Chapter 176 Death and Rebirth

On the second day of the Chinese New Year, Sister Xinlan passed away.

The curve on the monitor screen suddenly became a straight line.

This time, no miracle happened.

The moment the monitor's beeping suddenly became piercing, it was like an icicle piercing the temples of the father and son.

Every time the heart beats, the ice cone melts a little.

The sadness of losing loved ones turns into a chill that invades the blood.

From then on, every time I miss you, my heart aches a little more.

Lu Yibo fell ill and was hospitalized.

Lu Fuchuan handled the funeral arrangements numbly alone.

The professional funeral consultant chattered on and on, and he endured his irritation and interrupted halfway through, raising his hand: "Change it, this one is too noisy."

This time, a female consultant came and spoke less hastily, so Lu Fuchuan listened patiently.

He numbly customized a detailed funeral plan for his mother.

The one who brought him into this world will be sent away by him personally.

When Ruan Xingyue arrived, the white roses and lilies in the mourning hall swayed gently in the draft. He knelt alone on the mat and lit the first incense stick for his mother.

Turning around and seeing her, he sniffed in grievance and turned his face away.

He stood alone at the door to greet mourners.

Funeral music echoed softly in the air, and an elder patted him on the back and said, "I'm sorry, please accept my condolences."

He nodded without saying anything and wanted to say "OK", but his throat felt like it was blocked by wet cotton wool and he couldn't make a sound.

He didn't want to move at all and just wanted to lie down beside the ice coffin and stare blankly.

But the funeral was complicated and there were still many things he needed to take care of.

As soon as Ruan Xingyue arrived, she signaled the female consultant to connect with her.

Process design.

Guest arrangements.

Cemetery selection.

She screened them first and then let Lu Fuchuan make the decision.

Whenever she asked him in a low voice, he always said "OK". When he rubbed his forehead against her shoulder, he shed the first tear since his mother's death.

When he raised his head again, he saw the eldest son of the Lu family who had regained his identity without any sadness or pain.

Gu Xing and Xu Zeqing arrived at about the same time.

They were driving fast, and Ji Ling and Ruan Xingmian were still behind them.

Ruan Xingyue instantly had help.

Grandpa Lu appeared in an electric wheelchair and smiled softly at Ruan Xingyue, a smile tinged with sadness: "Xingyue, it's Grandpa who has to send someone off again."

He stayed alone for a long time. This was his most beloved daughter-in-law, who was gifted in management and compassionate.

She is a blessing to the Lu family.

Marrying into the Lu family became her biggest disaster.

Ji Ling drove slowly, and by the time she and the other two arrived, the dinner was over.

Ruan Xingyue ordered takeout for them separately.

The crowd dispersed, and Lu Fuchuan sat on a small stool in the corner, staring at his mother's portrait in a daze.

Time passed quickly, and it was already early morning. Lu Fuchuan raised his scarlet eyes and said, "You guys go back to your rooms and rest. I can keep watch alone."

Ruan Xingyue spoke first: "We won't leave you alone."

I don’t know which word touched his tears.

Lu Fuchuan buried his face in his knees. Soon, a burst of crying that was too painful to listen to was heard in the mourning hall. It was a son's unspoken plea to his mother to stay.

The crying sound was not a howl, but was squeezed out from the deepest part of the throat, mixed with sobs and gasps, stuck in the chest, as if a hand was twisting it hard inside.

Ji Ling and Ruan Xingmian didn't dare to look at him at all. They turned their faces away and tears flowed down their cheeks.

Ruan Xingyue didn't say anything. She walked over, tears silently falling on the floor. She squatted down quietly and gently put her arms around his shoulders from the side.

The arms were not tightly wrapped around him, but they were warm, as if wrapping him in a soft and warm ball.

Her chin rested lightly on the top of his head, her long hair falling on his cheeks, the scent of her hair mixed with a faint scent of jasmine, slowly spreading through his nostrils that were made dry by her crying.

His shoulders were still shaking and his cries were stuck in his throat, as if blocked by something.

She slowly patted his back, again and again, as if she was coaxing Ruan Xingmian when he was wronged as a child.

"Lu Fuchuan, I'm here."

Her voice was very soft, falling into his ears like a feather, gently covering the sharp pain.

He suddenly turned his face to the side and buried it in the crook of her neck. His hot tears rubbed against her collar, and he trembled with a tremor that had been suppressed for too long.

She didn't move, but just pulled her arms closer together.

On the day of the burial, it was raining heavily in winter and the sky was gray, which made people feel uncomfortable.

Lu Yibo was so thin that he was just a bag of bones, and there was still an IV needle on the back of his hand.

His eyes were open, but they seemed to be covered with a layer of fog that could not be dissolved.

Her eyelashes drooped, too weak to tremble, and her eyeballs were fixed in mid-air, unfocused and unmoving, like two glass beads immersed in water, devoid of all light.

His eyelids were half drooped, revealing whites of his eyes that were faintly bluish, as if he didn't even bother to lift them.

There was no despair, no pain, and not even emptiness in those eyes, just a look of complete "laziness to move".

Lu Fuchuan appeared in front of the crowd holding Ruan Xingyue's hand, holding an umbrella together, kneeling in front of the grave and kowtowing together.

Lu Yi Bo's eyes fell on their holding hands, and the mist in his eyes melted away with excitement, and moisture ran down the corners of his eyes.

He looked at the two children with an incredible joy in his eyes: "You..."

He looked at his two children and then at his wife's beautiful and elegant new tombstone.

Ruan Xingyue’s name is on it.

The filial man——Lu Fuchuan.

Filial daughter-in-law——Ruan Xingyue.

…

February passed in a flash, and March arrived as promised.

Ruan Xingmian worked from home throughout the first half of March.

Gu Xing resumed school, his class schedule became shorter, and he had to drive to Huazhong University of Science and Technology for internship most of the time.

Professor Lu stood up from the blow and wanted to introduce all his resources to Gu Xing.

On the night of March 19th, Gu Xing was sleeping soundly with his arms around Ruan Xingmian from behind.

The person in his arms couldn't sleep because he was kicked, so he snuggled in his arms and played with his cell phone.

Wait until the child calms down and close your eyes for a while.

After just a few minutes of dozing off, Ruan Xingmian suddenly felt a pain in his lower abdomen.

The pain was not strong at first, like the pain during menstruation.

She turned over and buried her face in Gu Xing's chest.

She placed his hand on her lower abdomen, their skin touching, and the warmth from his palm could ease her pain.

She dozed off for a while.

The pain became more and more intense, and Gu Xing's hands became useless.

Ruan Xingmian was extremely sleepy, and her mentality was broken. She sniffled and pushed Gu Xing: "My stomach hurts."

"It hurts so much somewhere."

Gu Xing turned over in a second, first opened her belly and felt it, carefully confirming, "Mianmian, you are having contractions."

He never missed a class at the hospital, and he also watched many courses online, filling a notebook with notes.

I quickly opened my phone and opened the software for recording contractions.

"Mianmian, press it once if it hurts, and press it again if it doesn't hurt."

"good."

He jumped out of the car, changed his clothes in an orderly manner, and then took Ruan Xingmian's clothes.

He freed his hands to call Qu Ying: "Mom, Mianmian is about to give birth."

Someone in the next room exclaimed, "Okay, okay, you take care of Mian Mian first. Your dad and I will get the delivery bag. Oh, and we need to notify Li Xue and Ruan Ze as well."

"Don't worry, Mom. You can just go to the hospital and notify them."

Gu Xing hung up the phone and squatted down to help Ruan Xingmian put on her clothes and shoes.

The family members performed their duties as if they had rehearsed.

Qin Zhen put his coat on inside out and dragged the suitcase in the living room to drive the car.

Qu Ying checked her documents and the list of things to bring one last time to see if anything was missing.

Ruan Xingmian gasped in pain and gritted his teeth.

Gu Xing hugged the man around the waist, and Qu Ying opened the door for them with her bag on her back.

"Mianmian, exhale through your nose and inhale through your mouth."

Ruan Xingmian clutched the clothes on his chest tightly: "Gu Xing, it hurts..."