Chapter 91
The weather wasn't good on the day of the funeral. It was drizzling all morning, and the rain rippled through the gaps in the lawn, making it feel like a worn-out sponge, muddy and slippery.
White flowers, black cars, soft, fragmented sobs and whispers, rows of grand wreaths rustling in the wind, and crowds of mourners standing shoulder to shoulder, like a pot of black foam about to boil, grand and solemn.
Chu Guanqian, who enjoyed a life of unparalleled glory, was always surrounded by people, both in life and after death.
In the morning, a review of his life and a video presentation were held in the funeral hall. In the afternoon, the urn was buried underground, and we mourned him once again.
Yuan Pingran was wearing a black veil hat, and although her face was not clearly visible, a white handkerchief kept wiping her eyes under the veil from time to time. She looked extremely sad. Her emotional entanglement with Chu Guanqian in her youth had always been known to outsiders, and no one had ever doubted her feelings for him. Seeing that she was in a bad mood, many noble ladies surrounded her, sighing and comforting her.
Yuan Chuyu, dressed in a black suit, was in charge of the overall situation. In the past few days, whether it was family affairs or the various forces in the company that were making moves, they all needed him to be the anchor. He was so busy that he worked day and night, and at this moment he inevitably looked a little tired and haggard.
Even so, he still received the guests who came to mourn him with composure and grace. The endless stream of people coming and going was all about human relationships and social interactions. Each guest spent far more time with him than with the black and white photographs, and their purpose was clear.
After arriving in City A, Lin Xiangshuo hovered around Yuan Pingran and Yuan Chuyu like a vulture. After learning about the equity change in City G, he clung to Ying Yuan even more, placing all his hopes on him.
Although he knew that no matter how hard he tried, the situation was hopeless, he had given up hope of gaining control. His only hope was to acquire shares from other shareholders so that he could ride on Lin Langyi's coattails and benefit from the system.
If only Yingyuan's shares could be traded to him.
Therefore, at this funeral, Lin Xiangshuo served Chu Guanqian like a second son, tirelessly attending to his every need.
He not only booked the front row VIP seats for the baseball game after the funeral, but also went to great lengths to cover almost all the wreaths on the field, and finally made a thick white envelope when he officially attended the event today.
While receiving the previous guest, Yuan Chuyu glanced at him several times. Lin Xiangshuo stood tall and proud, and became even more excited when he noticed Yuan Chuyu's subtle gaze.
It must be because his hard work these past few days has been noticed that Yuan Chuyu values him so much!
When it was his turn, Lin Xiangshuo recited the words he had prepared in advance, such as "please accept my condolences" fluently. As he spoke, he noticed once again that Yuan Chuyu seemed to be distracted and glanced at the guests queuing behind him.
He was affected, and his fluent words faltered for a moment. As he struggled to recall what the next sentence should be, Yuan Chuyu suddenly interrupted and asked:
Is your sister coming home today?
The question was so sudden that all the polite words Lin Xiangshuo hadn't been able to recall vanished completely, and he blurted out, "I don't know."
Yuan Chuyu didn't even glance at him, seemingly still looking at the guests behind him.
After saying that, Lin Xiangshuo's mind was filled with the shady dealings Lin Langyi had done at the company. He couldn't control his temper and retorted in an unfriendly tone, "She's in the prime of her career right now, a very busy person. How could she have time to attend something like this—"
He swallowed the rest of his words and quickly glanced at Yuan Chuyu's face, only to find him squinting at something.
Lin Xiangshuo glanced back and saw that it was Lin Liaoyuan who had arrived.
He remembered that Lin Liaoyuan had gone back to the company yesterday specifically for company matters, but in the end, not only was it beyond saving, but he also called him in the evening, telling him to work diligently and conscientiously with Lin Langyi from now on.
Lin Xiangshuo felt a mix of emotions. He and Lin Langyi had actually had a fairly harmonious relationship since childhood. Although it couldn't compare to those siblings with particularly close relationships, they had almost never argued. His impression of her went from "I'm not bragging, I have a really beautiful sister" to "At home, she was always the one my parents would say, 'Look at your sister, and then look at you!'" and finally to "My sister's abilities... I can only say it's a good thing she's not my brother."
He never imagined that one day he would no longer be able to enjoy the advantages of age and gender, and would have to lower his head and follow her orders, otherwise he wouldn't even be able to get a meal.
“I think I saw Uncle Lin,” Yuan Chuyu said, looking quite concerned.
Lin Xiangshuo had no choice but to look back again, stand on tiptoe and sway left and right to confirm: "Yes, it's just my dad."
Turning back, he saw Yuan Chuyu's gaze, fixed in the distance, slowly descend, like a kite with a broken string.
He slowly withdrew his gaze and hummed in response.
After that, Lin Xiangshuo tried to finish what he had to say, but Yuan Chuyu’s interest waned. He listened listlessly for a few more minutes before the next guest arrived.
Lin Xiangshuo didn't leave; he wanted to stay and watch from the sidelines to see if there would be any more opportunities for him to demonstrate his abilities.
When it was Lin Liaoyuan's turn, he first said some polite words briefly. Yuan Chuyu clearly took him more seriously and asked him several questions about the company in G City.
After finishing the conversation, Lin Liaoyuan moved aside, placed the two funeral gift packets at the visitor registration desk, and said to the butler:
"Lin Liaoyuan, Lin Langyi, she also has a wreath, which is placed outside."
These words were spoken in a low voice, clearly drowned out by the other conversations, but suddenly a shadow fell over his eyes. Lin Liaoyuan looked up and was surprised to see Yuan Chuyu, who had been listening to a group of guests offering condolences, suddenly appear in front of him.
He spread his five fingers and placed his palm on the register, where the words "Lin Langyi - White Packet, Wreath" were so fresh that the ink had not yet fully seeped into the paper.
"President Yuan?" the butler reminded him.
Yuan Chuyu remained silent, his hand gripping tightly, the knuckles on the back of his hand clearly visible. He moved the entire booklet toward him and stared at those words for a long time.
The guests who had been interrupted and left standing to the side looked at each other blankly.
"Where are the wreaths?" Yuan Chuyu asked Lin Liaoyuan.
He had been on night watch for several nights and had a slight fever when he woke up this morning. Although he had taken medicine, his face was still pale, which made his obsidian-black eyes seem even more intimidating, as if they were about to drown.
Lin Liaoyuan stood up straight for some reason, and stammered slightly: "Outside, it was just delivered. I had someone put it last."
"Take me to see." Yuan Chuyu put down the booklet, walked around the registration desk, turned his head to look at Lin Liaoyuan, pointed at his leg with his finger, and then pointed forward in a daze, indicating that he should lead the way.
Many people were still waiting behind, and when they saw Yuan Chuyu suddenly walk out, they all stopped talking and looked over.
Feeling uneasy at being stared at by so many people, Lin Liaoyuan quickened his pace as much as possible.
He led Yuan Chuyu to the wreath, and as soon as he pointed forward, Yuan Chuyu had already circled around to the front of the wreath and was carefully examining it.
The wreaths were very ordinary and commonplace, not even as exquisite and high-end as those sent by Lin Xiangshuo.
There are no other characters on it except for a large "奠" (diàn, meaning "offering a sacrifice").
Yuan Chuyu looked at it several times, and finally turned to Lin Liaoyuan, who was clearly unaware of what had happened and only felt uneasy: "Is there... a card? A funeral couplet? Something with words on it?"
Lin Liaoyuan had no idea that the flowers had been delivered by a florist. Lin Langyi had left his phone number with her asking him to receive them on her behalf, so he had no idea how much it cost, which florist it was, or what was written on it.
Lin Liaoyuan clasped his hands together nervously and said, "If it's not on here, then it shouldn't be."
As soon as he finished speaking, Yuan Chuyusong clenched his fist and put it to his lips, then suddenly turned his face away and coughed several times.
He looked unwell and in poor condition. He forced a cough and nodded to indicate that he understood.
"Put some more in, so the wind doesn't blow them over." He had the wreaths put away, then turned and went back into the funeral hall.
The process proceeded normally, but Lin Langyi did not appear until the end of the funeral.
*
Lin Langyi's flight was delayed.
By the time the plane landed and began taxiing at City A airport, it was already past 8 p.m.
By the time she gets to the lawn burial site in the suburbs, the funeral banquet will probably be almost over.
She went directly to Yingshan Lake and rested in her office and lounge for a while.
On the other side, Yuan Chuyu, having finished a day of funeral proceedings, saw off the guests who had finished their meals and dealt with the remaining matters. Without saying goodbye, he hailed a taxi and gave his destination.
He sat in the back seat as the car entered the tunnel. The continuous yellow lights completely exposed his face, which appeared and disappeared intermittently. His Adam's apple bobbed occasionally, and his broad, straight shoulders trembled slightly as the car moved.
On the way, they passed a flower shop, and he asked the driver to pull over temporarily so he could get out, buy a bouquet of flowers, and then return to the car.
The taxi smoothly took him to the cemetery next to Laoshan Temple.
At this point, he missed the cemetery's opening hours once again.
But it didn't matter; he memorized the path.
Autumn has arrived, the clouds have dispersed and a cool breeze has risen. When walking on the steps at night, with each breath, the air that enters the lungs seems to condense into ice flowers.
Yuan Chuyu held a bouquet of flowers in one hand and slowly walked along the path that Lin Langyi had once led him along.
The fallen leaves under my feet had accumulated far more than last time. Because of the rain, they didn't have the same soft, chewy feel when I stepped on them, and instead, they felt desolate.
In his other hand, Yuan Chuyu held his phone. The flashlight on the phone seemed to be swallowed by darkness in the towering, dense forest, barely enough to see the path just a few steps ahead.
He had a few drinks that night, and his mind was muddled. Perhaps too many things were cramming into his brain, causing him to forget that he had taken his medicine that morning. After two drinks, he was stopped by the butler who was with him, and only then did he come to his senses.
A cool breeze was blowing, and his head began to ache slightly. He walked out of the dense forest, and the moonlight was as bright and clear as before. It seemed that as long as he jumped off that big rock, he would see the person standing below, smiling and waiting for him.
As he jumped down and landed firmly, the lisianthus and white lilies in Yuan Chuyu's arms trembled, and the cotton paper wrapping the bouquet made a rustling sound.
He walked toward his mother's grave.
The phone held in my hand swayed gently with my steps, the light shining in front of me flickering and swaying, its direction unclear.
A thin beam of light swept across the front.
He suddenly stopped in his tracks, his mind, which had been squeezed by the chaos of the world, suddenly went blank as if a vacuum had been drawn out.
Not far away, his mother's grave was covered with clusters of flowers, almost filling the entire aisle.
Besides white calla lilies, jasmine, and white roses, the center is surrounded by large swathes of scarlet carnations, interspersed with layers of yellow dahlias and ochre holly, burning like a sunset all the way to the horizon.
Yuan Chuyu stood motionless in the same spot for a long time, less than ten meters away.
A card was tucked inside the center of the red carnation, but he couldn't see what it said from this distance. His heart was pounding, and he slowly lifted his feet and walked forward until the tips of his shoes touched the leaves of the calla lilies before he stopped.
It's an oversized greeting card, probably written by a florist, but the person who wrote it was a bit careless and included a note:
"The fifth one from the right in the third row from the bottom, please don't send it to the wrong place."
He chuckled softly, his voice as gentle as wisps of mist.
Even without a greeting card, he knew who had written it.
Below, the greeting card contained only seven words:
From now on, I'll give myself flowers.
Yuan Chuyu held the greeting card, lost in thought.
"What's wrong with going to the cemetery at night? Because it's my mother, the cemetery isn't scary."
"She just wanted to escape, to escape to a farther place, to drastically sever her connection with daily life, and to breathe the air of freedom." ①
After Chu Guanqian's unexpected death, the bustling crowds from morning till night, the whispers of laughter and weeping, and the exquisite wreaths covering the mountains and fields—all the decadent scenes, objects, and people, even more lively than when he was alive, created a chaotic order.
He didn't know whether he was a follower or a leader in that order, he only knew that when he came out of the cemetery, the air he took a deep breath of was less polluted.
He thought that on such a good day, he should come and give her a bouquet of flowers.
This place deserves flowers even more than the entrance to a funeral parlor.
He just didn't expect that someone would send a large bouquet of flowers to his grave first.
Even more so, the flowers were not all white as offerings, but a blood-red color, a fiery red, accompanied by cheers and applause, and the hope of looking forward on a free and unrestrained road.
In this world, there is only one person...
There was only one person.
Unable to bear it any longer, all the self-disciplined and proper behavior based on rational considerations was overwhelmed by the surging emotions at this moment.
He skillfully entered the number he didn't even dare to save in his phone's contacts and dialed it.
For the past two months, he has been quietly waiting in the corner for her occasional pity. Knowing that she is busy and working hard, he has not disturbed her with a single word except for work. When he can't bear it anymore, he opens those voice messages, like a poor miser wiping his only gold coin every day, or like someone who is overworked and takes time out at night to fly to G City, just to secretly see her like a piece of moss that can't stand the sun.
Night provides a veil to conceal secrets and also gives people a dreamlike illusion. She usually finishes work very late, and coincidentally, he, like Cinderella at midnight, can briefly experience the most vibrant and sweet beauty in the world during this time.
He knew where she lived, but he had never been there; he knew she had come back a few times before, but her stays were too short for him to see her.
Every bit of these acts of restraint, whether proactive or reactive, is like water accumulating on a dam riddled with ants; at the critical point, it will only lead to a more devastating collapse.
I want to hear her voice, I want to see her, I want to hug her, I want to—
Suddenly, the sound of a bell drifted out from afar.
Because of the distance, when that ethereal voice entered his ears, Yuan Chuyu even thought there was something wrong with his cephalosporin-infused liquor.
He slowly raised his face, squinted slightly, and looked in the direction of the sound.
On that large rock, the person from my dream actually appeared under the hazy moonlight.
The bouquet of flowers he was holding fell to the ground with a "thud," his phone was still held to his ear, and his arm was as stiff as a statue, out of control.
He stood rooted to the spot, staring intently at her.
Lin Langyi turned her phone around so that the screen lit up when it rang was facing him, and shook it at him with a smile, as if to cheer him on.
He remained as still and silent as an old monk in meditation.
The two faced each other from a distance.
Seeing that he didn't move, Lin Lang took two steps forward, squatted down, stretched out one leg and stepped down to make sure it was firmly in place before jumping down, avoiding the puddles.
It made a crisp "snap" sound when it jumped down.
He seemed to be awakened by the sound, his eyelashes fluttered, and he took a small step forward.
Taking that first step seemed to flip a switch; he began to walk towards her little by little, his eyes not on the road, but fixed on her, as if afraid that she would disappear like a wisp of smoke if he wasn't careful.
He walked faster and faster, but accidentally stepped on some uneven stones on the road. His ankle twisted, and he swayed violently.
Lin Langyi was startled: "Hey!"
He kept running until he finally strode towards her, his open suit jacket billowing slightly in the wind, and he was in front of her in a few seconds.
Before Lin Langyi could even utter "long time no see," he opened his arms and hugged her tightly, lurching forward as if he had lost control of the brakes and pulled her back two steps before finally stopping.
The familiar aroma of incense filled her nostrils. Lin Langyi was tightly embraced by him, along with her arms on both sides. He held her tighter and tighter, almost squeezing her into his chest, pressing her against his fiercely beating heart.
He pressed his chin against her hair, paused for a moment, then felt that this was not enough, tightened his arms, and leaned down to bury his face in the crook of her shoulder.
Lin Langyi paused for a long time before raising her arms to hug him back.
The night was quiet and peaceful.
See, she said she's particularly good at giving gifts.
...
Lin Langyi waited until her calves were a little numb before she nudged Chu Yu's head to signal him to get up. Chu Yu had been hugging her for so long that her calves were starting to go numb.
“I need to get some clothes,” she said. “I was in a hurry and didn’t bring much with me.”
He looked up at her, said nothing, and took her directly back to Dingpu Residential Area.
As she was getting on the elevator, she looked across and saw that the lights on the 16th floor were on. Perhaps Cheng Yanjin still lived there. She only glanced at it twice before the person behind her came up to her again, put his arm around her waist, and tried to turn her around so she wouldn't see anyone else.
"Are you two going to break up?" he asked in a low voice.
"Um."
He shifted his arm around hers, pressing closer, and as the elevator approached its stop, he secretly tattled, "Cheng Yanjin hasn't made any public statement, but when you disappeared in G City—"
He emphasized the phrase "never to return."
“Feng Congning came to the community and asked Cheng Yanjin what was going on. He said that you come back every week and come whenever you have time, and there is no problem between the two of you.”
Lin Langyi accurately captured that "before" and thought to herself that she had made things clear with Cheng Yanjin a couple of days ago, and that he was probably finally getting the hang of things now.
"Hey, how did you know that letter came from Ninglai Community?" She suddenly realized something was wrong.
He glanced at her, his raven-white eyelashes fluttering down: "I live here every day now."
The meaning of this sentence became quite intuitive and clear to Lin Langyi after she entered the room.
Everything in the house was perfectly normal, so normal it was astonishing.
The moment you step inside, you can immediately tell that this is a young couple's house. Everything is a set for two, and the furnishings suggest that the woman comes home every day and spends her days here normally.
Black-lipped clam also migrated here. As soon as it entered, it squatted at the door and meowed. When it saw her come back, it would circle around her feet a few times, sniff with its nose, and then rub against her with its body.
Lin Langyi picked up the kitten and looked around again.
The women's slippers in the entryway were placed on the outermost shelf of the shoe cabinet for easy access; her water glass was placed next to the drinking water purifier on the table, as if she had just finished drinking water and casually put it aside before rushing out the door in the morning; her towels and toothbrush in the bathroom had even been changed, as Yuan Chuyu always strictly controlled the standard of changing them every two months; on the balcony, several of her coats, which could be worn immediately when the weather turned cool, were still drying, as if she really lived here, with traces of her everywhere.
Every time Lin Langyi passed by a place, she would turn back and silently glance at him, her expression meaningful.
Yuan Chuyu didn't say anything, and his face showed no embarrassment or apology. He seemed to have a sense of belief that it was only natural for a divine emperor to have come.
Only when he finally opened the bedroom door did a slight crack appear in his expression.
Lin Langyi stared in disbelief at the two pillows neatly placed side by side on the now slightly thicker bedding, while a few pieces of clothing were placed on the side where she used to sleep.
They were all light summer clothes: a few shirts or T-shirts she often wore, and a nightgown she repeatedly wore when staying overnight.
She pointed with her finger, turned her head to look at him, and saw that his gaze was calm. After thinking for a while, she carefully asked as if her thoughts had been completely diverted by him: "Did you take the wrong one? It's cold. If you're going to pretend, you should take a thicker coat."
He blinked slightly, standing in the doorway as if he had blocked all her escape routes.
He said softly, "It's not that I'm pretending you're home, it's just that you always wear these clothes, and they smell the same as you."
He lowered his eyelashes: "Sometimes when I come home late at night, I can't fall asleep after a while. Holding your clothes and smelling your scent makes me feel calm."
The last few words were spoken even more gently: "When you left, it was just the beginning of autumn, and I never saw you wearing thick clothes, so I could only put these few pieces of clothing that you wore next to me."
What kind of modern nesting behavior is this? She'd better not drive this guy crazy.
Lin Langyi, who originally intended to take the clothes to the hotel, was stunned by Yuan Baochuan. Looking at his dejected face, she couldn't utter a single word about leaving.
"Oh right, I haven't congratulated you and Zhuang Lan on successfully handing over the company yet," he suddenly walked into the bedroom, and Lin Langyi took two steps back to make way for him.
They were both in the bedroom. He opened the bedside table, took out a share transfer agreement, and handed it to her: "We agreed at the beginning that now that Zhuang's is back in your hands, I, the middleman, can retire."
Hey! This is the real business she came here to take care of.
Lin Langyi sat on the edge of the bed, opening the documents and flipping through them one by one. In the meantime, Yuan Chuyu handed her a cup of warm water, brought in some washed fruit, and took out her autumn and winter loungewear that had already been dry-cleaned and ironed, along with a soft bath towel that had just been dried, placing them aside naturally.
"There's no problem." Lin Langyi read the document twice and found no flaws. "I'll take a scanned copy to the legal department tomorrow and get the paperwork done as soon as possible if it's acceptable."
"Okay," he replied, sitting down next to her.
Lin Langyi turned her head and found that he had finished showering and changed into his pajamas at some point.
He gazed at her intently, his eyes lingering.
She really is damn irritating; she only responds to gentle persuasion and never to force.
After a while, Lin Langyi picked up the folded bath towel and pajamas that were placed aside and went to the bathroom.
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