Zhāng 77

To others, being a soldier seemed good, but for someone without any background, once war started, they were the first to be sacrificed.

Even with connections, it didn't matter. Weapons don't care who you are. No one could guarantee survival on the battlefield.

For regular people, farming steadily was the safest and most comfortable life.

"I never thought our Rin Village would have people join the army, and four of them at once.

Will the four of you be able to come back during the New Year? At that time, come with me to honor the ancestors.

Let your grandparents and parents see how successful you've become," the village chief said excitedly.

"Village Chief Grandpa, I also came this time to take care of the afterlife arrangements for my grandparents and for Paige's grandparents and parents." As soon as he said this, the mood turned heavy.

"Ah, in our village, many people don't even have remains to bury.

For those without remains, a jar of soil was taken from their destroyed homes and buried as symbolic ashes.

Everyone in the village was buried together. If you want to create a separate grave, I'll have to find a suitable day to move the remains."

At that time, everyone had been busy rebuilding and didn't have time to handle each funeral individually.

Many families had no survivors.

So they dug a large pit and buried everyone together, thinking that in the future, if descendants had the means, they could relocate the graves.

Winn and Uziel knelt in front of the village chief. They hadn't thought of this way before. This meant more than just a symbolic grave.

"What are you two doing? Get up. Since you've come, I'll take you to pay respects now." The village chief quickly helped them up.

He asked his daughter-in-law to prepare incense, candles, and paper offerings, then took Paige and the two others to the back hill.

There was a graveyard there where the ancestors of Rin Village were buried.

Before reaching the place, they already saw many new graves—villagers who had died in the PN bombing just months ago.

Soon, they arrived in front of a massive burial site.

Because there were too many people buried together, there were no names on the tombstone.

Only the village chief had a list of names.

Winn, Paige, and Uziel knelt before the grave, taking out candles and paper from their basket.

They silently burned the offerings. Though their hearts were full of words, they didn't know where to begin.

Seeing how somber the atmosphere was, the village chief started to speak.

"Mr. Nu, your grandchildren came to see you.

Look at your two grandsons—so successful now. They've become officers in the city.

If your spirit is watching, bless them with safety and peace.

And Old Liang, your granddaughter and grandson are amazing too.

One's become an officer, and the other is studying in the city.

When he graduates, with his sister's support, he'll definitely achieve great things too."

The village chief kept talking beside them, while Paige and the two others stayed silent, burning paper at the grave.

They had learned to hide their emotions, and the pain was so deep they didn't know how to express it.

They had achieved success, but their elders couldn't witness it.

Those who raised them with so much effort never got to enjoy any of the rewards.

"Village Chief Grandpa, I want to hold a ceremony for my grandparents and Paige's parents and grandparents.

They didn't get to enjoy life while alive. I hope they can live better in the afterlife.

Can you help us find someone to choose a good day and a proper burial site?" Winn said respectfully.

"Alright, good child. Come back tomorrow. I'll prepare what's needed for the ritual," the village chief offered, worried they wouldn't know what to do.

"No need, Village Chief Grandpa. I've already ordered everything. Once we know the date, I'll bring it all back."

"But later, just let us know what you need, so we don't miss anything," Winn said.

"Okay, okay, you are all good kids," the village chief said with satisfaction.

The more grand the funeral is, the more it shows that the descendants are doing well and are respectful.

So for the elderly in the village, what they hope for most is to have a grand funeral after they pass away.

After Paige, Ely, and Winn finished paying their respects, they prepared to leave and return the next day.

Before leaving, they took all the children in the village for a ride around in the car.

The kids were so excited they screamed.

Now they could say they had ridden in a car.

Even the adults were jealous, wishing they could turn into kids just to have a turn sitting in the car.

With the children reluctantly saying goodbye, the three of them drove away.

As for what happened after they left, like everyone rushing into the village chief's house to happily divide the food and meat, Paige and the others didn't see it.

No one expected that besides food and meat, there was even red sugar.

Today, everyone was even happier than during New Year.

Each household couldn't wait to slice several pieces of meat and cook it with vegetables. Even the vegetables soaked in meat flavor tasted delicious.

They thought this year would be hard, but now with Paige's help, everyone in Rin Village could have a great New Year.

When Paige, Ely, and Winn returned home, the mood was a bit low.

In a few days, they had to move the graves and honor their ancestors. It was an important and serious matter.

So the three of them each went to their rooms.

Even though they didn't need to be vegetarian or pray daily, they also couldn't just enjoy themselves every day.

Before, they had been focused only on upgrading their resources and didn't think about this.

Early the next morning, the three of them ordered all the items they had missed.

Each item was ordered in two sets, and they picked the best, most luxurious ones.

As for the gold ingots, Paige asked people to work overtime. The more they could fold, the better.

Then there was the house. The house was the biggest item. They needed two sets of the most luxurious houses to start with. After New Year, they would burn more for them.

All kinds of clothing were bought by Paige, and she still thought there weren't enough styles, so she asked the store to restock.

As for the coins and currency used below, Paige went all over Jinling City to find them. She even asked the store owners to get more in stock and told them she would buy it all when it arrived.

Suddenly, an originally quiet industry became busy.

Except for the items that required special craftsmanship, the entire families from shops got involved to earn as much as they could.

Then they brought a chicken, two fresh pieces of meat, two fish, and a bag of rice to the village chief's house.

When you ask someone to help, you also need to provide a meal. They didn't want to burden the village chief's family.

When the three arrived at the village chief's home, the master they had invited was already waiting there.

The date to move the graves had already been chosen. It was two days later.

Next, they had to go check out the new location.

They walked around the back mountain, and quickly picked a spot.

Paige and the others didn't know much about it. Since the master said it was good and the village chief agreed, they settled it.

When they returned to the village chief's house, the daughter-in-law had already made a delicious meal.

Seeing there was chicken, fish, and meat, the master couldn't help swallowing several times.

Because of the PN bombers, many people had recently asked him to perform rituals and check feng shui. But this was the first time he was treated to such a rich meal.