Chapter 89: Cherish a Man's Tears (12)

  Got up early, feeling the weather was hot and dry, without a single breeze. The sky was also gloomy, making people feel suffocated and depressed: it seemed like it was going to rain today...

  To attend Lin Yufei's funeral on time, Chen Haonan, Ouyang Ywen and Hu Jing arrived in the city early in the morning. The three of them were representing their class teacher and all their classmates to see off Lin Yufei for the last journey. At this moment, they had just got off the bus that came from the school gate. Out of the station, looking at the bustling streets, Chen Haonan felt a little numb in his heart: no matter how windy and rainy the outside world was, the city was still so busy? Unconsciously, he let out a deep sigh.

  Standing beside him, Ouyang Yiweng seemed to have sensed Chen Haonan's sudden change. She reached out and gently pulled him. He turned his head to look at her, and she slowly shook her head, signaling him not to think too much.

  "Let's go, let's take a taxi," - before Hu Jing could react, Chen Haonan had already hailed one. A blue taxi immediately pulled over and they got in: Chen Haonan sat in the front row, while Ou Yang Yiweng and Hu Jing were in the back row.

  "Hey young fellow, where are you three headed?" asked the driver uncle with a smile to Chen Haonan.

  "Go... go to the city crematorium..." Chen Haonan hesitated for a moment, but the words still squeezed out of his mouth.

  It's clear that Chen Haonan's hesitation was right, as the driver's smile vanished into thin air before he could even finish speaking. It seems that many times, people are still very taboo about many things in their hearts. Fortunately, the uncle next to him didn't say anything else, he just focused on driving, his face filled with seriousness. Maybe, if it were another driver, they would have kicked Chen Haonan and the others out of the car long ago.

  The taxi soon left the busy city and suddenly became another scene. This is a typical Xiangnan hilly terrain. The purple sandstone, which has been weathered and washed away by rainwater, is fragmented like an old face that has experienced wind and frost; some low trees are inlaid in the gaps of the rocks, looking very pitiful; occasionally, one or two slightly taller trees appear, like solitary sentinels...

  These scenes are not unusual for people who grew up in the south of Hunan, and at this time Chen Haonan and Ouyang Yiweng also had no leisure to "appreciate" the scenery outside the car window - all the way, a car full of people, without a word.

  Chen Haonan sat in the front row, his head bowed, his entire mind lingering on Lin Yufei. He thought of her beautiful smile, the letters and diary she had given him - but where was she now?...

  Suddenly, Chen Haonan felt that the surroundings had darkened a lot. Unconsciously, he raised his head slightly and was shocked: the originally low trees, broken rocks, and rolling mountains were all gone. Instead, there were tall trees, including cypress, camphor, and French plane trees, standing on both sides of the road, blocking the road and the world with their dense branches. Looking up, he couldn't see the sky, nor could he see the mountains to his left or right.

  The car is driving fast or slow in this isolated world, and the driver uncle suddenly turned on the headlights. If it were a sunny day, under the sunlight, looking at so many lush tall trees would be a wonderful feeling! But today is cloudy, the gloomy clouds blocked the beautiful sunshine. What's even more frustrating is that the end of this road is not an amusement park or a resort village, but a dark, desolate and silent crematorium!

  At the thought of this, Chen Haonan couldn't help but shudder. Suddenly, he seemed to see Lin Yufei lying alone on a wooden board, her whole body cold and icy... Another wave of chill swept through his entire body, and he quickly grasped his wildly racing thoughts, painfully closing his eyes.

  Suddenly, Chen Haonan felt someone shaking his shoulder. He slowly opened his eyes to find that it was actually Ouyang Yiweng - they had arrived at the crematorium. It turned out that he had dozed off earlier.

  After getting off the bus, Chen Haonan subconsciously glanced at his watch. From when he got on the bus until now was only over twenty minutes, but it seemed like a very long time had passed, as if it were longer than a century. He patted his forehead and couldn't help but shake his head. "What just happened?" he asked himself in a low voice.

  They didn't have time, nor any interest or energy to observe and study the overall orientation, architectural layout and various decorations of the crematorium. Chen Haonan, Ouyang Yiweng and Hu Jing followed the signs and walked in.

  Chen Haonan had never been to a place like this before, and he felt strange. He always felt that there was a thread of cool wind coming from somewhere, blowing on his face, and even drilling into his clothes. Also, at some point, Ouyang Yiweng and Hu Jing had already held hands and were walking together: Chen Haonan saw them and hurriedly quickened his pace, letting the two girls walk behind him.

  According to the custom of Xiangnan, young people without children or descendants who die unexpectedly are not allowed to be buried in their ancestral tomb. Therefore, Lin Yu Fei's body had to be cremated first, and then another place would be found to bury her ashes.

  Lin Yufei's body was transported from the city funeral home this morning, and her parents and younger brother, as well as some young relatives, arrived at the crematorium very early. At the entrance of the hall, Chen Haonan met Lin Yufei's parents. In just over ten days, he found that they had aged a lot, with many more wrinkles on their faces, dull eyes, and a significant increase in gray hair on their heads. It can be imagined how painful it is for middle-aged people to lose their daughter!

  Mr. and Mrs. Lin's eyes were bloodshot, their hair disheveled. When they saw Chen Haonan, Ouyang Yiweng and Hu Jing arrive, they couldn't help but burst into tears. Mrs. Lin even grabbed Chen Haonan's hand, trembling and sobbing uncontrollably.

  "Auntie, you have to be strong! You need to take care of your body!" Chen Haonan quickly supported her with his arm, worried that Lin's mother would fall. His eyes welled up with tears and he hastily wiped them away with his fingers. "...Auntie, you need to take care of yourself... Rainy has already gone, don't be too sad... otherwise, she wouldn't have left in peace..." He consoled her repeatedly, but his words were jumbled due to his own turbulent thoughts. Despite the weakness of his words, he continued to speak. However, tears welled up again at the corners of his eyes as he silently blamed Rainy: "Rainy, you were so gentle and understanding, but why are you being so heartless now... making all these people sad and cry for you..."

  As Chen Haonan turned his head, he saw Ouyang Yiweng and Hu Jing crying too, with tears streaming down their faces. Looking around again, the relatives and friends of the Lin family had also gathered around, even a three-year-old child was tearfully red-eyed... At this moment, there were no words, only tears.

  Lam Yiu-fei's cremation is scheduled at 10:01 am.

  At 9:45, relatives and friends walked into a small house one after another. This was the last place where Lin Yu-Fei's body would rest before cremation. Lin Yu-Fei lay quietly in the middle of the room, surrounded by people who were taking their last look at her and bidding farewell to her remains.

  Suddenly, Lin's mother burst into tears again, and she rushed to her beloved daughter with a loud cry. Suddenly, her voice stopped abruptly, and her whole body quickly slumped downwards: the middle-aged mother fainted from excessive grief. The hearts of those present were suddenly grasped, immediately causing a commotion.

  Everyone hastily helped Lin's mother out of the small hut. Because he didn't have time to take a last look at Lin Yufei, and say his final words to her, Chen Haonan hurriedly turned back into the small hut.

  At this time, everyone in the small house came out. Chen Haonan gently pushed open the door and walked in quietly, afraid that he would make a slight noise and startle Lin Yufei who was sleeping soundly.

  Lin Yufei lay quietly, not moving at all. Her eyes were tightly closed, and her beautiful pale face looked so peaceful and serene. She was lying beside Chen Haonan, the distance between them was so close, yet seemed so far away. He wished she was just asleep, sleeping sweetly, and would wake up soon with a gentle call, smile at him, and talk to him...

  But everything that thought was so false. Chen Haonan's hand lightly touched Lin Yufei's face, coolness - in an instant, the kind of coolness that penetrated the heart spread throughout his body, and his tears came out again.

  Slowly grasping Lin Yufei's hand, Chen Haonan slowly bent down, one knee on the ground. Tears trickled down his cheeks, and the regret and remorse in his heart turned into sentence after sentence of stuttering words, mixed with sobs - Chen Haonan wanted so badly to say all the words in his heart at once...

  "Knock... knock..." The soft knocking on the door startled Chen Haonan. He quickly turned around and wiped away the remaining tears on his face. Turning back, he saw Ouyang Yiweng standing at the door, with the window glass beside her now transparent, and Lin's family and friends all standing outside.

  "Yi... Yi'er..." Chen Haonan's lips parted slightly, but ultimately he didn't say anything, only tears blurred his eyes.

  "Haonan——" Ou Yang Yiweng walked forward, softly calling Chen Haonan, and then she handed him a tissue. She looked at him gently, her eyes filled with crystal tears. After a moment, she glanced at Lin Yu's face, bit her lip hard, and almost choked as she said: "Haonan, the staff said it's time, they...they need to push Yu to the cremation chamber..."

  "Hmm..." Chen Haonan nodded mechanically. His heart was anxious, not knowing what else to say, perhaps any words couldn't represent anything. Maybe sending Lin Yufei on her way a little earlier would also be right, everyone was watching her, feeling sad and crying for her, if she had any perception, she would also feel uneasy.

  Right behind, several staff members wearing white coats pushed a four-wheeled cart in one after another. Perhaps they were used to seeing pale and cold corpses, their expressions were very calm - however, this seemed to be the case, as they dealt with these cold corpses every day - it was their job to make a living, and naturally, they would become calm after seeing many of them - otherwise, how could they work if they cried and wailed before handling each corpse? These were probably all forced by life, and who would want to face cold, sometimes even smelly corpses every day? But without them, it wouldn't be possible!

  The white coats entered the small house, without any words, only one of them gave Chen Haonan and Ouyang Yiweng a slight glance: hinting that they should make way. They quickly moved Lin Yuifei from the frame to the cart, slightly adjusting her hand posture, and slightly pulling at her clothes, and soon pushed the cart away.

  Following the hearse, Chen Haonan escorted Lin Yufei to the cremation chamber. At the moment when the hearse entered the cremation chamber, Chen Haonan could no longer hold back his tears and they flowed out again. Taking advantage of everyone's inattention, he quietly retreated and turned around a wall, running wildly outside.

  Suddenly, Chen Haonan felt a chill on his forehead and touched it: Ah, it's raining...