A Petty Official Chapter 8

Yun Dalang’s death brought not only pain to Grace Zheng’s family, but also financial problems.

Ethan Yun didn't realize this at first, and was only concerned about whether Grace Zheng would be too sad. Until he saw Grace Zheng start to draw patterns and then embroider silk.

The embroidered fan was inexplicably exquisite, and it also looked as if it had been done day and night. Ethan Yun felt a pang in her heart, thinking something was not right.

One day, Sarah Hu came to chat with Grace Zheng and asked if anyone had been found to transport Daniel Yun's body back to Beijing.

Grace Zheng said sadly that Yun Dalang had drowned and his body was missing. Sarah Hu's face suddenly turned ugly, and she immediately comforted Grace Zheng, saying that she could go to Daxiangguo Temple to pray for Yun Dalang's soul.

Grace Zheng wiped her tears and said that this was exactly what she wanted to do.

Ethan Yun understood it all at once. The ancients attached great importance to posthumous affairs. Even if Yun Dalang's body was not transported back, it would still cost a lot of money to hold a proper funeral.

The family's daily expenses are not a big deal, but the cost of holding a funeral and hiring monks to perform Buddhist rituals is not very realistic.

The only way is to sell Grace Zheng's brocade.

Ethan Yun had no idea what Grace Zheng was hiding, nor did she have any way to dissuade her, so she could only watch Grace Zheng spend more than a month embroidering a lifelike hibiscus fan.

This cost Grace Zheng a lot of energy and made her lose a lot of weight. Ethan Yun didn't know how much the fan was sold for, but after Grace Zheng went to Xiuxiang, she bought them some meat when she came back.

Then they asked the enthusiastic neighbors to take care of the funeral rites, build a tomb for Yun Dalang, and all the family members wore mourning clothes. In addition, they also had to provide tea and food when inviting these neighbors.

It was at this time that Ethan Yun discovered that Yun Dalang actually had no other family members. The neighbors did not ask this question, and it is very likely that they had already inquired and knew why there were no other family members.

Ethan Yun suspected that his father was also an orphan. Even if his parents were both dead, he would not be without any relatives. People of this era had piles of relatives.

Grace Zheng had to take care of everything inside and outside, while Chloe Shuang took care of the two younger brothers.

However, although it was okay on ordinary days, Chloe Shuang herself was scared during the funeral. She had never seen Yun Dalang, but she had a vague concept of death. Seeing people coming and going in the family and her adoptive mother crying from time to time, of course she was scared.

Fortunately, Ethan Yun was not an ordinary child. Instead, she took care of Chloe Shuang and always took care of her and Xiaobao. Ethan Yun's calm attitude made Chloe Shuang calm down a lot, and she decided not to let her mother worry, and she should take good care of her brothers.

During this period, no one dared to disturb Grace Zheng. When Ethan Yun's trousers had a thread coming loose, he asked Chloe Shuang to help mend them.

Chloe Shuang had carefully mended half of it, and Ethan Yun picked it up to look at it. No matter how she looked at it, she felt that the stitches were too sparse and not very even.

"I just learned..." Chloe Shuang said.

There was only half of it left, so Ethan Yun decisively picked up the needle and thread and started mending it herself. It was just mending a pair of pants, so there was no need for complicated needlework. The seam was even neater than Chloe Shuang's.

Emma Yun thought to herself, am I just too talented, or is Chloe Shuang not destined to become rich overnight...

Chloe Shuang lowered her head in shame. Her brother had never touched a needle in a day, but he sewed better than her! Also, sometimes when she did something in the kitchen, it was Yan Ge'er who reminded her.

"Brother Yan, I will definitely practice hard QAQ."

"It's okay, learn slowly." Ethan Yun spoke in the tone of an elder.

...

As for Grace Zheng, she invited seven monks from the Daxiangguo Temple to perform Buddhist rituals. First, they called back the soul, and then, because Yun Dalang died young and his body could not return home, she chanted sutras for seven days.

Most of the people who came to pay their respects were neighbors and some of Yun Dalang's old friends. They all felt very sorry for the orphan and widowed mother.

Because he had a friendship with Monk Adrian, he invited him as well.

After Adrian arrived, he heard from others that Grace Zheng had received the news of her death on the day she returned from his place, and he immediately felt very complicated. At this time, the monk who was doing Buddhist rituals saw it and couldn't help but listen to the movements and came over to pay his respects, "Uncle Adrian."

Adrian sighed, stopped drinking his tea, replaced the leading monk, and chanted the sutras himself.

"How can this be..." Grace Zheng wiped her eyes.

Adrian insisted on chanting the sutras, and was not replaced by the big monk until the evening, when he had some food.

Adrian didn't know much about Grace Zheng's family situation. He only asked Grace Zheng briefly and knew that her husband was away doing business, but Grace Zheng didn't say that she hadn't heard from him for a while. So Adrian thought that Grace Zheng's burden on the family would increase after her husband's death, but in fact, Grace Zheng had been the head of the family for a long time.

Loving his wife and loving his dog, Adrian naturally reminded that if he had any difficulties, he could come to Daxiangguo Temple to find him.

Grace Zheng thanked him solemnly and asked Emma Yun to come back and salute Ran.

Ethan Yun has been trying his best to go along with Grace Zheng these days. Of course, there is nothing he would not agree to. The monk is so old, it won't be a loss for him to show his respect to him.

Later, when Ethan Yun thought about it again, she felt that Grace Zheng might have already made up her mind to ask Leran for help at that time.

...

After Yun Dalang's funeral, Grace Zheng felt like she was hollowed out, and she had no energy or spirit. She hadn't done any embroidery for a long time. But she probably made a lot of money from selling fans last time, so even without a job, her family was eating well.

Due to the limitations of the times, it is still wheat rice and bean rice, but the side dishes are of a much higher quality.

This shows that no matter where they are, top craftsmen must have a good life...

One day, Grace Zheng was cooking, Chloe Shuang was playing hopscotch in the yard, and Ethan Yun sat at the door and watched. There was a woven pergola on the front eaves of his house, which extended out for a while, and there were clean stone slabs underneath.

Ethan Yun sat under it, and Xiaobao crawled around beside it. On the surface, Chloe Shuang was taking care of the two of them, but in fact, Ethan Yun was watching over the two children.

Xiaobao was fine, but Chloe Shuang had been looking forward to going out since she went out recently. Although he lived at the back door of Kaifeng Mansion, Ethan Yun had to be vigilant. When Grace Zheng was not around, he would consciously come out to watch.

At this time, an old woman walked outside the fence and looked around the yard.

Chloe Shuang was jumping on the grid with his head down and didn't notice it, but Ethan Yun saw it at a glance. A few days ago, his family held a funeral and many neighbors came. So even though he didn't go out much, Ethan Yun knew the neighbors well. But he had never seen this old woman before.

The old woman glanced around the yard a few times and then met Ethan Yun's gaze. She was stunned for a moment when she saw his face, and then she showed an expression of surprise.

At this time Chloe Shuang also saw her, took a few steps back, and walked under the pergola, feeling a little shy.

The old woman smiled and asked, "Excuse me, does Madam Zheng live here?"

Chloe Shuang breathed a sigh of relief, "Wait a moment." She went to the kitchen to call Grace Zheng.

The old woman looked at Ethan Yun, then at Xiaobao, with a strange look in her eyes.

Emma Yun put her hands under Xiao Bao's armpits, lifted him up, turned around and sat on the doorstep together.

After a short while, Grace Zheng also came out, wiped the water stains on her hands on her apron, and looked out of the fence.

From Ethan Yun's angle, he couldn't see her expression, but he could see that her body was stiff.

When the old woman saw Grace Zheng, she also shouted excitedly: "Sixth Lady, it's really you!"

Grace Zheng then turned around in a panic and said to Chloe Shuang, "Take the brothers back to the house."

"Oh..." Chloe Shuang held Ethan Yun and Xiaobao's hands and walked into the house, but even she noticed that the atmosphere was wrong and she looked back every few steps.

Ethan Yun was pulled into the house. He immediately hushed Chloe Shuang, then quietly walked to the door and peeked.

Grace Zheng didn't let the old woman in. The two of them stood at the door and talked in a low voice.

The old woman took out a fan, and Ethan Yun recognized it immediately. The brocade fan was clearly the one that Grace Zheng had hurriedly made earlier.

As the old woman was talking to Grace Zheng, she became excited and her voice accidentally rose a little. Ethan Yun, who was very sharp-eyed and sharp-eared, heard her say, "Sixth Lady, you are still so young! Since that man has already...just agree to it. My husband and I will definitely forgive you for what happened."

"Mother-in-law, stop talking. I won't agree to it!" Grace Zheng interrupted her angrily. She looked around and saw that no neighbors noticed her, so she turned around angrily.

Seeing that she no longer paid attention to her, the old woman leaned against the fence and sighed, "Sixth Lady, think about it carefully. Grandma is going back first."