“Oh.”

Tang Hong’en put down the fish he was holding.

“Then let’s go take a look.”

What’s a normal person’s reaction when told they need to “see their brother off one last time”?

Certainly not as calm as Tang Hong’en.

Liu Fen didn’t know how to comfort him.

She couldn’t care less about the fish Tang Hong’en had bought; now wasn’t the time to think about cooking dinner for the young couple. She was more concerned about her husband—could Hong’en be in shock?

Beijing’s winters were very cold. Tang Hong’en had volunteered to go grocery shopping earlier, and coming back into the heated room from outside, the temperature difference had caused his glasses to fog up.

“Let me get you some hot water to wash your face!”

Tang Hong’en casually wiped his face: “No need, we’ll be going out again anyway. Afen, we’ll invite Xiaolan and Zhou Cheng for dinner another day, come with me for now.”

They didn’t even need to call the driver, as they had their own Chevrolet.

“Dinner can wait, your family matters are more important… Should I bring anything? Never mind, let’s just hurry and go!”

Liu Fen grabbed her coat, ready to leave.

At times like these, formalities didn’t matter—not attending the funeral would be a real breach of etiquette.

Tang Hong’en didn’t say anything.

This was quite sudden; he hadn’t even taken off his coat before heading out again with Liu Fen.

Liu Fen had never been to Tang Hong’en’s “hometown.” Compared to this “sister-in-law” who suddenly called today, Liu Fen was more familiar with the Song family. The Songs were quite proud at first, but after she married Tang Hong’en, they had to accept the fact.

Liu Fen knew nothing about Tang Hong’en’s hometown.

Tang Hong’en seemed to prefer it that way.

Liu Fen was slightly distracted while driving, secretly glancing at Tang Hong’en from time to time.

She truly was an inadequate wife. Tang Hong’en knew almost everything about her.

He cared about her, her daughter, her elder brother, and even her business. Yet she couldn’t help with Tang Hong’en’s work matters; she could only care about Ji Jiangyuan… which hardly took any effort, as Ji Jiangyuan was such a sensible child.

So while Tang Hong’en understood everything about her and cared for everyone important in her life, her understanding of her husband was so limited!

Liu Fen felt a wave of discomfort.

Tang Hong’en seemed to sense this and patted her shoulder:

“Afen, don’t overthink it. I cut ties with my hometown long ago. Except for occasionally sending money back, I haven’t had contact with them for over ten years, so there was no need to have you deal with these estranged relatives.”

Unexpectedly, this call had reached their Shichahai home.

Perhaps his sister-in-law had first contacted Pengcheng and gotten their Shichahai contact information.

Hometown matters were usually handled by Secretary Peng, and after Secretary Peng’s reassignment, Secretary Lai took over and gradually earned his trust. Tang Hong’en was about to have Secretary Lai take over Secretary Peng’s ‘burden’.

Unexpectedly, this burden had jumped out on its own.

Liu Fen gathered her thoughts:

“Then how should I behave when I go back with you?”

Tang Hong’en’s face showed no smile: “It’s just a formality, no need to deliberately please anyone. Our attendance is basic courtesy.”

Liu Fen found this increasingly strange.

Was attending a relative’s funeral just a basic courtesy?

Shouldn’t there be grief and sorrow…

Liu Fen wanted to ask more but suddenly thought of the Xia family.

Consider the grudges between her mother-daughter pair and the Xia family—when she had encountered Xia Dajun wearing mourning clothes on Shangdu Street, hadn’t she felt nothing?

Being relatives didn’t necessarily mean having familial affection. There were too many unharmonious families in this world. From her own experience, not just the Xia family, but also her younger sister Liu Fang who had tried to scheme against them… Liu Fen thought, if Old Tang didn’t want to talk about it, she wouldn’t ask, to avoid reopening his wounds.

She now felt confident that Tang Hong’en wouldn’t deliberately hide things from her. If he hadn’t mentioned it before, it must not have been important.

Why should she worry unnecessarily and make too much of this?

Liu Fen suddenly felt much better.

Tang Hong’en’s “hometown” wasn’t far, in a rural area at the border between Beijing and North Hebei Province, just over two hours by car.

She hadn’t expected it to be so close.

Yet Old Tang had never once asked her to visit.

How bad must the relationship be?!

As they drove into the countryside, the roads became rough. Although still technically within Beijing’s broader area, this was genuinely rural.

Not much better than Dahe Village or Qijing Village.

Liu Fen was truly shocked.

She knew Old Tang wasn’t from a prominent family—after all, regarding Tang Hong’en’s marriage to Ji Ya, even Tang Hong’en himself said he was a poor boy who got lucky marrying a young lady, with many lifestyle conflicts after marriage… but Liu Fen hadn’t expected a rural village. From head to toe, how did Tang Hong’en resemble a villager? This man wore glasses, was refined and elegant, and a well-cultured gentleman.

Tang Hong’en turned to look out the window.

He hadn’t been back for many years either.

In the village, funeral music was playing, and the air still held traces of firecracker smoke.

Liu Fen’s heart sank—had they arrived too late despite hurrying?

Tang Hong’en comforted her, “It’s not your fault. When they say ‘see him off one last time,’ they probably mean seeing him before burial. If he were still alive, they would never have called me back.”

…What kind of people were these?!

White cloth hung at one household’s entrance, with firecracker paper scraps still on the ground.

This must be it.

Liu Fen looked at the large gray-brick house with its substantial grounds.

“Let’s go in, burn some incense, and leave.”

Liu Fen followed him in. Inside, funeral music played loudly, and the courtyard was quite large, packed with people. A coffin lay in the main hall, with mourning relatives kneeling in the courtyard. As she entered with Tang Hong’en, many eyes turned toward them.

“It’s Tang…”

“He’s back?”

“It’s been over ten years, hasn’t it? Heard he became a state official, quite successful.”

Tang Hong’en ignored the whispers. He stared at the coffin for a few moments, took some incense, and lit it. Just as he was about to offer it, a woman in mourning clothes suddenly jumped up and knocked the incense from his hand. The glowing red incense tip bounced onto Tang Hong’en, burning a hole in his trousers at the knee.

Liu Fen immediately felt distressed.

“Are you alright?”

She wasn’t worried about Old Tang’s new trousers worn just once but feared he might be burned.

“I’m fine, don’t worry.”

Tang Hong’en brushed off the ash, and Liu Fen turned to look at the woman in mourning clothes:

“Comrade, what’s your problem?”

The woman appeared to be in her fifties or sixties, with high cheekbones and naturally bitter features.

Liu Fen wouldn’t tolerate this; she would confront when necessary. The woman’s behavior was truly disrespectful to Tang Hong’en—Liu Fen might be magnanimous if she were insulted, but offending Old Tang was unacceptable.

The woman looked her up and down, “So you’re his new wife? Heard you’re a private business owner. He’s gone downhill, even worse than the previous one!”

Liu Fen’s head buzzed.

She recognized this voice—it was the woman who had called earlier, claiming to be Tang Hong’en’s sister-in-law!