RPAGF Chapter 265 Leaving Peacefully
Chapter 265 Leaving Peacefully
Almost everyone has finally gathered for the Jiang family's dinner.
But the atmosphere no longer had the liveliness of the past. Everyone had something on their mind, and the meal was extremely silent. The only sound was the occasional tapping of chopsticks against the bowl.
After dinner, it was already late at night and everyone left one after another.
Gu Ranle has been staying by Mr. Jiang's side.
Since dinner, the old man's mental state has been particularly bad. Sometimes he was drowsy and sometimes he forced himself to stay awake for a while, and he could hardly speak a few words.
He was determined not to go to the hospital, saying that it would be useless to go to the hospital in his poor health. What's more, he had a little miracle doctor at home. If even she couldn't do anything about it, there was no way other doctors would be able to make any difference.
In this way, the old man stayed in a state of half sleep and half wakefulness until the next morning, when he passed away peacefully in his sleep.
This was the first time in Gu Ranle's life that he had witnessed a loved one go from being full of energy to being lifeless.
A living being stopped breathing and heartbeat forever right before her eyes.
Perhaps she had cried all her tears dry before, so when the moment of life and death came, she couldn't shed a single tear.
She just sat there quietly, looking at the old man's peaceful face, feeling mixed emotions.
All the little moments she had with the old man flashed through her mind like a movie.
But now, the old man is gone, leaving her forever.
It turns out that when the moment of separation comes, the feeling that is clearer than sadness is emptiness.
My heart felt like there was a hole dug in it, empty.
On the day of the old man's burial, the lead-gray clouds were very low, and rain mixed with fine snow particles fell down.
The funeral procession staggered along the thinly icy mountain path, their black cloth shoes making tiny cracking sounds as they stepped on the frost-covered dry grass.
A layer of ice floated on the bluestone steps. Several elderly people with mobility problems were leaning on jujube wood crutches. The crisp sound of the iron sheet of the crutches hitting the stone surface startled the jackdaws curled up on the cypress trees.
The eight men carrying the coffin exhaled white air, which condensed into tiny ice crystals at their eyebrows.
A thin layer of snow accumulated in the carved grooves on the head of the coffin. The snow water melted by the body temperature mixed with the paint color, leaving dark red tear marks on the coffin lid.
The north wind ripped the paper money into pieces as it left my hands. The wet remains swirled around the frozen bushes like frozen moths on a winter day.
The intermittent sobbing in the team hit the cliffs and was turned into scattered sad sounds by the howling mountain wind.
The pine trees surrounding the cemetery have lost their greenery, with icicles hanging from their branches like falling white silk.
When covering the soil, the filial son knelt on the frozen ground. The hem of his linen clothes was soaked with snow water and was hard against his knees.
The gravel scooped up by the shovel hit the coffin lid, mixing with ice chips and making a hollow echo.
Suddenly, a few crows cried out in the valley, and the paper tassels hanging from the soul-guiding banners broke and fell in front of the newly piled graves.
The incense stick that was about to go out was inserted into the snow mud. As soon as the last wisp of smoke emerged, it was snuffed out by the wind and snow.
Gu Ranle stayed in the cemetery until the evening before leaving.
At this time, snow was flying between the sky and the earth.
There was a vast expanse of white all around.
When she turned around, the snow had already reached her ankles, and the newly erected stone tablet was fading into a gray shadow behind her.
The wind blew the snowflakes towards the collar of the coat, and the remaining scent of thread on the scarf was cut into pieces by the cold ice crystals.
The footprints we left when we came here had long been erased, and the occasional muffled sound of cars rolling over the snow could be heard from the distant highway, making the cemetery look more like an abandoned island.
The plastic umbrella ribs suddenly broke in the strong wind, and the snow particles hit the eyelashes and condensed into ice chips.
The sugar-roasted chestnuts in his palm had already gone cold - that was the snack the old man wanted to have after dinner last night.
She peeled one for him and he ate a little bit. She held the rest in her hand. The crumbs that slipped through her fingers were quickly blown by the wind and snow to the cypress forest covered with icicles.
The snow seeped into my boots, my socks stuck to my frozen feet, and every step felt like stepping on rusty blades.
The moment the street lights suddenly came on, she saw her shadow on the snow melting away, just like the figure on the draft paper that disappeared with the smoke from the moxa when her old man taught her acupuncture that winter.
The last half mile seemed particularly long.
The phone in her pocket vibrated countless times. She stopped and took out her phone.
A complete snowflake fell on the screen and melted into a water mark colder than tears.
"If you don't come down, I'll go up to find you."
Fu Hanting's voice mixed with the roar of the engine pierced through the snow.
There was only Fu Hanting's car in the parking lot at the foot of the mountain. The sturdy off-road vehicle was like a black panther stuck in cream, and ice fragments crushed by the anti-skid chains were falling from the wheel hubs.
The high beam penetrated the falling snowflakes, reflecting tiny cold rays on Gu Ranle's eyelashes, which were frozen into ice crystals.
She tried to move the corners of her mouth, but her facial muscles seemed to be stuck in the freezer.
When Fu Hanting opened his cashmere coat and wrapped it around her, the remaining ambergris on the collar shattered in the wind and snow.
The moment the car heater gushed out, the melted snow dripped down the ends of my hair onto the leather seat, leaving dark marks.
The rearview mirror reflected a curled-up figure.
Fu Hanting turned the heating to the highest level and caught a glimpse of her using her fingernails to pick at the frozen snow on her boots - that was the icy water that seeped into her boots when she knelt in front of the tomb.
The dashboard showed a temperature of minus nine degrees Celsius, and the light dot representing them on the navigation map was crossing the pale contour lines, like a grain of dust about to be swallowed by the snowfield.
When the sensor light on the porch of Luo's Manor came on, Gu Ranle realized that he was holding a roasted chestnut in his hand.
The chestnut shell fragments were embedded in the lines on the palm of my hand, looking like an unhealed wound in the central rearview mirror.
Tears suddenly fell without warning.
She hadn't shed a tear since the old man passed away, but now she was crying.
The butler came forward holding a black umbrella with icicles hanging from the ribs.
"How is grandpa?" Fu Hanting asked with the car window half lowered.
The housekeeper said: "The old man is still receiving an IV and hasn't woken up yet, but his fever has subsided."
The Luo family and the Jiang family originally had a good relationship, and later because of Gu Ranle, the relationship between the two families deepened.
Now that Grandpa Jiang has passed away, Grandpa Luo was so sad that he fell ill yesterday. Today, he still braved the rain and snow to see Grandpa Jiang off despite having a fever.
Finally, an ambulance took the person away from the cemetery. He is still unconscious.
Fu Hanting turned off the engine but did not unlock the car door.
The car's fragrance system automatically switched to cedar notes, mixed with the lingering scent of incense sticks from Gu Ranle's coat.
The snow on the windshield gradually thickened, and the wipers suddenly swung, making a squeaking sound.
Gu Ranle suddenly looked up, and tears began to fall one after another like broken strings.
"Fu Hanting, grandpa is gone. There will be no grandpa anymore..."
Her voice was hoarse and cracked, and she started coughing violently as soon as she said one sentence.
Fu Hanting quickly turned off the engine and got out of the car. He opened the back door, but was greeted by Gu Ranle who suddenly lost consciousness and fell towards him.
“LeLe?!”