After finishing the notice, Xu Qing pondered for a moment and then picked up his pen again to write the concluding remarks.
"I wish that all beings under heaven receive comfort in passing peacefully; and that the souls in the nine springs enjoy the tranquility of a proper burial.
—Xu Family Hall Master, on an auspicious day in midsummer of the Year of Jiachen."
To prevent misunderstanding, Xu Qing also wrote a brief colloquial advertisement stating that the funeral shop provides pre-purchased packages for solitary elderly or those left behind to pass peacefully, including regular visitations, and delivering rice and oil as thoughtful care during festivals.
The notice was printed in nine copies, symbolizing peace in the nine springs.
Holding the nine notices, Xu Qing posted them at the Funeral Shop, Coffin Shop, Shroud Shop, and Paper Mache Shop, as well as the bulletin boards at various city gates in Linjiang County.
At night, a young girl from the Wang Family kept vigil at the shop. During her watch, a big man and a man in yellow entered the inner room, followed by a delicate young lady and an old man who also stepped into the room.
She soon heard delicate conversations coming from within the room.
After everyone left, Xu Qing, having concluded the hall meeting, came to the young Wang girl.
"Miss Wang, it's time. I have a cemetery plot in the city west, the feng shui there is decent, not far from here. The elderly lady will be buried there, making it convenient for you to visit in the future."
Upon hearing this, the young Wang girl felt a sorrowful ache, but she mustered her spirit to say, "Thank you for your help, sir. I am indebted to you, though I cannot repay you at the moment..."
Xu Qing waved his hand to interrupt, "These are my hall's business dealings; repaying is not necessary. Let's first attend to the elderly lady's affairs and deal with other matters later."
Wang Yue'e nodded; the little girl at ten years old desperately needed support. Xu Qing was like a sheltering mountain, willing to listen to whatever he said.
After all, the gentleman has helped the Wang Family more than once.
With the Descendant Nail nailed to the coffin, and the strip tied, little Yue'e understood nothing, so Xu Qing assumed the role of a guardian to instruct her on sweeping the coffin, lifting it, and bidding farewell to the spirit.
Sweeping the coffin involves using a broom to clear dust from the coffin.
Lifting the coffin does not mean raising the coffin lid; rather, it involves placing a copper coin under one corner of the coffin.
Bidding farewell to the spirit is when the living salute the deceased, making a final goodbye.
When the coffin departed from the hall, after burning paper money and breaking the mourning basin, the little girl took the paper streamer, wiped her tears, and followed Xu Qing all the way to the procession.
Outside the shop, Sun Erzhuang, waiting for a long time, drove the hearse—a cart pulled by a large horse with a white flower on its chest and a white cloth strip tied to its head.
Guan Dazhuang extended his arm like a qilin, scooped his hand into the basket full of paper money, and scattered it lavishly into the air.
Xuan Yu ran to the door, sat by the threshold, and watched the 'paper flowers' fluttering on the street.
For some reason, it found this scene quite romantic.
Remember back when an official's daughter got married, there were a pair of children, a boy and a girl, who took baskets full of petals and scattered them into the sky...
But Xuan Yu thought the hand-cut paper money and paper flowers from the Xu Immortal Family were much prettier than those harvested petals.
"Such beautiful paper money and paper flowers, why are they only used during funerals, and not during weddings?"
Xuan Yu looked up at the swirling paper money, wondering where its thoughts wandered off to.
...
On a barren slope twenty miles west of the city, Xu Qing marked out three new grave circles, one for Wang Yue'e's grandmother, and the other two for her parents.
These days, Wanshou County is vastly changed, and letting a little girl live alone might not be so stable.
Suffice it to say, Xu Qing asked the girl's opinion.
"Yue'e, your brother is absent, and now you must make decisions for your family. Since you plan to stay here, it would be best to move your parents' coffins here too, saving you the trouble of traveling back to pay respects in the future."
Yue'e nodded, "I'll listen to sir."
Xu Qing looked at the inexperienced girl before him, feeling a heavy burden in his heart.
How did it turn out to be both father and mother?
If he knew it'd end up like this, he would have sternly warned the Wang boy long ago. Which man leaves his family behind for his own ambitions?
In Xu Qing's mind, a man who doesn't care for his family isn't really a man.
Even if he only had a cat, he often thought about going home; and Wang Liang, quick to leave behind his sister and grandmother, what's the outcome?
Left a limping old man behind, vanished without a trace.
Xu Qing felt a headache—this rebellious Prince Zhu, and the Wang boy, not one of them is worry-free.
After paying respects to the elderly lady, the Sun Brothers rode their cart back to Guanmen Village, while Xu Qing took the Wang girl to Linjiang County.
Arriving at Underground Street, watching the little girl meekly follow him, Xu Qing spoke, "Miss Zhang from the Shroud Shop is gentle, if you agree, I'll talk to her about you temporarily staying at the Shroud Shop."
Seeing Wang Yue'e nervously clutching her clothes and not speaking, Xu Qing patiently continued, "The Funeral Shop is small, no room left. Besides, you as a young lady staying with me would be inconvenient..."
Ultimately, the Wang girl chose to listen to Xu Qing and temporarily stay with Zhang Wan, working together at the Shroud Shop.
Zhang Wan is the county lord's daughter, well-versed in poetry and needlework, and the Wang girl could learn many things from her.
On the contrary, if she stayed with Xu Qing, she'd soon learn wrongly.
An ordinary young girl, constantly dealing with corpses, standing at the door shouting the Funeral Shop's promotional slogans—it's dreadful even to imagine.
Life flows like water; after Xu Qing and the Galloping Immortal Disciple from his hall held an internal meeting, they finalized the post-funeral matters including cemetery renovations, tombstone repairs, and focusing on the solitary elderly who purchased membership Iron Certificates and pre-purchased funeral services, needing attention from the Huang Immortal of Transmission Hall.
On this day, Xu Qing received an elderly man over seventy years old.
The old man was a Night Watchman, spent his life hitting the time signals, replaced due to age a few years ago, and retired.
This elderly gentleman married once when young, but the couple didn't last long before the wife ran off with someone.
The crucial part was, when she ran, she took a fair amount of silver with her, even pawned valuable items from the house.
Later, the government caught the adulterous couple, but couldn't recover the money.
Since then, the old man never married again, with no relatives to care for him. Now hearing Xu Qing arranged such end-of-life matters, he immediately signed up for membership in the shop, collecting his Iron Certificate.
"Young man, at this point, I have no expectations except you. Just don't tuck away enough silver and vanish, that would be too harmful for your karma..."
Xu Qing chuckled, "That can't happen. If you don't believe me, ask around about the reputation of my shop. The plot of land, with excellent feng shui, is in the city west cemetery, registered and cataloged in the government office. I may disappear, but the shop and land can't vanish..."
"Rest assured! By the way, regarding the city west cemetery, I feel it's highly necessary to introduce it to you..."
The cemetery in the city west leans against a small hill, Xu Qing named the hill 'Wujiu'.
Symbolizing no calamity, no fault—a name inclined toward auspiciousness overall.
"Take your time, mind the steps."
Supporting the elderly all the way to the shop door, Xu Qing's attitude was impeccable.
These are all future potential customers, living bodies to be well cared for!
After seeing off the old man, the widow lady boss across placed a basket of incense candles heavily onto the coffin lid, sullen-faced.
"Which careless person once again offended Lady Cheng?"
Cheng Caiyun sneered, "No offense, just thinking that I'll have to rely on you for post-mortem arrangements makes me uncomfortable!"
"..."
Xu Qing chuckled dryly, "That's not possible, you're still young, maybe you'll marry into a good family in these coming years, or invite a consort, it's not too late."
"Spit!"
Upon hearing Xu Qing's words, Cheng Caiyun's face darkened further, "I'd rather lie in this coffin now than marry twice!"
Watching Cheng Caiyun walk away, Xu Qing thought this widow might have an untold past.