Ji Zhaoxi led Zhou Chiye to a less crowded table to eat.
Ji Zhaoxi really enjoyed big pot dishes, and there were plenty of her favorites on the table. She ate heartily, and Zhou Chiye ate heartily too.
The uncle across from them kept staring at Ji Zhaoxi. He took a sip of his liquor and said slowly, "Little sister, is this your boyfriend?"
Ji Zhaoxi quickly shook her head. "Just a friend."
The uncle took another sip and started giving her advice. "Little sister, you're still in school, so there's a lot you don't know yet. Let me teach you: you absolutely must not date early before college."
"Early dating will affect your grades."
He kept rambling on, not caring whether Ji Zhaoxi responded or not.
"But once you're in college, you can have a boyfriend. After you start college, you'll be mature enough, you understand? Ah, your uncle isn't forcing you not to date—I'm just giving you advice."
When he finished, he smiled at the people beside him.
Ji Zhaoxi buried her head in her food and didn't say a word.
She hated it when people tried to teach her, whether it was good advice or bad. She just disliked the feeling of being lectured, especially by adults.
Back then, Jiang Dayong also liked to lecture her—teaching her how to behave, how to get along with people, and all sorts of nonsense, especially when he was drunk. It was all useless rambling.
The uncle downed another glass of wine and poured himself another.
"When someone dies, all the hatred and grudges disappear, you know? Ah, Ji Zhaoxi." The uncle frowned and called her name when he saw she still wasn't speaking.
When Ji Zhaoxi finally looked up at him, he continued. "I know you hold a grudge against your father, but you should know better than anyone that you and your brother are the last people who should have a problem with him. You have no right to be upset with him."
He hiccupped, his face flushed red, and his words became slurred. "Whether a marriage is good or bad..."
"Hey, what's all this about?" Ji Fangyun walked over with a smile. "Standing up for Jiang Dayong, are you? Brothers for life, huh?"
She patted the uncle on the shoulder and laughed. "If you care about him so much, have him send you a dream from the underworld and tell you how things are down there."
The uncle sat in his seat without a word, no longer lecturing anyone. He ate his food in silence.
Ji Fangyun was carrying a big bundle of firecrackers. She glanced at Ji Zhaoxi and said, "Make sure your classmate gets enough to eat, Xixi. Help him pick some dishes."
Then she went off to chat with the others. Ji Zhaoxi, feeling frustrated, punched Zhou Chiye in the arm. She hadn't fought back just now!
Her heart was tight, her chest was tight—everything felt off. She was so annoyed!
Zhou Chiye subconsciously tightened his grip on her hand.
As the night grew deeper, the song-and-dance troupe began their performance. The performers wore extremely bright costumes, and the singer held a microphone, belting out all kinds of pop songs.
Several dancers in revealing outfits leaped around on stage, their movements exaggerated. Almost no one in the audience was watching; everyone was busy chatting.
Colorful lights flashed, and the sound of the speakers spread to every corner of the village.
"Little sister, you should say a few words too," an old lady suddenly said as she stood up.
Ji Zhaoxi shook her head. The last thing she wanted to do was that.
A nearby auntie, cracking sunflower seeds, nodded. "You can go. Sing Father. After all, your father is gone now."
Ji Huaichuan had just walked out the door when he heard that line. Terrified, he immediately turned back inside. That was way too scary.
Seeing that Ji Zhaoxi really didn't want to go, the others sighed and stopped pressing her.
Ji Fangyun was incredibly busy—she hadn't stopped since she got back. Tomorrow, she would have to join the funeral procession to carry the coffin again.
She wiped her hands and said to Ji Cuiyun with a smile, "The kids are asleep."
Ji Cuiyun handed her the sunflower seeds she'd just shelled. "They've been acting up."
Ji Fangyun couldn't help bragging about that. "Mine don't act up at all."
Ji Cuiyun rolled her eyes in annoyance.
The song-and-dance troupe performers came on stage again, but by now the crowd had mostly dispersed. Only a few members of the Ji family were still sitting there.
But the performers were used to this. After finishing their act, they asked as usual, "Is there anyone who'd like to sing a song for the dearly departed Mr. Jiang?"
Nearby, the joss paper was still burning, casting a brilliant glow. Ji Fangyun brushed peanut crumbs off her hands and raised her arm. "I'll do it. I'll do it."
The people around her burst into laughter.
Ji Fangyun was shy outside the house, but at home, she didn't hold back. Wearing her red dress, she walked onto the stage, standing tall and straight.
Her brows were relaxed, with no trace of the sorrow she'd shown earlier. Because she'd been shouting so much all day, her voice was a little hoarse.
"Let me gently tell you, the rainbow hangs in the sky. Let me ask you, why do I also feel joy? Joy..."
The sound equipment wasn't great, and piercing bursts of static came through now and then. But that didn't affect Ji Fangyun's performance at all. She sang casually on stage, a deep smile on her face.
Ji Zhaoxi lay sprawled across the front table, the only person at it. She quietly watched Ji Fangyun sing on stage, and as she watched, her eyes involuntarily reddened.
She once had a photo with her mother. Back then, she was very young, and her mother had permed hair, wore a leather jacket and boots, and crouched beside her with a smile in her eyes.
But after they took that picture, Jiang Dayong flew into a rage and tore it up.
From that moment on, Ji Fangyun's last shred of hope disappeared.
In the glow of the burning joss paper, Ji Zhaoxi lowered her head. She should have been smiling now, but tears fell uncontrollably. Her shoulders trembled slightly from the effort of holding back, and she kept wiping her tears away.
"Let me gently tell you, the birds are soaring. Let me gently tell you, you are watching me..."
The music on stage didn't stop. Ji Fangyun's bright red dress looked like a dancing flame.
She sang and smiled toward Ji Zhaoxi, who was crying her heart out in the audience.
There was no grief in her eyes—only hope for the life ahead.
The next day, before dawn broke, the villagers had already gathered at Ji Fangyun's house.
The suona horns started playing again. The suona player's cheeks puffed up as he blew, and other villagers hurried over to watch from the sidelines.
A Yin-Yang master in a Daoist robe led the procession, ringing a bell and chanting incantations under his breath. The Ji family, dressed in mourning clothes, followed behind him, kneeling and kowtowing from time to time.
Several burly men, bare-chested, lifted the wooden coffin together. They chanted as they struggled forward.
There were also a few professional mourners, wailing loudly with fake cries, just waiting to collect their pay and leave.
Ji Zhaoxi walked at the very back, scattering white paper money in the air. Suddenly, a gust of wind appeared. She watched the paper money spin in the sky, squinted slightly, and couldn't help letting out a laugh.
Zhou Chiye stared at her, stunned. His heart suddenly pounded hard, and a suffocating feeling washed over him. He held his breath, afraid to break the moment.
"The auspicious hour has arrived. May the departed begin their journey—"
The suona's wailing rose to a fever pitch, and amid a flurry of paper money swirling through the air, the procession pressed on toward its final destination.
