Chapter 3: Let him be dead

Chapter 3: Let him be dead

The dishes on the four tables, while not comparable to the banquets Yao Shula had eaten before, were still quite plentiful, with both meat and vegetables.

The four of them ate without even looking up.

Even Yao Shula, who is always careful about her figure and resolutely refuses to eat after 6 pm, ate a whole bowl of rice and lots of vegetables.

The four of them finished eating and looked at the remaining meat and vegetables on the table.

Yao Shula glanced at the kitchen again. There was no one there anymore; the chef who had come to prepare the banquet had also left.

There were only the four of them left in the entire courtyard.

"Pour all the meat and vegetables into one bowl, especially meat chunks and braised pork, which can be put together."

It's cold now, so it's safe to store!

As for these cold dishes..." Yao Shula looked at the plates of cold dishes.

There wasn't much left to eat, and it would be a waste to throw it away.

"Sister, I'll take care of it. Some of the bones and such are for Grandma Zhou next door."

"She has a dog at home, so she'll definitely give these to the dog!" Yao Shuxin said immediately.

Fifteen-year-old Yao Shuxin can already do quite a few things.

Yao Shula nodded immediately.

Okay, it's best not to clean up yourself; she's too lazy to clean the table anyway.

Watching Yao Shuxin and the two children tidy up all the food on the table and dump the leftover bones and other things into a bowl.

As for the tables, chairs, benches, bowls, and plates that were borrowed...

Hehe, someone will definitely come to ask for it tomorrow.

First come, first served. As for those who don't get them later... please contact Yao Guohua. He's the one who borrowed them, and it has nothing to do with Yao Shula.

Immediately afterwards, Yao Shula looked at a box in the corner.

There were also four bottles of Daqianmen liquor and eight bottles of Tanggou Daqu liquor, all prepared by Yao Guohua for the banquet.

In the end... it wasn't used!

"Sister, you need tickets to buy these."

There's an alley behind the supply and marketing cooperative at the street corner; there's a guy there who specializes in collecting these things.

"Sister, let's sell this to him," Yao Shuli said excitedly.

Yao Shula glanced at Yao Shuli, who was only ten years old.

This kid clearly doesn't focus on his studies; he's got a real knack for these shady things!

"Let's talk about it in a couple of days! Put them all under the bed for now!" Yao Shula said.

Upon hearing this, Yao Shuli knew that the final result would definitely be to sell it to that person, and immediately squinted his eyes with joy.

After tidying everything up, they also took out the old bedding and quilts that had been locked in the boxes inside the house.

Yao Shula, along with Yao Shuxin and Yao Shuli, began making the bed.

Yao Shuli glanced at the child who was excitedly watching them busy.

"Sister, what should we do about him?" Yao Shuli asked.

Yao Shula glanced at the excited child, then at the child's clothes, which, although a little dirty, were definitely made of good material...

"Let him stay here for now! It's so late, we don't know where to find his family."

I'll ask him properly tomorrow when I'm free during the day.

"If he really can't remember where he lives, then take him to the police station!" Yao Shula said softly.

It was a complete accident that she found the child on the street.

But she saw the child walking and sobbing, saying he couldn't find his way home. Then Yao Shula noticed that he was dressed quite well, and his shoes weren't the homemade cloth or cotton shoes that Yao Shuli wore, but rather rare little leather shoes...

Yao Shula immediately picked up the child and assigned the task of holding the photo frame, which originally belonged to Yao Shuli, to the child.

Of course, Yao Shuli also gave the child half of a cornbread that she had hidden away.

Unexpectedly, the child wasn't shy at all and happily followed along with the photo frame.

Two beds were made; the two boys slept in one bed, while Yao Shuxin slept in another bed in the other room with Yao Shula.

The gate to the courtyard was already bolted and propped up with two wooden sticks.

The doors and windows of their house were all closed.

Yao Shuxin made the bed, arranged the pillows, and carefully watched Yao Shula.

"Sis, go to sleep first! You've been up too late tonight! You'll definitely have a lot to do tomorrow!" Yao Shuxin whispered to her.

Yao Shula nodded.

Yes, there are indeed many things to do tomorrow!

After walking so far today, and then having such a commotion tonight, I must be exhausted.

"Consolidate your energy! We'll fight again tomorrow!" Yao Shula said, then fell asleep immediately.

Yao Shuxin also clung tightly to Yao Shula.

She felt that her older sister was different from before. Before, her older sister would only try to persuade them and not let them cause trouble.

But today, the older sister... stood in front of them and did what they had always wanted to do but dared not do.

Mom is right, my older sister is their only support...

The two sisters on one side fell asleep quickly, but Yao Shuli and the little boy on the other side did not.

The little boy was too excited to sleep.

"Brother, your dad said he doesn't recognize you anymore today!" the little boy whispered in Yao Shuli's ear.

"Well, if they don't want to acknowledge him, they don't want to acknowledge him either! We don't acknowledge him either!"

"My sister said on the way back, 'Just pretend he's dead!'" Yao Shuli muttered to herself.

The little boy hummed in agreement.

"Yes! Brother, just pretend he's dead!"

"But when he dies, shouldn't we make a wooden plaque for him?" the little boy asked.

"A wooden sign? What wooden sign?" Yao Shuli asked curiously.

"It's this big, the kind with your name written on it, like 'So-and-so's position'!"

We have one in our ancestral hall. When someone dies, a wooden plaque is placed in the ancestral hall.

"Now that your dad's dead, do you want to put a sign like this in your house too?" the little boy said, gesturing as he spoke.

Yao Shuli thought about it and felt that it made some sense.

Yes, if we consider him dead, then we should just put up a wooden plaque for him. That's a way of showing respect.

If anyone comes to our house in the future, they'll ask your dad!

All I have to do is point to that wooden sign...

"Okay! I'll get up early tomorrow morning and make one. I think there's some wood in the kitchen..."

“Okay, brother, I’ll help you with that. I know how big that thing is…” the little boy said, even more excited.

The little boy was sleeping soundly, nestled against Yao Shuli's shoulder, covered with a thick blanket, his face flushed.

Yao Shuli, however, could not fall asleep.

He was thinking, "I need to make a sign. I'll get up early tomorrow morning and start making it. I don't have any ink at home, so I'll just use the ash from a burnt stick to write on it!"

It's just a brand name anyway, as long as it looks like something, it doesn't need to be made too formal.

This is something I should do myself; I can't let my sisters do everything.

Today, my older sister brought them here to cause trouble. I was already exhausted from kicking those two out, so I didn't want my older sister to worry about such a small matter.

So, Yao Shuli also fell into a sweet sleep.

...

The Yao siblings slept well, but some people in the county couldn't sleep.

The county committee's residential compound was brightly lit, and people were constantly going in and out of one of the courtyards.

Lei Jingwu, who had run back from Yao Shula's house, had a face so dark it was almost frozen.

"So you've been running for almost three hours every day and you only just realized it, right?" Lei Jingwu stared at a woman in her thirties with curly hair in front of him.

"I...I don't know either! He got angry, smashed the bowl, and then hid in the room to sleep, locking the door from the inside."

I thought I'd let him sleep for a while and then wake him up later.

Who knew that your third uncle had something to do and wouldn't be coming back, so I arranged to send him food.

"When I got back... I found out that Tian Tian was missing!" the woman continued to explain.

Lei Jingwu glared at her fiercely.

"You all know how much the old man likes Tian Tian."

If anything happens to Tian Tian... you'll never have a peaceful life.

After saying that, Lei Jingwu went out to arrange for people to continue the search.

Let's start from the roads leading to the entrance of the residential compound and search together.

They searched all night but found nothing.

Lei Jingwu was in a real bind; could his cousin really be missing?

...

Unaware that chaos was brewing outside, the Yao siblings slept soundly.

Especially Yao Shula, although the bed was hard and the quilt was not soft, she actually slept well despite being a light sleeper.

Yao Shula didn't wake up until the commotion in the yard got a bit louder.

After dozing off for a while and looking around at her surroundings, Yao Shula was certain that everything that had happened yesterday was not a dream.

The commotion outside is getting bigger and bigger.

She listened intently and realized it sounded like Yao Shuxin and Yao Shuli were arguing.

Then the child we picked up yesterday tried to break up the fight, but the more he tried to mediate, the more he seemed to be stirring things up.

Yao Shula quickly got dressed and got out of bed.

As soon as the door to the main room was opened, the three children in the yard immediately lowered their voices.

However, both Yao Shuxin and Yao Shuli were fighting over a piece of wood.

“I need to cook, but the coal stove has gone out. I need to use a straw-burning pot. This board is half-burnt, so it’s perfect for starting a fire.” Yao Shuxin pulled hard on the board.

"I just finished making it, change to another block!" Yao Shuli refused to let go.

The child who had been found was also getting anxious.

"Second sister, we've been working hard all morning!" The child immediately looked at Yao Shuxin with a pitiful expression.

"Do you want to eat?" Yao Shuxin glared at the child.

The child immediately sided with Yao Shuxin again.

"want!

"Brother, it's just a sign, right? You can make it later. Eating is the priority now!" The child immediately looked at Yao Shuli again.

Yao Shuli's eyes widened, and she was about to point at the child and scold him when, before she knew it, Yao Shuxin snatched the paddle from her hand.

Without saying a word, Yao Shuxin deftly started a fire with dry branches, then filled the bottom of the pot with the half-burnt wooden board with a few crooked words written on it...

Yao Shuli...

"Second sister, you burned the memorial tablet I painstakingly made!" Yao Shu stomped her foot angrily.

"What memorial tablet?" Yao Shula finally asked.

“The memorial tablet of the dead!” Yao Shuli stamped his foot and said.

"Huh?" Yao Shula didn't react for a moment.

The child immediately came over to explain.

"Big sister, didn't you say yesterday that your father died?"

Don't the dead all have memorial tablets? My brother became your father's memorial tablet.

Then... my second sister was in a hurry to cook, so she burned the nameplate that belonged to your father.

Simply put, your second sister burned your father's body!

The child speaks very fluently and thinks very clearly.

Yao Shula's mouth dropped open when she heard that...

Yao Shuxin, who was tending the fire in the kitchen, was also stunned for a moment. She looked down at the already burning wooden board and wondered whether she should take it out...

"Alright, let it burn!"

"It's not something difficult to make. We can just find a board and make another one later!" Yao Shula quickly waved her hand.

Yao Shuli agreed when she heard this.

If it burns, just make another one! It's just a piece of wood...

The child was jumping for joy nearby.

"Yes! Burn it first, then make it again! Finish making it, then burn it!"