Xiang City isn’t far from Qingshan Village, just over three hundred li. By carriage, it’s a three-and-a-half-day journey.
At the People’s ssage Bureau, when they heard it was a death notification, they charged two liang of silver, sealed it in a white envelope with black borders, and sent it out with a fast horse. The ssenger bypassed the county town at midnight and reached Qingshan Village.
Before dawn, the ssenger didn’t want to ask around from door to door, so he rested at the village entrance for a while. As soon as the day broke, when people started moving around, the ssenger imdiately approached and asked, "Excuse , uncle, where is the Jiang family, Jiang Hua’s household, located here?"
The villager gave the ssenger directions and detailed the location, and the ssenger quickly rode over.
Reaching the courtyard gate, the ssenger knocked urgently, "bang bang bang bang."
Knocking on the door mustn’t be done chaotically.
Typically, the proper way is to knock three tis, pause, then knock three more tis.
Knocking should neither be too hurried nor too heavy, otherwise, people might curse, "Do you understand any manners at all, what kind of knocking is this!"
Because only death notifications are knocked like this.
At the Jiang Family, only Mr. Jiang was awake.
Old age brings shallower sleep; he woke earlier.
Hearing the increasingly urgent knocks, Mr. Jiang felt his heart skip a beat.
He didn’t dare to consider if the knocker was rely ignorant of the rules or if sothing had indeed happened. He dressed and got up, calling Jiang Hua as he walked out, "Third son, soone’s knocking at the door, see who it is."
By the ti he reached the west wing, Jiang Hua erged.
With a hastily thrown-on jacket, he went to open the door.
Mr. Jiang followed behind him.
As the door opened, the ssenger handed over the letter and said, "Accept my condolences." Then he bowed and turned to leave.
Mr. Jiang and Jiang Hua were both stunned.
Mr. Jiang asked Jiang Hua, "What did he just say?"
Reflecting on the dim sky, the white-edged black envelope, and the ssenger’s words, Jiang Hua felt a looming sense of dread.
He hurriedly called after the ssenger, "Hey, hey, don’t go, who are you? Who wrote this letter?"
The ssenger paused, "I deliver letters for Xiang City’s People’s ssage Bureau, I don’t know who wrote it, I only deliver the letter."
Jiang Hua grew anxious, "But no one in our family can read; can you read it for us?"
The ssenger shook his head, "Sorry, brother, I can’t read either."
Pointing at the envelope, he remarked, "Brother, this is a death notification; you should quickly find soone to help read it."
Listening, Mr. Jiang’s legs weakened, who, who exactly passed away?
Surely not the second son, it’s been rely five or six days since he left for Xiang City!
The ssenger departed.
With trembling hands, Jiang Hua held the letter.
Few people in the village could read.
The closest would be the neighboring Zhao Lizheng.
With no other choice, Jiang Hua went to knock on the neighbor’s door.
Mr. Jiang was not in good shape, dazedly following Jiang Hua.
Before long, Zhao Lizheng opened the door.
The urgent knocks from the Jiang Family had already woken him; he lay in bed pondering, with such urgent knocks, likely sothing had happened.
After a while, hearing his own door knocked, he dressed and ca to open it.
As the door swung open, he saw Jiang Hua holding a letter, face full of fear, saying, "Uncle Li Zheng, a letter ca, and none of us can read it, could we trouble you to take a look?"
Zhao Lizheng’s heart sank at the sight of the black-edged envelope.
Holding the letter, he said, "Let’s go, outside it’s hard to see, we’ll go to your place and light a lamp to look."
On seeing the letter, it seed to him one of those kinds of letters; he dared not bring such an ominous item into his ho.
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