2 02. Cried until darkness of the night

She still pressed her hand on his chest and then listened with her ear, but no matter what she did, he was already dead.

What now?

With heavy feet, she came out to the yard and looked over to her landlord's house. Even before she knocked, an old woman came out and nodded. "He died, right? Come in, let's talk."

Lee Mei Li followed her inside without looking left or right. The woman glanced at her and nodded at her proper behavior. She pointed at a small chair and indicated to her to sit down.

But Lee Mei Li shook her head. "With all the respect Elder, I need to do so many things. Now is not the time for me to sit. I fear, I won't be able to handle the pressure of everything. For now, I am still holding onto the corners of my sanity. Please forgive me." She bowed respectfully and made the woman nod for the second time.

"You are a good child. Listen, I already spoke to your father when you went to get medicine. He put aside his writing set, paper, ink block and a few other things that you will need. The money from the house you will get right away as well. About his burial, let me take over. After all, he helped my son enter first round in school. If you don't take the offer you will be smacking this old woman's face. I won't accept no as an answer. Let me take care of everything so you can take his ashes to the ancestral shrine." The woman looked at her seriously and Lee Mei Li could only silently accept.

Her father's words that something was wrong with the house and ground came to her mind and she could see the old woman's eyes wavering. It seems she knew as well. But what is it? Can she even argue or does she even has power and strength to do so? No really.

The landlord took out a small box and a small grey purse out nearby cabinet. How convenient, she already was ready for this. "Inside are exact eight Liang. Leave two as an entrance fee. One Liang you will spend on new clothes. You can't go there like this. One Liang leave for the expenses and buy two Liang worth seeds. The last two Liang hide. The next national test will start in the fall. Three days of testing. I hope you can beat them, but don't try yo be the best. Try to barely pass. Like that, they will be angry, but won't hate you. Man's pride is quite a strange thing. Be careful." The old woman gave her much more advice.

Not long afterward Lee Mei Li left the house and rushed to their home. She had to wash her father and put burial clothes on him.

Before rebirth, she kept all the memories of this child. So now she had two sets of memories that helped her be strong. The love she felt from parents in both lifetimes made her who she is now.

She hid the box and money in a hidden hole under one of the stones in her bedroom. There was money she earned as well.

After cleaning his legs, feet, hands and face, Lee Mei Li chose to wash his long hair and set properly into a bun.

When villagers came to help her she was already done and was praying with beads in her hands. The old woman brought even nearby monk to pray for his soul, so Lee Mei Li had to step away.

After prayer and incarnation, Lee Mei Li carefully gathered the rest of his bones and his dust into a prepared urn and let the monk pray for his connection to his family and safe reincarnation.

That night was the first time she was completely alone, ever. For the first time since she came to this world, she started crying helplessly.

Only a set of phoenix eyes stared at her for a while and disappeared in the darkness of the night...