BTYFOV Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Funeral

 With a daughter like that, I'd lose ten years off my life.

─── ⋆⋅☼⋅⋆ ───

The neighbors immediately felt the urge to curse. It wasn’t their idea for Gu Xue to come here, and she wasn’t even here to see them. Why should they be the ones to deal with her?

Qin Feng stood with his arms crossed, tapping his foot in rhythm with his father. He looked completely at ease, enjoying the show.

The neighbors didn’t share his carefree attitude. Especially with Old Gu’s funeral still fresh — just after the five-seven period — the arrival of an erhu seemed to bring a chill to the air.

〚  Five-seven (五七) refers to a traditional mourning period observed in some Chinese customs, marking the 35th day after someone’s death.〛 

“Xiao Gu, just go home,” one of the neighbor ladies couldn’t help but speak up.

Gu Xue sneered. “You sure do listen to Qin Feng.”

The neighbor lady’s face darkened, a hint of anger creeping into her heart.

Gu Wuyi and Gu Qingkuang, those two kids, would rather stay with Qin Feng, an outsider, than go to their aunt’s house. Instead of reflecting on herself, Gu Xue suspected Qin Feng of manipulating the children.

Now that the house had been transferred to his name, and the two children were already on Qin Feng’s household register, everything was legally settled. Yet she was still here causing trouble.

What nonsense!

She was making life hard for everyone, disturbing their peace.

“I don’t want to argue with you,” the neighbor lady said. “You’re not a resident here, nor are you an employee of our factory. If you don’t leave now, I’ll go get security.”

Gu Xue’s expression changed slightly. She didn’t dare speak so rudely anymore. “I haven’t offended you before, have I?”

The neighbor lady replied, “You didn’t before, but you are now.” She glanced toward Old Qin.

Gu Xue was speechless. “It’s—it’s not like I asked him to play!”

Qin Feng immediately added, “If you leave now, I’ll play ‘Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix’ to see you off, and I’ll also apologize to everyone for the disturbance.”

At this, the neighbors gathered at the door and outside the fence started asking, “Wait, Engineer Qin can play the erhu?”

Qin Feng didn’t answer directly but instead asked, “Want to find out? Let Gu Xue leave, and I’ll tell you.”

Everyone immediately turned to Gu Xue.

Seeing no one on her side, Gu Xue grew furious. She put her hands on her hips. “I’m not leaving! Let’s see what you can do about it.”

Qin Feng smiled. “I can’t do anything. But they can carry you out.” He glanced at the crowd. “You’re not afraid to, are you?”

These people were all older than Qin Feng. Even if they weren’t as clever as him, they had plenty of life experience and could see that he was intentionally provoking Gu Xue. They weren’t about to let him use them as pawns.

However, unlike uneducated villagers prone to fistfights, they had better self-control. Rather than watch Qin Feng and Gu Xue argue, they were far more interested in seeing a PhD graduate, fresh from studying abroad, play the erhu.

Besides, it was a rare day off. Who wanted to spend it listening to gloomy, sorrowful tunes?

The crowd, as if coordinated, turned their attention to Gu Xue and her husband.

Several young men, around thirty years old, full of energy and vigor, were already cracking their knuckles, ready to act.

Gu Xue and her husband started to feel afraid.

But money can move people's hearts.

Gu Xue couldn’t stop thinking about the small building — her father’s house. The furniture and decorations inside had all been moved from the old family home in the city. Even the newest vase was over thirty years old. It was said that one chair alone was worth three months of her salary. And then there was her father’s savings. Thinking of all this, she regained her courage to keep making a scene.

“I’m not here to cause trouble. I’m just worried about Dabao and Erbao!” she shouted, trying to be heard over the sound of the erhu.

Qin Feng responded, “If those two boys suffer any injustice, the factory’s rules and the law will deal with me. You don’t need to worry about it.”

Gu Xue sneered.

Her expression showed utter disbelief.

Qin Feng instantly knew she was clueless about the law. “Looks like you’re unaware that hitting minors constitutes intentional injury, which is a criminal offense.”

The erhu music abruptly stopped.

Qin Feng instinctively turned around and saw his father staring at him in surprise.

“You didn’t hear me wrong, Dad. The idea that ‘a father has the right to beat his son’ is ancient history from before the founding of the country.”

Gu Xue snorted again in disdain.

Qin Feng ignored her and continued, “And by the way, husbands hitting their wives — or wives hitting their husbands — is also illegal. But first, you need to get a medical report from the hospital, and then you can file a complaint at the public security bureau.” He raised an eyebrow at Gu Xue. “Sounds like a story, doesn’t it?”

Before she could respond, he turned to the neighbors. “So, tell me — do you think Wuyi and Qingkuang have a better future with me, a well-paid, law-abiding PhD graduate, or with her, an ordinary worker who is ignorant of the law?”

“You’re the one who’s ignorant about the law!” Gu Xue couldn’t hold back and yelled in frustration.

Qin Feng winced at her screeching. His head was starting to hurt. “Dad, keep playing. I’d rather listen to you perform ‘The Bitter Wildflower’ than waste my breath on her.”

Old Qin: “Are you telling the truth?”

Qin Feng: “Of course I am.”

Old Qin didn’t want to embarrass his son in front of everyone, but he also wanted to get things straight so he could stand up for his daughter in the future. “How come I’ve never heard of this before?”

Gu Xue laughed. “Did you hear that? Even your father doesn’t believe you.”

“That’s because he doesn’t know,” Qin Feng replied, casting a glance at Gu Xue before turning to his father. “How many sons dare to sue their fathers? How many wives report their husbands? You people are always trying to mediate before divorce is even mentioned. And if someone goes to the police to report abuse, wouldn’t you all beat and scold her for being ignorant? Tell me — how many times have you all convinced couples to stick together when they were on the verge of divorce?”

The neighbor lady who had confronted Gu Xue couldn’t help but ask, “Engineer Qin, how do you know all this?”

Inwardly, Qin Feng thought, I’ve lived two lives, a combined fifty years. In my past life, I was a rich second-generation kid, but I wasn’t living in a bubble. In this life, I’ve grown up in a rural village. What don’t I know?

“I’ve seen a lot and learned a lot,” he replied casually.

The neighbor lady was speechless.

Qin Feng chuckled. “Just because I’ve read a lot of books doesn’t mean I’m a bookworm. And it’s not all academic stuff. I’ve read essays, novels, Song poetry, Yuan opera — ancient and modern, domestic and foreign.”

The neighbor lady was convinced by his words.

Qin Feng glanced at his father.

The begging tune played by Blind Ah Bing wasn’t difficult to master, at least not for someone like Old Qin, who had been playing the erhu for half his life. But playing it with genuine emotion was another story.

Emotion was a rare thing to capture.

Old Qin paused. He realized he couldn’t evoke the same sorrowful feeling as before, so he switched to playing “The Bitter Wildflower.”

The neighbors noticed the change in melody. “Engineer Qin, are you really going to let your dad keep playing?”

Qin Feng glanced at the erhu. “I specifically went home to get it. What do you think?” He smiled at Gu Xue with amusement in his eyes.

This wasn’t Gu Xue’s territory. She figured that Qin Feng, being a PhD graduate and a high-minded scholar, would be too embarrassed to get physical with her. Plus, he was a man — surely, he wouldn’t be able to out-argue her. On the way here, she’d already made up her mind: if she couldn’t get her father’s bankbook back, she’d at least squeeze some money out of Qin Feng.

What she hadn’t expected was that this damn Qin Feng wouldn’t take the bait and instead resorted to using the erhu to disgust her.

Gu Xue was furious at the way Qin Feng was looking at her, so she turned to her husband.

Her husband walked into the yard.

Thud!

Something fell from the sky.

Gu Xue instinctively looked up and saw a cotton shoe falling.

Her husband instinctively glanced at Qin Feng, who stood with his arms crossed, his expression looking quite unusual. It was clear that he couldn’t have been the one to do it.

The couple looked around and saw a small head poking out from the window. It wasn’t anyone else — it was Gu Xiao’er.

Gu Xue couldn’t believe it. “Did you throw this?”

With support behind him, Gu Xiao’er wasn’t afraid of her at all. He confidently replied, “Yes!” He extended one hand, holding another shoe. “Our house doesn’t welcome you. Go back where you came from, or don’t blame me for being rude!”

“I’m your aunt!” Gu Xue shouted.

Gu Xiao’er glanced at her and then threw the shoe.

Gu Xue quickly dodged in panic.

Gu Xiao’er, now holding another shoe, saw her husband daring to point at him and threw the shoe at him without even glancing.

Qin Feng quickly stepped back, keeping a safe distance from the couple to avoid being caught in the crossfire.

The shoes hit the ground, and Qin Feng couldn’t help but shout angrily, “Gu Qingkuang, look properly before you throw it!”

Old Qin instinctively stopped playing.

Qin Feng turned to him and said, “Please continue.”

Gu Xiao’er couldn’t help but speak up, “I saw it clearly.”

Qin Feng picked up the shoe and asked, “Is this what you’re throwing?”

Gu Xiao’er widened his eyes and saw that it was a shiny leather shoe. He immediately froze and turned to look for his younger brother. He saw a small figure holding a leather shoe in his arms.

“Little brother, where did you get this from?” Gu Xiao’er quickly grabbed it from his younger brother. “You should’ve been more careful.”

Gu Wuyi: “I thought it was old.” He took the shoe and stuffed it into the cabinet. “Miaomiao, this shoe is new, don’t touch it. Here, take this one.” He handed him a sports shoe.

The child immediately gave it to Gu Xiao’er.

Gu Xiao’er turned around and threw it at his uncle.

Thud!

He missed three times in a row. On the fourth try, it finally hit, landing squarely on his uncle’s face.

Gu Xue’s husband reflexively closed his eyes, while Gu Xue gasped in fright.

Old Qin’s performance was interrupted again, and he couldn’t help but look at his son. “Should I keep playing?”

Qin Feng nodded.

Old Qin gave in to his son.

Qin Feng didn’t want to either.

However, with the reforms and the rapid growth of the market economy, as the country’s finances grew and infrastructure projects expanded, the Northern Railway Factory became busier. As an engineer at the Northern Railway Factory, Qin Feng had less and less free time.

He didn’t want to waste his precious days off on scums like these. He had to take action and teach them a lesson.

Qin Feng glared at Gu Xue. “If you want to see your nephews, Gu Wuyi and Gu Qingkuang are upstairs. If they don’t want you, you can leave.”

“Isn’t it all your instigation?” Gu Xue pointed at Qin Feng.

Upstairs, Gu Xiao’er couldn’t help but look back at his older brother.

—Turns out Dad guessed right.

“It has nothing to do with my dad!” Madam Zhou followed the child downstairs, and with no one stopping Gu Wuyi, he pushed past Gu Xiao’er and shouted downstairs.

Gu Xue suddenly looked up. “What did you say?”

“Are you deaf?” Gu Wuyi retorted.

Gu Xue couldn’t believe it. “You call him Dad? ”

“If he’s not my dad, then who could he be, your dad?”

Qin Feng quickly waved his hand. "I wouldn't dare be her dad. With a daughter like that, I'd lose ten years off my life."

Gu Wuyi nodded. "Exactly. That's why Grandpa passed away before he turned seventy."

"Cough!"

The neighbors watching couldn't hold in their laughter.

Gu Xue’s face turned a mix of red, white, and black, more dramatic than a quilt hung out to dry.

Her husband’s face flushed, unsure if it was out of anger or embarrassment. He asked in distress, "Dabao, do you understand what you’re saying?"

"I’m ten years old. What’s there not to understand?" Gu Wuyi shot him a glance and shouted loudly, "Grandpa, hold on a second! I’m sure all the grandpas, grandmas, uncles, and aunts here are wondering why we didn’t go with Aunt but decided to go with Dad Qin instead."

The neighbors nodded in agreement.

Qin Feng also wanted to know and turned around to look up.

Gu Wuyi hadn’t dared to speak the truth before, fearing Qin Feng’s double-faced nature and would check and balance between him and Gu Xue.

But now, Gu Wuyi no longer had to worry about Qin Feng acting, and he pointed at Gu Xue and said, "Although my dad's university is not as good as what Dad Qin went to, he’s still better than her. She refuses to admit she’s lazy. My dad might be a scumbag, but he’s smart and eager to learn. She’s jealous of my dad, and she thinks Grandpa favored him. When my dad left and they couldn’t find him, she tried to take it out on us."

He saw Gu Xue’s eyes go wide with shock. "Don’t think—"

"You’re talking nonsense!" Gu Xue shouted angrily, trying to stop him from continuing.

Gu Wuyi looked at his uncle. "I also know you don’t like Grandpa. Because the Northern Railway Factory has high wages and good benefits, you wanted to transfer there, but Grandpa didn’t help you."

"Exactly!" Gu Xiao’er opened another window and nodded forcefully. "Why don’t you take a look at yourself in the mirror? You don’t know anything and still want to come to the Northern Railway Factory. You just want a chance to take advantage of socialist benefits!"

As soon as those words were spoken, the neighbors couldn’t help but turn toward Gu Xue and her husband.

Gu Xue and her husband quickly walked toward the house.

Qin Feng grabbed a broom, looking like a general with a sword raised.

The couple stopped.

Qin Feng turned to the neighbor lady. "Go get the security, Gu Xue hit people!"

The couple spoke in unison: "Who hit you?"

"I didn't say you hit me." Qin Feng asked coldly, "Why are you both huffing and puffing rushing inside the house? You're not going upstairs to hit my son, so what, are you trying to steal my stuff?"

Gu Xue's breath caught, and she pointed at Qin Feng, her face full of disbelief. "...Don't push your luck!"

Qin Feng chuckled. "You come into my yard, point at me, and say I’m pushing my luck? If I don’t bully you, I’d be doing you a disservice." He raised the broom and swung it at them.

"Xiao Feng!" Madam Zhou hurriedly stopped him.

These two were not her daughter and son-in-law, and she couldn’t allow them to fight so easily.

Qin Feng stopped and said, "Dad, hand me the suona."

Old Qin instinctively grabbed the suona placed on the ground.

Qin Feng tossed the cloth covering the suona aside, glaring at the couple. "Earlier, you were probably wondering what this thing is?" He glanced at the neighbors. "At the factory, when there’s a funeral, we don’t follow all the formalities. Haven’t you heard that when a suona is blown and the cloth is covered, the whole village gathers for the feast? Today, I’ll let you all see it for yourselves."

Gu Xue couldn’t help but ask, "What do you mean?"

"Sending you off!" Qin Feng tested the suona, and when he heard it make a sound, he immediately blew it loudly as if announcing a funeral.

Gu Xue panicked and frantically looked for her husband.

Her husband, without thinking, went to grab the suona from Qin Feng.

Madam Zhou raised the broom and swung it at him.

Qin Feng hadn’t yet found the right tone since he hadn’t touched the instrument in nearly ten years, but seeing the situation, he took the chance to stop.

Madam Zhou shouted, "You play your suona! I’m not afraid. If this goes to the police, I’ll just say he’s bullying an old lady like me!"

Gu Xue's husband sneered and grabbed her broom away from her.

Old Qin grabbed the erhu and swung it.

Gu Xiao’er opened his father’s shoe cabinet and, regardless of whether the shoes were new or old, began throwing them down.

For a moment, the funeral music mixed with the chaos, and it really did feel like a funeral in the countryside.

The neighbors were wide-eyed in disbelief.

As more shoes continued to fall, Qin Feng blew the suona harder and harder. Distracted by the suona and having to dodge the shoes falling like petals, Gu Xue and her husband couldn't focus on the fight and were left scrambling to avoid the barrage.

Seeing them panic and run out, Qin Feng immediately stopped and said, "Don't chase them."

Madam Zhou and Old Qin stopped as well.

The neighbors snapped back to reality, unsure of what to say.

Qin Feng glanced at the neighbors, smiled, and picked up the suona again.

The neighbors widened their eyes.

— He’s going to do it again!?

The sounds of "Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix" echoed through the neighborhood.

The neighbors were instantly alert.

However, Qin Feng only knew a short part and stopped after about a minute.

A child couldn’t help but ask, "Uncle Qin, why did you stop?"

Qin Feng smiled and shrugged. "I only know this little bit."

The neighbors didn’t believe it.

Qin Feng nodded. "I didn’t know I could go back to taking the college entrance exam. My dad thought just a few years of schooling wouldn’t be enough. So he let me learn the suona from my uncle."

At that time, Qin Feng really didn’t want to learn.

But he couldn’t explain the restoration of the college entrance exam in 1977.

His parents cared for him, and since Qin Feng had the time, he learned for eight years, from the age of eight to sixteen, just to make them happy and put their minds at ease.

However, he didn’t practice every day. When he had free time, he would carry the suona to the river or fields to practice.

The village used the suona more for funerals than for weddings, so after all these years, he could still play several funeral tunes but couldn’t manage to finish a single celebratory song.

The neighbor's older sister couldn’t help but say, "No wonder. I was wondering how you knew our instruments when you’ve been abroad."

Qin Feng replied, "There are Chinese people abroad too. Chinatown is no different from the seaside district here; they should have suonas and erhus there. But the school was too far, and I only went a few times, mostly during the New Year."

A male colleague couldn’t help but ask, "What made you think of using this to deal with them?"

Qin Feng answered, "The one who strikes first is in the wrong. If I didn’t use this, would I have just argued with Gu Xue?"

The male colleague nodded, "That’s true. If Old Qin didn’t play the erhu and you didn’t blow the suona, Gu Xue would have sat at your door until dark."

Qin Feng had his father bring the erhu precisely because he was worried Gu Xue would make excuses not to leave.

Even if they forced her out, she could still cry and make a scene at the entrance of the staff residence. She wanted to see his children, but it was a personal matter, and the factory couldn’t intervene. In the end, it was Qin Feng who had to deal with it.

Once Qin Feng was caught in a passive situation, it could easily get worse every time.

After the male colleague spoke, the other onlookers understood too. "Engineer Qin, this move is brilliant."

Qin Feng smiled and replied, "I just don’t argue with women."

The neighbor's older sister shook her head, "You’re good at this. If Gu Xue said you’re shameless, I would’ve said, 'You’re the one who’s shameless.' But if I said that, we’d be arguing non-stop. You just admitted it, and immediately left Gu Xue speechless."

Qin Feng smiled, accepting the compliment. "So you’re not blaming me for playing funeral music?"

The neighbor’s older sister laughed generously, "You had no choice."

Qin Feng’s mother asked with concern, "Gu Xue won’t come back, right?"

The neighbor’s older sister assured her, "She definitely won’t dare come back."

Madam Zhou looked to her son for an answer.

Qin Feng said, "Not this afternoon, and not next week either. The erhu and suona will stay here." He saw all three children coming downstairs. "When I’m not home, you all lock the door and stay inside, or go to the village."

Gu Xiao'er couldn’t help but say, "Afraid of him?"

Without a word, Qin Feng went over, lifted him with one hand, and said, "Who’s afraid of you?"

Gu Xiao'er immediately slumped down.

Qin Feng set him down and ruffled his hair.

The child lowered his head in embarrassment.

The onlookers laughed.

The neighbor’s older sister held back her laughter and said, "No matter how good you are, you’re still a child. If Engineer Qin wasn’t home today, even if you threw down the quilt, it would have been useless."

Qin Feng thought of his shoes. When he saw the leather shoes brought from abroad and the sneakers he hadn’t had the heart to wear, anger surged in his chest. "Gu Qingkuang!"

Gu Xiao'er was so frightened he jumped back. "I-I’ll pick them up and clean them for you right now."

Qin Feng asked, "Can you clean them?"

Gu Xiao'er nodded repeatedly and went to pick up the leather shoes.

Seeing shoes scattered all over the yard, the neighbors came in to help pick them up.

The cloth shoes were thrown into the laundry basin, the sneakers were placed near the water well for Qin Feng to deal with, and the leather shoes were placed at the living room door, left for Gu Xiao'er to clean.

With more people, the work was done faster.

In just two minutes, the shoes were sorted and placed neatly.

Qin Feng thanked everyone one by one.

The neighbors who had earlier complained about the funeral music and how Qin Feng was disturbing the neighborhood, now didn’t want to argue with him. As they left in groups, they couldn’t help but admire and sympathize with him.

Gu Xue was the children’s real aunt, and if the factory director were in this situation, it would probably be hard to handle as well.

Engineer Gu’s old neighbor stayed behind and told Gu Wuyi, "Since you call Engineer Qin 'Dad,' you should listen to him from now on." Seeing the boy’s clothes and shoes cleaner than his own child’s, he continued, "Engineer Qin is a good man. Even if he gets married, he won’t turn into a stepfather."

Qin Feng replied, "By the time I get married, they should be in highschool and living on campus. I’ll be a stepdad, but with my busy work schedule, I won’t have time to teach them a lesson."

The old neighbor laughed and said, "I’m just worried the children might not understand. At their age, they’re just the right size to be mischievous. Especially Xiao'er," he pointed to the child sitting at the door cleaning the leather shoes, "He ruined perfectly good shoes."

Gu Xiao'er couldn’t help but ask, "What’s wrong with breaking them? Just buy new ones."

"With whose money?"

"Use the money Grandpa left us."

The old neighbor gave him a sideways glance. "Your aunt is worried about it even after ten years of saving. If your dad dares to take it out, she’ll probably go find the factory director and make a scene. Don’t cause trouble for Engineer Qin."

Gu Xiao'er couldn’t argue, so he pouted and continued to work as a shoeshine boy.

The old neighbor said, "It’s getting late. You all get back to work. I should—" He turned around and saw the gatekeeper, and her heart sank. "Could it be that Gu Xue came back?"

Qin Feng followed his gaze and looked east. The gatekeeper, moving slowly, said, "It shouldn't be."

As he spoke, the gatekeeper had already reached the iron gate and, seeing Qin Feng, his eyes brightened. "It’s good you’re home, saves me from going to the factory."

Qin Feng replied, "I didn’t go out today."

The gatekeeper asked, "I could have sworn I saw you leave?"

"If you mean this morning, I went out for a run. Is there something?"

The gatekeeper slapped his forehead. "I must be losing my memory. There are two people at the main gate asking for you. They say they’re your uncle and aunt."

Qin Feng let out a sigh of relief and turned to his parents. "Which deity have I offended these past few days?"

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