My sister-in-law from Qingdao

The next afternoon.

My cousin's wife and I returned to Chenjiatun in Ju County.

Because they were afraid of upsetting the elderly couple, they went to my house first.

My parents had been waiting for a long time. When they saw how tired we both looked, my mother came up and hugged my cousin's wife.

"Niece-in-law, no matter what, don't be too sad. When someone is gone, they are gone. We who are alive must be strong."

My dad pulled me aside and asked, "Xiao Dong, your brother is so young, how come he..."

"Dad, you don't know this back home, but now many Southeast Asian countries are rampant with scams targeting our country. Myanmar, Thailand, and Cambodia are the most vicious. My brother was scammed and went there, and he can't come back."

As a result, when the Chinese police were cracking down on fraud and sent people to rescue them, my brother panicked and jumped off the building.

My dad's expression turned serious after hearing what I said, and he said after a long while, "What should we do? Your grandparents are getting old, how am I supposed to tell them?"

At this point, even my dad was at a loss.

"I'll ask my sister-in-law later to see if she should go and talk to her, or if you and I should go together."

My dad could only nod, and couldn't say anything more.

Taking advantage of this free time, I first called Sun Wenbin.

Because when we had dinner together last time, I not only got his phone number, but also his WeChat.

The call connected, and Sun Wenbin greeted the caller with pleasantries.

"Brother Chen Dong, what brings you to call me? How's work going?"

"Brother Sun, this is what happened: my brother Chen Fang is dead."

"What did you say? He's dead? Are you kidding me! This kid's as lively as a rabbit, how could he be dead?"

"Brother Sun, the fact is he's dead. I've already taken his ashes home. My brother left a will saying you still owe him 260,000 yuan. Now he needs to hold a funeral. Could you raise some money for my sister-in-law?"

Having come this far, I didn't hesitate at all and spoke frankly.

"What a joke! Chen Fang is a real bastard. Let him die if he wants, but why frame me? When did I ever borrow money from him?"

Sun Wenbin's tone immediately turned cold, and he turned hostile at once.

My heart skipped a beat.

"Brother Sun, you two were good friends when my brother was alive, always eating, drinking, and having fun together. His will clearly stated that he owed money, so why is he refusing to pay?"

When I heard him say that, my heart skipped a beat.

"Chen Dong, you little brother-in-law, what the hell are you spouting? When did I ever owe Chen Dong money? Do you have any evidence? Do you have an IOU? Do you have any transfer records? If you do, I'll pay him back. If you don't, then you're framing him!" This guy was yelling and cursing over there.

I was speechless for a moment, since the most urgent thing was to bury my cousin's ashes.

Moreover, my cousin is no longer here, and there's no IOU, so getting this money back won't be so easy.

But I am not weak.

"Hey Sun, don't spew nonsense. My brother left a will. You owe him, and that's it. If you don't pay, just wait and see!"

After I finished speaking, I immediately hung up the phone.

Then he called Liu Feng again.

"Hello, who is this?"

The call connected, and Chen Feng's indifferent voice came through.

I added someone on WeChat and gave them my phone number, but they might not add me back, so it's normal that they don't remember who I am.

"Brother Liu, I'm Chen Fang's underling, Chen Dong. Do you remember when we had dinner together last time?"

"Oh, Chen Dong, of course I remember you. What's up? Is there something you need?"

"My brother is dead. He was tricked into going to Myanmar and accidentally fell from a building to his death. He said you owe him 60,000 yuan. If you have the money, please transfer it to my sister-in-law."

My brother still needs this money for his burial.

After a few seconds of pause, the person on the other end said, "Young man, don't try to fool me. How could someone as shrewd as Chen Fang be tricked into going to Myanmar?"

"Brother, why would I lie to you? I'm back in our hometown right now. My brother's ashes need to be buried in the next couple of days, and we urgently need the money."

"Oh, really? How's your sister-in-law?"

Chen Feng asked in a somewhat anxious tone.

"My sister-in-law is not doing well. She hasn't eaten for two days and all she does is cry."

"Send me an address, and I'll bring a few brothers over to help. Don't worry, I'll bring the money too."

Hearing Liu Feng say that warmed my heart, and I quickly sent him an address.

I had just put my phone away when my cousin-in-law came over and pulled me aside.

Her eyes were red, and she looked at me blankly, saying, "Xiao Dong, why don't you, my uncle, and my aunt go to your grandparents' house together? I really don't have the courage to go alone."

"Alright then."

The four of us carried my cousin's ashes to my grandparents' house.

The old man was sitting on the bluestone platform at the door drinking tea, while the old woman was using a bamboo pole to knock down dates.

Seeing us come in, the old lady said cheerfully, "Oh dear, what perfect timing! I was just picking dates."

"Mom, stop hitting me, I have something to tell you."

As my cousin-in-law spoke, tears streamed down her face, and her voice became hoarse.

"What's wrong? Why the long face? I'm not dead yet, just say what you want to say."

Because she hadn't heard from her cousin, the aunt was in a particularly bad mood; the small argument from the last Mid-Autumn Festival hadn't been resolved yet.

"Mom, Chen Fang is dead. These are his ashes."

The cousin placed the urn containing the ashes from her arms onto the bluestone table where the old man drank tea.

The old man looked at the urn, his hand trembled, and the teapot and teacup fell to the ground with a crash.

The old woman, who was holding a bamboo pole, stood there blankly.

"What did you say?"

"Mom, Chen Fang is dead. He was involved in fraud in Myanmar and accidentally jumped out of the window and died when he was rescued. These are his ashes. Chen Dong and I went to Yunnan to bring them back."

My cousin's wife was crying uncontrollably, and I felt like she was about to collapse. If my mother hadn't been supporting her, she probably would have fallen to the ground long ago.

My uncle tried to stand up shakily, but as soon as he got up, he fell to the ground with his stool.

My dad rushed over and helped his older brother up.

"You're saying my son is dead? How could he be dead? He's not even thirty years old, and he doesn't even have a child yet."

The old woman dropped the bamboo pole in her hand with a thud and mechanically walked towards the urn containing ashes.

I rushed forward to help the old lady up, then brought over a small stool for her to sit on, and carefully picked up the urn and placed it in her arms.

"Auntie, these are my brother's ashes. Please take a look."

As I said this, I felt very sad, and tears streamed down my face without my noticing.

The entire courtyard was instantly enveloped in sorrow.

The old lady was sobbing, my cousin's tears were streaming down her face, and my mother was also sobbing.

My uncle was helped to sit on a small stool by my father, his face ashen.

The wind blew through the old jujube tree, and a few yellow leaves fell down with a rustling sound.

The sky was very blue, but the air was particularly cool.

The old lady held her cousin's urn and cried for a while.

Suddenly, he shoved the urn into my arms.

Despite her usual physical limitations, she somehow found the strength to stand up and walked toward her cousin-in-law with a cold look in her eyes.

"You wretched woman, you jinx! Ever since you stepped into my house, nothing good has happened in our home. Tell me, did you and some wicked man kill my son?"

"You Pan Jinlian, have you run into Ximen Qing? Give me back my son!"

The old woman's eyes were fierce. She shouted loudly and stretched out her withered hand to grab her sister-in-law's cheek.