Chapter 579: – Burial
The next day, Lin Jin was woken up by her mom at five in the morning.
Last night, she and Lin Chen slept in the same room, so they ended up chatting until midnight. It was a bit unbearable for her to get up at five now.
Sleepily getting herself out of bed, Lin Jin looked over at her mom, who was now waking Lin Chen up. She helplessly yawned, then got up and wobbled over to the bathroom.
Lin Jin didn’t have any of her toiletries here at her grandparents’ house, so she couldn’t even wash her face or brush her teeth. She just casually splashed some water on her face and rubbed it with her hands, which could somewhat be considered as washing her face.
“Go to the ancestral hall.” Her mom walked out of the bedroom, followed by Lin Chen and his messy hair.
Lin Chen also looked like he hadn’t slept well, yawning non stop.
“Mom, is there a towel I can use to wash my face? So sleepy.” Lin Chen stumbled into the bathroom, looked around, but couldn’t find a new towel. He had no choice and could only helplessly watch his face like how Lin Jin did.
But there was nothing Lin Chen could do about his hair. Ever since he started university, he had slowly grown out his previously short hair. The issue was that he was never obedient when he slept, so his hair would be a total mess every morning.
“There’s no way to wash your hair here, so you'll probably have to deal with it all day.”
Lin Jin was gloating as she looked at Lin Chen’s messy hair.
“If I had known, I would’ve kept my hair short.” Lin Chen let out a sigh. He simply used a comb and somewhat neatened his hair, then followed behind Lin Jin and their mom to the ancestral hall.
The hall was about two kilometers away from their grandparents’ house. On the way there, Lin Jin also saw many of the relatives who had gathered around on the first floor yesterday. Lin Jin didn’t know many of these people and she wasn’t sure how to address them.
Her mom wasn’t very familiar with these relatives, but she could still chat a few words with them.
After walking for half an hour, they finally arrived at the ancestral hall. The place was already set with tables and chairs, and breakfast and dishes were placed all around the hall. Lin Jin and Lin Chen followed their mom to find a table and sat down. Their mom then went to get them some food.
There weren’t many people here. Even though all the tables and chairs were set up, only about a third of the seats were actually occupied.
Their mom came back with some fried dough sticks and bowls of eight treasure porridge. She sat down next to Lin Jin and yawned, not looking very energetic.
Since it was just the three of them at their table, Lin Jin didn’t feel too restrained. You have to know, all those relatives were looking at her strangely.
A little while later, their cousin showed up.
He had apparently been on night watch last night and the dark circles under his eyes were very prominent. He sat down next to Lin Jin and greeted their mom: “Hello aunt.”
“Mm, have you had breakfast?”
“Not yet.”
“I’ll go get some for you.”
Their cousin didn’t look as steady as he used to. He was dressed in all black and had an exhausted expression as he ate breakfast.
Once breakfast was over, it was time for the burial.
Since their great grandma had been the eldest person in the area, her funeral could be considered as quite grand.
Anyone within a one kilometer radius who had any connection to her had come. Hundreds of people gathered outside the ancestral house, bowing to her great grandma’s urn one by one before the ceremony began, taking about an hour. By seven in the morning, the funeral procession officially started.
The procession stretched into a long line. Although it was a funeral, not many people in the procession were crying. Even her grandpa only showed a slightly sad expression.
After all, her great grandma was over 90 years old when she passed away, so it was considered to be a pleasant passing.
After following in the procession for half an hour, they finally reached the mountain. After another ten minutes of walking up the rugged mountain road, they arrived at some place halfway up. The already prepared grave appeared in Lin Jin’s sight.
Ever since they started going up the mountain, the number of people in the procession had dropped down to just a few dozen. Only her great grandma’s direct relatives followed, most of those distant in law relatives returned home.
Lin Jin’s expression didn’t look too good. Her face was pale as she squatted under a bare tree.
She hadn’t slept well the night before. Now that she had to walk and climb up the mountain, and maybe because there was something wrong with the breakfast, her stomach now hurt like crazy.
“What’s wrong?” Lin Chen noticed something was off and squatted down beside her, asking with concern “Stomachache?”
“Yeah. It’s uncomfortable.”
Lin Jin pouted, her expression looking miserable as she clutched her stomach.
“What’s wrong with Lin Jin?” Their mom also came over, frowning as she looked at her. “Do you need to go to the hospital?”
“No need, right?.” Lin Jin let out a sigh. “It should be fine in a bit.”
The burial process was quite tedious. Even though the grave was already prepared, their grandpa still had a group of people dig up their great grandpa’s grave so that the couple could be buried together.
A while later, the burial was finally over. Their grandpa’s face was full of sadness, but the younger generation didn’t seem to care too much. After all, even though they would occasionally visit this great grandma, they weren’t that emotionally attached.
When it was finished, Lin Jin tried to stand up, but her legs suddenly went weak and she almost fell to the ground.
“Sister!” Lin Chen quickly caught Lin Jin. Lin Jin stood up with much difficulty after placing her hand on a tree trunk for support.
Lin Jin felt a bit irritated. She randomly started having a stomachache, and it even hurt so much her legs went weak.
Due to the rugged mountain road and the fact that it had rained recently, Lin Jin had slipped several times coming up the mountain. Going down was even more difficult and she would have fallen if she wasn’t careful. Luckily, Lin Chen was there to catch her, preventing her from accidentally rolling down the mountain.
Thankfully, by the time she got back to their grandparents’ house, her stomachache had inexplicably stopped.
Since she had classes the next day, Lin Jin bid goodbye to her mom and went to the high speed railway station in Fuzhou with Lin Chen.
Lin Chen school was in Fuzhou. So after they arrived at the railway station, he took the subway and left, while Lin Jin still had to wait in the station’s waiting lobby for over an hour.
Lin Jin really hated taking the high speed train, especially when she had a lot of luggage.
It was fine this time since she didn’t have anything with her, but the waiting time was a bit too long for her to accept.
But if she came later, she might be too late and miss the train for various reasons.
Sitting idly in the waiting area, she watched as people came and went around her. Lowering her head, she gently rubbed her still slightly aching stomach with her hands while she went on her phone.
Lin Jin never liked being in crowded places, but there was nothing she could do now. She just closed her eyes, held her stomach, and waited for the train to arrive.