Chapter 4 Gratitude of an Ungrateful Female Lead 4 – Keeping Watch Over Grandma, Keeping the Everlasting

When people came to the Xie Family, she got up to greet them with a smile, calling them Uncle and Elder Uncle with warm familiarity.

If she truly had no idea what to call someone, she would ask. First she’d introduce herself, saying who she was, then add, “I really don’t know what I should call you.”

What she hadn’t expected was that the moment she said that, it was like opening a floodgate for conversation.

“People from the big city really are different. You’ve got such a sweet tongue…”

“Oh my, Zhou He, you’ve grown up so much. I even held you when you were little…”

“A girl really does change as she grows. What should you call me? Well, that’s a bit complicated. If you’re going by the Zhou Family side, you’d have to call me Auntie. But if you’re going by Xie Qingjia, he calls me Great-Aunt…”

“We young people should keep forms of address simple. Why make it so complicated? No one can remember all that anyway. You call me brother, I’ll call you sister, and we’ll each go by our own…”

Of course, there were also times when her prediction missed the mark and she called someone the wrong thing.

“Oh? You’re Xie Qingjia’s wife? Then you can’t call me Auntie just because I look older. Going by the generational naming¹, Xie Qingjia is my cousin-uncle, so I should be calling you Cousin-Aunt…” Then she had a middle-aged man beside her, clearly much older than Zhou He, address her properly. “You should call her Great-Auntie.”

Middle-aged man: “…”

Zhou He: “…”

There was really no need to respect age and cherish youth quite that much.

In short, once they started talking about forms of address, Zhou He could open right up with people, and a single conversation could last half an hour.

That counted as getting half acquainted. The next time they ran into each other, they could at least greet her.

And she didn’t stay idle while welcoming people in.

If a visitor brought ingredients or supplies, she’d personally carry them to the kitchen and loudly announce what they’d brought, almost like reciting a gift list.

Zhou He: “Aunt Siping brought over a slab of pork. Your family really raised a fat pig. You must have some kind of trick to it, right?”

“Oh, not at all. We just raise them casually.”

Zhou He: “Uncle Guangrun brought a whole bucket of fish. This has to be thirty pounds, right? (In reality, at most a little over ten.) Ah? You caught them all yourself? Then they must be incredibly fresh. You’re so skilled, catching this many in such a short time?”

“You got that exactly right, girl. I won’t boast about anything else, but when it comes to fishing, I’ve really got some skill. Go ask Xie Qingjia’s dad, he knows. Even in spots where everyone else comes up empty every day, if I cast my line, I’ll still pull up two or three fish.”

Zhou He: “Sister-in-law Ling sponsored a bag of tea leaves. Sister-in-law, even when I was little I thought you were especially thoughtful, and you still do things with such grace. Most people just bring meat or vegetables. Who would’ve thought of tea leaves? We were actually planning to go buy some. (In truth, Zhou He had already prepared some in the supplies she brought.) This really is perfect timing, like rain after a drought.”

“Honestly, the tea you city people buy may be expensive, but when it comes to taste, it really can’t compare to the kind we pick ourselves up in the mountains. Later we’ll brew some for you to try. It’s all tender new tips.”

Zhou He listened carefully, looking full of admiration and eager to learn.

During all this, she was also serving tea, pouring water, and offering sunflower seeds. In short, she provided plenty of emotional value and made sure the guests felt respected inside and out. And with Zhou He’s graduate student status right there, the effect was practically doubled. Someone with that level of education was still willing to listen to their life experience and practical know-how. Even if they knew she was only being polite, Zhou He’s expression, gestures, and tone were all genuinely sincere. At any rate, it made people feel immensely pleased.

Besides, in what family keeping vigil for the dead, outside the formal mourning period, would the extra dishes people brought over still get announced like gifts? Even if it was Zhou He doing it informally. When there were lots of people and everything was chaotic, the host family might not even remember whether you had brought anything at all, much less what you brought. People often ended up arguing and causing conflict over exactly this sort of thing.

The Xie Family gave people a very different impression.

• The Xie Family really knows how to do things with dignity.

• This eldest grandson’s wife of the Xie Family may be young, but she knows what’s what.

• The Xie Family’s 180,000 back then wasn’t wasted after all.

When people were leaving, Zhou He, who had appointed herself as the doorkeeper, would also see them off with a smile. Even if they already knew, she would still patiently add, “There’s a late-night meal at ten. Tonight it’s tangyuan, so please remember to come. If you don’t eat late-night snacks, then breakfast starts at eight tomorrow morning, minced pork rice noodles.”

By relying on this method, Zhou He quickly grew familiar with the guests coming and going. In just half a day, she went from an awkward decorative mascot who only got in the way at first, to taking on an important part of the work of receiving guests.

Later on, when the elders were too busy to manage everything, they would even call out at the top of their lungs, “Xiao He, your Uncle Changxiang is leaving. Go see him off.”

–

To keep things from feeling too desolate, on the nights when the body was laid out and the family kept vigil, guests would usually stay and sit with them until very late.

Of course, they weren’t just sitting there for nothing. Set up a couple of mahjong tables, and it was easy to stay up all night.

After refilling the tea and cigarettes at the mahjong table, Zhou He went to find Xie Qingjia, who was keeping watch in the main hall before the spirit.

An Everlasting Lamp was placed before the spirit. Before burial, no matter how many days the body was kept, the lamp could not be allowed to go out. During the day, the Yin-Yang Master² in charge of funeral rites watched over it. At night, once the masters had gone to rest, the duty fell to the filial sons and worthy grandsons.

Tonight was the first night, and normally the eldest branch of the family kept watch. As the eldest grandson, Xie Qingjia naturally took on the task. After all, his father and mother were getting older and couldn’t stay up that long.

The Everlasting Lamp burned kerosene, with a piece of cotton wick lit inside.

The lamp had been looked after very well, and the flame burned bright and steady.

Xie Qingjia was sitting on the floor, using a small pair of scissors to trim the charred wick bloom.

Zhou He walked over to his side and, without being particular about it, sat down right on the floor too.

Xie Qingjia caught her arm and stopped her. “Don’t sit on the floor.”

He pulled out the thing he had been sitting on and handed it to her. Only then did Zhou He realize it was a round straw mat woven from dried grass.

He himself casually found a piece of cardboard and put it under his backside.

Xie Qingjia said, “You should’ve gone home with Mom and Dad and gotten some sleep.”

“I’ll stay with you for a while.” Zhou He didn’t argue with him directly and handed him the tea she had already brewed.

“Then after a bit, I’ll have Xie Chonghu walk you back down.”

Xie Chonghu was Uncle Xie’s son, Xie Qingjia’s cousin.

Xie Qingjia took a sip of tea, then lifted the cup and looked at it in puzzlement. “It’s sweet?”

Zhou He said, “I added a little sugar. You barely ate anything today.”

It wasn’t just that he hadn’t eaten properly. He hadn’t even had time to sleep.

Last night, as soon as he got the news, he rushed home overnight. After returning, he helped manage everything, and during the day he had also been busy nonstop. He was practically running without pause. Tonight he still had to keep vigil, and tomorrow he might not have time to rest either. If he kept going like this, his body would give out in no more than a couple of days.

Sure enough, every now and then he rubbed his temples.

Zhou He asked, “Headache?”

“Yeah, a little. It’s nothing. Probably just from all this incense smoke.”

Zhou He didn’t believe his nonsense for a second. She patted her knee. “I’ll massage it for you.”

Xie Qingjia was half doubtful. “You know how to do that too?”

“Why not try it and find out?”

Xie Qingjia lay back with his head on Zhou He’s lap, and Zhou He gently pressed his temples, forehead, and the top of his head…

He looked at her without blinking once.

Zhou He said, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Xie Qingjia said, “It just feels like you’re holding me in your arms. That feeling… it’s a little unfamiliar.”

She had thought he was going to say something else.

Zhou He said, “Aren’t I holding you? Xie baby.”

Xie Qingjia suddenly smiled.

“What are you laughing at?” Zhou He was baffled.

He gazed at her fixedly. “You called me baby.”

“…”

What kind of weird punchline was that?

Zhou He wanted to roast him, but this was right in front of the spirit, and his grandmother was watching. She only glared at him. “Then tell me, Xie baby, how are my skills? Do you feel any better?”

“Yeah.”

“Then be good, Xie baby. Close your eyes, don’t talk, and focus on how it feels.”

“Oh.”

He really did close his eyes.

Xie Qingjia’s hair was very coarse. As Zhou He pressed along his scalp with all ten fingers, her fingertips brushing over his short hair, it prickled against her skin.

The Xie Family had especially good hair genes.

Men or women, all of them had thick, black hair, and a lot of it. Even the older men all had remarkably dense hairlines.

Unlike her, with her soft, limp hair that was even a little yellowish.

As she sifted through Xie Qingjia’s hair with her fingers, Zhou He thought that if they ever had children in the future, with a father like him who had such powerful hair genes, their hair would definitely be great too.

After massaging for so long, her knuckles were starting to ache.

The person in her arms was already breathing slowly and evenly.

He was obviously this tired, yet he was still forcing himself to hold on.

He’d had strong tea, and there was the noise of mahjong from next door, yet the moment he closed his eyes, he still fell asleep.

If she hadn’t used a little trick, who knew how much longer he would have kept pushing himself.

Standing outside the main hall, Xie Chonghu saw that his brother had fallen asleep, so he tiptoed over to Zhou He and whispered, “My brother messaged me and asked me to take you back.”

Actually, even if he had spoken normally, he wouldn’t have woken Xie Qingjia, who was exhausted to the bone.

Zhou He pointed at the person in her arms and replied, “He finally managed to fall asleep, let him sleep a while first. He didn’t sleep at all last night. You should go sleep too.”

Xie Chonghu offered a new suggestion. “How about you two both go sleep? I’ll keep watch over Grandma here. I took a nap at noon today.”

He was in college in the same province, and he’d also rushed back in the early hours of the morning.

“Instead of standing here arguing and dragging this out with me, you’d be better off using the time to rest up. This isn’t something that’ll be over in a day or two. Everyone’s going to have to fight a long battle.” Zhou He waved him off and told him to hurry up and go.

Only then did Xie Chonghu leave, looking back every few steps. But before long, he came back again, this time carrying a fleece blanket.

Zhou He gestured for him to cover Xie Qingjia with it first, and only drape the other end lightly over her shoulders afterward.

Xie Chonghu glanced at his phone. “It’s one o’clock right now. I’ll sleep for four hours and come relieve you at five.”

The blanket draped over Zhou He’s shoulders and her body formed a triangular patch of shadow above Xie Qingjia’s eyes, just enough to block out the sleepless lights and the shifting shapes in the mourning hall.

Xie Qingjia slept a little more soundly, and his rapid eye movements gradually settled.

Traditional funerals in small towns and villages were somewhat eerie. It had nothing to do with one’s feelings for the deceased. It was simply that the ritual itself gave off a strange atmosphere.

White funeral streamers swayed all across the ceiling, a massive black coffin sat there, and by the wall were paper effigies³, paper horses, and paper houses that had just been hastily made during the day…

There had originally been a hanging lamp in the mourning hall, but its light was mostly blocked by the swaying streamers, and the shadows that fell on the floor looked like living things slithering about.

The paper figures and paper horses formed an L-shape with the coffin, and the Everlasting Lamp was set on a square stool about half a person’s height beside the tail end of the coffin.

Holding Xie Qingjia as she kept watch over the lamp by the wall, Zhou He only had to lift her eyes to see the brightly colored paper offerings across from her, especially those paper figures…

She was a little scared, but when she lowered her head and saw Xie Qingjia’s sleeping face, she felt much more at ease.

Pulled back and forth between fear and comfort, she searched for a delicate balance.

In the chilly early morning,

inside the mourning hall, Zhou He fought to keep her eyes open.

Keeping watch over Grandma, over the Everlasting Lamp, over Xie Qingjia.

Translator’s Notes