Infinite Puzzle City

Chapter 1 Eat Melon
Amid the heavy sound of funeral music, Xiao Ran slowly opened his eyes.

He stared quietly at the dark coffin lid in front of him, silently listening to the noisy noise coming from outside, with no expression on his face.

"When guests arrive, bow once, twice, and three times."

He could clearly hear the solemn announcement by the master of ceremonies and the sad cries of the deceased's family members.

"The ceremony is over! The family members will give their thanks."

"Bang bang..."

At this moment, there was a sudden sound from above, and then one end of the coffin cover was pushed open. A shiny head poked in and asked anxiously in a low voice, "Xiao Ran, is there a problem with the coffin? People are still waiting to get in."

Xiao Ran propped up his upper body and sat up from the coffin. He took out a notebook from his arms and scribbled on it [The pillow is too high and hard, the sound insulation is not very good, it’s a bit noisy and stuffy].

After thinking for a while, he crossed out the word "boring" and tore the paper to give it to the bald man: "Increase the sound insulation and change the pillow."

After saying that, he rubbed his neck.

"Is this necessary?" The bald man took the torn paper with a strange expression.

Xiao Ran explained: "After all, you will be lying in it for a long time, and it will be painful if the pillow is not comfortable."

The bald man seemed to be thinking about something. After a moment, he seemed to remember something and suddenly asked, "I heard that you work part-time in a funeral home in the city. How is the salary there? I have a cousin who just graduated from college..."

Xiao Ran sighed: "It's just a part-time job. Most of the time, there's nothing to do? They don't even hire contract workers now."

"Well, forget it. If you ask me, instead of working hard to manage the funeral store left by your grandfather and taking a part-time job in the funeral home, you might as well change your career and open a milk tea franchise store! If you don't have time, you can let my cousin help you manage it..." The bald man shook his head regretfully, took the note written by Xiao Ran and left mutteringly.

Xiao Ran smiled, stretched, then climbed out of the coffin, lifted the curtain, walked from the inner room to the front hall of the mourning hall, found a chair by the side and sat down.

There were many distant relatives and neighbors in the front hall. Although the gossipy people on both sides looked unfamiliar, they also felt somewhat familiar. After all, this was where he grew up as a child. When he was about to go to middle school, his grandfather took him to settle in Los Angeles.

The reason he came back this time was because his cousin died in an accident and his face was disfigured. He wanted to die in dignity, so he had to ask someone to contact him and ask me to help repair his cousin's body.

The relative who rushed over didn't recognize him yet, but seeing how busy Xiao Ran was, he walked up to him enthusiastically and handed him a cigarette.

"Uncle, I don't smoke."

Xiao Ran glanced at the middle-aged man who handed him the cigarette. Although he looked much older than he remembered, he still recognized him at a glance.

Being called "Fourth Uncle" by Xiao Ran, the other party also looked confused.

"I'm Xiao Ran." Xiao Ran reminded with a smile.

Fourth Uncle repeated Xiao Ran's name several times, then his eyes widened, as if he had seen a ghost. He curled his lips at Xiao Ran, turned around and walked away, with an expression that made him want to grab the shovel next to him and hit him with it.

When the other relatives heard that it was Xiao Ran who came back to help, their faces were immediately filled with alienation. Even a few children who wanted to approach were hurriedly called away by their parents.

Some younger generations don’t know what’s going on.

Seeing that the elders in the family were avoiding Xiao Ran as if he were the plague god, he was confused and thought that this was a relative who had just been released from prison, so he asked casually.

Just this one question gave all the aunts and uncles a topic to talk about. They gathered around and started pointing and talking at Xiao Ran.

"Stay away from him. This child has been abnormal since he was young."

"He almost set the granary on fire, and he still said the people inside were cold. He is simply insane."

"That year, right after Fourth Grandma was buried, this bastard was thrown out in the middle of the night. He took a knife and cut a hole in her stomach, and even reached out to dig it out. Fortunately, someone on the side of the road saw it, and hurried to inform the Fourth Brother. Because of this matter, the Fourth Brother almost fought with the Sixth Master to death."

"It's what he deserves. Their Sixth Branch has been doing this kind of dirty business since the old grandfather's generation. Otherwise, how come the moment this child was born, his parents disappeared without a trace, and his body was nowhere to be found.

Soon, all the bad things about Xiao Ran from childhood to adulthood were quickly spread by the most mysterious intelligence group in the village, so that the younger generations in the family would stay away from this guy.

Xiao Ran also felt the voices and gazes of those who were talking behind him, but he didn't care about it. They only talked about the bad things he had done, but why didn't they talk about the two lumps of silver he had taken out of Fourth Grandma's belly.

After all, I was taken out of the village by my grandfather when I was young and he hasn't been back for so many years. In fact, my feelings for him have long been distant.

The reason I was able to come back was entirely to give face to this cousin.

He looked at the black-and-white photo placed on the altar in the mourning hall. It was a middle-aged man with an ordinary appearance, a friendly smile, and a slightly plump face.

The cousin in my memory was named Xiao Xingbang. He was more than ten years older than me. He dropped out of junior high school halfway through and sold fruits on a tricycle. Later, he found that weaving hats was profitable, so he started weaving hats at home. Gradually, he led the villagers to do it together. Finally, with the support of the village, he started a textile factory and became one of the few wealthy families in the village.

At that time, every time he met me, this cousin would smile and give me candy. When he heard that my parents had passed away, he rushed back from another place and gave me a large sum of money.

But I didn't expect that when we met again more than ten years later, we were already separated by the Yin and Yang.

At the main seat in the mourning hall, a young woman with a sad look on her face, draped in white mourning clothes, stood blankly by with her arms around a girl who was about five or six years old. A few strands of hair hung down her neck along the mourning hat, adding a bit of messy beauty.

This cousin's wife's name is Zhang Yu. She is five or six years younger than my cousin. I heard that her parents died early and she met my cousin when she was left alone. After a few interactions, the two of them got together.

At this time, my cousin's wife's face was pale and bloodless, and her eyes were red and swollen. It was obvious that she had cried countless times.

However, Xiao Ran noticed that the uncles and aunts next to them, although they appeared to be mourning, their eyes were always intentionally or unintentionally glancing at Zhang Yu's plumpness. It was obvious that they were all LSPs.

Xiao Ran was sighing when she saw several respected elders from the village come in one after another. They all bowed to the photo, and then one of them walked to Zhang Yu, sighed, and said a few words of comfort before asking gently, "Girl, what are your plans for the future with your child? If you need help, just tell your uncle."

"Thank you for your concern, uncle."

Facing the condolences from her elders, Zhang Yu nodded with a stiff expression. Her throat was hoarse at the moment and her voice was cracking.

Xiao Ran was watching and playing with his phone when the bald man suddenly sat down next to him and handed him a cigarette with a smile, "It's almost done. The body will be put into the coffin soon. Prepare for the funeral at 8 o'clock."

Xiao Ran waved his hand to decline, took out his phone to check the time, frowned and asked, "Have you prepared all the incense, candles and paper money? This place is so chaotic, don't miss anything later."

"Hey, they're not in a hurry, why are you worrying? Look, the commotion over there isn't over yet!"

The bald man looked at Zhang Yu, who was gradually gathered by a group of relatives, with a sly look on his face, and sneered: "I heard that my sister-in-law's family doesn't have many relatives anymore..."

As he said this, he put the cigarette into his mouth, lit it, took a puff, and blew out a smoke ring. "You know, there are always troubles around a widow, not to mention a widow who is alone and weak."

Before he could finish his words, Zhang Yu suddenly screamed excitedly from the other side: "No, I don't want to!"

The originally spacious and noisy mourning hall suddenly became quiet.

Everyone looked in the direction of the dispute.

Zhang Yu's pretty face had turned pale at this moment, and her peach blossom eyes widened as she glared at the old man in front of her.

But the eldest uncle of the Xiao family was not angry. He still spoke calmly and earnestly, "Xingbang only has such a poor child left. He has to go to school after the New Year and cannot be left without someone to take care of him. As a woman, you should just focus on taking care of the child at home."

At this time, a woman who was either an aunt or a sister-in-law came forward, took Zhang Yu's arm and advised: "Xiao Yu, in fact, the Xiao family has such a big factory, how can we women manage it? Why not let Jiahui help you, and their men..."

"I said I don't want to, and I don't want to!"

There was anger in Zhang Yu's bloodshot eyes. She tried hard to suppress her emotions. Her voice was hoarse and trembling, but she seemed extremely determined.

"How can you be so ungrateful, kid? We are all doing this for your own good and for your child's good!"

Uncle Xiao finally frowned, the kind look on his face faded away, and his tone became stern:

"We watched Jiahui grow up, and he is well-known for his honesty and diligence. Letting him help you run the factory will not only allow you to take care of the child with peace of mind, but will also help you share some of the burdens if there are any major or minor issues at home. The village is doing this for your own good..."

"Sister-in-law, there are many receptions and social events in the factory every day, and it is indeed not convenient for you to show up. Don't worry, leave the factory's affairs to me, and I promise to take care of it properly for you!"

The person who answered the phone was a man in his late twenties. Xiao Ran learned from the bald man's introduction that he was the only son of the third branch of the Xiao family, named Xiao Jiahui. Although he spoke politely on the surface, many people with a discerning eye could see the greed and urgency in his eyes.

"What a mess!" the bald man whispered sarcastically.

Xiao Ran smiled without comment.

In terms of seniority, some of them were respected leaders of the family, some were Zhang Yu's sisters-in-law, and some were Zhang Yu's brothers-in-law. It was too much to fight back in public, but... Xiao Ran felt that these people were really greedy. They hadn't even sent the people away yet, but they were already thinking about their family business. If she put herself in their shoes, her tone would probably be even more aggressive than hers.

Just as he was thinking, he heard Zhang Yu's resolute voice resounding throughout the mourning hall, "Thank you for your concern, but we don't need others to make decisions for us in our family affairs."

Uncle Xiao's expression became uglier and uglier, and his voice became louder: "No need? What if you ruin the factory? Although it's your factory, who doesn't have some shares?"

"Yes, yes, when your family first set up the factory, we all contributed money!" Another aunt also spoke up.

Zhang Yu gritted his teeth and said excitedly: "I borrowed money from the village back then, and I have already paid you back with interest over the years!"

After saying that, Zhang Yu looked at the village director who was hiding behind the crowd and said, "Director, we have never reduced the dividends we have given to the village over the years."

Upon hearing this, the village director pursed his lips and whispered, "This...but the land for the factory still belongs to the village committee."

"No matter what, the factory is also our village's property! What if you, a foreign daughter-in-law, remarry in the future and use our money to support another family's gigolo?"

As the quarrel intensified, the noise of discussion in the mourning hall gradually became louder.

"you……"

Seeing the "public outcry", Zhang Yu's face turned paler and paler, and the little girl in her arms, who was already in tears, couldn't help but tremble.

As more and more people came forward, my cousin's face became paler and paler.

Suddenly, there was a loud "bang!" sound of glass breaking, and everyone was stunned.

Looking back, I saw Xiao Ran standing in front of the altar with an innocent look on his face. He pointed at the broken wine bottle and said, "Don't look at me. This bottle fell to the ground by itself. Maybe my brother is angry."

After hearing Xiao Ran's words, the expressions on everyone's faces became somewhat unnatural.

"Stop playing tricks. I think it was you who broke the wine bottle." Xiao Jiahui said with some disbelief.

As soon as he finished speaking, the black and white photo on the table shook, and then fell on the table with a "pop" sound.

Now everyone was stunned. This time everyone was looking at Zhenzhen, while Xiao Ran just stood aside without moving.

The air in the mourning hall seemed to freeze, and an inexplicable pressure enveloped everyone's heart. The relatives who were originally planning to continue persuading the cousin's wife stopped walking and looked at the debris on the ground in confusion.

"My brother showed up?"

Xiao Ran screamed exaggeratedly, immediately stepped back a few steps, walked to the side of his cousin's wife and said:
"Sister-in-law, my brother has appeared in spirit. Why don't you ask him whether he has made a will or asked someone to notarize it?"

After Xiao Ran's reminder, my cousin's wife finally came to her senses. She seemed to remember something. She stood up suddenly and rushed into her bedroom. Soon, she came out of the bedroom with red eyes and slammed a will on the table.

It turned out to be a will, with not only my cousin's signature, but also the signature and fingerprint of the village notary.

Everyone wanted to gather around to take a look, but Xiao Ran quickly grabbed the will and read it aloud.

The content of the will was very simple. My cousin's house belonged to the village, but the factory belonged to my cousin's wife alone. Apart from that, the savings and car all belonged to my cousin's wife.

Xiao Ran finished reading the will, glanced at the village director beside him, and said with a smile: "Director, here are your signature and handprints, you won't deny them, right?"

"Do you have any say in this?"

The uncle glared at Xiao Ran fiercely, but Xiao Ran pretended not to see anything and stared at the village director, saying coldly, "Director, be a man of conscience, or be careful that my brother will knock on your door in the middle of the night!"

The director's mouth twitched when he heard this: "You are superstitious, I..." Halfway through his words, the director glanced at the broken wine bottle under the table, swallowed his saliva, and nodded weakly like a deflated ball: "Yes, there is this will."

Seeing that the village director had admitted it, the relatives who had been making a fuss about it immediately became silent. It was not known whether it was because of the will or because they were afraid of the cousin who had appeared in spirit nearby.

But when the uncle saw that everyone was silent, he felt unwilling to give up and walked forward to grab the will. "I don't believe it. Show it to me."

Xiao Ran dodged his uncle's hand, put his face close to his uncle's ear with a smile and whispered a few words.

Suddenly, the uncle's face turned pale and blue, and he stared at Xiao Ran for a long time, and finally said nothing.

"This... uncle, he..."

The most frantic one was naturally Xiao Jiahui, who stepped forward and pointed at Xiao Ran and said something, but his uncle turned around and kicked him hard: "Shut up."

The atmosphere in the mourning hall had grown cold.

The village director coughed and broke the silence: "In this case, let's deal with the aftermath first. We can discuss other matters later."

Although everyone was reluctant, no one wanted to be involved again, so they stopped getting involved.

"Go out of the mountains, filial sons wave banners, strangers stay away!"

At eight o'clock, with a shout from the bald man standing at the door of the mourning hall, the coffin was carried out from the inner room by four coffin bearers, and a group of people set out towards the ancestral tomb on the back mountain of the village.

Xiao Ran followed the team silently. The following content had little to do with him, so he could just leave it all to the bald man.

Baldy is a professional funeral host in nearby villages and towns. His family has been doing this for three generations.

Xiao Ran came back just because his cousin had a car accident and was worried that the people at the funeral home might not have good skills, so someone in the family thought of asking him to come back to help repair the remains.

I came back to help because my cousin was very nice to my family when he was a child, so I am not afraid of offending these relatives in the village.

After the coffin was buried, everyone paid respects to the grave and then left. Soon, only the grieving mother and daughter were left in front of the huge grave, wiping the tombstone and cleaning the area around the grave.

"Let's go, it's time to eat."

The bald man walked up to Xiao Ran with a sly expression, "What did you say to your uncle just now that made him look so funny, like there was a big duck egg in his mouth, and his tongue was curled up."

"It won't do you any good to know..."

Xiao Ran smiled mysteriously: "I won't eat at the banquet. While it's still early, I'm going to go back to the old house and go back early."

"Well, I was thinking of having a few drinks with you, but I'll do it next time."

The bald man was helpless with him, so he could only gossip a few more times, such as "My niece is pretty, if you are interested, I can help arrange a blind date for her", and then he walked to the grave, bowed and left.

Xiao Ran followed the bald man and bowed and presented flowers.

"Xiao Ran, thank you so much for today. Xiao Xiao, you should thank your uncle too!"

Zhang Yu bowed to Xiaochen with red eyes, and the little girl followed suit, saying thank you, uncle.

Zhang Yu knew that if Xiao Ran hadn't suddenly stepped in, she might not be able to stand the pressure today and would have given up the management rights of the factory. As long as she gave in, the gap would only get bigger and bigger, and in the end, she and her daughter would be eaten up without a trace left.

Xiao Ran smiled and shook his head: "No need to thank me, my cousin is a very good person, he took good care of me back then, we even talked on the phone before the accident, he mentioned you at that time, saying that you are very virtuous at home, but things in the factory are not suitable for you to manage, if he is gone, you can sell the factory for a large sum of money, and move to another place to raise the child."

After saying that, he squatted down, his eyes were level with the child, and he smiled softly, "My little beauty, your father wants you to pick some wild chrysanthemums every year and put them on the tombstone for him to enjoy."

"Really? Then I'll pick it now!"

The little girl nodded seriously and looked around for flowers.

After the little girl walked away, Xiao Ran continued to explain: "My cousin also said that Xiao Jiahui was actually the illegitimate child of my uncle and my second aunt, not my second uncle's. If he dares to cause trouble for you in the future, just expose this matter. As long as they calculate the time of Xiao Jiahui's birth, the old ladies in the village will naturally see the trick. Then their family will be in chaos..."

"Sister-in-law, I'll leave then. Take care of yourself."

After saying that, Xiao Ran stood up and said goodbye to his sister-in-law.
When he reached the entrance of the cemetery, Xiao Ran suddenly felt an inexplicable feeling in his heart, so he looked back suddenly and saw from afar his cousin's wife still standing in front of the tombstone with the child, waving goodbye to him.

Next to them, a middle-aged man with an ordinary face but a friendly smile and a slightly fat face was also waving at him...

　【Hello everyone, I am the author, I have traveled back from the 100 million-word book, let me tell you, the setting of this book is very large, it is a slow start, I have been writing more and more sober, the setting is getting more and more perfect, but I do not deny that this book may be a niche text, please forgive me for the poor writing, but I will keep working hard, about the setting... at the end of the free chapter, there is a setting outline for your reference. 】

　　
　
(End of this chapter)