What he really wanted to say was that even if the Brother Xianyu living downstairs wanted to visit Song Tianyao's dream, his boss Brother Xianyu slept so little every night, might drift all the way from the Happy Valley cemetery to Song Tianyao's bedroom, only to find that Song Tianyao had already woken up before he even entered Song Tianyao's dream. All that effort from the Brother Xianyu would have been for nothing.
"That's true. Anyway, you don't seem to have much to say to me. Sister Fen and Xiu'er are doing alright these days, so there shouldn't be anything for you to worry about down there. If you really did appear in my dreams, I might have to go to the temple to ask a master to perform a ritual..." Song Tianyao chuckled as he spoke, taking out a pack of cheap Double Happiness cigarettes from his pocket, lighting two, placing one in front of the tombstone, and biting the other. "If only you hadn't died that day, you would have been much less of a worry than that good-for-nothing Scribe Hui. You could have done so much for me. Speaking of Scribe Hui, your good brother already has a female secretary. I've heard that his secretary is big-breasted and has a plump bottom, and is very obedient. If you were still alive, your female secretary would definitely be no worse than his. But I don't know if Sister Fen would punish you when you get home. Or maybe I should just secretly burn a female secretary for you next time I come, so you won't be too bored down there with nothing to do..."
As he spoke, he gestured to Huang Liu, who handed Song Tianyao the plastic bag he was carrying in his right hand. Song Tianyao tore open the bag, revealing two takeout dishes from a restaurant and a bottle of beer. He placed the food and drinks in front of the tombstone. "One dish is the stir-fried pork skin with agar that you often eat, and the other is the steamed abalone with shark fin that you've never had before. Enjoy your meal."
Huang Liu listened quietly from behind Song Tianyao as his boss chatted idly with the dead. It was the first time he had ever seen Song Tianyao talk so much. In the past, Song Tianyao rarely talked so much with living people. Moreover, there was no sorrow on Song Tianyao's face. It was as if he was chatting casually with a silent friend about the trivial things that had happened recently.
After smoking three cigarettes in front of the cemetery, Song Tianyao seemed to have finally had his fill of conversation. He reached out and patted the rim of the tombstone, saying, "That's about enough. I'll come visit you again next year."
After the two descended halfway down the Mid-Levels, they discovered that Sister Fen and Wu Xiu'er hadn't left first, but were waiting at the foot of the mountain. Seeing Song Tianyao and Huang Liu come down, Wu Xiu'er ran towards Song Tianyao with an umbrella. "Uncle Song, I haven't seen you, Uncle Hui, Aunt Yun Uncle Long lately either. How about we all go to Tai Wo Street for dinner tonight?"
Wu Xiu'er is no longer the thin, dry, and timid woman she once was. Now, standing in front of Song Tianyao, Wu Xiu'er still wears her signature double ponytails, but her hair is jet black and glossy, her face has a healthy rosy glow, and her eyes are bright and clear, giving her an impression of intelligence, cleverness, and grace.
Wu Xiu'er was already eight years old and much taller than before, but Song Tianyao still squatted down and picked her up, looking at Sister Fen: "Sister Fen, I'll drive you there. It's more convenient than you having to hail a taxi on the street. The roads are slippery in the rain, and Xiu'er might fall."
"Okay..." As Sister Fen Song Tianyao spoke, he carried Xiu'er toward the car parked in the distance. She turned her head and glanced at the cemetery on the Mid-Levels.
A Shuan died because of Song Tianyao. It would be a lie to say that Sister Fen didn't resent Song Tianyao when she first learned of this. However, after A Shuan's death, Song Tianyao's care and arrangements for them gradually dissipated Sister Fen's hatred. Moreover, Song Tianyao put a lot of thought into the deceased A Shuan, trying his best to make his life as respectable and dignified as possible.
For example, the cemetery where A Shuan was buried is the Anglican Church Cemetery in Happy Valley. The entire cemetery may only have buried A Shuan, a powerless nobody. The fact that he was buried here was arranged by Song Tianyao.
Initially, Sister Fen planned to bury A Shuan in the commoners' cemetery in Tseung Kwan O, building a grave and erecting a tombstone. Although simple, it was much more dignified than many poor people who died without even a grave. However, Song Tianyao refused. He asked her to first place A Shuan's remains in a temple and then find a place in the Happy Valley cemetery A Shuan officially burying him.
She didn't know how much effort Song Tianyao had put in to get Xiu'er into the Diocesan Girls' Junior School and to bury A Shuan in the Anglican Church Cemetery, but she knew that these two places, one for life and one for death, one for a child and one for a child, were not places that ordinary poor people could even dream of.
As Song Tianyao was carrying Wu Xiu'er and heading towards his car, another Rolls-Royce drove up in the distance, its license plate indicating it belonged to Chu Xiaozhong.
The car stopped in front of the steps at the foot of the cemetery. Sister Hong, the Chu Family's Self-combed Maid, got out first and opened an umbrella. Madam Chu got out of the back seat, followed by Chu Xiaozhi, the third son of the Chu Family.
"A-Yao?" The elegant Madam Chu alighted from her carriage and happened to run into Song Tianyao, who was coming down the mountain. She asked in surprise, "What are you doing here?"
Song Tianyao politely stopped and made way for the middle of the steps. "I've come to see a deceased friend. Madam Chu, are you... here to pay respects to your ancestors?"
"I dreamt of my deceased brother a couple of days ago, so I've come to burn some gold foil and ingots for him." Madam Chu looked at Zhou Xiu'er, whom Song Tianyao was holding; the little girl looked clever and adorable. "Who is this little girl?"
Song Tianyao didn't even blink. "This is my goddaughter. The deceased is her father, Xiu'er. Say hello to Madam Chu."
"Greetings, Madam." Wu Xiu'er greeted Madam Chu obediently. Standing behind Madam Chu, Chu Xiaozhi peeked out from behind his mother to examine Wu Xiu'er in Song Tianyao's arms, then smiled at Song Tianyao, "Brother Yiu Yao."
"Young Master Zhi, I can't accept you calling me Brother Yiu," Song Tianyao said to Chu Xiaozhi with a smile.
Chu Xiaozhi and Song Tianyao had a fairly good relationship. He was already thirteen years old. Although he didn't understand the various things in the family and was still studying, he knew from his second brother Chu Xiaoxin and his mother that Song Tianyao had prepared a substantial family fortune for him.
Currently, my mother holds 20% of the shares in my second brother's Likang Company, and he receives over a million Hong Kong dollars in dividends every year.