“Mom…” Ji Yanjun’s voice was hoarse.
Yao Shiling wiped away her tears and, without looking at Ji Yanjun, said, "Don't call me Mom anymore. Wen Qing is gone, and our family has nothing to do with yours anymore. We owe each other nothing, past or future. Now that Wen Qing is gone, she'll never come back. Don't make things difficult for your parents. Just live on. It's good to be alive."
Ji Yanjun looked at Yao Shiling with red eyes.
“It’s so good to be alive,” Yao Shiling said, standing up and leaving.
Liang Wenhua, Ji Yousheng, Ji Ningzhi, and Zhang Fangfang quickly entered the ward.
Ji Yanjun stared blankly at the ceiling.
"Yanjun," Liang Wenhua called out.
Ji Yanjun didn't respond; tears streamed down his face.
“Brother…” Ji Ningzhi called out blankly. She had never seen Ji Yanjun so heartbroken. Before, when Wen Qing was around, he was always noisy and boisterous, but at least he still had emotions. Now, he seemed to have been drained of everything: “Brother…”
"Yanjun," Ji Yousheng called out as well.
Ji Yanjun ignored everyone.
Just when everyone thought Ji Yanjun might do something drastic, he gradually recovered, began to accept treatment, and stopped resisting and becoming despondent.
Liang Wenhua, Ji Yousheng, and Zhang Fangfang were overjoyed.
Liang Wenhua and Zhang Fangfang, in particular, took turns visiting Ji Yanjun.
Ji Yanjun was starting to gain some popularity. A week later, looking at Ji Yousheng, whose temples were slightly gray and whose face was full of wrinkles, he felt guilty and called out, "Dad."
"Yes, yes, yes," Ji Yousheng replied hastily.
"Let's get discharged today."
Ji Yousheng was taken aback for a moment, then repeatedly agreed, "Okay, okay."
He was discharged from the hospital and returned to the Ji family home, to the room he shared with Wen Qing. He was taken aback to find that the furnishings had changed. He quickly opened the wardrobe, only to find that none of Wen Qing's clothes were there.
He hurriedly reached for drawers, opened the shoe cabinet, and rummaged through the table... everything related to Wen Qing was gone, and he suddenly stopped.
“Yanjun, well, that’s how it is here. When someone dies, their belongings are usually burned too, otherwise it’s considered unlucky to keep them. You see, you got sick because of…” Liang Wenhua said.
Ji Yanjun slowly turned around, his gaze icy: "Who gave you permission to touch her things?"
Liang Wenhua was startled, her voice barely audible: "That's just how the custom is, otherwise..."
"Did you burn them all?" Ji Yanjun asked in a low voice.
Liang Wenhua: "Hmm."
Ji Yanjun looked up and around the drastically changed house, smiled, and then his eyes reddened.
“Yanjun, Yanjun…” Liang Wenhua was terrified.
Ji Yanjun continued to laugh for a while before stopping, saying, "Now there's nothing left, nothing left at all."
"Yanjun." Liang Wenhua's face stiffened. "Yanjun, it's all in the past. Don't think about it anymore."
Ji Yanjun slowly closed his eyes, and after a long while, he said, "Mom, you can go out now. I need some peace and quiet."
Don't overthink it.
"I see."
Don't overthink it.
Ji Yanjun smiled and said, "Mom, don't worry, as long as you and Dad are alive and well, I won't take my own life."
Liang Wenhua was startled by these words. Did they mean that if it weren't for filial piety, he would have followed Wen Qing in death? Was Wen Qing that important? Liang Wenhua paused, wanting to say something, but unsure how. On the other hand, Ji Yanjun's words secretly reassured her, so she silently left the room.
Ji Yanjun stood alone in the room.
That's all.
Everything is gone.
There's nothing left...
He sat on the bed, then leaned over and lay face down, trying to smell the blankets, sheets, and pillows, but there wasn't a trace of the green scent. He lay there quietly, unwilling to move, for a long time, until Gangzi came to find him.
"You're discharged from the hospital?" Gangzi patted his shoulder and said with a grin, hoping to dispel the sadness in his heart.
"Hmm." Ji Yanjun smiled.
"How are you feeling?"
"fine."
"Can you do the work?"
"able."
"Then let's talk about work."
“Okay,” Ji Yanjun said.
With that, Gangzi and Ji Yanjun left the Ji family home and got back to work. They were busy at the company every day and often drove trucks themselves, rarely going home.
If he used to come home often when Wen Qing was around, it's perfectly normal for him to not come back for months at a time now that Wen Qing is gone.
However, he never skimped on the living expenses for Ji Yousheng and Liang Wenhua, and he would buy them clothes when it was cold or hot. He was also good to Ji Ningzhi and her two children. Ji Ningzhi suffered domestic violence in her first and second marriages due to her personality. Now she is divorced and lives in the Ji family with a boy and a girl. Ji Yanjun not only didn't say anything, but also asked Liang Wenhua and Ji Yousheng to treat the two children as his own grandchildren. Liang Wenhua naturally refused and started arranging the marriage between Zhang Fangfang and Ji Yanjun.
When Ji Yanjun went home for the Chinese New Year, Liang Wenhua approached him and said, "Fangfang has waited for you for so many years. Although she is over thirty, it is her first marriage and yours is your second. We don't have much to complain about. The most important thing is that she is sincere to you, right? If it were someone else, I would be afraid that they would be after your money."
Since Wen Qing's death, Ji Yanjun's personality has changed drastically. Although he continues to live day by day, he always feels that something is missing. The noticeable deficiency is that he has very few emotions and almost nothing can arouse his interest. So when Liang Wenhua said these things, he remained calm.
Liang Wenhua continued, "Look, your father and I are getting old. Other people our age already have grandchildren, don't they?"
"Grandson?" Ji Yanjun asked back.
"Yes, aren't your nephew and niece adorable?"
Seeing that Ji Yanjun was slightly moved, Liang Wenhua quickly asked with a smile, "Yanjun, what do you think? How about I have Fangfang come over for dinner later?"
“Okay.” Ji Yanjun nodded.
Liang Wenhua was overjoyed and hurriedly took her granddaughter to the Shen family to chat, but her real purpose was to find Zhang Fangfang.
When Zhang Fangfang came to the Ji family, she couldn't hide her joy.
Ji Yanjun looked up at her and said, "Fangfang, come with me for a moment."
Zhang Fangfang nodded: "Okay." Then she followed Ji Yanjun into the room.
Liang Wenhua patted Ji Ningzhi's hand happily and said, "Ningzhi, look, look, in the end, your brother and Fangfang are a better match!"
Having gone through two divorces and had two more children, and having witnessed Wen Qing's death, Ji Ningzhi's mindset gradually changed, and her understanding of people and things also evolved. At this point, she no longer took Liang Wenhua's words seriously. In fact, she only now realized that Ji Yanjun's love for Wen Qing was no less than Wen Qing's. Before marriage, she had gritted her teeth and loathed Wen Qing, but after marriage, coupled with Wen Qing's death, she felt nothing but guilt.
"Right?" Liang Wenhua asked again, trying to gain Ji Ningzhi's approval.
Ji Ningzhi did not express her opinion.
Seeing that Ji Yanjun and Zhang Fangfang had been alone in the room for half an hour, Liang Wenhua happily went to prepare the meal.
After going into the kitchen for a while, he came out again. He had just entered the main room, intending to ask everyone how much rice they had eaten, and to cook rice for this meal, when he saw Zhang Fangfang running out crying.
"Fangfang." Liang Wenhua stepped forward and grabbed her arm, asking, "What's wrong?"
Zhang Fangfang's eyes were red and swollen, indicating that she had been crying for a while.
"What's wrong?" Liang Wenhua asked anxiously.
Zhang Fangfang flung Liang Wenhua away and ran out crying, never to return to the Ji family. Liang Wenhua took her grandchildren to the Shen family to play, and while asking Zhang Fangfang what had happened, Zhang Fangfang said, "Yanjun knows all about the things you did to Wen Qing and the trouble you caused him."
Liang Wenhua was taken aback: "What did he say?"
He said he would never marry again in his life.
Liang Wenhua was so shocked that he swayed. How could he not marry him? Wouldn't that mean he would have no descendants?! When Liang Wenhua got home, he made a huge scene at Ji Yanjun.
Ji Yanjun still didn't show much emotion, and asked, "Mom, when I couldn't see her, did you also force Qingqing like this?"
Liang Wenhua was taken aback.
After that, no matter how much Liang Wenhua made a scene or cried, Ji Yanjun remained alone. Even when Liang Wenhua talked about death, Ji Yanjun replied to her, "If you die, I won't live long either."
Liang Wenhua was completely frightened by Ji Yanjun and dared not talk nonsense anymore.
Not long after, Ji Ningzhi remarried for the third time. The two children changed their surname to Ji and were adopted by Ji Yanjun. They started calling Ji Yousheng and Liang Wenhua "Grandpa and Grandma." When they called Ji Yanjun "Dad," Ji Yanjun felt a pang of pain in his heart. He thought of the child he had lost, his Ji Heng. He couldn't bear the word "Dad" and said, "Just call me Uncle. I don't expect you two to support me in the future. Just be successful on your own."
The two children were quite sensible and often played lively games in front of Ji Yousheng and Liang Wenhua to please the elderly couple. As the couple grew older, they gradually accepted the two children and the fact that Ji Yanjun would be alone in his old age.
However, in the dead of night, Ji Yousheng would say, "It would be so much better if Wen Qing hadn't died."
Liang Wenhua used to be indignant, but now she sees her son coming and going alone, visiting Wen Qing's grave every holiday, looking very lonely. Since Wen Qing's death, he hasn't even been able to smile. Behind his back, people say that Ji Yanjun is too deeply in love, and of course, there are also unpleasant rumors, such as that Ji Yanjun has an illness. She feels bad too, but there's nothing she can do.
Gradually, Liang Wenhua's hair turned gray. Because Ji Yanjun was rarely home, and her grandchildren were studying in the city, it was almost always just her and Ji Yousheng at home. The loneliness of her later years gradually brought her peace of mind, and she became less attached to the past. She often called Ji Yanjun, asking him to come home, but he rarely did. This day was the Dragon Boat Festival, and her grandchildren came home for the holiday.
When Liang Wenhua called Ji Yanjun, Ji Yanjun was sitting in front of Wen Qing's tombstone.
“Mom,” Ji Yanjun said.
"Yanjun, are you coming back for the holiday today?" Liang Wenhua asked, his voice now sounding much older.
"No, thank you."
“Come back. Our house is going to be demolished, and your room will be demolished too. I don’t have the key. Come back and take a look, pack up your things, and move to the new house as a keepsake,” Liang Wenhua said.
Ji Yanjun agreed: "Okay."
After Ji Yanjun returned to the Ji family home, he opened Wen Qing's door. The room was spotless. If one had to find a similarity between the room and Wen Qing's room, it would be that the bed was still in its place, the cabinet was still in its place, and the table was still in its place...
However, they're all moving now.
Ji Yanjun planned to take the old furniture with him and hired workers to move it.
They moved the table out, then the cabinet, and finally the bed. Just as the bed was being moved out, they heard a "thud." Ji Ningzhi's daughter, Ji Xiaoxiao, looked towards the corner of the wall and saw a hard-covered black notebook. It seemed to have been pressed against the wall by the bed leg, and a deep dent was left on the notebook.
Ji Xiaoxiao stepped forward and picked it up, saying, "Uncle, is this your notebook?" As she spoke, she opened it and immediately read out the name "Wen Qing".
Wen Qing...
Ji Yanjun was startled.
"Uncle, who is Wen Qing?"
Before Ji Xiaoxiao could say anything more, Ji Yanjun strode forward, snatched the notebook, and startled Ji Xiaoxiao, who had never seen her uncle so out of control before.
Ji Yanjun snatched the notebook and looked at the two neat characters "Wen Qing" written in black ballpoint pen. His hands trembled uncontrollably.
Qingqing, this was written by Qingqing.
Ten years have passed, ten years have passed, and he has finally found traces of Qingqing's existence.
Qingqing, his parched emotions suddenly surged, and tears fell with a "plop" onto the words "Wen Qing".
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