Chapter 1 – That was, if ghosts have teeth (1)
City of S, September.
The dry and hot summer finally received it’s first fall rain that cleared the heat and stuffiness in the air and brought about a hint of coolness.
On the Panshan highway was a motorcade moving slowly forward. This was the largest and most well-known cemetery of the City of S – Panlong Cemetery. It was an excellent location, being close to both mountains and waters. Except the pouring rain was getting heavier and heavier. Soon the sky got darker and the motorcade slowed down even more. Finally, the motorcade stopped in the sheets of rain.
One after another, men dressed in suits exited from their cars in an orderly fashion. Someone opened the door of the first car, opened up a black umbrella and waited for the passenger in the car to exit.
In the back seat was a woman in a long, black dress. She had on a black hat with a veil. Her face pale, her figure slender, her waist barely wider than two hands could hold. She looked like a fragile dodder flower under the protection of the black umbrella and made others felt that any second now she could be blown away in the fall’s windy rainstorm.
“Take care, Mrs. Fu. Our thoughts are with you,” said the cemetery worker softly as he walked up to her with an umbrella.
Yu Duo looked up at him. She was fragile, her eyes red, her face pale. She showed him a courageous smile like that of a dark and stormy night.
“Thank you,” she said to him.
She was pretty, her eyes glittery, her voice soft and delicate. Whenever she showed a bit of shyness, she gave the feeling that she was soft and pitiful; she was the kind that would stir up men’s desire to conquer and protect her.
Even though the workers see this day in and day out, they almost felt bad for making her watch her husband being buried in front of her own eyes.
The couple had only been in love for three years before they were torn apart; this was just too cruel.
“Please follow me, Mrs. Fu.”
Yu Duo followed him forward.
Fu Sinian was an impressive man when he was alive, so naturally his funeral would also be grand and impressive. His grave site couldn’t be too bad either; it was the best spot at Panlong Cemetery. Professionals were hired to study the fengshui of this spot and it was a good spot. And this was going to be Fu Sinian’s cloth grave.
(T/N: When the body of the deceased could not be located, only their clothes were buried.)
Even though they were not able to find Fu Sinian’s body, the yacht that he was on, blew up into pieces and caught on fire. Search and rescue covered a 20-kilometer radius in the ocean for three days and still wasn’t able to locate his body. The chance of him surviving that was slim to nil.
Standing in front of the tombstone, Yu Dao saw the black and white photo of Fu Sinian. She choked up in tears and turned her head away. She couldn’t bear to look at it any longer.
The casket was lowered into the ground and the grave was filled and the rain continued to get heavier.
Other guests of the funeral sighed behind Yu Duo.
“I have heard that Mr. Fu and his wife were very close. Now that Mr. Fu was gone, how come Mrs. Fu wasn’t crying at all?”
“Don’t you know? Mrs. Fu cried for three days straight at his funeral service. She even passed out a few times. She had probably cried herself dry by now.”
“Ai, that poor thing, becoming a widow at such a young age.”
“Well, she did inherit his tens of billions in wealth. At least she wouldn’t have to worry about money.”
“What is the point of having all the money if he isn’t around anymore?”
“I guess you are right.”
A few almost undetectable sighs reached her ears and Yu Duo lowered her head and wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes.
A jacket was placed over her back.
Yu Duo turned around to look at the person standing behind her.
“Sister in law*, you should take care of yourself.” It was a very young man. He had a flattop haircut, his features were sharp, and he didn’t look like someone one would want to mess around with. But the hint of tenderness on him washed away the viciousness between his brows making him look gentler.
Yu Duo smiled palely at him and said, “Thank you, Ah Qi.”
After handing her his jacket, the worried Ah Qi stepped to one side.
* Doesn’t have to be real sister in law. Men sometimes will refer to their buddies’ wives as sister in law. Or in the case of gang members, they refer to each other as brothers, so the brothers’ women would also become their “sister in laws”.