-58- Leave

"Wanfeng's dead." To Zhao Jinghuan, the words felt too unreal. After all, only a week ago, Wanfeng had stood before her, perfectly healthy. Zhao Jinghuan briefly thought it was an April Fool's joke, but she couldn't find the joke. She kept calling back, finally reaching Lu Kai half an hour later. Lu Kai's voice was filled with confusion, his responses mechanical, like a clunky machine. "Where are you now?" "I'm at Wanfeng's house... I'm downstairs." "Has Wanfeng's family arrived?" "His mother arrived this morning. And his uncle. Some relatives are coming, too. I'm waiting here. They can't find Wanfeng's house." "Give me the address, and I'll find you." Zhao Jinghuan rode her trolley across the city. When she arrived, Lu Kai was sitting on the curb at the entrance to the complex. The temperature on that March night was only around seven or eight degrees Celsius. Zhao Jinghuan walked over and pulled Lu Kai up. Touching his hand was like touching soft ice, but he was oblivious. Wanfeng's body had been taken to the funeral home. After nightfall, his mother and uncle held a vigil at his house. Lu Kai waited outside the community, collecting the arriving family members. Each group, upon arrival, inquired about the circumstances of Wanfeng's death. They had only received vague information. Saddened by the loss of a kind young man, they desired more details, but they felt that questioning Wanfeng's loved ones was too cruel. Lu Kai, who was now in front of them, was a better option. So, Lu Kai repeated this story over and over throughout the night. Zhao Jinghuan also learned the details of how Wanfeng was found dead: Wanfeng had called his mother, who lived alone, every day to chat with her. On Thursday, he hadn't contacted her, nor had he responded to her messages. After learning that Wanfeng and Lu Kai had had an argument and hadn't been at work, his mother contacted the property management company to check on the family, where they found Wanfeng deceased. Zhao Jinghuan could hardly imagine the grief Lu Kai must have felt as he recounted these events over and over again. This repetitive narrative seemed to drain all of Lu Kai's energy. Between the arrivals of two groups of relatives, he leaned or sat on whatever support he could find, uttering no words. All Zhao Jinghuan could do was hold his cold hand tightly. … … Zhao Jinghuan notified Zou Jie, Fanqie, and Dorasi of the three-day wake. After much hesitation, they decided not to go and cause trouble. After all, although Wanfeng came from a single-parent family, they did have quite a few relatives. The wake concluded…

"Evening Breeze passed away."

For Zhao Jinghuan, this sentence was too unreal. After all, it was only a week ago that Wanfeng was standing in front of her.

Zhao Jinghuan once thought it was an April Fool's joke, but she couldn't find the funny part.

She kept calling back and finally got through to Lu Kai half an hour later. Lu Kai's voice was filled with confusion. He was like a less sensitive machine, responding mechanically to Zhao Jinghuan's questions.

"Where are you now?"

"I'm at Wanfeng's house... I'm downstairs from them."

"Has Wanfeng's family arrived?"

"His mother arrived this morning. And his uncle. Some relatives are coming too. I'm waiting for them here. They can't find Wanfeng's home."

"Give me the address and I'll come find you."

Zhao Jinghuan rode a tram across most of the city. When she arrived, Lu Kai was sitting on the side of the road at the entrance of the community. The temperature was only around 7 or 8 degrees Celsius on that March night. Zhao Jinghuan walked over and pulled Lu Kai up. When she touched his hand, it was like touching soft ice, but he was completely unaware.

Wanfeng's body had been sent to the funeral home. After nightfall, his mother and uncle kept vigil in Wanfeng's house. Lu Kai waited outside the community, picking up relatives from Wanfeng's home who came one after another.

After each group arrived, they would ask about Wan Feng's death. They had only received vague information when they arrived. They were saddened by the departure of a kind young man and wanted to know more details, but they felt that questioning Wan Feng's relatives was too cruel. Lu Kai was a better choice.

Lu Kai repeated this all night long. Zhao Jinghuan also learned how Wanfeng was found dead: Wanfeng would call his mother, who lived alone, every day to chat with her, but on Thursday, he didn't contact her or reply to her messages. After learning that Wanfeng and Lu Kai had a conflict and he didn't go to work, Wanfeng's mother contacted the property management to check on the house and found Wanfeng deceased.

Zhao Jinghuan couldn't imagine how sad Lu Kai must have felt as he recounted these events over and over again. This repetitive narration seemed to have drained all of Lu Kai's energy. Between the arrivals of two groups of relatives, he would lean or sit on anything that offered support, saying nothing.

All Zhao Jinghuan could do was hold his cold hand tightly.

…………

Zhao Jinghuan successively notified Sister Zou, Fanqie, and Dorasi about the three-day funeral. After much hesitation, they decided not to go and cause trouble for others. After all, although Wanfeng came from a single-parent family, he had quite a few relatives at home.

The day after the funeral, they went to attend Wanfeng's cremation ceremony. Dorasi's eyes reddened as he reached the crematorium entrance, unwilling to go any further. Tomato, also feeling a bit overwhelmed by the cemetery's oppressive atmosphere, stayed behind to accompany Dorasi.

Lu Kai, Zhao Jinghuan, and Sister Zou represented Waikiki at Wanfeng's farewell ceremony. Lu Kai's parents also arrived from their hometown. Lu Kai's mother's eyes were swollen from crying, clearly unwilling to believe that Wanfeng, who had been a child in her eyes, had passed away. Throughout the ceremony, Lu Kai's mother held Zhao Jinghuan tightly, her body trembling with grief.

The funeral master of ceremonies led everyone through the process step by step. When introducing the deceased, he deliberately exaggerated Wanfeng's experience, saying that he had been influenced by his mother to like art since he was a child. He showed his talent at a very young age, was admitted to a good school, and became a famous trendy toy designer after graduation.

It is a common practice at funerals to glorify and exaggerate the experiences of the deceased, but when Zhao Jinghuan and the others heard these words, they felt mixed emotions.

When the funeral was about to end, Wanfeng and Lu Kai's other two roommates arrived. The three of them went to express their condolences to Wanfeng's mother, and Lu Kai's mother also followed.

Sister Zou and Zhao Jinghuan stood side by side for a while before suddenly speaking. "Wanfeng is a slow eater. When I first met him, he ate even slower than I did, chewing his food very slowly. I used to tease him, saying he could live the longest, that even if the Earth died, he'd still be alive, floating in the universe, leisurely eating his meal."

The ceremony in the "Farewell Hall" ended quickly. The master of ceremonies led everyone out of the farewell hall, and then the staff came in and pushed Wanfeng's body to the crematorium.

When Zhao Jinghuan and the others came out, the family members in the next hall were crying hysterically, but Wanfeng's mother kept gritting her teeth and didn't say a word.

After the cremation was completed, Wanfeng's uncle held Wanfeng's mother's hand and said his final goodbye to Wanfeng. Then, accompanied by the staff, Wanfeng's ashes were sent to the Buddhist altar in the cemetery for temporary storage, waiting to be moved to the cemetery after the seventh day.

By this time, all the ceremonies were over. The host's relatives came to thank the colleagues and classmates who had participated in the ceremony and took them to the hotel they had booked in advance for dinner. Everyone gradually left, following the host's relatives who were in charge of leading the way, and walked out of the cemetery.

Sister Zou and Zhao Jinghuan did not leave. They stood at the bottom of the more than one hundred stone steps in front of the Buddhist altar, waiting for Lu Kai, who had accompanied Wanfeng's family into the Buddhist altar, to come back.

Looking up at the altar, Zhao Jinghuan also saw the sky high and far behind it. She had never seen the sky so far, and for a moment, the world seemed a little distorted. She first said without a clear beginning or end, "When I was cremated, the name written on the box wasn't Wanfeng's, but Zhou Lecheng's."

Then he suddenly asked, "Did they deliberately build the altar at the highest point in the sky?"

She said these words, but she didn't know what she wanted to express. After a long time, Lu Kai and his parents came out of the altar, followed by Wanfeng's mother and uncle.

Lu Kai waved to Zhao Jinghuan and Sister Zou from a distance, signaling them to go ahead and not disturb Wanfeng's mother. So Zhao Jinghuan and Sister Zou became the ones who led the way.

Zhao Jinghuan walked, thinking. They were getting farther and farther away from the sky high above the altar. After a while, she heard low voices coming from behind. Turning back, she saw that it was Wanfeng's mother who had stopped. She broke free from Wanfeng's uncle's support and stumbled to the side of the green plants. She squatted down and began to retch violently. She hadn't cried during the ceremony that lasted almost the entire morning, but now she cried. As she retched with all her might, she sobbed with all her might. The two sounds mixed together, forming an indescribable howl. It was not a sound derived from language, but more like an animal's instinct. Zhao Jinghuan had never heard such a sound before, but at that moment she knew that all animals who had lost their children would make the same sound.

They turned their backs to each other in the empty square with almost no shelter, trying hard to give Wanfeng's mother some privacy, which she didn't care about.

The immense sorrow finally took shape as she cried, and finally fell slowly to the ground. Zhao Jinghuan's heart twisted fiercely, and it was only then that she was finally sure that Wanfeng had truly left this world.

He won't be coming back.