These days, Juexin is constantly condemned by his conscience. He felt that he should help Juemin no matter what, otherwise it would cause a lifelong grudge. After a few days of deliberation and deliberation (he discussed with his stepmother and wife), he decided to go to his grandfather's to intercede on Kyawmin's behalf. He euphemistically said about Juemin's heart (naturally he would not talk about Juemin and Qin), and asked his grandfather to promise to put this family matter on hold for the time being, and wait until the future when Juemin can stand on his own feet. His commentary was moving, it was prepared all night, and he even wrote a draft. He thought his words would move his grandfather.

However, Juexin's prediction was completely wrong, and his grandfather was not the person he imagined. He's stubborn. He no longer needs reason, he no longer listens to reason. His concerns were: first, that his authority had been attacked and had to be restored by harsh means; Second, the order of the parents, the words of the matchmaker, the parents are married, and the younger generations are not allowed to intervene - this is a natural truth, and those who disobey will be punished. As for the happiness and hope of those young people, he did not care about it at all. So the result of Juexin's explanation was only a bitter scolding from him. In the end, he said that the Feng family's family affairs must not be dismissed, and if Juemin did not return home by the end of the month, he would publish a newspaper that would not recognize him as a child of the Gao family, but asked Juehui to undertake this family affair instead of him.

Juexin didn't dare to say anything more, he only agreed. After withdrawing from his grandfather's room, he immediately sought out Juehui and told him what his grandfather had said. He repeated his grandfather's words, trying to threaten Jue Hui with them. He thought that Juehui might get Juemin back for his own sake. However, Jue Hui was much smarter now, and he was prepared, he didn't express an opinion on his grandfather's words, but just sneered twice. I thought proudly, "If sacrifice is necessary, I am not the one who will make the sacrifice." ”

"I think you'd better persuade the second brother to come back, otherwise this family affair will fall on you in the future." Juexin saw that Juehui did not express an opinion, so he touched Juehui's heart with such words.

"If Grandpa really meant it, let him do it, he will regret it one day. I'm not afraid, I have a better way! Juehui said proudly.

Juexin could barely believe his ears, and he didn't seem to be able to find anything he could understand in this younger brother.

"I never understand why you are so cowardly, so useless!" Jue Hui said mockingly.

Juexin's face turned red, and then turned blue again. He was so angry that his body trembled, and he said a few words "you" one after another, and he tried to say something. However, the door curtain moved, and Yuan Cheng walked in and reported in a hurried voice: "Aunt Qian's wife sent someone to report that Miss Mei has passed away." ”

"Miss May? When did she die? Ruijue's face was pale, and she ran out of the back room and asked in a panic.

"He said he died at seven o'clock this morning," Yuan Cheng replied respectfully. The wall clock in the back room rang, and the sound of boring and boring rang nine times in succession. There was a deathly silence in the room, and everyone was speechless for a long time.

"Go and greet and prepare my sedan chair," Juexin suddenly commanded with a calm face.

"I'm going too," Ruijue said with a cry as she sat down on a wicker chair.

"You go out," Juexin said to Yuan Cheng. Yuan Cheng promised a "yes", and immediately pushed open the curtain and went out. Juexin walked up to Ruijue and comforted her: "Jue, don't go, you have 'joy' and can't stand the grief." If you go and see that sight, you will be sad. You should also take care of your body. ”

"I miss her so much. …… When I came back from my aunt's house that day, she took my hand and asked me to visit her often, and she repeatedly told me to take Hai'er with her next time, and she was in tears. I can't believe she'll never see us again. …… I'm going to see her. …… This is the last side. …… It's not in vain that I had a good time with her during my lifetime," Rui Jue said intermittently.

"Jue, you should also take care of your body. You must know that I have only one you now, and if you are also sick, don't you want my life? Juexin's voice was very miserable.

Jue Hui stood in front of the desk, and he silently looked at the white screen curtains. The news was not an unexpected blow to him, he had expected it. Mei's words, which Qin relayed, came to his heart again: "It is better to live one more day, just to suffer one more day, than to die early." Although such words came out of her own mouth, it was not easy to endure to see the death of a fragile lovely young being. Many painful and angry thoughts came to his mind at once, and he pressed his passion and said coldly: "Look, there is another victim here!" He knew that Juexin would hear him and understand what he meant, so he turned around. When he saw Juexin's painful eyes fall on his face, he said to himself, "The troubles are not over yet! There will be more terrible things. This sentence is also for Juexin.

Juexin walked out of the door, feeling a little dizzy and weak. He hurriedly lifted his spirits and took a few steps. He suddenly felt something hot in his heart rising up, and he tried his best to hold back, but his throat itched as if it was being scratched by something, and he finally couldn't help coughing up a mouthful of sticky, sweet and fishy phlegm. He inadvertently glanced to the ground and saw that it was a mouthful of red phlegm. It was as if he had fallen into an ice cellar, and his body immediately became half cold. He pressed his hands to his chest and was about to walk back to his room. But he immediately changed his mind again. He was silent, silently wiped away the mouthful of phlegm with his foot, reluctantly supported, and continued to walk outside.

When he arrived at Qian's house, Juexin heard the cry inside as soon as he got off the sedan chair. He hurried inside. He walked into May's room.

The aunt was there, the young cousin was there, Jean was there, and there was a maid. Everyone was crying around the corpse, and when they saw Juexin coming in, they stopped crying and greeted him.

"Young Master, what do you want me to do?" Mrs. Qian had unkempt her hair and tears on her face, and when she saw Juexin, she immediately cried and asked.

"Let's take care of the mortuary immediately," Juexin replied sadly, and he asked again, "Have you bought the coffin?" ”

"I called Wang Yong to buy it, but I haven't bought it yet," Mrs. Qian said and cried, and cried and said. Wang Yong was a servant of the Qian family. "Mei Fen died at more than two o'clock, I didn't do anything at all, I am the only one in the family, your cousin is young, Wang Yong has to go everywhere to report the news, what do you tell me to do? Look at the mess in the house! My heart was in turmoil. ”

"Auntie, don't worry, I'll just do my best to help," Juexin replied resolutely, completely forgetting about the vomiting of blood just now.

"Eldest young master, if you are so kind-hearted, Mei Fen will also be grateful to you in Jiuquan," Mrs. Qian said sincerely.

The word "gratitude" is like a needle piercing Juexin's heart. He felt that there was a full stomach full of words, but he couldn't say them. He wished he could cry out loud. He thought to himself, "Will May still be grateful to me?" She got to this point for me, and I hurt her. He walked over to her bed. Mei lay quietly on the bed, her eyes slightly closed. His hair was flowing on the pillow, his thin face was as white as paper, and the wrinkle on his forehead was deeper. Her lips opened slightly, as if she was about to say something and died before she could say it. His lips were red, and there was a little blood, as if he had been rubbed, but he had not been wiped clean. A thin quilt covers her body, covering her hands and lower body.

"Mei, I've come to see you," Juexin whispered, his eyes captivated with tears. His heart ached so badly that he couldn't help but wonder, "Are we going to say goodbye like this?" You didn't leave me a word. Why didn't I come earlier? I'll see your mouth move, I'll hear your voice, I'll know what's going on in your heart. He prayed secretly: "May, I'm coming, I'm here, if you have anything you haven't said, say it quickly, I can hear it!" ”

He reached out for his handkerchief and wiped away his tears, and once again leaned down to see Mei's face. A small fly lay on her forehead, and with a gentle wave of his hand, he chased it away. May lay there like a cold stone. He understood: even if he was dumbfounded, she would not hear or move. There was an "eternity" between him and her. They will never be able to get close. He regretted, he grieved, he cried in despair.

Juexin's crying made Mrs. Qian's mother and son cry again. Qin came over and persuaded him: "Big cousin, now is not the time to cry, you should hurry up and do something for Sister Mei." When a man dies, he cannot weep. My aunt has no idea, and her heart is even more troubled after your crying. If Sister Mei died and knew about it, she would also be sad. ”

When Juexin heard these words, he felt a little harsh. He thought to himself, "I've grieved her so many times, is this the only thing?" But I can't say that. He tried to hold back his tears, he stopped crying, and he let out a long sigh.

"It's not to blame the eldest young master, he used to be as good as Mei Fen, and someone even proposed marriage to them, but blame me for not agreeing at the beginning, otherwise there wouldn't be today!" Mrs. Qian said and cried, cried and said.

"Big cousin, hurry up and do the funeral for Sister Mei, don't let her be exposed for so long," Qin knew that Mrs. Qian's words would make Juexin sad, so she used her words to diverge.

"Okay," Juexin sighed, and then pulled Mrs. Qian to discuss Mei's future. and how he bought all the things that were necessary; how to get the coffin in; how to ask the maid to clean Mei and change her clothes; How to put Mei in the coffin. After all this was done quickly, it was time for the funeral.

Mei lay in the coffin, revealing only one face, still: eyes slightly closed, lips slightly open, as if she wanted to say something, but she didn't have time to say it. Juexin looked at Mei for the last time with a very nostalgic eye. He looked at this dear face very greedily, and he thought that in a few minutes her face would disappear from his life. He couldn't stand the thought, he couldn't make her disappear. He wanted to reach out and uncover her undertaker, carry her out of the coffin, and carry her to a deserted place, but he didn't have the courage. He looked at the lacquerer with the red silk in his hand with disgust, and he almost wanted to drive the lacquerer away, because if the lacquerer's hand moved, he would never see her face.

Later, he finally gave the order to close the coffin. The lacquer maker was about to put the red silk down, but Mrs. Qian suddenly grabbed the coffin mouth with her hand and refused to let it go. She wept bitterly, and she said loudly to May's face:

"Mafen, you won't shut up, do you have anything else to say? Say! Your mom is here. …… Mei Fen, I hurt you, I was blind as a mother, and I don't know what you're thinking. I broke up your good marriage, suffered you all your life, and ended up like this. …… I regret it now and I understand what I did wrong. …… Mafen, I'm talking here, can you hear me? Why don't you say yes? …… Do you hate me? Okay, take revenge on me in the next life, I hurt you, you can harm me in the same way. I just ask you not to leave me in the next life. We are still mother and daughter. …… Mafen, promise me! …… My miserable son! Let me go with you! Mei Fen, Mei Fen ,......" Mrs. Qian said as she cried. She slammed her feet on the ground and hit her head on the coffin, her face covered with tears and snot. It was useless to dissuade her, and it took a lot of effort to drag her away.

So the red silk covered it and covered everything inside the coffin. The lacquermaker fastened the red silk to the coffin with a wooden nail and lowered the lid of the coffin. The lacquermaker began to apply lacquer ash to the joints. These formalities were completed quickly. Since then, there is no longer such a person as Mei in the house. There was only one coffin, and even the coffin had to be carried out on the same day.

The guests came one after another, but only a few relatives. Mrs. Gao (Juexin's stepmother) came with Shuhua and Hai'er; Mrs. Zhang (Qin's mother) also came. There were also three or four female guests. They all just sit for a while and then leave. Ruijue finally let Mei see Hai'er, although there was a coffin apart. When Hai'er saw everyone crying, he felt strange and cried a few times. Juexin asked Zhou to take the child home first. As for the people who accompanied Mei's coffin to the funeral home outside the city, in addition to Mei's mother, younger brother and Wang Yong, there were only Juexin, Juehui, Shuhua and Qin. Jue Hui came late, but just in time to attend this bleak funeral.

The funeral was in a large temple. The temple is desolate due to its disrepair. Deep weeds grew at the bottom of the stairs of the main hall, and the small rooms on the stairs on both sides were the places where the funeral coffin was kept. Some doors were left open, revealing shabby and simple furnishings inside, or the foot of the offering table was broken, or the tablet fell asleep on the table, or there was only one elegiac in front of the coffin, and it was blown by the wind. Some doors were closed so tightly that one could not see inside. Some even had three or four coffins in a small room, and there were no furnishings at all. It is said that these coffins are completely ownerless, and they have been stored here for a decade or two, and no one cares about them. But the flies still often pin themselves to them.

The people quickly set up Mei's room, put the coffin, set up the offering table, and set up the spiritual table. Wang Yong squatted on the stone steps outside and burned paper money. Mrs. Qian fell on the coffin and began to cry again, and May's brother was also crying beside her. Jean was going to persuade Mrs. Qian, but she couldn't help crying when she thought of Mei's life, the friendship between the two of them and the scene in front of her, and at the same time touched her heart.

Juexin stood at the offering table for a while, and their cries rushed into his ears, and he seemed to stand unconscious. Tears welled up naturally, and he hardly knew what it was for. He even thought that it was not her lying in the coffin, but another person. She was still alive, still looking at him with a sad countenance, and still telling him about her bleak life. His eyes gradually widened, and he could see from the tears, from hazy to clear, and the spiritual tablet with black letters written on the red paper gradually grew larger and closer. The words "the spiritual position of the late sister Ms. Qian Meifen" mercilessly came into his eyes, and he was not wrong at all. She did die. Behind the offering table is a coffin. Her mother wept bitterly and pounded the lid of the coffin with her hands; Her younger brother leaned his head against the coffin and called "sister" in mourning; Jean put her right hand on the coffin and let her head rest, crying there in a low voice, this is Jean who is threatened by Mei's fate. His tears flowed freely again. This time he knew what he was flowing for. He reached out for his handkerchief and wiped away his tears. He could no longer look at this scene, so he stepped over the threshold and went out, and stood on the stone steps to watch Wang Yong burn paper money. Jue Hui was coming out of the main hall, he was firmly on his feet, although he was still very young, but in this environment, he seemed to be the only one who had a fairly strong strength - Jue Xin did feel this way in this short period of time.

"Let's go back," Jue Hui said as she walked over to Jue Xin. The paper money in Wang Yong's hand had been burned, and there was a pile of black ash left under the stairs, and the unburned embers were still burning. The wind swept the ashes upwards and sent them flying everywhere.

"Okay," Juexin replied listlessly, then turned around and went in to persuade everyone not to cry. It's not easy to persuade others with tears in your eyes. At this time, Qin was sobbing, Mrs. Qian was already in tears, and only Mei's younger brother was still crying "sister".

When they were leaving, everyone saluted in front of the spirit, and was about to turn around, when Mei's younger brother suddenly burst out crying into the coffin: "Sister, let's go back, you are left here alone, so you are not lonely!" The child's simple words resounded unusually miserable in the hearts of everyone, and caused tears in everyone's eyes. Jean touched and kindly took his hand, comforted him, and pulled him outside. Mrs. Qian had already stopped grieving, but she was disturbed by her son's words. She stood in front of the offering table and looked at the candles, the incense, and the spiritual tablet with teary eyes, and after a while, she said silently: "Mei Fen, your brother is right, you will be lonely here." …… It's so calm here...... It's so desolate. …… Alone, without a loved one to accompany you. …… Then you might as well go home tonight. You must know your home. …… From now on, I'll still keep the lights on in your room every night, and you'll see it when you come back. …… I won't move your things for you. …… You, Mafen—my daughter......" She said these words with great effort, and she wanted to say more, but her chest hurt and her throat was blocked. She had to follow the crowd out.

Although Juexin was not the last, he was the last to get on the sedan chair, and when he went out, he repeatedly looked back at the room. The last one to go was Juehui, who didn't sit in a sedan chair. He walked into the room again. He circled around the coffin. Like the others, he said goodbye to May. He does not weep, nor mourns. He was full of anger. His words were spoken in a voice intertwined with love and hate:

"Some cries, some words, some tears, and they buried this lovely young life. Cousin Mei, I hate to pull you out of the coffin and let you open your eyes and understand: how you killed someone! ”