Chapter 32: The Key
We buried Mother.
The ground behind the house was soft from autumn rain. Gao Ren said this was fortunate, and Zhao Ping said it was the earth itself making room for her.
I didn't say anything.
I had helped dig the grave the previous afternoon alongside Hao and Shan Pei and two of Mother's cousins whose names I was still placing, and the work had been good the way physical labor was good when you needed a distraction.
We placed her beside Father.
His marker was a flat stone, worn smooth now by years of weather, the character for his name was still readable if you knew where to look. Hao found a piece of river slate and scored her name into it with a blade. He set it at the head of the turned earth and stood back and looked at both markers side by side.
The village gathered together.
Gao Ren with his daughter Gao Shu at his side.
Zhao Ping and his son Zhao Jun.