At daybreak, Su Chen walked up the mountain path to the hillside, arriving near Principal Tang's funeral hall.
Dressed in plain, old-fashioned mourning clothes, he drew quite a few sidelong glances.
The suona in his hand was wrapped in a special black cloth.
Though it was hidden from view, the exceptional aura around him made ordinary people wary of approaching him.
His gaze swept over the surroundings.
Principal Tang's funeral hall had been set up in an abandoned school halfway up the mountain.
Its crumbling walls and ruins made it difficult to recognize that this had once been a place filled with the sound of children reading aloud.
As the sky gradually brightened, more and more people gathered from the foot of the mountain and made their way upward.
They slowly climbed toward the hillside like an endless stream flowing against the current.
Some of them had once been Principal Tang's students, while others were residents of the town.
Others had come from neighboring towns.
They carried bundles of joss paper or funeral wreaths in their hands.
They placed the joss paper in the funeral hall, where flowers were piled around Tang Ying's photograph.
The wreaths were arranged on both sides of the funeral hall. When there was no more room, they were moved to the old school walls nearby.
Then Juan'er, who stood watch at the side, handed them mourning clothes and mourning caps that had been prepared in advance.
After putting on the mourning clothes and caps, they kowtowed twice to Principal Tang's coffin inside the funeral hall.
Likewise, Juan'er had to greet the guests and kowtow in return.
As more and more guests arrived, the abandoned school on the hillside looked like a vast expanse of white from afar.
White mourning clothes, a white funeral hall, and white elegiac couplets and wreaths.
Before anyone realized it, it was eight in the morning.
Yet even more people were coming up from the foot of the mountain.
Besides Principal Tang's former students and the town residents,
Su Chen looked around and saw many children, led by adults, wearing white flowers on their chests as they headed toward the abandoned school on the hillside.
These children were all Principal Tang's students.
Their parents had brought them to see Principal Tang off on her final journey.
Along the way to the funeral hall, Su Chen had asked around and learned a little about Principal Tang's story:
Huayi Town had once had no school at all. Even after this village elementary school was temporarily established, there were only a few students in its tiny classrooms. Children of school age were busy with farm work and could not spare time to study, while their families were unwilling to spend the extra money. The elderly in those families believed that having children help with farm work was far more useful than sending them to school. Because of this, one batch after another of volunteer teachers left, making it even harder for the students to receive an education.
Faced with such hardship, Principal Tang had not backed down. On one hand, she visited villages and households throughout Huayi Town, persuading them to send their children to school for an education. On the other, she ran from one relevant organization to another, striving to create better conditions for the children to attend school and seeking more teachers willing to volunteer there.
Heaven rewarded perseverance. After eighteen years of unrelenting effort, Principal Tang had finally established a town school, allowing children of every grade to receive an education here! Those eighteen years meant that every child could avoid giving up school because of poverty. They meant those young faces filled with hope and dreams! They meant those heartfelt cries of "Mama Tang"!
Standing halfway up the mountain and looking toward the mountain road, Su Chen imagined Tang Ying enduring her illness, sweating as she pressed onward along one difficult, rugged trail after another over the years.
It had been grueling, yet she had remained steadfast!
More and more men, women, old people, and children walked toward the abandoned school. They formed a long line, entered the funeral hall with wreaths, knelt on both knees, offered incense, and kowtowed!
At the sight, many villagers in the crowd could not help squeezing their way forward, just to reach Principal Tang's funeral hall and kowtow to her.
The sound of weeping was subdued.
Coupled with the sea of white all around them, it felt as though something were gripping everyone's hearts.
It was stiflingly painful.
Nearly everyone in Huayi Town had come to attend the funeral.
They lowered their heads to wipe away tears from time to time, reminiscing about Principal Tang's life. No one could bring themselves to smile.
Inside the funeral hall, Xiao Ai glared angrily at Juan'er, gritting her teeth.
"Everyone pooled money for you to hire a suona band, and now you're telling me you couldn't hire one? Do you think a funeral is some kind of joke?!"
"You think I didn't want to? You didn't see how arrogant Band Leader Li was. Otherwise, you would have too."
Juan'er spoke with a wronged expression, already beginning to regret it.
She had never expected so many people to come to the funeral, much less for the scene to become this overwhelming!
The endless procession of students and younger generations dressed in mourning clothes had covered half the mountain!
The man hid off to the side, not daring to say a word.
Xiao Ai's eyes reddened with anger, and her whole body trembled!
Just then, a rough voice suddenly rang out from outside the funeral hall!
"Li Family Band, the suonas have arrived!"
The highly penetrating voice sounded especially abrupt amid the quiet solemnity of the funeral.
That rough, resonant voice carried a sense of solemn ceremony.
The crowd outside the funeral hall parted like a receding white tide, slowly moving to either side.
They opened up a temporary path about a meter wide.
At the end of the path, a middle-aged man appeared, holding a black-handled suona!
"Master Li!"
"Master Li is here!"
"Li Hongzheng, leader of the Li Family Band!"
The people around them murmured quietly. The Li Family Band was well known throughout the surrounding villages and towns. Whenever a family could hire them for an occasion, it was considered no easy feat.
The only question was, how many stages had the Li Family Band been hired for this time?
Hearing the commotion outside, the people in the funeral hall hurried out as well. The moment Juan'er saw Li Hongzheng, she was utterly stunned.
After all, when Li Hongzheng had refused her yesterday, he had been so resolute.
But at this moment, how could she dare blame Band Leader Li?
She hurriedly clasped her hands in salute and respectfully welcomed him.
Only after saluting did Juan'er raise her eyes to look at Band Leader Li across from her.
Li Hongzheng's expression did not change. With a grave face, he walked toward the funeral hall.
Behind him, several disciples appeared as well!
Three disciples, each holding a suona.
Together with Li Hongzheng's own instrument,
there were four suonas before her.
Four-stage!
Two large suonas, one medium suona, and one small suona!
These were the four finest suona players in the Li Family Band.
Some younger people did not understand the customs and hurriedly asked the elders beside them:
"Uncle, why are suonas divided into different stages?"
"There are rules to the number of suona stages. It's either four or eight. When people are alive, there are four bearers and an eight-bearer sedan chair; when they die, there are four-stage or eight-stage suonas!"
"I see!"
"Four-stage? Why only four-stage?!"
"With four-stage, the family salutes with clasped hands. With eight-stage, the filial children kneel to welcome them. That woman just saluted, so it looks like they hired four-stage!"
"Four-stage personally played by Band Leader Li is still not bad!"
Everyone was clearly somewhat disappointed, comforting one another.
By their expectations, someone of Principal Tang's standing should have had an Eight-stage funeral procession led by suonas no matter what!
But looking at the scene before them, there were clearly only four-stage suonas!
Outside the funeral hall, Xiao Ai's tears immediately spilled down her face. For a moment, she did not know whether she felt angrier or more wronged.
But soon, everyone's expressions changed!
Juan'er's eyes narrowed as well, as though she could not believe what she was seeing!
Three more disciples followed from behind, carrying instruments of different kinds.
An erhu, a flute, and a sheng!
The last, burly man carried a drum on his shoulder!
All eight men wore solemn expressions tinged with grief!
It was actually eight-stage!!
Watching the funeral from afar, Su Chen nodded in satisfaction at the sight. An Eight-stage funeral procession led by suonas!
Only that was worthy of seeing Principal Tang off!
Eight-stage suonas,
the filial children knelt to welcome them!
Juan'er's face filled with excitement as she hurriedly dropped to her knees.
Eight-stage suonas, eight-stage suonas personally played by Band Leader Li!
This was the Li Family Band's respect for Principal Tang.
The mourning-clad guests in the distance, Principal Tang's students, and the people of Huayi Town were all moved by the sight.
Some were so emotional that their eyes reddened as they fought back tears.
PS:
There was one more chapter coming, though it might be a little late. Those who could not wait could go to sleep first.
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