Chapter 135: Receiving the "Bone Urn"

Black suit, trench coat, with a white flower pinned to the chest.

Bai Yulan was also wearing a black knee-length skirt with a plain white blouse underneath, a black women's fedora, and a white flower pinned to her chest as well. She appeared on the railway station platform alongside Zhou Sen, looking both dignified and elegant.

Zhou Sen had applied for VIP service.

After all, both he and Bai Yulan were well-known figures in Harbin. If they appeared and were recognized, they would certainly draw a crowd.

Therefore, they used the VIP passage, escorted by railway police, while the Shuangqing Club also arranged for people to enter through the ordinary entrance to maintain order undercover.

Anna had come as well, but Front had not dared to. His identity was too sensitive; his appearance could easily invite unnecessary trouble and bring danger to Zhou Sen.

Zhou Sen had not told Gu Laoliu and the others. He brought only Bai Yulan, A-Xiang, Wuen, and Uncle Chang, plus Anna, making a total of six people.

If there were too many people, it would be too conspicuous.

With five minutes left before the train pulled in, they emerged from the VIP area, stepped onto the platform, and waited quietly.

Bai Yulan linked one arm through Zhou Sen's, both of them wearing solemn expressions. However, with their exceptionally attractive appearances standing together, they immediately caught the attention of other passengers on the platform.

Those who recognized Bai Yulan immediately began to point and whisper.

As for Zhou Sen, his face was relatively unfamiliar. Although everyone already knew that Boss Bai of the Ningxiang Pavilion had taken a pretty-boy policeman as her lover, not many people had actually seen what this policeman looked like in person.

Now, they finally got to see him.

Brothel madams love money, and young girls love handsome men. A young man with good looks—not to mention unmarried maidens, even young wives adored such a sight.

Having someone like that lying beside you was enough to feast your eyes and gladden your heart.

In her first marriage, Bai Yulan had been saddled with a man approaching fifty, whose forehead wrinkles were almost deep enough to form ravines. Now that she was remarrying, could she possibly choose another man with one foot in the grave?

At such a blooming, youthful age, of course she had to find a man who was young, handsome, and capable.

Even Su Wenqing, who was old enough to be her father, had shamelessly come knocking on the door to propose marriage; he was truly a shameless old man.

Among the passengers, a reporter picked up a camera and clicked the shutter from afar. The news material for tomorrow morning was secured...

Woo-woo...

The train whistle sounded, and a somewhat weathered locomotive dragging a dozen green carriages slowly pulled into the Harbin Railway Station.

Once the train came to a complete halt, passengers heading south and returning north rushed forward in a swarm. Suddenly, the entire platform was buzzing with noise; although it had looked quite empty just moments before, it now felt overwhelmingly crowded.

The section of the platform where Zhou Sen and his group stood was directly opposite the dining car. During disembarking, this area was closed to ordinary passengers.

However, for special VIPs, they would naturally be arranged to disembark here without having to squeeze together with everyone else.

The same applied to guests in the VIP waiting area.

The awaited people finally stepped off the train—two of them. The younger one walked in front, while the older one followed closely behind, carrying a leather suitcase.

The younger man was holding a round urn in his arms, wrapped in dark cloth and tied with a knot, slung diagonally across his back.

"This must be the young master!" The older man took a step forward, approached Zhou Sen, set down the suitcase, cupped one hand in the other, and asked, "Are you Zhou Sen?"

"I am Zhou Sen."

"Young master, this is the late master's spirit urn, and his personal belongings are all in this box," the older man explained, pointing to the urn wrapped in cloth in front of the younger man.

Zhou Sen glanced at the box. It was the familiar one that Old man Anthony always carried whenever he went out.

"Thank you for your trouble." Zhou Sen cupped his fists, then reached out to take the ash urn from the younger person. "I have arranged a hotel for the two of you to stay in first. After I finish taking care of some matters, I will accompany you both around for a bit."

"You are too polite, Young Master. We were entrusted by someone to fulfill a promise. Now that the matter is settled, we won't stay long. There is a train back to Fengtian early tomorrow morning, and we will be heading back then," the older man hastily replied.

"In that case, allow me to host a banquet tonight to treat you both, and I will see you off tomorrow morning," Zhou Sen said.

"Since the Young Master commands, we dare not refuse. We thank you on behalf of the two of us."

"Uncle Chang."

"Ah, Master-in-law." Uncle Chang stepped forward.

"Trouble you to arrange accommodations for these two distinguished guests. Yulan and I will head off first," Zhou Sen instructed.

"Don't worry, Master-in-law. I guarantee the two of them will be well taken care of and won't be mistreated," Uncle Chang nodded earnestly.

Wuen drove the car. Zhou Sen held the ash urn in his arms, accompanied by Bai Yulan, A-Xiang, and Anna as the four of them headed toward the Church of the Intercession.

The "ashes" would be temporarily stored in the church, followed by some memorial and sacrificial rites, and finally burial.

The funeral would be kept as simple as possible.

After temporarily placing the ash urn, Bai Yulan accompanied Zhou Sen back to his home on Gaoshi Street in Daowai District. From now on, she would be the mistress of this house, though this was her first time here.

In the living room, a simple memorial tablet had been set up according to Chinese customs, featuring a framed black-and-white photograph.

In front of it were placed some fruit and pastry offerings, an incense burner, and a pair of candlesticks.

Old man Anthony had been dead for nearly two months, long past the forty-nine-day mourning period, so rituals like chanting scriptures and praying for reincarnation were naturally unnecessary. Besides, Old man Anthony did not believe in such things.

Zhou Sen was purely using a traditional Chinese method to pay his respects and remember him.

Dusting, washing his hands, adjusting his attire, Zhou Sen stepped forward and respectfully lit a stick of incense for Old man Anthony.

"Yulan, since you have decided to marry me as my wife and are my fiancée, you should also offer a stick of incense."

"Alright." Bai Yulan nodded, stepped forward, and offered a stick of incense to Old man Anthony.

Behind them, A-Xiang and the others took it casually. They didn't know Old man Anthony and had no relation to him, so whether they offered incense or not depended entirely on their own hearts.

However, A-Xiang and the others all followed suit and offered a stick of incense to Old man Anthony. Even Irina and Anna copied the gesture.

"Irina, help me host the guests. Yulan and I are going upstairs to talk," Zhou Sen said, carrying Old man Anthony's box of belongings in one hand and holding Bai Yulan's hand with the other as they headed up to the second floor.

"This will be your home from now on. The old man is gone, and his room is vacant. I'd like to redecorate the second floor..."

"Isn't that a bit too rushed?" Bai Yulan asked.

"Of course, but we have to plan it out first. After we get married, wherever you live, I will live with you. But this is still my ancestral home after all, and we will occasionally need to come back and stay," Zhou Sen said. "There is a small sitting room in my bedroom that I basically never use. We can partition it off for A-Xiang to live in. If Uncle Chang moves in as well, we'll need to build a few more rooms in the house. The plot of land is a bit small; I wonder if the neighbors are willing to sell..."

"If not, we can leave this old home as it is. I have a plot of land in Xiangfang District that I originally kept as a backup plan. How about selling it to you?" Bai Yulan offered.

"How big is it?"

"Not very big, about three mu or so. It was very cheap when I bought it, but now its value has multiplied several times."

"Deal! I'll buy it and build a home of our own!" Zhou Sen understood Bai Yulan's intention the moment he heard it.

"I'm thinking of a Chinese architectural style, borrowing some Western construction techniques. What do you think?"

"Good."

"Then I'll design it and strive to start construction this year so we can move in by next year," Bai Yulan said.

"That's going to cost quite a bit of money, right?"

"Timber won't cost much; the difficult part is transportation. Once spring comes, it will be much easier. Water transport is far more convenient than land transport. Uncle Chang has spent these past years in the mountains making a living by logging. The forestry farm he worked at can supply us with timber, which will save a lot of money."

"What about blue bricks? Not many brick kilns here in Harbin know how to fire blue bricks, do they?" Zhou Sen asked. If they wanted to build a fully traditional Chinese-style house, blue bricks were indispensable.

"You don't need to worry about that."

"Alright, I'll leave everything to you. Anyway, the family's financial power is in your hands; do whatever you want with it."

"Then what about here..."

"We won't change this place. After all, it's the ancestral home, and we aren't short on money. Let's keep it as a keepsake," Zhou Sen thought for a moment and said.

"That works too."

"This is my room. Have a look around..." Zhou Sen led Bai Yulan into his room and made a broad, welcoming gesture.

"It's quite nice and very clean. I wouldn't have thought a big guy like you could keep a room so tidy?"

"Irina helps me clean the room, but I organize my clothes, shoes, and hats all by myself without letting others touch them. After all, they're personal items," Zhou Sen chuckled and explained. "From now on, this room and the person inside it belong to you."

"Shameless!"

"Come on, let's go to the study, sort out the old man's belongings, pick out some of his favorite items, and then arrange the burial," Zhou Sen said.

"Shh." When the two reached the study door, Zhou Sen motioned for Bai Yulan to step more lightly.

Bai Yulan understood instantly and nodded.

Walking on tiptoe, the two opened the door and entered the study.

Zhou Sen brought over a chair, placed it right under the hanging lamp, and gestured for Bai Yulan to stand on it. If his guess was correct, that wiretap should still be there.

Bai Yulan stepped up doubtfully, and upon seeing the wiretap on the chandelier, she was so surprised that she instinctively covered her mouth with her hand.

Zhou Sen motioned for her to come down.

Bai Yulan carefully stepped down from the chair and was about to ask a question when Zhou Sen suddenly covered her mouth with his hand.

"Yulan, this is the study of my adoptive father, Anthony. It was the place I disliked coming to the most in the past. Every time I came here, it was because I had done something wrong and was going to be beaten. Later on, unless he called for me, I wouldn't step foot in here even half a step."

Bai Yulan smiled, pressing her lips together. "You've got a psychological shadow from it."

"You could say that. Now that he's gone, looking back, I actually wish he could call me in here one more time and give me a beating."

"Is this a Shashka saber?" Bai Yulan's gaze was instantly drawn to the Shashka saber resting on the weapon rack.

"You recognize this sword?"

"Of course. Have you forgotten my background?" Bai Yulan nodded. Coming from a family of military generals dating back to the late Qing Dynasty, why would it be strange for her to recognize a Cossack cavalry saber?

"Judging by the craftsmanship of this sword and the gemstones on the hilt, its original owner was at least a general."

"Whether this sword belonged to a general, I don't know, but Old man Anthony really spent a lot of money on it; it was one of his favorite possessions. If not, let's have it buried underground with him, along with a set of Cossack cavalry armor and protective gear."

"A complete set of items like this is probably very hard to gather nowadays. Do you really have the heart to bury them in the yellow earth to rot and age?" Bai Yulan asked.

"Keeping them here is useless to me anyway," Zhou Sen said. "Unless, Yulan, you like them?"

"I do like them somewhat, but a gentleman does not covet what others love. Since it was your adoptive father's favorite possession, it's better to let them accompany him into his long sleep underground." Though she said she didn't want them, there was still a hint of reluctance in her heart.

"Since you like them, Yulan, I'll give them to you," Zhou Sen said. "You're not an outsider anyway. Passing down this armor and sword is also a good thing; they don't necessarily have to be buried deep underground. I'm sure the old man wouldn't mind."