People were kneeling inside and outside the house, solemn and sorrowful, and their crying seemed suppressed.
Hua Zhi held her grandmother for a long while, patting her gently as if to coax her to sleep. Then she laid her grandmother down and placed her hands lightly on her belly. Her movements were always gentle, as if she was afraid of waking her up.
Standing quietly beside the bed, Hua Zhi looked at her grandmother's face and asked, "Have you prepared the funeral clothes?"
Madam Su, who was crying so hard that she almost fainted, choked up as she replied, "Prepare, prepare, old lady, when the old lady knew that she was not good, she was ready."
"Find it out and change grandma's clothes."
Nanny Su found the shroud, and Chunxiang cleverly asked another maid to bring in some water. Hua Zhi rolled up her sleeves to wash her hands first, and then went to unbutton her grandmother's clothes.
Nanny Su hurried forward and said, "Young lady, I am here..."
"It's my turn to do this."
Nanny Su's tears fell again. She nodded and stopped arguing. She just stood by and helped.
After cleaning herself and changing her clothes, Hua Zhi tidied up her grandmother's appearance and ordered without turning her head, "Burn paper and light the eternal lamp."
"yes."
Burning paper can also be called burning dead paper. Nanny Chen was about to go to the yard to burn it when she heard the eldest girl say, "Open the door, go to the gate and burn it. Tell housekeeper Xu to start mourning."
Nanny Chen couldn't hide her surprise. The Hua family's door hadn't been opened since they moved to the south of the city a few months ago, but now...
Then she thought that now the eldest daughter was in charge of the family, she only needed to obey orders, so she bowed and left in a hurry.
Hua Zhi took one last look at her grandmother and finally turned around, without a trace of sadness on her face.
Nanny Su suddenly remembered that until now, the eldest girl had never shed a tear. She arranged everything in an orderly manner, as if the person who had just passed away had nothing to do with her.
But how could she not be sad? After coming back from such a long distance, she was faced with such a situation. How could the girl who made the old lady leave with peace of mind not be sad
Nanny Su cried even harder out of sadness.
"Madam Su, you guys should follow me from now on."
Nanny Su looked up with tears in her eyes. The eldest girl just said...
"My courtyard is short of a few head maids."
Su Ma was naturally willing, but if they left, what would happen to the people in the old lady's room? How could she bear to see the old lady's family leave so soon after she died
As if she understood her concerns, Hua Zhi said, "I already have enough servants in my house, but there is always a place for them to stay. I will not treat unfairly anyone who is loyal to the Hua family."
Nanny Su felt relieved and bowed deeply with the other two maids in the room. The four of them had followed the old lady for decades. They had had some conflicts when they were young, but their feelings were real. It would be great if they could work together for the same master in the future.
To reassure them, Hua Zhi put on her cloak before going out. She felt a little cold.
"Eldest sister!" Hua Bolin, who was kneeling at the front, called out softly when he saw her coming out. Hua Zhi looked at him and said, "Grandma passed away."
Hua Bailin's eyes quickly filled with tears, but she stubbornly raised her head and straightened her back.
"You are the oldest male in the family, so you should be in charge."
Hua Bolin didn't know what he should do, but that didn't stop him from nodding. If he didn't know how, he would learn. If no one taught him, he would ask. He would always learn.
"Flower Xin."
Hua Xin, who was kneeling on the other side, didn't expect to be called, and responded in a hoarse voice.
"Take your brothers and sisters into the inner room to keep vigil for grandma, and keep an eye on the eternal lamp, don't let it go out."
Hua Xin subconsciously looked at her mother, and Qi nodded at her repeatedly.
Hua Xin agreed and led the two youngest children into the house, and the other young people followed.
The room was suddenly empty. Facing the new head of the Hua family, Wu was the first to react. "Zhi'er, just tell us what you want us to do. We will definitely cooperate with you."
The others also nodded.
"I am young and don't know the rules of funerals. You still need to take care of these things. You don't need to go through me to decide what to buy or how to do it. Just arrange it directly. I only have one request."
Hua Zhi looked at the four elders steadily, "Don't let people look down on the Hua family."
Wu agreed on behalf of Sishi, "We can save it, but it's not appropriate to hold a grand ceremony now..."
"No need to be so grand, just be sincere."
"Understood, we'll get it done."
Hua Zhi walked out of the house, not bothering to say a few nice words to reassure people, nor to comfort her mother whose eyes were swollen from crying. She had too many things to do.
"Where is Butler Xu?"
Before Yingchun could say anything, Butler Xu took over the conversation, "I'm here."
Xu Dongjin came in from outside the yard. He knew that the eldest girl would look for him, so he had been waiting outside.
Hua Zhi's legs were very weak, and she didn't want to show any courage. She simply turned around and went back into the house. Xu Dongjin hurriedly followed her.
Bao Xia quietly handed a cup of tea to the young lady, and Hua Zhi drank it in one breath. At this time, Xu Dongjin went to the inner room and bowed deeply to the old lady.
"It's time to arrange for the announcement of the death."
Xu Dongjin wiped his eyes and said, "Yes, I don't know which companies I should report to."
"Grandmother's family, the Hua family's side branch, Fourth Wife's family, Second Aunt, and Mr. Mu." Hua Zhi paused, and still omitted Mr. Lu. "Other families can be a little slower. See which ones are left and make a list for me as soon as possible."
"Yes." Xu Dongjin quickly raised his head and glanced at the eldest girl, "My eldest aunt..."
Everyone else pricked up their ears to listen to Hua Zhi's decision. Hua Jing could not escape the blame for the old lady's death, but Hua Jing was still the elder after all. Whatever Hua Zhi did was wrong, but if she swallowed this anger, it would be difficult to convince others.
Hua Zhi touched the round rim of the teacup and narrowed her eyes slightly, "How can I miss her? I will go and invite her myself."
"Zhi'er..." Zhu was extremely worried. She had suffered many losses at the hands of her elder sister-in-law and had always been afraid of her. When she heard that her daughter wanted to confront her, she became nervous.
"She is just a bully who can only bully those who care about her. I will teach her how to behave on behalf of my grandmother."
Hua Zhi, who originally had no intention of going there right away, suddenly couldn't bear it any longer and said, "Bring me some mourning clothes."
If you want to be pretty, you have to wear mourning clothes. This is absolutely true. Hua Zhi put on mourning clothes and tied a mourning cloth on her head. Her original nine-point beauty suddenly increased to twelve points.
Moreover, she had been running around all the way, and her complexion was not very good. The white outfit made her look a little weaker, which also reduced her momentum.
“Welcome spring and embrace summer.”
"Yes, ma'am."
"No need to hide it anymore. Take good care of the Hua family and let everyone see what you are capable of." Hua Zhi put on another pure white cloak. It was also white in color, but it did not make her look weak. Instead, it brought back all her declining momentum, and it was even stronger than before.
Yingchun and Baoxia looked at each other and responded with all their strength.
Hua Zhi's eyes were full of coldness. She would let Hua Jing know what she would lose without her grandmother!
PS: The word count of the previous chapter exceeded 2,600, and that plot must be completed. If I stop there for the sake of word count, the feeling will be lost. I still hope that the girls will add Kong Kong’s Weibo: Migu Author Kong Liu. All these nonsense will be put there in the future. During the three-day holiday, Kong Kong went to three cities to sweep graves and was exhausted. I will still update once today, and resume two updates tomorrow.