Chapter 552 Funeral
Before Zhou Qiao could say anything more, Zhou Sihai coughed, "Qiao'er, you...you shouldn't be so willful. Cough cough, do you want to make Grandpa's departure uneasy?"
Zhou Qiao swallowed her words instantly and hurriedly went over to support Zhou Sihai's back: "Grandpa, how are you?"
No sooner had he finished speaking than the old man coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Zhou Qiao panicked immediately, and tears welled up in her eyes: "Grandpa, I... I'll listen to you, I'll listen to everything you say, please don't be angry."
Kong Wange frowned; she could tell that Zhou Sihai's time was up.
Zhou Sihai picked up a tissue from the side and wiped his mouth. He stood up and said, "I'm fine. I've finished eating. Qiao'er, you can clean up the table."
Zhou Qiao wiped away her tears and choked out, "Okay, I'll pack right away..."
Zhou Sihai glanced at the extra set of bowls and chopsticks on the table, then looked out the window again, as if hoping for someone's arrival.
Qin Feng followed his gaze and looked outside, but saw nothing. He asked, "Old Zhou, what's wrong?"
Zhou Sihai sighed and waved his hand, "It's nothing."
Kong Wange fell silent. The old man's demeanor suggested he had some painful past experiences that were difficult to revisit…
"Kong girl, can you make me another dessert? Do you know how to make pea flour cake from Chaobei? I've been craving it lately."
Kong Wange nodded: "Okay, you wait here."
Zhou Sihai went to see Qin Feng again: "Little Fengfeng, go get the chess set. I've never won a game against you. I'm so frustrated."
Qin Feng nodded and winked at Shen Li.
Shen Li immediately stood up: "I'll go get it."
The chess set was brought over quickly, and Zhou Sihai sat down with a smile and started playing against Qin Feng.
Seeing that Zhou Sihai was about to win, Qin Feng said, "It's your turn."
There was no sound from the other end.
Qin Feng looked up and saw Zhou Sihai sitting in a rattan chair, his eyes closed peacefully.
Zhou Qiao brought in the pea flour cake that Kong Wange had made: "Grandpa, the pea flour cake is ready, please try it..."
Before she could finish speaking, she saw Zhou Sihai sitting stiffly on the rattan chair.
The plate suddenly fell to the ground with a crisp "smack".
Zhou Sihai died. In the end, he still couldn't beat Qin Feng and didn't get to eat the pea flour cake he had been longing for.
But he left quite calmly.
Kong Wange and Qin Feng helped Zhou Qiao with the funeral arrangements for the old man.
The old man was buried on Lingshan Mountain behind Yudaoyuan.
The day of the funeral was gloomy. Zhou Sihai didn't have many friends. Qin Feng, one of Zhou Sihai's few friends, stayed by Zhou Qiao's side the whole time.
Kong Wange, wrapped in a trench coat, went up the mountain, offered incense to the old man, and bowed.
She never expected to run into Anya on her way out.
Although she had never met him, as the head of one of the four major families, Kong Wange had seen her aunt Murong Ting frequently on various online platforms.
However, this sudden meeting seemed strangely unsettling.
The other person was wearing a black woolen overcoat and a black wide-brimmed hat. He walked straight past Kong Wange and went to Zhou Sihai's grave.
She didn't bow, but looked at his photo carefully for a while, then placed a bouquet of white daisies on it, before turning to Kong Wange and saying, "Do you have time to talk?"
Kong Wange was taken aback at first, then composed herself, nodded, and followed her down the mountain.
The two went to a nearby coffee shop together.
The location is a bit out of the way, and there aren't many people in the cafe. The dark brown decor easily calms you down.
The two sat facing each other by the window.
A short while later, the waiter brought over two lattes.
Amidst the aroma of roasting, Anya spoke first: "I've always heard Tingting talk about you, is this our first time meeting?"
Kong Wange nodded: "I should have visited my aunt a long time ago. Do you know Grandpa Zhou?"
Anya spoke softly, her gaze filled with a hint of reminiscence: "Zhou Sihai was an old friend of mine. I was actually there the day he left."
Kong Wange paused for a moment, then inexplicably remembered the extra set of bowls and chopsticks that Zhou Sihai had prepared, and suddenly realized, "So... the person Uncle Zhou was waiting for that day was you?"
Anya took a sip of coffee but didn't reply.
Kong Wange was a little puzzled and continued to ask, "Since you went there, why didn't you go in and sit down? Uncle Zhou... he was actually looking forward to seeing you."
“You don’t understand our situation,” Anya said calmly. “This is fine too; this should be the best ending.”
Kong Wange fell silent.
There must be a reason why she made this choice.
As an outsider, she shouldn't interfere too much in the affairs of her two elders.
In the silence, Anya across from her looked at her and said, "I came here today not entirely because of Lao Zhou."
Kong Wange was taken aback: "And who are you?"
Anya looked at her, the gentleness in her eyes fading when she talked about Zhou Sihai, replaced by a sharper look: "I mainly want to talk to you, Wange, I hope you can leave Tingting on your own initiative!"
There was no room for doubt in his tone.
Kong Wange felt slightly uncomfortable. She hadn't expected Anya to say that, and asked in confusion, "Why?"
She and Murong Ting have been together for so long, they're married, and they have three children, yet Anya jumps out at this time to say such things.
It's really... unbelievable.
Anya said calmly, "Because you are a member of the Wen family, and you have Wen family blood flowing in your veins, based on that alone, as long as I am still in the An family, I will never let you into the An family."
"What happened to the Wen family?" Kong Wange asked, puzzled.
An Ya didn't want to waste any more time with her and said in a warning tone, "Kong Wange, this isn't Jiangcheng. I'm in charge of the An family. As long as I don't acknowledge you, you're not Tingting's lawfully wedded wife. I've seen the videos online. Since you had a man you liked in the countryside before you married Tingting, why are you still clinging to him?"
Kong Wange said calmly, "I will explain the video to you later, but I cannot accept your reason for disapproving of me being with A-Ting simply because I am a member of the Wen family."
She took a deep breath and said firmly, "I will not leave Ah Ting unless he tells me himself."
Anya's brows furrowed in disgust: "The Wen family is truly ungrateful. I've said my piece. Since you're not leaving, don't blame me for suppressing the Wen family!"
After saying that, she got up and left.
Kong Wange frowned as she watched the direction the woman had left in.
Anya's inexplicable words made her chest feel unbearably tight.
So what if she's a member of the Wen family?
Just as she was about to call Murong Ting to ask him about it, he called her first.
Seeing the familiar caller ID, she pressed the answer button.
Hearing her answer the phone, Murong Ting on the other end seemed to breathe a sigh of relief: "Wanwan, where are you?"
“Outside, Ah Ting, I have something I want to ask you,” Kong Wange said directly.
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