Zhāng 78

The lunch at noon was enjoyed by both the guests and hosts.

They agreed to invite him again in two days to lead the ceremony, then saw him off.

They had considered driving him back, but the countryside roads made that too difficult.

Before he left, Paige handed him a red envelope.

Once everything was handled, Paige and the others prepared to return.

They didn't take any of the leftover food.

Items ordered in the city needed to be confirmed with the shops for final delivery. Ely also needed to apply for leave ahead of time.

This kind of important event couldn't happen without him.

Paige decided to start the leave application the next day and include Ely in the errands, as a gesture of sincerity.

After dinner, Ely was brought back by Paige, and she drove off in a big truck.

The next day, the four of them stayed in a shop, folding paper gold ingots all day.

Since the offerings were for their closest relatives, the four of them worked with deep sincerity.

Paige felt the emotion was strange yet familiar. She also sat quietly folding.

Although those previous eighteen years were her real experiences, they still felt a little unreal.

That night, they loaded everything onto the truck.

Two three-story Western-style houses, over twenty servants, and six small cars, all made of paper.

Other paper items like bills and copper coins, which could be stacked and weren't fragile, were placed at the bottom.

The gold ingots were light but took up a lot of space.

Paige carefully arranged the ingots in bundles on top of everything.

Each bundle had around a hundred, and the shopkeeper's child had helped tie them together with string.

This made it easier to transport and prevented them from falling everywhere.

Once everything was packed, Paige drove the truck back to the villa. The next morning, the four of them would leave directly from there.

Offerings for the ritual the next day were placed in the living room, ready to be loaded in the morning.

As for the pig's head, they didn't want it to spoil in the house or the truck, so they left it outside the door overnight in the cold.

It wouldn't freeze solid, but it definitely wouldn't go bad.

Before dawn the next morning, two trucks drove off in a grand procession toward Rin Village.

Rin Village was buzzing with activity.

Except for a few who had to stay away, all the strong young villagers had come out.

They were all holding tools like shovels, spades, and rakes.

White cloth strips were tied on their arms and tools.

A large offering table had already been set up in front of the gravestone, waiting for Paige and the others to arrive with the offerings and begin the ceremony.

The sound of rolling wheels grew louder as the trucks got closer, and black dots appeared in the distance.

Though dawn was breaking, the trucks were still far enough away that they couldn't be clearly seen.

As the dots approached, something seemed odd. Why were they so big? And was there a smaller black dot in front?

Two trucks appeared, one of them a big cargo truck. What could they be transporting?

Curious villagers leaned in for a better look, wondering what kind of surprise Paige was bringing this time.

People had relocated graves before, but most just brought some yellow paper and hired a spiritual master to chant a few words.

Those who were struggling financially couldn't even afford that. They simply spoke their thoughts about the hardships of their descendants while moving the grave themselves.

This was the first time anyone had seen trucks bringing materials.

The trucks stopped at the foot of the mountain. The men quickly put down their tools and rushed over.

They were eager to help with the unloading. With so many items, they would definitely need help.

It was a good thing the whole village came out, or it really might've taken multiple trips to move everything.

Offerings were placed on the table first. The most eye-catching was the large pig's head.

Then came various pastries, fish, chicken, vegetarian dishes, and fruit platters.

They gathered seven items in total.

Any more, and the table probably wouldn't be able to hold them.

The master glanced at the items on the table. Seeing that everything was ready, he began preparing his tools.

His face looked calm, but inside, he was already screaming.

Still, he was a master. He couldn't afford to lose his composure.

From this point on, no one else could help. They could only stand quietly to the side and observe.

Even though there were dozens of people around, the only sound in the entire space was the master's voice. Everyone else had even quieted their breathing.

Once the ritual was complete, Ely and Winn stepped forward to dig the first shovelful of soil, after which others could join in to help.

Uziel also picked up a hoe and stepped forward. This was the final farewell to their grandparents, and he wanted to be part of it.

Ely didn't step away either, digging shovel after shovel slowly.

He hadn't cried before, but now, seeing the graves of his parents and grandparents made his tears flow like a kite with its string cut, completely out of control.

Whether it was their grandparents or parents, they had all treated him very well.

That's why he fainted from crying when he lost them.

No one knew that Ely had thought about ending his life several times to follow his parents.

But seeing his sister again, he held back those thoughts.

Eventually, little by little, he pulled himself out of that pain.

The busy life in the military camp didn't give him much time to dwell on it.

Now, all the sorrow rushed back into his heart. Ely couldn't stop crying.

Paige walked up and pulled Ely down by force.

If he kept going, Paige was afraid he would faint right there.

Seeing Paige, and realizing she was the only family he had left, Ely hugged her and started bawling.

Paige could only pat his back with a numb expression.

In her heart, she prayed that the guy wouldn't wipe his snot on her clothes. Otherwise, she'd make him learn what bloodline suppression really meant.

After Ely finished crying, several urns were brought out.

Each urn had a number and a name marked on the side.

Once they confirmed everything, they were ready to move them.

Winn and Uziel each carried one urn covered with a black cloth.

Paige and Ely each carried two.

Apart from a few people staying behind to clean up, everyone else followed Paige and the others to the new location.

Everyone leaving had to carry something in their hands.

Some carried paper money, some carried copper coins, and some held a puppet dressed like a servant.

The little house had to be carried by four people to keep it steady.

After another round of busy work, the grave relocation ritual was successfully completed.

During the process, Rivet Shirt had already sent someone to the car to fetch ingredients.

At noon, they would rely on the aunties to cook a good meal for everyone who helped.

Almost all the strong laborers in the village had come to help.

Half the village's women were in charge of cooking. The rest, except for the elderly and children, were hardly around.

In the end, Paige decided to host a lunch for the entire village.

She would provide the ingredients, and the villagers would handle the cooking.

This had been arranged a few days ago.

So, all the men in the village helped around Paige.

All the women were busy at the stoves.

The elderly watched over the children to keep them away from danger and to stop them from sneaking food.