Explore Chapter 27 of '老张的哲学' with the original Chinese text, English translation, detailed Chinese vocabulary explanations, and audio of the Chinese original. Listen and improve your reading skills.
Fourth Master Liu, Fourth Mistress Liu's family, a crowd of grandchildren, along with a group from Mrs. Qian's family, had all arrived. Sun Shoubei acted as chief steward, with Li Ying assisting him. Lao Zhang had originally wanted to join in, but Sun Shoubei refused. So Lao Zhang had no choice but to watch the bustling scene from outside the gate, all the while calculating in his heart how much profit he could skim from this funeral procession.
Sun Shoubei didn't like Lao Zhang. However, he knew that among the relatives from Mrs. Qian's family, there were several who were quite prestigious. He worried that if Lao Zhang were to gossip carelessly outside, it might affect his own reputation. Therefore, he sent Li Ying out to call Lao Zhang to a secluded spot and warned him, "Master Zhang! I am in charge of matters at the Qian residence. If you dare utter a single piece of nonsense or pilfer anything, I won't be polite with you!"
Yet his mind was already befuddled by the Qian family's paper burial clothes, paper horses, funeral feast, sutra-recitation tent, and so on. He secretly calculated, "Just that official sedan chair borne by eight men would cost at least a hundred and fifty dollars! Add twenty-four drummers, eight trumpeters, four pairs of attendants, and the funeral feast alone, even being conservative, would need at least twenty tables! And those paper horses... Hah! This is practically throwing silver dollars into the river! Better to give the money to me, Lao Zhang, than to waste it on the dead! Ridiculous!"
Mrs. Qian's elder brother, who was a scholar, came to discuss the funeral rites with Sun Shoubei. He insisted on following the old customs of "inviting the spirit tablet" and "dotting the spirit tablet." Though Sun Shoubei didn't much approve, he found it inconvenient to argue. He could only nod in agreement.
Overhearing this, Lao Zhang hatched another plan. "Hah! For 'inviting the spirit tablet,' you need a filial son! The Qians' son is called Hei Dan. He's almost twenty. But people from Mrs. Qian's family say he's never studied and can't serve as the filial son. Isn't this an opportunity? Let Li Ying be the filial son! That way, we don't offend the Qians, and Li Ying gets to show his face. Killing two birds with one stone!"
Li Ying had no choice. He went to speak with Sun Shoubei. Sun Shoubei knew this was Lao Zhang's scheme. But since the Qian family had already agreed, it was inconvenient to change things now. He could only say to Li Ying, "Go ahead. Put on a mourning gown and walk a few steps behind the coffin. It's no big deal."
On the day of the funeral procession, it was indeed a grand spectacle. Lao Zhang also put on a somewhat worn-out blue cloth gown and mingled with the crowd to watch. Seeing the Qian family members weep, he thought to himself, "What's all the weeping for? You can't bawl a dead man back to life, can you? Giving the money to me, Lao Zhang, would be better than anything!"
As he looked at the paper horses, the golden and silver bridges, he itched with envy. He stealthily asked one of the coffin bearers carrying a paper horse, "Is this paper horse for sale?"
When the ceremony reached the "dotting the spirit tablet" part, Li Ying, wearing an oversized white mourning gown, knelt before the spirit altar holding a wooden ancestral tablet. Mrs. Qian's scholar brother used a vermilion brush to make a dot on the tablet. Li Ying's knees were starting to go numb, and he stole a glance at Lao Zhang. Lao Zhang pursed his lips at him, signaling him to keep his composure.
He watched the coffin leave the alley before listlessly turning back. As he walked, he pondered, "The money is gone! But from this whole affair, Sun Shoubei must have pocketed at least a hundred and eighty dollars! Li Ying served as the filial son. Maybe he got some reward money? Right! I must go ask him!"