So when Song Tianyao said goodbye and was about to go home, Second Young Master Chu simply gave the car to Song Tianyao in advance.
Then Song Tianyao himself acted as the driver, driving the unpowered car with great difficulty, carrying Rotten-Life Ju and the other three Chao Yong Yi underlings back to Wan Chai.
It wasn't that he wanted to go back to Tai Wo Street to sleep on a hard bed, but rather that Xianyu Shuan's funeral was being held in Wan Chai, and he felt it was necessary to see Xianyu Shuan one last time, no matter what.
Xianyu Shuan's funeral was held at the Hong Kong Funeral Parlour on Wan Chai Road. Although it is called the Hong Kong Funeral Parlour, it is just a large hall built with simple bamboo sheds, which is used to arrange funerals and store bodies for lower-class Chinese who do not have enough space for their own families.
When Song Tianyao arrived by car, the scene was already deserted. After all, no one would want to come to pay respects to the deceased at night. Those who were supposed to come to offer incense and mourn had already come during the day. At this moment, in the funeral home hall, Xianyu Shuan's body was covered with a white cloth and placed in a coffin that had not yet been sealed. In front of the coffin stood a small black lacquered memorial tablet with a line of gold-stamped clerical script. "The Lotus Tablet of the Late Wife Wu Shuan in the Western Paradise."
Upon seeing this memorial tablet, Song Tianyao realized that Xianyu Shuan's real name was Wu Shuan.
A brazier was burning, and Xianyu Shuan's wife, dressed in white Xianyu Shuan, was holding his daughter Xiu'er in her arms, burning paper money in the brazier. Scribe Hui and his father Song Chunliang were cleaning up the place. When they saw Song Tianyao appear, Scribe Hui greeted him with red eyes, "Secretary Song."
"Didn't I tell my mom to bring money to raise money for the funeral? Why is it so quiet? Where are the musicians? Where is the master of ceremonies?" Song Tianyao asked, looking at the memorial tablet in front of him.
"Only family members stayed to keep vigil at night; everyone else left. During the day, there were many people. Many of Fuyixing's brothers came to pay their respects, and even... even Brother Lei came to offer incense and a lot of money when there were fewer people," the Scribe Hui said in a low voice.
Song Tianyao nodded slightly. As the leader of the Fuyixing triad, Golden-Tooth Lei's appearance at the funeral of a triad member was certainly not because of Xianyu Shuan. Rather, it was because he had received news that Xianyu Shuan had died for him, and by showing his face here, he was subtly reminding Song Tianyao that even in death, Xianyu Shuan Yu Shuan was still a member of Fuyixing. Although Xianyu Shuan was dead, Song Tianyao could repay the favor to Fuyixing.
When Xianyu Shuan was alive, he probably never imagined that his most glorious moment would be lying in a coffin after his death.
Song Tianyao stepped forward, picked up three incense sticks, lit them with the candle flame, and placed them in the incense burner in front of the memorial tablet.
He didn't know if souls lingered in the world after death, or if Xianyu Shuan, like his deceased self in his previous life, had been reborn into another world.
"A Shuan, the street where you died is called Tai Wo Street." Song Tianyao leaned against the coffin, turning his head to look at the body covered with a black cloth, and said as if talking to himself, "I'm telling you here, that street will be yours from now on. I'll buy it for you, so your family will never have to sell salted fish again. May your descendants remember that their father, grandfather, and great-grandfather were a peddler known as 'Xianyu Shuan.' He worked hard and diligently, earning a street for his descendants, ensuring they would have no worries about food and clothing."
As if chatting casually with a friend, Song Tianyao suddenly seemed to remember something, laughed, and said, "Actually, after we buy that street, we can rename Wu Shuan Street, or Salty Fish Street. We can write it on the map and record it in the government's urban planning documents. Salty Fish Street, see you below, A Shuan."
After speaking in front of the coffin, Song Tianyao walked to the brazier and slowly squatted down. His expression and movements were wooden; he simply mechanically held his unconscious daughter and said to the woman burning paper money in the brazier, "Sister-in-law, I am A Shuan's friend. My name is Song Tianyao. A Shuan did this for me."
A Shuan's wife looked much younger than A Shuan, at most twenty-eight or twenty-nine years old. She was somewhat thin and had a sallow complexion, but she was quite pretty. However, her eyes had lost their sparkle, and she seemed not to have heard Song Tianyao's words at all.
"After we've finished dealing with A Shuan's funeral, I'd like to take Xiu'er away." Seeing that there was no response to his first sentence, Song Tianyao mentioned the other party's daughter's name.
Sure enough, upon hearing her daughter's name, the woman looked up, gazing blankly at Song Tianyao, who was squatting down opposite her, and instinctively hugged her only remaining family member tightly.
"Don't worry, sister-in-law. What I meant was that I'm planning to send Xiu'er to Diocesan Girls' Junior School. It's Britain- run school, the best girls' primary school in Hong Kong. After she finishes primary and secondary school, she can go abroad for university. I'll take care of all the expenses, including food, clothing, and accommodation." Song Tianyao spoke sincerely and confidently to the woman. "Xiu'er will be grown up by then. Whether she wants to be a doctor or a lawyer, that's fine with her. She won't have to work as hard as A Shuan. If you're worried about me, that's okay too. I can help you rent a house near Diocesan Girls' Junior School, and you can personally pick her up and drop her off. This is all A Shuan is earning for his daughter."
The woman had already cried her eyes out when she learned of Xianyu Shuan's death. Now, her eyes were red and swollen. She first looked at her husband's memorial tablet, then looked down at her daughter who had been crying all day in her arms, and finally looked at Song Tianyao opposite her with sorrowful eyes, speechless and choked with sobs.
At that time, the bright moon was rising, casting its light on the banners and canopies, and the night breeze entered the room, causing the candlelight to flicker.
Under the lamplight, I see the shadows of my wife and children again; but before the curtain, my husband who used to return home at night is no more.
Goodbye, Xianyu Shuan.
Chapter 154 The Last Hung Mun in Hong Kong
"Bo Ming, you're already missing half a leg compared to the others, so save your energy and rest quietly in your room. Don't come out and move around. Do you think I'd deprive you of a drink? Standing here, you look like an old woman waiting for her husband to come home."
A dozen meters away from the gate of the Kowloon Walled City Elderly Home, Song Chengqi, carrying a pot of Wujiapi powder and two cheap snacks—salted roasted beans and dried salted fish—stood in the center of the Elderly Home's gate, leaning on a cane, and teased the old man who had lost most of his left instep.
The old man saw Song Chengqi but didn't speak. Instead, his facial muscles twitched to the side, and his slightly cloudy old eyes followed the twitching, as if urging Song Chengqi to leave quickly and not come in.