Chapter 35: Grandpa And Grandma’s Mixed Doubles
Meanwhile.
Xie Tingting’s mother had a dispute with the restaurant boss, and eventually, under the police’s persuasion, handled Xie Tingting’s funeral arrangements first.
Once the funeral arrangements were settled, they would discuss the compensation issue.
Xie Tingting’s mother agreed. When she went to the morgue to collect Xie Tingting’s corpse, her mobile phone rang. A irritable voice came from the other end of the phone: “Mom! Where did you go? It’s almost ten o’clock at night, why haven’t you cooked yet? I’m starving to death!”
Xie Tingting’s mother instinctively said: “Mom is outside. Where’s your sister? Have your sister cook something for you to pad your stomach first. Mom will go back and cook for you right away.”
After saying this, she suddenly realized.
Her eldest daughter Xie Tingting was no longer there.
She had died.
The middle-aged woman whose shirt was disheveled from arguing with the boss stood in the empty corridor, and the mobile phone in her hand dropped to the ground with a clatter.
She clutched her suddenly aching heart, breathing heavily and rapidly, tears forced out.
The mobile phone on the ground continued to ring with her youngest daughter’s complaining voice: “I called you precisely because sister isn’t home. I don’t know where she ran off to so late, not replying to messages or answering calls. She’s probably out with a man. A few days ago, I saw her smiling at her mobile phone!”
“Mom, when sister comes back, you have to talk to her properly. She’s only eighteen, what romance is she talking about? Besides, dating costs so much money!”
“Mom, I’m so hungry, starving to death. If you can’t make it back, call sister and tell her to come back and cook for me quickly! Stop fooling around outside.”
“Sister listens to you the most. She’ll definitely listen to you.”
Mother Xie was panting heavily. She held back her tears, tremblingly picked up the mobile phone from the ground, and said in a somewhat choked voice: “Qianqian, your sister, your sister… she died.”
Xie Qianqian burst out laughing upon hearing this: “Mom, what joke are you making? Didn’t you say my sister has a very tough life? When she was born, you threw her into a water basin and she didn’t drown. Now that she’s just gotten into university, how could she possibly die?”
Mother Xie was almost drowned by the surging emotions. She could only instinctively murmur in a low voice: “Your sister died, Qianqian. Your sister died.”
Xie Qianqian noticed something wrong with her voice,
That tough-life debt-collecting ghost Xie Tingting, something really happened to her?
She nervously swallowed her saliva and stood up: “Mom, where are you? I’ll come find you now.”
Mother Xie gave the police station’s address. When Xie Qianqian packed her things and went over, she also notified her father who was working the night shift.
By the time they arrived, it was already eleven at night. Mother Xie sat pale-faced on the corridor bench, staring blankly at her mobile phone.
The phone screen showed a photo of her and Xie Tingting.
She didn’t dare go to the morgue, didn’t dare face that child whose face was completely disfigured from the fall.
As soon as Father Xie opened his mouth, it was to accuse: “What’s going on? Wasn’t Tingting perfectly fine when she went to work this afternoon? How did you take care of the child? How could you let something happen to her?”
“How would I know? As soon as I got the phone call, they said Tingting had jumped off the building. I… I…” Mother Xie said aggrievedly, “It’s all because you work overtime every day. The child didn’t get your care, of course she would get depressed and think of something drastic!”
The cool air in the corridor made Xie Qianqian shiver, and she asked curiously, “Mom, did Sister really… die?”
Mother Xie gave a vague hum. Seeing her wearing a thin short-sleeved shirt, she chided, “How come you didn’t put on a jacket when you came out? Don’t you know your body is weak? What if you catch a cold?”
“Forget it, hurry up and take Tingting back to cremate her, let her rest in peace soon.” Mother Xie took a deep breath, suppressing the surging sadness in her heart, sent Xie Qianqian home to rest, and went with Father Xie to claim Xie Tingting’s corpse and take it to the crematorium.
Soon, she received a small pottery jar containing Xie Tingting’s ashes.
Mother Xie somewhat bewilderedly held the pottery jar that still had residual warmth in her arms. Father Xie kept glancing at the watch on his wrist and impatiently spoke up: “You handle the rest. I have things to do at the company, so I’m leaving first.”
There was no sadness at all in his words about Xie Tingting’s passing.
It was as if that wasn’t his child, just a kitten or puppy.
Mother Xie opened her mouth, just about to speak, but Father Xie didn’t give her the chance and hurriedly left.
Mother Xie hailed a cab home in a dazed state, turned on the light in the living room, and what met her eyes was the extremely dirty and messy living room.
The dirty clothes that had been changed out of were casually tossed on the sofa and the chair backs, shoes were placed messily, socks were scattered here and there, takeout boxes were on the table, the tablecloth was stained with soup splashed while eating takeout, and the floor was full of muddy shoe prints.
Mother Xie stood at the doorway, when suddenly a scene flashed through her mind of Xie Tingting tidying up clothes and mopping the floor, she was smiling brightly at her: “Mom, you’re back, I’ve cooked the meal, I’ll heat it up for you in a bit.”
“Good, Tingting has worked hard.” She answered subconsciously.
Yet the scene before his eyes drifted away like a gust of wind.
Only then did she belatedly realize that Xie Tingting was already gone.
Mother Xie silently held the urn of ashes while changing shoes, placing the shoe into the shoe cabinet with one hand, and closing the door with a bit more force.
Xie Qianqian came out yawning, her words full of complaint: “Mom, it’s already one in the morning. Can you keep it down? You’re disturbing my sleep.”
Mother Xie looked at the child in front of her, who had a ruddy complexion and was raised exceptionally well by her, and suddenly burst out: “Sleep, sleep, sleep! All you know is sleep! Do you know your sister is dead? How can you not be sad at all!”
Xie Qianqian was startled by her. After coming back to her senses, she frowned and said, “Mom, what’s wrong with you? I know Sister died. If she died, I won’t live either?”
“Didn’t you tell me when you were little that you hoped to have only one child? Isn’t it just what you wanted that she died?”
Mother Xie’s lips trembled, as if she had received a great shock: “I was just saying it casually, I didn’t think… I didn’t think she…” would really die.
This is her daughter, the daughter she carried for ten months in her womb. How could her heart not ache.
“Don’t disturb my sleep, or I’ll die for you to see too.” Xie Qianqian threatened with harsh words, turned around and entered the bedroom, slamming the door loudly.
Mother Xie’s body went soft, and she sat on the filthy ground, tightly hugging the pottery jar in her arms. The tears she had held back for so long finally fell.
Crying and crying, she fell asleep in a daze.
At the same time, Father Xie, who said on his mouth that the company had matters and he had to go to work, also held his lover contentedly and fell into a deep sleep.
As soon as the two fell asleep, they were harshly dragged into a white space.
Father Xie and Mother Xie looked at each other in bewilderment, gazing at one another.
Mother Xie, bewildered: “Where is this?”
Almost as soon as she finished speaking, Grandpa Xie and Grandma Xie, with gloomy faces, appeared before them, holding a cane as thick as an arm and viciously striking at their bodies.
Father Xie: “！！”
Mother Xie: “！！”
–
While the Xie family members were being chased all over the place in their dream by Grandpa Xie and Grandma Xie, Nan Yuanman finally got to eat.
She carefully put the diary that Zhang Shimian had given her, her mother’s diary, into the small shoulder bag, earnestly ate her meal first, while listening to Zhang Shimian’s instructions to her: “Master said you can keep Old Master Nan by your side, but you must do good deeds and earn merit.”
“Old Master Nan is now no longer within the Six Paths. If you forcibly keep him, the karmic obstacles produced from the harm he causes will be borne by you. You must earn enough merit to offset the karmic obstacles, so that he can maintain his consciousness.”
Nan Yuanman nodded: “Mm-hmm, I will do more good deeds.”
Nan Yuanman and Zhang Shimian ate this meal very satisfactorily, while Jiang Lixuan was absent-minded, occasionally looking toward Nan Yuanman, his gaze drifting to her small shoulder bag.
After Zhang Shimian sent Nan Yuanman onto the car and only the two of them were left inside the car, Jiang Lixuan finally spoke hoarsely: “Yuanman, can I see your mother’s diary…?”
