allendalepharm Chapter 144 Jia Zhang's Calculation
Chapter 144 Jia Zhang's Calculation
"Banggeng, you have worked hard to stay here tonight." They comforted him softly, "Tomorrow morning, we will send your father to rest in peace."
It was late at night and Bang Geng was the only one in the funeral hall. Being young, it was difficult for him to stay awake for a long time.
Just after midnight, sleepiness came over him like a heavy pressure, and he finally succumbed to the sleepiness and fell asleep. At some point, a gust of wind blew up, causing the candlelight in the mourning hall to flicker.
The flames licked the ground, but did not go out. Instead, they ignited the curtains of the mourning hall. If Banggeng woke up at this moment, he might be able to find it in time and call for help.
But at this moment, he was already deeply in a dream.
The fire spread quickly, engulfing Jia Dongxu's portrait and coffin. It was not until the fire approached Jia Dongxu's body that Bang Geng was awakened by the high temperature.
The raging flames before him terrified him and he screamed.
"Come quickly! There's a fire! Come and put it out!" His voice echoed in the silent night, breaking the silence of the night.
The tranquility of the night was broken by a terrified cry for help: "Help! The fire is fierce, someone come and help!"
Then, the sound of hurried footsteps and shouts intertwined in the night sky: "Mom, Grandma, the fire has already spread to the mourning shed, hurry up and find someone!"
Perhaps because past fires had cast a shadow on the yard, at this moment, the word "burning" became a source of fear in people's hearts.
Even though it was late at night and most people had fallen asleep, this cry was like an alarm bell that woke everyone up.
people.
Especially the Yi Zhonghai family and the Sha Zhu family, who were only separated from the Jia family by a wall. They almost woke up from their dreams immediately and rushed out of the house.
Seeing flames rising from the central courtyard, they mistakenly thought that the Jia family was on fire, and hurriedly picked up various tools that could hold water and ran to the pool, ready to put out the sudden fire.
However, in the dark night, and with only a pool of water in the courtyard, when everyone finally worked together to control the fire, the mourning hall had already been reduced to ruins, and even Jia Dongxu's body was almost swallowed by the flames.
At this time, Bang Geng's whole body was blackened by the fire, as if he had just escaped from a sea of fire.
However, neither Jia Zhang nor Qin Huairu had time to care about Banggeng's embarrassment at this moment.
Their hearts were filled with anger and despair, especially Qin Huairu. Although she tried hard to maintain family harmony on weekdays, she could no longer bear it at this moment. She rushed towards Bang Geng, and her hands fell on Bang Geng's body like raindrops.
Bang Geng had never felt such pain and grievance. He looked at Jia Zhang, his eyes filled with tears for help: "Grandma, please save me... Mom is going to beat me!"
However, Jia Zhang's mood at this moment was also extremely complicated.
She looked at her son's body, which was burnt beyond recognition, and listened to the whispers of people around her - "This guy is so filial that he even burned down the mourning shed while keeping vigil!"
"Yes, Director Xu finally agreed to let the Jia family hold the funeral in the courtyard, but now, it's all burned down in a fire."
"It really makes me angry and amused. How much filial piety does one need to do such a thing!"
These words pierced Jia Zhang's heart like a sharp knife. She rushed to Qin Huairu and tried to stop her.
At that moment, Banggeng hoped that his grandmother had heard his call and came to rescue him from danger, but the reality gave him a cruel blow.
He saw that Jia Zhang raised her slightly sturdy hands high, and without any hesitation, she hit Bang Geng's face hard.
"Snapped!"
In full view of everyone, the slap landed hard on Bang Geng's face.
He was in excruciating pain and rolled on the ground begging for mercy, but Jia Zhang and Qin Huairu's anger did not subside.
They decided to teach Banggeng a severe lesson, because Banggeng's negligence caused irreparable damage to Jia Dongxu's body.
Let’s not talk about the previous incident, but this accident shocked everyone in the courtyard. Jia Dongxu’s body was burned beyond recognition by the fire, which was heartbreaking.
Banggeng's screams and pleas for mercy echoed in the silence of the courtyard, becoming the background sound of this sad moment.
Despite the tragic loss of Jia Dongxu's body, the funeral rites must continue.
The next day, Sha Zhu began to work for the Jia family. Due to the limited space in the Jia family, the stove for the funeral banquet had to be set up in the yard.
However, when Jia Zhang asked Sha Zhu to buy groceries, her stingy nature was revealed again.
She only asked Sha Zhu to buy some vegetables such as Chinese cabbage and radish. It was full of green, but there was no trace of meat. Not to mention chicken, duck, fish, or even an egg.
Seeing this scene, the residents in the courtyard began to whisper.
"The Jia family is too frugal. They didn't even buy some meat for the funeral. It's really hard to understand."
"Yeah, we should at least show some respect, after all, this is a funeral."
"What's even more outrageous is that I heard that Jia Zhang also stipulated that only one person from each family can attend the funeral banquet. Isn't this clearly an attempt to take advantage?"
"This behavior is really disgusting, and their calculations are too shrewd."
Although everyone saw through the Jia family's intentions, as neighbors, they couldn't say much. However, how would they respond to the Jia family's plan?
As time passed, noon had passed, but the yard was still empty. No one was willing to attend this stingy funeral banquet.
Seeing this, Jia Zhang became anxious. She realized that her plan might not have achieved the desired effect.
While the fragrance of the whole courtyard interweaves into a rich picture, Jia Zhang's heart feels like being pulled by a huge rock, so heavy that she can hardly breathe. She carefully planned this feast with the intention of seeking help from the neighbors to solve the urgent need at home.
However, if the neighbors turned a deaf ear to this, wouldn't her hopes be dashed?
"Old Yi," Jia Zhang looked at Yi Zhonghai, her eyes full of anxiety, "Can you go to the courtyard and find out why no one has come yet?"
Yi Zhonghai felt mixed emotions when he heard Jia Zhang's question. He knew that Jia Zhang's plan might be too shrewd, and he wanted to take advantage of his neighbors, but he didn't expect that people's hearts were unpredictable. Despite this, he sighed and decided to knock on the door to ask, hoping to add some popularity to the feast.
However, as time went by, Yi Zhonghai was no longer the important figure in the courtyard. His invitation was only met with perfunctory responses from the neighbors.
"Brother Yi, my family has already prepared the food, I really can't spare any time..."
"Hey, Lao Yi, why didn't you tell me earlier? I had totally forgotten about it."
Yi Zhonghai knew these excuses were just perfunctory. But he was powerless to change them, so he could only tell Jia Zhangshi the truth about the neighbors' attitudes.