His words still betrayed his resentment towards his son. Everyone agreed with Yunyang's request, and Yun Dongxing even lay on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.

Yunqi helped Yunxia up from the ground, took her to the side, and gently comforted her.

"Yunqi, we really didn't expect things to turn out this way. If only we hadn't slept so soundly that night, if only we had pleaded a little more, we definitely would have been able to borrow the medicinal herbs. It's all our fault. How could we just listen to her and refuse to lend them if she said she wouldn't?" After saying that, she hugged Yunqi and cried bitterly.

Yunqi patted her shoulder to comfort her: "Nobody wants this to happen. Let her go in peace now. You all still need to take care of these things."

At this time, several aunts who lived nearby also came over. Grandpa Yang took out the burial clothes he had prepared beforehand from the kang cabinet, found Grandma Yang's clothes, and handed them to Yunxia. According to the local tradition, it should be the daughter who dresses her mother in the burial clothes, but now that they are so far away, Aunt Yunxia has no way to notify her, and her daughter-in-law has even less of a chance. So this matter fell to Yunxia.

With the help of her aunts, Yunxia helped her grandmother prepare her body and dress her in her burial clothes.

The weather is cold now, and everyone had agreed to cremate the person this afternoon, but Yunyang insisted that the cremation could only be done the next day and asked everyone to come and help the next day.

Everyone naturally followed his wishes and agreed to come back to help the next day at noon.

At this point, everyone refused to stay for dinner and told Yun Dongxing that he didn't need to prepare any food for the next day, just hot water and ginger soup.

Before leaving, Second Grandfather and the others specifically instructed Yun Dongxing to keep an eye on his father. Yun Yang had been too calm, almost unnaturally so.

But to everyone's surprise, something still happened the next day.

When everyone arrived at Yunyang's house the next day, they found Yun Dongxing kneeling in front of the kang (a heated brick bed) with Yunxia and Yunheng, while Grandpa Yang and Grandma Yang were lying side by side on the kang.

Seeing this, the second grandfather could no longer hold back and swung his cane, hitting Yun Dongxing hard several times.

"Didn't I specifically tell you to keep an eye on your dad? You've been keeping an eye on him just like that, but you can't even take care of your mother, and now you can't even keep an eye on your father. You've really done a good job."

Yun Dongxing didn't argue, kneeling there blankly, saying nothing more. He couldn't understand what had happened to the world. How long had it been? A harmonious family that everyone envied had crumbled like this.

Seeing him like this, the second grandfather pointed at Yun Heng and asked, "The three of you can't even keep an eye on an old man? Now tell me what's going on?"

Yunheng answered while crying, "Last night, we all stayed here. My grandfather told us all to go out, as he wanted to stay by himself for a while. At first, we were worried and insisted on staying with him, but my grandfather got angry with us. He said, 'I just want to stay with her for a little while, just let me stay quietly with her for a bit, and say some sweet words to her, okay?' We had no choice but to agree to let him stay for a short while, and then we all went out." At this point, Yunheng couldn't continue, and was too sobbing to speak.

Yunxia then picked up where her brother left off: "We didn't dare go far, we stayed in the house next door. We kept hearing my grandfather talking to my grandmother, and then the sound gradually stopped. We quickly pushed open the door and went in, and found that my grandfather had already changed into a thin burial shroud and opened all the wooden windows. When we came in, my grandfather just looked at us and then he was gone."

Hearing this, everyone couldn't help but shed tears. No one could have imagined that someone who was always quiet and reserved in the village would go to such lengths to be with someone in life and death.

"No wonder he requested yesterday that the cremation be held today; it turns out he had already made preparations in his mind yesterday."

"Grandpa Yang let Grandma Yang make the decisions her whole life. The couple never blushed. This may be the only decision Grandpa Yang ever made."

"This damn world."

Once everyone came to their senses, they looked at the three people kneeling on the ground and didn't try to comfort them anymore; saying anything more at this point would have been too meaningless.

Several aunts went to the kitchen and prepared a large pot of ginger water to help everyone ward off the cold. The others went to the woodshed to move the wood to an open space in the village. The weather was too cold, so no one dared to go too far. They could only choose a secluded spot in the village for cremation.

After everyone had finished making all the preparations, they carried a large door panel, intending to move the two elders onto the fire.

It was only when they were moving things that they discovered that Grandpa Yang's hand was tightly gripping Grandma Yang's hand, and he couldn't let go.

Upon seeing this scene, everyone couldn't help but burst into tears.

Finally, two more people came up and lifted them together onto the wooden plank, preventing them from being separated.

The whole process was very depressing, and everyone who came to the funeral was moved by Grandpa Yang.

Their love wasn't passionate or dramatic, nor did they experience the trials and tribulations of separation and reunion. Their lives were ordinary and simple, filled with mutual support and companionship. Yet, they truly remained together through thick and thin.

After saying their final farewells, they poured gasoline around the pile of firewood and asked Yun Dongxing to light it. Yun Dongxing couldn't bring himself to do it, and in the end, Yun Heng did it for him.

After attending the funeral of the two elders, the village seemed even more silent. In the days that followed, everyone stopped visiting each other. Except for Yun Dongxing, who, along with his two children, gave two jin of noodles to each of the villagers who had helped out, and personally thanked them one by one.

Yun Qi looked down on Yun Dongxing, feeling that he lacked responsibility.

Previously, everything had gone smoothly for them; one would expect someone running a business in the city to be quite resilient. However, a small family conflict devastated their family, leaving them in this state. If he had been willing to swallow his pride and go to several different households to ask for help, even if he couldn't borrow from others, he could have at least borrowed the medicine he had prepared.

Yunxia and Yunheng are both working adults now, yet they haven't shared any household responsibilities, relying entirely on their elders. Now, they have no choice but to shoulder the burden of the family.

This incident also served as a wake-up call for the villagers: times have changed, children cannot be spoiled, and they must be taught the responsibilities they should bear. Otherwise, such tragedies may never happen again.

The Yun family stayed home and worked overtime to prepare the medicine for treating the cold.

Now that the medicine is ready, how do we get it out? The family is in trouble again. The thought of having medicinal herbs they can't share is unsettling.

Si Cheng then said to them, "How about I go out for a bit and pretend I came from outside?"

Everyone objected, saying, "It's not safe to go out in this freezing weather."