On the other side.
Xie Tingting's mother had a fight with the restaurant owner, but eventually, after being persuaded by the police, she decided to handle Xie Tingting's funeral arrangements first.
We can discuss the compensation issue after the funeral arrangements are settled.
Xie Tingting's mother agreed. While she was at the morgue collecting Xie Tingting's body, her phone rang. A furious voice came from the other end: "Mom! Where are you? It's almost 10 pm! Why hasn't she cooked yet? I'm starving!"
Xie Tingting's mother subconsciously said, "Mom is outside. Where is your sister? Let your sister make you something to eat first. Mom will go back and cook for you right away."
After she finished speaking, she suddenly realized what she had said.
Her eldest daughter, Xie Tingting, has passed away.
She died.
The middle-aged woman, her shirt disheveled from the struggle with her boss, stood blankly in the empty corridor, her phone falling to the ground with a thud.
She clutched her chest, which suddenly ached, and gasped for breath, tears welling up in her eyes.
The phone on the ground continued to ring, carrying the younger daughter's complaining voice: "I only called you because my sister wasn't home. I don't know where she went so late. She doesn't reply to messages or answer calls. I guess she's seeing another man. I saw her smiling at her phone just a few days ago!"
"Mom, when my sister comes back, you have to have a good talk with her. She's only eighteen, what's she doing dating? Besides, dating costs so much money!"
"Mom, I'm so hungry, I'm starving! If you can't get back in time, call my sister and tell her to come back and cook for me! Stop wandering around outside."
"My sister listens to you the most; she'll definitely listen to you."
Mother Xie gasped for breath, fighting back tears as she picked up her phone from the ground with trembling hands. Her voice was choked with sobs as she said, "Qianqian, your sister, your sister... she's dead."
Hearing this, Xie Qianqian couldn't help but burst out laughing: "Mom, what are you talking about? Didn't you say my sister is very tough? When she was born, you threw her into a basin of water and she didn't drown. Now that she's just been admitted to university, how could she possibly die?"
Overwhelmed by her surging emotions, Xie's mother could only instinctively murmur, "Your sister is dead, Qianqian, your sister is dead."
Xie Qianqian noticed something was off about her voice, and the smile on her face slowly faded. She asked uncertainly, "Really?"
Has something really happened to Xie Tingting, that stubborn debt collector?
She swallowed nervously and stood up: "Mom, where are you? I'm coming to find you now."
After Xie's mother gave her the address of the police station, Xie Qianqian packed her things and went there, also notifying her father who was working the night shift.
When they arrived, it was already 11 p.m. Xie's mother sat on a bench in the corridor, pale-faced, staring blankly at her phone.
The phone screen showed a photo of her and Jennifer Tse.
She dared not go to the morgue, dared not face the child who had been smashed and whose face was unrecognizable.
The father immediately began to accuse her: "What happened? Tingting was perfectly fine when she went to work this afternoon! How could you take care of your child? How could you let something like this happen to her?"
"How should I know? As soon as I got the call, the person on the other end said that Tingting had jumped off a building. I...I..." Xie's mother said aggrievedly, "Isn't it your fault for working overtime every day? The child didn't receive your love, of course she would become depressed and think of doing something drastic!"
The chill in the corridor made Xie Qianqian shiver. Curious, she asked, "Mom, is my sister really... dead?"
Mother Xie gave a mumbled "hmm," and seeing that she was wearing only a thin short-sleeved shirt, she scolded, "Why didn't you put on a jacket before you went out? Don't you know you're not feeling well? What if you got sick?"
"Forget it, let's take Tingting back and cremate her quickly so she can rest in peace as soon as possible." Xie's mother took a deep breath, suppressing the sadness surging in her heart. She sent Xie Qianqian home to rest, and together with Xie's father, they went to collect Xie Tingting's body and sent it to the crematorium.
Soon, she received a small ceramic jar containing Xie Tingting's ashes.
Somewhat dazed, Xie's mother held the still-warm ceramic jar in her arms. Xie's father kept glancing at his watch and said impatiently, "You handle the rest. I have things to do at the company. I'm leaving now."
There was absolutely no sadness about Xie Tingting's passing in his words.
It was as if it wasn't his child, but just a kitten or puppy.
Mother Xie opened her mouth, about to speak, but Father Xie didn't give her a chance and hurriedly left.
Ms. Xie took a taxi home in a daze. When she turned on the living room light, she was greeted by an incredibly dirty and messy living room.
Dirty clothes were carelessly tossed on the sofa and chair backs, shoes were scattered haphazardly, socks were strewn about, takeout boxes were on the table, soup splattered on the tablecloth, and muddy shoe prints covered the floor.
As Xie's mother stood at the door, a picture suddenly flashed before her eyes of Xie Tingting tidying up clothes and mopping the floor, smiling at her: "Mom, you're back. I've prepared the food; I'll heat it up for you in a bit."
"Okay, thank you for your hard work, Tingting," she replied instinctively.
The scene before my eyes vanished as if carried away by a gust of wind.
Only then did she belatedly realize that Xie Tingting was gone.
Silently, Xie's mother changed her shoes while holding the urn containing the ashes. She put the shoes into the shoe cabinet with one hand and closed the door with a bit more force.
Xie Qianqian came out yawning, her words full of complaint: "Mom, it's already one in the morning, can you please keep your voice down? You're disturbing my sleep."
Looking at the radiant child before her, whom she had raised exceptionally well, Xie's mother suddenly erupted: "Sleep, sleep, sleep! All you do is sleep! Do you even know your sister is dead?! How can you not be sad at all!"
Xie Qianqian was startled by her. After regaining her composure, she frowned and said, "Mom, what's wrong with you? I know my sister is dead. Does that mean I can't live with her?"
"Didn't you tell me when you were little that you hoped I would be your only child? Isn't her death what you wanted?"
Xie's mother's lips trembled, as if she had been greatly shocked: "I was just saying it casually, I didn't mean... I didn't mean she..." that she would really die.
This is her daughter, the daughter she carried for ten months and gave birth to. How could her heart not ache?
"Don't disturb my sleep, or I'll kill myself." Xie Qianqian threatened viciously, then turned and went into the bedroom, slamming the door shut loudly.
Mother Xie's body went limp. She sat on the dirty ground, tightly clutching the pottery jar in her arms, and the tears she had held back for so long finally fell.
She cried herself to sleep.
At the same time, Xie's father, who said he had to go to work because of company business, also fell into a deep sleep, embracing his lover contentedly.
The two had just fallen asleep when they were abruptly dragged into a white space.
Mr. and Mrs. Xie looked at each other, exchanging bewildered glances.
Xie's mother asked blankly, "Where is this?"
Almost as soon as she finished speaking, Grandpa Xie and Grandma Xie appeared in front of them with gloomy faces, wielding a thick cane and striking them hard.
Father Xie: "!!"
Xie's mother: "!!"
-
While the Xie family was being chased and frantically moved by Grandpa Xie and Grandma Xie in their dreams, Nan Yuanman finally got to eat.
She carefully put the diary that Zhang Shimin had given her, her mother's, into her small handbag, and started eating seriously while listening to Zhang Shimin's instructions: "Master said you can keep Grandpa Nan by your side, but you must do good deeds and accumulate merit."
“Old Master Nan is no longer within the Six Realms. If you forcibly keep him here, you will bear the karmic burden of the people he has harmed. You must accumulate enough merit to offset the karmic burden and keep him conscious.”
Nan Yuanman nodded: "Yes, I will do more good deeds."
Nan Yuanman and Zhang Shimian enjoyed their meal very much, but Jiang Lixuan was absent-minded, glancing at Nan Yuanman from time to time, his gaze drifting to her small handbag.
After Zhang Shimian helped Nan Yuanman into the car, and only the two of them were inside, Jiang Lixuan spoke in a hoarse voice: "Yuanman, your mother's diary... can I take a look?"
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