Chapter 68
In the winter in Guicheng, there is no snow, only endless cold wind, which is biting and chilling.
......
In the bedroom.
Lin Jiu was sitting at the head of the bed knitting a scarf.
She was fully armed to keep out the cold.
I put a hot water bottle inside the quilt, and my feet were close to the heat source, keeping them warm and comfortable.
There was no bedside table in the room, so she placed a birdcage-shaped oven in its place and warmed her hands there from time to time.
A braided scarf draped straight across the bed's headboard.
Lin Jiu took a look and felt that the length was enough.
She adjusted the pillow at her lower back and found a comfortable position. Then, she grabbed her phone and searched for the most-liked scarf finishing tutorial on social media.
A few minutes later, the fluffy blue scarf was officially knitted.
Lin Jiu picked up the scarf, looked at it carefully, and smiled.
Although the scarf is simple in style, it is not rough to the touch and is very warm.
She was already satisfied with the effect achieved in three days.
Lin Jiu moved the quilt away, got out of bed, put on his cotton slippers, carefully folded the scarf and put it in the gift box, and also gave it a ball of leftover wool.
The gift box was placed on the table, very conspicuous.
Mission accomplished.
Tomorrow is market day in town, and Yang Bing will go to town to buy some New Year's goods.
Lin Jiu planned to go with him and send the scarf to Chen Miao, which would also put his mind at ease.
Open the bedroom door.
Lin Jiu followed the music from TV to Yang Bing's room.
Yang Bing is not at home.
She was sure.
Not long ago, the sound of a small electric scooter pressing on the ground was heard outside the house. The sound gradually faded away and returned to silence.
Meng Juan was probably the only person in the room.
It can be guessed that before Yang Bing went out, he turned on the TV for Meng Juan to entertain her.
Lin Jiu quietly walked to the door of the room.
He leaned over and looked inside.
Meng Juan was wearing the dark down jacket that Lin Jiu brought her when he went home during the winter vacation.
She lay on her back on the bed with her clothes folded, her eyes closed, her face calm, and she looked like she was asleep.
He was not wearing anything to keep warm.
There is no air conditioning in the room.
The air conditioner blows hot air in winter, making my face dry but not warm.
The heating device beside the bed is diligently emitting bursts of heat.
Seeing this, Lin Jiu sighed inwardly.
This works fine.
The small sun's radiation range is limited, so it will definitely be cold.
Lin Jiu walked a few steps inside, half-knelt beside the bed, bent over Meng Juan's body, pulled the quilt over her and wrapped her tightly.
Then, Lin Jiu put his hand on Meng Juan's cheek, which was icy cold.
Afraid that Meng Juan would catch a cold.
Lin Jiu held Meng Juan's shoulders and shook her, calling her softly: "Grandma, get up and warm yourself by the fire before going back to sleep. You are too cold."
No movement.
I guess I slept too deeply.
Lin Jiu couldn't help but increase the intensity of the shaking, and raised his voice slightly, "Grandma, wake up first, and go back to sleep later."
The person on the bed still didn't move.
Lin Jiu paused his movements, looked quietly at the old and wrinkled face, and a possibility flashed through his mind.
Her pupils widened slightly, and she shook her head in self-denial.
So, she used all her strength to continue shaking the person who had no response at all, and shouted loudly: "Grandma, wake up. Grandma, grandma, grandma..."
The person being shaken was like a puppet, motionless.
As Lin Jiu shouted, a few tears silently flowed down his face.
She wiped her face with her backhand, stretched out her trembling fingers and placed them in front of Meng Juan's nose for a final confirmation.
I stared blankly for a few seconds.
She took a deep breath, ran back to her room, picked up her phone, and called Yang Bing. She said calmly and clearly, "Mom, grandma seems... gone."
......
In rural areas, the mourning hall lasts for three days.
Those three days.
Lin Jiu basically wore a white cloth and followed the arrangements of the village elders.
Sometimes he would sort out Meng Juan's clothes and find a place to bury them. Sometimes he would help find wine and cups to entertain the villagers who were outside.
Most of the time, she stayed beside the dark coffin, kneeling on the straw mat to keep vigil.
When she met villagers who came to pay their respects, she would burn paper money with them from time to time.
As for Yang Bing.
She needed to confirm the dishes for the banquet and discuss burial arrangements. In short, there were a lot of miscellaneous things to do.
After completing a series of procedures, Meng Juan was finally buried.
The front door of my house was much quieter, and the red confetti on the ground proved that there would be a fake bustle here soon.
After entering the door, the first thing I saw was the neat row of black and white portraits on the wall. Next to two old and yellowed portraits was a brand new one.
Lin Jiu stood at the door with his back to the light, looking at the new portrait.
She felt a little sad, but not that sad.
Sadness comes from the passing of elders.
However, she was also very aware that—
This is a happy funeral.
When burning paper money, she often thought of Meng Juan's appearance as a child, who was kind and had no temper.
Meng Juan could not accept the death of her own son. She was extremely mentally distressed and became a different person.
Later, she relied on taking medicine every day to maintain her mental state.
When she was about to turn eighty, she passed away peacefully, serenely and without pain.
This may be a different kind of relief.
After standing still for a minute, Lin Jiu prepared to return to his room.
Suddenly, Yang Bing called her from the room: "Lin Jiu, come here."
Lin Jiu lowered his eyes, changed his original idea, and walked into Yang Bing's room.
Yang Bing sat cross-legged on the bed, looking down at the bank card, household registration book and other items on the bed sheet.
Lin Jiu walked closer and asked, "Mom, what's wrong?"
Yang Bing picked up one of the bank cards and said to Lin Jiu, "This card contains your father's compensation. It originally had 800,000 yuan. A lot of it has been spent over the past decade or so, so there's only about 190,000 yuan left. The password is my birthday."
Lin Jiu just looked at Yang Bing, whose brows were no longer cold, without saying a word. He probably guessed what she was thinking.
Perhaps because of Meng Juan's sudden death, Yang Bing was afraid that he would be gone, so he told her about the family's property situation in advance.
She remembers the day Meng Juan passed away very clearly.
Yang Bing was shocked at first, then she covered her face and cried for a long time. Afterwards, she seemed to have unloaded a certain burden, no longer as cold as usual, but a little more vulnerable and kind.
Lin Jiu rarely saw Yang Bing like that, it felt familiar yet strange.
After all, he was an adult, so Yang Bing quickly calmed down and went to the village to ask people to help with the funeral.
With their help, the funeral went smoothly and in an orderly manner.
Yang Bing didn't hear Lin Jiu's response. She looked up at her and saw that she was listening intently. She picked up another card and said, "There's some money in this, too. It's not much, just over 5,000 yuan. The password is the same as the previous card."
After she finished speaking, she asked Lin Jiu: "Do you remember it?"
Lin Jiu looked at the two bank cards, recalled what Yang Bing said, nodded and said, "I remember it."
Yang Bing nodded, and in front of Lin Jiu, put all the scattered things on the bed into a black bag.
“All the important things in the house are here.”
Lin Jiu: "Okay, I understand."
"That's all I asked you to do. Nothing else."
"Yeah." Lin Jiu glanced at Yang Bing, "Then I'll go back to my room first."
As he turned to leave, Lin Jiu turned around and asked, "Would you like to eat the leftovers from lunch tonight? I'll go pick some vegetables and put them in the refrigerator."
"Okay." Yang Bing said, "You take a nap first, and then come with me to your father's grave at four o'clock in the afternoon to burn incense for him."
"I remember that."
Go back to your room and close the door.
Lin Jiu took off his shoes, lay on the bed and sent a message to Chen Miao with his mobile phone.
Jiubujiu: My grandmother has been buried and all the things have been finished. I will send the scarf to you tomorrow.
I was originally planning to send a scarf to Chen Miao, but who knew that my grandmother suddenly passed away.
That night, she found a quiet place, called Chen Miao, and told him about this.
Chen Miao wanted to come over, but she refused directly.
The New Year is coming soon, there is no need to make this trip back and forth.
and......
To be honest, when he came over, she had no time to deal with him. It was enough for him to chat with her on the phone.
Less than a minute after the message was sent, Chen Miao replied immediately.
CM: OK.
CM: How are you feeling?
Lin Jiu looked at the question, thought for a few seconds, and replied: It's okay, don't worry.
The next second, she yawned and her eyes turned red.
She turned over and ended the topic: I didn’t sleep well last night while keeping vigil, so I’ll take a nap first.
CM: Have a good rest, come to me if you need anything.
......
On time.
Lin Jiu followed Yang Bing to her father's grave.
In fact, there is not only his father's grave there, but also her grandparents', and they are buried very close to each other.
They set off firecrackers, burned some paper money, and sprinkled wine.
After finishing a series of things, Yang Bing asked Lin Jiu to go home first and he planned to stay for a while.
Lin Jiu guessed that Yang Bing was whispering to her father.
Lin Jiu looked around and confirmed that there were no ignited flames around, then went home alone.
She cooked and cleaned the house.
When Yang Bing returned home, the meal was ready.
Lin Jiu and Yang Bing sat at the table and ate quietly.
Yang Bing swallowed a mouthful of food and asked Lin Jiu, "What do you plan to do after graduation?"
Lin Jiu looked at Yang Bing in surprise. He never expected that she would care about this.
Yang Bing had never asked her about school affairs before and always acted indifferent.
The sun rises from the west.
After a moment of silence, Lin Jiu honestly told his plan: "I plan to take the civil service exam."
"Civil servant?"
Seeing Yang Bing's half-understanding, Lin Jiu tried his best to use language she could understand and said, "He's someone similar to the village party secretary, with a stable job."
After hearing her say this, Yang Bing understood and nodded, saying, "This is a good job."
Lin Jiu didn't say anything, but picked up a piece of chicken from the plate and started chewing on it.
"Can you pass the exam?" Yang Bing asked.
Lin Jiu threw the chicken bones into the trash can and said calmly, "I think I can pass the exam."
"That's good." Yang Bing looked at her with a complicated look. "You've never been a worry to anyone since you were a child. You'll be able to live a good life in the future."
Lin Jiu looked at Yang Bing in surprise. She always felt that she was hallucinating. She didn't expect to hear words of praise from Yang Bing.
The next morning.
Lin Jiu asked Yang Bing for the car keys, tied the gift he was going to send to the back seat, and was about to start the car.
Yang Bing suddenly came out and called her, "Lin Jiu."
Lin Jiu stopped and turned around to ask, "What's wrong?"
Yang Bing walked to the side of the car and stared at her strangely for a while, "Buy less food. There aren't many people at home, and we can't finish it."
"Okay, I got it. I'll buy some meat and vegetables and come back."
Lin Jiu didn't stay in the town for long. He went back after sending the express and buying vegetables.
Leave home at seven and get home at eight.
After parking the car, she put the vegetables into the kitchen refrigerator, then walked towards Yang Bing's room with the key.
As always, the room door was not closed.
Lin Jiu didn't knock on the door, but went straight in and walked to the bed.
She looked at Yang Bing who was sleeping and said, "Mom, the key is on your bedside."
Yang Bing didn't respond to her.
Lin Jiu raised his voice and continued to call her: "Mom, the car keys are next to your pillow."
Still no response.
Lin Jiu frowned, then noticed the white medicine on the bedside table.
She took it and looked at it for a few seconds. It was her grandmother's sleeping pills. Meng Juan's mental state was sometimes good and sometimes bad, and she often couldn't sleep at night, so she had to take two sleeping pills every few days.
Empty medicine.
Someone lying in bed, unresponsive.
Lin Jiu seemed to have seen her grandmother's appearance a few days ago.
She pulled back the quilt, ready to wake Yang Bing up, but she discovered a piece of paper hidden in her hand, a suicide note to be exact.
Lin Jiu stood there expressionlessly, gritting his teeth, his body shaking unconsciously as he clutched the suicide note tightly.
She has a strong mentality, after all, she has experienced it once.
Suppress all negative emotions.
She calmly used her cell phone to call an ambulance and then went to find the familiar village party secretary and neighbors.
By the time they sent Yang Bing to the hospital for emergency treatment, it was already nine o'clock.
In front of the hospital emergency room.
Lin Jiu sat on the chair, took out the suicide note from his bag and read it carefully.
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