They Regretted it After Their Hearts Turned to Ashes

They arrived at the cemetery in the evening.

The rain has completely stopped, the sunset is bright, and the clouds that have not had time to dissipate are dyed golden red.

This color also seeps into the light falling from the gaps in the clouds, and as the light dissolves into the water droplets staying on the tip of the grass, everything covered by it looks extraordinarily gentle.

The rain washed everything fairly clean.The green grass surrounds the snow-white tombstones, and the cemetery is halfway up the mountain, surrounded by green pines and cypresses. From here, you can see the scattered buildings and main roads below.

The tomb guard was very familiar with Ming Chi, so he came over to say hello to him.

This job has been staying in the cemetery, and the loneliness will be lonely, but the news is also well-informed, and I can always hear things chatted by people who come to visit the grave to worship.

I heard that the Ren family was hurt this time, everything that should have collapsed, everything that should have collapsed, everything was cleaned up, and instead they returned to their old ways.

In the ten years since Mrs. Ren passed away, the company has made many decisions that deviated from her original development path.It looks like a lot of flowers, but in fact, there have been many problems inside, and the old employees in the past are becoming more and more wavering.

It is because of these that this shock, without waiting for those opponents to do anything, the internal turmoil will be severe first.

This time their family finally settled down and adjusted back to the main business and development route ten years ago.The companies Mrs. Ren left behind have found their own vitality, and later unexpectedly many cooperation opportunities, are gradually stabilizing, and it is estimated that they will slowly recover in the future.

……

Ming Chi listened carefully, and thanked in a warm voice: "I'm sorry for your trouble during this time."

He hasn't been here for more than two months, but the cemetery is well maintained and cleaned, and there is no trace of weeds around.

In summer, the vegetation grows lush, and it can grow into a piece in a few days.If it weren't for the help of the tomb guards, it would not have been able to last so long only by occasional visitors.

The tomb guard was old, so he waved his hand when he heard him thank you.

"If you don't come here, I know you must have encountered a serious accident or fell ill again."

The grave guard said: "In the past—" He paused and shook his head again, "Don't talk, don't talk, don't mention those things."

The owner of this cemetery has business contacts with the Ren family, and in the past, according to the young Mr. Ren's account, they were not allowed to talk to the boy who always came to the cemetery.But even so, because the boy came here too many times in those years, it is inevitable that he will become more and more familiar.

The tomb guards have also heard about the things that happened to Ming Chi, and they have been thinking about it all the time. When they think of it, they will help him clean up the tomb from time to time.

Today he finally saw Ming Chi come to visit the grave, he finally felt relieved and led Ming Chi all the way up.

Ming Weiting was already waiting in front of the tomb.

He originally planned to tidy up the tombstones in advance, so he arrived before Ming Chi, but the place is already quite tidy, so there is nothing to do.

Hearing the voice, Ming Weiting turned around and met Ming Chi's gaze.

"Is someone accompanying you this time?" The grave guard looked at the figure standing in front of the tomb, and was also happy for him, "Are we together?"

Ming Chi lowered his eyes, nodded slightly, and waved upwards.

Ming Weiting made a gesture, signaling Ming Chi to wait there, and quickly walked down the steps.

The tomb guard took the initiative to step aside. He has worked here for many years, and even if he didn't talk about many things, he could vaguely guess: "You won't come here often?"

Ming Chi nodded, stabilized his cane, and leaned his shoulders towards him: "Pay more attention to your body."

"The old man is very healthy, and his legs and feet are also good. It is you who have to take care of your body."

The tomb guard smiled: "Come back next time, trot all the way up, or I won't open the cemetery gate for you."

Ming Chi put the stick behind his back, straightened his shoulders, and promised with a smile.

"I was worried that you would not come, and I was worried that you would come." The grave guard stopped joking and patted his arm with a gentle voice, "Finally, there is a suitable time."

"Good boy, the old man is not in the tomb."

The grave guard said to him, "It's almost time to stop tying yourself here."

Ming Chi silently closed his eyes, opened them again, his eyes were clear, and thanked him again.

The tomb guard waved his hand, watched with a smile as the person who came down the steps took the cane, held hands with the young man and walked up slowly, and then returned to the hut by himself.

……

Ming Chi held Mr. Shadow's hand.

When Ming Weiting walked in front of him, the street lights at the foot of the mountain suddenly turned on, dotted with lights on both sides of the main road, extending farther away.

They looked for a while at the street lights spreading into the distance, and walked up in the brilliant golden-pink sunset glow on half the sky.

The two sat in front of the tomb together and chatted with their aunt for a long time.

Ming Chi said everything he wanted to say, even the words that he planned to repeat in his heart a few times, he said them all in one breath.

He was particularly upbeat, and even his ears were not red with confidence.

It was also the first time he discovered that Mr. Shadow could talk so much in one breath.

"I made a draft." Mr. Shadow met his gaze and admitted voluntarily, "I was very nervous, and I recited it many times."

Some people not only made drafts, but also changed into formal clothes that are particularly reliable, stable and mature at first glance.If it wasn't for being stopped by Ming Chi, he even wanted to get a haircut.

Ming Chi couldn't help laughing, his chest was burning again, and he held Mr. Ming's hand.

The sealed seal was still washed away by the rain, Ming Chi found a chance to print it again, this time it was more clear and correct, and landed on the overlapping palms of the two of them.

"I'll engrave a seal for Mr. Xiao when I get back." Ming Weiting was held by his hand and promised his aunt, "Come and seal me too."

Ming Chi just became interested in seal cutting today, and geared up: "I'll do it myself."

He is not completely satisfied with the degree of recovery of his right hand. He heard that operating a carving knife can stabilize the strength of his hand, and he is planning to find a chance to try it.

"Mr. Xiao can do everything by himself." Ming Weiting finally found an opportunity, and sighed with his aunt, "Fortunately, I didn't learn to sail and dive for the time being."

Ming Chi really laughed out loud this time, he knew that Mr. Shadow wasn't serious, so he cooperated with his childishness: "That is."

"This is Huo Miao who came back from playing around." Ming Chi sat up straight with his arms propped up, and introduced himself ten years later to his aunt, "It's very powerful."

Ming Weiting approved of this introduction, and nodded, "It's very powerful."

They were talking, the cicadas were louder than usual after the rain, and it didn't seem noisy in the quiet evening wind halfway up the mountain, because the environment was empty, so it was extraordinarily crisp.

"I know it." Teacher Huo Miao taught Mr. Shadow from the sea, "It said it knew it."

Ming Weiting temporarily turned off his knowledge reserves, and cooperated with the lectures, Wen Sheng took the words: "I just got it."

There was a smile in Ming Chi's eyes, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, exhaled long and softly: "Yes."

Just got it.

……

Just got it.

It would be even better if I didn’t know about those things. I only know that he went out to play in the past two months and came back again. He is in good health and in a good mood. He has started playing the guitar again and painted a lot of new paintings.

They will go out next, play in farther places, see the world farther away, and he will become more powerful.

...So he wanted to have a few minutes, not too hard.

One last click.

Ming Weiting seemed to have guessed what he was going to say, before Ming Chi could speak, he stroked his hair and said in a gentle voice, "I'll ask Uncle Lu when the car will come."

Ming Chi bent his eyes, and shook Mr. Shadow's hand vigorously.

Ming Weiting got up and walked down.He walked a long way, and when he looked back, Ming Chi was kneeling in front of the tomb by himself, with his forehead resting on the stele.

Ming Lu stood in the distance, he had just chatted with the tomb guard for a while, when he saw Ming Weiting's figure, he came over: "Sir."

Ming Weiting nodded: "It doesn't matter."

Ming Lu didn't say any more, just followed into the rain-washed pine forest.

There is a thick layer of pine needles on the ground, which is very soft to step on, and there is a faint scent of rosin in the air.

The cemetery guard said that the child never cried or was sad when he was in the cemetery, and he was covered in injuries a few times when he came here, and he had to hide all the injuries so that no one would find out, and he would always only talk about happy things.

But as the years went by, the happy things seemed to be getting less and less, so the child sang with his guitar in his arms.

There are many people who come to the cemetery to find comfort because the deceased is no longer there, because the deceased is the most silent and undisputing audience.

If we only talk about happy things here, those wounds that have not healed, and the sadness that has been suppressed layer by layer, there is really no place to say at all.

……

"That person from the Ren family." Ming Lu said, "The Ren family didn't expect him to do those things, so he came to apologize."

This is not surprising.The Ren family will have a patriarch with a personality like Mrs. Ren, and those people will not distinguish between good and evil. After knowing the truth, they still choose to cover Ren Chenbai.

It's just that sometimes, people whose emotions overwhelm their reason will hurt others because of this, and even indulge in evil deeds.

In the past, the Ren family always believed that Luo Zhi was an outsider no matter what, and Mrs. Ren's death was related to him after all.

Ren Chenbai never admitted that quarrel to anyone. From the perspective of the Ren family, they only know that Mrs. Ren had an accident when she went to prepare a gift for Luo Zhi.

Coupled with the gap between the quarrel at the cemetery, they blamed Luo Zhi for the whole incident, thinking that Luo Zhi was more or less responsible for this matter, and no one ever corrected Ren Chenbai's thinking.

Ming Weiting listened calmly: "So?"

"It's nothing." Ming Lu said, "This is the explanation they gave."

Ming Lu said: "The young master doesn't remember those things."

The Ren family came to apologize because they found out that the cooperation of those companies was a favor left by Luo Zhi at the beginning.

The contacts that Luo Zhi inherited from Mrs. Ren, he has never been in touch with himself, and has always been shared with those direct companies founded by Mrs. Ren.It's just that due to the existence of Ren Chenbai, Mrs. Ren's old department did not dare to move easily.

Now that everything is calm, these companies have a chance again, and many people are cheering up, no longer have the slack coping when they were suppressed and marginalized in the past.Naturally, those cooperation channels all came in handy.

The old head of the Ren family came back to take care of things. He had injured Luo Zhi with his crutches before. This time, he apologized in the rain. How much was because of his mistakes at the time, how much was for repaying favors, and how much was because of the Ming family. Can't tell either.

Ming Lu just got off the boat in person, and after listening to the old man's explanation, he asked again: "Do you know that Luo Zhi has disappeared in the shipwreck and was judged dead?"

The old head of the Ren family was stunned for a moment: "But——"

When he said this, he was suddenly stopped by the remaining words.

He slowly frowned, turned around, and looked at the sea covered in cold mist.

"The Ming family has no such tradition of doing things."

Ming Lu explained kindly: "We won't stop investigating at all just because we protect our own people and fear that our own people won't be able to bear a certain result."

"We will not recklessly push all the responsibilities to a 13-year-old child, and push it for ten years."

"That was a 13-year-old child." Minglu said, "He was punished for ten years by a family closest to his heart. This is the only crime he can't shirk."

Ming Lu personally led people to rebuild the Wanghai Villa. He knew how much it had been altered, and how many of the gifts carefully prepared by Mrs. Ren for the child she protected were discarded at will, and how many were deliberately modified and erased.

Such a big family, how many properties do they have, do they really have to compete with a child for the only home left by their elders?

Are there so many children in the Ren family, can't even live in the main house, do they really have to occupy the living room on the second floor, and live in a small house so far away?

Does the villa have to be repainted, and all the graffiti on the walls are cleaned.Maybe even the car should be moved as soon as possible, because the garden will be expanded and the view will not be wide enough.

Luo Zhi couldn't say anything, he only owed the Ren family, and he had absolutely no position to refuse these requests.

The character of that child would not refuse these requests at all.

The only request he ever made was not to let him go to Ren's house again, and not to let him go to Wanghai Villa again.

Luo Zhi didn't know what sickness he had, he hid all his sadness, and pressed it tightly in a place where he wouldn't let it out even in the cemetery.

He just instinctively knew that he couldn't go to Wanghai Villa again.

"Mrs. Ren and the young master have the same temperament. They can't find out Ren Chenbai's problem, and they can't understand those thoughts at all. When things happened, they couldn't figure out why."

Ming Lu looked at him with a gentle tone: "Mr., we are about the same age, and we have seen people and things for most of our lives."

"Ren Chenbai lent the villa to the Luo family, and asked that family to accompany that Mrs. Luo to recuperate there, and use Wanghai Villa at will."

Ming Lu asked: "Did you really not notice anything wrong?"

The old head of the Ren family didn't say a word, his old hands clenched his cane tightly, and he stood silently on the spot.

"The Ren family doesn't owe him anything. It's only Mrs. Ren's child, and the Ren family has no obligation to take care of him, so we haven't dealt with the noble family."

Ming Lu said slowly: "But there is no need to apologize."

The Ren family took in Luo Zhi's kindness, and Luo Zhi has been using the contacts left to him by Mrs. Ren to repay the favor. Now those contacts have indeed come in handy, and have become the Ren family's lifeline in this turmoil.

So far, the two are inseparable.

This is Ren Shuangmei's family, and it is a direct line company founded by Ren Shuangmei. Of course, the Ming family will not interfere.

If the Ren family can continue to maintain the development path established by Ren Shuangmei and treat these companies well, they will never ask anything about this family again.

"My young master doesn't remember this, he doesn't know who you are." Ming Lu said, "The child who knows what you have done will call you grandpa."

The old head of the Ren family suddenly trembled violently.

His breathing was tight, as if he remembered something from the past, he was stunned for a long time, and slowly lowered his head.

...the child who will be called Grandpa.

The ten-year-old child was brought back to Ren's house by Ren Shuangmei. He was so nervous that he was so hot that he called him Grandpa, Auntie and Uncle in a low voice.

They called the child Little Huomiao and gently stroked his head.

When the hand fell, the child stood still, trembling all over.

"He grew up so fast. In those three years, he became more and more stable, more courageous, and more and more able to deal with any situation calmly."

The manager of the Ming family was about the same age as him, and he spoke at a leisurely pace, as if he was talking about his own thoughts: "It's so fast that people feel that he should be responsible for everything like an adult. Blame, wrong, Rejection, estrangement...he can take anything."

"When that time passed, I actually regretted it. I shouldn't be angry with a child and go through things like this."

"But it's too embarrassing to say that, so we'll wait."

"It's okay, just wait a little longer."

Ming Lu looked at the sea: "One day in the future, call him home for a light meal, and it's almost time to let the past go."

The old Patriarch of the Ren family held his cane tightly and stayed in place, still silent.

There was nothing wrong with every sentence the other party said, so he couldn't say anything.

There will never be another day like this.

The child who can be called Grandpa is no longer there, and he is sleeping where Shuangmei originally wanted to sleep.

On the day the child was brought to meet them, he heard them call him Little Huo Miao just like Shuangmei, and his whole body was filled with panic and surprise, his eyes brightened as if he had been taken home.

……

That old Mr. Ren didn't bother Ming Chi in the end.

He left one of Ren Shuangmei's relics - when they held the funeral, they angered Luo Zhi so much that they didn't let the child get any of Ren Shuangmei's belongings.

When Ming Lu returned to the boat, the old head of the Ren family was still standing by the sea, looking at the sea covered in mist.

Mrs. Ren is impatient to wear those redundant and cumbersome accessories, she doesn't wear earrings very much, and the earrings she often wears are small, exquisite and unique.That relic was a platinum stud earring, in the shape of a vigorous plum branch.

"It happened that the progress over there was very fast. As soon as the designer saw this, he adjusted the original design."

Those jewelry craftsmen were on board, and Ming Lu came a little later to pick up the newly made pendant: "If you find a suitable one, sir, give it to the young master."

Ming Weiting took the flannel-lined box and opened it to check.

The earring has not been modified in any way, but the thin needle on the back has been removed, and it has been polished and smoothed carefully.It was already small enough to be embedded in a pendant, and there was nothing inconsistent about it.

The platinum plum branches are pure white and strong, corresponding to half of the eaves of the pavilion, firmly protecting the small piece of polished and smooth color-changing glass.

In the center of the glass is carefully inlaid a thin pigeon blood red diamond, the cut is fine, the light refracts brightly and warmly, like a burning flame.

Ming Weiting thanked him, turned around, and walked up the steps.

For the first time, Ming Chi indulged himself and cried heartily in front of the grave.

He knew that his aunt would be proud of himself and would never worry about herself again, so he could cry with confidence, because everything would be fine after crying.

Ming Chi cried so much.

He himself wiped his tears with his sleeves for nothing, thinking that his aunt would definitely come to shave his nose, so he couldn't help pursing the corners of his mouth.

His face was a little hot, Ming Chi pressed his forehead to the stele, but felt it wasn't enough, so he pressed his cheeks as well.

He took a few deep breaths, rehearsed quite a few times, and finally gained confidence, but he still opened his mouth a few times before calling out: "Mom."

"Mom." Ming Chi whispered, "Let's go play."

...No matter how many times this sentence is said silently.He himself didn't expect that it hurt so much when he said it.

Ming Chi is very familiar with every tree in this cemetery, and has chatted with every tree.

He wants to tell every tree now that he wants to take his mother to play.

When the sound of footsteps came, Ming Chi knew who it was, pursed the corners of his mouth, and raised his head with super bright eyes.

Ming Weiting walked up to him, held his hand, and returned his precious glass to him.

Ming Chi was startled, looking at his palm.

……

They probably all have a lot to say.

So much that he didn't know how to explain it clearly, so Ming Weiting brought the pendant up directly, so even if Ming Chi didn't remember many things, he could recognize what it was at a glance.

Ming Chi took a deep breath, and it took him a while to recover, to find his own mouth and voice: "Oops."

Ming Chi rubbed his eyes hard twice, lowered his head, and looked at the pendant that came back to life with him.

"Oops."

He strictly controlled his hands and body, but his voice was still a little unsteady: "It's planned to only cry for 3 minutes."

Ming Weiting put his hands behind his head and neck, lowered his head, his gaze fell into his eyes without distraction.

Ming Chi pursed his lips, spread his palms, and said softly, "Sir."

Ming Weiting kissed the pendant lightly on the palm of his hand, and then Ming Chi lowered his head to kiss the pendant, he raised his head hotly, and found that this time Mr. Ming's ears also seemed to be faintly red.

Ming Weiting stroked his hair, picked up the pendant, and helped him put it on carefully.

The tiny buckle clicked shut on the back of his neck, and the piece of glass slid in along his neckline, and pressed against his chest with the warmth of their palms.

"It's okay." Ming Weiting touched his ear and said softly, "Big flame."

Ming Chi lowered his eyelashes, pursed his lips and smiled: "Yes, big flame."

Ming Weiting hugged Ming Chi's head and neck, made him look up, and shook his head slightly.

Ming Chi was startled slightly, blinking his eyes to look at him.

Ming Weiting stroked his hair: "Little friend."

Ming Chi's chest silently rose and fell.

He suddenly slammed into Mr. Shadow's arms with force.

He stretched out his hand and hugged Ming Weiting tightly involuntarily, the strength made his whole body tremble slightly.

Ming Chi really wanted to talk, but for a few seconds, he really couldn't make any sound—but it didn't matter.

It doesn't matter at all, they are so tacit understanding.

Mr. Shadow tightened his arms, and that hand firmly protected his shoulder and back.

Ming Chi closed his eyes.

Their hearts beat fiercely across their chests, and the pendants were so beautiful, so beautiful, and so hot.

The pendant followed him, and he took it with each of his homes.

They took each family to go surfing, go sailing and diving, watch the sun rise and the moon set, and be the captain of the ship.

He went back and bought another car, which was exactly the same as the original one.

He is very familiar with driving, and he took Mr. Shadow to go racing, go for a ride, go over mountains and mountains, and go to the other side of the world.

"Mother."

He heard Mr. Shadow say to his aunt, "Huo Miao took us out to play."