Volume 6: Days of Being Zapped in the Lab
Fang Tian
Beneath those hands, there was unexpectedly a rectangular card!!
Shen Maomao’s home was in S City, a small city in the north, small in area and sparsely populated, the kind that seemed on the verge of being stripped of its prefecture-level city1 status.
S City had no airport, nor any high-speed rail; they could only fly into a large city nearby and then transfer to a regular train.
As soon as she stepped out of the train station, Shen Maomao couldn’t help but take a deep breath. Compared to the steamer-like south, S City was truly a freaking paradise for escaping the summer heat.
She hailed a cab and sat in the back seat with Lou Jingmo. As the taxi drove towards her home, she took it upon herself to quietly explain the sights they passed to Lou Jingmo, looking like a bird in its courtship phase—eagerly wanting to display all the merits of her nest to her prospective partner.
Because she was away at school, her mom had confiscated her house keys, so when she knocked on the door after arriving home, she found that there was actually no one there.
Shen Maomao quickly called her mom: “Hello? Where are you guys? How come no one’s home?”
On the other end, Mother Shen slapped her thigh, “Oh dear! I got so busy I forgot!”
Shen Maomao: “…”
Mother Shen added, “You wait a bit, I’ll head back right now to cook for you guys…”
Shen Maomao quickly interrupted her, “No, no, you guys go on with your business. I’ll take my friend to find a place to eat, and then we’ll come find you. Where are you?”
Mother Shen: “That works too. We’re at the funeral home; the funeral starts today. Later, come over and help Mom register the gift money. Call me when you arrive; it’s quite complicated inside, I’m afraid you won’t find your way… Sigh, why did you tell your friend about this? It’s not exactly a happy occasion. Maybe you should arrange a place for her later and not have her come to the funeral home, it’s so inauspicious…”
Because she had it on speakerphone, Lou Jingmo heard every single word. So, after Mother Shen finished speaking, she interjected, “Thank you, Auntie. I was the one who asked to accompany Maomao; I was worried she’d be scared alone.”
Mother Shen: “That’s too much trouble for you, Xiao Lou. Then, this evening, Auntie will go back and make something delicious for you both.”
Lou Jingmo said naturally, “Thank you, Auntie.”
Once the call ended, Shen Maomao said, disgruntled, “Since when was I scared… Did I really need you to accompany me?”
Lou Jingmo said faintly, “Feitouman…”
Shen Maomao said with a straight face, “I think it’s absolutely necessary for you to accompany me.”
The two found a breakfast shop nearby, casually ate something, and then set off for the funeral home.
Regarding the funeral home, Shen Maomao actually had a bit of a psychological scar.
The Feitouman… the Yaksha… and Yaya’s mother, Gong Lian, were all acquaintances they had made in that “instance” at the funeral home.
Even though she knew perfectly well there wouldn’t be ghosts or monsters in reality, that didn’t stop her from being scared, right? It was like knowing that the things in horror movies were fake, but still being unable to sleep after watching one—there was no necessary connection between “fake” and “being scared.”
There were quite a few people at the funeral home. From the entrance, one could hear waves of sobbing coming from inside; who knew who else was leaving this world, carrying the longing and sorrow of their loved ones.
Shen Maomao didn’t call her mother either, just gave her cousin’s name at the front desk, and a staff member pointed her in a direction.
She took Lou Jingmo’s hand and walked inside with her, soon spotting Mother Shen sitting at the entrance collecting gift money.
Shen Maomao went up to her and called out, “Mom.”
Mother Shen looked up at her, her eyes instantly brightening, and stood up from her seat to walk towards them.
Shen Maomao opened her arms, ready to receive a loving hug.
Then Mother Shen walked right past her and headed straight for Lou Jingmo, “Oh my! This must be Xiao Lou, right? What a truly pretty young lady!”
Shen Maomao: “???”
Lou Jingmo’s cheeks turned a little pink; rarely embarrassed, she said timidly, “Hello, Auntie…”
Mother Shen’s eyes shone. “This child, no need to be embarrassed! Coming to Auntie’s home is like coming to your own. What did you have for breakfast? Are you hungry now? Is there anything else you’d like to eat? I’ll have Shen Maomao take you to buy it later!”
Shen Maomao: “No, Mom, you…”
Mother Shen turned her head, “Go record the gift money, what are you waiting for?”
Shen Maomao: “…” I was adopted, wasn’t I??
Lou Jingmo quickly waved her hands. “No, no, Auntie, please attend to your business, don’t worry about me. I’ll just follow Maomao.”
Mother Shen was indeed very busy. She held onto Lou Jingmo, said a couple more sentences, then returned to Shen Maomao’s side and instructed her, “Your uncle and aunt2 are out of the hospital. I need to go in and help keep an eye on things. If the old couple gets too overcome with grief, we’ll have to send them to the hospital again. You stay here and collect the money; don’t make any mistakes.”
Shen Maomao nodded and urged, “Alright, I know, you go on in.”
Mother Shen reluctantly bid farewell to Lou Jingmo, looking back every few steps as she walked into the hall.
Shen Maomao: “…” So I really was adopted, huh?
Lou Jingmo squeezed in behind the gift table with her. Shen Maomao collected the money, and Lou Jingmo was responsible for recording the names. Her beautiful handwriting really made them look good3.
When most of the guests had been registered, Lou Jingmo took out two hundred yuan4 from her wallet and wrote her own name on the gift registry.
Shen Maomao stopped her, “What are you doing?”
Lou Jingmo: “Since I’m already here, it wouldn’t feel right not to contribute.”
Shen Maomao said in surprise, “You care about keeping up appearances?”5
A vein throbbed on Lou Jingmo’s temple.
Whose face was she doing this for? This damn rabbit is looking for a beating, isn’t she?
Shen Maomao quickly grabbed her hand, trying to save herself, “Lou-jie, you’re so thoughtful!”
With this kind of thing, if Lou Jingmo didn’t give money, her mom would probably think Lou Jingmo lacked courtesy. If Lou Jingmo gave money and she didn’t accept it, her mother might then think Lou Jingmo was just putting on an act. So, in the end, it was better to accept it. That way, her mom would only scold her for taking someone else’s money, and then she could put in a few good words for Lou Jingmo, guaranteeing Lou Jingmo’s impression in her mom’s heart would soar. Anyway, two hundred yuan wasn’t much; at worst, she could make it up to her from somewhere else.
Shen Maomao hadn’t yet realized—she was already thinking from Lou Jingmo’s perspective about how to help her make a good impression on her own mother.
She put all the money into an envelope, preparing to go inside to hand it over, arranged for Lou Jingmo to wait for her outside, and then walked directly into the mourning hall.
As soon as she entered the mourning hall, she heard the whimpering cries of her uncle and aunt. The old couple’s hair was streaked with grey, their faces worn and full of sorrow, their eyes blurred from crying.
Her cousin had no wife or children, only a girlfriend. At this moment, the woman was slumped over the casket, crying beautifully like pear blossoms in the rain, clearly heartbroken to the extreme.
Shen Maomao narrowed her eyes.
Her cousin, a man of average looks and no particular merits, why could he find such a beautiful girlfriend? What did this woman like about him? Did she like his eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling? Or did she like his idleness??
Although it wasn’t good to speak ill of the deceased, she had spent so much time with Golden Retriever that she could naturally recognize the clothes the woman was wearing. It was a bespoke brand Golden Retriever often wore; one outfit cost enough to buy the car her dad usually drove.
A woman who wasn’t short on money, had excellent looks, and wore exquisite makeup—how on earth did she fall for someone like her cousin? Was she here on a poverty alleviation mission6?
Having played games for too long, Shen Maomao couldn’t help but overthink things whenever she saw something so incongruous. She patted Mother Shen’s shoulder and, when Mother Shen looked at her, crooked a finger.
The mother and daughter walked to a small, deserted corner. Mother Shen asked her, “What are you up to?”
Shen Maomao pointed at the woman, “Who is this?”
Mother Shen sighed, “If your cousin hadn’t had this accident, she would probably be your cousin-in-law.”
Shen Maomao asked, “What did she see in Shen Wenwu7??”
Mother Shen shot her a glare. “Is that any way to talk?! You absolutely cannot let your uncle and aunt hear you say that.”
“I’m only saying this to you. Am I crazy enough to say it in front of them? Come on, don’t change the subject. How did such a pretty girl fall for Shen Wenwu?”
Mother Shen glanced back at the woman and continued, “Her name is Fang Tian. She met your cousin six months ago. She said your cousin saved her life, so she wanted to marry him in return8. Your dad and I also wondered at first if she had some ulterior motive. Your cousin… to put it bluntly, we all know what he was like. But half a year has passed, and the young couple’s relationship was still good. If this hadn’t happened, your uncle and aunt might have had one less worry on their minds…”
Finishing her sentence, Mother Shen let out a long sigh, “Ai—it’s just pitiful for the two old folks.”
While the two were talking, Fang Tian over there nearly cried herself unconscious, begging the two elders to let her touch the body and bid a final farewell to her cousin.
Mother Shen added, “She wanted to touch the body before, but it’s against customs9, so your uncle and aunt never agreed. Mainly, they were also afraid that Shen Wenwu’s spirit might latch onto the girl…”10
Shen Maomao nodded to show she understood.
Over there, her uncle and aunt indeed refused her request again, and instead comforted her, telling her not to be too sad.
Fang Tian held her aunt’s hand and said, choking back sobs, “Then let me keep the vigil11 tonight… Let me see him off on his final journey…”
In their local custom, keeping the vigil had to be done by relatives. Although Fang Tian’s relationship with the cousin was good, she ultimately hadn’t formally married into the family12. In the eyes of the older generation, if she were to keep the vigil, it would not only offend the deceased’s spirit13 but also bring bad luck to the entire Shen family.
So, this request of hers was also refused.
Fang Tian looked very dejected. She leaned back over the transparent glass of the casket, gazing intently at the body inside, truly appearing deeply devoted.
Shen Maomao watched for a while and felt that something wasn’t quite right—her gaze didn’t seem to be on Shen Wenwu’s face, but rather on… his waist?
No… This was too wrong…
Thinking this, she patted her mom’s shoulder, “You go on ahead. I’ll go say a few words to my cousin-in-law, try to console her a bit.”
“Alright then. You young people go talk. I’ll get back to being busy.”
She saw Mother Shen off and then ambled over to Fang Tian’s side, wanting to see what exactly she was looking at.
As she got close to the casket, her eyes widened in astonishment, and she couldn’t help but stare intently at the hands clasped on the corpse’s stomach—beneath those hands, there was unexpectedly a rectangular card!!
The author has something to say:
First, about the funeral procedures in the text—I’m really not too familiar with them. I asked several roommates and also Baidu-ed14 it, but my understanding is still not thorough enough. Everyone can just assume that customs differ from place to place.
Also, about my feelings on the CET-4—the test paper quality was good, the invigilators had a great attitude, five-star review, will come again next time!
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