Grandma Wu had worked hard all her life, yet even in death, she couldn't find peace.
Her own granddaughter was unfilial, so she had to come in person to buy the funeral items for herself.
"Please go home and check. The items on the list should be in your room," I said, slightly frowning.
On normal days, although Wu Mingyu was prone to daydreaming and fantasizing about the paper - cutout characters in magazines, I always thought it was just a girl's natural tendency to daydream. I didn't find it particularly annoying and would even chime in with a few words.
However, now I discovered that she was so unfilial to her own kin that even the old woman's death didn't stir a single bit of sadness in her.
Wu Mingyu also looked extremely displeased and even ignored the key point of my words!
Grandma Wu had been here just now!!
She came to buy her own funeral clothes!
"Humph! Do I even need to check? You must have secretly put them there yourself!"
She shouted at the top of her voice. The neighbors who had just had their morning gossip found a new hot topic and rushed to the door of our shop to watch.
"Du Xinghe, aren't you just a fortune - teller who tricks people with your glib tongue? Now you're trying to swindle me. I'll smash your shop!"
Wu Mingyu was like a show - off. Seeing everyone pointing and whispering about us, she grabbed the helmet on the counter and was about to throw it at me.
"Hey hey hey... Don't get physical!"
"Little Wu, you can't talk like that!"
"Stop! Stop!!"
Landlady Mrs. Xu and the neighbors saw how impulsive Wu Mingyu was. They quickly grabbed her arms and snatched the helmet away, pulling her out of our shop.
"Xiaohe isn't that kind of person!" Landlady Mrs. Xu grabbed Wu Mingyu's hand and said, "Her grandfather had real skills, and she isn't short of money. How could she swindle your money?"
"Right. How much did she swindle you?" a nosy neighbor asked.
"How much?!" Wu Mingyu stared at me with wide - open eyes, then showed her WeChat to everyone. "Two hundred and sixty - seven yuan!! She extorted me, saying it was my dead grandma who came to buy the stuff!"
"Just this little bit of money!" Landlady Mrs. Xu couldn't help rolling her eyes inwardly.
With all this commotion early in the morning, Mrs. Xu thought it was a huge amount. She never expected that just a couple of hundred yuan would make Wu Mingyu so angry.
"Little Wu, could this be a misunderstanding? Go home and ask your grandma if she really bought the stuff but just didn't have time to tell you?" she said, trying to smooth things over.
Wu Mingyu snorted from her nose. "Ask my grandma? I'm afraid I have to go to the underworld to ask! That old woman had a car accident in the middle of the night, and her body is already at the crematorium."
"Ah?! Really?!" the neighbors exclaimed in surprise.
No one had known about this. After hearing Wu Mingyu's words, they couldn't help showing looks of pity.
Grandma Wu was a kind person. Although her granddaughter didn't let her interact with the neighbors for fear of being laughed at for being from the countryside.
But Grandma Wu was an industrious person. Before everyone got up, she would clean the front and back of the courtyard. Everyone knew she was hard - working and kind - hearted, but they never expected such a good person to end up like this.
"Why not! She had a car accident on the outer ring early yesterday morning. Du Xinghe said she came here to buy stuff just before dawn!" Wu Mingyu sneered. "Was she going to burn them for herself?!"
As soon as she said this, suddenly a cold wind blew from nowhere, fluttering the suit on her body. Everyone couldn't help but feel a chill in their hearts...
"Go home!"
I was sure that Grandma Wu was afraid her granddaughter was unfilial and wouldn't prepare the things needed in the afterlife for her, so she came back to me on credit. Now the five - offering items and joss paper should be in her home.
It was just two hundred yuan. I was too lazy to argue with this woman.
I could use the time to catch up on sleep!
Thinking of this, I couldn't help yawning and waved my hand at Wu Mingyu as if shooing away a fly. "Consider those things as my tribute to Grandma Wu."
The dead should be respected. I didn't mind showing a little last bit of kindness to the poor Grandma Wu.
"Pfft, who wants these useless things!"
Unexpectedly, Wu Mingyu took advantage but still complained. Only after being persuaded by the neighbors did she leave our shop cursing.
"Xiaohe, don't take this to heart. Wu Mingyu must be stimulated," Landlady Mrs. Xu comforted me before leaving. "She's just a bit vain. Now that her grandma suddenly had a car accident, you mustn't..."
"Aunt Xu, I know. It's okay," I said with a generous smile. "I'm just in a bad mood because I didn't rest well last night. I'll be fine after a good sleep!"
I was so sleepy that I had no mood to argue with this unfilial girl!
Watching Wu Mingyu strut home like a victorious rooster, Mrs. Xu worriedly told me not to argue with her.
Landlady Mrs. Xu's concerns were reasonable.
Last time, she saw me deal with two hooligans who came to cause trouble in my shop.
On the streets of Beijing, there were quite a few hooligans and rascals. Seeing that there was only a young girl like me in the shop, they came to cause trouble.
First, they wanted to buy ten tubes of high - quality incense, which was the most expensive item in our shop.
The incense was made of agarwood powder from Xingzhou Island. It could not only be used for worshiping gods but also help people calm down and feel comfortable when lit at home.
Each tube contained fifty sticks and cost six hundred and eighty yuan.
The two hooligans wanted ten tubes at once. I thought it was going to be a big deal.
Unexpectedly, on the pretext of inspecting the goods, they took out the incense sticks one by one from the glass tube and crushed them all. Then they pulled me and said the stuff I sold was of poor quality.
I was already worried about Du Wenzhong's hospital fees, and now I met these extortionists. I felt like "when it rains, it pours."
During the scuffle, Landlady Mrs. Xu heard the commotion and came out to watch. She found the trouble - makers familiar. They should be the children of the old neighbors living nearby.
Mrs. Xu, relying on her seniority in the alley, wanted to be a peace - maker. But unexpectedly, the two hooligans were lawless. They threatened that if I didn't compensate them ten thousand yuan for mental damage, they would stay in my shop and not leave.
Seeing me standing silently behind the counter, Mrs. Xu thought I was scared.
After all, I was just a young girl, looking gentle and delicate. How could I seem like someone who could handle such a situation?
So, she decided to call the police on her own initiative.
The two hooligans were fearless. They said that even if the police were called, they would come to trouble me every day and make my shop unable to do business.
I thought it made sense. If I didn't solve this problem perfectly this time and let these two hooligans succeed, our lives would probably be even more difficult in the future.
After all, a "fat sheep" that couldn't run away would attract both wolves and dogs to take a bite.