The Zheng family's servant took Shao Shuyi straight into town, and before long they had bought just about everything needed for the funeral.
After putting down a deposit, the shop rounded up two ox carts and delivered the coffin together with all the other goods right to the door.
By early evening, the group arrived at Li Fu's home.
The servant settled the account with the mingqi shop, then handed the remaining money to Shao Shuyi.
Shao Shuyi bowed in thanks and made a point of asking the servant's name. On learning it was Mao Shiba, he found it a little hard to get used to — what a slapdash way to name someone?
Then he roughly counted the money and found a little over three ding left.
The biggest expense was the coffin. It was actually a fairly ordinary thin one, which he'd had to haggle hard to get for a single ding.
The firewood, clay jars, incense, candles, paper money, and the like hadn't cost much; all told it came to very little, and even with the custom-made tombstone (wooden), the total came to less than one ding.
"Brother, I went and bought some wine and food just now, so the money's just about gone." Yu Yuan pointed to the neighbors who were helping and said, "We can't have them helping for nothing."
Shao Shuyi turned to look, a little moved.
To be fair, the boat households were not a "typical" Yuan dynasty social group. Apart from vegetable plots, they had little land, and made their living through transport, small trade, odd jobs, and fishing on the side — a fairly commercial lot. Yet even so, the plain notion of neighbors helping neighbors still made them set aside their own affairs and come to Li Fu's home of their own accord to lend a hand.
Li Fu had by now been helped to his bed; perhaps the shock had been too great, and he had sunk into a heavy, unconscious sleep.
The two children were held in the arms of a neighbor woman who had come running, soothing them softly.
When Shao Shuyi brought the ox carts to a stop at the gate, everyone couldn't help but look over.
"Brother Shao's back." Wang Huadu, who was setting up a shed, called out the moment he heard.
"Who's this Brother Shao?"
"A relative of Li Fu's?"
"Seems he's from East Second Ward. I saw him before at Thirty-Li Embankment — he was after the same work as me back then."
"Peeked at my youngest girl bathing when we were kids, the damned wretch..."
Wang Huadu, hearing them get more and more out of line, jumped down from a long bench. "What nonsense are you spouting? Brother Shao's come to help Li Fu out of the goodness of his heart. Run your mouths any more like that, and don't blame me if I stop being polite!"
With that, he gripped the hilt of a short blade at his waist — no telling where he'd gotten it — his brows bristling, and the menace of one who'd knocked around the rough world outside came off him in an instant.
The loose-tongued few were ordinary boat households who normally only dared chew over idle tattle. How would they dare truly go head-to-head with a fierce man like Wang Huadu? At the sight, they shut their mouths sheepishly and lowered their heads to busy themselves with their tasks — some moved firewood, some put up the mourning shed, some began rinsing the rice and vegetables they'd brought. In a moment, no one dared make another sound.
Shao Shuyi walked in, gesturing for Wang Huadu not to get worked up, then turned to everyone and clasped his hands. "Sorry to put you all to such trouble. Li Fu's met with this misfortune, and there's truly no one at home to handle the arrangements. For today's affair, we're counting entirely on you all."
With that, he counted out another ding of paper money and handed it to Yu Yuan. "Go buy some more wine and food. It hasn't been easy for anyone."
"Right." Yu Yuan answered and trotted out the door.
Seeing how considerate he was and that he was willing to put in both money and effort, what little talk there was vanished entirely. Everyone chimed in with "Think nothing of it" and "It's only right," and their hands moved a great deal more briskly.
In the countryside, when it came to getting a thing done, what mattered most was the warm, bustling spirit of it — with someone to take the lead and others to lend a hand, even the hardest matters could be worked out little by little.
Kong Tie came out from the inner room just then, drew Shao Shuyi aside, and whispered in his ear. "Li Fu woke once a while ago and asked about the funeral arrangements. I just said everything was taken care of. He said nothing more, and lay back down."
Shao Shuyi nodded.
Out in the courtyard, Wang Huadu had already had the coffin carried to the center of the mourning shed.
Shao Shuyi walked over and felt the thickness of the coffin wood once more, finally at ease. It wasn't especially thick, but it was smooth and even — far better than the many who, after death, had nothing but a reed mat or hemp cloth to wrap their bodies.
The sun had already set, and the darkness of night gradually enveloped the land.
All the while, neighbors kept coming by to visit or lend a hand. Everyone who came would glance at Shao Shuyi sitting in the corner, and no matter what they thought in their hearts, they always praised him aloud as "righteous and honorable."
There was no telling how long it went on. As the night deepened, the people gradually dispersed. After all, they were all humble folk living hand to mouth, running themselves ragged each day just to get by — the sort who could be nearly ruined simply by paying their taxes — and they couldn't afford to burn so much time here.
Shao Shuyi, Wang Huadu, Yu Yuan, and Kong Tie — the four of them stayed on to keep the night vigil.
One middle-aged woman, worried about the two children, also volunteered to stay and look after them.
Shao Shuyi told Wang Huadu and Yu Yuan to go rest in the next room first, while he and Kong Tie kept watch beside the mourning shed, adding firewood and keeping the oil lamp always lit.
"Was the money well spent?" Kong Tie added a stick of firewood, the firelight playing on his dark face. "Li Fu's already like this. Whether he can even pull through is hard to say, let alone pay you back. And as for that ship..."
"The ship can wait." Shao Shuyi cut him off, gazing at the coffin as he said softly, "I want to buy his ship, and Li Fu's agreed to sell it. What more is there to say? Besides, I truly can't bear to see such misery. Before, I had no ability and couldn't even feed myself. Now that I can lend a hand, what's wrong with helping?"
Of course, that was how he put it, but hearts are made of flesh, and people saw many things for themselves. Li Fu's ship wasn't going anywhere; he'd just consider it as having spent two or three extra ding on the purchase — only there was no need to say any of that out in the open.
"Mm, as long as you're clear about it in your heart." Kong Tie nodded.
The two then chatted on and off, mostly Kong Tie recounting things he'd seen and heard at sea, Shao Shuyi listening and occasionally putting in a word or two.
Around the third watch, a faint noise suddenly came from the inner room. Shao Shuyi hurried to his feet and went over, only to see Li Fu standing there holding the door frame, his face pale as paper, his body swaying as if a puff of wind could knock him down.
"Li Fu, why are you up?" Shao Shuyi went over and helped him down onto a low stool beside the mourning shed.
Li Fu looked at the coffin, his eyes vacant. It was a long while before he slowly spoke, his voice hoarse. "Thank you... thank you, Brother Shao."
He paused, then went on. "I know you want the ship, and there are others who want to buy it too. But my heart's turned cold, and I don't want to struggle anymore. This ship is twenty years old — it isn't worth much. Come back from a voyage, and even fixing it up costs several ding; leave it unrepaired, and it can't go to sea. Once the New Year has passed, the authorities will most likely seize my boat anyway, force me into the summer tribute-grain transport levy, and I'll have to pay out a good deal to make up the shortfall."
At this, his voice trembled a little. "I truly have no way out. No way out at all."
Shao Shuyi was silent a moment, then asked, "What do you plan to do from here on?"
Li Fu lifted his head blankly. "Send the two children to Qingyuan."
"And where will you go?" Shao Shuyi couldn't help asking.
"I..." Li Fu's whole body shuddered. "I've no face to go back to Qingyuan anymore."
Shao Shuyi sighed softly. "You — if you trust me, you can wait at home a while. When I come back from Suzhou, I'll give you twenty ding of paper money, and you can hand the ship over to me then."
Li Fu looked at him. "Brother Shao truly is a decent, honest man."
That was no idle remark.
Everyone knew Li Fu's circumstances. In this cruel world as it stood, there was no way his ship could be sold at a normal price. Some were even waiting for Li Fu to flee, so they could catch him on the road and swallow up the ship without paying a single coin.
Of course, that was the truly unscrupulous way. The slightly more scrupulous sort were waiting for Li Fu to offer up the ship of his own accord, then "grudgingly" accept it — at most tossing him a few ding so he wouldn't starve to death on the spot.
Someone like Shao Shuyi, who took the initiative to arrange the funeral, fronted the money in advance, and then was even willing to pay twenty ding for the ship, was truly rare — though for this rickety old boat, twenty ding was still a rock-bottom price.
But with his heart turned cold, Li Fu was in no state to think of anything more.
His wife, though not born to a wealthy and noble family, had truly never known any real hardship from childhood up. When she'd first married in, there had indeed been a year or so of good days, but ever since he was conscripted as a boat household, matters had taken a sharp turn for the worse. Not only was the family fortune quickly squandered away within a few years, but his wife, unable to bear the humiliation, had taken her own life in despair.
Li Fu, right then, was so full of guilt and remorse that it could not be dispelled.
What fault of his was there? He had only wanted to live quietly, keeping within his station. But this world gave him no chance at all, and had driven a man who once had some modest property, whom people addressed as "yuanswai," and who had felt his life under the great Yuan to be a happy one — step by step to utter ruin, his family broken and his wife gone.
Before, he hadn't understood why things had come to this. Now he vaguely did.
In him now, beyond the sorrow and remorse, there was also the faintest thread of a savagery he could not suppress no matter what — a longing to smash this whole world to pieces.
But he couldn't do it, for he still had two children — his and hers.
He had already failed her; he could not fail their children as well.
At this thought, Li Fu covered his face with both hands and wept in silence.
The firelight danced, stretching his shadow long across the ground.
After a long while, Li Fu asked in a faint, hollow voice, "Brother Shao, if you couldn't go on living one day, would you rise up in rebellion?"
The room fell silent for a moment.
Just as Li Fu thought he would hear no answer, Shao Shuyi's voice came. "I would."
Li Fu nodded. "Take the ship first, then. You can pay me afterward."
Chapter 48