Reborn in 80: Starting with hunting in the mountains to get rich

Chapter 255 The Liu Family Funeral

In an era of extreme scarcity of resources, the hardships faced by coal miners were even more dire.

Back when he and Liu Gui worked as miners, civilian electricity was only available for three hours each night. If they wanted water, they had to fetch it from the foot of the mountain, so they eventually quit and burned snow for water. Apart from an old radio and flashlight in the guardhouse, the entire mining area was practically devoid of furniture and other amenities.

Old Zhang sat cross-legged on the snow, smoking his pipe, staring at the dead Liu Gui in front of him, without saying a word.

Despite his noble birth, this old man was not destined for wealth and honor. He had spent most of his life supporting his family, but as he grew old and could no longer work, no organization would hire him. He could only borrow a livestock from the village to steal timber from the lumberyard in the mountains, only to be killed by a black bear. Old Zhang looked at his old friend, whose sudden death left him at a loss.

Li Ju'an said, "Uncle Zhang, Yingtun is quite far from here. I'll call Zhao Pao later and ask him to inform Uncle Liu's family to get some more wood to make a coffin and send it to Yingtun so they can hold a feast there."

Both weddings and funerals require a banquet.

Old Zhang sighed, shakily chopped some branches to make a simple sled, and then carefully placed his old friend's body onto the sled, dragging it down the sled track.

The group, dragging their fully loaded sleds, hurriedly took the nearest sled trail down the mountain.

Li Ju'an called out to Da Hu, who, leading his three wolfhounds, barked into the air and actually brought Tie Chui back. Tie Chui was soaking wet, clearly having been hiding in some snowdrift.

The sled behind him was too heavy, so without thinking much, he waved and called for Iron Hammer to come and tell the dog to pull the sled.

Several young hunters tied ropes to their backs, dragged their heavy sleds, and quickly went down the mountain. They rushed as fast as they could and finally arrived at Lijiatun before dark.

……

There was a dial-up phone in Captain Yang Dezheng's office. Li Ju'an told Lu Zhiqiang and the others to take the sled back first, while he and Lao Zhang went to Captain Yang to borrow the phone.

The dial telephone was protected by a wooden frame, which was neatly arranged all around. A telephone line ran out from underneath, making it impossible to move.

When Zhao Pao received the call in Yingtun, he was also shocked. The next morning, people from the Liu family from Yingtun arrived in a transport truck driven by Chen's father.

Liu Gui was a worker who had survived working in the mining area in Yingtun. His sudden death, and the fact that he died in the Xing'an Mountains, left his family completely bewildered.

After getting off the cart, Aunt Liu remained silent. Yang Dezheng was a kind-hearted man; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to gain the trust of all the villagers. He invited Aunt Liu to sit in his office for a while and had someone place the prepared coffin under the snow shelter.

The forestry farm's family settlement had a good supply of old timber, mostly from the forestry workers. There were also many carpenters in the village, and Yang Dezheng had someone make a wooden coffin overnight, which turned out to be just right. Yang Dezheng's busy work and arrangements made the Liu family of Yingtun very grateful.

Aunt Liu sat in the office, warming herself by the fire with her legs crossed, staring at the smoke rising from the brazier, without saying a word.

Worried that the old lady would be too grief-stricken, the Liu family hurriedly transported the old man's coffin back to Yingtun to make further plans.

"Thank you, Li Pao Tou'er, thank you, Captain Yang. If it weren't for your help, my father would really not have come back."

Liu's son cried incoherently, thanking Li Ju'an and Yang Dezheng profusely, and then went to thank Zhao Pao.

Zhao Pao also came with the Liu family. He and the Liu family were somewhat related because of his niece. Zhao Pao also tried to help. The Liu family's son was heartbroken and was a lazy bum who didn't do any real work. After assigning tasks to the Liu family's son, Zhao Pao went to ask Aunt Liu for instructions.

"Grandma, let's go get the coffin. Don't be too sad, try to look on the bright side."

Zhao Pao said he was trying to persuade people to take things easy, but he thought of the brothers who died when they were leading falcons up the mountains, all killed by bears. There's no such thing as a safe mountain run; people always have to be mentally prepared to face insurmountable difficulties.

The old mine manager from the old mining area also came to bid farewell to Liu Gui, with whom he had worked in the past. Liu Gui was once the most diligent worker in the entire mining area, and the old mine manager and even his former colleagues at the mine respected him greatly.

Despite limited resources, Liu Gui's farewell party was still quite dignified. After leaving the mining area, he and Lao Zhang went into the mountains to collect wild herbs and deer antlers. He was a generous and righteous man; whenever someone asked Lao Zhang for herbs, Liu Gui would help them find them and deliver them to them.

Back then, there were no clinics in the small area near the coal mine. When villagers encountered minor illnesses or injuries and couldn't find medicine, they would ask Grandpa Liu to help them collect medicinal herbs.

Zhao Pao discussed with the widowed women of the Liu family, "After we return to the village, we'll prepare for the funeral and the funeral feast. Let's get some pork and sauerkraut, and we can all share it."

According to past funeral practices, if you chip in and I chip in, send some pork and carry a bag of sauerkraut, the funeral can be arranged to be somewhat decent.

Li Ju'an brought blood sausage to the Liu family. They hadn't finished the blood sausage they made at home last time, so he pieced together what he could to contribute.

When Aunt Liu saw the blood sausage being made, she suddenly became emotional, hugged the coffin and cried. If the Liu family hadn't stopped her, she would have opened the coffin and cried while holding Liu Gui's mutilated body.

Zhao Pao sighed and said, "What a tragedy."

That afternoon, when the Liu family was about to leave, they discovered that Aunt Liu was missing. They couldn't find her.

Yang Dezheng shouted anxiously, "How could the old lady disappear? She came all this way, what are you all standing around for? Hurry up and go find her!"

Many people from the village set out, but they couldn't find Old Mrs. Liu. Finally, Li Ju'an found her lying in the coffin, next to Liu Gui's body. The old woman's cane was still tapping against Liu Gui's body as she mumbled incoherently, "You old bastard, you dead ghost, now you're really dead. How am I supposed to live alone from now on?"

That's how love was back then. People would listen to their families and matchmakers without really understanding what was going on, get married, and spend their whole lives bickering and fighting. That's how they lived their lives.

Liu Chunyan, crying, helped Mrs. Liu up with her son-in-law. The Liu family, weeping, thanked Li Ju'an, Yang Dezheng, and the people from the family village. They then boarded the transport truck driven by Old Master Chen and returned to Yingtun.

Before leaving, Zhao Pao's attitude towards Li Ju'an changed. He awkwardly offered him a cigarette, took a puff, and exhaled a smoke ring, saying, "Li Pao, I actually admire you quite a bit. If you really want to train eagles, come find me after you buy one yourself, and I'll teach you how to train them."

Upon hearing this, Li Ju'an immediately grinned and shouted, "Alright, I won't stand on ceremony with Zhao Pao. I'll come knocking on his door right away, so Zhao Pao will have to be patient with me."

Zhao Pao smiled, turned around, and followed the Liu family away in a car.