In the north, the body of an elderly person who has passed away is usually kept for three days, so the burial can be done on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. This year, the brother and sister’s first birthday on the Lantern Festival cannot be celebrated.
During the three days of the funeral, the atmosphere at home was so depressing that it made people feel breathless.
In the mourning hall, Sun Simin's black and white portrait was placed in the center. This photo was taken by Fan Hua specially for each of the elderly people during the Chinese New Year last year. She never expected that it would become a portrait.
She had a kind smile in the photo, but that smile hurt everyone's eyes.
There was an endless stream of relatives and friends coming to pay their respects, and everyone was mourning the passing of this kind old man.
He Siyan suppressed his grief and helped to greet the guests. Even Zhao Yilu, who was sitting in a wheelchair, was not idle.
Yuanyuan and Xiaoxiao seemed to feel the adults' sadness, and were no longer as lively and active as usual. They just stayed quietly aside, looking at everything around them with puzzled and fearful eyes from time to time.
Zhao Yilu has been noticeably more silent these days. He has been wearing the wheelchair that his grandmother used to sit in when she went out. He stares at his grandmother's portrait from time to time, and his thoughts seem to drift back to the days when he and his grandmother lived in the mountains.
Fan Hua was also busy running around, helping to deal with various affairs. Xie Yuting, regardless of the gossip of outsiders, automatically included herself in the ranks of granddaughters-in-law, and knelt in front of the coffin in mourning like Fan Hua.
They were all using their busyness to temporarily forget the pain of Sun Simin's death.
The most heartbroken person was Zhao Xubai. Losing the love of his life was a pain that most people could hardly bear. In just three days, he seemed to have aged by ten years, as if all his strength had been drained.
Lin Chao stayed by Zhao Xubai's side without leaving, while Lin Xi knelt silently beside him, keeping vigil for Sun Simin like her own granddaughter.
On the day of the funeral, everyone cried and kowtowed to Sun Simin for the last time. Zhao Yilu, leaning on a crutch, insisted on kneeling down with his uninjured leg and kowtow to his grandmother. Fan Hua stopped trying to dissuade him, and silently supported Zhao Yilu as he said his final goodbyes to his grandmother.
The sky was gloomy, as if it was also mourning the departure of Sun Simin.
The funeral procession moved forward slowly, everyone looked sad. Zhao Xubai was supported by He Zhengxiang. His eyes were empty and his steps were light, as if his soul had left with Sun Simin.
…
Birth, aging, sickness and death always come so unexpectedly. No one can predict that a healthy person would be gone in an instant.
Fan Hua and Zhao Yilu originally planned to return to Yangcheng on the 16th day of the first lunar month. Now seeing Zhao Xubai like this, they are really worried, so Fan Hua applied to the school and returned to school later, intending to stay with Zhao Xubai for some more time.
Zhao Xubai, who used to like painting mountains and rivers, stopped painting these days. He stayed in his study, painting Sun Simin's portrait, painting her when she was young, when she was middle-aged, and when she was old...
He was afraid that he would slowly forget what his wife looked like, so he kept drawing.
Zhao Yilu was silently helping his grandfather grind ink just like he did when he was a child, while Fan Hua and Lin Xi went to the kitchen to try every means to make various health-preserving porridge and soup, for fear that the old man would collapse.
After another six or seven days, after Zhao Xubai had painted dozens of portraits of Sun Simin, he finally walked out of the study, called Fan Hua and Xie Yuting to the peach tree, and used a pickaxe to dig out the box of treasures that Sun Simin had mentioned to Fan Hua on the phone.
Zhao Xubai was very aware of the value of these things. He simply divided the things inside into two parts and gave them to Fan Hua and Xie Yuting according to Sun Simin's will.
Then he said dully, "You are both good girls. These are what your grandmother repeatedly told you to give to you before she passed away. You two should keep them well and live a good life with Si Yanhe in the future."
After saying that, he looked at Fan Hua again, "Fan girl, I'm fine. You and Yi Lu can go back to Yangcheng without worry. Don't delay your studies. I will take good care of myself and won't let your grandma worry."
Fan Hua nodded. She was holding a heavy box with mixed feelings.
That night, Fan Hua and Zhao Yilu discussed and decided to let Zhao Yilu and the two children stay to accompany Zhao Xubai for a while, while Fan Hua would return to Yangcheng first. After all, in addition to going to school, she also had a lot of things to deal with at the garment factory, so she could no longer stay in Beijing.
Before she left, she called Lin Chao and Lin Xi to her side and gave each of them a big red envelope.
"You have done a great job this year and have been very attentive to grandma and grandpa. Thank you! From now on, grandpa will be the only one left in this courtyard. I hope you can treat him as your own grandfather and take good care of him. I will definitely not treat you unfairly and will help you as if you were my family."
"Sister, we can't take this money. You saved my life. My brother and I are living so well now because of your arrangement. We have been blaming ourselves these past two days, thinking that it was because we didn't take good care of Grandma Sun that she fell. Even if you don't say it, we will take good care of Grandpa Zhao in the future."
Fan Hua stuffed the money into their hands and said, "Be obedient and keep it. People's fate is arranged. Grandma's painless departure may be a kind of happiness. We must always look forward to the future. Don't say such self-blaming words in the future, especially don't say them to grandpa, otherwise he will blame himself more than you."
Seeing that Fan Hua was so determined, Lin Chao and Lin Xi did not refuse and silently accepted the red envelope.
But after Fan Hua left, they were surprised by the amount in the red envelopes. There were 500 yuan in each red envelope, adding up to 1,000 yuan. Although they knew Fan Hua was rich, 1,000 yuan was a huge sum for the two siblings, a huge sum that could last for many years!
Fan Hua flew back to Guangzhou alone that day and began to return to her busy life.
The dead are gone, and the living are still here. The living must continue to live well so as not to disappoint the concerns and expectations of those who have left.
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