Upper Village.”

Had Di Hongyuan not mentioned this, Di Yelei would have forgotten about it.

“So what you mean, big brother…”

“What I’m suggesting is that we select another piece of land. Once the Land Officer has inspected and deemed it suitable, we should buy it. While we’re at it, we can also relocate the graves of our ancestors. What do you think?” Di Hongyuan asked for Di Yelei’s opinion.

“Whatever big brother decides will be fine; I will definitely follow big brother’s instructions.”

“Good! As you have no objections, then I’ll proceed this way.” After saying this, Di Hongyuan turned and left.

“Big brother, have you seen Brother Zhang Peng?”

Watching Di Hongyuan recede into the distance, Di Yelei quickly shouted, stopping Di Hongyuan in his tracks. He turned back to look at him.

“I did, why?”

Di Yelei quickly approached and standing in front of Di Hongyuan, his expression complex, he said, “When you left years ago, you entrusted me to Brother Zhang’s care. If it were not for him these past years, I fear… I would have been long gone.”

Di Hongyuan raised an eyebrow in surprise. He hadn’t expected that Zhang Peng actually had fulfilled the trust he had placed in him all those years ago.

“I understand.”

Di Hongyuan didn’t say more, just turned and walked away.

Is that it? Just one ‘I know?’

Di Yelei has always seen how good Zhang Peng has been to himself and how deep his friendship is. Compared with the indifferent expression of Di Hongyuan in front of him, Di Yelei could hardly believe his own eyes.

He clenched his fists and stood in place, wishing he could give Di Hongyuan a good beating!

Outside, beyond the partition wall along the long corridor, Zhang Peng stood quietly in place. He lowered his head, glanced at the object in his hand, quietly turned around and left, as if he had never been there.

The affairs following the death of Elderly Mr. Di carried on in an orderly manner. Two days later, countless people came to mourn. Liu Sisi also knelt among the crowd, wearing the traditional mourning clothes, extending thanks to the visiting mourners with everyone. Due to the spread of the war, the number of visiting relatives and friends was not high.

“Land Officer and his wife from Upper Village have come to mourn!” The cry from the gatehouse came.

Unexpectedly, the Land Officer also brought his wife to express his condolences.

With the entrance of the Land Officer and his wife, Liu Sisi quickly joined everyone in paying respect.

After the mourning was over, The Land Officer came over to Di Yelei: “Third Son Di, I heard that Gao Yuan is back? It’s commendable that he managed to return at such a critical time. It should grant peace to Elderly Mr. Di. It’s a pity, Elderly Mr. Di seemed so healthy in daily life, yet he ended up like this…Alas!”

Di Yelei did not respond, he just bowed again.

“Third Son Di, today, I came to bid farewell to Elderly Mr. Di for the last journey. I am afraid I won’t be able to come in a few days. The war is becoming more and more intense, my two sons residing outside have already sent someone to take me away. I am leaving tomorrow… ”

The Land Officer spoke a lot, sighed and left.

Has the Land Officer also left Upper Village? For a moment, Di Yelei was somewhat bewildered.

The Sir quickly selected a good burial site not far from the manor with the hot spring and set the funeral for three days later.

Originally, for someone as old as Elderly Mr. Di, he should stay at home for at least seven days after death. However, given the current chaos, no one can predict what will happen tomorrow. Considering, it would be a good day in three days, everyone agreed on this compromise after some consideration.

Three days were neither long nor short and in no time, the day of the burial arrived.

The young members of the Di family were sent away by Liu Sisi at the beginning of the war. The children of the second family branch were also sent away by Di Gaoyuan. Ms. Xin went to look for First Son He and disappeared without a trace. Di Xiaolan and Di Ruoning, the two married daughters, did not come back. The funeral procession, devoid of children and women, looked exceptionally bleak.

When the coffins of Elderly Mr. Di and Ms. Yao were buried, Ms. Zhao started hitting Elderly Mr. Di’s tombstone as if she had gone mad.

“You old man, you just abandoned me and left! You are heartless, you didn’t want me to accompany you even in death! After so many years, even a stone would have warmed up…”

Ms. Zhao’s heartbreaking sobbing could be heard from afar, yet no one stepped forward to pull her back. Silently, they picked up their shovels and began to fill in the soil.

Filling the soil was not easy, yet none of the brothers spoke and quickly filled the dirt, and piled up the grave.

Due to the hurried nature of the event, Elderly Mr. Di’s tomb was built in a very simple manner. It was a just mound made of mud and stones, topped with a Qingming pendant. It resonated with the paper money fluttering in the sky, evoking a sense of great sorrow.

Among those who came to bid farewell, were some familiar relatives and friends. When the tombstone was erected, they all came to pay their tribute before gradually leaving.

Di Yelei, Liu Sisi and others followed ceremony, handled all the subsequent matters, and were about to leave when they saw Ms. Zhao still laying on the tombstone, her heart-wrenching cries showing no signs of ceasing.