Yan Xin woke up at dinner time and ate a bowl of porridge and a chicken leg. Her appetite was much better than usual. After dinner, she said she wanted to take a shower.
"Why don't you just bring a basin of water to wipe yourself down? You should lie down and rest more, and don't walk around too much." There is no toilet or bathroom in the ward, only shared ones.
"I need to wash up, otherwise I'll feel uncomfortable and won't be able to sleep well at night. Just help me go, I can walk," Yan Xin insisted.
Unable to persuade her otherwise, Lin Xiazhu had no choice but to ask Chacha to bring a stool so that Yanxin could sit and wash later, and also asked Lin Xiaoxue to bring Yanxin's change of clothes.
"I want to wear that pink long-sleeved pajama set. Peach, bring the soap. I want to take a good shower." The pink pajama set is Yan Xin's favorite silk fabric pajama set, and there's also the Safeguard soap that the whole family loves.
Lin Xiazhu lowered her eyelids and didn't speak. She placed her hands under Yan Xin's armpits and practically lifted her up to walk. Yan Xin smiled weakly.
"Don't try to hold on like this, just let me walk on my own." She can still walk this part of the road.
"Then watch your step." Lin Xiazhu didn't insist and loosened her grip, but still held her loosely, so that she could catch Yan Xin if she felt unwell.
After eating and taking a shower, Yan Xin was in good spirits. When she returned to her ward, she lay down and fell asleep, asking everyone not to disturb her, as she wanted to get a good night's sleep.
"Sister, Mom seems to be feeling a little better." The four sisters left the ward and sat on a bench in the corridor.
Lin Xiazhu remained silent, leaning back in her chair, lost in thought. No one knew what she was thinking.
"Don't go back to the hotel tonight, let's stay here with her." She was staying with Yan Xin, but for Cha Cha and the others, it was their mother they were staying with.
The next morning, before six o'clock, a sliver of red sun appeared in the east, indicating another bright and sunny day. Outside the window, birds were chirping and singing as usual, and the air was filled with the fresh scent of green plants and flowers.
The patient's family members began to get up and wash up. Lin Xiazhu lay motionless by the bedside, quietly watching Zhao Xiaolian's sleeping face, peaceful and serene...
"Sister, Mom looks really bad, something seems wrong. I'll go get the doctor to come and take a look." Presumably the on-duty doctor was still there, Lin Chacha ran out quickly.
Lin Xiaoxue and Lin Taozi were still sleepy and somewhat bewildered, not knowing what had happened.
"You two go wash up first." Lin Xiazhu sent her two younger sisters away, then leaned close to Zhao Xiaolian and reached out to check her breath.
Lin Xiazhu blinked, withdrew her hand, and whispered, "Have a safe journey, go back to where you belong."
Yan Xin is gone, and Zhao Xiaolian is about to disappear completely from this world. Cha Cha and the others will have no mother anymore.
She didn't say anything. After the doctor examined her, he said with a serious expression, "Please accept my condolences. The patient probably passed away an hour ago."
"Mom, Mom... wake up, wake up..." Lin Chacha was the first to cry, her voice hoarse and sorrowful.
"Mom, why did you fall asleep and never wake up again, Mom?" Lin Taozi shook Zhao Xiaolian's stiff arm.
Lin Xiaoxue was stunned for a long time before she realized what had happened. Her mother was dead, and she would be a child without parents from now on. She felt a little sad, but she wasn't too moved.
After all, Lin Shanlai had been dead for ten years, and Zhao Xiaolian's impression of her during those last ten years was that of a crazy woman, silly and unable to support her family, relying on her eldest sister for everything and listening to her eldest sister in everything.
After her trip to the capital, her mental state deteriorated further. She would space out all day, as if possessed by something. Later, she became ill, very ill, but she kept putting it off until now...
"Waaah..." Lin Chacha and Lin Taozi cried with genuine emotion, heartbroken and devastated.
Lin Xiaoxue silently shed tears. She wasn't too sad, but the tears just kept falling. She didn't know why she was so upset. This useless mother of hers was gone, so what was there to be sad about?
Throughout the entire process, Lin Xiazhu remained expressionless. She sat to the side with her eyes downcast, silent for a long time, not trying to comfort anyone or stop them from crying. She just stayed there quietly, lost in thought.
Zhao Xiaolian's body was quickly moved to the morgue. Lin Chacha and Lin Taozi cried in the morgue, while Lin Xiaoxue followed behind, sobbing softly. Lin Xiazhu took a deep breath but still didn't cry. She wanted to shed a few tears as a token gesture, but she couldn't manage it after several attempts.
Forget it, if she can't cry, she can't cry. At most, the other patients' families in the ward will point fingers and say that she's heartless and cold-blooded, not shedding a single tear for her own mother's death, and that she's an ungrateful wretch.
It doesn't matter, she doesn't know them, so why should she care what they say?
"This eldest daughter is heartless; she didn't even blink when her own mother died."
"That's right. All three younger sisters were crying, but she had a cold and hard expression, and even seemed to be relieved. Maybe she was annoyed that her mother had been sick for too long and had cost the family too much money, and she couldn't wait for her to die."
Whether in rural or urban areas, some people, when they start gossiping, say almost the same things: criticizing this and criticizing that, as if they are the light of righteousness and can uphold all justice.
Lin Chacha and the others cried for a day and a night. The next day, their faces were pale and their eyes were dark and swollen. Lin Xiazhu sighed and announced, "We will send them to the crematorium for cremation today."
"So soon? Aren't you going to take Mom back with you?" Lin Chacha said in a hoarse voice.
"It's so hot. By the time we get back, it'll have rotted and smelled terrible. No car will be willing to take it," Lin Xiazhu said calmly.
"Mom is so pitiful. She died in a foreign land and couldn't even handle her funeral arrangements. Mom, how could you leave like this? How are we sisters going to live now? We won't have a mom anymore. Mom."
Lin Chacha started singing again; these were all songs she had learned from the elderly in the village, songs for mourning.
"Waaaaah..." Lin Taozi didn't have much eloquence; all she knew was to burst into tears without any lines.
Lin Xiaoxue was exhausted from crying; her eyes were swollen, and she sat there motionless.
"Take the ashes back, and then have a grand funeral. We can hire a band or even monks, it doesn't matter." A band is for a joyous funeral; they sing, dance, and then there's a good cry—it's very lively.
When monks come, they perform rituals and chant sutras at midnight. The former is lively and not so creepy, while the latter is completely in the atmosphere of sending away ghosts, which is quite creepy.
What opinions could the three younger sisters possibly have? They don't understand anything, and all they can do is cry. Luckily, their eldest sister is there, otherwise they wouldn't know how to get by in the future.
After a quick breakfast, Lin Xiazhu contacted the crematorium through the hospital and had Zhao Xiaolian cremated. Two hours later, Lin Xiazhu came out of the crematorium carrying a box containing Zhao Xiaolian's ashes.
I was going to take the urn back to the hotel, but the hotel security guards stopped me at the door, saying that I couldn't bring the urn in because it would frighten other guests, have a bad influence, and be particularly unlucky.
"We paid for our tickets, why can't we come in?" Lin Chacha was furious and argued with the hotel manager, but the manager wouldn't budge.
Lin Xiazhu understood; they needed to do business, and if she brought the urn inside, it would scare away the other customers.
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