eighth story

And this kind of sadness seems to have nothing to do with others, it's just a certain trivial emotion that is magnified to the extreme in an instant.Qin Zhi could feel Xiao Yunhe's hand trembling slightly, but after crossing a certain critical point, he suddenly calmed down again.He let go of Qin Zhi's hand, walked over and lifted the quilt covering Shen Heng's face, saw that his eyes were closed, his expression was peaceful, even the clothes on his body were new, there was a sense of cold calm.Xiao Yunhe's lips moved, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he just took Wu Qinyang, who was crying loudly, into his arms, patted him on the back, and comforted him in a low voice: "Yangyang, don't Cried."

Wu Qinyang raised his head to look at him, but caught a trace of damp daze in his eyes.

Shen Heng's funeral will be held three days later, and everything will be kept simple.

Since Shen Heng had no relatives alive, Xiao Yunhe took care of the etiquette as an adopted son, changed Shen Heng's shroud with his own hands, lit the everlasting lamp at home, and arranged for the cremation of the body after three days of mourning.There were not a few people who came to express their condolences in the past three days. Wishing Yin Hao, Qiao Yuan, Chen Di and the others rushed over as soon as they heard the news, but Shu Ling was still in his hometown in Ganzhong, so he must have arrived in half a day.Today's group of people showed up. Together with Tan Yi and the Tang family brothers, the B City Public Security Bureau and the higher-level departments also sent special personnel to come. Other than that, they were people who had business contacts with Qin Zhi. After the politeness, he left, not wanting to break the taboo of their family.

While guarding the spirit, Xiao Yunhe received the people from all walks of life who came after hearing the news, and his mood gradually calmed down.Shen Heng is 84 this year, and he is considered to have a long life among ordinary people. Now that he has passed away safely and without illness, it is actually a kind of blessing.Xiao Yunhe just didn't expect this day to come so soon. He was fine when he went to work in the morning, but he came back after receiving a call at noon, and then he was told that Shen Heng was gone.It's not that he can't accept this result, but he didn't expect it to be this process. He failed to do better in Shen Heng's lifetime, and he still feels owed. This is not the same as pure fear.

However, Shen Heng's death was a blow in another sense to Wu Qinyang. In his 21 years of smooth life, only Zhong Liyin was the closest to his death.People's fear of life is out of nature, especially for those who have experienced the rest of their lives, but he still doesn't know how to face the situation in front of him. The coldness in that moment almost froze the blood in his whole body, and then Little by little, he was eaten away by fear.When Xuan Jue was seriously injured, he still had a glimmer of hope, so he would not be in despair, but now Shen Heng has no hope at all.Both he and Xuan Jue are very close to Shen Heng, from getting along day and night to being separated from yin and yang, he had to start thinking about this proposition related to life and death again.

It's just that he thought for a long time but couldn't come up with a convincing answer. He still felt empty in his heart and too sad, and suddenly felt that birth, old age, sickness and death were very normal things. No matter how you look at it, the current situation makes others feel more gratified.The mourning hall was completely plain and white, with Shen Heng's posthumous photo placed on the table in the middle, and two plates of his favorite melon and fruit snacks were enshrined.Seeing Xiao Yunhe lit another cigarette, Wu Qinyang subconsciously glanced at the cigarette butt in the ashtray, and then heard Qin Zhi advise: "Yunhe, stop smoking."

Xiao Yunhe glanced at him, put out the cigarette silently, and said after a while: "Then I won't smoke."

Wu Qinyang didn't know what he could say, and suddenly became anxious, so he had to lower his head and look at his fingers, pointing out his eyes.At this moment, someone came in from the door again, Qin Zhi and Xiao Yunhe got up and saluted, and were quickly supported by the visitor.

Shu Ling hurried from the airport, although she was mentally prepared along the way, she couldn't help but tremble when she saw the photo of Shen Heng's remains. Said: "Yunhe, don't feel too uncomfortable."

Xiao Yunhe said: "You haven't been back for a while, go see Uncle Heng first."

Wu Qinyang also stood up at this time, and called out a little embarrassedly: "Uncle Ling."

Shu Ling said, "Yangyang?" He couldn't help sighing, "When I grow up, I almost can't recognize him."

Wu Qinyang let out a "huh" and heard Qin Zhi say, "Let's go to your brother first."

Wu Qinyang breathed a sigh of relief inexplicably, and left the room, while Shu Ling stepped forward to worship Shen Heng.

Xuan Jue is taking care of Xiaoyi who is still depressed in the yard. The docile golden retriever has not eaten or drank since the day Shen Heng left, and has lost weight in a few days. At this stage, Xuan Jue can only comfort it .Wu Qinyang knelt down and touched Xiao Yi's head, but there was no response, until Xuan Jue brought Shen Heng's usual teacup over, Xiao Yi let out a low cry.Xuan Jue took the opportunity to push food and water in front of it, seeing that it was still not interested, he could only sigh slightly.

Wu Qinyang said: "Xiaoyi must be very sad."

Xuanjue said: "Yes." Then he asked, "Why did you come out first?"

Wu Qinyang said: "Uncle Ling is here." He felt that his answer was wrong, "I... I was just panicked, I don't know what happened, grandpa passed away so suddenly... Let's say I am sad, as if It's not just sad, but I can't say anything else, I feel panicked, feel very uncomfortable, and a little scared...in fact, it's not at all, just scared. He is obviously a good-looking person. A few days ago I even called you to ask you 'when will you be home', and then came back, eating, chatting and watching TV, as usual, I just went out to watch a movie, when people said no, it was gone, it was too fast..." and low Said, "I just think it's not easy for people to live, there are always too many unexpected things..."

Wu Qinyang was somewhat incoherent, but Xuan Jue understood what he meant.Life and death are almost eternal propositions in the philosophy of life. It is a process of constant confusion. Not only Wu Qinyang doesn't understand, but even Xuan Jue thinks he doesn't understand, but he doesn't know if Qin Zhi and Xiao Yunhe understand. Understand.It's not just a matter of experience, he almost died in the station incident two years ago, and it's not like he didn't experience the disaster of thousands of people in Dian City, but compared with Shen Heng's death, Two completely different feelings.The former is a stormy sea without warning, while the latter is a long stream of water that we are used to, but suddenly one day, it completely disappeared in this world.

Xuan Jue didn't know how to comfort Wu Qinyang, so he could only say, "Grandpa didn't suffer from any serious illness...he's already pretty good."

Wu Qinyang said: "Then it's better to be alive."

Xuan Jue was silent, "People are always going to die" seems to be unable to refute Wu Qinyang's emotion, and he doesn't know what to say.He felt that Wu Qinyang had to wait for Wu Qinyang to understand it, because the truth was just a truth, and it was all told to others.

After three days of cessation, Shen Heng's body was cremated.

Xiao Yunhe was holding the urn, Xuan Jue was holding the photo, and the group came to the funeral home, waiting for the final farewell under the arrangement of the staff.During the farewell ceremony, Shen Heng's body was pushed out, and a layer of heavy makeup was painted on his face, covering his already pale complexion. meaning.Wu Qin felt heart palpitations for no reason, but the farewell process was very brief. After Xuanjue retrieved the photo, a group of people left from the left exit. The body was pushed away and sent to the incinerator not far away. A moaning and weeping crowd entered the hall.

Qin Zhi and Xiao Yunhe stayed where they were, waiting to take away Shen Heng's ashes, while Wu Qinyang, his parents and Xuan Jue went to the rest area not far away to wait.

He suddenly felt that this was a process of gradual loss, and saw that Wishing and their faces were calm, while Shen Heng in the photo was still kind, and the sun at nine o'clock in summer gradually became warmer.

Wu Qinyang felt that he seemed to understand something, but he didn't understand. The transition from sadness to nostalgia might be just a moment, but he knew what he had lost, because Shen Heng would never come back.His grandfather will not ask him when he will be home, will not ask him if his pocket money is enough, has his mother froze his bank card again, and will not ask him to ask him to leave because he is worried that he will be frozen at school. He remembered to add more clothes.

He took the photo in Xuan Jue's hand, and suddenly felt that Shen Heng was still there, but in fact he was gone.

After the ashes were retrieved, the burial began. Because everything was kept simple, only the old group of people and Qin Yao and his wife came.Shen Heng bought the cemetery on Shen Jingjing's right many years ago, and used it as his final resting place a hundred years later.Xiao Yunhe watched Shen Heng's burial, and placed a sacrifice in front of the tomb. Everyone knew that he and Shen Heng should have something to say, so they all left after the worship, leaving only Qin Zhi standing beside him.

Xiao Yunhe knelt on one knee in front of Shen Heng's tomb, lit a cigarette as an offering, and called, "Uncle Heng."

There was a bit of hoarse exhaustion in his voice, and he said lightly: "I have been too busy these years, and I have no time to accompany you. If you leave like this, just wait to see me regret it. In fact, I would rather you give If I make a little trouble, I'm not afraid of being tired, but you're fine, and you left without saying a word, who will show you your freedom."

"I've been doing my sister for so many years... I still feel it's not enough. Back then you didn't blame me, but you could only miss my sister. I know you miss her, and I also miss Aunt Tao. Now that your family can finally be reunited, I think it's very good Yes, stop saying that you are a loner. Don’t feel wronged when you get there, take care of yourself, come back if you want, no one at home is afraid of you, right? "

He murmured: "Uncle Heng..." Suddenly he realized that he really wanted to call Shen Heng Dad, but unfortunately he never had this chance again.

He stood up, looked at Shen Jingjing's tombstone, didn't know what to say, and finally didn't say anything.There has been a distance of nearly 40 years between him and Shen Jingjing, and it is inappropriate to say anything else.

On the left side of Shen Jingjing's tomb is Xiao Yirong's tombstone. The three most important people in his life are now buried here and will never come back.Xiao Yunhe and Qin Zhi worshiped their mother together, and then left the cemetery.

The summer weather is very warm, but it is still difficult to conceal the desertedness emanating from the depths of the cemetery.The two walked side by side on the path full of shade, Xiao Yunhe suddenly said: "I want to go back to the Long Bridge in two days, bring Aunt Tao's ashes here, and let them be buried together as husband and wife, what do you think? "

Qin Zhidao: "As long as the procedure is not difficult, Uncle Heng will be very happy."

Xiao Yunhe said: "He actually knows everything, have you seen it? He bought a double-cavity tomb, he had already thought about it." Then he said quietly, "Qin Yao said that he basically didn't eat anything the day before he left. Afterwards, he found new clothes and put them on, but it happened that Qin Yao and Yang Yang were not around... He knew it all in his heart, so let’s not talk about it.” Then he shook his head, “Why do you think he should, Daji It's coming, it's not this way..." Suddenly he sighed again, he didn't know what he thought of, and he seemed a little bit disappointed.

Qin Zhidao: "Uncle Heng didn't let you worry, it's already not easy."

Xiao Yunhe said: "Yes, why don't you say that I owe him." At this time, the meaning of sighing is still stronger.The two left the cemetery while talking, the branches and leaves of the trees still left mottled shadows on the ground, like a lonely and long farewell.