Chapter 1 My Brother's Funeral

Milo had a sweet dream.

In his dream, he turned into a wealthy young man named Milo Blackburn, or it would be more appropriate to say a dandy young man.

He drank, shot, set off firecrackers, and played with women, as if only the noisy and romantic nights could prove the value of his existence.

Hotels, nightclubs, private parties, luxury yachts, every day in his dream seemed to start and end in these places.

This is a standard daily routine for a tall, rich and handsome man.

Like a cursory tour, the twenty-two years of experience of a young, tall, handsome and rich man passed quickly.

When he realized that he seemed to be in a dream.

A feeling of weightlessness came over me, as if I had fallen off a cliff.

"No!"

He suddenly woke up, shouted out, and sat up.

"Oh, baby, are you having a nightmare again? Please don't do this, you will make the Paladin in heaven sad. I think your brother would never want you to be too sad because of him..."

Milo was still in a trance.

A blonde woman nearby came over with tears in her eyes, hugged him, and spoke in a low voice while sobbing.

A deep male voice sounded at the same time: "You can't blame him, Robin. Everyone knows the relationship between Paladin and Milo. They are the best brothers in the world."

Being hugged by the woman, I could feel her tears dripping onto my hair.

Milo stared around blankly.

He found himself in a hall decorated in an exotic style.

He was not familiar with this decoration style.

But the knowledge that suddenly came to his mind made him realize that this was a British Georgian type of decoration style.

The Georgian style originated in 1714, when Britain completed the Industrial Revolution, established capitalism, carried out colonial expansion, and became a powerful country.

In the huge hall, he was half leaning on the sofa, being hugged by the crying blonde old woman.

There were many people standing or sitting around him.

There were men and women, young and old, but without exception, they were all foreigners.

The man who spoke just now was a white old man who looked very old, with age spots on his face, but he still had blond hair.

After saying this, the old white man no longer looked at Milo and the crying woman.

He turned to look at the other people around him who had sad and depressed expressions.

"Paladin is dead. It is a fait accompli. There is no use crying about it."

The old man said, "Let it be known that we will hold a funeral and memorial service for him. He will be buried in the family cemetery in Plymouth."

The old man seemed to be the backbone of everyone present, after he spoke.

Everyone either nodded or remained silent, obviously agreeing to do as he said.

Three days later.

Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Inside a Protestant, Anglican church.

Milo was wearing a black suit with a small white flower on his chest, and he was sitting in the front row of the church with a dazed look on his face.

In front, the priest was standing in front of Paladin's black coffin.

According to the traditional customs of the Anglican Church, the priest is performing the last rites for the deceased.

Three days later.

Milo already understood everything, he traveled through time.

From a screenwriter in China in 2024, he became a wealthy American in 1995, a third-generation member of the Blackburn family.

In this generation, he has an older brother named Paladin Blackburn.

Paladin is a typical "other people's child". He is ten years older than Milo.

Fourteen years ago, when Milo was still in elementary school.

His outstanding brother joined the Massachusetts National Guard.

He was deployed to Kraj for a year in 1991 and was awarded the Medal of Honor.

He served as Attorney General of Massachusetts from 1993 to 1995.

Last year, Paladin was hospitalized for a "mini-stroke."

He was subsequently diagnosed with brain cancer and was admitted to a cancer center in Boston for treatment.

Not long ago, Paladin's cancer worsened and treatment was ineffective, and he died young.

The funeral held today is the final farewell to Paladin Blackburn, who was only 32 years old.

Since then, the "successor" that the Blackburn family had painstakingly cultivated is gone.

Let us turn our attention back to our youngest son Milo.

Compared with his brother Paladin, the original body was an absolute prodigal even by American standards.

Compared to Milo, in the past decade or so.

Paladin has never been involved in any scandals or negative reports.

Paladin is a good child in the eyes of his family, a good husband in the eyes of his wife, and a strong helper to his father. He truly manages to balance work and family.

Milo Blackburn, on the other hand, was on the local news when he turned sixteen.

He was driving a sports car and hit someone, leaving him disabled.

At the time, his sister-in-law, Haley Harrison Blackburn, was working on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

Apart from being in the news, he had nothing to do with the disaster.

Local news was also quickly taken down.

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From then on, Milo couldn't stop on the road to becoming a playboy.

Milo looked dazed as he recalled the past.

Suddenly, someone next to him pushed him gently.

"My dear, go up and say your last goodbye to your brother."

It's mom, Robin Bush Blackburn.

The old woman's face was covered with tear marks and her makeup had long been smudged by her tears.

She was one of the two people crying the loudest in the entire church.

The other is Paladin's wife, Hayley.

According to Anglican custom.

Milo walked onto the stage with a sullen face as the choir sang the elegy "There is fountain".

Standing in front of my brother's coffin, looking at the crowd of relatives and friends below.

Maybe it was inspired by his feelings, or maybe it was the original body's emotions at work.

Looking at the coffin in front of him, Milo's eyes immediately turned red on the stage.

"I have always been naughty. Once, when I was eight years old, it should be before Christmas. I begged Paladin to take me to cut a tree so that I could go home and decorate it as our Christmas tree."

"Palladin was already serving in the National Guard at the time. He was very busy and only had two days off during Christmas. Even during the holidays, he was still working because he had to go to Boston to perform his duties."

"But he loved me so much that even though he was extremely busy, he still took time out to fulfill my wishes and asked my father and grandfather not to scold me for it."

"I was very happy, riding on the Paladin's shoulders... I was already eight years old at that time, and I was very heavy, but my brother still treated me like a child... Sorry, I can't go on."

Milo had originally just wanted to follow Protestant customs.

At the memorial service, tell interesting stories about the deceased.

But the relationship between the original body and the deceased is too deep.

He only told the beginning, and endless sadness surged up in his mind.

Milo's tears flowed uncontrollably and his words began to become incomplete.

He finished speaking half sobbingly, "He, my brother... the only scar on his face was left when he tried to save me... I, Lord, I am even willing to exchange my life for his, Lord..."

When he finished speaking and stepped down from the stage, his mother, Robin, was the first to hug him.

"Don't be too sad, my dear child, we must always look forward."

The second one was his sister-in-law. Haley also hugged him, "Milo, Paladin likes your smile. He definitely doesn't want you to be like this."

His father and grandfather came over to hug him, but the men said nothing.

When the time came, the guests began to sing "In Christ Alone".

Amid the singing, the coffin covered with flowers slowly left the venue.

After the pastor prays for the deceased, he loads the coffin onto a special hearse and drives it to the cemetery. Family members and relatives follow in cars and take it to the family cemetery.

Afterwards, Milo and several adult men among his relatives and friends carried the coffin to the designated location and began to prepare for the burial ceremony.

First the bishop gave a speech, then there was a moment of silence, and finally the coffin was lowered.

After the coffin is placed in the grave, family members and relatives take turns walking towards the coffin and throwing the flowers in their hands down.

After people have thrown all the flowers in their hands, they will start to seal the tomb.

From then on, a generation of “other people’s children” began.

Paladin Blackburn, who was so dazzling in every aspect that made his peers ashamed, bid farewell to this world completely.

(End of this chapter)