Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle

Chapter 1213 580: An Unconventional Funeral

The work of a funeral is complex and tedious.

If it weren't for Zhou Hu's professional team, Qin Huai couldn't even imagine what Luo Jun's funeral would turn into. Let's just say that Luo Jun's long-prepared funeral was foresightful.

Although this funeral mode is a bit strange.

Luo Jun's funeral did not have a clear memorial service time; in fact, there wasn't a memorial service. In Luo Jun's words, he disliked the idea of his body lying in an ice coffin with a bunch of people saying insincere eulogies. He didn't consider himself a good person, nor was he well-liked, so there might be few people genuinely saddened by his death.

As for the funeral, the more people, the merrier. Guests should just remember to bring cash gifts.

Of course, Luo Jun wasn't one to play favorites. He offered every attendee an equal chance to get rich—

Two scratch cards per person per day.

Yes, two scratch cards per person per day.

Once the procedures at the funeral home were over and everyone moved to the sub-venue for plays, crosstalk, and opera, Zhou Hu's team would distribute more scratch cards. Considering that Luo Jun bought 880,000 worth of scratch cards, a massive number, if not enough were distributed at the start, it would be impossible to hand them all out. On the last day, the distribution would increase to 2-6 cards per hour until they were all gone.

This unconventional funeral approach left the residents of Yunzhong District, who hurried to the funeral home with cash gifts in hand, completely bewildered.

One hand held a cash gift, the other held scratch cards. To outsiders, it might have seemed they had come to buy scratch cards instead.

Most who arrived that day were Yunzhong District residents. Although at least 50% had never met Luo Jun, as the famous recluse of Yunzhong District, even kindergarteners in the community had heard of him.

Since Luo Jun was incredibly close to Qin Huai, regardless of personal ties with Luo Jun, everyone was willing to support him for Qin Huai's sake.

In reality, everyone thought the same: Luo Jun was a solitary old man without friends or family. Alone when alive, a desolate funeral after death would be pitiable.

Everyone with this mindset arriving at the funeral home was stunned.

With Luo Jun's finances in order, Zhou Hu's team set up a small table at the funeral home entrance to register the names of visitors attending and their cash gift amounts, while distributing the scratch cards.

Li Liang, the eternally uncracked egg-boiling boss of the convenience store opposite Yunzhong Restaurant, joined a carpool to the funeral home, hoping to curry a little favor with Master Qin. Perhaps Master Qin would notice him and quietly offer some extra perks in the future, like giving him three bags of Fermented Rice with Steamed Buns when he only bought three.

Yes, a carpool.

No way around it, Li Liang explained that the funeral home was too far from the city center, and he ran a small convenience store. Had he not convinced three other convenience store owners to join him on this face-showing act in front of Master Qin, the round-trip transport and cash gift would make this day a loss.

Li Liang had never attended a funeral before.

Seeing a small table directly set up for registry at the funeral home entrance made him nervous. He whispered to his companions, "Is 300 too little for our cash gift?"

The companion, whose convenience store was beneath an office building and thus thrived, gave him a condescending look and said, "I gave 500."

Li Liang: ...

Another was shocked: "What? You gave so much, I only gave 200!"

When the fourth person was about to speak, their phone rang first, and Zhang Shumei's voice was audible:

"Hello, is this Mr. Liu Qiguang, owner of 101 Convenience Store? I am a friend of Mr. Luo Jun, who passed away at home at 10:40 this morning. If you have time, we hope you can come in the next three days to..."

"..."

When Liu Qiguang hung up, he was dazed: "Mr. Luo specifically named me to attend his funeral. Is 700 too little?"

"You gave 700???" The other three screeched.

Then their screams were cut by phone rings, all three simultaneously receiving calls with identical messages inviting them to Luo Jun's funeral within the next three days.

This left the four of them in mutual bewilderment.

They glanced at each other and spoke in unison: "Are our gifts too little?"

"Did you bring cash?"

Ultimately, due to limited cash and not allowing anyone to outshine the others, each divided their gifts equally, each putting 500 into the envelope.

The four queued to register.

Performing the registration was a competent girl from Zhou Hu's team, who subconsciously asked upon seeing their names: "Hello, did you four come on your own or receive a call..."

"We just received a call." Li Liang answered swiftly.

The girl leafed through the basket behind her by their names, found four envelopes, handed one to each, and then gave out two scratch cards apiece.

"Mr. Luo Jun's mourning hall is straight ahead, turn left after you see the sign. According to Mr. Luo Jun's instructions, he didn't want guests to light incense for him during the tribute, so there are no kneeling pads in the hall. If you want to take pictures for social media, please ensure they look nice, as this is also Mr. Luo Jun's last wish."

Four people: ???

"The hall has two tables specifically for scratch cards, and there are tools for scratching. If you win a prize, you can redeem it in the room to the right of the hall."

"Meanwhile, hot dishes, desserts, and fruit are available 24 hours in the hall. You can help yourself to the food in the room to the left of the hall. If there's a shortage, you can ask the staff for a refill. As for drinks, we currently offer hot tea, Coke, Sprite, plain water, lemon tea, and juice. While drinking in the hall is not permitted as cleaning spills can be inconvenient, we hope for your understanding."

"The inner hall is equipped with four mahjong machines, two PS5s, and the movies and TV shows playing are selections made by Mr. Luo Jun himself. These cannot be changed."

"Additionally, starting tomorrow, we will set up a stage 120 km away from the city in Wang Family Village. From 10 AM to 9 PM, there will be non-stop plays, cross-talk shows, opera, stand-up comedy, and song and dance performances. The venue there is larger and more diverse, and Mr. Luo Jun hopes every guest attending the tribute can go there to watch the performances."

"Every day at 8 AM, 10 AM, 1 PM, and 3 PM in the afternoon, there will be free shuttle buses at the entrance of Yunzhong District. You can take them as needed."

All four were completely dumbfounded.

The young girl was evidently accustomed to such reactions and finally pointed to the envelopes in their hands: "These are gifts from Mr. Luo Jun, you can open them after scratching the tickets."

Having said that, the young girl started fiddling with her recorder, playing back a few phrases, and cheerfully said to herself, "Great, this time I finally said it smoothly."

Though the four people didn't understand why they should wait to open the envelopes after scratching the tickets, they chose to comply, carrying the envelopes and scratch cards, following the instructions to the hall, discovering that this hall had essentially turned into a joyful place for playing mahjong, watching TV, and scratching tickets.

Even the music wasn't funeral music.

It was rock.

Four people: ???

Eventually, Li Liang expressed with wonder, "Mr. Luo really is... distinctive."

As a convenience store owner warned by Luo Jun several times about tea eggs without cracking, Li Liang was well aware that Luo Jun was a very unique old man. Businesses near Yunzhong District that had been criticized by Luo Jun had mixed feelings about him—love and hate.

First, Luo Jun's critiques were truly harsh.

His negative reviews were genuinely negative.

But Luo Jun's negative reviews could attract good traffic, and as long as the negative reviews weren't directed at themselves, it was quite satisfying to watch.

What's more enjoyable than watching your peers get criticized?

Chen Huihong was completely absorbed in playing mahjong, oblivious to the world, clearly winning plenty of money given her expressions. In stark contrast was Qu Jing, playing while suspecting her life choices.

Li Liang observed around and found everyone was having a great time, not only taking pictures for social media but also shooting videos.

While eating in the hall wasn't allowed, outside the hall was a large self-service buffet, with everyone holding a plate. The dishes looked quite appetizing, featuring grilled lamb ribs, roast duck, roast goose, barbecued pork, braised pork, lion's head meatballs, deep-fried balls, and mushroom stew chicken. Desserts ranged from tiramisu to Basque, making Li Liang's stomach growl.

Li Liang had reason to believe many originally intended to pay their respects quickly and leave but found themselves captivated by the buffet, leading to a crowd at the hall even by 9 PM, with possibly more guests arriving.

Li Liang scratched his lottery tickets.

He was lucky, winning 100 yuan.

Li Liang happily went to redeem the prize, and after redeeming it, he went to eat, completely forgetting he was actually attending someone's funeral.

Upon picking up his plate, Li Liang finally remembered he still had an unopened envelope, so he took it out from his pocket, opened it, and inside was a card with a single sentence written by Luo Jun himself.

[Don't crack the tea eggs next time, I'll crack your head.]

It didn't even have punctuation.

Li Liang chuckled.

For some reason, as Li Liang laughed, tears started to flow.

Li Liang carefully placed the card back into the envelope and tucked the envelope into his pocket.

Li Liang decided to eat more, to make up for the white envelope he packaged today.

Just as he picked up the second piece of grilled lamb chops, Qin Huai's voice came from outside.

"The fermented rice with steamed buns is ready, hurry and eat them while hot. The dried tangerine peel tea will be ready in 10 minutes. Sister Hong, stop playing cards and come eat something."

"You've been playing mahjong all day, Qu Jing's salary this month has almost gone to you."