Holding Su Hui, Gu Beixian arrived at the parking area. With one hand, Gu Beixian opened the car door and placed her in the passenger seat.
Su Hui had already cried into a tearful figure, her pale face adorned with pear blossoms in the rain, looking completely disoriented. Anyone who saw her would feel pity.
Gu Beixian got into the car, fastened her seatbelt, and embraced her, whispering softly in her ear, "Be strong; I'll take you to the hospital right away."
Unable to hear what he was saying, Su Hui's mind was filled with her grandmother—her grandmother had left.
She no longer had her grandmother.
Gu Beixian drove the car swiftly.
Finally reaching the hospital, he got out and opened the car door.
Su Hui got out of the car, nearly stumbling, her legs too weak to walk.
Gu Beixian simply picked her up again, striding towards the inpatient department.
In the ward, Su Peilan was crying bitterly, covering her face with tears.
Her grandmother lay on the hospital bed, covered with a white sheet, her face also hidden.
It felt like something had collapsed, and Su Hui's heart suddenly tightened, as if someone had tied it with a rope, making it painful to breathe.
Struggling to get out of Gu Beixian's embrace, Su Hui walked unsteadily towards the bed.
Gu Beixian quickly supported her.
The doctor lifted the white cloth, allowing her to take one last look.
Her grandmother's eyes were tightly closed, her face pale to the point of ashiness, and her lips had turned blue.
With a "thud," Su Hui knelt to the ground, tears blurring her eyes.
She desperately wiped them away.
She wanted to take a good look at her grandmother, but no matter how she wiped, she couldn't dry her tears.
She knelt beside the bed, hugging her grandmother's waist, hysterically crying and calling out, "Grandma, Grandma," but her grandmother could no longer respond.
She slapped her face, trying to wake her up, but her grandmother would never wake up again.
She cried like a child, feeling so lonely, so lonely, with deep and bottomless sadness in her heart.
Grandfather had left, and now grandmother had left.
The two dearest people left her one after another.
She seemed to have turned into an orphan, utterly alone.
Gu Beixian, afraid that her knees would get cold kneeling on the icy floor, helped her up.
Su Hui stubbornly stayed on the ground.
Gu Beixian had to grab a pillow and kneel under her knees, then went to the bathroom to get warm water, dampening a towel and continuously wiping away her tears.
By the end of her crying, Su Hui couldn't shed tears anymore, her voice hoarse. She just knelt there blankly, looking at her grandmother's face, unmoving.
Su Peilan arranged for her mother's body to be sent back to their hometown, Su Village, to be buried alongside her father.
Gu Beixian went out to make a call to his assistant, arranging for the hearse and funeral matters.
An hour later, the staff brought the hearse, placing her grandmother's body inside.
A procession of several cars set off towards Su Village.
A professional funeral team quickly set up the mourning hall, dressed her grandmother in burial clothes, and placed her in the coffin.
At night, Su Hui, dressed in mourning, was accompanied by Gu Beixian.
As the night deepened, he urged her to get some sleep.
Su Hui lightly shook her head.
Gu Beixian had someone bring a mattress and set it on the floor, forcefully making her lie down.
During these days of mourning, Su Hui spent most of her time kneeling, unable to hold on, only taking short rests.
She refused to sleep, and Gu Beixian stayed awake with her, watching over her carefully.
Afraid that she would faint from excessive grief, afraid that she would feel lonely and scared, afraid of her despair, and even more afraid of losing her.
He didn't know how to console her, just tightly holding her hand, offering his shoulder for her to lean on, silently accompanying her.
Under the eternal light.
Her beautiful face was pale like a cold moon, her fluffy eyes filled with deep sorrow, long eyelashes drooping like the wings of a dying butterfly.
She became thin and frail, like a slender bamboo, fragile and swaying, as if it would fall with a gust of wind.
These days, he pitied her more than ever.
Years later, Gu Beixian couldn't forget this scene, and recalling it made his heart ache.
In the courtyard.
A relative from the Su family, known for her sharp tongue, approached Su Peilan and said, "Your son-in-law seems to be in good health, huh? I heard he was disabled before, only able to use a wheelchair?"
Su Peilan knew they were making jokes behind her back, insinuating that she sold her daughter to a disabled man for money.
She lifted her swollen eyelids, gave that relative a sidelong glance, and said, "My son-in-law is just injured, temporarily in a wheelchair. His legs recovered a year ago."
The relative sneered, "Really? Recovered quite quickly."
"Of course, my son-in-law is fortunate, and good fortune begets good luck."
The relative chuckled, sarcastically saying, "I heard your in-laws are wealthy. Is Su Hui mistreated in their family? Our humble family can't compare to their grandeur."
Su Peilan cast a cold glance, "Not
at all. Their family respects my daughter a lot. My son-in-law has been with her day and night these days, never closing his eyes. This level of care, your son-in-law wouldn't be able to afford even if he's broke."
Su Peilan was always quick-witted and straightforward, never letting grudges linger.
The relative was her cousin, always jealous of her since childhood. She intended to take advantage of this opportunity to criticize her but ended up with disappointment. With a few displeased clicks of her tongue, she walked away with a dark face.
Three days later.
They were about to take the grandmother's body for cremation.
Just at dawn, Gu Beixian brought a bowl of food for Su Hui, urging her to eat.
She had no appetite, but local customs dictated that family members shouldn't fast before cremation.
Su Hui took a few bites hastily.
The hearse arrived, and Gu Beixian's subordinates and several relatives lifted the grandmother onto the hearse.
Su Peilan and several aunts wailed loudly.
Su Hui, with tears streaming down her face, stood next to the hearse, closest to her grandmother.
Quietly in her heart, she said, "Grandma, don't be afraid; I'm here."
According to tradition, family members had to accompany the hearse out. The procession behind the car was quite grand, including not only relatives but also her grandmother's students.
The hearse slowly started.
Su Hui held the handle of the hearse, tears streaming down her face, following the hearse out of the village.
The hearse headed towards the road, picking up speed, and her outstretched hand moved further away from the cold car door.
The sky seemed to collapse.
She was so sad that she didn't know what to say, just desperately reaching out her hand and running to catch up with the hearse.
Gu Beixian, afraid she might be in danger, hurriedly stopped her.
Su Hui cried until she was weak, collapsing.
Gu Beixian helped her up, holding her like a child.
She couldn't walk away, so she reached out, but her hand couldn't touch the hearse anymore.
She watched the hearse gradually disappear, crying until she couldn't make a sound.
On the way home, she vomited several times by the roadside.
Gu Beixian helped her clean the mess around her mouth and comforted her gently.
She could hear his voice around her ears, but couldn't understand what he was saying.
All she knew was that the person on the hearse was her grandmother, about to be burned in a big fire.
She was about to lose her grandmother completely.
She no longer had her grandmother, never again.
After the cremation, her grandmother's ashes were sent back.
On the day of the burial, the sky was dark, and fine drizzles floated in the air.
A cold wind blew through the muddy path, bone-chilling.
Su Hui, supported by Gu Beixian, along with her mother and relatives, came to the grove behind the village to bury her grandmother next to her grandfather.
The grove exuded a gloomy atmosphere, even in broad daylight, giving a chilling feeling.
However, her grandfather was buried here, and now her grandmother would be buried here too. Su Hui didn't feel scared at all.
Not far from her grandfather's grave was the burial site of A Yao, who had once saved her life.
Her three beloved ones now rested here.
She felt this place was comforting.
Su Hui quietly leaned on Gu Beixian, watching the yellow soil being sprinkled on her grandmother's coffin, gradually filling the pit, forming a new grave, and quickly erecting a well-engraved tombstone.
The paper-carried sedan and the paper figures were burned, flames leaping up in the chilly grove with the wind's mournful whistling. The darkness of the grove was painted red, and the crows croaked as they flew to distant trees.
Staring at the picture of her grandmother on the tombstone, Su Hui cried like rain.
Gu Beixian kept wiping away her tears.
In the midst of crying, Su Hui suddenly smiled, her eyes red. She said to him, "I shouldn't be sad; I should be happy for Grandma. She's going to find Grandpa, who is the person she wanted to be with the most. They'll be buried together, keeping each other company, and they won't be lonely anymore."
Gu Beixian nodded, silently staring at her swollen eyes, wanting to say: Let's be buried together a hundred years later.
He opened his mouth but couldn't say it.
It was not the right time, and he was afraid of the unpredictability of life, making promises he might not keep.
He didn't say anything, just holding her hand tighter, tilting the umbrella more towards her side.
After the funeral, Gu Beixian supported Su Hui back.
For several consecutive days, she had no interest in food, and Su Hui became extremely thin.
Her slender figure was like a thin bamboo, fragile and swaying, as if it would fall with a gust of wind.
Gu Beixian saw it, felt it in his heart, and held her tightly in his arms, wishing he could bear all her pain.
As they walked.
Suddenly, his pupils tightened, catching sight of a tall figure standing near the broken bridge at the edge of the village, looking towards them from a distance.
The man had a sharp posture, wearing a black windbreaker, black short hair, and a face with a mask. He had long legs and exuded an aura that ordinary people didn't possess.
He stood like a statue, motionless, his dark eyes looking at Su Hui with deep and quiet affection.
Even from this far, one could feel the profound pain in his eyes.
Gu Beixian's heart sank.
His intuition told him that it was Yao.
The figure almost exactly matched the person in the photo given by Chu Mo Chen.
Gradually, a cold frost spread in his eyes. Gu Beixian tilted the umbrella forward, blocking Su Hui's line of sight, preventing her from seeing Yao, and Yao from seeing her again.