Originally thought that this trip back to the village, the toughest part would be getting Xiao En recognized by Shuzhen and Lianshan. It turned out that as soon as they entered the village, they encountered provocation from the old neighbors and contempt from all the members. In this countryside where they would pinch every penny, they couldn’t even hire anyone with the high price of five yuan. The Dai family was both embarrassed and completely surprised. But soon, they found that the jaw-dropping things were just getting started! Hiring people with money was nothing, but not being able to buy things with money was the new thing. Just borrowing a broken shovel or sickle would lead to a big dispute, so not wanting to create more trouble, Dai Weiguo decided to go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy a sickle and shovel. Earlier, Dai Weimin criticized his third brother for not being efficient, but this time he proactively took the industrial coupon, food stamps, and money handed to him by his eldest brother and volunteered. The yard needed to be cleaned. After messing around for half a day, everyone’s stomachs needed filling! When they got to the supply and marketing cooperative and checked the inventory, the only response was that there was none. "Hey, my little temper can’t handle this! How can you, a woman, lie straight to my face? Isn’t that canned food? Aren’t those cookies and twists? And aren’t those sickles leaning against the wall? You obviously have goods but won’t sell them. Is this the attitude you should have to really serve people?" Dai Weimin pounded the counter in anger. "I’m in urgent need of buying these things, so sell them to me. Or else, don’t blame me for reporting you to your higher-ups!" He thought that by not being short of temper or money, buying things wouldn’t be an issue. Instead, the sales clerk retaliated even more assertively: "Oh, those shovels and sickles have already been reserved. All these canned foods, cookies, and twists on the counter are all reserved. The deposits have been paid, and strictly speaking, these aren’t our cooperative’s items anymore. If you don’t believe it, go ahead and report it. I’m not afraid even if you report it to the end of the earth while following the rules. But you, calling yourself ’Lord’ all the time, isn’t that some kind of feudal ideology?" Not only did they refuse to sell him anything, they also hit back by accusing him of having feudal thoughts. Being mad wasn’t enough; delaying even by a fraction could mean a one-way ticket to the Revolutionary Committee for introspection. Dai Weimin was nearly driven to explode on the spot in anger. But seeing the two sales clerks clearly conspiring together, he, a strong outsider, couldn’t just clash head-on with these two local bullies. Instead, noticing that no one in the village seemed to welcome the Dai family, everyone was united, helping his former sister-in-law. Deliberately setting one trap after another, finding new ways to vent his former sister-in-law’s anger! Realizing there was no advantage to be gained in the Liu family village, he cleverly ran over to his father-in-law’s place. Although they were mercenary and hostile, they couldn’t resist that family’s greed for money! As soon as the word compensation came out, there was nothing that couldn’t be negotiated. Sure enough, the once snobby brother-in-law’s wife immediately spruced up, quickly cleaning two rooms and preparing plenty of bedding. Not only did they agree to let their people stay over but also generously slaughtered two chickens for their guests. Directed the brother-in-law to hitch up the cart and bring sickle and shovel to help. Money can indeed make the devil turn the mill; as long as the price was right, everything was negotiable; that was the proper way to go about it! Dai Weimin was pleased, and his mood, which had been gloomy for several days, finally showed a slight glimmer of sunshine. Bringing along the chicken stew with mushrooms, smashed cucumbers, scrambled eggs with leeks, and braised eggplant that his sister-in-law just cooked, along with a large basin of mixed grain pot stickers. Riding the brother-in-law’s swaying old ox cart, the two chatted as they headed toward Liu family village. When they finally reached their destination, a few adults were fine, but the kids were starving, listless and droopy, weren’t they? Having lost his son through his own doing, unless he divorced, he could never have children of his own in this life. Having not lost his conscience and still especially fond of kids, Dai Weimin could only channel all his fatherly affection into his nieces. Watching the young girls, bright and lively like flower buds, all wilting in distress, pitifully holding their little stomachs. Dai Weimin’s heart ached terribly. He hurried forward, calling the little ones over to eat. Watching the little ones rushing over in unison, smiling and exclaiming that second uncle/grandpa was the best, Dai Weimin felt all his fatigue disappear and he didn’t resent traveling for a few more hours at all. Failing to buy anything and finding lodging was even more impossible. If it weren’t for the Huang family, who were local but not residents of the Liu family village, they would likely end up sleeping on the street. Being so unwelcome as a family was something they never anticipated. With nothing to be had, they simply skipped the trouble; just with the sickle and shovel, they carved out a one-meter-wide path through the overgrown weeds. Slightly tidying up the room, they directly used the east room where Dai’s mother lived early on as the mourning hall. Dai Weijuan along with Bai Jing and their sisters-in-law, plus a few children, were arranged to stay at the Huang family. Naturally, the men stayed behind to hold vigil. However, Bai Jing and Dai Weijuan were fighting like sworn enemies with Huang Wei, preferring to stay for the vigil rather than stay on the comfortable kang at the Huang family. Dai Weiguo just cast her a cold glance without saying anything. He just told his second brother, Dai Weimin, to hurry and take his sister, sister-in-law, and the kids over after dinner. Then find a way to get some paper offerings, incense, candles, and sacrificial offerings. All those movement campaigns had completely blown over, and the whole range of funeral rituals showed signs of gradually reviving. Raising one cadre and three workers among them, there’s no way they could let the old lady leave too poorly, right? Moreover, tomorrow during the funeral, tasks such as digging the grave, carrying the coffin, and burying the body required help from others, and all needed to be decided one by one. As the eldest son, he bore most of the financial burden, so the rest of the Wei family and Weimin should naturally handle more errands. And he had a tough battle ahead! He had promised in front of his mom’s body to bring Xiao En back, ensuring that the child would wear filial piety and bid farewell to his grandmother. Tomorrow was the burial day, and now, wasn’t it time for him to get ready for the challenge? Knowing that the Liu family village was tightly united, it would be hard to learn Lianshan’s whereabouts from the members. Hastily passing over a box of Zhonghua cigarettes, Huang Wei’s brother poured out all the information like beans from a bamboo tube. Not only did he explain the location clearly, but he also, on purpose, drove this distinguished relative over. His attitude was so attentive, just hoping Dai Weiguo would happily hand him another box of Zhonghua, so he could smoke for a few more days and show off in front of people! Cigarettes from a big leader, possibly even special supply ones, just the thought of it gave an incredible sense of pride!