Chapter 69 But...why...

"dad!"

Zhang Mingyuan cried out in grief, "Why..."

Why are you ignoring me?

"Mingyuan?"

"elder brother?"

Seeing his sorrowful face, Old Zhang's wife and Zhang Mingjiao quickly flanked him, asking with concern, "What happened to you?"

"Mingyuan, did you see your father?"

Zhang Yuanming nodded hurriedly, the pattering raindrops falling on him, making it impossible to distinguish the tears on his face.

His gaze was fixed straight ahead. He hastily wiped the tears from his eyes with one hand, while his other hand trembled as he held up the drawing paper and offered it to them.

Old Zhang's wife and Zhang Mingjiao looked down, puzzled.

Zhang Mingjiao reached out to take it, but found that her brother was holding it tightly, which made her even more puzzled: "Who drew this of Dad?"

Upon hearing this, Zhong Wan whispered, "It's me."

"Zhong Wan?"

Zhang Mingjiao squinted and looked in the direction of the voice, thanking them in a low voice: "Thank you, my dad rarely takes pictures, there are only a few of his photos at home."

"Yes, you're welcome."

Zhong Wan sighed and continued, "You can take the painting, but I also hope you can persuade Uncle Zhang to resolve his obsession as soon as possible and let his soul be freed."

"My father's obsession?"

"Yes."

Zhong Wan nodded, her gaze fixed ahead, watching the tireless figure still working, and then she lowered her eyes helplessly.

Her extraordinary encounters allowed her to paint ghosts and dispel her lingering thoughts, but she was powerless to resolve the obsessions in people's hearts.

Perhaps she could have directly contacted Old Zhang's ghost and read his obsessions.

But what can you do about it?

What good will reading it do? We don't even know if it will resolve the issue.

Moreover, she felt that if she had the ability to build a bridge between the dead and the living...

So why not give it a try?

Moreover, if you put yourself in her shoes, if it were her parents, even if they were ghosts, she would desperately want to see them again...

Zhong Wan sighed heavily, pointed to the drawing paper in her hand, and explained in a low voice, "Look down at it."

"After you finish reading this, you'll be able to see the person you want to see."

Although it sounded very unreliable, looking at her brother's strange expression,

Zhang Mingjiao obediently did as she was told.

Old Zhang's wife glanced blankly at Zhong Wan, and after seeing her nod slightly, she lowered her head, her eyes red and swollen.

Looking at the familiar figure on the drawing paper, he looked up in confusion...

Upon seeing that transparent figure

Old Zhang's wife could no longer hold back and staggered towards him.

Zhang Mingjiao and Zhang Mingyuan quickly followed.

"Old Zhang!"

"Waaah... Old Zhang... Does it hurt?"

"Dad...look at me, okay?"

"Waaah... Daddy..."

Old Zhang's wife stopped in front of him, her hands trembling as she reached out to hug him, but unexpectedly her hands passed right through his body.

Old Zhang's wife was stunned for a moment, then realized what was happening and burst into tears.

"Why?"

"Zhang Dashan! Look at me!"

"He has lost his reason; all that remains is the obsession of his soul."

Zhong Wan took two steps closer and explained, "His obsession allowed him to exist, but it also became a shackle that trapped his soul."

Obsession? Shackles?

"Um."

Old Zhang's wife looked down at the dark blue chain on his body, and after recognizing the two familiar strings of numbers on it, she froze, then burst into tears and laughter.

"Zhang Dashan, you're so stupid..."

Old Zhang's wife reached out and gently stroked his face, her eyes filled with tears, but the corners of her mouth turned up slightly.

"Why remember these things when you're already dead?"

"Mom? What's this?"

Zhang Mingjiao asked, puzzled, "What is the meaning of these two strings of numbers?"

After seeing it clearly, Zhang Mingyuan closed his eyes helplessly.

With his hands clenched tightly and his teeth clenched, he said, word by word, "It's my fault!"

"It's all my fault!"

His eyes were bloodshot as he turned to his mother, his voice hoarse as he asked, "Mom! You bought me a house, didn't you?!"

Old Zhang's wife nodded with teary eyes, her voice a mix of sobbing and laughter, and said, "Yes, we planned this before you even graduated from university, and we bought it the year before last."

“Your dad said that we don’t have any other skills, but at least we should do as much as we can while we are still able, so that you won’t be looked down upon by girls because you don’t have a house.”

"3280 is the monthly mortgage payment we have to make each month,"

"What about 876?"

Old Zhang's wife was silent for a moment after hearing this, then looked at Old Zhang with a sorrowful expression: "It's my monthly medicine money."

"The cost of the medicine?!"

"Mom, what's wrong?"

She looked at the blurry figure before her, then at the distant mine, and said, choking back tears, "If only I hadn't listened to your father and resigned."

"If I hadn't resigned, I wish I had been the one who died..."

"mom!"

"Mom! You're not allowed to say that!"

Zhang Mingyuan and Zhang Mingjiao shouted in unison.

Old Zhang's wife shook her head with a bitter smile: "What's the point of me living?"

“I had a cold last year but I didn’t pay attention to it and continued to go to work. I never expected to faint in the workshop. What I didn’t expect was that the hospital examination showed that I had asthma.”

"Asthma? That can cost money to prolong your life."

"I don't have medical insurance, and my medication alone costs over 800 yuan a month!"

"You can't do without either long-term life-saving medication or emergency life-saving medication!"

Old Zhang's wife covered her face and cried, "Once I halved my dosage, and the inhaler was expired but I kept using it. I thought it would be fine, but I never expected..."

"I never expected to have to go to the hospital again. All the money I've saved by being frugal has been wasted on this illness."

"A single hospital visit costs two or three thousand..."

"When your dad found out, he scolded me severely. In all the years we've been married, that was the first time he'd ever given me the cold shoulder..."

She sniffed, her eyes blurry with tears, and looked at Old Zhang with loving eyes, choking back sobs as she said, "He said that money is not as important as life. As long as he is here, I will take my medicine on time."

"But...why...are you still so stubborn even though you're gone?"

"Old Zhang, how about you be selfish just this once?"

"Work……"

"I need to work..."

"I can still make money..."

Hearing Old Zhang stubbornly repeat these three sentences, Old Zhang's wife burst into tears and cried, "Zhang Dashan!"

"You're dead now, can't you rest in peace?"

As if remembering something, Old Zhang's wife raised her hand to wipe her face and smiled weakly, "You didn't die in vain."

"The mine lost three million."

"Three million! That's enough to pay off the debts of the apartment we bought in Xingfu Jiayuan in the west of the city, and we'll still have a lot left over."

"Old Zhang, rest in peace..."

"I'll listen to you and take my medicine on time, okay?"

Hearing Old Zhang's wife's desperate pleas, Zhang Mingyue and Zhang Mingjiao also joined in the persuasion.

Zhang Mingyuan closed his eyes, then looked at his father and said in a choked voice, "Dad, go in peace."

"I found a stable job with insurance, room and board included, and a monthly salary of eight thousand."

"Dad, with me here, you don't need to worry about the family. Go on your journey in peace."

"Oh, right, and my books too,"

Zhang Mingyuan smiled wryly and continued, "I know you're still looking forward to the sequel. How about I burn it for you after I finish writing it?"