Chapter 263: Chapter 263: Funeral

Jiang Moli and Jiang Dahai rushed to Lotus Village overnight.

Li Hongying’s sudden death caught the Wei Family completely off guard. They had no choice but to place her body in the old thatched hut.

Besides notifying Jiang Dahai, the Wei Family had also informed Li Hongying’s maiden family.

When Jiang Moli and Jiang Dahai arrived, the Li Family and Liu Sufen were in the middle of a furious argument.

Li Hongying had hanged herself from a tree outside the cave where Wei Shan had been buried alive.

Coincidentally, that very afternoon, Liu Sufen had told Li Hongying, "If I were you, I’d be too ashamed to live. I’d just grab a rope and hang myself." Many villagers in Lotus Village had overheard her.

The Lius were convinced that Liu Sufen had driven Li Hongying to her death and were demanding an explanation.

Liu Sufen, naturally, refused to take the blame.

"She didn’t want to live anymore, so what the hell does that have to do with me? If I told you all to go die, would you listen to me? Don’t blame the outhouse when you can’t take a shit. Stop trying to pin every goddamn problem on me!"

The Lius wouldn’t let it go. "The woman is dead, and you’re still talking like that? Aren’t you afraid of retribution?"

Liu Sufen sneered. "Afraid of a damn thing? If she has the guts, she can come find me tonight. I’ll be waiting!"

Seeing they could get nowhere with Liu Sufen, the Lius had no choice but to discuss the funeral arrangements with Jiang Dahai.

A person who has died must be laid to rest. She couldn’t just be left there.

But arranging a funeral is tiring and expensive, and it was obvious the Lius didn’t want to handle this mess.

Jiang Dahai and Jiang Moli discussed it and decided to keep the funeral simple.

They would only notify immediate family to pay their respects, with no memorial hall, no banquet, and no acceptance of funeral gifts.

While preparing Li Hongying’s body for the coffin, they found a suicide note.

It’s all my fault. I am repaying the debt for Xiao Qing.

A single, short line summed up Li Hongying’s entire life.

Jiang Moli hired people to handle the series of tasks like dressing the body and placing it in the coffin.

There was a viewing for close relatives before the coffin was to be sealed, but Jiang Dahai was nowhere to be found.

Jiang Moli searched for quite a while before finding him by the river ditch.

He was sitting alone on a stone mill by the ditch, clutching Li Hongying’s suicide note, staring blankly into space.

"Dad." freewⅇbnovel.com

Jiang Dahai turned his head, his eyes clearly welling with tears.

Jiang Moli walked over and sat down beside him. "Sad, huh? It’s okay. I’m here with you."

Jiang Dahai’s eyes suddenly reddened, his voice catching with a sob. "The first time I came with the matchmaker to meet your Aunt Hongying, it was right here by this ditch. Back then, she told me she could handle all the chores—washing, cooking, taking care of the kids—but she had to bring her daughter with her."

"I saw that she was hardworking and decent, and I saw that Xiao Qing was about your age. I thought you could have a playmate, so I agreed."

"To be honest, your Aunt Hongying and I were less like husband and wife and more like comrades, like comrades-in-arms. I was responsible for earning money, and she was responsible for taking care of the home. We supported each other like that and raised you kids."

"I never had the same kind of affection for her as I did for your mother, but after ten years together, she became the person closest and most familiar to me. Now that she’s suddenly gone, it’s like losing my right arm. It really hurts."

As he spoke, he began to cry softly.

Jiang Moli silently took out a handkerchief and wiped his tears.

’This cheap dad of mine has some terrible luck,’ she thought. ’Not even forty, and he’s already lost two wives.’

...

As a criminal suspect in custody, Wei Qing would not normally be allowed to attend a funeral.

However, the police were having a hard time getting Wei Qing to confess. They thought Li Hongying’s suicide might awaken Wei Qing’s conscience, so they made an exception and approved her request to go out and pay her respects.

Under the supervision of a police officer, Wei Qing, in handcuffs, walked out of the detention center’s gates.

When she saw Jiang Moli waiting, a look of resentment crossed her face.

"Are you here to laugh at me?"

Jiang Moli’s lips curled. "You’re so wonderfully filial. So filial your mother is dead."

Wei Qing’s face darkened. "What about my mom?"

Jiang Moli looked at her. "To atone for your sins, your mother hanged herself on the same mountain where you committed murder."

"You’re full of shit! You’re talking nonsense! You’re cursing my mom, you’ll die a horrible death!"

Wei Qing flew into a rage, cursing loudly. If the police officer hadn’t held her back, she would have torn Jiang Moli to pieces.

Jiang Moli couldn’t be bothered to waste her breath. "All right, let’s go. Your mom’s waiting for you."

Her words sparked a flicker of fantasy in Wei Qing’s mind.

’Jiang Moli is lying to me. Li Hongying must be fine. She must be at home, waiting for me.’

「Back in Lotus Village.」

Many villagers had gathered at the entrance to the village. They knew Wei Qing was coming back today and had come specifically to watch the spectacle.

The moment Wei Qing appeared, the villagers erupted.

"Look, the murderer is back!"

"That jinx! She brings death to her own parents and murdered her own cousin. The police should just execute her!"

A child ran right up to Wei Qing and spat on her.

Others threw roof tiles and stones at her until the officer sternly stopped them.

Wei Qing shielded her face with her arm, glaring resentfully at Jiang Moli, who was walking ahead.

’That bitch Jiang Moli must be doing this on purpose, making me suffer this humiliation and scorn.’

’Just wait until I turn the tables. I’ll make her pay for every bit of humiliation I’ve suffered today!’

...

As they neared the Wei Family home, Wei Qing saw the funeral banners and white cloth hanging in front of her family’s old house.

’What’s going on? Who died?’

She was completely shaken, her steps unsteady. She nearly fell several times.

When she finally stumbled to the front of the old thatched hut and saw the black coffin placed in the center, she collapsed to the ground as if struck by lightning.

"No, it can’t be! Where’s my mom? Mom! Mom, where are you? Come out!"

Her eyes were bloodshot as she screamed like a madwoman.

An uncle from the Li Family dragged her to the front of the coffin. "Your mother is in here. She died for you, you unfilial daughter!"

With that, he kicked her in the back.

The kick sent Wei Qing sprawling to her knees before the coffin. She stared at the jet-black, chilling coffin with crimson eyes as two streams of tears burst forth.

"Mom? Mom!"

"How could you leave me all alone?"

"Mom, come back to life! What am I going to do without you?"

"Mom! Mooooom—"

Listening to Wei Qing’s hysterical cries, Jiang Moli felt a slight sting in her nose.

It wasn’t that she felt sorry for Wei Qing, but that she felt Li Hongying’s sacrifice wasn’t worth it.

She didn’t dislike her stepmother, Li Hongying.

In fact, in her eyes, Li Hongying had been a good stepmother—virtuous, hardworking, kind, and decent.

But it was also Li Hongying’s weakness and soft-heartedness that had fostered Wei Qing’s selfishness, extremism, and twisted nature.

Perhaps Li Hongying had realized this but was powerless to change it, ultimately choosing the path of no return.

She had tried to trade her own death for her daughter’s awakening.

...

"Mom, Mom..."

Wei Qing awoke with a start. When she recognized the prison cell around her, she froze for two seconds before tears streamed down her face.

She had dreamed of Li Hongying again, dreaming of the time in her childhood when Li Hongying had taken her to the Jiang family’s home.

After her biological father died, Li Hongying had raised her alone. They lived hand-to-mouth, so hungry every day that their stomachs rumbled.

Back then, her greatest wish each day was to eat a full meal.

Then one day, Li Hongying took out the only nice set of clothes she owned, put them on her, and told her with a joyous face that she was taking her to the city to live a good life and eat full meals.

She had happily slung a bundle over her shoulder and followed Li Hongying to the Jiang family’s home, where she saw Jiang Moli, who was as beautiful as a porcelain doll.

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