Always By Your Side

Chapter 10: Funeral

When Yuanyuan woke up, the sun had risen as high as three bamboo poles from the ground, and her head was a little dizzy.

The people were noisy downstairs. She quickly freshened up and hurried down. 

Wine tables had already been arranged in the courtyard and drawing room. Yuanyuan noticed her busy mother’s pale complexion, and she blamed herself very much in her heart. Obviously she had returned home to lend a hand, but she had become a burden. Without delay, she rushed up to help, “Mom, go and get some rest.”

Dai Shufen shook her head, “I’ve rested, I’m fine. What about you? Are you alright?”

“En.”

At this time the cellphone in Yuanyuan’s pocket rang. She took it out hurriedly, only to accidentally press the decline button.

At first glance it was actually the editor-in-chief Zhang Yueren’s call. She’d forgotten to request a leave of absence from the unit leader!

The editor-in-chief was someone she depended on for her livelihood. She couldn’t neglect him. Because the surrounding area was noisy, Yuanyuan ran out of the yard to pick up the call. Zhang Yueren’s stern voice came from the mobile phone: “You left work for no reason and also refused to answer the phone. If you don’t want to do this work anymore, you should hand in your letter of resignation first. Only after my approval, can you go.”

“I…” Yuanyuan was so angry that she actually couldn’t speak for a while.

“I’ll give you one minute to state your reasons.”

Yuanyuan’s voice was sullen as she informed him of the truth: “My grandmother passed away last night. Right now I’m in my hometown. I’m sorry, I forgot to ask you for a leave of absence.”

There was a momentary silence on the other end of the phone, and just when Yuanyuan thought the signal was broken, Zhang Yueren asked, “How many days do you require?”

“Two days. If you want the manuscript, I already wrote more than half, I…”

Zhang Yueren replied straightforwardly: “Take care of your family matters well, and come back to compensate for this vacation. We’ll talk about the manuscript when you get back.” At the end, he added another sentence, “If you have any difficulties, you can find me.”

“En, thank you.” Yuanyuan knew, in this world there were some people with a cold face but a warm heart. Zhang Yueren was such a person.

At lunch, Cheng Jianlin, the most prestigious member of the Cheng family in Yuxi arrived. Cheng Jianlin had been the secretary of the town committee from the previous election, and could be regarded as one of the leading contributors towards the development of Yuxi.

Dai Shufen received him solemnly. She welcomed him to sit inside, called for Yuanyuan, and had her make him a cup of tea. When someone looked for Dai Shufen to ask about some matters, she left. Soon after, Yuanyuan came over holding a cup of tea. She called out, “Great Uncle Jianlin.”

Cheng Jianlin looked at Yuanyuan and asked, “You’re…Yuanyuan?”

“En.”

“You’ve grown up so much.” After retirement, Cheng Jianlin seldom left his home. In addition, Yuanyuan had been going to school in another part of the country. The last time he had seen Yuanyuan was at her father’s funeral. He never would have thought that this child would remember him.

“Great Uncle is in good health?”

“En, it’s good.”

While chatting, Cheng Jianlin learned that Yuanyuan had just graduated, so he asked about her job. Yuanyuan told him that she worked at a magazine company, and also that the job had been introduced to her by Cheng Shenghua. According to seniority in the family, Cheng Shenghua was Cheng Jianlin’s nephew. When Cheng Jianlin spoke of Cheng Shenghua, he was full of glory. Many years ago, Cheng Bai’s great-grandfather, Cheng Qian, had left Yuxi. At the time, it was still called Gongzhu Village. Cheng Qian’s medical skills were superb and he entered the palace as an imperial physician during the late Qing Dynasty. During his time as an imperial physician, he received the “Gong Tong Liang Xiang”1 plaque bestowed by Emperor Guangxu. This was a so-called case of “if you can’t be a good prime minister, then become a good doctor”. The golden plaque from Emperor Guangxu made Cheng Shenghua’s family stand out in Yuxi, where many scholars had been born.

Yuanyuan used to feel extremely satisfied about the fact that she and Cheng Bai were once one family five hundred years ago, but now she felt extremely rueful about it.

“I heard that Shenghua’s son is also a doctor now?”

“En. But he studies Western medicine.”

Cheng Jianlin was getting old and couldn’t stop once he started talking. Yuanyuan chatted along with him, and while talking, she suddenly remembered something.

“Great Uncle, our family used to have a porcelain vase passed down from generation to generation. But later on, it disappeared. Do you know about this matter?”

“Naturally I know.”

“My grandmother said that because I was a girl, I couldn’t continue burning joss sticks for the Cheng family. Otherwise the treasures left by the ancestors would have no way of being passed on. So the ancestors took it back…” When Yuanyuan said this, she faced Cheng Jianlin. “Do you also believe this?”

“Girl, you’ve been reading books for so many years. This kind of question, do you still need to ask me?” Cheng Jianlin’s tone was kind. “Most likely, it was stolen by someone. How should I put it, it can be regarded as an antique of the Song Dynasty. It is a pity that it’s disappeared, but it’s not because of what your grandmother said. The blame shouldn’t be given to you, little girl. Your grandmother was muddled and made a mistake.”

Hearing what Cheng Jianlin had to say, Yuanyuan felt relieved and asked: “Then Great Uncle Jianlin, do you know what is so special about that porcelain vase?” Even if there was no extraordinary meaning, and even if it hadn’t been considered a family heirloom of many generations, as long as it disappeared shortly after she was born, then it was apparent that her grandmother just had that kind of troubled mind.

“I don’t know much about porcelain. It is said that it is a jade pot spring vase…” Cheng Jianlin thought for a bit then said, “It seemed to have kept the ancestral teachings. The vase was left in the safekeeping of your family.”

“Oh, ancestral teachings, I’ve never heard of it…”

“There are not many people who know about these old things now. I myself heard about them from my grandfather’s lectures.”

Yuanyuan still had more she wanted to ask, but at that moment Dai Shufen came over. She saw Yuanyuan and Cheng Jianlin chatting and was taken aback for a bit, then said to Yuanyuan: “Child, you’re not being sensible. Don’t bother your great uncle.”

On the contrary, Cheng Jianlin didn’t mind. He said to Dai Shufen: “I really like Yuanyuan a lot. We had a very happy chat. You don’t need to tell her.”

Dai Shufen saw that Cheng Jianlin was indeed unbothered, so she nodded and said to him respectfully: “Uncle Jianlin, after the funeral arrangements are finished, I want to visit the ancestral shrine and set up a memorial tablet so that my mother-in-law has reincarnation merits.”

“En, that’s very good,” Cheng Jianlin nodded. “The Chongfu Temple in town is not bad. Your mother always went there, and the old abbott also knew her. It’s very suitable.”

That afternoon, Cheng Shenghua also came over and helped with a lot of the procedural funeral arrangements.

When the curtain of night fell that day, Yuanyuan felt that perhaps she had been in the crematorium’s air conditioning for a long time, but then there was a heat that rose to steam, a fire that dried everything up. Additionally, she hadn’t slept well the previous night. After tossing from side to side all night, she’d only had a headache. But now her throat ached, and her nose was stuffy. Yuanyuan couldn’t help but lean against the wall and think, Bodhisattva, why do I think you’re not benevolent at all?

She closed her eyes in a daze, only to feel a vague warmth against her forehead.

“You’re here…” Yuanyuan was still absent-mindedly thinking about the Bodhisattva at that moment.

“How can you be so merciless?” She thought she would not shed tears for her grandmother. But when she saw her grandmother being cremated to ashes, she still cried.

The tall figure standing in front of her did not move.

That day Cheng Bai had an operation to observe, and he couldn’t ask for a leave of absence. He’d waited to get off work to come. As soon as he got out of the car, he immediately saw her.

The breath she exhaled was hot. He felt her forehead, it was sweaty.

“You caught a cold.”

Yuanyuan finally opened her eyes, straightened her body, and looked at the person in front of her. In the dusky light he was difficult to identify. “Cheng Bai?”

“En,” Cheng Bai answered.

Yuanyuan smiled, then shook her head. Her mind buzzing, she asked: “Did I especially like to follow you around before?”

“It was hard for you…”

“At that time, my father was gone, my grandmother wouldn’t pay attention to me, and my mother had to take care of my grandma…You just thought of me, thought of me as being so lonely.”

She and him were childhood sweethearts, yet they were not innocent playmates.

Cheng Bai stood still. As Yuanyuan powerlessly walked towards the house, he heard her murmur: “How could I think he was a Bodhisattva.”

After two days, the people attending the funeral gradually dispersed.

All the dust settled. That evening, Dai Shufen and Yuanyuan went to Chongfu Temple. Chongfu Temple had been built in the Ming Dynasty. Throughout history it had been damaged numerous times, but it had also been repaired numerous times. The temple continued to burn incense to this day. Dai Shufen had contacted the monks in advance, so they went directly to the temple to explain their purpose in coming. A little novice monk called the master to come out and receive them.

The Buddhist monk that came out was tall, dressed in a spacious brown robe. His features were relaxed and clear, with an invisible smile in his pair of eyes. He put his palms together when he saw them.

How young! Yuanyuan thought. She felt that this master’s face seemed very virtuous, but at the same time she wondered if she already knew this person?

“Don’t recognize me? Cheng Yuanyuan, I’m Jiang Xiaoqi. But now my legal name is Jingshan,” the Buddhist monk said casually.

Yuanyuan was frozen in place. This bald master was really her elementary school classmate…

Dai Shufen was also very shocked: “You’re Xiaoqi?” Dai Shufen remembered that this was her daughter’s classmate when she was little, and he had even come over to play at their house several times.

“Yes, Auntie.”

Afterwards, Jiang Xiaoqi led Yuanyuan to the scripture hall to bid farewell to her grandmother. While Dai Shufen followed the young novice monks to handle some matters, Yuanyuan laughed at Jiang Xiaoqi, who also burst out laughing.

“Jiang Xiaoqi, it really is you!”

“Amitabha, as if I’ve been replaced by a fake.”

“Sorry, I have a cold.” Yuanyuan covered her mouth and stepped back while saying, “I still remember when we were little and had to do that speech on ‘My Aspiration’ in class. Some people wanted to be scientists, some wanted to be writers, and others wanted to be painters, but only you said you wanted to be a monk when you grew up. Everyone laughed. Unexpectedly, we all grew up to be common people. Only you actually became a monk.”

“There is no beginning for extravagance ah, hehe.”

“I didn’t get to see if your language and literature marks were good before. Now you’ve become a great Buddhist monk, and unexpectedly you are so eloquent.” Yuanyuan was amused by him, and asked, “How does it feel to be a monk?”

“It’s okay, the most important thing is that the six main roots are clean. No one bothers me anymore. Unfortunately, not being able to eat meat is very painful,” Jiang Xiaoqi teased.

For those who didn’t know, they might think that the monk was a little out of touch. Only Yuanyuan knew how much bitterness was contained in his sentence.

After Jiang Xiaoqi was born, his mother passed away. His father was very vicious towards him and would hit and scold him at the drop of a hat. Most of the clothes he wore to school had rips and holes in them. In the third grade, Yuanyuan and him became deskmates. With kind intentions she would sometimes help him take the torn clothes back to her mother to mend, and frequently pulled him along to eat dinner at her house because she often heard his stomach calling out during class.

Seeing Yuanyuan’s facial expression shifting from sunny to cloudy, Jiang Xiaoqi quickly changed the topic: “What, if I said I felt good, would you also want to come join?”

Yuanyuan’s mouth smiled a little. Her heart still felt a little melancholy, so she didn’t say anything.

“I see peach blossoms2 over your whole face, so don’t come.” As Jiang Xiaoqi said this, he stretched out and pointed towards the northwest. “There are a few meditation rooms that way. They’re reserved for big benefactors to occasionally come and live for two days. Although I am an outsider now, based on our childhood friendship, if you have any unhappy matters in the future you can look for me. I’ll let you have a room to meditate in free of charge. How’s that, I’m loyal enough, right?”

Yuanyuan said amusedly: “I probably know a little now, how you are able to become a frivolous master at such a young age.”

Jiang Xiaoqi quickly put his index finger to his mouth, hissed, and said, “It’s okay for all things to be known in the heart, do not expose with words, haha.” After that, he asked Yuanyuan, “Your mother may be busy for a while, should I take you away?”

“Amitabha, it is better to be respectful rather than compliant.”

Yuanyuan remembered that when she was a child, she was often taken by her mother to worship Buddha in Chongfu Temple, praying for safety and good studies. But now that she had grown up, she didn’t worship Buddha much. She felt that to have faith in Buddhism was to give up something instead of asking for something. She told her way of thinking to Jiang Xiaoqi.

Jiang Xiaoqi praised her: “A little bit of wisdom.”

At this time, Yuanyuan’s phone rang. She picked it up and saw that it was Fu Beichen. She quickly answered.

“Hello.” Her voice was a little hoarse, but it wasn’t serious.

“Caught a cold?” Fu Beichen immediately heard that something was off.

“En…”

There was a pause on the phone, “What are the symptoms?”

“I have a bit of a fever, but I feel cold, and I have a runny nose…My nose has a bit of rhinitis.”

“Pay more attention to getting rest.”

“En.”

The two chatted briefly. She waited for the end of the call. Yuanyuan just wanted to go back. It seemed that he didn’t have anything special to say on the phone, as if he just called because he was concerned about her?

Then she heard Jiang Xiaoqi say: “Benefactor Cheng Yuanyuan, your smile is almost comparable to Maitreya’s.”

In truth, Yuanyuan was a little sad because of her grandmother’s departure. But for a while, Fu Beichen’s few words had diluted the listlessness in her heart.

功同良相: This plaque is meant to praise doctors for their excellent medical skills. Return.To have peach blossoms refers to a love affair. So Jiang Xiaoqi is telling Yuanyuan not to join him at the temple because she has a love life.