roccoschili Chapter 19 The Last Letter
Chapter 19 The Last Letter
"Open your eyes, and you will see clearly."
Happy light, bright and cheerful.
"Open your hand and seize money and grain!"
The little boy standing in front of the mourning hall was Liu Gan's distant nephew. Since the deceased had no children, Ma Ye had no choice but to make this arrangement.
Last night, for some reason, Liu Gan's parents insisted on changing their previous feng shui master.
Fortunately, everyone in Jinchuan City knew Master Ma Ye's status, so there was no disturbance caused by people vying for his services.
"Xiao Jin, go tell Uncle Liu and Aunt Liu that our ceremony is about to end, and if there's nothing else, we should get ready to go to the incinerator."
After removing the tripping rope from the coffin, Ma Ye gave a final check of the layout of the mourning hall.
Besides the incense burner and vegetarian offerings, Liu's parents still placed the crab aside on the offering table. Out of understanding for the family, Ma Ye didn't say anything.
The photo in the funeral hall is said to be a picture of Liu Gan during his university days. He is smiling happily, but it's unclear why his shoulder wasn't cropped off.
Most of the people attending the ceremony were Liu Gan's classmates and colleagues. At the very back of the crowd, you could see Lü Mo with slightly red eyes.
"Rise of the spirits!"
After the reading was finished, the little boy standing at the door, under his parents' instructions, slammed the ceramic basin he was holding onto the ground.
The debris almost spilled into the mourning hall.
The little boy didn't know what all of this meant; he only knew that the older brother he had seen during the New Year was lying on the big bed behind him.
I can't go visit him, so I can only perform for him here.
Funeral home staff also pushed the temporary coffin toward the incinerator.
Along the way, Liu Gan's three roommates helped push the coffin, their expressions indifferent.
They're all thirty years old. Some are busy with work, some are busy taking care of their children, and some are busy starting their own businesses. But the guy next to me is the only one who's taken it all and started the next chapter of his life right away.
To be honest, they were also quite angry. Why was this guy lying here so comfortably?
The three men simply exchanged a smile and continued pushing the coffin forward.
Standing next to Ma Ye was Liu Gan's aunt, who was also Liu's father's older sister.
Since the two elders could not attend, a temporary parent-teacher had to step in.
"Mr. Ma, you're so young and already doing free work. If it weren't for your skillful movements, I would have thought my brother had been fooled again."
"Sister Liu, I'm just earning a little living expenses. If my master hadn't gone on a long trip, he wouldn't have assigned this job to me."
The black armband on his left arm fluttered gently in the breeze, but it didn't make Ma Ye blush.
This was also the first time he had handled a funeral independently; previously, he had only helped out under his master.
But he couldn't refuse the request, especially since, according to market prices, this trip alone would bring in five thousand yuan in just one morning. With the money for settling the score, his living expenses for the rest of the year would be covered.
If one person is fed, Zhu Jin can find a part-time job after school starts so she can enjoy campus life normally.
"Sister Liu, if there are no problems, we can take the body in. The two elderly people should have checked Liu Gan's body and made sure there's nothing left to remove."
"That's all, that's all. Let the child rest in peace."
The iron door of the incinerator slowly closed, separating life and death.
The woman in black standing beside him could no longer control her expression; two streams of tears flowed down her cheeks, and even the corners of her mouth were contorted into chrysanthemum petals.
Liu Gan's roommates, however, were quite resilient. Seeing that the relatives present were all crying, they all went over to help comfort them.
"Brother, Aunt Liu fainted from crying in the back. It will take a while for things to get better here."
Why don't we send some relatives over to help out first? I don't think Uncle Liu can handle it all by himself."
"Alright, Mr. Ma, I'll leave this to you now."
I'll go check on my younger brother and sister-in-law. This is just a small token of my appreciation; please accept it.
A white envelope, folded countless times, was stuffed into Ma Ye's pocket. Before he could refuse, Liu Gan's aunt had already disappeared into the crowd.
But through the layers of shoulders, Ma Ye spotted that familiar figure again.
"Xiao Jin, isn't that Lü Mo? I just glanced at him and didn't even dare to recognize him."
Yes, that's her.
"You've forgotten how many times I've seen you in the Pure Land? You must have face blindness."
Upon meeting his gaze, Lü Mo also noticed the two people on the incinerator side.
She remembered the tall man on the left; she had seen him at the company a few days ago. He was supposedly a staff member of the Civil Affairs Bureau. She never expected to run into him here.
I don't really remember the girl on the right who looks very cute, but her eyes are very intense, like she's seeing a long-lost sister.
Feeling a little embarrassed by the stares, Lü Mo turned slightly to chat with her colleague who had come with her.
Not far away, Chen Xi, the owner of the design institute, was nervously watching his employees.
If he hadn't handled this situation properly, his company could have gone bankrupt much earlier.
"Xiao Lü, you have to help me appease these colleagues today."
Here, take this money. Later, you can treat everyone to a meal for me.
The wad of money that was pushed towards them was returned, along with a resignation letter.
"Mr. Chen, I have finished the work at the design institute. Thank you for your care over the past few years."
We'll have a chance to meet again someday. Having gone through this experience, my colleagues will all cherish life more.
The second, the third, and more and more resignation letters were handed to Chen Xi.
In the blink of an eye, all the subordinates who came to the funeral home resigned, and the remaining employees were simply unable to maintain the company's normal operations.
From this perspective, it seems that it wasn't actually AI that defeated him.
There weren't many people at the funeral home today. About half an hour later, the window next to the incinerator started calling out to family members.
"Are Liu Gan's family members here? We can collect his ashes now!"
"Right away, I'll go get it now!"
When Ma Ye arrived at the center of the crowd, Aunt Liu, who was sitting on the bench, had recovered and was able to sit up and drink water surrounded by relatives and friends.
He didn't know if the mother would accept his offer to help collect the child's ashes, but someone had to do it.
So Ma Ye leaned close to Uncle Liu's ear.
"Uncle Liu, Liu Gan's ashes have been collected. We should go over there now."
"Okay, I'll go now."
He patted his wife's hand. The old man's back was a little hunched, but he still gritted his teeth and straightened his back.
The urn, prepared in advance, was placed to the side. Uncle Liu, as a father, had always been a man of few words, but this time, he seemed to have endless things to say.
From the moment Liu Gang came out of the delivery room as a child to the moment he learned to walk for the first time, this father talked about Liu Gang's high spirits when he first started working.
The old man struggled to hold back his tears, and although he choked up, he maintained his composure to the very end.
"Mr. Ma, thank you for your hard work."
"It's alright, please accept my condolences."
As the urn was placed in the funeral home's storage area, Uncle Liu's back seemed to bend several degrees instantly, and from behind, his white hair at the back of his head appeared to have increased considerably.
The relatives hadn't left yet; Aunt Liu was still holding Lü Mo's hand as she sat on a bench inside the funeral home.
From a distance, Ma Ye could still see the envelope in the two people's hands.
"Xiao Mo, I didn't want to give you this, but after thinking about it for several days, I realized that there are some things that this silly boy Liu Gan should never keep to himself."
Don't overthink it after you read this. While you're young, go out and see the world; the outside world is much bigger than Jinchuan.
Seeing her husband return, Aunt Liu patted Lü Mo's hand again and got up to walk towards the front door.
Everyone else who came to participate in the ceremony got into their cars and left, but Lü Mo sat on the bench and silently opened the envelope.
"Damn it, you finished writing it right after graduation, and you didn't even bother to show it to me."
The envelope was dated July 11, 2018.