The first thing I did was to find out

Chapter 526 Funeral Planning
When Zhao Cheng'an arrived at the cafeteria, Qin Huai's steamed buns were already cooked.

It was quite unusual for Zhao Cheng'an to enter the kitchen first thing, but instead of asking what they were having for breakfast, he ran to Qin Huai's side and anxiously whispered, "Qin Huai, why aren't you checking WeChat?"

Qin Huai was kneading dough when he casually replied, "I'm at work, why am I looking at my phone?"

"Is there something wrong? It shouldn't be urgent. If it were urgent, people would call me. My phone is in my pocket."

Zhao Cheng'an said there was nothing urgent, but he was very anxious. He asked in an even lower voice, "Weren't you completing Grandpa Wang's task? Why did An Youyou's task finish? Aren't you still a few dozen points short of mastering the dough-making skill? Aren't you leveling up very slowly now, only able to level up a few times a day? Did you suddenly realize something?"

"What did you do? You were making pastries right under my nose all day yesterday! What did you do when you got home?"

"Is the effect of rising dough to master level really that significant? It made so many A+ grade desserts all at once?"

"I think you definitely didn't just rely on enlightenment; you must have a secret. Please teach me your secret. We're all on the same side, and I'm completely honest with you. You can't play tricks on me! I've been in Shanshi for so many days, and I haven't really been making desserts seriously. I've been slacking off every day. My cooking skills haven't improved at all; it's a miracle they haven't regressed."

"Brother, please teach me a little trick, otherwise I'll really have a hard time explaining to my master when I get back. Don't let my master's usual indifference fool you, when he beats someone, it really hurts. No one in Zhiweiju can beat him."

"Xia Murui just transferred 20 yuan to me yesterday to help me buy more shares. I still want to live to see my fund stocks break even!"

Qin Huai: ...

Qin Huai noticed that every time Zhao Cheng'an launched into a long speech, he would find himself at a loss for words because there were so many things to criticize.

In the end, all the words Qin Huai wanted to say boiled down to one sentence: "Master Xia transferred another 20 yuan to you? Be careful, or Zhang Guanghang might actually call the police on you for fraud and have you arrested."

Being a senior disciple of a mayfly is really expensive; you can't afford to support this unfortunate junior disciple without some savings.

"Is that the point?" Zhao Cheng'an raised his voice. "Shouldn't the point be how your dough-making skills suddenly became master-level?"

Qin Huai calmly pointed to the dough in front of him: "Do you think this dough looks like it was kneaded by a master?"

"No upgrades, no enlightenment, no tricks."

"This morning, Youyou helped me taste the potato dumplings and said she wanted to eat potato buns, so I made a few for her. As a result, a side quest was unexpectedly triggered and completed directly."

Zhao Cheng'an: ?

Zhao Cheng'an was relieved and breathed a sigh of relief: "That was close, I thought you had figured it out."

His expressions before and after perfectly conveyed both his fear that his brother was suffering and his fear that his brother was driving a Land Rover.

"Alright, stop slacking off. You know you've been slacking off lately. You'll get scolded by Chef Zhou when you get back to Zhiweiju. Hurry up and make some snacks. There are steamed buns over there, and freshly steamed fermented rice buns. If you don't like any of them, make them yourself. No glutinous rice cakes. I've had Youyou keep an eye on them, and she absolutely won't let you have a single bite."

Zhao Cheng'an: QAQ
Thanks to An Youyou's diligent and strict vigilance, Zhao Cheng'an didn't get to eat glutinous rice cakes until the end of his workday. Xu Tuqiang, having finally experienced the joy of eating all-you-can-eat glutinous rice cakes at the Yunzhong Canteen after many days, was bursting with inspiration. In a very unusual move, he didn't stay at the Yunzhong Canteen all day. Instead, after breakfast, he rushed home to start writing a food review, not even coming back for lunch.

Ouyang, influenced by the glutinous rice cake buff, went to the gym after lunch and missed the kitchen tea party.

Wang Gensheng didn't quite understand why Ouyang was so into fitness today, but he accepted it; that's just how tolerant Grandpa Wang is. Qin Huai suggested that Wang Gensheng not eat glutinous rice cakes, but Wang Gensheng, not wanting to delay the potato dumpling tasting, really didn't eat any. He stayed at his post and ate potato dumplings all day long. By the afternoon, he would burp whenever he saw potato dumplings—he was quite honest.

As for Gong Liang and Shi Dadan, the two diligently played their NPC roles in the kitchen. Gong Liang hadn't spoken in the group chat that morning, but after arriving at the cafeteria, he told Qin Huai that he was going out to dinner with his wife and daughter that evening and wouldn't have time for the tea party. Qin Huai expressed his understanding, after all, it wasn't a particularly important tea party, and the absence of one or two people wouldn't make a difference.

At 4 p.m., Qin Huai and Zhao Cheng'an finished get off work and headed to Luo Jun's house with a small amount of ingredients and some prepared snacks.

Qin Huai had arranged a tea party in the group chat at 5:40 PM, and everyone would go to Luo Jun's house for dinner. Qu Jing got off work at 4:30 PM today, so a little over an hour would be enough time for her to get back from the hospital.

Chen Gong originally wanted to arrange a buffet dinner for everyone, but Luo Jun said it wasn't necessary and that Zhang Shumei could just cook a few more dishes. Zhang Shumei's cooking skills were quite good, better than those of an average housekeeper.

Qin Huai had stayed at Luo Jun's house for a few days before and had tasted Zhang Shumei's cooking, so he supported her. A tea party with home-style dishes, some fruit and snacks would be more than enough. There was no need to spend more time, energy and money on a buffet.

Qin Huai and Zhao Cheng'an thought they would be the first to arrive at Luo Jun's house, but when Qin Huai rang the doorbell, it was Chen Huihong who opened the door for them.

"Sister Hong, you're here so early today? Don't you need to pick up Huihui from school?" Qin Huai was a little surprised. Chen Huihong always arrived early, to make it easier to pick out fruit, but at most she would arrive half an hour early. Arriving more than an hour early was not Chen Huihong's usual style.

"I arrived at noon. I had something to discuss with Luo Jun today. We were talking about important matters. I asked my brother to pick up Huihui. She'll stay at my brother's house tonight," Chen Huihong said cheerfully, stepping aside to let the two of them in.

After Qin Huai entered, he cautiously glanced towards the living room and saw Luo Jun sitting on a beanbag chair with an iPad on the coffee table in front of him, which seemed to be showing some kind of promotional video.

Luo Junzheng was completely focused on watching the promotional video, not even sparing Qin Huai and Zhao Cheng'an a second glance, which showed that this was a serious matter.

"Sister Hong, what are you discussing?" Qin Huai asked curiously, lowering his voice so as not to disturb Luo Jun.

"The funeral planning video for Luo Jun." Chen Huihong went to the kitchen, grabbed a plum, and said while eating it, "I found a very professional funeral planner for Luo Jun. He's the top planner in our city, with rave reviews. No one has ever been dissatisfied with a funeral he planned!"

"Xiao Qin, let me tell you, the other side is really professional. They know we have high requirements, so they gave us three planning proposals at once and even made a planning video for us to watch. Since you and Xiao Zhao are here, you two can help us think of a good one. If you're not satisfied with any of them, there's still time. Anyway, Luo Jun is still alive, so let them come up with new ones and make revisions."

Qin Huai: ? ?

Zhao Cheng'an's eyes lit up: "Funeral planning?! Times have really changed. I've died so many times before and I've never even heard of funeral planning. This is great! Can I book it in advance? I don't know when I'll die, but I can plan ahead so that if I suddenly die one day, I won't be caught off guard and can use it right away." Qin Huai: ???
Chen Huihong discussed it very seriously with Zhao Cheng'an: "I didn't ask about this, but it should be possible. You can plan this by paying money. You can pay a deposit first, and then pay the balance when the other party is satisfied with the finished product. However, Zhao, your situation might be a bit troublesome. After all, you don't know when you will die. If you die decades later, it would be a huge loss to have paid the full amount."

"How about this, I'll ask tonight if we can just buy the design plan. You can buy the design drawings for home renovations, right? Let's just buy the design plan, write it in our will, and then have our funeral according to it after we die. Sounds reliable." Chen Huihong felt incredibly clever and took a big, satisfied bite of a plum.

Zhao Cheng'an also thought Chen Huihong's suggestion was good, and nodded repeatedly: "Sister Hong, you are really reliable! I never thought it could be like this. Please help me make contact so I can buy a few more plans. We can see which one we like and use it."

"I'll buy one for Xia Murui too. He'll definitely die before me in this life, so he can use it first and I can see how it works."

Qin Huai: ...

That's enough, I said that's enough!
Can you monsters please stop talking about such hellish things like it's nothing?!
Zhao Cheng'an and Chen Huihong's increasingly loud discussion disturbed Luo Jun's viewing of his funeral planning video. Luo Jun tapped the coffee table with his finger in annoyance and said angrily, "Alright, what are you two saying? Is it your turn to die? I'm the one who's going to die now. Don't disturb my viewing of the planning video."

"Chen Huihong, is the funeral planner you contacted reliable? The planning video looks okay, but will they actually cut corners? Is my tombstone almost ready? When will it be sent back to China? When will the tombstone be shown in the video for a few seconds? I don't like the styles of these eight sets of burial clothes, have them bring a few more. Also, I don't like the music that was chosen, change it to jazz."

"And this, what kind of decoration is this? Is it for the dead? I'll be back to watch the film after I'm reincarnated, and all these colors and tones have to be changed. Everything I say has to be written into the contract. After I die, you must make sure they strictly follow the contract." Luo Jun was acting like he was writing a bad review for takeout, almost like he was watching the planning video frame by frame.

"Don't worry, we've all died before and we know how important funerals are. We didn't have the means before, but now that we do, we'll definitely give you a proper and grand funeral!"

“But Mr. Luo, are you sure you don’t want to add any song and dance performances to the funeral? If you don’t like those suona players, we can hire a symphony orchestra to play violins and saxophones.” Chen Huihong suggested sincerely, “If there are no performances, the funeral will be too monotonous, just a vigil and mahjong. You don’t have any children, so we’ll definitely be the ones keeping vigil for you. Me, Xiao Qin, Jingjing, and Lao Shi could make up a mahjong table, but playing mahjong for too long will make my back hurt.”

"I think we should add something else, how about a buffet dinner?"

Luo Jun was furious: "You're going to serve a buffet at my funeral? What were you thinking? Why don't you just tell me to book a golf course for you guys so you can play golf at my funeral?!"

"That's unnecessary, I don't play golf."

“I think my idea is great! Funerals should be different so they’re more meaningful to look back on in the next life. Don’t you think so, Xiao Qin? By the way, Xiao Qin, what were the funerals you’ve attended like? Don’t you think there should be some song and dance performances at funerals?” Chen Huihong threw the question at Qin Huai.

Luo Jun also looked at Qin Huai.

Qin Huai: ...

It's hard to judge.

Qin Huai has attended funerals before, and not only that, he's even been in charge of cooking and preparing pastries. Every few years, an elderly person in Qin Family Village passes away. During his university holidays and after graduation when he sold breakfast in Qiu County, Qin Huai would always go to make pastries whenever there was a funeral in the village. Therefore, he has attended quite a few funerals.

As for style, everyone has their own.

There are simple ways to do it.

Some funerals are very grand, with Taoist priests performing rituals, and the filial sons and grandsons carrying incense walking around the mourning hall all night long. The coffin is carried around the town before the burial, with firecrackers going off continuously along the way. At the same time, an opera troupe is hired to set up a stage and perform operas for seven days, continuing until the seventh day after the death.

These are all funerals.

What Luo Jun and Chen Huihong were discussing just now...

It's hard to say whether Qin Huai was a funeral or what it was; it was just... a very mysterious thing.

What the heck is a song and dance performance?!

A little voice screamed inside Qin Huai's head, but he didn't show it on his face. He just pretended that he really didn't understand this thing. After all, he was not a spirit, and he had never died. He really had no experience.

"I...I don't know." Qin Huai said, silently taking a step back, feeling it was time to go into the kitchen and make some desserts.

Zhao Cheng'an, who usually doesn't participate in any tea party topics and always seems lost in thought when everyone is chatting, never grasping the main point, actually took the initiative to participate this time.

Zhao Cheng'an took a step forward, creating some distance between himself and Qin Huai, and said excitedly, "You can't understand this kind of thing just by watching the planning video."

We have to get to the scene!

"Just like getting married, wedding planners talk a good game, but once they arrive on site, they cut corners everywhere. If you don't discover the problems beforehand, it's too late when you find out halfway through the wedding that things aren't as advertised!"

"You must conduct an on-site inspection to confirm that their relevant team is competent. Have them explain the scenarios clearly, and then scrutinize the details and the contract. These things on paper are just empty words; they only count if they can be implemented!"

Luo Jun nodded slightly, clearly agreeing with what Zhao Cheng'an said. Even the way he looked at Zhao Cheng'an changed, and he began to look at Fuyou with new respect.

"Chen Huihong, can we see the scene?" Luo Jun asked.

"Sure, definitely. Do you think this plan was decided on? Jingjing and I went to every funeral home in the city and picked the one with the best service and the biggest venue for you. What Xiao Zhao said makes sense. I can arrange a meeting with the planner, and Luo Jun, you can talk to him directly at the venue."

"Let me see what date we can arrange."

"Should we call everyone to come when we're checking out the venue? Having more of us will make us seem less likely to be fooled, and it'll show them how much we value your funeral. You wait, I'll message Xiao Zhou right now!"

(End of this chapter)