"Yu Longting, seriously, can’t you just call me mom?" I looked at Yu Longting with a stern face.

Yu Longting’s phoenix-like eyes squinted slightly, the dense lashes intertwining, obscuring his ambiguous gaze.

Qing Li waved her hand, "No need for that, I don’t like things too mushy."

"Mom." A voice as faint as a mosquito’s hum came out, you’d miss it in the rain if you weren’t paying attention.

After confirming carefully, I was sure it came from Yu Longting’s mouth.

I felt both surprised and inexplicably moved.

Even Qing Li, usually as cold as frost, turned a bit pale.

A little uncomfortable and somewhat unexpected, "I... plan to buy a big coffin first."

In Fengdu, coffin shops rarely sell oversized coffins, most are economical and practical thin wooden types.

Cremation is the trend now, and even solid wood coffin shops are hard to find.

They usually have plywood thin wooden coffins, dressed up a bit for appearances.

We only found a ready-made, double-sized large coffin at a very discreet store on Old Street.

The coffin was made of pure locust wood, coated in black lacquer.

Then patterns of things like pagodas and lotus flowers were painted on with a gold lacquer, looking quite splendid.

But the price was also horrifically high; the craftsman running the coffin shop immediately quoted six hundred thousand.

Because the coffin was so large, there were very few buyers.

He said it was already a promotional discount, so there was no room for negotiation.

I was about to resign myself to being ripped off when I suddenly saw a neighboring house with a yard full of coffins.

I immediately said to the craftsman in the coffin shop, "This coffin is indeed rare, the materials used are sophisticated and the craftsmanship is excellent, but six hundred thousand is truly beyond what we can afford. I see the neighbors also sell coffins; why don’t I go and ask them first?"

These days, competitors set the going rate.

Two businesses selling coffins right opposite each other—I wagered their relationship wasn’t great.

"Then go next door and ask," the craftsman selling coffins, still stubborn as a bull, stayed put and took a drag of his pipe, grumpily letting us head next door.

I nearly blanked on the spot, this was a case of lifting a stone only to drop it on one’s own foot.

But Yu Longting and Qing Li didn’t hesitate at all, and led me to the neighbors.

We’d barely taken two steps when the craftsman caught up, "Alright, alright, you win. What price do you think is reasonable?"

"Twenty-eight thousand," Qing Li said leisurely.

The craftsman scowled, "Fine, just head to the neighbors then; twenty-eight thousand and I’d make no profit!"

"Then you tell me, how much?" Qing Li, who usually stayed in her tower, untouched by the world, now actually wanted to negotiate.

I wasn’t sure she could handle the real world.

The craftsman’s eyes darted around, "At least two hundred eighty thousand."

Ha, I just chuckled.

A sixty thousand item got halved in a haggle.

"Two hundred eighty thousand is too much, daughter-in-law, what do you think?" Qing Li suddenly tossed the problem to me.

No matter how much you haggle it down, it’s still a lot of money.

Calculating the weight of our purse in my heart, it felt like it was bleeding, "Eighty-eight thousand."

"Alright, deal!" The craftsman agreed quickly.

My whole face turned green, I felt like I had lost big time.

Yu Longting, seeing my downcast expression, couldn’t help but laugh.

Then Qing Li laughed too.

These two, do they take pleasure in my misfortune??

It’s infuriating, they don’t know the cost of living unless they manage the household themselves.

Though I had no idea what such a big coffin was going to be used for, for me, saving as much as possible was essential.

Yu Longting saw me fuming, my nose nearly crooked with anger, and spoke up to save face, "Eighty-eight thousand is a price we can pay, but could you throw in some extras, considering we’re buying such a big item from you?"