Chapter 54: Convoy
After Mi Zehai heard the sound and rushed to the main hall, he only heard Mi Hong’s cries and understood. His heart felt as if it had been crushed by a giant rock. His nose stung and his eyes swelled. He called out “Mom” and also knelt down to cry.
The old lady had passed away peacefully, as if she had left in her sleep, her expression relaxed.
Mi Hong was completely devastated. He just stared at his old wife without blinking, refusing to go anywhere, murmuring her name as if to wake her up again. Mi Zehai and Cheng Qing were young and didn’t know how to handle these matters. It was the old Mrs. Cheng who came forward to help with the funeral.
When it was time to carry the body out, the old Mrs. Cheng was still worried that Mi Hong would try to stop them. She repeatedly told the men to be careful and not to hurt the old man. “He’s old and stubborn. If there’s a dispute later, please be patient with him. Be careful not to let him fall.”
The men who came to help were all young. They quickly nodded in agreement to the elder’s instructions.
But Mi Hong did not come forward to stop them. He watched as the old lady was carried out, standing there in a daze. Then his eyes reddened, and he murmured, “She’s really gone, gone.” He then closed his eyes, and a line of hot tears rolled down. He let out a hoarse cry of something. His voice was too hoarse to be heard clearly, and he fainted on the spot.
Just as the old lady had passed, Mi Hong fell ill.
Mi Zehai handled the funeral while taking care of his father.
Mi Hong’s body had originally been very strong. He had been running around taking care of the old lady for so many years and had never missed a thing. But now, he had suddenly lost his strength. Since fainting in the main hall that day, he seemed to have aged a lot when he woke up. He barely managed to support his body to see his old wife off on her final journey.
It was Mi Hong who personally placed the old lady’s black lacquered urn. His expression was indifferent. Except for his physical weakness, he no longer looked very sad.
It was just that on the day the old lady was laid to rest, Mi Hong’s originally gray hair had turned completely white overnight.
The next day, after Mi Hong woke up, he first called Mi Zehai to his side and said to him calmly, “Your mother’s affairs are all settled. You can go now.”
Mi Zehai said, “Dad, where do you want me to go?”
Mi Hong looked at him. “Go and find your biological parents. I’ve never hidden my correspondence with them from you all these years. You also know where they are. Go and get to know the way. A family should be together in the end.”
Mi Zehai knelt there, his eyes red. “Dad, I’m not going. You are my father. Mom is gone, and I will take care of you forever. Qing’er and I have already discussed it. I’ll transfer from the army. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll just come back to our town. I’ll stay with you for the rest of my life and serve you…”
Mi Hong still had that cold expression, but his hand was much weaker when he raised it, and he also looked haggard. He said in a hoarse voice, “You should go.”
Mi Zehai refused to listen and insisted on staying at home to take care of him.
Mi Hong was old, and the sudden blow made his illness come on like an avalanche. He lay in bed, not eating a single grain of rice.
Mi Zehai was so anxious that he tried every means to get him to eat. When he had no other choice, he had a doctor come to give him some nutritional injections. But an old person could not be tormented like this for too long. The doctor told them that the old man had to cooperate himself. Mi Zehai had tried every method. He had begged, he had cried, and he had even knelt there to serve him his meals. He was overjoyed even if he only drank a mouthful of clear congee. Before the old man could get up, Mi Zehai himself had lost more than ten pounds.
Cheng Qing was taking care of the old and young in the family. Although she also felt sorry for her husband, compared to the old man who had become a bag of bones in just a few days of lying in bed, Mi Zehai’s condition was nothing. She no longer had any resentment towards her father-in-law, Mi Hong. She had seen how Mi Hong had treated his old wife. Now, besides sorrow, she had no other thoughts in her heart and could only do her best to help a little more.
Mi Hong was determined to die.
After serving him by his bedside for several days, Mi Zehai finally understood. When his father had entrusted him with the deed and all the valuable objects before, he had not been just talking—Mi Hong’s care for his son was far less than for his old wife, but he was still a qualified father. He had raised Mi Zehai, sent him to the army, and had given this adopted son everything that other fathers could give. For so many years, Mi Hong had never disturbed him, but this time, he had called him back regardless of everything. For so many years, he had doted on his son, but this time, he had not even asked about his injury… It was only because he had already drawn a line between himself and his son.
He had probably long expected that the old lady would pass away first. From the day her health began to decline, Mi Hong had also marked himself as a dying man. A person with a will to die was indifferent to everything. He had called his son back, personally given him those family heirlooms, and calmly entrusted them to him. He no longer had any attachments to this world.
She was gone, and he was not willing to live alone.
When Mi Zehai figured out the key, he was stunned. He looked at his old father with a pale face on the wooden bed, knelt there, and continued to watch over him, stubbornly trying to feed his father congee and rice, refusing to give up.
Cheng Qing made them a meal again. She was also very helpless. Her husband and father-in-law were both more stubborn than the other. Mi Hong was a good man, and Mi Zehai was filial to his elders and loved her, also a good man. These two good men both had good hearts, but they were both extremely stubborn. Once they were set on a principle, ten bulls could not pull them back.
Cheng Qing had no way to persuade them. She got up and went to the kitchen to cook. The congee in the main hall was getting cold again, so it had to be replaced with a hot one. She chopped some green vegetables in the kitchen, planning to make green vegetable and chicken congee. This was easier to digest and was also good for the sick. As she was chopping the vegetables, something suddenly came to her mind. The knife she was using to chop the vegetables even paused. She let out an “aiya” and finally understood what Mi Hong had shouted on the day he had fainted—
He had said, “Guizhi, take me with you.”
Cheng Qing’s eyes reddened. She covered her mouth with her hand and cried in the kitchen for a long time.
Mi Hong lay in bed, weak, drinking a few mouthfuls of soup every day to stay alive. He slept a lot, but every time he woke up, he would always say the same few things.
Mi Zehai was silent and knelt by his bed without moving. He no longer had the same spirited look as when he had first arrived, only a stubbornness that was both angry and laughable.
Mi Hong was very cold to him and always urged him to leave.
Mi Zehai would shake his head every time and insist, “I’m not leaving. I’ll stay with you.”
Mi Hong said, “What are you staying with me for? I’m going to find your mother. You can’t stop me.”
Mi Zehai lay by his bed and said with a trembling voice, “Dad, I’m begging you. Don’t be like this. Just for my sake, for our family’s sake, eat a little something…”
“You just live your own life well. Don’t mind me. Whether I live or die has nothing to do with you anymore,” Mi Hong paused and said in a hoarse voice, “Our father-son relationship in this life is over. You’ve done very well. It’s me who can’t hold on anymore.”
Mi Zehai knelt there, sobbing. Such a tall and strong man was crying like a child in front of his old father. He cried and pleaded, “Mom wants you to live. Dad, I’m begging you, open your eyes and look at me. Look at me… Mom definitely wants you to stay and be with me. And if you go, there will be no one else who can remember everything about Mom as clearly as you do. No one will think of her and miss her like you do. Can you bear it…”
Mi Hong was unmoved. As he was lying there, the sound of a lute suddenly came from outside. His fingers trembled, and then there were a few more clear notes. Mi Hong suddenly propped himself up to sit up. He was too weak, and his arms were trembling. He said with a pale face, “Who! Who is touching that lute!”
Mi Zehai wiped his face and quickly stood up to look. Before he could go out, he saw Mi Yang’s small figure lift the curtain and walk in, holding the three-stringed lute that the old man usually treasured the most.
Mi Yang gently plucked the three-stringed lute again. Mi Hong’s face turned pale with anxiety, and he said sternly, “Who told you to touch my lute!”
Mi Yang looked up at him, his pupils clear. He said to him, “Grandma wants you to teach me to play the lute.”
Mi Hong was stunned. He looked at the child. He was so small, and his fingers were also small. The tune he plucked was not right, but he could hold the three-stringed lute steadily.
The lute was old, but the person was new.
Mi Hong seemed to suddenly understand why his old wife wanted him to live. The image of them when they were young appeared in his mind. His Guizhi was singing in the opera, and he was playing the lute on the side. At that time, they were still young, and their vibrant lives were the most moving colors.
She had said, “You promise me, you’ll live.”
She had said, “Life goes on. I won’t be able to see it. You stay here and watch it continue for me.”
She had said, “I have to give you a reason to live.”
…
The dead cannot be kept, and the living cannot be pursued.
Mi Hong held the old lute and wept bitterly. The old man, who had shown no sorrow even at the funeral, now let out all the pain in his heart. He cried for a long time, fainted, and when he woke up, he asked for food for the first time.
Mi Zehai immediately went to get some hot congee and fed it to him by the bed. Seeing his father drink a couple more mouthfuls of congee, he was so happy his eyes reddened, and he started to cry again, calling out “Dad,” so choked up that he couldn’t speak.
Mi Hong swallowed the congee in his mouth. His eyes were still a little dull. He turned to his son and stared at him for a long while before he said in a weak voice, “Your injury, you should go to the hospital to have it looked at when you have time.”
Mi Zehai’s hands suddenly trembled, and he couldn’t hold the congee bowl steady. His nose stung, and he called out “Dad” in a hoarse voice again. He put down the bowl and lay by Mi Hong’s side, crying. He knew that his father would not die, would not leave him.
Mi Hong’s health was slowly recovering. The younger generation in the family took good care of him. Although he himself was silent, he still ate every day and walked around the courtyard a few times, which was much better than before.
Cheng Qing breathed a sigh of relief. She looked at the calendar and only then realized that it had already been three months since they had returned to Shanhai Town. She was a little dazed. So many things had happened during this time that she felt as if several years had passed.
Mi Yang now, not just on Wednesdays, would go to his other grandmother’s house every two days to call Bai Luochuan. But every time he called, the person was not there. Occasionally, Auntie Wu would answer, and the answer was always the same, “Luochuan? He’s out. He went with his mother. Maybe he went to Shanghai.”
Mi Yang was a little disappointed. He hung up the phone, looked up at the calendar, and calculated. It was already summer vacation. Bai Luochuan had also gone on trips with his family in the summer before, but it was always for a few days. It was rare for him to be unreachable like this.
Mi Yang sighed.
The old Mrs. Cheng, beside him, saw this and consoled him, “Maybe he’s on a trip!”
Mi Yang smiled. “I think so too. Grandma, I’ll be going back now.”
The old Mrs. Cheng said, “Then take some red dates with you on your way back. Aiyo, the last time I went over, I saw that your mother’s lips were all pale. She’s such a grown-up, but she doesn’t know how to take care of herself. When I said a few words to her, she even got angry with me!” The old lady murmured as she put a bag of dried red dates for Mi Yang. As she saw him off at the door, she was still reminding him, “Put a couple in when you’re making congee or tea. If not, you can also eat them dry. You and your mom should both eat some. Our Yangyang’s little face has also gotten thinner.”
Mi Yang nodded. “I know. Grandma, I’m leaving.”
Mi Yang walked straight along the stone path. His grandfather’s house and his other grandmother’s house were not far apart. He just had to walk straight and then take a turn. Just as he reached the corner, he saw several cars parked on the side of the road. The small alley inside was probably not easy to get in and out of, so the high-end sedans were all awkwardly parked outside, a total of five or six of them, looking like a small convoy.
Mi Yang glanced at them and didn’t think much of it. But suddenly, someone called out to him, “Mi Yang!”
The voice was so familiar that Mi Yang thought he was hearing things. He blinked his eyes and looked around, then saw the door of the frontmost sedan open. A little boy got out, his lips pursed as he looked at him. That angry yet naturally arrogant little expression, who else could it be but the young master Bai.
